The Secret Trio

Chapter 3

"Gramps, why are we looking through books and not fighting?"

In the back of Canal Street Electronics shop, multiple large stacks of old, possibly ancient, magic books surrounded everyone. Most of them were originally in different languages (many varied in language) but thanks to a spell from Fu, they were translated to English. Jake, Trixie, Spud, Fu Dog, and Luong Lao Shi were all plucking through them for an answer to the ghost imps. There were creatures like them in the magical community, but not the same size, and not the same colors these ones had. And not ghosts, for that matter, and much less malevolent. Their only option was to look through countless old books in hopes of some sort of record.

Jake's mentor did not look up from the book he was browsing through. "Jake, you know why." he said dryly, flipping a page. Trixie looked toward him.

"But that psychic girl Sara said that those creatures were coming to New York City next. We should be prepping first and researching later." she protested. Again did Grandpa not look up as he replied.

"Patience," he said, although his own patience was starting to wear thin, "preparation without knowing how to prepare can be of no use and ultimately lost time."

With a snort from Trixie, they continued their very dull search. Books were pushed aside as no relevant information was garnered from them. Once or twice someone sneezed from collected dust on the books, but it was silent and tense. Jake and his friends were tempted to protest more about the lack of action and rather a search they did not know would result in anything. Alas, they knew the efforts would fail hopelessly. The magical world outside the shop was also seeking answers, and they were just another group trying for a solution.

Finally, after another hour of looking, one of them found part of the answer.

"I think I found something." Spud announced. Within seconds everyone was crowded around his book. On the page was a model of the very things attacking as of late, and a potion recipe for creating them. "Says here there's a legend that a really long time ago, some sorcerer or something created this recipe, made his own army, and tried to attack the Dragon Council with it. It failed when, um..." He scrutinized it. "...three warriors united and combined their power to defeat him."

"Who are the three warriors?" Fu Dog asked.

"A ghost, a ninja, and a dragon." Spud looked up. "Aren't, like, the places being hit the most have a ghost and a ninja?"

"Yes, but according to the text, this took place before Danny Phantom and the Ninja were even around." Jake pointed out. "The Ninja's been around for...how long?"

"Eight hundred years." Lao Shi answered, "His or her existence has been continuously under observation by the magical community. But before then, there were ninjas."

"Just less prolific ones." Fu Dog interjected. Trixie got hold of the book from Spud and analyzed it carefully.

"I don't understand, though; these aren't described as ghost imps."

"The recipe would have to be remade from centuries of trial and error to remake it if the creator didn't have the book, right?" Jake guessed. Fu nodded.

"Bingo. And with a little improvisation with a dash of ectoplasm, you could get them as ghosts." he confirmed. Jake grinned.

"Then we've got to find that Danny Phantom guy and the current Ninja!"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Lao Shi said. "Danny Phantom is recent to public eyes, and the Dragon Council has wanted to speak with him as soon as he became public. He's ignorant of the magical world's existence, flighty, and hard to catch. We don't know enough about him to trust him."

"I don't think any of us have a choice." Fu Dog refuted, "Not to mention, if we get his help and we can trust him, I bet he'll be willing to speak with the council. We need all the help we can get."

"Well, until he comes here first, I say no. We also need to get this book to the council straight away." Lao Shi said. Spud pulled over his laptop.

"Yeah, sure, just let me copy some of the stuff on here for our reference."

"No! If this information falls into the wrong hands, easily obtained from your computer, this could just get worse." Lao Shiprotested. Jake groaned and crossed his arms.

"But G, what if we need to see it and the council has it? What if we need to get to it?"

"No."

"Aww, man!"

Lao Shi took the book and placed it on a table top. He heard the door front open and he hopped off his stool and went out front to meet the customer. As soon as he couldn't see what was going on, Fu Dog lifted a paw up to his lips to tell the teenagers to be quiet. Quickly he pulled a potion off one of the shelves and a piece of paper, dabbed the potion onto it, and placed it onto the book. He set it for a minute and then pulled it off. The book was fine and an exact replica came onto the page. Fu Dog handed it to Jake, who stuffed it into a pocket.

"Don't you kids go telling Gramps I did that. And he's right, be careful with it. Dangerous information."

"Gotcha. Thanks, Fu."

"Don't mention-"

"Jake!" Lao Shi's voice came. Jake was off on his feet and with his friends dashed into the front of the shop and all stopped short, smacking into each other. They stared at an embarrassed-looking Danny Phantom, who awkwardly waved.

"Uh, hi?" he asked more than said weakly.