Meap Me in St. Louis

Chapter 21: 22 Vs. The Galaxy

AVALON

Remember a while back, when I said sometimes things get so wild that I need to take a breather so I don't lose my mind trying to get it all through my system?

It's that time again, except this time, I'm in space, in a cartoon world, riding on a spaceship built by a superpowered variant of one of my teammates, on our way to an alien planet to save our friend from an evil intergalactic criminal before he uses her cuteness to take over the Multiverse.

That's not something you just say, "Whatever," to and brush off with a shrug.

Since crossing over into 252, I've been trying my absolute hardest to rest. 525 Heath has us travelling at a comfortable pace, but relaxing still isn't easy, for all of the reasons I just described. Our Heath is still at the control panel with his alternate self, along with Phineas and Ferb. Brielle is sitting to my left, with her having the aisle seat, and Candace, Baljeet, and Buford are in the row of seats across from us. Everyone else is in the cargo hold doing Lord-knows-what. Aside from the sporadic muffled laughter from the cargo hold, it's been very quiet.

After some time has passed, Brielle nudges me in the arm. I open one eye to look at her. "You know what's funny? When Avery and I were little, our dad was obsessed with Star Trek. He'd always tell us how he once had aspirations to work for NASA. Imagine his reaction if or when we tell him about this," she says, laughing to herself.

I give her a fake smile. "Listen, Brielle, I know you just want to make conversation, but some of us aren't interested in doing that at the moment," I reply. Brielle slowly turns away, a sheepish look on her face.

I close my eyes and lean back in my seat once more. I'm not able to rest for even two seconds before Candace blurts out, "Huh. Surprisingly, my phone is still perfectly fine after that battle with Mitch." I glance in her direction and see her holding an animated, pink flip phone. She opens it up, peers at the screen, and her eyes widen in further surprise. "And I get service on this ship?"

"You're welcome," 525 Heath yells to her.

Brielle raises a concerned eyebrow. "Why do you still use a flip phone?" she asks.

"What do you mean? This is just my cell phone," Candace replies, confused.

Brielle gets out her phone, an iPhone 8. "These are the cell phones we have," she says.

Looks of amazement appear on Candace, Baljeet, and Buford's faces. Baljeet takes the phone from Brielle (which she clearly didn't want them to do), and the three gaze at it in awe. "Wow..." Baljeet marvels, swiping through her home screen. "Look at all these applications!"

"What year is it for you guys?" I ask.

"They never say explicitly, but I think it's somewhere around 2008," Buford answers. I can only assume "they" is a fourth wall break for them.

"Oh, we're way ahead of you. We're in 2018," Brielle tells them.

Baljeet grins like a little kid listening to their parents tell stories about their youthful shenanigans. "Is the future as bright and wonderful as they said it would be?" he asks.

I lean closer to them, putting on another fake smile. "I wouldn't get your hopes up, little buddy," I whisper. The grin on Baljeet's face turns into a disappointed frown.

Brielle takes her phone back from Baljeet, then looks towards Phineas and Ferb. "What's up with him?" she asks, pointing at Phineas, who's nesting his head on the control panel with a mildly depressed expression.

"Ferb? He just doesn't talk much," Baljeet replies.

"She meant Phineas, you dimwit," I sigh.

"Oh, you mean Dinnerbell? Truth be told, we're not really sure," Buford answers. "He's usually got this happy-go-lucky attitude about everything, but ever since we lost Isabella, he's been missing a lot of that spirit. I think he's upset because he thinks we messed up... which we did, but y'know, that's nothing unusual these days."