The Secret Trio

Chapter 14

"Sounds good. Good job." Spud complimented.

"Impressive," Lao Shi added, "for a youth. At least Daniel Fenton's allies are clever."

"Just one problem," Sam called from the driver's seat, "how are we going to get near the place without being seen?"

"We got that, girl." Trixie replied. "We've got just enough invisibility potions for all of us, but they don't last long. Should only last as long as it takes to get to the boys."

"We'll work fast, then. One other problem," Howard interjected, "I have no combat skills. What am I going to do?" He blushed a little upon asking, feeling a bit out of place. Spud held up a red vial that glistened in the light.

"See, since you're not good yet at using magic stuff or those wrist rays, we're going to give you a special potion." he explained.

"Special how?" Howard asked as Spud handed it to him. He held it carefully, one palm supporting the bottom of it, the other grasping the vial. The teenager cocked his head to the side, observing it.

"It's a strength and endurance potion. It'll give you a temporary boost to make your skin rock-hard to attacks and give you super strength, but it only lasts a few hours." Trixie explained. Howard's eyes went wide with awe, blinking at the potion and swishing it back and forth a little.

"Wow." he stated, unsure of what to really say. Lao Shi walked up and popped the cork off of it. It bubbled slightly and smelled foul, like gym socks. Howard coughed and covered his nose, grimacing at the foul stench.

"Take it now," the dragon master ordered, "we should be there soon."

Howard slowly nodded. He looked at the concoction and wrinkled his nose. "The things I do for my best friend..." he thought to himself warily as he pinched his nostrils, closed his eyes, and gulped down the mixture. Even with nostrils closed, the taste was awful. It was like a mix of bad milk, hot sauce, and some other tangy, foul taste he couldn't place. He coughed and gagged, sticking his tongue out. "Holy cheese, it's bad! What the juice?! Ugh!" he complained as he rubbed his tongue, trying to somehow remove the bad taste.

"What did you think it was gonna taste like, chocolate?" Trixie said, rolling her eyes. Howard finally gave up his futile attempts to rub the taste off his tongue and paused, as if waiting for something.

"I don't feel any different." he said after a moment. Lao Shi pointed Howard's arm.

"Hold your arm out for a moment and hold still."

"Okay...why-" Howard stopped short as the short, elderly man quickly transformed himself with blue smoke into a wingless dark blue dragon. Howard's jaw dropped, and Lao Shi pulled back his head and unleashed a plume of fire on Howard's arm. He yelled and the dragon master stopped. It was then Howard realized his arm had not taken a single burn (aside from slightly singing the shoulder of his shirt.) The fire quickly faded, and not a lick of pain had come from it or mutilated his skin. His eyes seemed to have a gleeful glint to them, and he finally smiled.

"Oh, that is so totally bruce!"

"Hmph." Lao Shi was about to change back into his human form when Sam whistled.

"Stay like that. We're a little ways away, and I want to park far enough from the place so we're not seen. I see a few ugly guards hanging out around there. We're moving soon." Sam carefully parked the speeder behind a large, empty, floating rock island, hiding it from view. The citadel could be seen around the edge of it. She stood up from her seat and walked towards the group. Sam was playing with some of her hair, her other arm hugging her torso. "In the Ghost Zone, we're the ghosts. We're capable as humans, or dragons, or just generally not ghosts, to float, fly, and pass through objects here. Still, this place is dangerous, so we have to stick together. We have our ghost weapons and thermoses; have you all got what you need?"

"Potions and some of Fu Dog's magic stuff. We're good." Spud said, holding up the bag and then slinging it over his shoulder.

"Alright. Howard, for whatever reason you need it, I'm assigning you a wrist ray, even with your temporary strength." Sam grabbed a wrist ray from the front of the Speeder and strapped it around Howard's wrist while explaining how to use it. "That button on top there? That fires shots. Don't shoot more than three per ten seconds, because you'll overheat it. Understand?"

"Uh-huh."

"Right, then. Let's take those invisibility potions and get going."

The potions were passed around and ingested. Within seconds their bodies were completely invisible, save for the bag of magic. Everyone but Howard was fairly unfazed by it. Howard was poking at skin which he could not see in utter amazement. He had little time to revel in his new invisible state when Tucker thrust open the doors and everyone piled out, himself included. Moments later they were flying past a castle; the imps guarding the outside of it did not see them or hear them or even smell them. Thankfully, they didn't notice the seemingly floating bag, either.

They found the grate Tucker had talked about earlier. Howard, not feeling comfortable with the idea of passing through solid objects, pulled off the bars of it using his temporary strength. Everyone flew in and he went in last, squeezing in tightly due to his thick frame. The frame was pulled back on from the inside, and with one last look behind, they began their trek through the castle.