Epilogue

When I leave my room, sure that Vlad is asleep, the mansion is silent. The garden outside is silent. The lab is silent. And my clone lies in his chamber in silence.

I stand to the side, observing my doppelganger again. My midnight black hair, messy as ever. My nose and jaw line. The same dusting of freckles over pale skin. Like before, it's still bizarre and unsettling seeing myself reflected so perfectly. I bit my lip, anxiously. While I am certain I am doing the right thing, I still don't know what I'll be dealing with when I wake him up.

I shake my arms and shoulders, trying to loosen up and dislodge some of the nervousness. "Alright Danny. Let's get going."

With that, I press the button to release the glass panel. The door slides open with a hydraulic hiss, leaving the clone exposed to the air. He remains dead to the world, with the same gas mask over his face. I raise my eyebrow. That's probably what's keeping him unconscious. With hands that I wish were more sure, I undo the clasps securing the mask to his head and finally pull it off. As soon as I do, I hear the wet hiss of the white mist Vlad had been pumping into the clone's lungs. Within seconds I start coughing, my head feeling woozy. It's the same stuff Vlad used to knock me out earlier! Panicking, I search for a way to turn the pump off. Come on! Come on! There! I reach for the shut off valve on the storage tank. The hiss of gas from the tank, through the tube, and to the mask quiets and I sigh in relief, tension leaving my shoulders. I really should have thought to do that before I took the gas mask off.

My small panic over, I turn my attention back to the clone. He's still unconscious but hopefully won't be for long. My stomach churns with anxiety; here comes the hard part. After what could be an eternity (but really was only a few moments), movement comes from the figure in the chamber. Eyes still closed, his brow wrinkles in discomfort and his nose scrunches. The clone lets out a sleepy sounding whine. Then tired eyes struggle to flutter open. The figure makes several more grumbling noises before finally his eyes open. The eyes lazily survey his surroundings, struggling and failing to focus. Then boy's icy blue eyes, identical to my own, meet mine. My breath hitches in my throat as I'm mesmerized, caught in this reflection. Unthinking, as if caught in a spell, I lean forward, reaching towards the other boy. At the same time, though his eyes remain half lidded, a measure of clarity enters them as confusion wrinkles his brow. One hand, slightly shaking with weakness, reaches towards me. Before I register what's happening, his hand is on my cheek. At the contact, the confused expression deepens as if the other boy can't seem to figure out what he's seeing. He makes some mumbling, babbling noises as if trying to get his mouth to work. At the same time, my brain seemed to catch up with what was happening. My mouth opened and closed as the surrealness of the situation hit me.

"Hi." I whisper, dumbly, though the word carries a thousand emotions.

Still lying in the chamber, the clone slowly removes his hand from my face. His eyes open a little wider. "Hi." He whispers, also sounding bewildered.

To my suprise, I smile subtly. So he can talk...or at least can copy what I say. But at least that means, I can teach him a few words if I have to. Lost in that thought, I miss the clone trying to sit up until he's on his second try. With shaking arms, he tries to push his upper body into a sitting position. The movements are weak and uncoordinated so with arms unable to support himself, he collapses onto his back.

My nose wrinkles in concern as I reach forward to help him. Eagerly he reaches towards me, weakly wrapping his arms around my chest. I help him into a sitting position, though he instantly flops forward bonelessly. I sigh; this just couldn't be easy, could it. I'll just have to pick him up and pull him out of the chamber. I reach forward, wrapping my arms around the clone and starting to tug him to his feet. The boy squeeks in distress at the action. He starts muttering, sounds and syllables, clear attempts at speech, slurring unintelligibly. I stop, slightly startled by the response.

I meet the clone's eyes again. "I'm just going to help you to your feet, okay?" I say, voice tinged with compassion.

Intelligent blue eyes meet mine. The other boy nods, though it's sloopy and jerky. With the confirmation, I continue until the clone is upright. With my enhanced strength and how light he is, it's easy enough to lift him out of the chamber. I gently place the clone's feet on the floor. His knees wobble and collapse, but he doesn't fall. Lightening fast, I whip an arm behind him so I'm supporting most of his weight. Amazingly, the other boy manages to keep his legs under him, though his head flops forward tiredly.

"Alright." I sigh, feeling some relief. "First, I need to destroy some of Vlad's research. Then we can leave before he notices I'm gone."

The other boy nods lazily and starts hobbling to the other room with one arm slung around my back. After a few moments of shuffling at a snail's pace with only the sounds of our breaths, the silence turns grating. Realizing I don't know how much my clones knows about what's going on, I ask. "My name's Danny. What's yours?"

His head bobs up and down. He slurs, struggling to get out the confusion tinged words. "Daaah-ny. Daahh-ny."

I shake my head with a small smile. "No, that's my name. What's your name?"

"Da-ny" He parrots the response, clearly confused.

I sigh, giving up on trying to get an answer. "It's okay. Knowing Vlad, he was probably planning on calling you Daniel, after me. But we can pick something else out for you...but not Danny. I think having three Dannys might get confusing."

At that the clone shakes his head. He starts muttering quickly, the sounds slurring and running into each other, turning to an unintelligible mess.

I glance over skeptically. "Sorry buddy but I have no idea what you're trying to say."

At that, he frowns, uttering more nonsensical words, though I can almost make out a few. Maybe 'no' and 'not Danny'? At my confused look, he sticks out his tongue, making frustrated noises and getting increasingly distressed.

Before I can figure out what exactly has my clone so distressed, a mechanical clang like a door opening sounds. No! Please, it can't be! My heart rate instantly increases as I stop in my tracks. The pause almost causes my clone to stumble but I put out an arm to steady him. He silences, though I'm not sure if it is from the sound of the door or my change in attitude. But I have barely any time to think about that, mind running in overdrive. As suddenly as I stopped, I start shuffling forward again, dragging the other boy along. He doesn't protest but seems to strive his hardest to keep up. My eyes rove the room, searching for something, anything to help. There! Behind one of the control panels is a spot just big enough for the two of us to squeeze into.

"Hide!" I hiss at the same time the clone drops his hold.

Clusmily, he scrambles behind the machine and to the floor. I follow soon after, taking my backpack off and stuffing it in front of me. At the same time, the ominous sounds of footsteps comes from the other room. I hold my breath, clutching my bag and praying that Vlad will just leave but my prayers are not answered.

"Daniel. I know you are in here." Vlad calls from the other room, voice oddly cold. I tense but remain silent. I glance at my clone whose eyes are wide with fear, his mouth glued shut. From the other room, Vlad shouts again. "Come out, son. It will be better for you if you give yourself up now."

I swallow, heart pounding in fear at Vlad's threatening tone. My mind races as I debate what to do. Vlad will find us; it's only a matter of time. I glance at my clone again. His hands are shaking; he can barely walk. He's clearly in no condition to defend himself, much less help me fight Vlad. Biting my lip, I make up my mind. Opening the book bag, I pull out one of the thermos-shaped ghosts containment devices I found earlier. I hand it to the other boy who stares at it in confusion for a second before looking at me.

"Stay here and hide." I whisper. "If Vlad comes after you, press this button and it will capture him. Just don't use that on me."

The clone's eyes widen with worry at the statement. As I move to stand, he grabs my wrist. "No. Help." He manages to utter with surprising clarity.

I shake the hand off. "No. You're in no condition to fight. I'll deal with Vlad and come back for you. I promise."

With a flash of light, I transform. The clones reaches for me again, crying "Wait" just before I phase through the machinery. As soon as I'm on the other side, the door to the cloning room opens. Vlad Masters steps through.

"There you are Daniel." He says, tone surprisingly flat, almost bored. "Come back upstairs."

Instead of responding, I light my fists with ectoenergy and survey the room, trying to formulate a plan in a fraction of a second. Maybe I can force Vlad into one of the chambers and knock him out with that gas? No..I can't take him, at least not in a fair fight. But if he didn't have his powers… With that thought, I start floating across the room, following the walls. If I can just get to the table near the door (and coincidentally near Vlad), I can get the device he used to take away my powers and give Vlad a taste of his own medicine.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, trying to distract Vlad by getting him to talk.

The older man narrows his eyes, frowning. "I could ask you that same thing, son."

Before I can think of a suitable answer, a pleading voice calls behind me. "Wait. Wait."

I turn halfway around to see the clone on his hands and knees, having crawled halfway out from behind the panel. My eyes widen. "I told you to hide." I hiss.

A brief look that might be guilt flashes over the other boy's face before it's replaced by a glare aimed at Vlad. I then turn to face Vlad again, positioning myself between him and the clone.

Instead of looking shocked like I expected, the older half-ghost's face remains deceptively calm. "Son, put your counterpart back in his chamber and we can forget all about this."

The subtle emphasis on 'forget' sends a measure of rage through me. And the game is already up...there's no point in pretending anymore. "You mean you'll make me forget."

"Son." Vlad starts but I cut him off.

I grit my teeth, growling. "I'm not your son."

At the statement, Vlad's expression remains unmoved. He waves his hand, as if trying to placate me. "Now there's not need…"

"Cut the cramp Vlad. I know what you've been doing!"

"Oh do you now?" One eyebrow rises, seemingly amused.

"I know that you kidnapped and brainwashed me! And you cloned me, again!"

With quirked lips, Vlad glances at the clone behind me. Then his eyes focus on me, with a hint of amusement. "Did I? How exactly did I kidnap you?"

"You...you paid for me to go to Space Camp and then conveniently kidnapped me when no one at home would know I was missing for weeks! Then you used that stupid Lethean water and the dumb plant to brainwash me. Then you probably planned to brainwash the kid behind me. To have him pretend to be me and trick my friends and family, you bastard! " I grin wickedly. "But you loss! Because I remember! I figure it out and I'm leaving!" I take a step back towards my clone, glancing at him. "We're leaving."

Expecting Vlad to fly into a fit of rage, I instead pale at his reaction; the man starts laughing. "I suspected this morning that you had discovered something incriminating but I never suspected this fabrication."

I open and close my mouth, thrown off by Vlad's reaction. "My friends and family are not a fabrication!"

He closes his mouth, laugher ceasing though he still wears a knowing smile. "I suppose they are not, though they are not yours."

"So... what? They've all disowned me now! Is that what you're saying?" I spread my arms, unease replaced by anger.

"You really do not suspect." His eyes focus on something (or someone) behind me. "You have no idea who you're protecting, do you?"

I turn around, meeting familiar blue eyes. The clone stares up at me eyes wide with shock, fear, and...something else. He shakes his head, pleadingly mouthing something but I can't tell what. My face softens for a moment before I turn back to Vlad.

"I don't care that he's a clone Vlad!" I shout. " I'm not going to let you touch him. You're never going to hurt me or anyone else ever again."

The older halfa snorts (actually snorts!). "Please. You are too dull or blind to see the truth, much less help yourself or anyone else."

I ball my fists. "I'm not stupid! I know what's going on."

Suddenly the older half ghost turns serious, frowning at me. "And yet you still think you're real."

Once again I'm stop in my tracks. "What...what's that supposed to mean?" I sputter, my stomach churning with a mixture of anger and anxiety from Vlad's odd behavior.

Vlad rolls his eyes. "Must I really spell it out?" When I don't respond he continues. "Come now. You must at least suspect by now that something is wrong with your memories."

"There's nothing wrong with my memories!" I argue, though a small ball of dread is growing in my gut.

"Then why do your memories of being here feel more real than anything before?" I open my mouth to argue, to deny it but no words come out. He continues, scholarly, flatly as the words dig into my heart. "Everything from before is distant and disjoined, isn't it? You only remember fragments with no context and none of the thoughts and emotions that go along with it. None of it feels real."

"No that's.." not true, I want to say but I can't.

"But you've convinced yourself that it is real. You've wanted a home and a family so badly you bought your own lie."

"No. Mom and Dad, Jazz, Sam and Tucker are real. Amity Park is real." I argue, though I'm not sure if it's with Vlad or myself.

"As I said before, they are. But they. Are. Not. Yours." Vlad spits out each deliberately as my hands start shaking. Vlad then continues, tone gaining an air of cockiness. "It is unfortunate really. It appears I did too good of a job on you. I managed to embed those obnoxious memories of 'your friends and family' very deeply but failed to erase them completely." He tissked. "There's always next time."

My thoughts tumble into each other and crash to a stop as I stare at Vlad dumbly. "What...what do you mean you embedded those memories?"

"Really, boy?" He turns his nose down at me, clearly annoyed. "I gave you those memories."

"But..but...that's not...no" I stutter.

"You still don't understand, stupid boy. Your 'memories' are just copies, belonging to someone else. They are not real. You are not real."

"No. You're..you're lying. You're trying to trick me."

Vlad scoffs. "What reason could I possibly have to deceive you? You've already discovered too much. You won't remember in a few hours anyway."

Vlad's eyes glance to the device on the table beside him and something like a flip switches in my mind. Through my panic and dread, my only thought is keeping that gadget away from Vlad. Impossibly, I am beside the table within the blink of an eye. I snatch up the device, holding it defensively in front of me. Clicking the device on, I surge forward to jab it in Vlad's gut but he grabs my wrist a second before.

Red ectoenergy bleeds into his eyes as he bares fangs at me. "You oppose me at every turn."

His grip tightens oppressively. I bite back a scream, feeling my wrist fracturing . "Please. I..I just want to go home."

"You don't have a home. Or a family. Or friends." Somehow his smile turns even more wicked. "I made you, in this lab."

"No, that's not true." I deny, voice trembling.

He drops me with a thud. "You are nothing, no one. You're a copy and a defective one at that."

"No! You're lying to me!" I shout, hoping, praying that it's not true. I shot an ectoblast at him with my good hand.

With barely any effort, he forms a shield, absorbing my attack. "You. Are. A. Clone!" He punctuated each word with a kick to my abdomen.

Clone. The words reverberates in my head, making me feel nauseous. It...it can't be true, can it? Though my head is spinning, rage burns through my veins. When Vlad's leg swings forward to kick me again, I grab his leg with one hand. His momentum suddenly stopped, the older man falls to the floor as his legs fly out from under him. He growls in protest but before he can act, I channel electricity through my arm and into his leg. He twists and convulses as I increase the voltage. Gritting my teeth, I pull at my core harder and harder until my vision starts going blurry with effort. In that moment, I don't care if I seriously hurt Vlad or if I even kill him. I just need to get away. Finally Vlad goes still.

As soon as I stop pouring electricity into him, the white rings form around my waist, trying to turn me human but I manage to maintain my form. Completely spent, I start dragging myself forward with one weak arm. But I freeze when I hear a whine. My head jerks up and my eyes finally fall on the other conscious person in the room. He crawls towards me surprisingly quickly, with as much coordination as weak limbs will allow. Seeing my gaze, he also stops but makes no sound. In fact, he has not tried to speak or make any noise since right after Vlad showed up. I study those familiar eyes, taking in the serious expression. Those eyes, that expression. It's so familiar, not just because the boy looks like me. I see fear, guilt, and...pity (compassion?) behind those eyes as my body and my mind tremble with anxiety. I know ...I know that expression. No, I know the boy behind those eyes. My stomach heaves. Vlad...Vlad was telling the truth.

Not paying attention to my injured wrist in my distress, I try to move my hands in front of my mouth. Stabbing pain shoots up my arm in response. I don't even try to bite back the pain filled scream. Tears well in my eyes. The clo...Dan-...the boy's mouth turns down in concern and he continues crawling towards me. Then his eyes focus on something behind me and widen in fear.

Before I have time to wonder, rough hands grab me from behind. The figure whips me around and Vlad appears in front of me in ghost form. The soulless, blood red eyes bore into me and he bares his impressive fangs. Rage radiates off of him, brightening his aura. I can feel the ghostly energy wafting off of him in burning hot waves. He looks every part the vampire he tries to emulate...or the demon.

I scream as he squeezes my injured wrist. With a whirl of motion, he teleports us to the room with the portal. He releases me, practically throwing me across the room. I slam into wall, landing on my back.

"You belong to me!" Vlad screams.

Though my head is spinning, I aim a shot at him but it misses. An instant later, excruciating pain rips through my chest. My scream chocks on the way up as my vision blurs. I blink and Vlad appears in front of me, waving a remote. "I installed this little fail safe after that first failure turned against me."

"What?" I manage to choke out.

He flicks my chest and another wave of pain spikes. "I installed a chip, right over your core. Useful for controlling wayward experiments, like you C18."

The word- experiments- and the id number send almost as much pain through my heart as the chip. "Why? Why did you do this?" I whisper with a sob.

He tissked, crouched down beside me but ignoring my question. "Now, it's not so bad, is it C18. Just yield to me and the pain will end." He brushed his hand through my hair. "You belong at my side, little badger."

Despite the pain or maybe because of it, I growl though new tears well in my eyes. "Never."

Vlad's eyes narrow. "Wrong answer." He presses a button on the remote. The energy in my chest seems to sputter and then tense, cramping. A new wave of pain rises, causing my whole body to shake. "Now do you feel like trying again?"

I grit my teeth, barely suppressing a scream as my chest heaves, with pain and sorrow. "Why?! Why are you doing this? Why did you make me?"

Vlad grins and gently puts one hand under my chin. "I might as well tell you, since you will not remember. You are a test copy, C18. A proof of concept to determine how to successfully brainwash Daniel into thinking he is my son. There is only one Daniel after all and I wouldn't want to wipe his mind completely, like I did to your predecessor." Each word stabbed into my heart as Vlad continued, frowning. "It is sad really. The poor clone fought throughout the process but was reduced to any empty shell. I had to put him down, nothing worth salvaging." The man then smiled at me, dementedly. "But there is no need to worry about that, my boy. I will be extremely careful with your reprogramming. You are very valuable for my research, by far my most successful experiment." He strokes my check, sending shivers down my spine. I try to move away but my muscles lock up with another wave of pain. "In fact, I was originally planning on sending you to Amity Park posed as Daniel after I successfully reprogrammed your original. I would stage a little 'accident' so Jack and Maddie would think they buried their son but I can use C17 for that- all I need to do is produce a body anyway. However, I think I'll keep you. I still want the real Daniel of course. But why have one half ghost son when I can have two? Would you like that, little badger?"

Again, I try to move away as disgust and horror flows through me. Vlad is absolutely insane. The man moves closer, ruffling my hair. With tremendous effort, I spit in his face. "Go to hell."

Vlad's express changes in an instant as he wipes my spit from his face. "Well then. It appears you need more time to think about this."

With that, he presses another button on his remote. More pain. Burning, freezing, ripping, tearing, slicing pain as my core pulses in rapid succession, tensing and untensing all the while feeling like it will vibrate out of my chest. I let out an ear-drum bursting, glass shattering scream- literally; some glasses of ectoplasm samples shattered at the noise. My vision blurs as my heart pounds painfully. I try to double over, to curl up but can not move. Another wave of pain sends a few tears out of my eyes. Then my hands and feet start feeling cold and tingly ...and then wet. Am I sweating or bleeding? Though it feels like my head weighs a thousand pounds, I manage to turn it to the side. I struggle to focus on my hand. What's all that green stuff? My panicking mind finally catches up. Ectoplasm. My nightmare- watching my...another clone destabilize and then melting myself- flashes through my mind. My eyes widen just as another wave of pain hits and the ectoplasm spreads up to my wrist. I'm ...I'm destabilizing.

"No! No!" Comes Vlad's shout from beside me.

But I can't focus on Vlad's reaction as a dam bursts within my mind. I start weeping. I'm a clone, a copy. Not even real. One of Vlad's goddamn experiments. Oh, God. And I'm melting. I'm destabilizing. I'm going to die.

Just then what could only be described as a roar, a wordless sound of rage, rang through the lab as a black and white figure slams into Vlad. The blurry white haired figure darts in and out of my vision with Vlad. I stare at the ceiling, taking in the sounds of breaking glass and crushed metal. An explosion reverbs somewhere to my right. Grunt, groans, and shouts of rage sound but not a word, no witty banter or snarky comments from either half ghost.

At the same time, I weep on the floor, feeling my body literally falling apart. My legs are gone up to my knees and my arms up to my shoulders. I struggle to breathe, mentally fighting to keep myself solid but it's no use. The ectoplasm just spreads faster. And what's the point? I'm just a stupid clone. I don't have a home or family and friends to go home to. All the faces of the people I've come to see as my loved ones flash through my mind, people that I love even though I've never meet them. Or maybe I just love them because the real Danny does. Somehow I cry harder as the ectoplasm spreads to my hips.

Suddenly the temperature drops, my breath misting in front of me. Ice crystals form on the ceiling above me. Vlad yells something but his voice suddenly cuts off. The lab is in silence. Not three seconds later, a face appears in front of me. White hair, green eyes, slightly glowing freckles. It's me. No, not me. It's Danny, the real Danny. Mom and Dad's real son, Jazz's real brother, Sam and Tucker's real friend. I'm just a fake, an imposter.

Danny's face blurs in front of me as my tears renew. I can barely see the remote he clutches in his hands. He frantically presses the buttons, lips moving in silent pleas. Or maybe not silent, maybe I don't have ears to hear them anymore. His eyes widen with panic as nothing happens. The destabilization doesn't stop. He's reaching towards my chest now but his hands just meet the soupy mess that's become my torso. His lips move. "No! No! No!" Is he ...crying? My mouth is gone so I can't ask but I'm crying too. I'm crying because I'm dying but I never really got the chance to live. At least Danny Fenton, the real one, not me, will get to go home after this...Maybe he'll tell Mom and Dad, and Jazz, and Sam and Tucker what happened to me. I really wish I was the one going home. That is my last thought before my eyes disappear. The last thing I see- Danny Fenton mouthing "I'm sorry." Then I am gone.

Note: And that's the end...or is it? Make sure to let me know what you think as I am considering doing a tie-in story or sequel.
Also a really important note- I would have mentioned this at the begining but doing so would have tipped people off to the twist. This story was very heavily influenced by the stories: Memories by HappyLeif, and Smokescreen by Nylah (both are on ). Please check those out of you haven't. You will definitely see the similarities and maybe get a glimpse of why I wanted to write a story with an unwitting clone protagonist. Anyway, thank you to everyone who took a chance on this story and gave me your support and encouragement.