Dear readers,
Thanks to all of you who have kept up with this story. That means all of you who have reviewed, followed and favorite. A special thanks to DriftingGem for adding me to his/her community. I also thank all of you who read Inevitability. I'm revising the second installment of the series (which is completely unrelated to Live!) and I've added a lot more bulk to it.
Now, for the reviews!
UltimateTouken: The title should answer your question.
Shugokage: Thank you! Your words mean a lot!
Guntherson962: Good luck on your beta hunt! And no, this won't end very well for Danny. Or Raven, for that matter. It won't be a total tragedy though.
Once again, a big shout-out to my beta Rosalind2013! She rocks!
The title of this chapter is an anonymous quote. I couldn't find any movie quotes that weren't directly Star Wars related.
And now, another episode of…..Live!
The Sincerest Form of Flattery is … Cloning?
"Glorious!" Starfire exclaimed, jumping ten feet into the air and flying little victory laps in the sky.
"Yeah dude!" Beast Boy said pumping his fists in the air, his previous fatigue completely forgotten. "Raven's alive! I knew she was too hard to do in! And now that she's got her powers, Control Freak is totally done for!"
"I say we get back to the Tower for a celebratory barbeque." Cyborg petitioned, earning him a glare from Beast Boy. "Don't look at me like that. You know I ain't cooking any of your nasty tofu stuff."
"C'mon Cy!" Beast Boy whined. "I'm too tired to cook," he replied, slumping for emphasis.
"You didn't look so tired a minute ago." Cyborg argued, referring to Beast Boy's earlier celebration.
"I was happy!"
"Please friends," Starfire said, hovering in between Beast Boy and Cyborg. "A great victory has been won today. Our friend has not perished. If the cooking of food is a problem, perhaps I can-"
"NO!" Beast Boy and Cyborg shouted in unison. When they noticed Starfire's shocked and slightly hurt expression they sighed.
"It's not a problem Star," Beast Boy said.
"Yeah," Cyborg agreed. "There's room on the grill for hamburgers and veggie burgers too," he said with a brief wince.
Starfire beamed. "Wonderful," she said. "What of you, friend Robin?"
Robin hadn't been listening to their conversation. Since the end of the episode he had been staring into the blank screen of his communicator, with his mouth turned down in a frown. It's not that he wasn't happy Raven and Danny were alive - he was. The reason for his frown stemmed from the last five minutes of the episode. It was obvious Control Freak had made a clone of Raven. He probably decided that trying to kill them both at the same time wouldn't work; it would be best to hit them one at a time. He would have gloated about it, but he was probably too embarrassed that his first plan had failed. The first thing that popped into Robin's mind was to think of a strategy to help get Raven and Danny out, before Control Freak succeeded.
"Friend Robin?" Starfire prompted again, placing a gentle hand on Robin's shoulder.
Robin shook his head and placed his communicator in his pocket. "I'm sorry Star, I didn't hear your question," he admitted.
"We were thinking of having a barbeque to celebrate friend Raven's success," Starfire replied cheerily.
"Oh, sure." Robin said.
The rest of the Titans sighed in relief. They thought Robin would switch straight into salvage mode, making them think of ways to help Danny and Raven until they had splitting headaches, as soon as they got to the Tower.
"But after that, we have to-"
"I don't want to hear it Rob," Cyborg interrupted, putting a hand up for Robin to stop. "You've been working us like dogs since this whole thing started."
"Yeah man," Beast Boy agreed. "We're all worried about Raven and we're glad she's alright, but were beat. We've been fighting for hours. We're useless if we don't take a break."
Robin's frown returned to his face, "Raven's fine for now. Are we just going to wait until she's in trouble again to start thinking of a way to help her?"
"No, we're not." Cyborg said firmly. "We're going to rest up and clear our heads. It's the best thing to do."
"I agree with friend Cyborg," Starfire said, speaking up for the first time in the conversation. "I fear I would not be very productive in my current state."
Robin sighed and ran a gloved hand through his hair. As much as he hated to admit it, his teammates were right. They had to rest. Even he was too tired to think straight. "Fine," Robin conceded. "We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow."
"Wonderful," Starfire exclaimed excitedly. "Now we need only think about how to get to the Tower. Which of you would like to ride on my back?"
/
There was a brief pause when the episode ended, during which all of Amity Park seemed to have frozen. Immediately afterwards, the city thundered with cheers that could be heard in the next town. In that instant, all the students rushed out of school completely ignoring any shouts for them to get back to their seats. Sam, Tucker and Jazz made a beeline straight for Fenton Works and managed to crash through the door at the same time.
"Mom! Dad!" Jazz shouted. "Danny's-" she stopped when she noticed that her parents weren't there.
"Where are they?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. I thought they would be partying by now or something." Tucker said.
"I know where they are," Jazz said. She moved to the basement door, careful not to step on any of the used tissues that littered the floor, and opened it wide. Jazz rushed down the short staircase, eager to tell her parents the good news. Sam and Tucker followed closely behind. Jazz immediately saw her parents. They were hunched over a lab table full of defective ecto-guns.
"Mom! Dad!" Jazz shouted as she hugged her mom.
Maddie looked up from the device she was working on and pulled her goggles up. "Jazz honey, what's gotten into you? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" she asked.
"Didn't you see it?! Danny's alive!" Jazz said excitedly, releasing her mother.
"We know that, Jazzy-pants," Jack said. "That's why we're down here."
"What are you working on?" Sam asked picking up the ecto-gun and examining it.
"Be careful with that Sam," Maddie warned. "It's a live gun." She carefully placed the gun back on the lab table.
"Aren't you excited?" Tucker asked. "Danny's okay."
"We are excited, dear. We just thought it would be best for us to come down to the lab and tweak some of our old weapons. Try and get the creative juices flowing so we could think of a way to help Danny," Maddie explained.
"I wanted to throw a party – with lots and lots of fudge- but no." Jack grumbled.
"So, what have you come up with?" Jazz asked.
"Not much I'm afraid," Maddie said with a sigh. "We really do want to help Danny. We're so sick of moping around, but we just can't think of anything."
"Why don't you ask the Titans?" Sam suggested.
"Yeah," Tucker agreed. "I'm sure they'll appreciate the help of two genius inventors."
"That's a great idea!" Jack exclaimed. "Glad I thought of it."
Tucker frowned. "But you didn't-"
"I'll call them right now," Maddie said as she left.
Maddie hummed slightly as she dialed in the number to the secure line to call Robin. She wasn't quite sure how this would turn out. The Titans were a capable team and she was sure they could handle the situation on their own. She just felt she couldn't sit back and do nothing for her son. Finally, Robin answered.
"Hello? Mrs. Fenton?" he asked.
"Yes Robin." Maddie answered. "How are you all coming along?" she asked.
"All is well with us friend!" A different, more feminine voice said.
"Yeah Mrs. F. We're just chilling."
Robin's authoritative voice came back on, "Sorry about that. I have you on speaker."
"What are you doing?" Maddie asked intrigued.
"We're just resting," Robin answered. "Villains have been attacking us since dawn broke, and we only just got back to the Tower. We honestly just need to catch our breath."
Maddie gave a small smile. They really did behave like normal teenagers. Maybe they had a point.
"Is there anything you wanted?" Robin asked.
"No, no. Nothing at all." Maddie answered shaking her head. "Have fun kids. Bye."
She gently placed the receiver down and sighed. She really hoped Danny would forgive her for what she was about to do. "Jack!" she yelled. "Break out the fudge! We're having a party!"
"YES!"
/
Danny really wanted Raven to slow her pace. They had been trekking since she abruptly woke him up, as soon as the sky began to lighten. He had woken up to the same environment of the sparse forest and voiced his unease to Raven. She had just shrugged off his concern without a word, and started walking at a near running pace. That, and the fact that Danny always managed to get his feet caught in stray vines, made it very difficult to keep up with her. Eventually, he gained some common sense and started floating after her.
He wished she would talk to him. When she was paralyzed she wasn't much of a talker. Danny almost always had to initiate the conversation, but this was just ridiculous. She hadn't said a single word to him since the day before. He figured that since her powers were back, she would put a leash on how much emotion she expressed, but he didn't think that it merited her going completely mute. He had tried to get a conversation going and had been met with silence every time. Danny figured one more try wouldn't hurt him.
"Are you sure this is the direction of the light I saw?" he asked. That question had been nagging at him since they started walking the day before. Raven hadn't mentioned it and Danny had lost his bearings after their whole ordeal.
"Yes," she answered almost mechanically, a far cry from her normal monotone.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked hovering in front of her, effectively stopping her in her tracks. "Your voice sounds…different." He tried to peer through her hood – she hadn't taken it off since yesterday – to see her eyes, but he couldn't make them out.
"I'm fine." She relayed. "I just want to get out of here as soon as possible." She brushed past him rather roughly and continued walking at her quick pace.
Danny cut in front of her again. "I want to get back home too." He said. "My parents are probably worried sick about me, not to mention my sister and best friends." He tried to look at her eyes again, but she had lowered her head, causing the hood to cover her eyes even more. "I think the trip would be much more enjoyable if we could talk, like we used to."
Raven didn't say anything and attempted to walk past him again. Danny stopped her by gripping her arm tightly. "I'm not going to let you-" he was cut off when Raven suddenly grabbed his forearm, and slammed him onto the forest floor hard enough to daze him. From his angle on the floor, he finally took a look at Raven. Her irises were a dull red and her normal pale skin had lost much of its pallor. "You're not Raven," he accused, narrowing his eyes.
The clone smiled wickedly, and before he could recover, she leaped on top of him and clasped her hands around his neck, choking him. Danny swiftly sent a knee into her abdomen. Scrambling back to his feet, he had enough time to get into a battle stance before the clone sent another punch flying towards him. The boy knocked the fist off course with a flick of his wrist; he was no novice to combat. She attempted to send a kick to his gut, but it never connected, as Danny lunged to the side. The kick was a decoy, however, and he was suddenly looking straight at an approaching roundhouse. Given the fact that this wasn't the real Raven; Danny fired an ecto-ray from his palm at the oncoming leg. The leg melted off, and the clone paused for a minute; teetering on one leg. Danny stood triumphantly, albeit a little grossed out. This wasn't going to be a hard fight.
He groaned when he saw the clone's leg begin to regenerate. The clone stared back at him, the same wicked smile on the face that should be Raven's. Reassuming his battle stance, Danny charged again.
/
Raven's irritation melted into worry as soon as the sun came up. It was obvious that something had happened to Danny, there was no way he could have gotten lost and not found her by now. She had tried many times already to track his aura, but something in the environment was messing with her detection abilities. So she started tracking him the old fashioned way, following the footprints he left on the forest floor.
Raven rubbed her stomach absentmindedly. She hadn't eaten anything for three days now. The gnawing ache in her stomach was starting to affect her focus and her grip on her powers. She hoped Danny hadn't gotten himself into too much trouble. She probably wouldn't be able to do much before losing control and-
Raven shook her head. She would not lose control. She would not turn into that. She forced herself to focus on Danny's footprints. They seemed rushed; he had bumped into a lot of foliage, which was something he had never done when Raven was paralyzed. It was obvious that he was running. Raven saw another set of prints before his, shaped oddly like the soles of her boots. Raven's mouth turned down in a frown, that wasn't a good sign.
She was surprised when Danny suddenly came flying through the foliage and slammed right into a tree next to her. He delayed in getting up and he frowned when he saw her. "That was a dirty punch," he growled.
"What are you talking about?" Raven asked lowering her hood.
Danny's eyes widened. "Raven! It's you!" he exclaimed.
"Of course it's me," she said. "Who else-" She was interrupted when Danny grabbed her arm and forced her to start running with him, away from the direction he came flying from.
"We have to get out of here!" Danny said with urgency.
"What are we running from?" Raven asked. As an answer, a heavy weight landed on her and knocked her onto the ground. She looked up and saw Danny wrestling with a clone of her.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she exclaimed. She extended an arm and the hand glowed with black energy. The clone was encased in the same energy and was sent flying off of Danny and hurtling into a thick tree with a dull thud. Raven remained on the ground, her head reeling. Her hunger was worse than she had originally thought. She felt angered at her weakness.
Danny ran over to her, helping her up. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine." Raven said rubbing her temples and chanting her mantra in her mind. Slowly, the dizziness began to fade.
Danny suddenly pushed her away, sending her sprawling to the floor again as the clone came back and tackled him. Danny wanted nothing more than to just blast the clone into nothingness, but the real Raven was here. He was beginning to think it would have been a good idea to tell her his secret from day one. The clone landed a hard punch to his jaw that left him stunned. It then took advantage of his dazed state and made its way over to Raven.
"Stay back," Raven warned in a low voice. She was kneeling on the ground, head placed against the cool forest floor as she fought to still the relentless spinning in her head. "I'm warning you." The clone laughed and kept advancing. "Stay. Away." Raven insisted. She gripped the ground, trying to stabilize herself. She was losing control of her powers. She couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let that happen. If only that irritating clone would just stay away.
The clone moved to stand over her and yanked back on Raven's cloak, hard. Raven's head snapped back and the clone gasped and took a few steps backward when it noticed Raven's two pairs of glowing red eyes. Raven's lips turned up in a wide, wicked, grin that was laced with sharp fangs. "I warned you." She said in a scratchy, echoing voice. The clone turned, in a futile effort to run away, but the half-demon halted it with a simple raised hand.
She stood up, and the doppelganger looked on in terror as she began to grow taller, the threatening grin still in place. Using her magic, she brought the clone close to her face. "Where do you think you're going? We're just about to have a little fun." At that, Raven used her magic to suspend the clone in the air, spread-eagled. She applied pressure on all its limbs, stretching them to the limit. The clone let out a loud, agonized scream.
Danny had recovered from the punch long ago, and stood observing the scene with wide eyes. He found himself shuddering in horror at the thing Raven had become. She obviously wasn't herself; he had to snap her out of it. "Raven!" he yelled. "Stop!"
Raven turned to him, all her four eyes glowing red. She frowned, and with a passive wave of her hand the clone exploded, raining grey goo everywhere. She started to advance towards Danny, the same wicked grin on her face. "Oh. You want to join in the fun too?" she asked in that same wicked tone, pitch-black tentacles extending from her cloak and wrapping around Danny.
Danny shuddered at the cold, empty feeling of the tentacles, but forced himself to stand his ground. "Raven, I don't know what's happening to you, but you have to come back! This isn't who you are!" he shouted.
"Foolish boy," she cooed. "This is exactly what she is, what she will become, who she will releas-"
"No it's not!" Danny interrupted. "Not if she has any say in it."
Raven's frown deepened, and she blinked hard. When she opened her eyes, they had returned to a normal violet. She gasped and instantly released Danny, who fell to the floor with a thud. Danny watched as the black tentacles went back into her cloak and she began to shrink in size. When she returned to normal she gripped her head, swaying unstably.
Danny had just enough time to catch her before she hit the ground, unconscious.
/
Danny added more wood to the fire as he watched Raven sleep. She had been asleep for hours; night had fallen a long time ago. He had wrapped her cloak around her in a makeshift blanket and lit a fire, to help her stay warm. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping, so harmless – fragile even. Danny was finding it extremely hard to believe what had happened earlier.
Maybe Raven was possessed? Maybe a ghost had followed them here and taken overshadowed her without him noticing. Maybe that was why she had been paralyzed. That would mean the ghost now had access to her powers, now had the ability to turn her into that. Danny knew it was far-fetched. He doubted that someone like Raven could even be possessed. Still, he refused to believe that it had actually been Raven who mercilessly tortured the clone, and then threatened to torture him.
Raven gave a small smile and shifted in her sleep, but did not wake.
Danny blamed himself. If he had been frank with her from day one and told her he was Phantom, they could have avoided all this. Heck, they could even be in their homes by now. He knew she was an experienced hero, maybe even more than he himself. He just couldn't help feeling bad that she had to go through all of this. The paralysis, the loss of her powers, and now this.
He added another twig into the fire and watched the dry leaves on it burn slowly. Eventually though, his eyes flickered back up to her sleeping face. He was done keeping secrets. He would tell her the truth when she woke up. Question is, how would he do it?
Raven groaned suddenly and sat up, gripping her head. She disentangled herself from her cloak and looked into the fire, but not at Danny.
"There's a few apples by you," Danny said. "I figured you'd be hungry."
"Thank you." Raven mumbled. She picked up one of the apples and examined it in her hand, not eating it. "I suppose you expect an explanation for what happened," she murmured.
"Not really."
Raven looked up at him, locking eyes. "What?" she asked.
Danny rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find the right words to say. "You've got a secret, I respect that. If you share it with someone, it should be because you want to. Not because you feel like you owe it to them." He said picking his words carefully. "You don't owe me an explanation, you don't even owe me an apology. This environment took its toll on you. I know that. I accept that. There's nothing more for you to say."
Raven held his gaze for a long time. "Thank you." She said simply, a small smile gracing her lips.
"Don't thank me yet." Danny said, growing nervous. This was it, he was going to tell her. "There's actually a secret I've been-"
"Save it." Raven said, holding a hand up for him to stop talking. "You let me keep my secret, you get to keep yours."
"You don't understand." Danny protested. "I want to tell you."
"Well, I won't listen." Raven said taking a bite of the apple. "I'm trying to reciprocate your kindness here. Don't make it more difficult than it needs to be. You can tell me later, if you're still dead-set on it then."
Danny put his head in his hands and gave a long sigh. He finally got up the courage to tell Raven his secret and she would hear nothing of it. Danny lifted his head out of his hands and looked at Raven over the fir. He decided that he could wait.
"Sounds like a plan," he said.
"Good." Raven said. She held out one of the apples to him. "Want one?"
Danny accepted the fruit, and for a while there was nothing but silence as they ate and stared into the glowing flames. Danny shivered when a cold breeze blew by. The temperature suddenly dropped by several degrees and an icy wind came with it. He didn't normally feel much cold, his ice core was probably the cause of that, but since he hadn't gone ghost in so long, it was probably weakened.
Raven noticed his shivering. "Cold?" she asked.
Danny nodded and moved closer to the fire, rubbing his arms. "A little." He said.
Raven pursed her lips. "We can share my cloak, if you want." She offered.
Danny looked at her in surprise. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to invade your personal space or anything." He said.
"It's no big deal," Raven said with a passive wave of her hand. "Beast Boy does it all the time when we go on missions in colder regions. I never let him do it for long, not when he can morph into a creature that is more resistant to cold. You only have a t-shirt and jeans," she stated.
Danny realized she raised a good argument. It would be a waste of breath to argue with her. Danny stood up and walked over to her side of the fire. Raven opened up her cloak in invitation. Awkwardly, Danny sat next to her and wrapped his end of her cloak over his shoulders, almost sighing with relief when he was filled with warmth. They continued to eat, not speaking as they stared into the fire.
He and Raven were brushing shoulders each time one of them moved, sending little shocks down Danny's arm. He snuck a glance at Raven's face, but the stony expression betrayed no sign that she felt what he did. The light of the fire illuminated her face, making her pale skin glow and her deep violet eyes dance. Danny tore his eyes away from her face, blushing.
"I don't want to forget you," Raven said suddenly.
"What?" Danny asked, surprised.
Raven bent her head down and focused on the fire, instead of Danny's face. "When this is all over, you go back to Illinois and I go back to California," she elaborated. "It's just that you've been a good…friend through this all. I don't want to forget about you." The sorceress's face was unreadable, but he saw a little glimmer of emotion in her eyes.
The blush returned to Danny's face, and he found himself staring at the fire too. "I – uh – sure. I mean, the feeling's mutual. I don't want to forget about you either. I don't even think I could," he admitted truthfully. He suddenly had an idea, and turned his gaze to her with renewed excitement, "Maybe we could visit each other?"
"I doubt I could visit you," Raven replied. "The crime rate is so high in Jump City it's astonishing. I don't think I'd get the time."
Danny's face slackened. "Oh," he said.
Raven caught his dismayed tone and immediately began backtracking. "But," she said quickly. "I'm not against a little late night teleportation when everyone's asleep. It should be daytime in Illinois by then anyway."
Danny gave a small smile. "I'd like that," he replied, feeling as if his words were a bit of an understatement. "Anything to keep in touch."
Raven nodded. She'd like that too.
/
Maddie slowly turned off the TV and turned to face the trio of teenagers that sat in the couch with her. "Since when can Danny fire ecto-blasts from his fists?" she asked calmly.
Sam, Tucker and Jazz fidgeted. "Um, maybe it's another side effect from the portal accident?" Jazz offered.
"Uh, yeah." Sam agreed. "I mean, it's only logical."
Tucker nodded furiously in agreement.
"That would explain why all our ghost weapons keep acting up on him." Jack said.
Maddie pursed her lips. She didn't believe them one bit. They and Danny were obviously keeping a big secret. She was determined to find out what it was.
