~Another time skip woo! :D Now we're back at Fentonworks, they just got through the portal!~

The group of six stood around the fenton lab, silently staring at the ninja.

"So can you explain why you were in the ghost zone again?" Danny asked again, still in his ghost form.

"Dude, I've explained it at least... a bajillion times!" The ninja complained in response.

"Technically, three times, it's just kind of hard to believe... You just... showed up correct?" Jake took a second from his pacing to ask the question, then went back to his action.

"Yeah, pretty much." The ninja replied. "Actually, now that I think about it, what was that place?"

"Hmm?" Danny perked up and gestured to the portal, "That's the ghost zone. It's where ghosts live."

"Uh-huh, I see..." The ninja replied with a large breath after his phrase. "Where ghosts live huh?"

Danny sighed as he realized the ninja's tone of voice. "It's all going over your head, I know it."

"Ah... I see... All going over my head huh?"

Jake facepalmed, expressing both Danny's and the group of friends' exasperation in a physical gesture.

"Well, where do you live?" Danny asked after the dragon boy went back to his pacing. "I'll just fly you back"

"Nah I'm good thanks though." The ninja quickly replied and shot out of his seat. "Thanks for the info but I think I'll have to leave in order to... think about it." The teen threw out two hand-pistols as he said the last part, "see ya later. SMOKEBOMB!" *poof*

"You know... we've seen this guy so often, maybe we should actually try to recruit him." Danny commented as the smoke cleared.

"The Secret Trio?" Jake asked with sarcasm.

"Well, yeah."

"Don't you know that, like, all heroes travel in groups of three? Danny, me, and Sam. You, Trixie, and Spud. -" Tuck rattled off a bunch of other hero groups, both fiction and nonfiction. "Pairs just aren't... modern anymore."

"But what about Batman and Robin?" Jake shot back.

"I said modern." Tuck replied, "They aren't anything new."

"Fair enough." Jake backed off from the argument.

"Well, I think that's a good enough day for me." Danny clapped his hands together, then changed human. "I mean, I thought I was done after the test."

"Oh right, I forgot that we took that" Jake commented.

A pause left the room in silence.

"Jake."

"Oh right, sorry. Leaving."

Jake and his buddies trotted up the stairs, Danny and his friends close behind.

"Come again kiddos!" Maddie called from the kitchen as Jake opened the door.

"We will!" Jake replied.

"Cya later Mrs. Fenton!" Sam called as she and Tucker also filed out of the house.

"Danny! Commere for a sec. I have something I want to ask you!" Danny waved goodbye to his friends before answering the summons of his parents to the dinner table.

~ . . POV change! . . ~

"What the cheese is up with those dudes?" Randy 'The Ninja' Cunningham complained as he took off the mask, the orange puff of smoke dissipating outside as he spoke.

"What's up with what dudes?" Randy's loyal companion, Howard, asked as he bit into a McFist sandwich.

The two were having late-night snacks and playing Grave Puncher 4! Now with more highly-demanded graves!

"Well, I keep running into this ghost kid" Randy had just returned home via the window (his parents thought he was in the room with Howard all afternoon; which wouldn't be all that surprising).

"I still think it's awesome that you know a dragon and a ghost." Howard chuckled his words and set the sandwich down.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool isn't it?" Randy held his hand up for a high-five.

Howard took the gesture, the clap loud and proud. "I still can't believe that there are, like, no monsters lately."

"I know right? Something's wrong. The past month or so only had... what?" He took a second to count, "maybe three instances where I had to go ninja."

"Yeah." Howard took another bit of the sandwich as soon as he picked it back up.

"But you know, it's really bugging me." Randy rubbed his hand on his chin as he spoke, taking a deep breath, "I've never seen this ghost/dragon combo up until now."

"Well, they did say that they were protectors of those other two schools right?" Howard recalled the first night Randy met them.

"Yeah, but how can I trust what that ghost said? I mean, he called that limbo-like place I was in 'the ghost zone'." Randy mimicked the ghost teen's voice and held up air-quotations as he said the name.

"But what if it is?"

Randy gave Howard a good, long stare.

"What? The sorcerer lives underneath our school chained to a rock. A mask gives you a suit that makes you a ninja. Dragons exist. Ghosts exist. Heck, we have monkey robots and a dude with a brain in his arm." Howard lifted an eyebrow, a silent challenge to Randy to disprove him. "Why would a 'ghost zone' be any less real?"

"You know Howard..."

"What?"

"...You surprise me sometimes. You know that?" Randy's eyes narrowed as he once more stroked his chin, continuing before Howard could interrupt. 'You know, maybe I should try to actually talk to them."

"And do what? Team up with them?"

"How about this, we call ourselves:" Randy paused for dramatic effect and to spread his arms out in front of him, "The Secret Trio!"

"You know what Cunningham? I like it." Howard also paused, performing the same action Randy had. "Yes... The Secret Trio and the trusty sidekick extraordinaire, Howard!"

"I have no Idea what extraordinaire means-"

"Neither do I!"

"-But it sounds bruce!"

"So bruce!"

~ . . POV change! And skip through night! . . ~

Daniel Fenton groaned as the alarm blared through its speaker. Danny went to hit the mechanism, but accidently phased through the side table, resulting in a roll off the bed. Danny rubbed his head and made his way to a standing position. Just a typical morning for the local teenage ghost. He changed into one of his many similar-looking outfits and trudged out of his room. Jazz was in the kitchen, talking to their mom and dad excitedly about something that sounded really complicated and tiresome.

Maddie Fenton glanced over and spotted Danny, calling him over. "Hey, come listen to this new patient of Jazz's!"

"Sorry mom, gonna be late to school!" Danny chose that moment to wake up, grabbing what he assumed was breakfast, and hopped outside the door. Soon enough he was joined by Sam and Tuck, who instantly started chatting up a storm. Danny participated in the conversation, but had to stop halfway through one of his thoughts as they neared the school.

"Alright, seeya later Danny!" Sam waved as she turned to the left, Tuck close behind.

"Good luck in whatever you have to do today." Tucker added on before turning back to Sam to start another conversation.

It kind of sucked that Danny couldn't see his two best friends during class, but lunch time kind of makes the whole thing okay again. He started to the large double-doors but was interrupted before he got there.

"Dude, no. Grave Puncher 5 has got to be coming out soon!" For a minute Danny imagined the ninja kid, but he turned and found the purple-haired judge instead.

"Not for another couple of months though, look at the timeline!" The shorter kid pulled out a long scroll-like paper of 8.5/11 paper stapled together. "See here?" He pointed to a scribble on the paper.

"This is getting us nowhere. Let's just go to class." The purple-haired boy walked forward without looking and bumped into Danny.

"Pardon you." Danny mumbled.

"Oh so sorry man, didn't see you there." The teen paused as he studied Danny's face. "You..."

"Cunningham, we're going to be late!" The friend called, already at the door.

Cunningham gave one last look before scampering into the doors.