AKA "Damian al Ghul knew Respawn and the Heretic were his clones. But Danyal al Ghul... Danny was his brother. Until he wasn't." Clone Danny AU prompt!
Respawn was spare parts.
Heretic was a usurper.
Danyal al Ghul was a failed experiment. Instead of Lazarus green eyes, strong broad nose, and tan skin, Danyal was all watery blue eyes, pale-pinked skin and freckles. A clone shouldn't look different yet Danyal was more Wayne than al Ghul.
(Danny knew he hadn't always been an al Ghul, a Wayne. He'd been someone, something else once. After he was dragged from the Lazarus pit again and again, the memories started to blur. He remembers warm fudge, red hair and a feminine voice, dark skin, flashes of nostalgia when he sees something particularly gothic. A half thought, she would've loved this. He doesn't remember who.)
Danyal - Danny, as he demands to be called, even when Mother reprimands him for the American bastardization of his name - is easy to be around. There's an unease when looking at his clone and seeing Damian's reflection staring back, the insidious insecurity whispering that the clone could replace him, no one would notice any difference. But Danny looks different, is different. Spends nights staring at the stars, confides in Damian not like a competitor but like an ally, sharp sarcasm defying Damian's abundant criticism.
When Danny tells Damian he's afraid of forgetting himself, Damian listens. He learns about people, places, events that Danny remembers just enough of and Damian silently pieces together the fragments of a past life that shouldn't exist.
With every defiance and subsequent death, Danny becomes less. Less different, greener eyes and white threading through his hair - cut across his temple, his eyebrow, his eyelashes. Damian carefully touches calloused fingertips to those whitened eyelashes. Despises when Danny doesn't duck away, doesn't flinch, pupils barely reacting to the light. Damian lets his hand fall away.
"I'll be leaving for America tomorrow morning, Danyal." Damian murmurs. He pauses, mourning the days when Danny would shove at Damian's side, snapping I told you, it's Danny. The boy laying in the cot beside him doesn't move, isn't pestering him with questions or coaxing him to stargaze well past curfew. This is the only act of defiance Damian will allow himself.
In the morning, Mother tells Damian that Danyal al Ghul is missing. She doesn't ask, but there's a sharpness in her gaze that belies she already knows what he's done. Damian feigns ignorance.
((Years later, Damian Wayne meets Danny Fenton in Gotham City. Danny's once white-streaked hair is dyed an artistic green, a rueful grin on his face while his arm is entwined with a young black woman's. Damian overhears the name Valerie.
Dick slings his arm around Damian's shoulder and asks, "You know him? He looks familiar."
They both pause as Danny head turns, gaze catching them watching; deep green eyes pass over them with no hint of recognition. It shouldn't twist something deep in his chest, stabbing and uncomfortable. He wonders if Danny believes he's always been a Fenton, if he remembers he was someone, something else once. Secretly, he wonders if Danny feels nostalgia, feels the phantom of someone sitting beside him while he stargazes.
"No," Damian grunts. He shoves Dick's arm from his shoulder and turns from the teenagers. "I don't know him."))
“Okay, first off don’t call me that, it’s kind of rude, imagine if I went around calling you the base template.”
Elle leaned over Danny’s shoulder, propping her chin in her hands as she smiled with too many teeth at Damian. “You can call me it. It’s kinda funny. ‘Cept I’m a Xerox of a Xerox.”
“So you’re not a clone of—” Damian started, glancing between the pair in confusion. “Is that why sh-”
“Not a clone of you.” Danny interrupted, seeming to find his plate of scrounged up desserts more interesting than eye contact. “I’m a clone of Damian Wayne, she’s a clone of Daniel Fenton.”
“Xerox of Xerox.” Elle held up a peace sign, her fingers cutting the air. “Clone of a clone. Very unstable, very fun. I have a tendency to nearly melt into primordial goop.”
“It’s not that funny, Vlad’s raised you on terrible humor.”
“Dad’s raised me fine.”
“You swear in breakfast foods. Say fuck like a normal clone.”
i call this one the clone au! nazo, terios, and venice are clones of sonic, shadow, and silver respectively, all created by g.u.n.! they broke out thanks to nazo who wants to enact revenge on those who created him..
“Well, are you going to come in or are you just going to stare?” The question doesn't bite as hard as it once would have. And you choose to ignore the way you automatically smile when he bounds in beside you and takes a seat on your bed.
“Fuck, it's been a day,” he grumbles as he runs his fingers through his mohawk. It's a familiar gesture, one that makes you look away as your hand tightens into a fist at your side. Shit, you knew this wouldn't be easy, but why does it have to be so damn hard?
“The team again?” You finally loosen your jaw enough to force the words from behind your teeth. It's not his fault everything he does reminds you of Johnny. Though that fact doesn't seem to matter as his brow furrows and he nods just once in that same tense way.
“Aye. Had PT with Gaz today–” You don't need him to fill in the rest. While all you see when you look at CJ are similarities, all the team can see are the growing differences. Fucking irony how you are all stuck in your own personal hell when it comes to this guy.
You are still going to frag whoever thought this was a good idea, once you find out what CO approved this dumb shit.
After developing the ability to trap ghosts in pocket dimensions where they can feed thier obsessions without bothering him, Danny and co begin to grow bored and explore the Infinite Realms.
Danny had always known he was a clone, with his earliest memory having been being kidnapped from the lab he was made in -via people he still didn't know to this day-and shoved through a mysterious blue portal before being found by the Fentons. Danny accepted he didn't know who his biological parent or parents were and probably never will.
Thats why he was even more shocked than his friends when they went to a place called Gotham and met someone who looked like an older (or in damians case: younger) version of Danny.
Now Danny had a few options for a response. Sure he and his friends could just run but where's the fun in that? He could:
1. Give them a tearful look and say "Dad? Is that really you?"
This can also be said as mom in case of Cass or Selina
This is funniest if its said to either Tim or Damian because Danny is like 15 in this and Tim isn't that much older than Dannys appearent age and Damian looks younger than him
2. Stare at them and say, "Oh, you're the person I was cloned from?" And act like everything's normal. Maybe ask if they need an organ and if thats why they tracked him down.
3. Ignore it and act like its a coincidence they look exactly the same.
4. Act scared of them. Maybe beg them to not kill him for added dramatic affect
5. Ask if they like dogs and shove Cujo into thier arms before they can answer.
They suddenly get rapid fire sniffs and then a torrent of puppy kisses.
6. Panic and trap them in a pocket dimension like the ghosts and have to figure out how to get them out before they get in trouble. Maybe its too late and they have to get them out while dodging bats
7. Try to convince them they're hallucinating
8. Just let them sneakily take a sample of his DNA just to see what happens. Dont even acknowledge the clone thing. Even if presented with the dna tests, Deny, Deny, Deny.
9. Convince them they and the others knew about him for years and that they're memories may have been altered. Escape when their guard is down/they're not looking.
10. Pineapple. Not really sure how that will help but now there's pineapples everywhere. Danny might be hungry if he's teleporting fruit into his vicinity from just a thought, but that may also be because he's suddenly developing teleportation powers.
Finished Clone AU designs... I mostly regret not giving Isabeau's crop top a vibrant color but anything's subject to change.
The basic premise of this AU is that it's a "mundane" modern AU with the twist that it actually has a sci-fi elements because cloning is real. Long winded but rough explanation of the world and character backstories under the cut.
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Though this world doesn't have craft and is thus brought closer to the real world in some aspects, this still essentially takes place in ISAT's world.
Meaning Vaugarde, Ka Bue, and other mentioned countries still exist mostly as they are, as well as religions like the House of Change and the Universe belief, though adjusted in accordance to the lack of magic and modern setting.
Regarding the two major effects Wishcraft has had in the canon world: The majority of people are still able to see color and, instead of being magically forgotten, the Island north of Vaugarde suffers under cultural erasure.
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Mirabelle has been living and studying in Dormont's House since her late teens but, motivated by her dedication to the House of Change, she decided to move into the big city of Jouvente to join one of its' Houses for a change of scenery.
She meets Isabeau through his job as a Defender, since he helps out in the local House a lot, and they end up becoming friends.
Though the House in Jouvente has more resources than Dormont, Mirabelle still wasn't quite satisfied and wanted to go on a pilgrimage, though she hesitated to travel on her own.
Isabeau offered to accompany Mirabelle and planned the journey with her. As an excuse to be able to keep his job while travelling with her, he got the Defenders to assign him her bodyguard and took off with Mira.
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Odile has been living in Ka Bue for all her live. She eventually started studying Vaugarde and learned its' language, and her father's death finally pushed her to travel to the country herself.
While travelling Vaugarde, she met Mirabelle and Isabeau, who told her about Mira's pilgrimage. They decided to stick together since Mira and Isa appreciated the company of someone slightly more experienced in travelling, and Odile wanted to get in touch with people and try to understand Vaugardian culture better though them.
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The group eventually settles in Bambouche, where Mirabelle and Isabeau decide to stay for a while and make plans to travel to Mwudu next. They take shelter in the local House and Odile ends up moving into the village long-term.
Mira and Isa meet and become friends with Siffrin, who only recently decided to take shelter in the House after being homeless. He later meets Odile through them.
Bonnie goes to school in the local House. Siffrin first notices them after a conflict caused them to run out and hide behind the House in frustration. Siffrin, not wanting to leave a kid unattended while someone's possibly looking for them, decided to reach out and listen to them. They have latched onto him since and approach him whenever they see him in the House. They get to know the others through him as well.
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A few months after the original trio arrive in Bambouche, Siffrin is kidnapped and dissappears for about two weeks. In that time, Mirabelle and Isabeau put off their travel plans, Bonnie is upset easily, and Odile tries to keep a closer eye on everyone. The original trio end up meeting Pétronille, who has heard of Siffrin from Bonnie before, and wanted to reach out to their acquaintances.
Siffrin shows up again in Bambouche by themselves with a missing eye. They've struggled with memory before, but it's seemingly gotten worse between only vaguely remembering anything related to their capture, and not recalling much about their friends.
This whole incident startles the party into looking out for each other more closely. Odile, having a lot of room in her current home, offers Siffrin to move in with her since she individually would notice their absence quicker than if he lived in the House. Nille meets Siffrin and Bonnie tries to visit Siffrin regularly, though they're becoming kinda withdrawn from him because of how lightly he seems to take the incident.
Isabeau, feeling guilty about everything and not really seeing a point in keeping his job, now that Mirabelle's pilgrimate is on pause indefinitely, quits as a Defender. He and Mira argue about it, since she would feel guilty that he gave up just because of her, and he similarly doesn't want to hold her back. It's resolved by Isa reassuring her that he hasn't been very attached to his career in a while, and Mira admitting that their group has grown more important to her than continuing the pilgrimage (which she still feels guilty for, not realizing that her being changed by new relationships and experieces is The Point).
Siffrin, despite eventually agreeing to move in with Odile, apparently takes this development unsettingly lightly. He tries not to think too hard about his memory gaps around his kidnapping, and instead clings onto his earlier memories. He wants to move past the incident, and instead remember themselves, their friends, and re-establish their relationships with them. His attempts to dig up past memories also eventually motivates them to use the resources of the House to look into and research the Indigenous culture of the Island north of Vaugarde.
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About a year after Siffrin comes back, he and Mira go on an errand in the next town over and in the same evening, back in Bambouche, he is confronted by Loop.
Turns out, not only did Siffrin escape from his captors back then, but so did Loop, who is (their copy? The original? How would either of them know who is the copy?).
After escaping, Loop headed to the next town away from Bambouche, changing their name and identity, hoping to avoid any further trouble. They took shelter in the local House until they managed to get a job in phone costumer service and made enough money to be able to live on their own.
Similarly to Siffrin, Loop's bad memory seemingly got worse, being unable to recall much of anything related to the kidnapping and struggling with most things before that. Unlike Siffrin, they don't make an effort to recover and gain context to their earlier memories, and attempted to completely cut themselves off from their past.
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Loop happened to spot Siffrin and Mirabelle which resurfaced some memories. Assuming Siffrin is the clone and was made to replace them, Loop impulsively left town to follow Siffrin and Mira back to Bambouche, and angrily confronted Siffrin, prepared for him to be in on it and react violently to Loop's return.
It quickly becomes clear that Siffrin is just as frightened and confused as Loop is, which causes Loop to back off and for both of them to try and process the situation.
With no way to really ignore things again, Loop decides to reveal themselves to the group and explain what bits of context they have. The group is quick to support them and help figure out the situation.
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From this point, Siffrin and Loop both struggle a lot with their identity and perception, and are put off by each other.
Loop is still anxious that Siffrin was either intentionally made to replace them since he was left alone in the past year, or that his captors are still trying to get them back. They quickly quit their job and move back into Bambouche's House when they realize they don't want to go back again, hoping no one will be looking for them.
Odile herself suspects that Siffrin and Loop aren't out of the woods yet, but tries to offer Loop reassurance that the group won't allow them to go missing again. Mira and Isa mostly try their best to reconnect(?) with Loop and make them feel at home. Bonnie is conflicted, partially because if Loop was the Siffrin who initially reached out to them, the thought of them running away upsets them. Despite the oddity of the situation, Pétronille gets along surprisingly well with Loop once they get to know each other.
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Additional notes I find important enough to include here but am not sure where to fit:
I made like two posts about this AU before that imply Siffrin is the clone, but I kept it ambiguous in this "final" version on purpose. Either of them could be the clone depending on interpretation.
The cloning here is like copying instead of just genetic cloning. This is why both Siffrin and Loop have memories from before the cloning, and similar eye injuries. The original lost their eye shortly before they got cloned.
There's more details I have in mind around this AU especially concerning character dynamics and smaller scale developments, but these will need their own posts or something. This is really just a rough coverage.
summary: You got what you wanted...right?
Caleb’s eyes grow soft, the first real sign of warmth you’ve gleaned from him since being caught. “Is there another me in this world?”
You secretly clone your childhood friend, thinking that he’s dead.
He’s not.
