"Let this meeting come to order."
Everyone found a place to sit, on the bed or on bean bag chairs Danny had laying around the room. Eyes turned to Danny, and he cleared his throat. "Welcome to the first meeting of...whatever this is. We know we're being attacked by monsters, and New York is next. But most of you are unaware of who's behind it."
"Actually, we know." Randy said, waving a hand. Howard nodded.
"Yeah, his Nomicon already told us about this dude who got killed being the Ninja and went crazy." he said calmly. Danny blinked.
"Well, um..."
"We don't know." Jake said, "But it sounds like a ghost went crazy because of what they," He pointed to Randy and Howard, "said. And we need to stop him. What's this dude's name?"
"William the Forgotten. Clockwork told me."
"Who's Clockwork?" Randy asked. Danny frowned.
"The Ghost Master of Time. You'll probably meet him when he finally tells me where exactly this guy is."
"Hold up, you don't even know where he is?" Trixie blurted. Danny glared at her.
"Clockwork said that we had to learn to work together before he would tell us or something or other. I wanted to go after him too but he said no. So, no. The best we can do is just do our best."
Spud shrugged calmly. "Alright."
"No, it's not alright!" Trixie refuted, "How do we know this weird, mysterious ghost guy is actually gonna help us?" she questioned. Sam looked toward her.
"Clockwork has helped us before. We trust him. He knows what he's doing. How else would we have gotten to either of you groups of people?"
Everyone grumbled but didn't bother to protest further. Danny nervously clapped his hands together. "So I think we should meet and practice once a day. Maybe even get each other during the day if we get attacked to help each other. Those badges can help."
"We don't need to be practicing, we need to be fighting, and-" Randy's Nomicon glowed. He flipped it open and his face went blank and his head dropped into it. Everyone else just gawked at the scene.
"Is he-" Tucker was cut off by Howard.
"Just give him a few minutes, he'll snap out of it."
Randy fell through the Nomicon, yelling in surprise. Pictures and words flew past him as he crashed and groaned. He stood up, eyes narrowed. "Nomicon, what the juice? We can't waste our time, we have to go fight this guy right now! We don't have time to practice!"
Immediately words formed before him, glowing and beautiful. He read aloud. "Fighting without preparing results in inevitable defeat." The freshman scoffed. "Nomicon, come on, it can't be that hard to go in, fight, and win. We're wasting time."
The words faded and Randy was sucked back out the way he came, yelling all the while. He came back to the real world. As soon as he lifted his head off the book, it snapped shut and its glow faded. Everyone else just looked at him and Randy, embarrassed, shoved the Nomicon to his side. Tucker finally whistled.
"Wow, that book has an attitude, doesn't it?" he pointed out.
"It does not!" Randy was blushing. Howard snickered.
"It totally does. What did you do to make it mad?"
"Nothing! I just, um, said that preparation was a waste of time."
"Did it tell you otherwise?" Sam asked crossly. Randy frowned.
"Um..."
"Hah! It did, didn't it?" Jake said with a laugh. "I guess that's proof enough. The Master of Time and an angry book."
"And this is why technology is the best. A computer won't shut you out of something just because you disagree with it." Tucker stated proudly, playing a game of Solitaire on the laptop.
"Technology is good, but magic has its good points too. A mix of the two is the best." Spud said. Tucker glanced at him.
"No offence, but what do you know about technology?"
Spud shrugged. "Some stuff, I guess." Tucker rolled his eyes and went back to typing. Spud shared a knowing glance with Jake and Trixie, and they simply smiled. Danny looked at a clock hanging in the room.
"Alright, I think we have a little time to practice, so-"
"Danny! Who's up there with you?" Maddie's voice rang. Danny jumped and grimaced.
"Um, Sam and Tuck!"
"Who else? I hear other people up there." She insisted. Danny groaned. Randy and Howard snickered a little, and Jake, Trixie, and Spud weren't quite sure how to react. Danny raised his voice.
"Just some friends from school! We're working on a school project!" He claimed. He heard his mother coming up the stairs, and he quickly turned to everyone. "Act natural!" Danny put on an exaggerated smile as his mom knocked.
"Can I come in?"
"Um, sure!" Danny opened the door, revealing his mother. Anyone in the room not used to her was immediately surprised. She was dressed in a blue hazmat suit like it was everyday clothes, and for her, it was. The mother looked around at the other teenagers. with a kind and inviting smile. She leaned down to Danny and whispered.
"Next time tell me before you have friends over, okay?"
"Okay."
She stood up straight. "Hi there, kids, it's nice to meet you! I'm Mrs. Fenton, Danny's mom. Danny, why don't you introduce me to them?"
Danny blushed. "Um, sure. That's Randy, Howard, Jake, Trixie, and Spud. They're coming over for a few days to work with us on a school project."
"Nice to meet you kids," Maddie said cordially, "I've got some cookies in the oven. Anyone want some?"
"N-no, I'm okay and we're gonna be going in, like..." Jake looked up at the clock. Ten minutes to six. "...ten minutes, Mrs. Fenton."
"We're good too." Trixie said hastily. Spud frowned.
"What if I want one?"
"Oh, us too!" Howard and Randy waved excitedly. Howard talked for the two of them. "Can we have one to go for each of us? Please?" he begged.
"You betcha!" Maddie walked out the door. Danny exhaled.
"That was close."
"Danny?" Randy asked. Danny looked at him. "Does she, um, know about..." He gestured to Danny, unsure of what exactly to say. "...ghost powers?"
The half ghost sighed, sounding a little gloomy. "No. Neither of my parents know. My older sister Jazz knows, though. I think one day they'll find out, just...not today. Or any day soon." the boy explained. Randy and Howard shrugged, and Jake simply nodded. Trixie and Spud said nothing.
Everyone chatted a little longer about their plans for the next day's meeting, silencing only when Maddie came in and gave Spud, Randy, and Howard three cookies each. She left and they kept talking. Randy bit into his first cookie and grinned in ecstasy, eyelids drooping. "Oh, man," he uttered blissfully, "your mom is great at baking."
"I agree." Howard said, making a face exactly like that of Randy's as he licked off his fingers, removing any melted chocolate.
"I'm saving mine for later." Spud said, eyeing the bag of cookies in his hands. Trixie clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.
"Hey, we got about two minutes left. We oughta have a name for this group." she pointed out. Jake raised his hand.
"I already got one. The Am-Drags."
"Bo-ring," Randy refuted, "we ought to be the Ninja Squad."
"Both of you are wrong." Danny snapped with an eye roll. "We're Team Phantom. We've been Team Phantom for awhile."
Howard frowned. "Who died and put you in charge, Fenton?"
"Hah! I see what you did there." Randy snorted, immaturely snickering.
"I know. Geddit? Who died and put you in charge?" Howard added, laughing alongside his best friend. Danny stared at him, eyes narrowed.
"For one thing, I'm not dead. Secondly, I-"
"Boys, boys, calm down," Sam stated firmly, "you're all wrong, all of you. No; you're the Secret Trio."
"Secret Trio?" All three heroes asked in unison. Trixie grinned.
"Oh, I like that!"
"Yeah, me too!" Spud said.
"Because all of you have secrets to keep. Clever. I like it too." Tucker typed it up, already expecting it as the team name. Randy gave in first and smiled, arms crossed. His eyes half-lidded and his smile turned into a smirk.
"Danny's girlfriend is right. The Secret Trio's cool." Of course, everyone knew what the reaction from Danny and Sam would be from that statement.
"I'm not his girlfriend!"
"She's not my girlfriend!"
With a final laugh, Randy and Howard used the badge and disappeared. Jake and his friends waved and disappeared, officially ending the first meeting of the Secret Trio.