The trio paused awkwardly, then the ninja called "That's bruce guys but you know what's the cheese at Norrisville? SMOKEBOMB!" and disappeared leaving the ghost and the dragon alone in surprisingly smelly red smoke.
"You do look familiar," Danny held air quotes, "'American Dragon'."
The dragon looked Danny over, "Yeah, you look like someone I just meet, similar name even. You know someone named Danny Fenton?"
Danny gasped and held his breath, then let out a small, "Do you know Jake Long? He has the same... style as you."
They then looked in each other's eyes again, and the dragon said, "Yeah, I knew we were gonna be best friends."
Danny let out his breath, "At least my I know my secret will be safe with you." Danny motioned to the edge, "We should probably go back to that boring assembly before we're missed."
Jake pointed at Danny casually, "That might be a good idea. My grandpa'll be furious when he finds out you know my human self by the way."
"Wait until you meet Sam." Danny sighed.
Suddenly a mix of red lightning and fire holographically appeared around Jake blended with The Ninja's smoke remains, and when it cleared, he was a teen in a black and red jacket again. Danny picked Jake up and phased through the wall into the hallway, setting Jake down before turning human himself.
"You know, this is the first time I've meet a ghost like you." Jake commented when the blue rings disappeared.
"Yeah, I've meet a ghost girl that turns into a rampaging dragon with anger issues... So, you're the second for me" Danny landed and headed to the theater, "Speaking of identities, who do you think the ninja is? If we can get him on board, we can be..." Danny paused as he thought of a name, "The Secret Trio! Or something."
"Secret Trio?" Jake asked, "Sounds like a chick flick if you ask me." He gestured to the seats and they squished through the many teens to their chairs.
Danny and Jake waited for the assembly to be over, at least another hour of droning and apologies, along with the judges from the talent show being up on stage bowing like idiots. Their names were Randy and Howard, or maybe Sandy and coward, or something of that sort. Danny couldn't tell from his seat if they were guys or girls.
Soon enough, the assembly was over and a crackling voice came through the almost forgotten Fenton phones, "Get your butt over here and EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" Jazz made Danny literally jump above the heads of the crowd, and he recovered, earning an odd look from Jake too.
"Jazz wait until dinner, I can explain then." Danny replied, annoyed.
"Whose that? Your sister? Sounded like it." Jake said and shrugged.
"Ho- right. Mythical dragon hearing must be better than human hearing." Danny face palmed, then thought. Dragon. Of course! He turned to face Jake, startling him in the process, "Hey. Jake."
"Yeah...?" Jake replied hesitantly.
"This is totally random, but we should team up."
"Isn't that a given?"
"I mean, actual partnership, I show you my cool gadgets and you show me yours. Like our tricks and stuff." Danny held out a hand with a mischievous smile, "who're my bros yo?"
Jake looked like he was liking the idea of having an invisible, intangible buddy being able to raid the lunchroom for free everyday, then said, "first of all, I've heard enough of that song for a lifetime," he held out a hand and mirrored Danny's facial expression, "however, we're bros yo."
"Okay, so first and only real rule in the family." Jake started and Danny spotted Jazz giving him a good stare from the side, like a beam of pure curiosity and rage mixed together. "Dad's the only one that doesn't know that I'm a dragon, and that has to stay that way. Oh, not to alarm you, but Foo Dog..."
Danny had stopped paying attention to Jake and had a silent conversation with Jazz, Sam, and Tuck. ...But he is a dragon! Danny was saying
This scrawny kid? Sorry Danny, but he doesn't look like a dragon. Sam pulled a book from her favorite book store the Skulk and Lurk that read DRAGONS in neat font on its cover.
Do I look like a ghost? Danny retorted.
Anyways Danny, why are we following this guy again? Tucker gestured to Jake's back (who was now talking about her sister having no control of her dragon side or something).
Danny shrugged, we decided that we'd share our houses and friends and such.
Great. Next we'll have a rhyming contest with the Ghost Writer! Sam sighed like she just ran a marathon, her sarcasm evident even if they weren't actually talking.
"Hey guys, sorry for the bubble burst, but we're here" Jake stopped in front of an old VCR repair shop. It was obviously old and not visited often. Tuck coughed awkwardly, and two teens walked into the store after the girl glanced at Jake and giving him a good, angry stare. Jake shrugged and opened the door for Danny and 'the crew'.
Well, Danny didn't think about his family being dragons, but it seemed pretty clear now that he knew. Sure sure, Jake said that his family was all dragons, but Danny had to see for himself to believe it. Oh boy did he see it. You betcha he believed it now.
