As soon as Jake, Trixie, and Spud appeared back in Lao Shi's shop in New York City, they were set upon by Jake's grandfather. The elderly man had been waiting for them, staring intensely on the spot he knew they would appear. Immediately he walked over and stared up at them. "Trixie, Spud, you go home. Jake, you come with me. I need to speak with you."
"But they-" Jake was cut off.
"No buts. What I'm about to tell you is not confidential, but I'd rather speak to you in private before you relay any information. You can tell your friends all about it later as you see fit." he said firmly, giving a just as hard stare at Trixie and Spud. Although both of them looked a little insulted, they and Jake knew there would be no way to persuade Lao Shi otherwise. They bid the dragon master and student goodbye for the day and went promptly home.
Lao Shi turned the sign at the door from open to closed and began hastily walking to the backroom. "Come, come." he ushered. Jake followed obediently, and Fu Dog was already waiting inside the back, fiddling with a potion of some sort. He smiled.
"Hey, Jake, how are ya?" he asked kindly.
"I'm good, Fu. How about you?" Jake replied. Fu snorted and shrugged.
"Kind of had a run in with this three-headed dog in the market. I...may have flirted with her and she didn't like it. Bopped me on the nose good." He rubbed said part of his body. "A little sore, but I'm good."
"Hah! Sorry to hear that." Jake said and laughed. Lao Shi took a seat and frowned.
"Jake, pay attention and listen to me. Take a seat." Jake obeyed and quietly sat on the third stool in the room. Lao Shi crossed his arms. "I have some news. The Dragon Council was not at all happy to hear about this business with the Ninja and the ghost child."
"I'm not in trouble, am I?" Jake inquired, looking immediately worried. His grandfather shook his head.
"No, no, let me finish. It's not because of you, it's because the Ninja wasn't supposed to find out about our world so early, and the fact he has a friend who's also in the know. Both of them are going to talk to the Council separately from Daniel Fenton and his allies." His frown deepened. "They're going to get a firm talking-to about keeping this all a secret. There have been Ninjas in the past, specifically one in 1985, who abused their power and responsibility." The elder grimaced at the memory. "This is why they wait until their period as the Ninja is up to decide whether or not they are ready to be introduced to our community. The last time a ninja was introduced to our world was several hundred years ago. Randy Cunningham is going to have a close eye kept on him. Never before has a ninja so prematurely found out about us."
Jake smiled. "It's okay, Grandpa. The guy's actually okay. He's new, but he's a good guy and he's loyal. I like him."
"That is all good and well, but the Council won't be assured of that until they see his actions."
"Why not just erase his memory?" Fu Dog asked calmly, stirring his potion. Lao Shi sighed.
"That's out of the question. The council believes that the Ninja, Danny Phantom, and you, Jake, may have to team up again in the future. Removing the Ninja's memory would cause problems."
"Oh." Fu and Jake said simply, not quite sure how to respond. Fortunately, Lao Shi began to spoke about someone else. That someone else was Danny Fenton. What he had to say was good news, but he still looked displeased.
"However, good news for Daniel Fenton. He was previously suspected of crimes, like assault and theft." He shook his head. "With a little investigation, the Council has determined that for one of the crimes he was under the influence of a magical staff, since destroyed," The grandfather looked a little relieved at the word destroyed, "and was framed the other time. That was discovered easily; there are multiple signs pointing to possession of townspeople, namely the mayor. His further actions leave the impression he's maturing slowly but surely and apt to do the good thing." Jake grinned as his grandfather talked. "The friends who help him are from what can be observed just as loyal and good. With a little training the Council feels he could be a worthy and useful ally to keep the peace alongside us."
"I knew he was a good guy." Jake commented. "He's kinda awkward, but cool."
Lao Shi frowned. "I'm not sure if I trust him myself, but the fact he is in frequent contact with the elusive Master of Time himself is undeniable." A sigh. "That and the fact this powerful being who manages the very fabric of time trusts him, guides him, and gives him information. Information that could be extremely dangerous if it fell in the wrong hands. He must be very special if that sort of interest is taken in him. That's why the Council is so eager to speak with him." He nodded again. "He and his friends will have a meeting with the Dragon Council when you three complete your task. As for now, before you go home, speak with Fu Dog. He has something for you." The old man laughed a bit. The dragon master arose from his seat. "As for me, I have other business to attend to this evening. Make sure the shop door is locked when you leave."
He left, and Jake spun in his seat to Fu Dog, who was bottling the potion he was working on. He chuckled. "Everything went better than expected. Anyways, I know you probably wanna scurry on home, so here's what I got." Fu Dog pulled a scrap of paper from the nearby shelf full of alchemical ingredients and placed it before Jake. "This, Jake, could be the key to stopping the enemy."
Jake picked it up, skimming it. On the top of the page there was a drawing of a dragon's breath, a Ninja Rage fireblast, and a ghost's ectoblasts meeting. The end result was a huge explosion of energy, uncolored puffs of smoke surrounding it. Just as Jake looked to Fu for explanation, Fu was shoving potions into a bag. The magical dog explained without looking up. "When you and the Ninja and Danny Phantom combine your powers, you're capable of creating a huge reaction of energy. If done at the right time, this could take out William the Forgotten. Permanently."
"Wow."
"Wow is right. But you'll need practice to get it right," Fu said. He grunted as he forced a cork on another vial. "otherwise it won't work right. The blasts have to meet at the exact moment and exact point, or else nothing happens from what I've researched. Take it along tomorrow and practice. And these are for you all," He handed the bag of potions to Jake. "this is everything you might need for your adventure, cleared by your grandfather for me to give to you. Invisibility potions, healing potions, sunlight potions, you name it, it's in there and I labeled all of them. Use them wisely." Fu winked at the teenager. "And I spent all day making them, so you're welcome."
"Thanks, Fu! Where would I be without you?"
"Probably dead, Jake." Fu Dog let out a bark of laughter. Jake's frown made him stop. "Ah, I'm just messing with you, kid. That's all. You can go home." He clapped his paws together. "Oh, and that reminds me. Your mother called earlier and asked me to remind you to clean up your room. Better get on that."
Just as Fu Dog walked away from relaying the message, Jake let out a whine. "Aww, man!"
"This is absolutely nuts," Howard said, pacing back and forth through Randy's room, "I mean, I still can't get over it. Dragons, ghosts, and a Ninja."
Randy nodded understandingly. "I get you, Howard. It's a lot to take in. Even for me."
"A lot to take in?" Howard snapped, turning to his best friend. "This is the ultimate, craziest, brucest thing ever to take in! It's so hard to take in it's like I haven't even taken it in at all! What the juice?!" Howard plopped down on a rolling chair and sighed. "And somehow I feel like this is just the tip of the iceberg. What more can there be? What more, Cunningham?"
The Ninja shrugged. "I dunno. I don't know what more there can be, not any more than you." He pulled the Nomicon out of his backpack, which was still silent. "There's probably more than we understand that we're going to see or maybe not see at all." He glared at the Nomicon. Howard crossed his arms.
"Is it still not talking to you?"
"No, it's not!" Randy yelled, exasperated. "I've tried apologizing to it and the Nomicon's not said a thing." He looked at it forlornly. "Oh, Nomicon, I'm really sorry I refuted what you said. I'm just stressed from all of...this. I don't like seeing people get hurt or my friends get hurt, like I saw Danny today." He frowned deeply. "And I want to know, is there anything else you can tell me that might help?"
The Nomicon was silent again for a second before it came to life. It flashed red brightly and flipped open of its own accord, allowing Randy's eyes to go crossed and his body to relax completely, dropping him off of his bed, head landing on the Nomicon. Howard smiled slightly and turned on Randy's gaming console. A few rounds of Grave Puncher while Randy was in the Nomicon couldn't hurt.
Randy was overjoyed as he saw himself falling through the Nomicon's words, pages, and letters. As he landed gently, he beamed and stood up. "Thank you so much, Nomicon! I promise not to ever make you mad again. Please, can you help me?"
Images flashed and came. A vast green plane surrounded Randy, and he suddenly began to float, not feeling any ground below him any longer. He squealed in surprise at the sudden floating sensation and quickly calmed himself. Three images appeared. A Ninja, a red dragon, and a white ghost. The Ninja went into Ninja Rage mode, the dragon pulled his head back to release a blast of fire, and the ghost's hands glowed green with energy. All released their attacks and at the same time they collided, causing a green orb of fire to form. The three pulled back as it burst in a glorious blaze of green and red tinged with orange and yellow. It faded, and the three heroes came back.
Randy's eyes were as wide as the moon itself, and he squeaked slightly in awe. "Oh, that's so bruce! Can I- we- do that? That'd stop anything in its tracks!"
The image of the Ninja faded and Randy was suddenly dressed in his Ninja outfit, feeling straps of fabric fly towards him and coat him in black and red. The ghost and dragon turned their eyes to him, waiting for him to move. He laughed. "Ah, target practice! On it, Nomicon! I got this! Ninja Rage!"
His suit reversed in colors and fire tickled his gloves. He shot it and the other two fired their powers as well. That is, only to have Randy's shot of fire miss theirs completely. Randy gawped for a second and then exhaled deeply. This was going to be much harder than it looked.
Danny, Sam, and Tucker lounged in Fentonworks, in Danny's room. They were chattering softly as the sun began to set outside. It was an hour after dinner or so; Danny had claimed to his parents he managed to cut his arm by accident when he tripped and scraped his arm across a particularly sharp table corner. They bought the excuse and invited Danny's friends to eat with them. Dinner was over eventually and the three of them retreated upstairs.
Sam took to investigating Danny's wound, cradling his arm to examine it. "How's it? Any pain?"
"It's fine; no pain right now. In fact, let's see how much it healed. I bet I can take off the wrapping now." Danny phased off the bandage, hoping not to cause bleeding again, and revealed his wound. It was already scabbed over, and taking the bandage off had luckily not pulled off the scab. Triumphantly, he grinned and tossed the soiled wraps into the trash. "See?"
"Lucky." Tucker whined as he looked up from his PDA. Sam blushed a little and sat back down in a blue bean bag chair.
"So what are we doing tomorrow? More practice?" she asked.
"I dunno," Danny replied, "I feel like we're not getting very far with the whole practicing thing. Maybe we should start looking around the Ghost Zone for help, and-" He silenced and Sam and Tucker too as they froze in time. Clockwork appeared with a blue swirl and hour hand, materializing with three medallions in hand. He placed them around all three teenagers, and Danny continued his speech. "-talk to Clock..." He stared at the ghost smirking at him no more than a few feet away. "...oh, hi, Clockwork."
"The pleasure is mine, Daniel. Anyways, I've come here because it's time I dispense more information to you." He waved his staff and little figures appeared in mid-air, Jake, Danny, and Randy all in their respective other forms. Each of them released a blast of energy and it collided, causing the same scene of a green orb of fire exploding. All three teenagers looked at the scene in fascination. Clockwork waved his staff again and it faded. "It's time that you all learn to combined your power," he explained, "because if you three do, it will be enough to stop William the Forgotten if done at the right time."
"Woah." Tucker murmured. He looked up at the Master of Time. "But why show us this now? Not earlier?"
"Because, Tucker," Clockwork said, "all of you had to get used to working together enough to be able to start working on this. You had to learn each others' strengths and weaknesses, as we all have. Randy and Jake have had this information released to them this evening as well through their own sources. I came to tell you this myself."
"Well, great." Sam exclaimed excitedly, "We can get to work on it immediately."
"That's what I want to hear. But keep in mind, it's harder than it looks, and it's destructive, so if you do it at the wrong place and the wrong time...you could hurt more than save more people." A nod. "Patience is the key."
"Is that it?" Danny asked. Clockwork grinned.
"It is. Now, time in!" He pressed the staff, and the outside world began moving normally. The ghost plucked the medallions off the teenagers and exited with the same blue swirl he used earlier. The three all looked rather pleased, until Danny's ghost sense went off. The sounds of numerous car alarms screamed in his ears and shrieks and a cry of pain came from below in the streets.
Danny scowled. "Well, peace didn't last long. Goin' ghost," he transformed, "excuse me, I have some more imps to fight."