Chapter Text
Ellie is stuck destabilizing and alone. But she does have this weird purple rock she stole from her dad creator. She's seen the memes, ok, she knows he was defeated and outed by summoning his ultimate enemy. But can she do that?
She had no choice at this point. "I summon ex-Mayor Vlad Masters' Ultimate Enemy."
She couldn't fly anymore- couldn't even walk. Seeing as her creator was why she was like this, she doubted he would help, and Danny and his family were too far away to help.
She could see purple light as her vision started to fade.
She woke up in a lab. She had a momentary panic, but then she noticed differences. There were cat posters on one wall, and a post-it saying Bruce stop buying cat posters. No! Was written under it. There was a desk that had BETTY'S STUFF labeled on it. Nearby there was a notepad: Buy groceries, pick up kids, yell at Thor, STOP DRINKING ECTOPLASM VLAD
There were pictures- Vlad, a black man, the Hulk, two other women, and a few kids, Vlad and a dark haired woman in pale blue, Vlad with- Danny and Jazz?
She heard a heavy door move, and tried to sit up. She failed. Oh no. Her creator- no. It looked like him, but he was different, somehow. He had crows feet in the corners of his eyes, and faint smile lines. The Vlad Masters in her universe only wore suits and Packers jerseys. This one was in shorts and a t-shirt.
"How are you feeling?" Other Vlad asked, and whoa Danny wasn't lying, he sounded different. Like, same voice, but less...mean somehow. Warmer.
Well, she didn't feel like she was dying, which was great. "Better, thanks." She said quietly.
He nodded, and say down in a rolling chair nearby. "You look terrified. I take it alternate me has some explaining to do?"
She tried to smile. She couldn't. "Basically."
He sat the purple rock...thing next to her. "I have no idea how this works. But if you feel up to it, I can help you up, and you can eat dinner with my family."
She was pretty hungry.
The first thing she noticed was laughter. No fearful silences, kids were joking around, adults were talking, and a woman was ranting about asshole customers at work. "I have our guest," Vlad said, and helped her sit down between him and a guy with curly brown hair.
"Hi," the man said, "I'm Bruce. Bruce Banner."
She smiled a little shakily. "I'm Ellie. Nice to meet you."
To her shock, Danny came in, trailed by his sister. He didn't seem to recognize her. "Oh, hey, she's up! I'm Jazz," Jasmine said, and Danny introduced himself too. A brunette woman kissed this universe's Vlad on the cheek and introduced herself as Darcy. Another brunette sat by Bruce, and called herself Betty.
It was weirdly friendly. Vlad kept shoving more food on her plate, Darcy had to make him stop. ("Babe, the girl is full. Ellie, hun, tell us when you get hungry again?")
He gave her something clearly laced with ectoplasm, but at this point, she didn't care. She'd drink it, if only to keep this- this Danny who didn't feel obligated to her, this dad who actually acted like a dad, a real-life mom, and aunt, and uncle, and a sister. A family.
Jazz came to her rescue. "Guys, I think we're being a little much. Maybe we should help Ellie get settled in?"
"Sure. I'll let Betty here take your vitals- she's the closest we have to a medical doctor. Darling, do we have the guest room set up yet?"
("You were built to be a duplicate of Daniel, a stronger one, and you failed! Pathetic.")
"Yeah, we're good. Ellie, if you'll follow me?"
Betty headed upstairs, and Ellie followed, trailed by Darcy. "You're doing a lot better, kiddo," Betty said.
Darcy ran a hand through her hair. "You're gonna be okay, honey. We'll keep you safe."
If Ellie cried a little bit after they left, who cares? It was just so nice.
"Daddy, we can't let her go back there," Jasmine insisted. Usually, he was dad- daddy was when she really wanted something. "Her emotions and aura are all over the place. She needs a safe place to recover."
"Yeah. And didn't you say she was genetically my clone? How does that happen if she's younger than the me you met in the other universe unless she was cloned?"
"Kids- do you really think your dad's the kind of guy to send a kid into a dangerous situation? Unless Ellie says otherwise, or someone else who can take care of her comes through, she's staying for now." Darcy said, putting an arm around Jazz and Danny's shoulders.
"Exactly as your mother says. She's welcome to stay as long as she needs. Hopefully, the radio I left will be found, and work."
"The inter-dimensional one we've been working on?" Bruce asked, coming behind them. "Vlad, that's a set of prototypes. They're not ready for testing."
"When were we going to get another chance to test them? Besides, what if she does have family? According to wife here, I can't just kidnap her."
"Fair point," Bruce agreed. "Betty and I are heading home. You guys call us if her situation changes."
When Danny found where the signal on Ellie's emergency button eminated, there was no trace of her except a pool of blood and ectoplam. And- hey, a radio. It had some weird purple rock in it- wait, wasn't that the same type of thing Vlad was using to accidentally summon his cooler self?
"Hello?"
Nothing. Maybe Tucker could figure it out?