A/N: I BET Y'ALL THOUGHT THIS FIC WAS DEAD FOR GOOD, HUH? Surprise! I won't bother trying to explain why I let this die for so long, but I finally got enough inspiration to finish this fanfic for good… My writing style has changed a bit since 2014, so I went back and tried to clean up the previous chapters as much as possible without completely rewriting them. I tried to get rid of unnecessary words/repetitive descriptions to make the chapters more coherent and fix some small plot holes. It's still not perfect, but hopefully it flows better now overall! I'm not even sure if anyone from is still around or interested in this but thank you for all the reviews back then. Reading them really helped invigorate me to finally finish this story.

Almost immediately, Danny felt relief flood his system. The gash across his arm that the Fright Knight's sword had made healed instantaneously, and the flickering images of fire and his evil self melted away. One problem was now dealt with while a new one presented itself.

They couldn't seem to come to an agreement regarding the clone who had suddenly appeared and imprisoned the Fright Knight, saving Danny.

Sam was vehemently against trusting him, no doubt partially due to the whole Danielle incident, as well as the whole "he tried to kill us earlier" thing. Tucker was inclined to agree with her.

"Danielle is different now though," Danny pointed out.

"Of course she is, Danny, but that's not the point. The point is that when she was working with Vlad she was bad news. And he," she gestured toward the clone, "is working for Vlad."

"Yeah dude," Tucker piped up. "You may not remember it but seeing you carried off by Vlad and Danielle while we were on garbage duty-"

"I already apologized for that a hundred times!" Danny cut in, exasperated. A few seconds later though, he sighed. He knew that wasn't what Tucker meant. "I do see your point though," he admitted.

They all turned to the clone, not sure how to handle this. The second Danny didn't seem too sure either at first. But he tried to break the ice anyway, taking a step towards the others. They stood their ground, Danny moving into a defensive position in front of his friends and sister.

"Look," the second Danny began. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but-" He opened his mouth to continue when a stabbing pain erupted in his chest, causing him to fall to his knees with a sickly thud.

Out of instinct, Danny stepped forward to help but was stopped by Sam, who grabbed his arm and looked him in the eye. She was sending a wordless message with her stare that said 'This could be a trap.' Danny reluctantly nodded and stayed in place. It was his nature to help people, part of his obsession. Ignoring it was not easy.

The clone clutched himself, grunting at the pain that was worming its way through his system. It felt like he was falling apart, ready to tear at the seams. And that wouldn't have been far off from the truth. He was becoming unstable, and he didn't know how much longer he could hold onto his form. "I don't have a lot of time," he said between labored breaths. "Let me help you take fath- Vlad down." He had to remind himself that Vlad was no longer his father. He was never his father to begin with. Fathers didn't treat their sons like pawns.

(FLASHBACK)

Daniel phased through the floor to meet with his father after he had been called down. He could see Vlad pacing back and forth before stopping in front of a computer screen, one of many that played live security footage from his bugs all over the town.

"We need to do something about that cursed son of Jack Fenton for good, Maddie," Vlad seethed. Daniel wasn't sure who he was speaking to at first until he saw the smiling artificial hologram of Maddie Fenton.

"Yes, dearest heart!" the hologram said cheerfully. "How may I be of service?"

Vlad pondered for a moment before replying, "Bring up the feed from the Fright Knight's encounter with Daniel once more."

Maddie complied and soon Vlad was watching the replay of when the Fright Knight was sucked into the thermos by Jasmine. "They won't be able to contain him for long. He is far too powerful even for them. And Daniel is clearly out of commission even if the Knight did not finish his task," he mused, looking at Danny's panic attack unfold on the screen as his friends hovered around him.

"They'll likely come to the same conclusion sooner or later. And no doubt Ms. Manson with her 'interests' in the occult will have found out about the sword and the pumpkin… We'll have to make our move before they get that far."

"Would you like me to send for our son again, dearest heart?" the hologram Maddie asked happily.

"No," Vlad immediately bit back. "The boy needs to learn to come the first time he is called. I will see that he is punished later. He is practically useless if he won't follow orders. He couldn't dispose of Daniel the first time and neither could the Fright Knight. I'll have to do this myself." He sighed, irritation flaring as he clicked at the keyboard, pulling up data in place of the security footage from earlier. "Blasted Danielle. If only we had been able to melt her down. The boy is unstable even with the mid-morph DNA."

The fake Maddie piped up, "Would you like me to run full scans on his molecular structure to stabilize him?"

"No," Vlad repeated. "Don't bother. As much as it pains me to admit, he is doomed. He will destabilize eventually, it's only a matter of time. I'll just have to hope he proves useful enough until then, and I can work on creating a better version in the future."

Daniel growled quietly, still floating invisibly below the lab ceiling where he had phased in. He wanted nothing more than to blast his so-called father to smithereens. But he could barely keep himself stable right now, and he knew he would be no match for Plasmius alone. Spitefully, the clone resolved to get vengeance on his father. As much as he hated Danny Phantom in the beginning, he hated Vlad more. He wasn't useless and he would make his father regret ever casting him aside. He resolved to help Danny and his friends if it was the last thing he did. He would make sure Vlad's plans failed. And deep down, he wanted the older man to suffer.

(END FLASHBACK)

Though he seemed sincere, Sam couldn't help the distrust she felt. "Why should we believe anything you're saying? How do we know this isn't a trap to lure Danny right into Vlad's hands?" she challenged. Her hand was still on the original Danny's arm, though now it was out of protectiveness rather than holding him back from helping the clone.

The other Danny laughed mirthlessly, seemingly out of breath as he still clutched his stomach. He was prevented from speaking when another jolt of stabbing pain coursed through him, causing him to double over and clutch his stomach harder as if it would help to stave away his inevitable destruction. A few tense moments passed before he finally recovered and looked up at the group. "What possible motive could I have for coming here and saving you? It would've been easier to let the Fright Knight finish you off. So why would I bother playing the long game of trying to gain your trust just to trick you later when I'm doomed anyway?"

"He does have a point," Tucker said.

The four teens thought about it for a long time. Minutes of discussion passed before Danny - the original Danny - finally spoke up, turning to look straight at his double. "You said you wanted to help take Vlad down. What did you have in mind?"

Sam didn't like it, but the plan seemed foolproof. It might just work. By this point the trio had cautiously approached the clone. Danny offered him a hand up, while Sam warned, "If you're lying to us, if you betray us… let's just say you won't have to worry about just being 'doomed.'"

The second Danny grit his teeth in irritation but said nothing in response. Though his first instinct was to snap back at the goth, he couldn't afford to waste energy on being angry. Not if he wanted to live long enough to see Vlad's demise. He was broken out of his thoughts by Tucker.

"I don't know about you guys but I think we should come up with something better to call him than just 'Danny 2.0,'" he mused.

The clone raised an eyebrow at that, not really sure what to think of the connotations of that statement. He supposed Tucker was right. He couldn't call himself Danny as well, not without being confused with the real Danny. He felt somewhat disgruntled thinking about it, reminded that he was nothing more than a copy of someone. He couldn't ever be his own person. Not that he'd live to be able to anyway, but that was besides the point.

The original Danny has his hand on his chin, lost in thought before he finally snapped his fingers. "I got it! What about James?"

The second Danny scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. Where had that come from? It seemed like such a random name.

The original Danny, probably able to see the confusion just based on his facial expression, elaborated, "James is my- our… middle name. No one ever calls me by that, though." He paused as a thought occurred to him. "Well except my mom when she's really peeved at me." He looked back at the second Danny. "Anyway! It should work. What do you think?"

The clone looked at Danny for quite some time, mulling over his options before finally deciding. "Sounds good to me." He didn't seem overly enthusiastic, partially because he didn't quite care what he was called anymore since they were wasting time when they should be preparing for Vlad. But he supposed to Danny and his group of friends it was important. It made them feel more comfortable giving the clone a different identity, to be able to include him as his own person. And the second Danny - now James - couldn't comprehend what he felt now, realizing that. It was almost like a warmth spread through his chest, pushing away the pained feeling from earlier.

Only a few minutes had passed by the time Valerie arrived at the Fentons' house again. Sam had texted her mentioning that they were tentatively trusting the clone for now and that they had a plan, but the goth wanted backup incase things went south. After getting over the initial shock that they even wanted to trust the clone in the first place, she made her way to Danny's home as quickly as she could.

The others were preparing for Vlad, who no doubt would've been here already had it not been for James meddling and helping to seal the Fright Knight away. Vlad more than likely was coming up with a new strategy after having realized that the Fright Knight was no longer a viable distraction. This would buy them some time but not a lot. Did he know about James's part in it, though? He likely knew he was gone but did not yet know he was helping them. And hopefully it'd stay that way. Their entire plan depended on it.

Valerie had been standing in the doorway of the lab, at the bottom of the staircase, for a few minutes before she finally said anything. "Fenton?" Her posture gave away how awkward she felt. "...Danny?"

Danny looked back at hearing his name called, tilting his head a bit at seeing Valerie so uncomfortable. "What's up, Val?"

Valerie has her arms crossed over each other, rubbing one of her wrists as she replied, "Would you mind if we talked for a bit upstairs?"

Danny nodded, silently gesturing to Sam and Tucker to keep an eye on James. He changed back into his human form as he followed Valerie upstairs, vaguely aware of a tingling sensation that he assumed was from changing back for the first time since he'd been slashed with the Fright Knight's sword a few hours ago. His healing must finally be kicking in to repair the wounds on his back from the horse as well.

The two teenagers sat on the couch, and Valerie did something that surprised Danny by recalling her suit. She had bags under her eyes as if she hadn't slept well in a while. "What did you want to talk about?" Danny ventured. He had a feeling he knew, but he figured it'd be easier if he spoke first.

There was a thin scar line by Danny's neck, barely visible unless you were really looking closely. Valerie almost felt ill looking at it and remembering that she was the cause. "How can you be so forgiving?" Her voice sounded pained. It was clear she had been holding back having this conversation for a while. "I tried to kill you, I-" She stopped herself and shut her eyes "I did kill you…"

Danny wasn't quite sure how to respond. If he was being entirely honest, there was a small part of him that had been angry. Angry at Valerie for not being able to see that he wasn't evil and jumping to conclusions, playing right into Vlad's hands. But there was another part of him that understood. He had hidden the truth from her for nearly a year, and all she had in her life at times had been her grudge against Phantom. Phantom, who she believed had purposely ruined her life and was the reason she started hunting ghosts in the first place. If he had told her the truth she could have moved on a long time ago. This never would've happened. So they really both were to blame.

"I was… upset at first, Val. I won't lie to you. When I woke up in the ghost zone I was confused and hurt. But I realized that it was my fault too. If I had told you the truth before that, about who I was, I could've avoided it." He paused to look at Valerie's eyes. He couldn't make out what she was feeling. Probably a mixture of guilt and confusion. "If I had just told you from the beginning I was Phantom, we wouldn't be here right now. But I guess… I was afraid," he admitted. "You hated Phantom so much that I was afraid you would hate Fenton too if you knew."

She knew that she should tell Danny about the threat Vlad had left in his note against her father, but she doubted it even mattered now. She could've come directly to Danny with it and they could've stopped Vlad together like they were doing right now. Vlad's threat wasn't an excuse for her actions and she knew it. Valerie turned away for a second, trying to push back the tears that were welling up and threatening to spill like a flood. "You were right to be afraid. I acted like an idiot. I let my hate overpower everything. I'm sorry, Danny. I'm so sorry…" She cursed herself for not being able to hold the tears back anymore.

Danny was surprised at first. He rarely saw Valerie truly cry, and he knew that she felt immense guilt for what she had done. And he had forgiven her because he knew deep down she was a good person. She'd been so blinded by her hatred of ghosts that he doubted she even fully absorbed the fact that Fenton and Phantom were the same when everything went down. And by the time she understood the magnitude it had been too late. He wanted to comfort her but found himself stopping short. He had forgiven her… but it was still hard for him to feel as close to her as he once did. The memories of what happened still plagued him in his sleep. He hoped one day they could move past this. "It's okay, Val… I know it'll be hard, but we'll get past it eventually. I-"

A crash from downstairs interrupted them. They took one look at each other before leaping off the couch and jumping into action. Valerie donned her suit again, while Danny jumped into the air and transformed into Phantom all in one go. They both reached the base of the stairs at the same time, expecting the worst but only seeing James doubled over again. Danny quickly let go of his fighting stance. "What's going on?" He asked.

Tucker answered, "James isn't looking too good, but that isn't our biggest problem." He held up his PDA, which showed a red dot closing in on their location. Danny's eyes widened when he realized what it meant. "Vlad is coming."