Only Half

Fake

A/N: There are technically three chapters here, but since they're pretty short I decided to put them all together. 

"No!" called out Danny Phantom. He was still on the roof, watching in horror as another version of him was about to blast his friends to dust. He stretched out his hand as if that could possibly help them, his eyes widened in terror and fear. Suddenly, he witnessed a blinding purple flash. He had to turn away to allow his eyes to adjust to the sudden change of atmosphere, but when he looked towards the same spot again, he saw a stunning sight.

Valerie was standing in front of both Sam and Tucker, her gun trained on the second Danny, who had been blasted off his feet and was lying on the floor. He was just starting to get up as Valerie turned to the two behind her. "You guys alright?" It was strangely sincere for her to ask, and indeed, neither Sam nor Tucker answered her at first. Valerie didn't seem to care that they chose not to respond, and she snapped her head back to face the second Danny. Sam decided to pipe up as he struggled to his feet.

"Haven't done enough damage, Valerie?" Though she and Tucker knew that this Danny was not their Danny, the thought of Valerie saving them just to have another go at what she probably assumed was their Danny infuriated her.

Valerie turned with surprise at first, but her expression hardened instantly. "I've done more than that, Manson. I'm not here to kill your boyfriend a second time. He's gone." Her eyes seemed to flash with grief for a split second, but it disappeared as she continued, "This Phantom is a fake."

Sam was a bit stunned. So, Valerie didn't come to destroy what could've been mistaken as the original Danny? She already knew it was a clone? Curious...

"How do you know?" Sam blurted.

Valerie didn't turn back; her eyes were trained on the fake Danny. "Vlad Masters," she answered simply.

Sam turned to Tucker with a gaping expression. "Wha-?"

"No time to explain, Manson! Just get out of here!"

Tucker shook his head. "No way. We're helping."

Valerie faltered, clearly hesitating because she didn't expect them to refuse. "I-uh... you can't!" she called, but she was blown from the spot she was standing on by a pinkish-red ghost ray blast from Daniel 2.0. Sam and Tucker gasped, the attack taking them by surprise. The other Danny had knocked Valerie off her feet.

Daniel 2.0 laughed cruelly, advancing on Sam and Tucker. Valerie laid her hand out in front of her in an attempt to reach her fallen ecto-gun. This time, the original Danny, who had been watching the scene from above, refused to let them get hurt. He moved like a bullet, flying through the air so fast that the wind whipping against his face stung a bit. He shot a bright green ghost ray straight at the unsuspecting clone's back. Daniel 2.0 cried out in surprise, staggering to one knee and looking behind him for any sign of what could have possibly hit him. That must have been a ghost ray. He could feel it. But who-?

He heard a crack to his left and turned back in the direction of Sam, Tucker, and Valerie – the latter of whom managed to grab her weapon and was getting back up again fast. Sam whipped her head around to stare at Valerie and her gun, wondering how in the world she managed to shoot the clone when she was on the ground and out of reach of her weapon. Tucker was about to voice a similar opinion, but Valerie cut off both their thoughts. "Duck!" she yelled, and all three performed the same action, getting low to the ground as another reddish ghost ray flew straight over their heads.

"Valerie, shoot!" Sam ordered. Normally, Valerie would have snapped back at her. She wasn't someone you could just bark orders to. This time, though, she bit her tongue and shot. The second Danny plummeted across the air, hitting the brick wall of a house across the street. Sam vaguely recalled Danny mentioning that it was unoccupied because the neighbors residing in it were on vacation for a few weeks.