DarkFoxKit: Alright, it's the first chapter for WAP of 2022, do you have anything big, special, or awesome in mind?
Andy: *Is lazily lying on the couch, reading a book* Nah.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Is relaxing in a massaging recline* Nope.
Danny: *Is laying on his back on the carpet reading a comic book* Not a thing.
DarkFoxKit: Wah? Come on, seriously? None of you have anything in mind!?
All Three: Nope.
DarkFoxKit: You were all pretty pumped on December! … Wait, when did Danny come in?
Danny: I'm here for the holidays. Dad… kinda sorta unintentionally fumigated the entire house.
Andy: I figured I would invite my bro over.
Danny: Mom and Jazz are on a tropical resort trip that Onyx paid for. And Dad is working to degunk the house.
DarkFoxKit: Well, if you're gonna be here, then you gotta work for the AN too. *Drops a camera on Danny's stomach*
Danny: *Grunts a bit as the camera hit his stomach* Fine, fine! But can I at least finish this comic first?
DarkFoxKit: *Gives a cheeky grin* That's okay, I'll make this short. Since none of you have any plans on what to do for the first 2022 AN for WAP, I have my own idea~ Have you ever seen a dragon breathe out rainbows?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Raises an eyeridge* What are you planning, Fox…?
DarkFoxKit: Hey Onyx… look at this video I found~ *Shows Onyx a video that had a certain creature that was so cute that I actually had to blindfold myself before showing the dragoness*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Oh… my… gosh… That's so cu- *Starts emitting and spewing rainbows from an overwhelming amount of cuteness*
Andy: Oh gosh! It's getting everywhere!
Danny: Uh, how long is this supposed to go for?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Dies from cuteness overload*
DarkFoxKit: Uh… technical difficulties! Shut off the camera! Shut off the-
*The recording ended*
Chapter 124: Deception or Sincerity?
Juliette's Point of View
I heard the sound of the front door of my home, the opera house, opening. As she normally does, Scarlet quickly moved to intercept whoever entered. I heard a bit of yelping followed by yelling.
"Princess Juliette! There is a girl here who says she is related to Danny and Andy!" Scarlet shouted. "Shall I see if that is true?!"
"No! I'll be right down!" I loudly answered before I phased through the floor and floated down to the stage. I walked towards the edge of the stage to see who Scarlet had caught, and immediately recognized the person surrounded by floating spears. "Stand down, Scarlet, that's Danny and Andy's older sister, Jasmine. Though she prefers Jazz."
"Is that so?" Scarlet replied before dissipating the spears. "Are you a halfa too?"
"N-no," Jazz said, clearly shaken up a bit. "I… I came to talk to you two about a situation that we might need your help for."
"I don't want to sound rude, but we don't like involving ourselves with your human matters," Scarlet sighed.
"What Scarlet means to say is that we are in a precarious situation as we don't want to bring too much attention to ourselves or this location by going out all that often," I clarified. "But what is it that you felt was so urgent to come here without your brothers? I'm at least willing to hear you out, but I don't guarantee we will get involved."
Jazz looked at me with a serious, determined, yet also desperate look in her eyes. Something bad must've happened, and it was making me feel a bit anxious.
"I think… my brothers are in danger," Jazz stated.
"They're always in danger," Scarlet remarked. "It's the nature of their existence."
"Jazz, please clarify," I requested. "What sort of danger are they in now and what was so important that brought you here on your lonesome?"
Jazz took a deep breath and let it out. "Sorry, I… I should start at the beginning. I found this under my desk not long ago."
Jazz held up a container of some kind, showing some sort of ectoplasm goo inside. "I had a feeling someone left it there for me to check out. So when Mom and Dad went to bed for the night, I went into the lab to try to analyze this sample. I called over Tucker and Sam when I was comparing data to what I saw in the ectoplasm sample. I needed them to confirm what I saw. We… were shocked when it was confirmed the sample held DNA traces of Danny and… someone who calls himself Vlad Plasmius. Do… uh… either of you know him? Have my brothers told you about him at all?"
"They have," I confirmed. "He's essentially the archenemy of the boys, has very few morals, has a goal to make your family his own and essentially give your father the worst life imaginable. We know to stay well away from him as he's a master manipulator and has tricked ghosts in the past to work for him."
"I still can't believe someone like that was given the gift of both life and death," Scarlet grumbled.
"In his case it was more a curse than a gift," I remarked in response.
Jazz took another breath. "Well, we thought it was odd that this sample from a seemingly random ghost would have Danny and Vlad's DNA. We started doing more research on it, and… I think it's possible Vlad might be using Danny's DNA to experiment on something big, and possibly illegal."
I gave a thoughtful look at Jazz. "Were the genetics mixed? Because if the two DNAs were separated in the sample, then it could just be someone was trying to see how they'd react. If it was a mix, then someone may have been trying to fuse the DNA for, as you said, a possibly illegal experiment."
Jazz furrowed her brows a bit. "Unfortunately… it was a bit of both in a sense. There was DNA that was separate from one another, but there was also a mixture of the two DNA that created its own unique result."
"But why do you think your brothers are in danger now?" Scarlet asked.
"Sam was outside on the lookout while Tucker was helping me with the tech stuff," Jazz answered. "Sam came back, telling us that she saw Danny getting captured and taken away by Vlad Plasmius. We think he's taking Danny to his mansion, where Andy was going to. So it's possible both of them got captured."
"Then it seems we will be getting involved," I noted before looking at Scarlet. "Pack for combat, but pack lightly. This is a rescue mission, and hopefully we'll be able to do it without much conflict. Unfortunately Lydia is still away on a mission for me in the Ghost Zone, so it'll just be us."
"That man will regret his life if he hurt my pupils," Scarlet growled.
Although Scarlet was a strict teacher, I could tell she had grown to care for both Andy and Danny.
"You can make him pay, but you are not allowed to end his existence," I warned. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, Princess Juliette," Scarlet answered while slapping an armored hand against her chest above her core, showing me that she took my words to heart. "I will do my best not to pierce that man's heart and core."
"We probably also should do our best to hide our existence from him," I added. "He likely doesn't know we're in Amity Park yet and we don't want to put ourselves on his radar. So if you are going to attack him, I will ask you to wear your helmet and disguise yourself a little so you aren't in shining white armor. Perhaps make it gold or red or green."
"I will do my best to keep myself and my identity hidden, Princess Juliette. But… are you coming too?" Scarlet asked. "This will be dangerous. Vlad Plasmius is a powerful entity after all, and we don't know what he's fully capable of."
"I will be coming, yes," I answered. "But I'll be doing my best to keep my presence hidden. If you do end up attacking and causing a distraction, I will try to stealthily rescue the boys and escape with them."
Suddenly, Jazz's cellular phone began ringing. I was still getting used to these cellular phones. It was amazing how far technology had come. At first, with technology, I was under the assumption that it was some sort of magic or shrunken down people doing tasks. But Tucker and the boys had been doing their best to explain things to me. I still found the idea that there were invisible waves shooting through the air super fast to be… a bit intimidating.
"Oh…" Jazz blinked, looking surprised as she looked at her phone. "Tucker just got something weird with the Fenton Earphones."
"What did he get?" I inquired as Scarlet went off to her equipment room to gear up.
"He said to come over to the lab, because he can't really explain it with words," Jazz answered. "Um… would you two be alright with coming to Fenton Works' lab? My parents are in bed, so we shouldn't make too much noise until we get to the lab."
"I don't mind going there," I answered before looking toward Scarlet's equipment room. "Though I may have Scarlet remain at a distance from your home."
"Is that wise?" Scarlet asked as she leaned out of her equipment room. "I won't be able to protect you right away if something happens to you, Princess Juliette."
"Both boys are away with the threat we're facing. And from what I understand, the Ghost Portal is likely closed right now," I pointed out. "So it should be safe enough for me to go there to see what they found. I can call on you within a short range if necessary, especially after your insistence that I brand you with a servant mark like I did with Lydia."
Jazz looked a little lost, and nervous. Scarlet gave a sigh.
"Just be careful," Scarlet relented as she fully stepped out of her equipment room, wearing her full armor that was now colored purple with gold accent.
I looked over at Jazz. "Go ahead and lead the way then."
Jazz nodded. "We better hurry."
"So… this is what it's like inside a car," I remarked with fascination as I was sitting in a leather seat beside Jazz, who was driving this car. I had taken on my living human disguise form.
"Have you never been inside one before?" Jazz asked, though she was keeping her eyes on the road.
"I've been inside your family RV, but it was nothing like this," I responded as I looked around. "It's a lot less cluttered and cramped."
"Yeah… this is actually a proper vehicle. My parents made that RV, and it was more for chasing ghosts rather than for driving around leisurely," Jazz sighed.
"That much was clear to me from the start," I chuckled. "So… what is the plan to infiltrate Vlad's home? He likely has defenses against ghosts, and a man as devious as him is most definitely going to have traps to ward off all kinds of beings."
"Tucker, Sam, and I had talked about that before they suggested I go get you and Scarlet," Jazz admitted. "Infiltration doesn't seem possible with our level of skill. We were hoping a stealth master like yourself would have an idea. But… we don't know Vlad's mansion in Amity Park's layout. None of us have scouted it before. We were only in one part of it for that party he held."
"So the plan is to rely on my stealth to try and sneak in and see if I can get an eye on the layout, where the boys are, and see if I can disable the defenses?" I raised a brow. Why not ask me to single-handedly take on Vlad while you're at it?
"We're going to talk more about it when we get to the others," Jazz replied. "We'll see if we can find an easier way in."
While it wasn't as fast as flying, the car was able to take us to Fenton Works quite quickly. Once Jazz parked her car in the driveway, we hurried into the lab, where Tucker and Sam were waiting for us.
"Good, looks like you were able to bring Juliette after all," Sam said in relief when she saw me.
"Scarlet is nearby, mainly keeping the area secure," I informed. "I can call her at any time or let her know we're moving out. So, now that we are here, please tell us what you've found."
"Well, I'm sure Jazz told you everything, right?" Sam asked.
"Yes, she has," I answered with a nod. "She also said that Tucker found something odd about the… uh… earpiece, you said?"
Tucker nodded before he held out those earpieces. "I heard a voice trying to get in contact, but the voice kept asking for 'Juliette' and 'help'."
I blinked a bit. "They're… calling for me?"
I got a nod from Tucker and Sam.
I hesitantly reached forward to take the earpieces before I put them into my ears, finding the sensation strange and foreign. "H-hello?"
"H-" There was a weird static noise for a moment. "Juliette…?"
"Yes?" I answered, trying to figure out the owner of the voice speaking through the earpieces. "Who is this?"
"Hope…" The voice answered in a worried tone.
"What's wrong?" I questioned, taking a few steps away from the group as Hope's state of being wasn't known to everyone.
"I'm at uh… some scary guy's mansion, uh… somewhere… I think it was the kitchen? No… uh… dining room? A place where people eat," Hope answered, sounding scared.
"Take a deep breath and calm yourself," I instructed. "I'm right here."
"That man… Vlad… I think Andy called him… Vlad came in… knocked Andy out. I looked out from the bag I was in, and saw that man taking Andy somewhere… I don't know what to do," Hope replied, sounding like she was trying not to panic.
"Like I said, take a deep breath and calm down," I responded. "You need to remain calm so you can help Andy. You want to help him, right? You want to pay him back for all he's done for you?"
I was relieved when I heard a long, deep breath was taken before it was let out.
"I do… I want to help him… but what can I do?" Hope questioned, having calmed down.
"You can do your best to remain calm," I answered. "As for what you can do… can you see if there's anyone in the room with you right now?"
"There's a man in one of those fancy suits, he's cleaning up the table," Hope answered. "But other than him, there's nobody else here. That girl, Anna, went to her room, I think."
I gave a thoughtful look. "I have a task that you may be able to do, but only if you think you can do it. I don't want you to do this if you don't think you can."
"What is it?" Hope inquired.
"After that man in a fancy suit leaves, I want you to take the earpiece you have with you and sneak out of the room you are in," I explained. "I want you to try and get an idea of the building and try to find your way to an entrance that we could get in through. We'll be coming to rescue the boys soon, and having any information on the layout will be invaluable. I do not want you trying to find the boys or any of the other residents of the mansion."
"I understand. You need me to scout this big house's layout for you, correct?" Hope replied.
"That's right," I confirmed. "And try to see what you can sense. If there's any traps or defenses or systems that will be able to detect us. But please, keep your safety a priority as I do not want you getting caught or injured."
"I can't promise I won't be seen, but I'll try my best to scout the place. I'll keep this one earphone with me so you can hear everything," Hope answered, sounding determined.
"Just try and be safe," I replied before looking at the group. "We have someone on the inside who is going to be scouting for us. We should get moving. And before you ask, no, I won't tell you who is helping. It's not my place to reveal their existence to anyone. Just know that they are a supporter of the twins."
"A mysterious helper?" Tucker blinked. "I wonder if she's that Danielle girl Andy told us about…"
"I can tell you that she isn't," I answered.
"Can you at least tell us if they're a ghost?" Sam questioned.
"To an extent, yes," I replied.
"It doesn't matter who or what they are," Jazz spoke up. "What matters is that they're inside Vlad's mansion and are willing to help us save Danny and Andy."
"Yeah, that's true," Tucker agreed.
"I just hope they don't have an ulterior motive…" Sam mumbled, suspicious.
"I can assure you, this helper is 100% on Danny and Andy's side," I informed. "There's no chance that they would have an ulterior motive."
"You must know them pretty well then," Sam remarked.
"I do," I confirmed. "To the point where I can tell you that they feel they owe their existence to one of the boys and would do anything to help them."
"We'll talk more about this mysterious helper later," Jazz said. "We should focus on how we're going to rescue Danny and Andy."
"Grab whatever gear you need," I replied. "As we head over there, I will keep in contact with our helper and see if they have found a way for us to get inside."
"That sounds good," Tucker stated before looking at the equipment. "At least Mrs. Fenton hadn't gotten rid of all the ghost weapons. And we still have the Fenton Thermos."
"We do have less to work with though…" Sam frowned.
"I do have a stash of gear in the weapons vault," Jazz informed. "In one of the lockboxes that Mom and Dad gave to me. So if you guys grab the gear here, I'll go down to the weapons vault."
"Wait wait wait wait wait…" Tucker quickly said. "Are you telling me that this entire time, there's been a vault that's filled with all your parent's weapons?"
"Yep." Jazz nodded. "It's like a bank vault with safety deposit boxes and also weapon racks. It's a few floors below the lab."
"How many floors does this place have?" Tucker questioned.
"A lot," Jazz answered. "There's the reactor floor, the vault floor, the dungeon, the empty floor that they were going to make into a training room at some point, an empty room they were planning on turning into a garage with a vehicle elevator to the driveway, and a few others."
Tucker blinked a bit.
"Did… you say there was a dungeon?" Sam asked, looking overly interested about that.
"We… really need to explore more of this house…" Tucker mumbled.
"Guys, try to focus," I spoke up. "Grab the gear, load it into Jazz's car, then let's get going."
"Try not to overpack. I rather not get pulled over by a cop and have him question what's in our bags," Jazz sighed. "Only take what we need and use effectively."
I watched as the 2 teens went upstairs while one went over to a door and opened it before walking down, leaving the lab. I thought to myself. Even with Hope scouting the mansion's layout, getting in will still be a problem… unless we have an invitation. Perhaps I should think about putting on the charm like I had with Aragon before. Though that may require revealing my existence to Vlad as a ghost… Unless I do it as a rich person, since he's living in a mansion.
I decided that instead of trying to plan ahead now, when I didn't know what was viable, I would instead wait until I had gotten a bit more information from Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and Hope about the mansion, Vlad, and everything else I needed.
Andy's Point of View
I felt a bit of a headache when I started coming to. My memory was a bit fuzzy. I remembered talking to Anna about what I would like to do in the future… Then I remembered Vlad coming in.
I felt blood leaving my face as I remembered what happened. Vlad knocked me out, and I heard him talking to Anna. Everything was dark, and I felt like cold metal was wrapped around my wrists. It took me longer than I would've liked to realize that my eyes were closed. I began to force open my eyes.
It took a minute for my vision to clear up. I could see I was in some kind of lab. It wasn't all white like most labs would be on TV. The walls around here were dark red, and I could see these big pods that looked big enough to fit a full grown human inside.
As I tried to gather myself, I tried to move, only to feel the restraints on my wrists tighten up a bit. I struggled a little, trying to get out, but it was to no avail. I looked at my arms, and wasn't that surprised, but still felt blood draining from my face as I saw that I had some kind of cuffs around both of my wrists, and it had me chained up. I couldn't move. I also couldn't feel my core. Whatever I was locked inside of, it was nullifying my ghost powers.
This is quite the predicament… I don't seem to have a lot of options. I noted.
Most of my brain was still feeling too groggy to panic. Which was good, because I needed to be logical rather than panicked right now. I needed to observe and wait, because there wasn't much I could do at the moment. Is Danny here too? I doubt Vlad would've just taken me.
I tried to look for any pods near me that could have my brother inside. There was a pod next to mine. It was a little hard to see through the dark glass, but I could make out a figure in the other pod. I felt a familiar tingle in the back of my mind as I thought I recognized the pods from a dream or perhaps… a vision. Narrowing my eyes a bit, my eyes shifting from green to purple, I frowned when I saw that the figure in the pod beside me was Danny, and he seemed to be unconscious.
I guess this was part of the future I saw. Too bad I didn't pay more attention to it… I frowned to myself. There has to be a way out of here...
From what I could tell, the pod or the restraints were nullifying our ghost powers, or at least most of them as I still could tap into my ghostly vision. I couldn't tell what was in the other pods, besides the one beside me, but I could make out figures in there as well. Vlad must have some kind of plan involving us. Brainwashing was a possibility, since I remembered having that vivid nightmare about him brainwashing Danny. However, he would've used a helmet of some kind. There wasn't anything on my head, not anything on Danny's head.
Trying to struggle against the restraints didn't do me any good. They appeared to be made of some kind of strong metal, possibly steel, and as long as my ghost powers were nullified, I was as human as I was before the second accident. There didn't seem to be any way for me to get out on my own. I knew my friends would notice soon that both Danny and I hadn't come home yet. Then there was Hope, who was with me. Assuming nobody caught her, she might be able to contact someone with the Fenton Earphones. However, that was a lot of riding on Hope, someone who didn't want others to know about her being a living teddy bear.
Even so, Hope should've been aware that if she didn't call for help, there wouldn't be much of a chance she would be able to get out of this place on her own. There was no question that at some point, or another, help would arrive. The problem is if help would be able to get here without getting caught or kicked out. Without any of my powers, I couldn't use telekinesis to try to break us out of these dang pods.
"Oh thank goodness, I found you… two?" I heard a familiar voice saying before Danielle floated down through the ceiling. "After that ghost showed up during my race with Danny Phantom, I, admittedly, fled. But I wasn't planning on doing so to save myself. I had a feeling that I would be a better help to Danny Phantom by getting to safety and coming to rescue him when the strong ghost was no longer around."
The ghost girl… I noted. Wait… what is she doing here? She had a race with Danny? Does she know of our human identities? And… her voice sounds familiar…
Danielle floated closer to our pod, giving a curious look at me.
"You seem pretty out of it," Danielle noted. "I wonder how much that strong ghost scrambled your brain?"
I felt like I was just staring blankly at her, even though my mind was still racing.
"Let's see if I can get that pod open," Danielle remarked as she looked around the pod. "Aha!"
Danielle grabbed a lever on the wall and pulled it, causing a small hiss to come from the pod before the door of the pod began to slowly open.
"Huh, seems that the strong ghost has got you in pretty tough restraints," Danielle noted as the pod opened and she floated closer. "Tell me, do they feel loose? If so, they could possibly be jimmied free."
I turned to my right arm, trying to move it a bit. It was pretty tight but did move a little bit. I gave a tiny nod of my head to Danielle.
"Then let's see…" Danielle muttered as she reached up towards the restraints. "Ahh yeah, they are a bit loose."
I perked up a little, seeing how Danielle was going to help me get free.
I felt a sudden jolt of pain in my wrists as the restraints felt like they got tighter, losing any wiggle room I had.
"There we go." Danielle smiled. "Now you won't be going anywhere~"
I hissed a little. "What the heck…? Why did you do that?"
"Because she's a good child who knows how to help her father."
I quickly looked up when I heard Vlad's voice. Sure enough, Mr. Plasmius himself came floating into the lab.
"Good… child?" I repeated in a questioning tone. "She's your child?"
"Indeed she is," Vlad confirmed.
"I ensured our captive's restraints were secure, Daddy~" Danielle beamed, speaking in a sickeningly sweet voice. She stepped back a bit and closed the lid of the pod.
"Well done, Danielle." Vlad smiled. "It seems that all the pieces are finally in place and I can achieve my greatest desire."
'Daddy'... I frowned. Her name is… Danielle… but Vlad should've only had two kids, right? Anna and Ella… unless… Danielle is Anna or Ella in ghost form. Considering her height, and how more similar her name is, that might be Ella.
"Danielle… you're Ella, aren't you?" I spoke up. "Are you a halfa?"
"Yes and almost yes," Danielle answered. "I am Ella, though that is mainly a cover name that'll be changed down the road. As for if I'm a halfa, I am to an extent, but I'm missing a key element to be truly complete."
I furrowed my eyebrows. A lot of this didn't make much sense. My mind was trying to wrap around the fact that Danielle and Ella were the same person. Granted, I hadn't spent a lot of time with Ella, but the fact she was also a halfa concerned me.
"Did you make her into a halfa, Vlad?" I glared at the man.
"You have it half right," Vlad chuckled. "I did make her, but I didn't make her into a halfa."
I blinked. "So you actually had children at one point?"
"No," Vlad answered. "Perhaps it may help if I showed you what's underneath this pod in front of you, or rather, who."
I frowned as Vlad floated over to the pod that was several feet in front of me. He pushed a button on a control panel next to the pod, and the pod began to hiss as it opened up. I blinked in shock when I saw what looked like an exact replica of my ghost form sleeping in the pod.
What the…? My confused mind began to worry. Is that why I can't use my ghost powers? Did Vlad separate me from my ghost half or something?
I knew it was technically possible, since Danny had done that before with the Fenton Ghost Catcher. But that also split Danny's personality in half as well. I didn't feel any different from my usual self. So maybe Vlad found a way to take my ghost half out of my body without splitting my personality.
"How'd you get my ghost half…?" I asked.
Then Vlad and Danielle suddenly started laughing like I just said the funniest thing in the world.
"Perhaps you went a bit overboard with the nullifying injections, father," Danielle chuckled. "It seems like his brain may have been nullified by mistake."
"Perhaps so," Vlad agreed. "I have to admit, I am surprised you woke up before your brother did. I had to give you an extra dosage to make sure you couldn't think your way out of here so easily."
I blinked a few times. Did he… drug me…?
"This, my dear Andrew, isn't your ghost half. It's your clone," Vlad announced.
"My… clone?" I repeated in confusion.
"Correct," Vlad confirmed. "One of two."
I narrowed my eyes, trying to think through my groggy mind. Now I realized my mind was groggy and hazy due to whatever Vlad injected me with.
"When you look at Danielle, who do you see?" Vlad asked, gesturing to the ghost girl. "Who does she remind you of?"
I had tried to ignore it before, but Danielle did resemble Danny Phantom quite a bit; her color scheme, her glowing neon green eyes, the white hair… yet she also looked too human to be a full ghost, like Danny.
"She is Daniel's clone, again, one of two," Vlad explained. "The reason she doesn't look the same age as Daniel is because her DNA samples are from long ago. The DNA in the other clone of Daniel, the one in the pod next to your clone, is more recent. For the longest time I've wanted to have you two as my children, but each time I tried to make that dream a reality I was stopped and my plans were foiled. But this plan? Heh, this plan I can tell will work. Currently I have the two of you here to gather the last piece of DNA I need from the two of you, the DNA that exists within you in the middle of your transformation between human and ghost. I simply call it your 'mid-morph' DNA. Once I have those samples, I will use them to stabilize your and Daniel's clones. And then you two will drift off to sleep while I start the third act of my plan."
"So you'll take what you need from us… to make your perfect clone sons?" I frowned. "And then… dispose of us?" Has Vlad really gone that far off the deep end? I know we joke about him being a fruit loop, but this? This is too much.
"No, I won't dispose of you two," Vlad answered. "In fact, it is in my best interest to keep you two safe and sound. What I plan is to download your minds and personalities to storage platforms where I can make any alterations I want. After I have made the alterations, I will transfer them to your clones who will become the new Daniel and Andrew Fenton. They will go back to your home and start to slowly cause chaos and discourse in the family until either Madeline divorces that big oaf or something happens where I can swoop in and get him arrested. Once he is out of the picture and Madeline is mine to take, I will bring you all here where you will become members of my family properly. From there… well I have many plans from there and it would take much too long to explain them all now."
My eyes started to go wide as what Vlad just told me started to sink into my fuzzy brain. Download our minds and personalities…? Transfer them into the clones? He really has gone mad.
"The reason I need to keep you two here is to serve as backups and source data for your replacements," Vlad continued to explain. "After all, it's not a good idea to take a copy of a copy in order to make changes, it's always best to work from the source."
"Vlad… if you just wanted a family, there are other ways to go about this than what you're trying to do," I spoke up. "Don't you know how seriously messed up you're sounding right now?"
"I don't just want a basic family, Andrew," Vlad replied. "I want the family of my dreams, which is myself, Madeline, Jasmine, you two boys, and my two girls~"
I narrowed my eyes. Two girls, huh? I guess if Danielle is Danny's clone… then Anna must be…
I couldn't help but feel sad and betrayed at the idea that Anna was only working for Vlad, like Danielle was. Should I have known? Was everything we talked about and done together just a lie to bring me here?
"It's still not too late to change, Vlad," I said quietly. "You may not have us as the family of your dreams, but you could still be a part of our family if you just stop now, and make up with Dad."
"Why would I want to be a part of your wretched family?!" Vlad snapped. "Your father's lineage has been hunting ghosts for generations and each one of them is a bumbling fool like him! Associating myself with such moronic filth would likely lower my intelligence simply by being around him! No, your family needs to cease to exist, the Fenton line needs to end with him, and the rest of you will be much better off as Masters."
I frowned, but it didn't look like Vlad was going to listen. He really was deadset on going through with this horrifying plan of his.
Vlad then gave me a smirk, showing his fangs. "Don't look so down, Andrew. After all, once this is all over, you and Daniel will get to have a peaceful dream for the rest of your lives. As part of my family. One where you will have everything you want and need. The alterations I plan on making to your minds won't be too drastic. You will still be yourselves and will still be able to hang out with your friends. The only major differences are that you would want to become a part of my family and that you would want to sabotage your father as much as possible."
"That doesn't sound like us at all," I hissed. "You can try all you like, but Danny and I will give you hell before we let you do any of this crud."
"I'm sure you'll try, but you won't be fighting me~" Vlad grinned. "You would be fighting yourselves, your own minds. There is no greater enemy than one's self. Besides, there's not much you can do to resist me right now. I have you exactly where I need you, and by this time tomorrow you will be brand new boys ready to tear your family apart~"
"I look forward to when you two become my brothers~" Danielle smiled. "Anna will be happy too, I'm sure."
I looked at Danielle. "What's 'Anna's' true name?"
"Andrea," Danielle answered. "Andrea Isabella Masters."
"I take it she's half ghost too?" I remarked.
"Yup!" Danielle confirmed. "Oh, and just so you know, when you wake up, I'll look closer to the age I should. While I don't mind remaining as father's little girl, I would like to be closer to my origin's age."
"Of course, Danielle," Vlad chuckled. "Once I get everything ready to take their mid-morph DNA, we can begin the process."
Danielle looked excited. "Should I make the preparations for downloading their minds, Daddy?~"
"Hmmm, no, I would prefer to do that myself," Vlad answered. "You've been so helpful today, so how about you head upstairs and get some dinner? Perhaps you could check in on your sister for me, as she was quite upset by our change in plans."
"I'm sure she'll be happy when she calms down," Danielle replied. "But okay, Daddy. Let me know if you need any help."
With that said, Danielle excitedly flew through the lab's ceiling. Vlad went over to me and pushed a button on a control panel next to my pod. The pod's door closed.
"You're not going to succeed," I warned, giving Vlad my best defiant look.
"Oh… dear Andrew… that might be true…" Vlad laughed before looking me dead in the eyes. "If I hadn't already succeeded. Even if your friends and allies miraculously found out that you were here, they wouldn't be able to get to you before I had what I needed. And after I have what I need, those pods you are in will descend a few hundred feet to a cold storage facility built far underneath this mansion. By the time they get here, they won't find you two, but your replacements. Unlike most of my other plans, I've actually factored in what to do in the scenario where my mansion is invaded and your family tries to get to you. I have enough set up to buy me the few critical hours I need until I've gotten what I need from you and Daniel."
So he's calculated every move we would make based on what he knows of us. I noted, still glaring back at Vlad. He doesn't know about Hope, and perhaps that is our greatest weapon right now. But there has to be something I can do while in this situation. Even with Hope, Vlad will be able to get what he wants if Hope doesn't find us before he finishes his process.
Vlad looked away from me. "How much longer until the forced morphing sequence is complete?"
A hologram of Mom suddenly appeared in front of Vlad. "The forced morphing sequence is still booting up, dear. It will take approximately 25 minutes for it to be ready to use and the estimated time to completion is 10 to 25 minutes after the sequence has begun."
"Very well," Vlad acknowledged. "Then I will be working on the mind-digitizer in the meantime. Inform me just before the sequence is ready to begin. I wish to oversee the sequence and manually control the settings if need be."
"Of course, sweetie~" The holo-Mom answered back in a sickenly sweet voice.
"I will see you and Daniel again soon, son~" Vlad grinned at me before he disappeared, likely teleporting somewhere.
KaseyKay17: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Vlad definitely is an evil, manipulative man. He has so many plots and plans in his head that would make most people's heads spin. Additionally, oftentimes he can get into a mindset where he sees people as pieces to move around on a chessboard. Even his children or himself could be treated like pieces to move on a chessboard.
ZAFT Convoy: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Vlad is just being his manipulative self. There is more to it though, for why Vlad was lying to Anna and Ella about the boys being evil. But no spoilers. XP
naminexriku2468: Andy: Well, thanks for the apology, but I'd appreciate it if you just stuck to what's in the story. I rather not think about something so dark and horrific. There's no guarantee my family and friends would even be in the Ghost Zone if they died, or come back as ghosts at all.
kairixsora13579: Danny: I forgive you for the questions, just please try to remember that we have feelings of our own and would rather not be asked such questions. Especially when they're so extreme.
Elfianna: DarkFoxKit: I'm happy to know that this story is helping you, but I do hope that you're also getting the help you need. One's work and story can only do so much to help with something like this. We always try to be entertaining and as inviting as possible. And knowing we're able to help people with our stories makes us proud and happy, so thank you for your words of encouragement. We do hope that you'll be in a better headspace and environment soon.
Mana16: DarkFoxKit: Vlad is manipulating and lying to the girls about the boys being evil. As you'll see, Hope does play an important role here, which is a good thing Andy brought her after all.
Andy: I may not settle for one thing. But it would be good to have an idea for a goal to strive for. Danny sort of has that with his astronaut dream, as well as keeping Amity Park safe. Although I do like the idea of being a researcher for ghosts, as well as having my books published. Here's hoping it'll help bridge the gap between ghosts and humans.
There have been times where ghosts or a ghost could've become a family's guardian spirit. Those are not unheard of, but they're often shrugged off by most people who didn't believe in such culture. Sometimes after many generations, even the family may stop believing the guardian spirit is real. We haven't touched on this part of the lore yet, however, so it would be interesting if we ever get to it.
TheEmeraldPizza: DarkFoxKit: Uh… thanks for checking in, but we do have a Discord channel where you can pop in and ask us about how we're doing and get an update on what story we might be doing. It just seems a bit odd to see a review only talking about life stuff instead of anything about the story itself. If you're going to review asking us how we're doing, at least say something about the story or chapter. If you haven't been reading it, then PM me, don't leave something like this in a review.
DP-Marvel94: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Yep, he's been manipulating the girls for quite some time now. As for why you're surprised, while it is like Vlad to do such a thing, the writing team for the actual series often didn't use Vlad to his full potential.
Anna honestly thought she was doing the best thing possible and helping to redeem this troubled being. She was trying to reform someone she had been told was an evil being and she felt that she was making progress. It's too bad that Vlad interrupted, because I honestly would've loved to see where it would've gone had they been allowed to continue.
In regards to Danielle, we've tried to make her more of a person than just a character. We wanted to bring her more to life. But we also didn't want to put her in scenes where it didn't make sense for her to be, hence why she only showed up at the scenes she did.
As for Vlad… he'll most likely always be a fruitloop. It just fits him so well and it's kinda fun to write out such a stereotypical yet unique supervillain.
DarkFoxKit: There's more to Vlad than just what Onyx listed off. There are stories like Checkmate which do a lot more with him and make him more of a person than just a supervillain. We just haven't been able to do that with Vlad yet other than when he talked to Andy one-on-one.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': We are trying to do more with him though, and as the story goes on Vlad will definitely become more dastardly and conniving. So far, we've already topped what the canon Vlad does.
ArashiNokitsune: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': We aren't dealing with time travel or dimension travel shenanigans right now. No need to worry about that. And it was a devious plan by Vlad, he has been manipulating his children and telling them that the boys are evil. Anna was trying her best to redeem Andy, under the assumption he was evil. She had seen that he could be talked to normally and even reasoned with, hence why she felt she had redemption as an option in the first place.
DarkFoxKit: They've only really time travelled in places where time travelling was already a thing in canon, or it works for the story. So don't worry about us just adding in time shenanigans on a whim like that. It would devalue the story if we kept doing it.