Hello lovelies! This chapter involves confusing myself - just very slightly - and a shout out to one of my reviewers. You know what that means... Plant crazy ideas in my head, and they can be worked into the final plot, so that you can feature very briefly along with most of the other loose ends I tie up... Rambling! Its like an addiction, for people without attention spans!
After her initial panic, Illusen managed to brush her teeth and find something citrus-free to hold between her teeth as she pulled on her jacket and hopped into her shoes, almost tripping out of the door. She hated oversleeping, it always made her feel flushed and like something was missing. As she tripped and stumbled down the block, Illusen bit into what turned out to be toast and tried to recap every moment of the previous night, trying to hold onto it like she was still holding the ring.
"Oh man." Illusen muttered, looking at her hand and seeing that sure enough, her mother's ring was still tightly in her fist. "How did I manage to run off…" Looking around, Illusen made the ring intangible and slipped it onto her necklace, dropping the chain down her shirt. "So busy so rushed not enough time-" As she ran, she didn't even notice Danny, who was also trying to walk, and ran smack into him.
When the two hit, Illusen's arm involuntarily went intangible, sliding through Danny's shoulder and back before she yanked it back, making sure it was solid and holding on tightly with her other hand. Danny, for his part, looked startled and then suddenly horrified, and Illusen took a step back.
"I'm sorry I didn't see you I wasn't even looking where I was going I'm so absent-minded-" Illusen started, panicking slightly.
"I really didn't mean it you must have just landed the wrong way and I really didn't mean to hit you-" Danny said at the same time, waving his arms back and forth.
"You're not hurt, are you, nothing weird?" they asked at the same time, Illusen's eyes widening before she smiled shyly.
"I mean, I'm fine, I didn't mean to run into you." Danny said, looking to the side. "I'm just in a hurry to get to school, I'm running a bit later than I should be." He didn't mention that he had been in and out of sleep all night long, stuck between dreaming and just being nearly awake. "You seem to be too." And then Danny noticed that something about Illusen seemed a bit different. "Uhm, correct me if I'm wrong, but is your hair… purple?"
"What?" Illusen asked, grabbing a lock of her hair and realizing with certain horror that her hair was indeed a vibrant shade of violet. Something must have gone wrong when she switched back, she must have somehow confused the hair color she was supposed to have with this particular shade in her mind. Not that that made a good excuse. "Oh no…"
"Uhm, any special reason why?" Danny asked, a bit confused. Somehow, brightly colored hair didn't seem to suit someone as quiet and withdrawn as Illusen.
"Oh, I uhm… had an accident in the lab." Illusen tried lamely. Technically, this had happened in the lab. "One of the new serums went wrong and I thought I washed it out of my hair but apparently not well enough… Uhm… How noticeable is it?" Maybe it just looked bright to her, and Danny was highly perceptive. Maybe.
"Very bright." came the response and Illusen sighed. She was going to have to deal with this now, which was fairly miserable. Purple hair? Really? Where did ideas like that even come from? Clouds? "Did my parents help make it or something?"
"No, it was mine." Illusen said, staring at the strand disappointedly. "Oh man, I really didn't mean to have crazy hair… I can fix this…" She shook her head, trying to get the thought of purple out of her mind. "Oh right, I have toast for breakfast!" She quickly took a bite and smiling, looked over at Danny and pushing up her glasses. "This has been an unusual morning."
At school, few people seemed to notice Illusen's hair, and even Danny thought that in the school's yellowed lights, her hair looked much darker and almost normal. Still, Sam and Tucker were both incredibly curious as to how she had managed the change.
"So you seriously got ghost splashed?" Tucker asked, flipping his hat back. "And instead of glowing green and flying you got purple hair?"
"Yeah, I think flying might have been less awkward." Illusen muttered, braiding her hair with a look of distraction. "I can't believe this managed to go so conveniently wrong… Does stuff like this happen often?"
"All the time." Tucker replied, ignoring the glare Sam was giving him. "There was this one time when all the students got-"
"So this just happened randomly?" Sam said, cutting in. "I mean, its just strange… I could swear I've seen that color before."
"It looks like your eyes Sam." Danny mentioned offhand, and both girl's eyes widened as Danny seemed to realize what he had just said. "Not to be creepy or anything, just thinking…"
"No way." Sam said, pulling out a bat-shaped mirror and looking at her eyes quickly, then at Illusen's hair. "No way, no way." Another glance, and Illusen took a critical look at her hair color, narrowing her eyes. "That is not normal."
"Beyond not normal." Illusen whispered, pulling at the end of one of her braids. "Its… weird." Danny took this as a sign that voicing the first thought to enter his mind was not always the best of plans. Not that he had really planned that.
"I'll have to talk to Uncle about this." Illusen said firmly, looking at her hair with a look of utter hopelessness. "Oh stupid stupid hair stupid stupid me…" Danny was tempted to say something, but before he could, a shriek sounded through the cafeteria as Danny exhaled a thin plume of steam.
"Really? Now?" Danny muttered, looking at Sam, who answered by rolling her eyes. Only instead of coming up with a loud distraction, her eyes kept going upward and she slumped backwards in her seat, eyes closing. "Whoa, Sam?" And then there was the sound of so many bodies hitting the ground and as Danny looked up, everyone in the cafeteria was unconscious, sprawled out wherever they had been. "Oh no, not a weird day…" He heard a giggle and looked around, very quickly going ghost and then flying off after the source of the laughter.
"Catch me if you can…" a high pitched voice giggled and Danny kept after it, zooming through hallways and classrooms after someone elusively invisible. "Catch me soon…" One more turn and before he could stop, a giant green barrier had been erected in front of him, which Danny ran into full force, making everything go suspiciously black. "Catch me now..."
"Danny! Danny are you okay?" His name echoed in his head and Danny opened his eyes, seeing a large purple blur until his eyes focused, seeing Sam with Illusen right behind her, both looking concerned. Great. "Danny!"
"Hey, are you okay?" Illusen asked even as Sam began helping Danny up, watching them as Danny watched her. "Did you wake up early or something? The most of the girls were awake once we started looking for you but Tucker won't budge, he's out cold. Were you looking for help? Did you find help? We haven't seen any adults awake either." She was talking quickly, one of the lens of her glasses slightly cracked. Her purple hair was still terribly distracting… "Do you think it was a ghost?"
"No!" Danny and Sam shouted at the same time, both sounding nervous. They looked at each other, then at a startled looking Illusen.
"I mean, I haven't really thought about it." Danny said, rubbing his head and wondering where that sudden ghost wall had disappeared to. "Because… I was asleep in the hall. After panicking and… running down the hall and yeah." His excuse didn't even make sense to him, but Illusen seemed distracted. Good, she wouldn't notice his failing excuse.
"Danny, we should probably go check on everyone else, right? See if anyone else is waking up." Sam mentioned, steering him back towards the cafeteria. "I'm sure you're worried about Tucker." She leaned in close and whispered, "Tell me what happened this afternoon, okay? Come to my house." Straightening up, Sam practically dragged Danny back to the lunchroom, where several bewildered student were sitting up and looking around.
"I hate weird days." Danny muttered, looking. Tucker was still asleep, but not everyone was awake and its all seemed too surreal. "Did you see anything?"
"Nothing." Sam muttered back. "You were talking and next thing I knew, Illy was shaking me awake and hyperventilating. I was kinda hoping you knew what happened."
"Oh, no clue at all." Danny said. "Illy, you see anything?" Silence, and Danny turned around to see that Illusen hadn't followed them back. "Uhm, Illy was here, right?"
"Was." Sam echoed. "She vanishes a lot. Look, tell me what happened Danny, I'm worried. Knocking out the whole school is weird, really weird."
"I don't know what happened… You passed out and everyone was out too and there was some kind of giggling ghost…" Danny said, trying to make sense of the story. "I chased it and then this wall showed up out of nowhere and I ran into in and then you showed up and that's all that happened." Sam still looked worried, but luckily, Tucker chose then to wake up.
"Ahh!" Tucker yelled, shooting up dramatically and tipping over in his chair. "Ow. Why did no one wake me up?"
"Oh trust me, I tried." Sam said, looking as Tucker got back up, adjusting his hat. "You really suck at waking up, you know that?"
"But an hour? You guys let me sleep for a hour?" Danny froze as Tucker checked his PDA. "Shouldn't we be in class by now?"
"It was an hour?" Danny asked, just as Tucker noticed that there were still several people sleeping across the floor and tables. "We were out for an hour?" Suddenly, even thing seemed much more sinister.
"Hey, Illy's passed out on the floor!"
"Uncle!" Illusen shouted, bursting through the front door after school. Everyone had woken up eventually, but there had been no classes and almost everyone had sat in small groups, whispering and worrying. Mary Sue in particular had garnered a group of popularity to protect her, and then promptly disappeared the second school was out. "Uncle, you have got to come quick, she's done something and I can barely stand up." Recut appeared at the top of the stairs as Illusen grabbed the doorframe, trying to balance herself. "Did anything go wrong here?"
"Your hair is purple." Recut said quietly, moving down the stairs and grabbing Illusen, kicking the door shut as he walked her to the couch. "You're near pale as death Lou, and she's upstairs. What happened?"
"Chaos." Illusen muttered. "Everyone went to sleep, the whole school and I don't know why and she sucked so much out of me I can barely stay awake… I was out for an hour, only most were out longer and this is terrible, things are already going wrong." She sighed. "Maybe Dad had a reason for not wanting me to be here. Maybe I ruin everything…"
"Maybe you should calm down and talk to… uhm, what's her name again?"
"Its Marie Suzanna Eris Turquoise." Illusen said quickly. "I don't even know where she came up with something so ridiculous… I'm just worried. What if this really is all my fault? What if I can't be here because I destroy things?" Her eyes closed, then shot open. "Oh, I have to do something before I pass out this is wrong…"
"Hi!" Mary Sue said perkily, suddenly in the living room and next to Illusen on the couch, twirling her hair around her finger and stretching her gloriously long legs. "So, I know this doesn't normally happen but… What's the plan?" She smiled, batting her eyelashes and looking at Illusen almost curiously. "Also, how are you?"
"You know, this is weird." Illusen said, her eyes closed. "Having… problem causing clones. Not that you're a problem I'm just… confused. What exactly did you do?"
"Dunno." Mary Sue said. "Wasn't trying to. Something just… happened. Everyone went to sleep and I figured it would get better so I just kinda waited." She bit her perfectly pink lower lip and twiddled her manicured nails together. "I didn't mean it. And this has never happened before, right?"
"Of course not." Illusen said quickly. "I'm not this powerful, you're not, we're not this powerful… It must be something else… That's my fault." She pulled at her purple hair in distress and Recut tried to pull her hands away, only for Illusen to go to sleep again. "Why am I tired?"
"Maybe you should sleep Lou." Recut said quietly, watching Illusen's eyes close again. "I'm sure its been a long day…" Mary Sue sat quietly, her hair almost glistening in the perfectly ordinary light. "Go to sleep…" And Illusen's eyes slipped closed again. "So, Miss Marie Suzanna… Its nice to finally meet you."
"Call me Mary Sue, everyone does." Mary Sue insisted. "And I'm sure you don't need much introduction, you know me so well already… I think." She giggled and flipped her hair, her perfectly even teeth looking whiter than normal. "I don't even know if I should feel bad… I mean, I know I made her tired but if she's me… This is such a puzzle."
"Being here is a puzzle." Recut admitted, looking at Illusen and making sure she was asleep. "I keep seeing myself by accident, and Danny and Sam… And we haven't even figured how to get you and Lou back together."
"Its so awkward, being a clone." Mary Sue said softly, her voice flowing more smoothly than a brook of silk. "I mean, I know she's real and I'm just a little bundle of idealism that got ripped out when we came here but… How?"
"I don't even know." Recut admitted. "Uhm, how are you adjusting?"
"Adjusting?" Mary Sue asked with a laugh like the tinkling of bells. "I'm exactly what I've always wanted to be. I'm flawless and popular and adored by everyone. And since I haven't got a single memory or distinguishing characteristic, all I have to do is bask in my own happiness… And apparently, cause a bit of chaos now and then without even the ability to angst over it like I should." Her smile was a little wider now, almost forced. "But I can't complain. Everything is perfect, and I'm exactly what I'm supposed to be." Her eyes glistened, and Mary Sue looked at Illusen, running her hand through the tips of her hair. "You're awful concerned too, aren't you? About why we can't be here? And I know I'm not easing your worries."
"Don't talk like that." he said, cutting his eyes towards Mary Sue. "You'll sound just like you're Lou as usual." At that, Mary Sue giggled and kicked her legs. "I really haven't seen you much since we came here though."
"Girls like me and girls like Illusen don't hang out together." Mary Sue said, explaining the most obvious thing in the world with a roll of her eyes. "And she believes it so well, like how she believes she so powerless that she never even uses her powers… We'll never cross paths. I'm amazing and she doesn't think we can coexist. I'm surprised she would even let someone as awesome as me in your house. I think I might intimidate her, really… I intimidate myself."
"Where do you live?" Recut asked abruptly. Something about Mary Sue was unnerving, but at the same time, he could see Illusen peeking through in her. She was Illusen's clone after all, but something about her was distinctly unlike Illusen, something more than just the fact that she looked and acted and spoke differently. She had a grin like she knew too much, or maybe like she didn't know a thing and just knew how to bluff with a grin.
"I live in the school silly." Mary Sue giggled. "Its not like I really do anything. They've got all kinds of panels and no one can even see me when I'm invisible."
"Well, you can always live here if you need it." Recut offered, hoping she would take up the offer. He was almost used to taking care of Illusen, but now that she had split into two parts and only one of them was under his care, he couldn't help but feel nervous. It was like his daughter had suddenly morphed into twins, even though Mary Sue had an air of being less than real.
"Psh, live here." Mary Sue said dismissively. "I don't need to be here, and I'm going to disappear soon enough. No need to worry about something like perfect little me. Besides, I already scare myself enough." And with a wink, Mary Sue disappeared.
"Of course she has ghost powers too." Recut muttered to himself. "Of course Lou would create a crazy clone and not tell me for a month. Of course this would be unprecedented…" He rolled his eyes, looking aimlessly towards the ceiling. "Danny, you're gonna owe me big time for all this."
Next door, Danny Fenton was trying to very hurriedly explain to his parents why what had happened at school was perfectly safe and reasonable.
"Really Mom, everyone just went to sleep." Danny insisted. "It wasn't even highly explosive or deadly or anything, I promise." Somehow, his parents had found out about the mass blackout before he had gotten home, and now he had to explain it away. "Uhm, the teachers weren't concerned?"
"I don't know Danny." his mother said, looking at her husband. "Jack, does that sound normal to you?"
"I fell asleep in class when I was younger all the time honey!" Jack reassured her. "Don't worry Maddie, that's what kids do. And Danny, keep you grades up." Danny was just relieved that his father believed him and seemed to be convincing his mother. He just wanted it to be over with so he could figure it out on his own time. Whatever had happened needed evaluation, at the very least.
Still, Danny tried to have a normal rest of the day. Jazz pestered him about the group unconsciousness and he ignored he as usual, stayed up playing video games with Tucker and then finally went to bed, the daily events pushed to the edge of his mind.
Halfway across town, Sam Manson was having a hard time not thinking. She had already gone through three different lists of all of Danny's enemies and their powers, even bothering to look on that odd fansite of his, and there was nothing. There wasn't a ghost who made people go to sleep, so either this ghost was entirely new, or this was something entirely different.
"This makes no sense." Sam said to herself, hoping her mother wouldn't pass by and see light peeking out from under her door. "Something is wrong, its been wrong since school began… But what?"
She had been almost seeing things lately, and it bothered her. It was like she was wearing contacts, but only one and so her vision was blurred in one eye and sharp in the other, but her brain was trying to fuse them together. Only her vision wasn't blurred, it was overlapping. One eye would see Tucker and Illy whispering about gyroscopes and gyro sensors while the other saw Danny and Tucker laughing about a new movie for just a second before they both went back to reality. It happened at home too, and on the street when she saw a boy in shades with oddly white hair walking beside her and talking to her for a good five seconds before he just disappeared.
The worst part was that she knew. Sam knew the difference as soon as it happened, she knew what was the imaginary part and what was real, but that didn't stop her from slipping. She knew she wasn't crazy, but there was something wrong, and she just knew it.
"This is crazy." Sam whispered to herself, seeing a quick vision of herself at Danny's house, enjoying a scary movie marathon. She shut her eyes quickly, but the image was there for just a second and she saw her arm reaching for popcorn even as she knew it was in a fist at her side. "What is wrong?"
In the Ghost Zone, Clockwork sat watching patiently, surrounded by clocks. He had been watching and waiting, seeing poor Sam struggle. It was strange, knowing what would happen and yet not knowing how his knowing affected what did happen.
"Its amazing how many choices they have to make, every day." he told himself. "And how they still manage to make me have to choose…" Sighing softly, he floated back. "I just hate knowing I have to wait until March to explain it all."
And then calmly, Clockwork switched to twenty years in the future and watched a very slow procession of a very large parade.
Ha! Its a chapter full of stuff! If the plot is consuming you like an overpowering blob, I apologise. Please review if you liked, hated, were severely confused by or want to feed toast to the chapter. Also if you just like clicking the button. All reviews are appreciated and responded to!
~ Natalie