.-.-First, a message from Yami-Horus-.-.

Just some info about the construction of this universe before starting:

The show first aired on april 4, 2004, THUS I'm making that date Danny's birthday.

The last episode, PHANTOM PLANET, aired on august 26, 2016. Since in the series it's said that it took them some time to actually put Danny's plan to work I'm making it happen somewhere around September.

As we know, REALITY GAUNTLET happened during summer vacation, meaning the characters aged at least one year during the show. Following this logic, the Phantom Trio would be 15 by the time of Phantom Planet (17 in Jazz's case)

The episode KINDRED SPIRITS (where Danielle first appears) was aired on April 7, 2006, and also happened after the REALITY GAUNTLET arc, meaning it happened at least a year after Danny got his powers; so, for this fanfic, that's the official date of her birthday.

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THOME 1: NOT THE END

It was the anniversary of the day when the planet had been saved thanks to their local hero, but the occasion was not as happy and festive as one would think it to be. Amity Park was somber and quiet; and, even though their young mayor's voice resounded through the speakers in front of the City Hall, the sound seemed so empty and far away that he might had been speaking through an empty can and nobody would have noticed the difference.

"...our hero is gone, but he'll live forever in our hearts, our minds and, even if it is not as much as he deserves, in Amity Park's history" He removed a single tear from his eye and continued reading (had someone been actually paying attention to his speech, they could have perceived the light quivering of his voice threatening to break at any moment). "May this day remind us that life is a precious gift we must all cherish and appreciate". A long silence followed and then the clapping started. As the reporters and people present started to leave, Tuck took off his formal hat and replaced it for a black beret.

"Mister Mayor" a professional, detached sounding voice came from behind him. "You have a visit" The young politician smiled melancholically, a sad smirk graced his features and he turned around to greet his two friends.

"Thanks, Margaret. I'll take it from here" The owner of the voice stepped aside and disappeared among the crew that was disassembling the podium. "Hey Sam, hey Dani" he saluted the two girls. Sam's hair had grown a little longer in the past few months, but she still kept it down, she had opted to cover her head (and part of her face) with a black-lace veil (which matched the laced ends of the black leggins she had replaced her purple-ones with; and, also, the translucent black blouse she was wearing over her black tank top). "Didn't thought I'd see you here"

"Neither did us" The youngest of the three answered "Jazz said something about seeing friends being good for… how did she call it? "Cathartic exercise" or something" She shrugged and, in the sweetest way possible, she added: "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention" Sam rolled her eyes at the gesture, but chuckled at the end.

"Yeah, we know that, Miss flower-power" The goth

"Why flower-po—? Oh, you meant the dress, yeah" the girl facepalmed as soon as she remembered that, ipso facto, she was wearing a black dress with white flowers (and also on the sleeves, but with the colors switched). "Do you like it?" The cloned Fenton teased the goth, who shrugged in disgust and received a sudden hug as 'punishment'.

Tucker contemplated the scene with some cheer coming back to him, for some seconds, before feeling down again. Danielle he had grown some inches in the past months, making her almost as tall as Sam and, also, (painfully) making her looks more similar to Danny's, despite her best efforts to conceal it (she had got a complete makeover just to get as different from Danny's look as possible: she started wearing heavy makeup everyday, got a whole new wardrobe, consisting primarily on dresses and cute stuff filled with flowers and hearts, she also curling her ponytail or bangs every morning. The most recent change was the addition of her ombre green-hair-dye).

The techno geek bite his tongue trying to suppress his comments. The girl-stuff he could understand, she had been trying things along with Danny; but, refusing anything resembling stars, spaceships, NASA or astrophysics? Stuffing all the models she and Danny had made together into the closet? She was overdoing it, especially since "the incident", which happened at Fenton Works one morning a few weeks after Danny's funeral.

The pain was still fresh in everyone's mind; and, for the Fenton's specially, the wound was still too tender. Maddie could be found looking through Danny's old stuff (toys, clothes, notebooks) and crying while holding one of his baby t-shirts; Jack, on the other hand, had kept calling for the boy's aid when he was in the lab just to remember of his passing mid-sentence, making him fall into a terribly somber state. Jazz explained how it was an issue that concerned the whole family, her included, and it was necessary to stay together and talk about things. Now, Danielle had been hesitant of spending time with them and she had been shy around them since Danny had introduced her to the family, but she couldn't bear to see them in such state. Even though they had agreed to take her in as their child — and she was grateful for that—, Danny was her link to the adults, without him she was uncertain of anything. She wanted to be accepted, to be loved, to make them happy...

"Dani! What are you doing?!" Maddie screamed when she saw the little girl standing in front of her mirror with scissors in hand and about to cut off her ponytail. Danielle froze in place, not knowing what to do. Her instincts were telling her to turn intangible and run away, while she was trying very hard to listen to her common sense and find her voice again.

"I-I was made to be a substitute of Danny" The blue-eyed cried with a serious expression "... maybe it's time for me to be… to be what I- what I was meant to be". The clone confessed her feelings while her eyes started to sting with tears.

"No, no, no! Sweety, no." Her mother took the scissors from her and kneeled in front of her . "Danielle, what in the world gave you that idea?" She asked as she cupped her face.

"I know…" The little girl said as her tears finally fell from her eyes. "I know you all miss Danny and- I'm not perfect clone but I can try-!

"Danielle…" Jack tried to come closer to them kneel on the floor beside his wife; but, deep in his gut, he felt this was a moment better suited for Maddie to handle.

"I just…!" She wiped her tears furiously "I can't bear to see you all so sad that I…" Dani's grip came loose, and the scissors fall to the floor "I just wanted to help you..!" She said "If I was a perfect copy, not a defective like the other spares as Vlad said..."

"I do not care what twisted thing was happening inside of Vlad's head when he tried to clone our son, I just care about you. Dani, I know you might doubt it, especially now that your brother is gone, but it is true. We lov—"

"Why? I'm not a real Fenton! You didn't even gave birth to me, you're not really my… mo..."

"Danielle Jacqueline Fenton!" Maddie placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders and put that face that only parents make when they are being serious, caring and mad t the same time. "I don't know what will be or what was meant to be, but I know that you are the only good thing Vlad ever made, and that you are not just some defective spare. You are your own person, with your own ideas and your own path to take." Danielle sobbed silently, which made Maddie soften her voice and features a little before speaking in a more tender voice. "And more important: you are not just Danny's clone, you are our youngest daughter, doesn't matter how you were born. We do love you"

Jazz didn't use many details while talking about the 'scissors incident', she just described it all as the psychologist she was ready to be. She talked about the halfa girl having an 'aggravated identity crisis', something about her need for self reassurance which she used to have with Danny around, mentioned stuff about a possible inferiority complex, going "back to her previous depressive state", her fears of not being loved, been seen as a nuisance for being a remainder of Danny's absence and such. Tucker knew he could never understand the full extent of what she had been going through by a mere email, so he opted to ignore his thoughts.

"So… any luck?" The mayor questioned as soon as Sam got Dani away from her. The youngest Fenton sighed and closed her eyes.

"Nothing" she answered, and then concentrated on the few ants that walked by her feet. "Mom and dad have been looking in the ghost zone, Jazz couldn't go but she used all the Boo-merangs; and there's no sign of him." Sam placed her hand on the younger's shoulder. "As a way to put it, it's like he's absolutely… dead". The young politician suppressed a couple of tears from forming in his eyes. He had hoped to find him as a full-time ghost, wandering somewhere (perhaps find him confused or amnesic).

"I think it's time to accept that he's gone, Tuck." Sam voiced the thought in their head. She knew how hard it would be on him, he had suggested to go look for him; he even had been willing to go to the ghost zone by himself if necessary, but his busy schedule had prevented him from doing so.

"He's really gone, huh?" he repeated. "And, apparently, for good..." Tuck sighed and none of them said another word. The silence was not uncomfortable, but it was not exactly welcomed either. That was the saddest stage of grief: acceptance.

"Time to go." Dani suddenly bursted when an alarm in her phone went off "Sorry, guys. Jazz is too busy with the internship; and Mom and dad need someone to make dinner while they work in the lab."

"Are you sure?" Sam questioned worriedly "Won't you be lonely? I can come over to help you if you want…"

"No, it's ok." Danielle said as cheerful as she could. "Besides, Mr. Lancer gave me a load of extra work to compensate the classes I skipped last week, but hey! At least I got the Ghost Box out of his office's drawers!" After that, they said their goodbyes and left in opposite directions.

"Looks like it's just you and me"

"Don't you have paperwork to do, Mr. Mayor?" Sam commented with a tad of intention of mocking him.

"Nah, the ceremony was the only thing on my agenda for the afternoon." He said, taking off his jacket. "I can take a walk with a friend before going home today and catch up with school"

"Alright, do you have anywhere in mind?"

"There is some new juice-and-smoothies place, it opened some days ago." He said as he took a look at his notes, squinting his eyes as he tried to interpret the map shown in screen. "It's just a couple more blocks away. I think you'll like it, they promise everything is 100% organic, eco-friendly, dark-forest themed and their waste is minimal."

"Sounds good", Sam declared. "Say, Mr. Mayor..." she got his attention, thinking it was the moment to touch the subject. "Why did the city council decided to make the memorial and anniversary ceremony the same day?" Tuck grunted.

"I just don't get them! They knew my age when they decided to make me mayor and yet…!" He made a series of distressed hand gestures in the air. Sam patted his shoulder a couple of times while saying:

"Breath, Tuck" which the boy did.

"I'm good, I'm good…" and he took a couple of deep breaths. "Someone said havng a sad anniversary and a happy one just weeks after would be too clashing and bad for the community's mood, whatever that means; and when I argued against it they brought the age-issue" He changed his voice to a deeper tone and used his hands as if they were puppets. "Mr. Mayor, you're just a teenager, despite your good administration, sense of service, and careful planning and organization; you're still some lazy teenager. You are just looking for an excuse to not work". Sam facepalmed and he threw her head back in an exasperated gesture.

"Really?" She complained. "At least you came up with an excuse with the media"

"Wasn't that difficult" he responded. "I wrote a memo saying how dangerous it would be coming here for news agencies from outside, then I proceeded to enlist a series of the possible dangers of visiting a place as haunted as this, blah-blah-blah… and Iet fear do the rest. Danny's identity is still a secret to the rest of the world post mortem".

"Good to know"

When they reached the place, they doubted for a moment if they were at the right address. Maybe it was because of the lack of people or, perhaps, the sign saying: "The Witch's Brew" that was more alluring for an arcade or a D&D kind-of place. When they opened the door, they were greeted by a small establishment with four high tables occupying the space in front of a counter and, in the middle, was a baby playpen.

"Are you sure it's here?" Sam questioned before a very fluffy puppy came out of nowhere and barked for attention at the same time they heard a:

"I think he's in the front!" and a guy dressed completely in black punk-looking clothes and black hair came out of the door that was in the back side, followed by a blond girl with blue eyes wearing a witch hat and carrying two puppies.

"Please tell me the door is closed-!" She said when she noticed Sam carrying the small grey puppy. "Sue, customers!" She whispered to his ear before addressing the newcomers. "Welcome to The Witch's Brew, we have potions for all tastes. Would you like to look at ou menu or you have a special request?"

"Are these guys ingredients too?" Tuck asked good-natured joking as he went to path the other puppies' heads.

"No." The guy muttered in annoyance. "We're helping the animal shelter; and these three need their adoption collars before we let them in the playpen for the customers to meet" the stranger explained as he put a purple collar around each dog. "It is not a good idea to let an excitable puppy run without an identification, especially in a place where the door can randomly be opened"

"Shouldn't they be cats?" Sam arched an eyebrow in amusement at the sight of the bone-shaped medal on which was written: Witches love me, just adopt me.

"Dogs, cats... us, witches, like them both" the girl intervened as she took the puppy Sam was carrying and placed him in the playpen with the others. "...we just want to help these little friends to find a family"

"Natural, organic, minimal waste and helping the community? Is your middle name 'Perfect'?" Expressed the extreme recyclo-vegetarian in a suspicious voice (had it been any other day, she would have even laughed).

"Hehe…" the girl laughed and introduced herself. "I'm Ella, and grumpy-pants over there is my business partner and boyfriend. "

"'Sup? Sulu Daemon, call me D, not even my parents call me Sulu; and only Ella can call me Sue." Sulu then took a black apron with a pattern of little witches flying and went to the back of the counter. "So, what's it gonna be?"

"Hm… I want an Ice Breaker" Tuck ordered as he looked the menu on a blackboard. "You, Sam?"

"I'll have the Poisoned Apple" The boy put on the apron and proceeded to prepare the drinks. "This place seems nice"

"Thanks! It took months of planning, remodeling, hard work and convincing my mom" Ella responded.

"So, you two own the place? How old are you?"

"Oh, Sulu and I are 18, we're taking this year off to work and save some money for college." Ella then joined her boyfriend behind the counter to register the sell in the cashier and help pour the liquids in their biodegradable recycled-paper cups. "Also, my mom was sent to work overseas for some months and was worried about leaving my brother alone, specially with Amity Park being the world's most haunted city."

"Wait, we got the world record?! " Tuck expressed with surprise and a growing feeling of wanting to fire his secretary. "Why did no-one notify me?" He then started to look through his email. "How can this be possible? I'm the mayor!" As Tuck grumbled about that subject, Sam sipped her red drink and smiled, then looked at the surrounding decorations (fake black flowers and foliage, dark green walls,very realistic polymer toads and frogs, the counter itself was made to look like a giant cauldron); the place was, as promised, themed as a dark forest. Her mood was improving little by little.

"This is really good", she declared. "So, you graduated last year or…?"

"Yeah, before my family and I moved here" Ella told them, making Sulu roll his eyes at her friendliness. "Mom's job has made us move a handful of times. Sue, came with us because his parents threw him out of the house as soon as he got his High School Diploma" Ella glanced at him and the others also questioned him with their eyes.

"Sad, but true" the punk said. "You can't choose your family"

"More like…"

"Hey, guys!" a distant voice called, interrupting Ella's response. "Open the door, please!" Sulu sighed in annoyance and went to the room in the back. The blonde was about to keep talking when they heard a series of clashing sounds.

"Hey! Careful!" Sulu's voice came, not sounding happy.

"Sorry! I didn't see that..."

"You're going to kill someone!" And with that, a new person came into the main area, carrying three boxes stacked one over the other and blocking his view. "Carry one box at a time, you fool! We have clients!"

"You need help?" The blonde offered the newcomer that was about to lose his footing as the boxes started to slip to one side.

"No, I'm fine…!" He answered as he balanced the boxes back into position. Yet, the blue-eyed girl took the box from the very top and stoked it away, unveiling his bi-colored eyes, partially hidden by his black bangs. Then, he hurried to leave the fresh boxes of fruit on the floor nearest to the fridge area. "Thanks, Ella…"

Sam and Tuck felt a cold chill going up their spines and a strange sensation in their stomachs. Tuck took off his glasses and massaged the upper part of his nose, like a businessman does after spending too much time in front of a monitor. Sam felt her chest tightening and her throat sore, but she didn't know what to do, her body was numb (she couldn't even remember what she was thinking ten seconds ago), it was like her mind had gone blank.

"The box-bender here is my little brother" Ella hurried to say. "Don't be fooled, he might want to appear all strong and manly but he's a total sweetheart", then she proceeded to lightly hug the aforementioned boy, who was wearing a red sleeveless dragon-printed hoodie over a black long-sleeved shirt with a skeleton print on. The uncovered eyes glided to the side where the customers were sitting and a tint of shyness appeared.

"Hi, I-I'm Engel"

"Hi and sorry but we'll see you later" The mayor took Sam by her shoulder and faced the door. "We'll come by any other day when we're not behind school work. It was nice to meet you all!" and with that they left as fast as they could.

"Th-that boy…" the goth finally spoke. "D-Did you see his face?" Tucker looked her in the eye and slowly both had paled.

That boy was, without doubt, the splitting image of Danny's face.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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.-.-A final message from Yami-Horus-.-.

¡Dun-dun-dun! That was it, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. And, yes, this is supposed to happen somewhere around 2005-2007, that awkward moment when phones started to have decent-or-so cameras, polyphonic ringtones, some started to reproduce mp3, the early days of video-calls, texting was only 160 characters at a time and each message consumed some cents from your phone plan (if you had a plan and didn't rely on pre-paid). The most advanced piece of mobile technology will be Tuck's Palm Phone (If anyone doesn't know any kind of pre-iphone-era smartphone… you should probably google it xD)

Another thing: I'm managing this story in "thomes", every bit of the thome will be published as a chapter. There will be one day in between each "chapter" published. After a thome is complete, there will be a gap of one to two weeks before the next thome is published. That way, you won't have to wait too much or deal with an unfinished story ;P

"But how will I know you published the entire thome?"

Because you'll find "final messages" from me (like, the one you're reading) or you-ll find the typical: "To be continued…".

As always: any doubts, questions, comments, death threats? Leave a review, please.