I'M NOT DEAD PEOPLE! I REPEAT, I AM NOT DEAD! I just had a bunch of vacations I was forced to attend plus camp. And then I was sick. And then school. Anyway, on with the story!

I don't own Danny Phantom.

"TUCKER!" Mrs. Foley called up the stairs. "Your friends are here!"

The teen ran down the stairs and smiled when he saw Sam, Danny, and Dani at his door.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted, grabbing his backpack and closing the door behind him. "What's up?"

"Not much," Dani replied. "Except for the fact that it's my first day of school!"

Tucker blinked, having just realized what that meant. "Wait. You're going to high school?"

Danielle rolled her blue eyes. "No, I'm going to preschool," she responded sarcastically. "Of course I am going to high school! I have my dear brother's knowledge."

Danny nodded. "And if anyone asks why she's 12 and at high school or why she looks like me when there's no files of me having another sister, our answer is that she's my 100% human test clone created by a ghost."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a little too close to the truth?"

Dani and Danny shrugged. "Mom and Dad told Lancer that before we could come up with a better excuse."

They were at the school by now. All the kids were gathered on the lawn, no doubt wanting to see the clone of Danny Fenton (hey, even if he was a nobody, it's a clone!). They all stared as the quartet walked past, all eyes on Danny and Danielle. Danny was used to it due to being Phantom but Danielle wasn't as used to it. Sure, she could take being watched at a ghost fight, but the whole student body of Casper High? She hid behind her brother.

Everyone noticed that Dani had seen them staring and turned away, talking about Phantom's revealed family.

"Daniel and Danielle Fenton!"

Danny and Danielle froze mid step, recognizing the voice. They turned slowly to come face to face with a green-eyed, black-haired African American girl in orange and yellow.

Valerie Gray.

The rest of the students took that as their cue to leave and hurried away, talking about Danny, Madeline, Jack, Jasmine, and Danielle Phantom. Soon the courtyard was empty, except for Danny, Dani, Valerie, Sam, and Tucker.

Valerie raised a black eyebrow. "So, Fenton, mind explaining how just yesterday, Dani was revealed on live television to be Danny Phantom's little sister and today you show up claiming that she's your clone? Hmmmm, Fenton?" She smirked. "Or should I say Phantom?"

Instantly, Sam and Tucker were in front of the halfas, separating them from Valerie. The clone and the original rolled their eyes before phasing through them to stand near Valerie.

"And what are you going to do with your newfound knowledge, hmmm, Mrs. Red Huntress?" Danny asked, calmly. His attitude was Phantom-mode.

"Answer some questions, half-breed, and then I'll decide," the huntress said.

Dani and Danny looked at each other before nodding.

"The mayor?"

"Was overshadowed by one of my enemies who wanted revenge on me for releasing all his prisoners," Danny said, Phantom-mode not flickering. "Something about wanting to make everywhere my prison."

Valerie examined him for a moment. "The ghost dog."

"Val, my parents won't let me get a hamster and back then they thought all ghosts were evil. What makes you think they would let me get a ghost dog?" Danny asked. "I was merely trying to stop him."

"When you robbed those banks?"

Sam stepped forward. "He was hypnotized by the ringmaster of Circus Gothica, Freakshow. Anyone notice that his eyes were bright red?"

Valerie hesitated before asking, "So, how'd did this happen?"

"We don't know entirely but we think ectoplasm got fused to my DNA," Danny explained. "Well, Danielle is my clone, so you know how she became half-ghost or, as we and the ghosts call it, a halfa. My parents and Jazz had an accident in my parents' lab the other day that let ectoplasm bond to their DNA."

"Speaking of which, where is Jazz?" Tucker asked looking around.

"Mom and Dad made her stay home today to practice powers," Danny explained. "They already had one kid banned for life from any fragile school property because of malfunctioning powers. Why would they want a second one?"

"Point," Tucker said.

Valerie cleared her throat. "Well, I guess you're good. So…" She held out a hand. "Sorry for everything in the past. Friends?"

Danny smiled. "Allies," he said, shaking her hand. "Consider yourself a permanent member of Team Phantom. Want to sit with us at lunch?"

Valerie's grin threatened to split her face. "Thank you!" she yelled, hugging Danny. She then paused and turned to Sam. "You're not mad, are you?"

Sam hesitated before shaking her head. "As long as you're not shooting my best friend out of the sky, you're fine with me."

Danny laughed. "Want to come with us, Val?" he asked.

Valerie laughed too and walked alongside the quartet towards the school.

…

"Hi, guys," Valerie said, shyly as she approached Team Phantom.

Danielle smiled and waved. "Hey, Val! Come sit."

The huntress smiled, shyly again as she sat next to Danny. "So, mind telling me of a few ghosts?"

The normal members of the team looked at each other and shrugged.

"Sure," Danny said. "Do you know about Vlad?"

Val snorted. "That lying cheapskate of a halfa? I feel terrible for being his, quote on quote, 'pawn'."

Danny laughed. "After my family made our official TV thingy, Vlad showed up. Mom and Dad chased him around town for three hours before they got a good enough shot for him to transform back. I couldn't stop laughing. Oh my god."

He burst out laughing again until he fell over.

"Um, are you okay?"

Danny looked up to see a pair of twin girls who looked around Jazz's age.

The first one had tan skin with freckles, white blonde hair, and gray eyes. Her hair was waist long and loose. She wore a pink bow in it. She had on a pink long-sleeved shirt, a black knee-length skirt, and pink flip-flops. Around her neck was a gold necklace with a ruby on it.

The second one was darker and obviously a Goth. Her skin was paler than the other girl's. She wore her own waist long black hair in a wild ponytail with her bangs hanging over her left eye and a bat barrette. Her eyes were gray like her sister's with gray eye shadow and gothic makeup. Her lipstick was purple like Sam's. She wore a black tank top that showed her stomach, black pants, and black and purple sneakers. Around her neck was a silver necklace with a sapphire on it.

"Hiya!" The blonde said waving. "I'm Joy and this is my sister Hope."

Hope smirked in greeting.

"We're Jazz's friends," Joy explained. "We were wondering where she was. She never misses school. She came once with the flu!"

"She's fine," Sam said. "Her parents kept her home. I'm Sam, as you might know. And this is Tucker, Danielle, Danny, and Valerie."

"We know," Hope deadpanned. She reached into her bag and pulled out some papers. "Can you hand these to her? It's the homework. And tell her that Hope and Joy say 'Hi'."

"Uh, sure," Danny said, taking the homework.

"Bye!" Joy said waving again as she walked away.

Hope just saluted them.

"Okay, so Jazz couldn't originally get along with me, but she can get along with that Hope girl?" Sam asked, picking at her salad. "We're both Goth."

Valerie laughed a bit. "Anyway, ghosts?"

"Oh, right," Danny said, climbing back into his seat. "The first major ghost I fought was named the Lunch Lady…"

The whole time I was writing the Hope and Joy parts I was thinking of Sara and Kara from American Dragon Jake Long. And Joy is not a techno geek so I am not having a Jazz's version of the trio. And yes, Val is now a member of Team Phantom!