Author's Note: I'm surprised that I got five reviews in just two days and by the luck of the draw that all characters in the previous chapter are in character! I edited chapter one with "made up" page breaks since the icon for page break is not working yet. As I said before, you will get more info on what Vlad had said in the previous chapter and why I mentioned that Dani was fourteen. Chapter three is typed but needs some editing and will be up in a couple of days.
Chapter Two
"The Rise and Fall of Perfection"
Jazz ran towards the fairgrounds away from where Danny had transformed and vanished in. Dozens of questions echoed in her head. Who was Valerie chasing? Why would Danny run off like that in complete rage just for a ghost? Does he like this girl? What was he not telling her? She had also listened on the conversation that Skulker had with someone and she knew that someone had to be Vlad Masters since her sisterly instinct told that something bad was going to happen to Danny if she didn't follow him. Her thoughts now turned to the events Danny had told her about Vlad's attempts to clone him. "I need to find Sam and Tucker since they might be able to tell me what is going on here."
Samantha "Sam" Mason, a girl dressed like a goth, and Tucker Foley, an African-American techno-geek, were waiting for Danny at the entrance of the fairgrounds for him to arrive. They had been best friends for years even through Danny's ghost catching adventures. As with any best friend(s), they had their ups and downs throughout their friendship.
"Danny's late again," Sam said as she checked her watch as she sighed.
"You saw what happened earlier when Valerie was chasing him, again," Tucker replied as he fiddled with his PDA, personal digital assistant. "Don't worry I'm sure he'll be here soon. Hey, here comes Jazz," they both seen Jazz running towards them.
"Danny's in trouble!" Jazz said as she caught her breath.
"Trouble? But we saw him being chased by his ex-girlfriend and he can take care of himself," Sam replied with bitterness in her voice as she mentioned 'ex-girlfriend.'
"That wasn't Danny since he was with me when Valerie flew over us, and he left enraged saying that he was going to rip her apart. He was captured by Skulker and taken to Vlad's"
"Vlad? Who was Valerie chasing?" Sam asked in a terrified tone afraid what she thinks it is.
"Did you get a good look at the ghost Valerie was chasing?" Tucker implied taking his eyes off of his PDA.
"I would say a female twin of Danny with the same colors but they seemed to have an inverted pattern. Danny seemed to know her and I'm sure it has to do with the time he told me that Vlad tried to make a clone of him," she then noticed the looks on their faces. Sam was staring wide eyed while Tucker seemed to have dropped his PDA pointer without noticing that he did as he just stares at her. "You know her?" she didn't get a straight answer out of them at once since they seemed to have zoned out on her. She swipes Tucker's PDA (as he shouted 'Hey!') knowing full well of how much he loves technology.
"Okay but please don't hurt it since I still have three more payments on it!" Tucker said realizing that Danny didn't tell her everything and hoping Jazz didn't hurt his PDA. He picks up his pointer off the ground before whispering to Jazz while Sam listened, "She's a near perfect clone made by Vlad who masqueraded as Danny's third cousin once removed. While Danny was fighting Vlad, she knocked him out and he awoke in Vlad's lab. Danny escaped the lab only to fight her as he tried to convince her that she was being used by Vlad since he didn't want to hurt her. According to Danny, Vlad needs his mid-morph DNA in order to perfect his perfect half-ghost son, but she betrayed Vlad when he ordered her to overshadow Danny. Her DNA is unstable if she uses her powers in excess and overshadowing Danny would have killed her. So she freed him and they were fighting Vlad when we arrived to save Danny. She was nowhere to be seen after the fight and she vowed that she would be back before she left Fenton Works. You said that she was a twin, but the last time we check she was a twelve year old the last time we seen her."
Jazz returns Tucker's PDA and replies, "So that's what gotten into him and Vlad must have done something to her just to pay her back for her betrayal. What's her name?"
"Danielle, which I find highly original of Vlad," Sam replied bitterly.
"You don't trust her?"
"Not fully," Sam turns her back on them. "She betrayed Danny's trust and I can't see why he still trusts her."
"Sam, Danny's willingly gives people a second chance and he's given me one even though I sucked him into the Fenton Thermos three times in the same night."
"Guys," Tucker spoke up in order to avoid a full blown argument, "we need to free Danny and worry about this later!"
They all agreed and left the entrance of the fairgrounds and towards Fenton Works. Fenton Works was the household that housed the Fentons. It was just like any normal building but it had what seemed like a manufacturing plant on the top of it. For some reason, it had been able to avoid the building codes in the city. Lucky for them, Jack and Maddie Fenton were nowhere to be seen. So they went into the basement and into the Specter Speeder, which had been repaired by Jack after Tucker's no point landing while on a mission to save Danny, and through a secret tunnel that led to the yard. They came out of the secret tunnel and into the air. Jazz was at the helm with Sam and Tucker up front. Jazz opens the closed cockpit to allow Sam to throw the Fenton Booooo-merang, a device that locks onto ghost that has unlimited range and looks like a boomerang.
"Okay you stupidly-named homing device! Find Danny!" She throws it and it continues its course without returning back to her like a normal boomerang would.
"Punch it, Jazz!" Tucker said as he strapped himself in which Jazz closed the cockpit and hits the throttle.
Danny slowly awoke from his forced sleep to a blurry surrounding and he could see the outline of a man. The man had spiked black hair and red eyes that seemed to glow through his disorientation. He wore a caped white suit, his skin was pale, and he had pointed teeth. It didn't take long for Danny to realize where he was and who was staring at him.
"Plasmius!" there was bitterness in Danny's voice.
"I'm glad to see you too, Daniel," Plasmius replied as if mocking Danny.
"Whatever you're up to; it's not going to work, and what did you do with Danielle!" as he tried to approach Plasmius only to find out that he was bounded to something.
"You are here so I can finish what I started before you and that clone," he shoots a side glance towards the young unconscious teenage girl in a nearby containment chamber and Danny realized that she was no longer the twelve year old that he remembered but appeared to be his age, "destroyed my lab. As for Danielle," he cracks a malicious smile, "you will find out when she awakens and both of you shall bare witness to my creation."
"I said it before and I'll say it again you are one--" Danny was cut off when Plasmius turned on a machine and phased into Danny causing him severe pain. "What are you doing!"
"Getting what I want my dear boy," Plasmius' voice rang through Danny's mouth, "your mid-morph DNA!"
"I won't let you have it!" Danny's voice rang out through his own mouth as he tried to resist.
Danny tried to resist but the pain seemed to be unbearable. He started to transform but Danny resisted the urge to do so. However, Danny was getting weak as the power in the machine increased and Plasmius had twenty years more experience than Danny but Danny had always been able to best Plasmius before. Plasmius forced Danny to transform again and he made it halfway, then three-quarters, and finally he forced Danny to complete his transformation.
Danny passed out from the ordeal and Plasmius phased out of Danny just as he returned back to his human form looking very pleased with himself as the machine turns off. "No matter what you try, Daniel, I am always more experience than you and I will always get what I want. Both of you shall witness my creation; so," he turns back to Danny, "sleep well, Daniel and Danielle, since the last thing you will see is my perfect son destroying the both of you."
Danny woke up again this time with a splitting headache and he had just came out of some kind weird of dream. He could only remember parts of it and it seemed so real. He saw himself, in ghost mode, floating above the containment chamber he was in with his body still there just as Plasmius, in his human form, leaving the room for some reason while he left his Vulture Ghosts to stay and watch his prisoners. He managed to reprogram the console that he himself knew nothing about; however, the Vulture Ghosts caught him and fought them. The last thing he remembered before he woke up was leading the Vulture Ghosts away from the lab.
Danny's vision cleared and he could see Plasmius, back in his ghost form, staring at him while he smiled. Danny didn't have time to clear his head to clear since Danielle spoke out enraged, "What did you do to me!"
"Ah, I'm glad you asked me, my dear girl," Plasmius spoke as he approached them. "It's a program that forces your body to age at an accelerated rate and I installed that in you just incase you would betray me. Since your DNA is unstable, it becomes even more unstable as you age. In other words," Danny could tell that Plasmius was enjoying this as his smile began to get worse, "you will be turned back into the ectoplasm that you came from even if you don't use your powers. If you are able to stabilize yourself, the program will deactivate itself."
"Don't you mean 'when,'" Danielle snapped back as she tried to fight against her bounds.
"Plasmius!" Danny growled getting his attention. "This is between you and me and you can leave her out of this!"
"Daniel," Plasmius spoke again as the lights came on automatically revealing another Danny in a containment field. "she betrayed my trust and she was expendable anyways. Now that I have your mid-morph DNA, I can perfect this clone," he gestures to the clone before eyeing them, "and at the same time give you both the pain I felt from that vocal attack of yours, Daniel. I might also add that my perfect clone will soon have that attack and he will be able to use it as he pleases on my command."
"When I get out of here. I'm going to kick your--" Danielle didn't get to finish her statement since Plasmius had turned on a device that shocked her and Danny and at the same time it started to stabilize the clone of Danny as Plasmius let out an evil chuckle.
The pain seemed to match that of the Specter Deflector but it seemed ten times worse. Danny could feel every nerve ending in his body was on fire and every hair on his body started to stand on end. It seemed like hours until the electrocution was complete and they were released from their chambers. He felt lightheaded as he hit the ground and he could still feel the electricity flowing through his body. He also felt a bracelet on his hand and he also noticed that Danielle also had one too.
"Those bracelets neutralize your powers and I'm the only one that can get them off," Plasmius replied while waving a remote of some sort just as the stabilized clone came out of its containment chamber.
"That doesn't seem fair," Danielle snaps as she stands up.
"Fair!" his demeanor changed to that of rage. "Was it fair when Daniel put the Specter Deflector on me so he can make it a fair fight even though I had twenty years of experience with my powers! Was it fair when Daniel stripped me of my powers for three hours and left me at the mercy of my pets that very same night!"
"Pets?"
"Later," Danny hissed at her.
"Now my loyal son," Vlad said to his clone, "destroy them!"
The clone charged up an attack out of its hands and shoots at them. Danny dives at Danielle and knocks her out of the way of the blasts as it hits the containment chambers behind them. The clone shoots more blasts as the two ran from the spot as the blasts destroyed and/or damaged anything it hit.
"You can't hide forever!" Plasmius taunted as they hid behind a console as his clone fired upon them.
"Does he have a weapons vault here?" Danny asked as the blasts hit the console they were hiding behind.
"Weapons vault?" she said as she rattled her memory. "Yeah, it's over there," she points to a door not too far from them.
"Get to the vault and get some weapons for us to use. Also get the Specter Deflector, if he has one, so that we can get it on Plasmius and have a fighting chance against him."
"What about you?"
"Bait so that you can have time getting to the vault."
"Wait, Danny--" it was too late since Danny had left their hiding place and into the open.
"Hey copycat! The one and only original is right here!" Danny taunted waving his hands getting the clone's attention.
Plasmius eyed Danny's actions suspiciously as his clone fired upon him. He knew that the two had planned something since he only saw Danny while Danielle was nowhere to be seen. Danny dove behind another console but his safety was short lived when the clone destroyed the console he was hiding behind. He runs again but this time the clone started to fly after him. Danny was tripped by the clone and was thrown into a nearby damaged console as he groans in pain just as the clone came up to him. The clone then grabs Danny by the neck and lifts him up chocking him.
The sound of a clearing throat was heard and he turns to see Danielle holding an ecto-blaster to his face, "Hands off my cousin!"
She fires the blaster and the clone releases Danny as it tumbles on the ground by rolling before it gets back onto its feet. Danielle throws Danny an ecto-blaster and a belt, which he recognizes as the Specter Deflector.
"How'd you get into my vault?" Plasmius asked her narrowing his eyes.
"It's easy when you have a lame password that happens to be a person that you keep whining about," Danielle replied keeping her blaster on the clone.
They both fired upon the clone only to have it block the shots with a shield that reflected the shots back at them. Danny rolls out of the way while Danielle ducks behind the console that she was hiding behind. The clone starts firing on Danny, who was running to find some cover, and something unexpected happened that caught even Plasmius by surprise. The clone's feet started to glow green and Danny recognize it since Danielle had the same thing happen to her when they last fought. It seemed that the clone wasn't as perfect as it seemed.
"No, it can't be!" Plasmius yelled as he saw what was happening to his clone and the clone also noticed what had happened. "You were supposed to be perfect!"
Danny had taken this distraction to get the Specter Deflector onto Plasmius and he succeeded getting the belt on and at the same time was able to get the remote away from Plasmius so they can get those bracelets off of them. Plasmius cried in pain but remained in his ghost form as the Specter Deflector was put onto him. He backhands Danny and sends him towards where Danielle, who was also watching the scene, was hiding.
"What's going on?" Danielle asked as she helps Danny up.
"I think his clone is not as stable as it seems," Danny replies as he presses the button that removes their bracelets while they discarded their ecto-blasters.
"Destroy them!" Plasmius ordered.
The clone charges up for another attack and at the same time started to melt towards its knees. It was narrow-minded enough to follow orders that it had melted to its waist before its arms fell apart as it launches its attack in which it failed. The clone takes one last look at Plasmius giving him a pleading look before Plasmius ends the clone's short life with an ecto-blast to the head. The blast completely destroys the clone leaving only ectoplasm behind.
"What a worthless waste of my time and where are those Vultures! I told them to watch over the lab until I returned, but they disobeyed my orders! Now I'm going to… have… to…" Plasmius' voice trailed off as he looked at the screen near the containment chamber that once held his clone. "No, this is not possible!" he yelled after a few seconds of looking at the screen as Danny and Danielle looked on confused at what was happening. "Those pathetic Vultures must've betrayed me by sabotaging my program by sending it to… NO!" he slams onto the console knocking it over and damaging the screen.
Danny and Danielle looked intently at the screen as it showed three names: Daniel, Danielle, and Perfect Son. At the very bottom of the screen, it showed a double helix with the words: Daniel's Mid-Morph DNA and Daniel's Vocal Attack beside it. Also, under Danielle's name there were a few words that would soon put both of her and Danny's unrest at ease: Rapid Aging Program -- Deactivated. They then followed the trail of blinking lights from the double helix diagram and they led to Danielle's name. Danny and Danielle did several double takes from the screen and each other, and with each double take their expressions changed to wide-eyed ones. Then they realized what had happened and why Plasmius' clone had failed leading to his enraged state; Danielle had gotten Danny's mid-morph DNA and possibly his Ghostly Wail instead of the clone plus the rapid aging program within her had also been deactivated. They both cracked similar smiles but these were different from the ones that Danny usually cracks. They seemed to be a mixture between the usual determination that Danny uses and that of cockiness for the two of them.
"Like you said before Plasmius, when I'm stabilized the accelerated growth program will deactivate," Danielle said with an amused tone while she took a defensive stance facing Danny.
"We also have two words for you," Danny added as he held up two fingers also taking a defensive stance while facing her.
"What? Your 'infamous' battle cry?" Plasmius mocked even though his anger was still present.
"Going Ghost!" they both cried in unison as a pair of white rings separated from their waist going in opposite directions transforming both of them into their ghost forms.
"Ready to teach him a lesson by kicking his butt, Danny?" Danielle asked Danny not taking her eyes off of Plasmius.
"Always ready to teach this seriously crazed-up fruit loop, who needs a cat, a lesson, Dani," Danny replied with the name she requested to be called by the next time they met again.
"How cute and original of you Danielle to name your ghost-self after Daniel?" Plasmius mocked not looking surprised.
"How original of you to name me after Danny!" Dani snapped back.
"Touché. Even with my powers diminished I can still beat the both of you."
"Bring it!" Danny and Dani both replied.
Post Author's Note: I just hope that I got Sam and Tucker in charater since it was difficult to think what they were say in a given situation and I apologize for that. I believe that Sam and Tucker are going to be torn between trusting and not trusting Dani. Jazz might be out of character but that is just an opinion. Why didn't I have Dani call Vlad 'dad?' I think after what happened in "Kindred Spirits," she won't be calling him that for a long time. I also had a lot of fun writing Vlad's reaction to his clone's demise. As for the dream sequence, it's going to remain a mystery at the moment. I don't have to tell you what the next chapter is going to be, do I? Also, one scene in this 'fic mirrors that on "Kindred Spirits."
