And so begins chapter two!
Danny groaned and rubbed his face as he leaned against the wall. "How long is this going to take?"
"Oh I'm sorry, which one of us knows how female clothes sizes work?" His clone's muffled voice sounded from the stall.
"Uhh, neither of us." He pointed out.
"Exactly!"
After beating Skulker and checking with Tucker and Sam real quick the next destination had been Amity Park's mall. For clothes shopping, neither of them were particularly excited about this but Dani was sick of wearing Danny's clothes. Although two similar looking teens wearing the same outfit had attracted some glances on the way in Jacy's.
Of course Danny had only been clothes shopping for girls with his mom and sister, so he had never really paid attention to all the details on sizes. So it was unfortunate to learn that for some reason clothes, companies didn't just make female clothes have the simple small-medium-large dynamic.
Also like, nothing had pockets. Not even the jeans.
The two halfas were in the changing area of Jacy's at the moment. Dani was inside one of the stalls trying the variety of clothes to figure out which sizes actually fit her. It was a process but it's a good thing she only had to try on different sizes of the same outfit, after all, why would she ever wear something different?
Finding the right outfit hadn't taken too long thankfully. Unfortunately for Danny he didn't have much to do except wait. He almost wished a ghost would show up so he could have something to do right now.
He'd even settle for a box ghost right now.
After an eternity of waiting, also known as fifteen minutes, Dani finally stepped out of the stall wearing a size that fit her comfortably.
Apart from lacking the sweatshirt for the moment, she was dressed in a simply scaled up version of her old apparel. The only difference for the moment being that of a black t-shirt with a blue triangle in the middle. Oddly reminiscent of Danny's own shirt, but it would be covered up once she got a bigger sweatshirt, those were easier to get after all.
Danny sighed in relief, "All set Danielle?"
She shot him a quick glare. "I told you, it's Dani! How'd you like it if I started calling you Daniel?"
Danny hid a small wince. "Okay, you have a bit of a point there, but to be fair, I was Danny first, I have a trademark on the name."
"Which is why mine is spelled with an "I." That's even how I've been introducing myself to people!" She pointed out as they started walking away from the changing rooms.
"I appreciate that, I do, but people can't hear the difference."
"How about you be Dan?" She suggested instead, trying to maintain her claim on the golden name.
Danny snorted. "Hard pass."
"Okay what's wrong with that one? It's better than Daniel."
"Arguably but, ugh, it's a long story and kind of involves Vlad so just a heads up."
Dani sighed. "He does just ruin everything doesn't he?"
Danny hummed in agreement. "Yeah, but from what I figure he was actually trying to help that time. He just screwed up horribly."
"So he ruins everything even without trying to?"
"Basically." Danny agreed but paused for a minute. "Well he does get things right occasionally." Bumping her shoulder as he said that.
"Aww, that's sweet. But he did kind of mess up considering he was trying to make an exact clone of you and somehow managed to make a 12 year old female version of you." Dani chuckled at the thought.
As they neared the exit to the rest of the mall, picking up a blue sweatshirt on the way, the ghost girl broached a different question. "So how do we get out of here?"
Danny did a double take, "What do you mean how do we get out of here? We go up to the counter, pay for your clothes and walk out."
His counterpart stared at him wide eyed. "You have money to pay for things?" She said in wonder.
"Yes of cours-'' He cut off and sighed. "You know, I'm really starting to wish I'd tried convincing you to stay the first time you flew off into the sunset."
"What, why?" Dani asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"Just…" Danny sighed as he trailed off not quite sure how to put it into words. Sam was right, he needed to introduce her to Jazz, they'd do it after they got back, hopefully his parents were out of the house tonight.
If they weren't, well he could duplicate himself, that would get their attention.
"We'll talk about it later." He announced as he led her towards one of the checkout lanes. "But yeah, as long as it's nothing too expensive I have some chore money saved up to buy things. Normally I use it for snacks and food at Nasty burger but this is a special case."
He was somewhat relieved when the price tag didn't even hit a hundred dollars. It still put a dent in his allowance money but he was glad he was actually able to pay for it. Of course they only had one set of clothes for the time being so they'd have to come back later to get her some more.
The flight back to his house was thankfully uneventful, not even a box ghost sighting as they flew over town. Dani was doing cartwheels and barrel rolls and aileron rolls through the sky as they flew.
"This is great!" She cried, somehow a mix between cheering and laughter. "Is this what all the other ghosts get to do when they fly?!"
"Yep, and now you do too!" Danny smiled at the sight. He really hadn't put a lot of worry into Dani melting during her stint exploring the world, or however far she'd gotten before she'd had to turn around and come back. But he'd definitely gotten a chestful of it when he'd helped her up the other night only to find her hand literally melting in his.
Thankfully most of the worry seemed over with now thanks to the ironically named Ecto-Dejecto. Although he supposed Vlad was still a potential problem. He could just keep foiling the evil schemes the fruitloop threw at him but it was starting to get on his nerves more than a little.
Also Dani would probably want to bring the pain to her creator and he'd happily join in on pummeling the older half-ghost.
Flying in through his bedroom window once they reached the house, Danny was glad to see his room undisturbed from how they'd left it earlier. Bed still unmade and a blow up air mattress with a pillow and blanket haphazardly placed on top of it. Home sweet home.
"Good news is it looks like nobody checked my room." He transformed back into his human form as he said this. "So no need to explain to anyone why I'm using the air mattress when no one was sleeping over last night."
"So I'll be here again tonight right?" Dani confirmed, also switching forms as she landed.
"Yeah, we'll head over to Sam's and see about getting you a room there tomorrow. Like she said she has plenty of space there."
"Being rich has it perks I guess."
"Yeah, for better and for worse." He agreed. "I'm gonna go look around downstairs and see who's here. Hopefully mom and dad are either out or down in the lab, Jazz should be in her room studying or getting herself something to eat."
"Err, before I meet her, what exactly is Jazz like?" Dani asked him.
Danny paused at the question. "Well she's annoying, kind of bossy and a little bit full of herself."
Dani blinked. "She doesn't sound that great."
"Don't worry, she grows on you. She's got her good parts too." he promised her before ducking into the hallway.
A quick trip down the stairs and wander around the main floor showed that the house was for the most part empty. That didn't mean the house was empty though so he headed towards the basement.
He opened the door and hollered down. "Mom, Dad? I'm home!"
"Danny-boy!" he heard his dad's boisterous voice respond. "We're upgrading the specter speeder, I'm not sure how it keeps getting damaged since we don't use it. But we're making it more durable! We've got leftovers in the fridge or we got a snack platter down here if you want to help!"
"I'm good thanks dad." Snack platter? Who knows what unholy concoctions that might have, especially exposed to whatever was down in the lab.
"Make sure to eat some fruits or veggies Danny, you could use the nutrients." His mom called up as Danny shut the door behind him.
"Well that's the parents accounted for," he muttered to himself. "Now where's Jazz." No longer worried about being exposed he just went intangible and floated upwards through the ceiling and into the upstairs hallway. Using his powers in human form had become easier as time went by, a part of him wondered if he could do a proper ghost fight in human form. But the reasonable part of his brain that hadn't been fried by the accident reminded him that was a monumentally stupid idea.
And Jazz worried about his cognitive functions.
Speaking of whom, he knocked on her door. "Jazz you in there, I have to talk to you about something."
"It's open." His sister's muffled voice responded so he entered her room. The neatness of her room offended him on a spiritual level. It looked like she actually fluffed her pillows when she made her bed. Ridiculous! Not to mention the ceiling looked like it was polished to match the spotless floors.
As for the redheaded oldest child she was at her desk, the scratching of her pencil only momentarily interrupted by a brief tapping as she thought about her wording.
"I'm sorry Danny, I'm a little busy right now, is it quick?" She asked without looking up.
"No, in fact this could take the rest of the night but honestly it's really important." Danny admitted, at which point Jazz sighed and put her pencil down.
She turned around in her chair and looked him dead in the eye. "No, you should not get a tattoo."
"W-what?!" Danny sputtered incoherently as Jazz continued.
"I know you've probably been thinking about it for a long time, and I'm sure Sam would appreciate it since it might go along with her style but on the personal level alone I really don't think a tattoo would look good on you little brother." She looked at him with something akin to pity.
"Jazz that is-"
"Of course, I realize how unlikely you are to simply listen to the opinion of your intelligent and very helpful big sister, so in preparation for this I've prepared a 20 page PowerPoint presentation that will acknowledge the pros of having a tattoo, but also point out the worrying negatives that will encompass your life." She continued patiently.
Danny's shock had worn off and he just stared at her with lidded eyes. "Jazz I do not want a tattoo, and I am not planning to get one."
"Oh." She blinked in surprise and scratched her chin. "Are you sure? I could've sworn that you would be asking about that by this point."
Danny just kept staring at her. "Is this based on your old developmental model for me or the new one."
"Not important right now." She waved off his concern. His sister then created more concern by quickly turning around, scratching something down on a sticky note and putting it into her desk drawer. "So, if not a tattoo, what do you want to talk about."
"To be honest, it's kind of complicated and it might just be easier for me to show you." he pointed a thumb down the hallway in the general direction of his room.
Jazz pursed her lips, "On a scale of crate creep to evil you, where does this rank on importance?"
He paused for a moment as he thought about it. "About Pariah Dark."
"Oh that's bad." Jazz looked alarmed.
"Well, not bad, but…" Danny struggled for a moment. "Okay look I'm not sure how to rank this on the scale you gave me. But this is really important."
"Fine, I'll take a look." Jazz held her hands up in surrender and got up. "If you really think it's that important then it's worth looking into at least."
"Might be a little world shattering." Danny admitted and shrank under his sister's scrutinizing look.
"This is either going to be amazing or terrifying. There is no in between with you." She said as they walked down the hall.
"I take offense to that." Danny told her as he opened the door to his room.
Jazz walked in and stared at the girl in the red beanie who sat up on the air mattress and quickly stood up.
"Um, Jazz right?" Dani introduced herself a bit awkwardly. She then took a deep breath and smiled and waved. "Hi, I'm Danielle, but I prefer Dani, with an I."
Jazz stared at Dani for a moment and then looked back at Danny. She slowly looked between the two again. She then closed the door of the room and looked at Danny.
"Danny did you look for a girl who looked just like you and kidnap her?"
"What? No!" Danny glared at her.
"I was hoping you wouldn't say that." She opened the door again. "Alright, hi there, Dani, right? I'm Jasmine Fenton, but I prefer Jazz. I don't mean to sound crass but, where did you come from and why are you sleeping on an air mattress in my brother's room."
Danny spoke up. "Right, do you want to explain it or would you prefer it if I did."
"I would have preferred if you'd popped in to let me know she was coming before so I could mentally prepare myself a bit more." Dani said through the gritted teeth of a forced smile that did nothing to hide the nervous anxiety in her face.
"Yeah, sorry about that, probably should have, but anyway, Jazz this is Dani, and she is my… clone!" Danny gestured at her with an awkward smile of his own.
Jazz nodded. "Okay, first question, is she evil."
"Not really." Danny said at the same time Dani said, "Maybe a little." He shot her a look so she held up her fingers and pinched them together so they were barely touching and he sighed.
"No, she is not evil in the traditional sense."
"Right, second question, where and how."
"Vlad." The two chorused.
Jazz sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course he did." She looked back up at the pair. "Last question, if she is your clone, how come she's a girl? Err," She glanced at Dani, "If that's not too personal or anything."
"What?" She looked down at herself. "Uh not really, why?"
"Oh, so you mean, oh never mind we can explore the gender studies angle of all this later. I'm just going to assume you two don't know?"
"There were a few other failed clones, I'm the only one that came out well… sentient?" Dani searched for the correct word.
"Sapient I think is more accurate. But no seriously, how does Vlad manage to get two X chromosomes instead of an X and Y." Jazz looked genuinely thoughtful. "I'll figure it out later. For now, can I get some details please?"
The two smaller Fenton's explained the events of Dani's first appearance and then her return the previous day. Although the oldest Fenton did get a bit annoyed at her little brother once they finished the first half of the story.
"You just let her fly off to explore the world on her own! She was barely a few months old!"
"She can take care of herself!" Danny defended.
"She was melting every time she used her powers!"
"'She' can make her own decisions too you know!" Dani said indignantly. "You were right she is bossy."
"You said what?"
"Danielle!"
Of course they eventually caught up the current moment at which point Jazz sat down at Danny's desk and took a deep breath.
"I admit it, you were right this is pretty important." She looked at the two of them. "Please tell me you two have a plan besides having Dani sleep on an air mattress in here until you both turn eighteen, or well biologically eighteen at least."
"We've talked to Sam about it a bit, she's offered a spare room or two." Danny explained.
Jazz sighed in relief. "Oh good, I was worried for a second there. Now the second order of business, what do we do for her education."
"My what?" Dani squawked as Danny hummed in thought.
"That's a good point, people might notice her hanging around outside of school on weekdays." He concluded.
"I'm less worried about truant officers and more about making sure she has the knowledge to get through life Danny." She told her brother.
"I can't go to school! I don't even have a birth certificate."
Jazz waved off her concern. "Please, our parents are mad scientists, one of Danny's best friends is rich and the others a tech nerd. Not to mention you two are both ghosts. We could easily get you all the paperwork to get you signed up for school."
"But I don't want to go to school!" She whined.
"Welcome to the club." Danny snorted.
"Look Dani, there are good parts of school, you'll be able to learn a lot there. You mentioned wanting to travel the world? Well you can learn about different parts of it and learn the languages spoken there."
"Wait, they just teach you how to speak other languages?" Dani asked, confused. "And I don't have to pay them?"
"You say that now, wait until they ask you to conjugate 'ser'." The original chuckled.
"We can see about getting it sorted for tomorrow. But first there's something I really need to do and I can't resist any more." Jazz stood up and walked up to Dani, hands on her hips as she stared down at the smaller girl who looked up her nervously.
"Uhh…" Dani started looking confused but quickly squeaked as the taller girl wrapped her up and a hug and squealed.
"OH MY GOD I'VE ALWAYS WANTED A LITTLE SISTER!" She squeezed her into the hug with a grin. "Do you have a birthday properly? What about favorite colors? Any hopes of dreams for the future, what do you think of psychiatry? Do you have an opinion on Freud?"
"Danny help!" Dani cried as she weakly struggled against the hug. "Get a crowbar!"
"Are you kidding? I wish I had a camera!"
And that's a wrap on this chapter.
Well I think this turned out pretty well. I'm enjoying writing this so that's good. Not quite perfectly consistent yet but I'm working on it so progress!
A couple references in this chapter, notably Dani's t-shirt, the difference between aileron roll and barrel roll and Jazz's reaction to Dani at the end is based on the first picture that pops up if you type in Dani meets Jazz in google images
On one final note gotta say, I would truly appreciate reviews, they are the butter to the bread or some other metaphor. Please consider leaving one!
That's all for now, until next time!
~FriTik
R&R