Chapter 19: Projects and Punishments

Maddie hummed quietly to herself as she stirred cookie dough in a bowl. As everyone in her family knew, her cooking was less then desirable ever since she began using ecto-powered machinery to do so, but if there was one thing she was always a pro at making, it was cookies. And no one loved her cookies more than Danielle. Well, no one except Jack. As she continued her task, she could distinctly hear the sounds of Cujo barking excitedly, which only happened when Danielle was home.

"Oh, perfect! I bet Danielle would love to try my newest recipe-"

But Maddie was cut short by the sound of the front door as it swung open and slammed against the wall with a deafening thud. Quickly placing the bowl on the table, Maddie made her way toward the living room to see her granddaughter stomp by her angrily.

"Danielle, sweetie, are you alright?"

"Fine," she grumbled as she continued to make her way toward the stairs.

"Oh. Well, would you like to help me make some cookies? I've got a new recipe."

"I'm not hungry," she said as she climbed the stairs. Maddie continued to watch her with concern until she heard the sound of the bedroom door slam, a feeling that shook throughout the entire house.

"Goodness. What has gotten into that girl?"

"Something with one of her classmates," Sam said as she, Danny and Jazz walked in. "Apparently, she has to do a science project on the solar system with this popular girl, but the two of them can't stand each other and don't get along."

"Can't say I blame her," Danny said. "The A-Listers are the worst. Remember the time that Dash was supposed to be helping me train for the Presidential Fitness test, but all he did was bag on me the whole time?"

"How about the time Pauline tried to make me jealous by asking you to the dance just so she could dump you," Sam said in disgust.

"Well, regardless of how these two feel about the popular kids," Jazz said, getting back on topic, "we tried to tell her it may not be so bad, but I with the stubbornness that runs on both sides of her family, it didn't do much good."

Maddie sighed as she made her way back to the kitchen.

"I'd better get these cookies in the oven then. It's gonna take at least a dozen to get her out of this funk," she said.

"Based on the way the two of them were glaring at each other, I think you're gonna need way more than a dozen, Mom," Jazz said as she went to help.

As the evening went on, the family sat down to dinner, and afterwards, everyone went about busying themselves; Jack and Maddie worked on new inventions, Jazz went outside to read a book in the backyard, Danny and Sam sat on the couch doing homework, and Danielle stayed in her room playing with Cujo while trying not to think about how she would have to work with Tammy Turner.

The ringing of the doorbell broke through the small bit of silence that surrounded Danny and Sam, as he placed his pen down and went to open the door, only to be met by a smiling twelve year old with light blonde hair and a very obvious love for the color pink.

"Hi, I'm Tammy Turner. You're Danny Fenton, right?" she asked overenthusiastically.

"Uh, yeah. I am. Good to meet you, Tammy," he said awkwardly as she continued to look him up and down.

"Oh my god! I am a big fan of yours! You're, like, the greatest hero in the world!"

"Yeah, thanks. Danielle!" he called up the stairs as he let her in and closed the door before walking back toward the couch. "Tammy's here."

It was silent as no one said anything, waiting for Danielle to acknowledge that she had heard him, but they heard nothing. Danny was just wondering if she had even heard him and was going to call again, when the sound of her door opening caught his attention. As the door opened, the sound of loud barking and the pounding of feet resonated through the air. The large green dog came bounding down the stairs and headed straight for Tammy as she screamed in fear of the monstrous size of the creature. Placing her back against the door, she backed up as far as she could as his large red eyes focused on her and he continued to growl at her menacingly. Danielle came down the stairs soon after, a smirk on her face as she walked passed Danny who moved out of the way to avoid being run over by the dog, and stood next to Cujo.

"Hi, Tammy," she said.

"Wh-what i-is thi-this thing!?" she stuttered.

"Oh this? This is Cujo, my ghost dog. He's very protective of me and isn't too keen on new people. Especially those who intrude on his territory. He's very loyal and possessive, and can be vicious if provoked."

"Danielle, take him outside," Danny commanded as he began to get angry. Danielle turned to look behind her and glared at her father for trying to ruin her fun. Danny, not in the mood for her games, flashed his eyes green in warning before raising his voice at her. "Now, Danielle Lilith!"

Danielle cringed slightly at the use of her first and middle name. She knew testing her father's patience was risky, but when her name came into play the way it did, she knew he was being serious. Luckily for her, it didn't happen often.

"Fine," she grumbled, snapping her fingers. "Cujo, heel."

Instantly, the giant dog backed away from the frightened girl, but continued to growl in the back of his throat at her.

"Good boy. Now, who wants a treat? Huh? Who wants one?" Danielle said excitedly. Cujo barked happily as he began to shrink back into his puppy form, shocking Tammy even more. Danielle kneeled down and picked up the happy green puppy. "Come on. Mommy's going to get you a special treat." As she walked into the kitchen, Tammy, who was still trying to catch her breath, could see an amused smirk on Danielle's face. Danny, having seen it as well, followed her, completely unamused. Sam sighed as she watched the two leave.

"Sorry about that," she said. "He's actually a really sweet dog, and Danielle has been told many times before not to make him scare people. If you'd like, you can wait in Danielle's room upstairs."

"Is there anything else like that in there?" Tammy asked nervously.

"No, I promise that that's all."

"Good," she said as she ascended the stair. Once up the stairs, Tammy proceeded to head into the room that had the girl's name on it while Sam got up from the couch and walked toward the backyard where the sounds of her boyfriend's ranting could be heard.

"-can't believe you did that, and I can't believe you were so irresponsible." Danny said.

"Whatever, Dad. Like you wouldn't have done the same thing if Dash were here," Danielle said with her back to him while petting Cujo who was chewing greedily on the bone she had given him. Jazz had put her book on the table next to her when the two came outside and began their argument, effectively breaking her peaceful relaxation time.

"That's not the point, Danielle. The point is that you disobeyed us. We told you that when we let you keep him, you were responsible for him, and that included keeping him outside or in your room when there are certain guests that came to visit. I don't know where all this back sass and attitude are coming from lately, but it ends now, or else, you will be punished. Understand?"

Danielle said nothing as she began to make her way back toward the house. Danny could feel his patience snapping like a twig in a tornado as he took a step forward, determined to drag her back and discipline her, but stopped as Jazz put a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, Danny," she said. Both watched as Danielle walked past Sam, not even looking at her as she went inside the house.

"She's right, Danny," Sam said. "We'll deal with her later. Right now, with that popular girl here, anything we do would only be used against her and make things worse on both ends.

Danny sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and tried to relax.

"Yeah, I guess you guys are right."

As Tammy looked around the small bedroom in boredom, she couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"Ugh, god. This room is as ugly and boring as she is," she said as she sat on the floor by the bed. Leaning back, her hand brushed against a small red backpack, knocking it over and spilling the contents onto the floor. "Ew, gross." As she moved her hand away, she stopped as she spotted a manila folder with the words "Clone 00-4" written on it. Curious as to what the folder may have and why Danielle would have anything on clones, Tammy opened it, pulling out the papers and scanning over the first page. As she reached the bottom, she gasped in shock before an evil smile crept to her face. "I knew something was off about her. I've got you now, freak."

As she began placing papers back into the folder, the sounds of approaching footsteps caught her attention. Placing the paper she had read over into her purse, she quickly zipped it closed and put the folder back into the backpack she had found it in just as Danielle walked into the room.

"Alright, look, I'm sorry about my dog. It was just a joke. So let's just get this project over with, Turner," Danielle said, taking a seat on her bed.

"Actually Danielle, something's come up and I have to head home. But I'll see you at school tomorrow. Bye!" Tammy said as she rushed down the stairs and pass Sam, Danny and Jazz who only stared at her as she exited their home faster than Jack did at the mention of ghost. The three turned to look at Danielle who shrugged her shoulders, just as confused as they were.

"Don't look at me. I just came back to work on the project, and then she rushed out the door like she was on fire," Danielle said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, now that that's dealt with," Danny said, his face turning stern, "you are in so much trouble!"

"Oh man," she grumbled.

"Couch, now." Danielle dragged her feet as she shuffled down the stairs and plopped onto the couch.

"You maybe wanna explain why you decided it was ok to just walk away from your father while he was talking to you?" Sam said as she crossed her arms and stared down at her guilty daughter.

"No, not really," Danielle said as she looked at the floor.

"So you don't have a reason why? You just did it is what you're saying?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you also though it was a good idea to command your dog to scare and growl at your classmate, even though we told you time and time again not to do that?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Unless you want yours to be red and sore, I don't want to hear any buts, Danielle," Sam said sternly as her purple eyes changed to green. Danielle gulped nervously as she nodded her head. As much as she hated to admit it, between her parents, Danielle was definitely more scared of her mother then her father. Where her father was over-bearing and protective, her mother was calm and seemed to allow her more freedom. But it was because of these things that Danielle often found herself wanting to butt heads with her father, especially with her personality being so similar to his. When he was upset with her, she often felt he was over thinking things or blowing them out of proportion, which were often times true. However, if her mother was upset with her, Danielle often found herself unable to respond from fear of upsetting her further. Now was one of those times, and Danielle knew she wasn't going to be getting out of this one.

"Yes ma'am," she said quietly.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Jazz whispered to Danny.

"Nah. Sam's got it under control. Plus, she might actually listen for once if it's someone other than me."

"I'm tired of having this conversation with you, Danielle. What do you have to say for yourself?" Sam asked.

"Uh…it was funny?" she said with a nervous smile.

"Well how funny is being grounded for the next two weeks sound?"

"But-"

"How's three weeks AND a spanking? That better?"

"No! Two weeks is good," she said quickly.

"Good. You can use the time to learn to respect you father more like you're supposed to, and learn to not disobey us. Now, go to your room."

"Yes, ma'am," Danielle slid off the couch and made her way up the stairs, never taking her eyes off the floor. Danny walked up to Sam, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her.

"You ok?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, I guess…" she said as her voice shook and eyes started to water. If not for the tight hold Danny had on her, she would have been shaking terribly. "It's just…when I was punishing her, it just reminded me…I realized…I sounded like my parents."

"Sammie, it's ok. You're nothing like them, I promise," Danny said as he tried to calm her. This wasn't the first time Danny had to comfort Sam on this topic. Sam was more lenient with Danielle because she feared that her relationship with her would end up like hers did with her own parents. The thought of history repeating itself always seemed to hang over her head. Sam could think back to many arguments she had had with her parents when she was younger and many of Danielle's actions and her attitude were becoming more and more like her own, which would only bring more problems for her and Danny.

"I know, but…maybe I was too hard on her."

"No, Sam. We have to break her of these habits before they get really out of hand. It'll be ok. I promise," Danny said before kissing her.

"I know. But I hate punishing her. I think I should just leave that to you," she said with a smile.

"I don't know. You handled that pretty well. Besides, sometimes, it's better if you do. She does listen to you more than me when it comes to this stuff, and she doesn't sass you. But I gotta know, would you really have spanked her?"

"Yes," Sam said, with a small smile on her face, "but I'm really hoping it never comes to that."

"Wow. You two have really grown up a lot. I'm proud of you guys," Jazz said with a smile as she headed to her room.

The next morning, Danielle woke up and the first thing she did was apologize to her father for the way she had behaved the previous night. Danny gladly accepted her apology, and the three went downstairs for breakfast. Unfortunately for them, they were out of cereal, and had nothing to eat except toast, Danny and Danielle's least favorite breakfast food.

"God, I hate toast," Danielle said as she landed in front of her school. As she transformed back to her human form, she heard a gasp from behind her. Turning around, Danielle became confused as a group of girls began to walk away from her, sneers on their faces. "Ok? Don't know what crawled up their butts, but whatever," she mumbled as she headed inside.

As she walked down the hall, many of the students stared at her, some even stopping their conversations. Danielle was starting to get annoyed, but didn't say anything as she headed to find her friends. As she neared her locker, she smiled as she caught sight of Lin and Jordan.

"Hey guys," she said as she walked up to them. The two preteens jumped a little in surprise before putting nervous smiles on their faces.

"Oh, hi…Dani," Lin said, adverting her eyes a little. Danielle raised an eyebrow at the way she said her name, and looked over to Jordan who looked uncomfortable.

"Are you guys ok?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah, we're fine," Lin said, but Danielle could tell she was lying.

"Listen, I gotta go. I gotta meet up with…Melvin! Yeah, he's gonna help me with my computer homework, so, I'll be seeing ya!" Jordan said quickly as he ran off. Lin looked after him with a look of hatred before turning back to Danielle with the same tensely forced smile.

"Ok, Lindsey, what's going on? What's up with you guys?"

"I, uh-um-have to-" she stammered.

"Lindsey! What's going on!?" Danielle nearly shouted. "Ever since I got here, everyone's been looking at me weird, and then you and Jordan are clearly hiding something and trying to avoid me. Please," she said as a bit of sorrow came into her voice, "just tell me what's going on."

"Dani, I-" Lin said before being interrupted.

"It's obvious that she doesn't want to hang out with a freak like you."

Danielle whipped around and growled as her blood began to boil.

"Turner! I should have known you had something to do with all this. It's got your cheap perfume all over it!"

Tammy only smiled as Timmy and the rest of the popular group walked up to support her.

"Careful there, Fido. Or did your creator put a little dog whose bark is worse than her bite inside you too?" she said, gaining a laugh from the group.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Danielle said as her voice grew dangerously low.

"I'm talking about the fact that everyone here now knows your secret. I know your secret, you freak," she said as all the humor left her face and voice.

"What secret?"

"That you are nothing more than a disgusting, abomination. You probably shouldn't even exist because you are nothing more than a clone."

Danielle's face changed from anger to shock as her blood ran cold and her face became extremely pale. As her mind tried to comprehend something, anything, that she could say or even to try to deny it, they only thing Danielle could think was that her life was now completely over. Everything was now over for her, and this time, not even her parents could help her.

To Be Continued…

Ok, so big drama coming to the story now. Things are gonna change big time and they're going to get more difficult for everyone. Now, I wanna see, what do you guys think Danielle's reaction to this will be? Let me know in your review!