AN
Hello this was inspired deCIPHER by Madame Macabre and the 10 years later character design. If you didnt yet look both up.
This is a one shot enjoy.
He was watching. Patiently observing the unfolding situation.
Daniele laughed as she dodged another punch from Daniel. The fire was consuming the stage of the pop concert. "Ah come on the show was boring I simple set it on fire~ "
"You are endangering people! I will stop you before you do something you would forever regret!"
The woman half rolled her eyes, her hair danced with the fire, the long pony tail nearly moving like a being of its own. "Then stop me, if I am so bad and evil."
"That wasnt what I said! And you know it. Stop twisting my words!" Danny shot several ecto blast and had Dani block them with a shield.
"It what you meant. Oh, you almighty never wrong hero of Earth, save the world from this evil clone!" She screamed, Danny went on defence only to be surprised when she instead of wailing used a duplicate to hit him. He hit the ground.
She huffed. "So weak."
"I am trying to help you!" Danny started to stand up and shot ice at her. Which she stopped with fire balls. Causing steam to quickly spread and cover them both. Now both obscured from each other view by the steam cloud they were only relying on their hearing and ghost sense.
He closed his eyes and allowed himself to see.
He sees them both. The thick fog doesnt matter.
"I never needed help, nor fixing. You betrayed me!" Dani spoke making her voice come from everywhere at once, to hide her true location and get Danny to respond and reveals his own.
"Look, I told you again and again. It wasnt like that! You didnt want to be on the team, so they asked us to put controlling measures. Its like a license, that legally protects you. You must understand that you cannot just do things because you can and no one else cant!" Danny tried to reason, but at the same time he was preparing a trap to catch her in it. The machine started and he slowly moved it into the right position.
"By forbidding me to do anything? I was born like this, oh sorry. I meant I was made like this! I dont want to get rid of half of me! Or the 12%! " Four duplicates were moving closer to Danny. Yet as they loaded dark ecto energy on of them... the original turned away.
"You dont forbid fish from swimming." There was a solemn sound, a sadness and tone of regret that it has to be like this. Three duplicates attacked Danny, while the original started escaping by sinking into the earth.
They gave a good fight, broke his trap, and demanding that his words were empty as his deeds didnt match up. She doesnt want to be locked away or chained. Yet, with the friends of Danny arriving, it became a more fair fight. And the duplicates were all defeated.
He stayed a bit longer being amused at their reaction for her slipping away. The near pulling hair out was fascinating.
It wasnt the most fascinating thougth.
Dani fought Danny, challenging him and pushing him to his limits, because no other ghost was able to do it any longer. Either there was peace, or too weak to actually pose a problem. He took a deep breath and moved himself to be where Dani was.
She was sitting on a river bank. The slow flowing river looked calm and relaxing, she picked a stone and throw it at it. There was anger and frustration in her stance. He wasnt sure what happened between them. Neither was he aware what betray she exactly meant. He watched her for a bit.
It was an opportunity. She stopped throwing pebbles in the river and started looking around frowning.
"Hello?..." She asked.
He shifted around and made sure he made just a bit of noise. She turned towards it. "... nothing there... But I could have..."
-
1-2
"Hello child. I see you could hear me." He became visible in her view. Well it was more than just visible, as he smiled at her politely.
"Look, I dont know who you are..." She gave a look over his figure, the teared up clothing, barefoot, nails grown out and becoming claw-like. Hair short, and face thinner, while body keeping some muscular form. Yet it still felt somehow bony and skinny, as the cloths hung from his frame. Around one wrist his broken chain freely swinging to his floating movement. The reminder of everything.
"But if you are to have a bath, I will leave. You sure need one." She waved her hand in front of her face. Yeah, he concluded that he could have used a bath. Maybe later.
"Hey kid, I know you can see..."
"That you are some hobo stinky ghost?"
He laughed.
3-7
"I remember now! "
"What? how to use a soap?" She tilted her head, in confusion. Even so... He could tell she was sensing things being off, not as they appear to be. Setting her on edge.
"I remember why I liked to keep you out the tank, while I worked." He grinned wider his teeth shining from sharpness. The color in the ghost face of the woman in front of him vanished. "no..." Her voice a breathless gasp. She stepped back, eyes big hands loading with ecto energy. She shot. He didnt move.
The blast hit him dead on and yet nothing changed. He didnt even flinch.
"Things are about to get crazy." He kept smiling, there was some peace in the features that was freaking Dani out. She opted to run away again. Now that they couldnt have.
"Just sit right there and listen to me." Ecto chains shot out and wrapped around the escaping halfa. She tried to resist but found that her ghost powers were cut off as the red black chains snaked around her legs. She was pulled to sit down on the grass beside the river. Two black rings uncovering her human form and the chains vanishing. Black? Fascinating. That was more interesting than he awaited.
"P-Plasmius?... "
"Yes that is mine name. Yours is Daniele. I go more by just Vlad recently thought." He moved to stand in front of her, he could tell her ghost powers were back as she glowed her eyes in warning. Yet, she had enough brain to keep sitting instead of trying to escape again. He showed her how much more stronger he was.
She looked once more over him. "What... happened to you? I thougth you died."
"Am I that unrecognizable, my child? I just got a bit of a hair cut and change of cloths." He knew with out looking that his other hand was trailing over the chain on his wrist. Reminder. It became a tick by this point.
"No... I mean...something...I dont know. Something about you feels off? Like you went thougth some things?" Dani offered after he could see her collecting some bravado. The black haired girl held her hair in a ponytail like her ghost form. Yet her cloths looked on the designer side. As if she picked the outfit with great care to just show how important looking breathtaking is.
"Some things?" He chuckled, he couldnt help himself as he all but jumped up into her face. Forcing her to lean back on her hands as his own voice kept the happy tone, yet dropped in loudness. Causing it to sound even more out pf place. His eyes glowing blood red, with contained anger, and brutality. "I've seen more than you can imagine. I've heard things that would torture your soul. Some things, do not cover a single decimal of it..."
-
8-9
He moved away, sighing. "Sorry. It wasnt my intention to scare you. It... is more of a reflexes by this point." One more time his finger trailed over the chain.
"I wanst scared." She said. Her eyes now studying him more careful. He let her see. He let her conclude it. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh I know the answer to that question! " He offered one hand towards her, his grin returning to his face, causing her face to frown. But to his pleasure she didnt flinch or move away. "Join me."
"What?"
"I am here. So Join me and we'll both get ahead Dani. It simple just shake my hand and then, we'll both have it all." He hummed his words.
-
10-13
"You are crazy! I am not joining you!" She huffed and pushed his hand away standing up. He let her, he watched as she didnt turn to her ghost form yet. Opting to stay human and keep him in her view. "I am not a replacement for your schemes."
He didnt pull his hand away keeping it outstretched as he turned to face her again.
"Don't let go of this opportunity 'cause there's no guarantee it'll last."
"Oh really?"
"We both know, that I wasnt responsible for anything that happened in the last 10 years." That hit a nerve and Dani looked down. That she felt safe enough to look away already told him she was only keeping an act.
"What say you little pal have we got a deal?" He floated up and around her, she stiffened at his near but otherwise kept her cool. " Haven't got all day so you'd best think fast "
"Why? Hurrying on a date night with a lone mans cat?"
She snarled trying to cause him to have some reaction. But those words... they couldnt hurt him any longer. Because she had no idea to how much worse he was used to.
14-17
"Side with me. "
He placed his hands on her shoulders. He felt her heart beating faster. "You are already broken up all connection to them."
"Dont pretend like you were caring... I was always alone, when I joined to live whit them nothing changed. I still was fighting alone." She spoke giving a small tug to free herself, he let her go. Watching as she created distance between them. She leaned down and picked a stone.
"I will have your back." He spoke staying in place.
"Yeah I dont think I sunk that low yet to trust my back to a fruitloop." She throw the stone with all her force causing a decent splash.
"You sound bitter."
She rolled her eyes.
"In the past that would have irritated me, seeing someone resemble me like that... But today. Count me in."
"What?" She snapped her head towards him.
"Count me in, in any plan you have, any goal you want to achieve. I will be your partner. When confidence is all you lack. Whatever it is you want count me in, I will help you get it. "
She stared at him. "Really? And what if my goal is... to kill Maddie and Danny?" Dani fished, placing a trap and judging his reactions. It was cute how strategic she was trying to be. To use her brain.
"That is not your goal, but if it was. My offer wouldnt change."
"Dont you love...?"
"I did once, but... let just put it this way. I had lot of time to think." Fingers trailing over the chain, He watched her eyes fixing the motion. He wondered what she was thinking observing him.
"Fine... you are right, I dont want to harm them... but... where is the catch? The hook to your offer?" She said, and he nodded once more getting closer to her. She was standing her ground. Trying to show him she wasnt afraid of him.
-
18-22
"The hook?" He chuckled once more.
"There is no hook. Price is simple, rather sparing if you allow me to say so." He picked a stone, it was a nice flat one and he throw it over the river, watching as it jumped once twice, three and four times.
"I figured life is quite short. Even as a halfa. Our time is slipping Danielle, and I learned the hard way that Life is choices." He breathed out slowly, yeah, he made many choices in his life, and a bunch of them were probably the wrong ones. "I changed my motto. "
"Oh, you did?... what is it?"
"Lets start living."
23
"Oh... well. Nice for you. But I am fine on my own. So I will be going now." Dani was watching him for a few moments. Black rings transformed her into ther ghost half. Her hair living fire and longer. She floated up still keeping him in her sight. She turned away and before she started to fly off. He spoke.
"You know, you've always been different."
She froze mid air. "I know." The admission was spoken with so much hurt and sadness.
"It isnt just what you think... Say do you even know which clone attempt you are?"
She landed but didnt yet turn around to face. "Four?"
"I wish... You were the 37th." She looked around. He didnt say anything, allowing the silence to speak instead. The amount of doubt and indecision plagued her stance. SHe was so distracted with her own thoughts that she had no defences up. He watched as she made a fist and walked up to him. Stopping when she was standing beside him.
"What... what happened to them?"
"I named the first ten. You know me. I grow easily attached and possessive. Seeing them only live from minutes to a few hours is ... was painful back then to me. So I stopped and forced myself not to care for anyone of them until I figured it all out. "
She didnt say anything. That was fine, he had more things to say. He imagined this conversation in the down times he had for recovery. He imagined it being in prison chained, he imagined it in a throne room when he takes over the planet. He even imagined it telling to himself just when he was done making her.
Not once he imagined it being ... so ... willing of her to listen to him. Then again he never imagined Danny and her not getting along.
"I was becoming desperate so I used my own ectoplasm. It worked, for the first time I have some that lasted for a week, but he wasnt allowed to strain himself or be exposed directly to sunlight. His bony self was too sensitive."
"Wait a second... I thought I was the..." She shifted around to be in front of him. Wanting to have eye contact with him. Was she making sure he wasnt making things up?
"My human DNA added,"he cut her off."... caused a increase in strength. All muscles barely brain Danny. So I once more tried with my ghost half and a sample from my core. The little firefly, was having aspects of electricity... Yet when I was taking a sample out my core... I passed out, transforming. As I reviewed the data I uncovered the existence of a mid morph dna that is different than anything I ever saw."
"And then, you made me while using that sample?... I didnt know they had... they were more my brothers than I thought." She concluded sitting down on the ground and hugging her legs. She mourned them again. "It doesnt excuse how you threaten us."
He sat down beside her, he placed his hands around one knee, watching the flowing river. "No it doesnt."
"You named me, even if it was only a letter change." She whispered.
"Yes I did."
"Well, at least you are admitting it... better late than never, eh?" There was a undertone, as if she was thinking of someone else not doing that.
-
24-26
"They will drag you down Dani..." Once more the girl instead of responding picked a stone and played with it in her hand. Watching how her ghostly glow made the stone shadows dance.
"You were always different, but you know that. It must have been tough to be brave. To see them as the dead weight they are and cut them away to be free. I admire that." His finger trailed over the chain shaking it a bit causing the silence to filled with the eerie sound. It was a comfort to him, one he disliked having, yet couldnt go without it.
"It isnt like that... They were not dragging me down...maybe a bit but I could forgive that." She started explaning, the stone lit in ghostly flames.
-
27-28
"Vlad, you ... remember what was one of the first lesson you taught us? About humans?" She asked tilting her head to look at him. He noticed that she called him by his name, not Plasmius or you.
He closed his eyes, allowing himself to remember the memories of another lifetime. One with much less pain.
"You should know they'll try to deceive you. Trust your instincts. Your hunches were right from the start."
"Yeah... they deceived me. To protect me they told me all of your research and things were destroyed by a mob." She looked away and into the sky. It was actually getting quite late. The sun was setting and soon they will be in dark. Their only light the natural glow of their ghost sides.
"It wasnt?" He asked her as he noticed she wasnt continuing.
"No, it wasnt. Danny took me to the far frozen. So I can learn to control my ice powers. Before they cause me problems. The Yeti people didnt check my core. As Danny clone, I would have the same core they assumed... I followed their lesson and... I activated my core."
Flames collected in her hand, there were small sparkles of something else. Whiter in the white flames. Unstable electricity he realized. "Did you know Yeti can burn. I made snow and ice be consumed by flames. They nearly killed me, calling me evil."
"I am sorry, on the positive at least you didnt electrocute youself and caused a power shortage in the whole city." He supplied trying to cheer her up. Why was he trying? Happier allies fight longer, and tend to return the favour. He sure needed cheering up after arena time.
"I was so scared, if it wasnt for Val I would stayed in the dark about why that happened. It was her idea to try and break in and see if maybe even a scrap was left that could explain why I am not ice but fire. Val left them after they told her they hide it from us to protect me. That they knew all along, and simple hoped that those 12% from you, wouldnt affect me. They were testing their teasses when they took me to the Far frozen. Still I forgave them...I was a good girl."
-
29-30
"You didnt sat and played the good boy for long thougth, am I right?" Vlad hummed raising an eyebrow at that.
"You mean a good girl, I am a girl." She corrected.
"Not to them." He stood up. "To them you were just the good boys clone. Or worse even, they saw you as Vlads creation." The way she flinched he hit the nail on the head. Her eyes teared up, yet she didnt let them fail. A deep breath she took control over her emotion. The darkness fall. And she let a few white flames ball float around them.
They were pretty.
"So that what you in the end do. Take a stand and tear this world apart. The world they are living it, blindly and obediently. Maybe from its ashes a new one can be build one that will last." He concluded. She didnt told him he was wrong. She fought the hero, she caused chaos. She was trying to tear their world apart. Tear those lies and false beliefs from their eyes.
-
31-32
"Its dark."
"Well duh, captain obvious stating the obvious." She stated, rolling her eyes. She smiled at him, he had to wonder when was the last time she had a conversation that didnt end up in a shouting match. She was way too open and needy for simple chit chat. She was alone. He knew how that feels.
"Time draws short you gotta make up your mind. "He offered his hand once more. SHe stayed silent, her smile falling from her lips. He knew she was believing she was manipulated."I dont offer this things every day."
-
33-34
"My little tree how big that you could grow. The tree I didnt saw from the forest." Her eyes roamed.
"What do you want?" She asked once more. "It cant be making amends, searching forgiveness. I dont buy that."
"No." Or maybe not in the sense she would think. He was running out of time. He had lived ten years of a life so different from the one of richest and power. Even so he stood out from his own ashes. Regardless how often they tried to break him, he would stand up again and again. No one should ever have to live through that ever.
"If you just say the word I will do what you wish and you will let me stay." his finger trailed over the chain.
-
35-43
"So... I let you stay with me and in return you will help me with what I want. I would be in charge?" She questioned, showing what she would want.
"Side with me Dani, and I will have your back. Count me in when confidence is all your lack to reach your goals." The wind picked up causing the trees to swing in a warrning way, the white fire lights sparkling with static electricity.
"My price is simple rather sparing. But I need your answer now kid. TIme is slipping. Life is choices. Make your choices and lets start living."
44-47
"Dont let go of this opportunity. You are clever girl. You are aware there is no guarantee it will last. No guarantee that I will ever repeat it again."
"I... I realize that Vlad. I can see that something bigger is going on. You arent telling me everything."
She frowned her eyes hard in demand.
"Of course I am not. I didnt tell you anything."
"So why should I side with you? You are lieing to me like everyone else." She stood up, getting ready for a fight. He didnt plan to fight.
"I dont want to tell you until I know you are on my side. I cannot trust you with it before you give me your word." He spoke, explained and apparently her surprise he sounded sincere. Was that something he ddnt do in the previous lifetime? Then again in that life no one shared his condition, no one would be able to return the sincerity in the same way.
"What say you little pal have we got a deal?join me and I will tell you everything you want to know. But to give you a warning, some things... you may not want to hear." His fingers trailed over the chain.
"Tell me, eh?...Like what up with that bracelet? Didnt held you for the jewelry type." She pointed as he floated up starting to make some distance between them. He will need to go, he stayed too long in one place.
"Haven't got all day so you'd best think fast." He chuckled.
-
48-56
"Side with me kid." He started repeating his offer offering his hand. She moved closer, biting her lip.
She floated up in front of him eyeing the offered hand for a handshake. "Time is slipping Dani, life is choices."
She grabbed the offered hand. "Fine father, lets rock the world, lets start living." She flashed her eyes.