Hi guys! Just a reminder that if you came here like "OMG NEW CHAPTER!" I'd like to remind you that it took a year for this story to update becuase this entire story has been redone! So, I suggest going back to the beginning and checking out the new content! I redid a lot of this to make it flow correctly. Now the ages correlate correctly, and I even made a timeline. (Which I will put at the bottom of this chapter.) Thanks for waiting 11 months for this short chapter. But hey, technically you have an entirely new story! I blame Creative Writing for eating my writing time.

I think the only sucky thing about this being redone is that we've lost all of my 9th - 12th grade woes about life in the descriptions. But hey, you can have my college woes. I've been writing this story for 6 years. GOOD. LORD. That being said, I started this when I was 14 and I just turned 20 last month which means, I have decided to bring this poor story to it's final days. I have finally come up with an ending that I like, so I'll finish this as the coming of age story it's become. BUT do not fret. I have two DP stories in the works. One is Valerie-centric (OOH LALA) and the other is a reveal fic featuring Danny and Maddie. I'm really excited for you guys to see them! Will they last as long as this one? God, I hope not.

Thanks for your support!

-Ash

Chapter 10

"You have a clone," Mom blurted as she stared at me in disbelief. She repeated my previous statement as if to clarify it, although she knew it was true. I mean, the girl was sitting right in front of her.

"You know I always called Vlad a fruit loop?" I began and when she nodded I understood that to be a sign to continue, "Wellll… that was partially because he was weirdly obsessed with me and wanted me to be his son. So then when I refused he started trying to make half ghost/half human clones of me," I explained.

She gazed at me and darted her eyes to Danielle. "He really is bat-shit crazy isn't he?"

My mouth dropped. "Mom!"

Mom glanced over at me. "What? You're disagreeing?"

"I-I mean, no, but Danielle is amazing," I said as I gestured towards the girl next to me. She gave a soft smile as I nudged her gently. "She is basically a little me. She likes everything that I do. She can even kick Vlad's butt like I can."

That got a giggle out of her. She glanced up at my mother with caution. "I'm sorry for showing up out of the blue like this, Mrs. Fenton. I could sense that the ghosts in Amity Park were getting worse, and I wanted to make sure Danny was okay."

Mom scoffed and waved a hand at the comment. "Oh please, it's no burden, hon. And please, call me Maddie at least."

Tucker pouted from across the table and crossed his arms. "We don't get to call you 'Maddie.'"

My mother blinked at him. "Were you created with my son's DNA and, by extension, genetically my child?"

"No…?"

"Okay, until then, you can't call me by my name.'

Danielle gave a snort in response. "Thank you, M-Maddie. I'm sure I won't stay too long. I was just checking on Danny is all," she paused. "Well actually... there is one more thing."

My worried glare spoke for me. But Danielle shook her head quickly. "It's nothing too extreme! I'm not melting again or anything! I'm completely stabilized, I promise. But, um—I may have ice powers now?"

I widened my eyes in surprise. "Woah, what?"

"I keep having cold spells, and I know that happened to you before your powers showed up."

Sam chimed in. "But I thought you got your wail before your ice powers showed up, didn't you?"

I gave a nod. "Yeah, but I wasn't supposed to get that power until ten years from then. I developed the wail because I went into the future, so it should be a while before Danielle has to deal with that."

Tucker snorted. "Yeah, 'deal with' a power that can take down cities."

I glared at him. "Hey, that power takes a lot out of me. I just recently got to the point where I don't change back after I use it."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," he turned his attention back to my clone. "So are you stable for sure? Like you're a complete—like, being now?"

She bobbed her head. "Yup. I exist."

"That's great! So after Danny helps you with your ice powers, where are you going to go next?"

Danielle gave a shrug. "I'm not sure exactly. I've been exploring the world and exploring the Ghost Zone. I don't know what to do next. I've watched the people in the world, and somethings I think it'd be nice to be…normal."

My eyes widened at her statement. "Normal as in how, Dani?"

She ran her hands across the table nervously. "Well. It'd be nice to, ya know, have a family. Go to school. Have friends…"

Mom's brows furrowed sympathetically. I knew what was about to happen next. When Mom gets compassionate, then there's nothing stopping her from following through with her ideas. She placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sweetie, why don't you stay with us? You're mine and Jack's biological daughter… I don't see a problem with you staying."

Danielle bounced excitedly in her seat. "That's so nice of you, Maddie! I don't know how I'll ever repay you!"

Mom scoffed. "Oh, please. No need to try to repay anything. No one deserves to be alone, especially if they're my child created by a lunatic."

She giggled at that. "Yeah… he's pretty crazy. But if it weren't for him, I wouldn't exist. So even though Vlad created me out of the desire to have a son, I guess his screw up was worth something."

I scooped her up in a hug. "Of course! I'm grateful for Vlad's craziness! If not, I could have been in trouble a few times. You've saved me a lot."

She wrapped her arms around my neck. "Thanks, Danny."

"Alright! So, ice power training number one: when the cold becomes too much, you need to let it out. Don't bottle it in."

She nodded. "Okay, so when do I know it's too much?"

"Well, you're not to the shivering uncontrollably yet. When you do, that's when you need to get rid of it."

Dani stared down at her hands. "Can I just get rid of it like this?" she asked as she pushed her hands forward. They glowed a crystal blue and ice rocketed from her palms.

I gaped at her. "What? Do you know how much trouble I had the day I got my ice powers? I couldn't move I was shivering so hard!"

She shrugged. "I dunno? I figured the power was similar to how you use a ghost ray."

"I mean, kinda, but not really! It shouldn't be that easy for you to pick up on!"

Dani smirked. "Maybe it's a girl thing. I hear we're better at stuff than boys."

I scoffed. "I'm a boy who's been taking care of Amity Park just fine, thank you."

She crossed her arms. "Mmm-hmm. We'll see who does it better though! I bet I can fight the Box Ghost in half the time you can."

"Five minutes? You can beat him in less than 5 minutes?"

The ghost girl floated up to be eye level with my face. "I dunno, I guess we'll see won't we?" she booped me on the nose and flew off towards the house.

I squinted at her back as she entered the house. "I see how it is."

"People of Amity Park, I'm proud to present to you our newest hero who will be working with Danny Phantom in protecting our city: Danielle aka Dani Phantom—with an i. She's a girl ghost, okay?" Tucker announced into the speaker.

Danielle (in her ghost form) marched up the stairs to take her place next to the podium as Tucker continued to speak. "Danny, Danielle, and I discussed this matter and decided that it would be best for the public to know that Danielle is also only half ghost and will be living with the Fentons from now on. That is all."

She allowed the two glowing rings to envelope her and change her back to her human form. Smiling and waving to the crowd, Danielle played up her new found fame.

A swarm of questions began to invade her. "How did you get your ghost powers?" "Why do you look so much like Phantom?" "Are you two actually siblings?"

Frantically, she shot her head back at Tucker who was still behind the podium. He bobbed his head. "Actually, Danielle isn't taking press questions right now. Maybe another time. She's trying to get settled into her new home."

The young mayor ushered Dani off the stage in my direction. I caught her by the shoulder, and we began to escape the crowd.

She gazed up at me. "Is it going to be like this from now on?"

I grimaced slightly. "Yeah, but it'll be okay. I've learned to deal with it. I think you'll be able to handle it more than me. Girls are better at stuff than boys, remember?"

Danielle snickered at my remark. "You're right."

Timeline:

March – Danny reveals his secret at age 15

May – Jazz graduates

Early June – Danny turns 16

August – Danny starts Junior year/Jazz begins online college classes

January – Aftermath story begins

May – Summer begins

Early June – Danny turns 17

August – Danny starts Senior year

Hopefully this helps!