Danny yawned for the tenth time that morning. He had been almost unable to sleep last night due to worry. He was sure Vlad would come at some point, but all he could do was prepare the dragon, for he didn't know if he'd be here to help once the older halfa came. He had decided last night to train Jake's clique in ghost fighting as well. Get them wristrays, fenton lipsticks and probably a thermos. He'd contacted Sam and Tuck for that exact reason last night and they had agreed that the american dragon was in danger, which didn't calm Danny in the least. He stood up when the subway reached the last station, except Jake grabbed his wrist.

-Yo, where ya goin? I told ya to follow me.
-But…
-No buts. I ain't getting off, so ya ain't either.
-Look, I know you said this was a surprise, but I also know a terminal when I see one.

However, as soon as those words left the ghost's mouth, the subway train dislodged from the tracks and raised from the ground. The dragon smirked at his surprised expression.

-Yeah, well, ya might wanna get your sight checked, Phantom.

The dragon walked out of the wagon, with a stream of … peculiar people, Danny now realized. He followed his guide out and took in the scenery. He felt like he had just walked into Diagon Alley or something, except creatures roamed the streets instead of witches and wizards. Well, those too. Jake welcomed him to Magus Bazaar, the magical hotspot in New York, where no one needed to hide, where the humans didn't walk unless they were invited. Danny saw fairies, trolls, even a woman with spider legs, who was later introduced to him as Veronica and further beings he couldn't even name. Danny felt like a kid who went to the fair for the first time. Everything caught his attention, only to lose it when he saw the next thing. Potion supplies in shops, talismans, charms, magic books, he thought he'd lost his mind! He did steer away from a shop that was a little too… negative, regarding energy. He almost stepped on a very little man, a brownie according to Jake, and only after apologizing like a thousand times did the small man finally let him go from extreme leg hair pulling. He definitely understood now why Sam didn't wax.
It became noon sooner than they realized, the only indicator having been the rumbling in their bellies, and our heroes sat down at a place called 'The Scoop'. They ordered a meal and relaxed in the sun.

-So, what do we do next, Jake?
-My plan's to show ya round. Lotsa things to see, lotsa people to meet.
-Like who?
-Well, for starters, I wanna introduce ya to miss Derceto. She used to be the principal in my school, but her mission finished and she went back to the bottom of the Hudson.-Danny spit his drink.
-Bottom of the …
-She's a mermaid. And a detective.
-How did a mermaid pose as a principal?
-You'll see soon enough.

The teenagers finished their lunch, paid and left for their next destination. They approached a bridge, next to which sat a middle aged woman in a wheelchair. In the water swam a girl with brown hair and a pink shirt, who waved at Jake happily. Danny frowned. Wasn't this chick too young to pretend to be a principal? Both of them jogged to the bridge.

-Silver! Whatcha doin' here?
-Oh, I just missed my earthbound friends, is all. Dolores was nice enough to let me tag along.-Said the girl, motioning towards the brunette who sat there.
-I see you haven't changed much, Mr. Long.-Jake laughed uneasily-Is this the friend you wanted to introduce to us?
-Wait. She's a mermaid?!-Said Danny pointing at the woman with his thumb
-Has your mother never told you it's rude to point fingers?-Snapped miss Derceto. The halfa apologized.
-Yeah. This is Danny. He's a magical creature brought up by humans, so I'm showing him around. And yes, she's a mermaid. Hence why she's in a wheelchair, genius.
-Hey! For all I know, she could be paraplegic!
-That was my cover for many years, so I understand why you'd think so, young man.
-Anyway, I was wondering If ya'd give'im a quick lecture on water creatures. I can't compete with the knowledge of a water creature.
-... Very well, but you have to promise to do something about that awful slang of yours. I may have been undercover, but I took the education of my students very seriously.-Jake gasped as the halfa laughed in his face, along with the young mermaid in the water.
-Fine. Imma do "somethin bout it". Ya spook can hav'em all to yourself. I'm out.

The three non draconians watched him walk away, hands in his pockets and kicking pebbles. All that drama because people didn't like his slang? Danny did feel a little bad for laughing now. He knew his friend had done a lot to make him feel welcomed and he was being rude, laughing at his host and all. The elder mermaid taught him a lot, reaching a point where she wasn't finding the words to describe the more complicated stuff Danny was asking about. Silver mentioned she wished Danny could see it then.

-So show me.-The mers looked at him weird.
-Never mind the hypothermia, you'll drown. It's underwater.
-So? I can leave my hoodie up here and go down with you guys. Cold doesn't bother me and I don't need oxygen that much.

Silver beamed while Dolores looked uncertain. What kind of creature walked and didn't need air? No, he had said oxygen. Even mers needed oxygen, even if it was in liquid state. However, Danny's little underwater excursion would have to wait, considering a mob of magical creatures ran screaming from the direction the young dragon had walked in. Somehow, they managed to hear that the American Dragon had been overpowered by a powerful creature and the halfa hurried against the current of people, thinking the worst, phasing through more than one individual and reaching the patio in the middle of the bazaar, where his friend was being stepped on by a creature with the body of a lion and a woman's head. On one hand, Danny relaxed seeing it wasn't a certain Halfa, but he swore under his breath as he knew nothing about this thing. As soon as the creature raised one of its paws to slash down its prey, meaning Jake, Danny raced to release him. When the thing's paw finally struck down, the creature frowned. There had been a dragon under her paw, right? She heard panting to the side and quickly looked to her right, where the dragon stood, having been aided by another humanoid. The sphinx growled.

-How dare you take my prey?!
-I'm sorry, but it's not open season on dragons!-Jake groaned at the lame banter, before pulling down on the halfa when a clawed paw aimed at his head.-What even is that thing?!
-It's a sphinx.
-Like the one in Egypt?
-No, that one's stone. This one's real and hungry af.- They dodged another attack.
-Speaking of, why are you not in dragon form?
-Well, dragons are kinda- they jumped over her tail to avoid it.-allergic to sphinxes? We lose all power.
-Wow. And you just casually picked a fight with one with no weapons? Bold.

The boys duck and rolled away from their adversary when she swinged her paw again at them. Danny swore the thing was yelling at them to stay still so she could kill them and shuddered, before getting himself and jake behind a wall to regroup.

-So how do you beat it?
-Well, those things normally throw a riddle atcha. But they're sneaky little bs and their riddle's in some weirdass language. You answer correctly, you live. You answer wrong or not at all and you dead, man.

Before Danny could answer, he felt death looming over Jake, something he had been getting a lot lately when someone was in immediate danger, and phased them both through the ground, right before a set of claws tore apart their hiding spot. The boys emerged from the other side of the plaza, Jake gasping for air. The sphinx turned at the sound, staring at them.

-I don't know how you got there, but answer the riddle or die.
-I heard no riddle!- yelled Danny at her.- If you're gonna try to kill me, at least riddle me first!
-Dude! Watcha doin?!-The sphinx grinned evilly.
-Kabirat kajbal, saghirat kalbazla', walsabahat alty la nihayat laha fi bahr la mayiya.(¹) What am I?

Jake stared in horror as the halfa stared at their enemy with a blank face. Hell, the boy must have lost it, because not a minute after sentencing himself to death, he was laughing his ass off. The dragon and the sphinx glanced at each other before looking back at the blue eyed boy, who was honestly trying to calm down.

-I thought you said it was in a weird language.
-It is.
-What, you don't speak riddlish?-he mocked him- Honestly. How hard can it be to understand "Large as a mountain, small as a pea, endlessly swimming in a waterless sea"?-The sphinx screeched as the dragon stared at the other boy.
-Ya gonna have to add something to your list of superpowers, Danno.
-Huh? What do you mean?
-Well, you just translated the riiii AN ASTEROID! THE ANSWER'S AN ASTEROID!
-CHEATING! YOU CHEATED!- and with that cry, the sphinx pounced on the halfa.

Danny yelped when the womanly face turned feral, growing enough in size to swallow his head whole. Her jaws snapped shut around his neck. Some people, who has hung around to watch left in horror, but the boys headless body didn't collapse. Instead, the boys arms searched for his head where it used to be, clenched its fists upon not finding it, walked right up to the menacing teeth and fazed in his hands to grab his head. The sphinx stared. Jake stared. Some spectators stared. Finally, the attacking creature screamed her heart out, turned tail and left faster than she had ever run. Danny proceeded to put his head back on his shoulders with an offended look in his eyes.

-And wash your teeth next time! Your breath was bad enough to kill someone! The nerve, right?

Jake didn't know how to respond. The guy's head had just been CHOMPED OFF and he cared about halitosis?! He would have commented on it, but a deafening scream stopped him. Before they could react, someone had tackled Danny to the ground. The halfa tried to fight off his attacker, but he stopped his efforts when he realized Jake was laughing uncontrollably. He glanced down at the person, a redheaded girl with glistening eyes, wearing a black shirt with white rims. A girl looking just like her, except with straight hair and duller eyes slowly approached the small group, greeting Jake like this was all too normal.

-Danny, this is Kara and the one who has you in a deathgrip is Sara.
-Oh….. hi?-He answered with uncertainty from the floor. The other girl pulled on her sister's shirt.
-C'mon, Sara. Manners.
-Oh, right!-She got up faster than expected, giving Danny a real chance to look at her. He just stared at the shirt she was wearing.
-Is that…. Danny Phantom's emblem?

(¹)it's in arabic, but imagine this is ancient egyptian. also, i humbly ask for forgiveness, since google translate probably butchered the riddle...