This is the summary for the second installation of the Ditto Story: the Nephews of the Count. Just like the summary for the Ditto Club Murder Mystery, you can read the part in blue for important notes you'd need to know from the last one, the shortened summary, and what you need to know for the next one. However, if you want a more detailed explanation, continue reading the part in black.
Note from Rya: I would still like some feedback on how this format works. I would like three people: someone familiar with this story, someone unfamiliar with this story but familiar with the other Ditto Stories, and someone completely unfamiliar with all of it. If you fit any of those and could read this over and tell me what you think, that'd be great!
From the person who knows this story: I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me if I summarized it well, if I have all the necessary points and/or if I have any extra ones, etc.
From the person who knows the Ditto Story (but not this one): If you could tell me if this helped you understand the story in consideration to the other ones, please let me know! I'd like to make the stories fluid with each other.
From the person unfamiliar with it all: If you could let me know if this was understandable for you, please do so! Part of the purpose is to help non-Dinklings understand the Ditto Story a little better. :)
Important notes from previous story: Count No Dittos tried to take over Ditto Town using genetically engineered flowers; his castle was left empty after his defeat; Ditto Rider and Darth Devaricate formed their Rochil/Salabis secret alliance; Ditto Rider met the Elves; Queen Nessa, the Ditto Court Songstress, met both her “Scottish Minstrel” and “Rock On!” Girl.
Ditto Rider is warned of possible danger coming from the castle formerly owned by the Count No Dittos from her Elven friend Gwanuig. Around the same time, “Shawna” (later discovered to be really named “The Vampire Fancier” or “the VF”) gives a similar warning…around the same time she opens up her “Ditto Town Breeders Club”, which is a place where she sells vampires. Ditto Rider and DD once again don their Rochil and Salabis identities in order to investigate the rumors…and the appearances of strange creatures near Ditto Town. They discover that the castle is being used by Magron and Faron, two brothers with a vendetta (they are the Nephews of the Count No Dittos) and master plan against Ditto Town. Using various beasts, they constantly cause problems for them, the Ditto Team, and the Ditto Spies…all of whom are fighting against them in order to protect the town. As it turns out, their plan all along was to keep the town busy through various ways while they dumped a chemical that made people easy to persuade, so that the townspeople would willingly surrender to them and consider them their kings. After many fierce battles and planning, the townspeople manage to stop the Count’s Nephews, and they allow them to join their uncle…in the Ditto Town Jail.
Important notes for the next story: Vampires are introduced to Ditto Town; Nessa and “Rock On!” Girl’s organization is introduced (not by name, however) and that there is another agent of this organization in Ditto Town; it’s revealed that Ditto Rider’s parents worked for Nessa and “Rock On!” Girl’s organization; The Vampire Fancier also (apparently) works for someone, hence her appearance in Ditto Town; The Vampire Fancier, Frinio, and Ditto Rose come to Ditto Town.
Ditto Rider encounters Gwanuig, one of the elves she met during the struggle against Count No Dittos, and he tells her that a new organization has taken over the Count’s lair and is rebuilding it. However, he doesn’t know why or who they are.
Ditto Rider, Darth Devaricate (DD), Manipulator of the Mundane (MM), and Friend of Ditto (in order of when they joined the battle) have a Ditto/Original war. During this time, Shawna starts hanging up posters, which tell of the opening of the Ditto Town Breeders Club. The poster is (intentionally, it would appear) vague about what this “Breeders Club” is; the only things that are known is what time it’s at, and that people should “bring [their] money - you may decide you need it”.
As it turns out, the Ditto Town Breeders Club sells…vampires. They aren’t like the mythical vampires; for one thing, they’re trained, and according to Shawna, perfectly safe. She reveals that her name isn’t really “Shawna” (that was an alias she used) and that her real name is her title: the Vampire Fancier (the VF for short). She also comments that she believes that Ditto Town will need the assistance of her vampires in coming days. Ditto Rider hears the screams of a few of the startled attendees of the unveiling of the Club, so she investigates and finds out about the vampires…and about the VF’s warning. She begins to wonder about Ditto Town’s future, and whether or not she should contact DD/Salabis.
DD/Salabis was nearby the VF’s compound during the unveiling, but she was distracted away from it by a screech she heard in the forest. She goes to investigate, but all she sees is a shadow flying over her. When it disappears, she sees Ditto Rider come out, and they decide to don their disguises and go investigate the Count’s former abode together. Ditto Rider takes Salabis to the Ditto Team’s overhang so that she can grab her Elvish armor and cloak, though Salabis doesn’t enter. While she waits, Salabis signals the dwarves, informing them that she may need their help again soon.
After they prepare, they head back into the woods, and they hear the screech again. Eventually, they make it to the Count’s castle, but as they do, they notice a bird-like creature headed towards the Town, with the women just barely avoiding detection. They evade a patrol of men (who are riding wargs, to their dismay) and make it inside. Salabis leads Rochil around the fortress until they find two men---brothers, apparently, named Magron and Faron. They were discussing the “fell beasts” they released, and their master plan. However, the women are unable to pick up on the whole conversation, and were only able to determine that they had some sort of master plan against Ditto Town, and it had something to do with a “sleepy town” and “fell beasts”.
After this, Rochil and Salabis are caught by a patrol of warg riders. They aren’t caught, but they are forced to retreat into the forest. Some of the warg riders find them and give chase; they manage to elude them, but Salabis is attacked by a creature they encounter in the forest and is wounded. Rochil brings her to the dwarves to be tended to, then goes to town as Ditto Rider to tell Friend of Ditto that she’s leaving for a few days (without specifying why, of course).
Meanwhile, in Ditto Town, the VF is taking a walk with three of her vampires (named Fred, Spike, and Gunn (after characters in the TV show Angel)) when they encounter a warg rider…one who tries to attack Miss Vice President. The three vamps attack and manage to take out the warg, though the rider escapes. The VF and MVP ponder whether the attack was random…or if someone was specifically looking for the VP. They decide to take it to the Sherriff. On their way there, the VF asks MVP if she has any secrets that might make someone want to kill her. She (nervously) denies it.
They arrive at the station and find that the Sherriff isn’t there. They end up leaving him a note.
Nessa and “Rock On!” Girl see the attempted attack on MVP and decide to try to help out. Since they heard a rumor about the Count No Dittos castle being a ground for evil again, they decide to go there. Nessa gets out an enchanted map of hers that will tell you not only where everything is like a normal map would, but where various types of people and creatures are according to colored dots (small animals (brown), large animals (blue), friends of the town (purple), and enemies of the town (red)). They notice a disturbing number of blue and red dots near the Count’s former lair….
Before they go out to investigate, however, Nessa feeds Gamgee (her horse) a sugar cube…which turns out to actually be a communication device, which plays a message when Gamgee begins eating it and stops when it’s completely dissolved. It reveals that Nessa and “Rock On!” Girl are the Ditto Spies, and that they’re being assigned to stop the “terrorist organization” in the Count’s castle, and to “see D-Branch for the necessary equipment”. Nessa opens up a secret passage, which leads to D, formerly known as her Scottish Blues Minstrel. (In addition to the rest of the message, it’s mentioned that they have another agent in the town, though they don’t specify who.) He gives them some gear, such as invisibility cloaks, and they go on their way to investigate the Count’s castle.
The MVP gets back to her office and finds that a girl named Emerald wants to join Ditto Town. They go through the necessary procedure and Emerald leaves as DittoStar, Ditto Town’s newest resident. However, immediately after leaving the office, she remarks to herself, “Mission one: complete”. She is apparently looking for the Sherriff, and she also doesn’t want to be followed. Friend of Ditto sees her and, finding her somewhat suspicious, follows her. In fact, the VF and MVP find themselves distrusting DittoStar. DittoStar hints (to the audience) that her intentions are good, and she receives a message: “Mission two: complete”.
The dwarves realize that caring for Salabis’s wounds is too much for them and call upon the aid of the Elves. The particular Elves that care for her are one she knew when she was younger; the man that picked her up was a particularly close friend, Guin-nor.
Ditto Rider comes back to town (as herself) and meets up with Friend of Ditto. Friend of Ditto fills her in on what’s been going on in town, including the fact that no one has heard from Salabis. Ditto Rider goes back to the dwarves to check on her. When she returns, she discovers that Friend of Ditto had to leave town for an undetermined length of time. She puts up a notice that she would like someone to join the Ditto Patrol, permanently, as the third member. Not long after, Ditto Kitty takes her up on that request. They go on patrol together, and while they’re there, Ditto Rider mentions the tunnels in the Count’s castle…and Magron and Faron. Kitty goes in to investigate, and finds a note from Faron to Magron, requesting that he doesn’t let any more of the beasts out. However, to avoid detection, they’re forced to retreat from the castle into the woods.
“Rock On!” Girl and Nessa encounter Ditto Rider and Ditto Kitty in the woods, but they decide to sneak up on them with their invisibility cloaks on, then reveal themselves after they got close. When Ditto Rider sees this, she realizes that they work for the same organization her parents do. Without compromising her and Salabis’s identities (though she does so by confusing Ditto Kitty, who knew of her identity as Rochil), she tells the Ditto Spies everything she knows about Magron and Faron. They decide to work together, as they have common goals, and the Ditto Spies give them communication devices.
The Ditto Spies infiltrate the castle once more, but because “Rock On!” Girl accidentally knocked over a candle, they had to use their invisibility cloaks (along with a few other tricks) to fool Magron and Faron into believing a ghost was haunting that room. They end up setting up their listening equipment so that they’ll be able to hear their conversation when they get back.
Ditto Rider explains to Ditto Kitty why she didn’t tell the Ditto Spies about her identity, and she shows her around the overhang…and the secret area behind it, which is restricted to the Ditto Team. Ditto Kitty picks up Salabis’s scent and figures out that she is DD.
After a week of care by the elves, both the elves and Salabis feel that she is ready to go back to town to help fight against the growing evil. The king, Guin-nor’s father, feels that he (Guin-nor) should go with her in order to help fight against it. On the way back, they run into Ditto Kitty, who reveals that she knows Salabis’s identity. Soon after, Ditto Rider (as Rochil) encounters them, and she assures Salabis that Ditto Kitty won’t tell anyone else her identity. They share information.
After setting up their equipment, the Ditto Spies leave. However, on their way out, a warg picks up their scent and attacks them. Ditto Kitty (using her “6th sense”) has a feeling they need to go, and they encounter the Ditto Spies. They rescue them from the wargs, but their horses are injured. As Salabis looks for the right plants to help the horses, Guin-nor comes to her and tells her that there is a danger approaching the town. He gives her Elvish wine in order to rejuvenate the horses, and tells her that they have to keep riding to get out of danger. Rochil, Salabis, and Guin-nor ride to stop the danger, while “Rock On!” Girl and Nessa ride off to find a place to tend to their horses.
After they ride far enough to satisfy Guin-nor, they stop, and Gwanuig approaches them. They trade information and find out that there is a group of Magron and Faron’s men coming with a shipment of barrels. They stop them, and after some interrogation, find out some important things: first of all, the barrels are filled with a gas that will make people (not animals) open to suggestion. They were to release it in order to manipulate the townspeople into letting Magron and Faron be their kings. They also discover that Magron and Faron are the Count No Ditto’s nephews.
Meanwhile, Nessa and “Rock On!” Girl are tending to their injured horses when their listening devices in Magron and Faron’s room kick in. They find out that the gas is a diversion. Quickly, they contact the Ditto Team via the devices they gave them earlier. Rochil and Salabis receive the message just before they are about to send the barrels down the river to the elves. They open one and discover that the barrels don’t hold anything but a smoke bomb and a note, informing them that it was a fake. They realize where the real gas will be coming from, and head for it.
While Nessa and “Rock On!” Girl are tending to their horses (after they contacted Rochil and Salabis), and after Nessa contacted D about what was happening, Ditto Rose suddenly appears. She encourages them to continue the fight, and when they hear a great crash from somewhere in the forest, they all head towards it.
Meanwhile, back in town, Frinio, the LOS (FRIendly Neighborhood Insane One, the Leader Of Sheep) enters for the first time.
On their way there, Rochil, Salabis, and the elves encounter Ditto Kitty, who they send back to town to warn them…and to lead them in case something should happen, as she is an animal and immune to the gas. When they arrive at their destination, they are confused to see that there are no men with barrels, but a pipe with water flowing through it. They realize that Magron and Faron aren’t sending a gas into Ditto Town, but attacking it through the water supply. They split up (Salabis and Guin-nor go to town while Rochil and Gwanuig go to the source of the water in the pipe), and the later group finds the men that are pouring the mind-altering chemical into the water…and they are being overseen by Magron himself! Ditto Kitty appears (apparently, she found them after warning the town), and after a brief battle, they manage to capture Magron and his men, though Rochil is wounded in the fight. Ditto Kitty leads the men back, while Gwanuig goes to find medical care for Rochil.
As Guin-nor and Salabis head back to town, they notice that the pipe Magron and Faron are using is connected with Ditto Town’s real water line. Horrified, they begin heading back to town to try to stop the contaminated water, but on their way, they run into Faron. They ambush him, but are ambushed in turn, and they end up only capturing some of the men…minus Faron. After this, Salabis contacts the Ditto Spies, and they (plus Ditto Rose) meet up with them. The Spies and Ditto Rose take care of the captives, while Salabis and Guin-nor go to try to stop the water. On the way, they meet Ditto Kitty, who was able to return all the men to the jail, minus one: Magron.
The Ditto Spies and Ditto Rose make it back to Ditto Town and deposit the men in jail. They tell the Sherriff everything that’s going on and assure that the Town’s water supply isn’t going to be used until they’re able to get rid of the contaminated water.
The Vampire Fancier receives a message (via a communication device designed to look like a painting (a talking painting when in use)) from whoever she works for about what’s been going on. Apparently, the VF was put there to try to protect the town, and she’s doing her best using her vampires. Although she’s frustrated that they’re having difficulty trusting her, she also doesn’t want them to die.
A few days later, using their enchanted map, the Ditto Spies find out where Magron and Faron are. They decide to contact the Ditto Team in order that they can capture the Count’s nephews once and for all. They contact Ditto Rider, who has been with the elves recuperating ever since the battle with Magron and his men. The elves reluctantly let her go to help in the battle, under the conditions that Gwanuig goes with her and that she comes back immediately after.
Meanwhile, Salabis and Guin-nor have been taking care of neutralizing the contaminant, thanks to one of the “Absolutely!” Man’s concoctions. However, before they can go to find the brothers, they realize there are warg riders coming. They call on the VF for help, who gladly gives it. Just before going off to battle, however, Ditto Kitty decides to buy Willow, one of the VF’s vampires, in order that she might have a little more protection.
Salabis and Guin-nor are contacted by Rochil, who tells them about a large group of men who are lead by two men---possibly Magron and Faron. They agree to try to meet up with her and Gwanuig in order to help stop them. They also contact the Ditto Spies and the Sherriff in order to round up as much help as possible.
Meanwhile, Ditto Kitty and Willow are heading out to help when they run into Magron again. They capture him and he tells them that Faron is posing a distraction while he tries to plant some more of the brainwashing substance into the water supply. However, he tries to use some of it (from a plastic bag) on Ditto Kitty and Willow in order to escape, only to discover both creatures are immune. They begin bringing him back to Ditto Town, and are met by the Ditto Spies. However, “Rock On!” Girl finds the plastic bag and, unaware of its previous contents, investigates it…only to accidentally breathe in some of the brainwashing substance.
The VF and her vamps take on the warg riders in a vicious, though short, battle. Since the vampires were the only ones available to take them on, they were horribly outnumbered, but they still won. Unfortunately, eight of her vampires were killed---half of them weren’t even adults. Woefully, she and the surviving vampires head back for the compound.
Thanks to the substance, “Rock On!” Girl is fooled by Magron into believing that Ditto Rose (along with the others, but specifically her) are her enemies, and that she is his ally. Thanks to this trickery, she is brainwashed into joining him. They decide to take the two back to town---“Rock On!” Girl to the “Absolutely!” Man’s house in order that they might be able to find a cure, and Magron to jail. Before they even split up, they meet up with the VF and her vamps…who aren’t very happy with Magron, since he is ultimately responsible for the death of their family. (They barely restrain themselves from exacting justice on him.)
Rochil, Salabis, and the elves plot their attack, and decide to wait to attack Faron’s men (who seem to be biding their time now) until later, after they can regroup and strategize. After calling on the dwarves for aid, they set up for the battle. A few hours later, they take on Faron’s men, and manage to capture them once and for all.
Afterwards, they go back to town and discover that Magron is already there, “Rock On!” Girl has been cured by the “Absolutely!” Man, and that all the danger has been averted. The elves offer Rochil and Salabis the chance to come to their home, which they both readily agree to.
With that, the legacy of the Count ends…for now.
