On time again.

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"Happy now?" Jake growled. "We almost got caught!"

"Like you weren't curious, too," Abby snapped back.

"Not curious enough to get beaten up by your boyfriend's dad," Jake grumbled, rubbing his arm for effect.

Abby's cheeks flushed scarlet. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get to city hall, get the thermos, and leave. No more detours."

Abby looked aggravated with him. "You're the only person who could get thrown into the time when their parents were their age and not even consider exploring a little," she huffed.

"That's not what Clockwork sent us here for. Besides, we wouldn't want to risk messing up the past," he retorted.

"You know, you're starting to sound just like Shadow," she commented off-handedly, not noticing the way her brother stiffened. "Where is he, anyway?"

"I'm sure Clockwork wouldn't send him until he was needed," Jake answered. "Shouldn't you be happy?"

"Of course I am," she snapped. "Just…back off, okay?" With that, she stormed off, her brother tagging along curiously.

After they left, a disembodied voice sounded. "So nice of you to share your plans with me." Vlad Plasmius appeared to claim the voice, a smirk plain on his face. "But I'm afraid I have too much riding on this plan to let you interfere."

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Abby invisibly pulled herself and Jake into Vlad's office, only to find it empty. Frowning, Jake walked over to the desk, looking through everything on top and even secretly phasing his hand through a few drawers.

"He's not even here," Abby commented sourly.

"Neither is anything useful," her brother added.

Abby, looking distressed, stuck her hands in her pockets. A tiny bit of surprise lit up her face as she pulled something out. She frowned. "Uh-oh. Looks like I forgot to put it back."

"What's that?" Jake wondered.

"Um…nothing." She didn't want to admit to her already paranoid brother that she'd accidentally taken a picture from the future. "So, Master of All Planning, where to now?"

Jake looked cautious, but gave it up. "I don't-" He stopped himself short. "Shh, someone's coming."

Abby took them out of the visible spectrum and they both crouched down near the desk just moments before three figures pulled themselves up through the floor in the same fashion the twins had done earlier. The new group was composed of a white-haired teen male surrounded on either side by a gothic girl and a geeky boy. Danny let go of Sam and Tucker, choosing to wander dangerously close to the twins' hiding spot. He started checking Vlad's desk.

"It's gotta be here somewhere," he muttered.

"How do you even know that Vlad stole your parents' new ecto-morpher?" Tucker wondered. Danny and Sam shot him disbelieving looks.

"Hello, it's Vlad," Sam pointed out.

"Not to mention that it has the ability to take a ghost's energy and fire it back. Imagine something like that in Vlad's hands?" He mock-shivered. "It'd be better off under my bed where no-one can find it."

A second later, Tucker picked something up off the floor. Small and rectangular, the mere sight of it made Abby nearly gasp in alarm. How on Earth could she have dropped it?!

Tucker looked at it curiously before saying, "Guys? I think you might want to come take a look at this."

Danny and Sam obliged, peeking over his shoulders.

"Hey, that's us!" Sam exclaimed. "I have the same picture at home."

"But if that's you guys, then who are they?" Tucker wondered, attention on the second half of the picture. "And why does the one on the right look like Danny?"

"Hold on," Danny muttered, narrowing his glowing eyes. "Don't they look familiar?"

"You're right," Sam agreed, seeing it as well. "They look like those new kids."

Danny's face turned pensive. "Wait a minute, new kids, look alikes, reference pictures in Vlad's office…you don't think…?"

"Would Vlad really be crazy enough to try it again?" Tucker asked. "I mean; after Danielle…"

"Are you kidding? Of course he would. I repeat, he's Vlad," Sam huffed.

"We'll have to keep a look out from now on," Danny spoke up. "If clones are involved, I don't even want to know what Vlad's got up his sleeve this time."

Sam and Tucker nodded in unison. Danny quickly grabbed onto them and with a brief "Let's go," phased them out of the building.

The twins stood up from their hiding spot, now visible again.

"What was that about?" Jake wondered. He turned to the fidgeting Abby. She seemed to realize she had no choice now.

"Well…"

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"Jake, would you stop ignoring me?!" Abby screamed after her brother, who was walking briskly ahead of her. She had to run to catch up.

"First with the school and now this?" he replied, trying his hardest to stay calm. "I just wish you'd think things through before jumping into action."

"Well sorry for being such a burden," she snapped back. "Not all of us can be perfect like you."

His fists clenched, patience wearing thin. "I really wish you'd stop with all of that 'perfect' nonsense. We should be working on figuring all of this out."

"You just don't want to admit that you think I'm a total mess up who can't do anything right."

"Abby?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

She blinked, astonished. Finally, his words seemed to register and she calmed down. "Shouldn't you be angrier at me?"

He didn't turn to face her. "I am, but it's not going to do us any good if we let these things hold us back from doing what we're supposed to."

Once again, she was stunned. One second later, she let her expression fall. "Since when did you start acting so mature?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he denied.

"Something just seems different about you," she stated.

"So she did notice," he mumbled to himself. Then, out loud, he said, "I think you're over exaggerating."

"But-"

"We're here," he interrupted, standing outside the brick Fenton Works building. She instantly snapped to attention. Jake glanced around the corner. "And they're there," he noted, spotting the trio walking toward the front door.

"So we just sneak in, grab the picture, and sneak back out again?" Abby summarized.

"Pretty much. C'mon, let's follow them."

Abby latched onto his arm and turned them both invisible and intangible. They entered through the wall, finding themselves in the kitchen. Danny, Sam, and Tucker were standing by the stairs, ready to go up, when Jack stopped them.

"Hey, Danny!" he called to his son. "Have you seen the ecto-morpher anywhere?"

"Sorry, Dad. Haven't seen it at all," Danny replied.

Jack seemed to think for a moment. "Hm…I bet the Phantom punk stole it! Just like the Fenton Thermos and all of that other stuff that goes missing!"

Danny sighed and led his friends up the stairs, muttering, "At least I didn't get blasted by something this time." Jake and Abby followed them all the way into their younger father's room, waiting for their cue to steal back the evidence that they were related. Finally, he removed the picture, examining it.

Sam leaned over his shoulder. "So, if they're clones, we're probably looking at some new half-ghosts, right?"

"Probably, but for all we know, they might melt like Danielle does."

Tucker snatched the photo. "But it's weird. If they're supposed to be your clones, shouldn't they both have blue eyes?"

"You're right," Sam agreed.

"Maybe…" Danny began, but was interrupted by his ghost sense as he usually was. He groaned. "That's got to be the third one today!" His shoulders slumped. "I'll be right back." Without missing a beat, Danny transformed and flew through the wall. He had barely left when an explosion sounded and he was hurdled back into the room followed closely by Skulker. The metal ghost stood over the half-breed, smiling triumphantly, loading up a large gun that was, for a second, pointed straight at the unseen Jake and Abby, before lowering it to Danny's face.

"Now…" he said in a deep, menacing voice.

This whole display had the occupants of the room thoroughly captivated. Because of this distraction, no one noticed two green vultures sweep in and latch on to the shoulders of the invisible twins. The two were towed quickly out through the ceiling in complete shock.

"Hey, let go!" Abby protested once they were outside.

"No can do," said a third vulture who had been waiting outside. "Boss's orders vere for us und Skulker to bring you back."

"Boss?" Jake asked. "Who's your boss?"

"You'll find out soon enough, von't you?"

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I tried to uncliché it some. Didn't succeed, so that's why I used the word 'tried.'

For all of you confused people out there going, "But I thought Jake looked like Sam!"; I will turn you right back around and tell you to reread the first paragraph of this entire story. See where it describes Jake? It says that Jake was a personality clone of his Mom. Plus, if you guys have seen my drawings of Jake, you'd know that if you turned his eyes blue, grew out his hair, and gave him a tan; he'd look exactly like Danny. Did I plan it this way? Well, no, but it's working to my favor, so I can't complain. There will be a little more explaination in later chapters.

Also, I'll probably have a few people complaining that Abby is acting like a brat and that I'm not giving her enough "show-off" time. It's always Jake that comes to the rescue and Abby that ends up getting in the way. I sort of pointed that out in this chapter. I've had a few people say already, "Abby's had her ghost powers since she was born, but Jake just got them. Shouldn't she be more powerful?" I will point out right now that just because she has more experience doesn't mean she has more power. Not only did Jake have a different setting on the ghost portal than Danny when he walked into it, but more of Jake's differences will be explained later (in another episode).

Also keep in mind that the whole speech I just gave you is full of a million carefully-worded technicalities.

And with that, I bid you adieu.