Disclaimer: All rights go to the respective owners of Marvel and Nickelodeon/Butch Hartman. The author of this story owns nothing. This story is for fun; not money or profit of any kind.

Chapter 13: Forever Fight as One

"TIME IN!"

In a flash of white light, the Avengers and Vlad Plasmius reappeared on Earth. Or, rather, the apocalyptic landscape that was once Amity Park. Even though it was night, the city was lit by flames, and it felt like standing in an inferno. Danny Phantom looked around at what his whole world had been reduced to, and clenched his fists in rage and sorrow as he lowered his head.

'This is all my fault,' he thought sadly. He hadn't been strong enough. Black Widow placed a gloved hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Don't go there, Danny," she said firmly, as though reading his mind. "We're going to get through this."

Before Danny could respond, a brutal, intense Ghostly Wail suddenly sounded, and everyone was thrown several feet away, landing in a heap! Even Iron Man was affected through his armor.

"Trust me, you won't," came the response.

Through their blurry vision, the Avengers looked up to see the frightening silhouette of Dark Phantom standing on the burning wreckage of a building nearby, a raging inferno behind him. His serrated cape flowing, and his white flaming hair almost matching the fire raging behind him.

"The fact that your back means that Clockwork has a plan to stop me," the villain continued as the Avengers continued to struggle and groan on the ground; their senses still overloaded from the Ghostly Wail. "He never does anything by accident. And he certainly wouldn't send any of you to your certain doom without reason."

Dark Phantom slowly floated down to stand before the crumpled Avengers. He placed his fists on his hips and bared his fangs. "Then again," he said. "I suppose it doesn't really matter. If I was able to take you all down at once with only one Ghostly Wail, what hope does he have?"

A somewhat louder groan came from the group, but this one sounded less hurt, and more... angry...

Bruce Banner clutched his ears as he squirmed and groaned on the ground when his eyes shot wide open, his irises turning a whitish-green! Banner grunted as his form began to grow, and his clothes began to tear off. His skin turned green, and the Hulk rose to his feet, snarling in rage. The Gamma Giant slapped at his ears in frustration as his hearing began to clear from Dark Phantom's attack.

Hulk leveled his glare at Dark Phantom and a deep growl rose from his massive chest. Tearing off the remnant of Banner's shirt, he began to stalk towards Dark Phantom, who gave a defiant smirk. "Alright, fine," he muttered. "It's been awhile since I had a good fight. Even longer since I kicked your worthless hide, giant." Hulk roared in response, and charged his opponent.

Tony gasped inside his armor as his world started to clear. His armor's noise filters weren't strong enough to protect him fully from the Ghostly Wail. His ears were ringing, but through that, he heard a faint voice. "Mister Stark? Sir, can you hear me?" came the voice of JARVIS.

"JARVIS?" Tony whispered. "Oh, buddy, am I glad to hear you. Sort of. It's all kind of fuzzy."

"You vanished, and I was unable to contact you," JARVIS explained. "I had feared you had been killed."

"Well, I was on the other side," Tony snorted. "You know that little project you said was ready before we went into that cave? Let's do it."

"Of course, sir," JARVIS responded. "Activating the Iron Legion. ETA in 20 minutes."

"Guess I'll have to make do until they arrive," Iron Man sighed. Looking over, he saw the others getting to their feet. He hauled himself to his armored feet and helped Hawkeye up.

"Unnhh, really hating that guy," Danny huffed, dusting himself off.

"Yeah, me too," Captain America agreed. "We need to end this."

"We just need to hold him off for a little while," Iron Man said. "JARVIS is sending in the cavalry."

A loud crash got everyone's attention, and they saw Hulk and Dark Phantom trading blows. Dark Phantom wasn't even turning intangible; he was simply fighting Hulk head on, a sinister smile on his face. The expression of a crazed lunatic that enjoys chaos.

"All right guys, let's do this," Danny Phantom shouted. "We hit him with everything we've got! Don't hold back. Avengers, assemble!"

"Your team has a battle cry; hilarious!" Vlad chuckled.

Hulk backhanded Dark Phantom, who grunted as he was sent flying. Hulk pressed his attack, leaping in the air with the intention of landing full on his opponent. Dark Phantom raised his hand and blasted the behemoth away with a ghost ray. As he rose to his feet, a large hammer slammed into the side of his head.

The hammer returned to it's owner's hand, and Thor raised Mjolnir in the air, causing a massive storm to brew over head. "You are truly evil," Thor said, pointing at Dark Phantom. Lightning and thunder crashed above, and rain began to pour, dousing the area and the fires raging began to die out. "And you will fall, this night."

Despite the pouring rain, Dark Phantom's white flaming hair burned bright. Snarling at being struck off guard, he growled, "Don't count on it, Asgardian." He flew up at frightening speed towards the God of Thunder, who didn't flinch. Before he could reach Thor, Dark Phantom was surprised by Danny Phantom!

"Miss me, old man?" Danny said, tackling his dark mirror in mid air. The two grappled, furiously spinning in the air, trying to gain the upper hand over the other. "You've lost your touch. Your only big and bad when you can surprise someone!"

"Trust me," Dark Phantom retorted. "I'm always big and bad." He managed to free his hands and gripped the sides of Danny's head. A ghostly electric current charged through his arms and into Danny's head, causing the young hero to yell out in pain.

Hawkeye fired a keenly aimed arrow at Dark Phantom's back, which was filled with more of the chemical he had hit him with before. Dark Phantom howled in pain, and hurled Danny away. Danny landed with a thud next to where Vlad Plasmius, who had observed the exchange, was standing. Vlad cocked an eyebrow and stroked his chin as though he was pondering something.

"Fascinating," Vlad said. "That's a technique I've employed against you several times in the past. He really is a true combination of us."

Danny spat out some dirt and rubbed his aching head. Scowling at his old enemy, he said," If you're gonna help, then help!" He then slowly rose to one knee, and looked at Vlad. "What are you doing, anyway? We're fighting for our lives, and your just standing here!"

"I'm observing our opponent, Daniel," Vlad replied, agitated. "If I just charge in like you and your Avengers, I'll be killed! Look." He pointed to the battle, where Dark Phantom was single-handedly fighting the Avengers.

Black Widow fired her twin pistols, outfitted with with anti-ghost lasers, which distracted Dark Phantom long enough for Captain America to throw his shield at Thor, who swatted it with his hammer, amplifying it's strength. Dark Phantom dodged, and gave an uppercut to Hulk, staggering the beast and sending him into Iron Man.

Spinning around, he created a wave of ecto-energy that knocked Black Widow and Hawkeye several feet away. Even with what anti-ghost weapons they had, the Avengers were not making any ground. Only Thor's enchanted hammer seemed to have any real effect on Dark Phantom, and that was only on the rare occasion he wasn't able to turn intangible in time.

"You see?" Vlad said, as Dark Phantom kicked Captain America in the mid section. "While your friends are trying to duke it out, I am trying to formulate a well thought out plan!"

Danny growled at Vlad. "And what 'well thought out plan' have you come up with?" he asked.

"Only one," Vlad said. "But we'll have to work together, much as that may sicken both of us."

"Fine," Danny Phantom huffed, not liking this idea, already. "What is it?"

"This," Vlad said, quickly grabbing Danny's neck before he could react. Vlad Plasmius then flew as fast as he could over the battle. As he flew overhead, he threw Danny as hard as he could right at Dark Phantom. Danny collided with Dark Phantom, knocking the two to the ground with a thud.

"Here!" Vlad shouted to Dark Phantom from above. "Take him, but please don't hurt me! I haven't done a thing to you! In fact, once these heroes are gone, I'd love to serve you again!" Having said his piece, the slimy weasel flew away.

"Stupid, idiot cheese-head," both Danny Phantom and Dark Phantom grunted at the same time from their crumpled heap. Sharing a surprised glance, the two jumped to their feet at the same time. They both let loose a Ghostly Wail, but the resulting sound waves canceled each other out, sending each other flying back!

"Alright, enough of this," Dark Phantom said, standing up, once more. He drew another quick breath and was about to let loose another Ghostly Wail, when a barrage of repulsar bolts rained down from above! The storm of blue lasers caused a small shockwave, forcing Danny, rest of the battered, dirt smeared Avengers to leap out of the way.

Once the repulsars stopped firing, a group of twenty human-shaped drones shaped Iron Man's signature armor flew over head. They had white and blue paint schemes with golden face plates. They hovered above the area and formed a circle around the crater they had formed.

"Reinforcements have arrived," the Iron Legion said in unison in JARVIS' voice.

"Always have a surprise, don't you, Stark?" Cap asked.

"I have my share," Iron Man replied.

"Guys, we can't keep this up, much longer," Black Widow said, breathing heavily. "Danny, I hope Clockwork gets here soon, or we don't have a hope in hell. We haven't even left a scratch on him."

"We cannot surrender," Thor said. "We can't let this evil spread to the other Nine Realms. We must fight to our last breath."

"Surrender isn't in my vocabulary," Captain America said firmly.

Meanwhile, in the smoking crater, the blackened rubble shifted, and a gloved fist broke through. An angered Dark Phantom shot out of the crater, only to be once more bombarded with blue repulsar bolts from the Iron Legion. Once it was quiet, the Iron Legion ceased fire, and continued to scan for the enemy.

A massive Ghostly Wail erupted from the crater like an angry volcano. The Avengers clasped their hands to their ears, and the Iron Legion was blown away; shattered metallic pieces rained down in all directions. As the dust cleared, Dark Phantom's haunting visage floated. His cape was now tattered, and he was covered in scrapes. His gaze swept over the battlefield, as though in judgment. Without a word, he split into multiple copies of himself, one for each Avenger.

"Alright, guys," Danny said. "This is it. We either come out on top, or we die trying. Either way, it ends here."

"I don't like our odds," Hawkeye muttered.

Both sides charged at each other. Each Avenger began battling their own Dark Phantom duplicate. Danny duplicated himself as much as he could, trying to give each Avenger some ghostly backup.

The battle was quick, and fierce. The duplicates of Dark Phantom quickly overwhelmed Danny's duplicates, and Danny, himself, was overpowered by his ghastly counterpart, although he had no idea which was the real Dark Phantom. Danny's ice powers gave him a slight edge, but it wasn't enough. Dark Phantom grasped the tired Danny's throat, and held him close.

"Look," Dark Phantom whispered, as Danny struggled in his grasp, but to know avail. "Take it all in, Danny. And know that it's all your fault!" Danny struggled in vain, as he was forced to watch the scene before him. 'Where is Clockwork?!' Danny thought in desperation!

Hawkeye shot arrow after arrow at his own enemy. But to his shock, Dark Phantom turned into a green mist, each arrow flying through his form. The green mist reformed as Dark Phantom grabbed Hawkeye, and drove his ghostly fist through the archer's chest!

"No! Clint!" Danny yelled in horror.

Iron Man noticed Clint Barton's now lifeless form collapse to the ground, but the distraction costed him. JARVIS warned him that his armor's anti-ghost energy reserves were dangerously depleted. His own enemy grabbed him and delivered a brutal slash across the chest, rending open his armor and killing him instantly.

Thor roared at the sight of his friends deaths. He gathered every ounce of his power, and slammed his hammer as hard as he could into his own opponent, vaporizing it. Not even turning intangible could save the duplicate from the raw power of the Asgardian! He then quickly hurled his hammer at the two duplicates that had killed Hawkeye and Iron Man. One dodged it, but the other one was struck head on, turning it to ash.

As he called his hammer back to him, though, he was, unfortunately, left undefended for a few precious seconds. The Son of Odin grunted, and stumbled forward as he fell to his knees. Looking down, he saw a large, sharp piece of metal jutting from his chest! The duplicate he had missed had struck a fatal blow to the mighty Thunderer. Mjolnir fell to the ground from mid air, skidding to a halt in front of Thor, as the fallen hero toppled over.

"Just like old times," Dark Phantom hissed in Danny's ear. Tears were streaming from Danny's eyes as the horrific scene unfolded. Even the Incredible Hulk had met a similar demise, as the behemoth did not posses anti-ghost tools of any kind.

Captain America fought with courage like he never had before; evading, rolling, striking where he could, but even the legendary super soldier fell to Dark Phantom's wrath, struck down by his own shield.

The only thing that had kept Black Widow alive thus far was her Spector Deflector. But during the battle, she had taken some her share of hits, and her Deflector had been damaged, whether from shrapnel or debris. Her eyes held the same ice-cold, emotionless glare that she once always wore every moment of her life. She had reverted back to the brutal, uncaring Black Widow that had originally emerged from the Soviet Red Room.

But as she performed a graceful roll out of the way of a particularly nasty ghost ray, another duplicate grabbed her from behind. But Widow had somehow counted on this, and stabbed a glowing green knife from her belt into her assailant's chest, causing it to wince and fade away.

"An ectoranium blade," Dark Phantom sneered. He slammed Danny Phantom face first into the ground, leaving the shattered ghost stunned. Dark Phantom made his way over to the red headed Avenger.

"You always were the one Avenger that gave me the most problems, back in my timeline," he said, slowly. "Not counting Valerie, you were the last one to go down, too."

Black Widow said nothing in response, her eyes focused solely on taking down her target as she slowly circled him, her green blade raised. Dark Phantom smirked, and immediately closed the gap between them, slapping the blade from her hand!

Widow was so exhausted, physically and mentally, she couldn't even react as Dark Phantom grabbed her by the throat with one hand and lifted her up off the ground to eye level. Black Widow gasped for breath as the menace glared at her. Then, he said, "I guess history does repeat itself!"

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for Danny, who had risen to one knee. Black Widow shifted her eyes to look at Danny one final time. Tears were flowing from Danny's eyes, as his eyes met her's. A sickening snap resounded over the area, as Danny flinched away, sobbing quietly as Dark Phantom tossed Black Widow's body aside.

Dark Phantom strode over, standing above his counterpart. Danny remained on one knee as he hugged himself, his body shaking with grief. "You know," Dark Phantom said. "I thought I would have something important to say; some grand, gloating 'I told you so' speech to give, when the time came to end you. But, I don't."

He roughly picked Danny up by the collar, and cocked his glowing fist back. "All I have to say," he continued. "Is the last thing you said to me, before you locked me in that damn thermos: Time's up!"

Dark Phantom's expression suddenly shifted from one of malice to one of surprise, as he gasped in sudden pain.

"Not quite yet," came a stern voice from behind Dark Phantom, who dropped Danny. Danny gazed up, and saw Clockwork standing behind Dark Phantom! His arm was intangible, and sticking inside Dark Phantom's back!

Danny also noticed that Clockwork's staff had been heavily modified, and the small clock on the top was glowing with a bright green glow; a small vivid green gem sitting firmly in the center, surrounded by strange wiring.

Clockwork removed his hand from Dark Phantom's back, and as the villain turned to attack Clockwork, the master of time swung his staff and expertly nailed Dark Phantom in the head. The blow shattered one of his fangs and sent him flying a short distance.

Spitting ectoplasm from his mouth, Dark Phantom glared at Clockwork. He clutched his chest with one hand, and rose to his feet shakily, and whispered, "What did you do to me?"

"An old trick I learned from, surprisingly, you," Clockwork replied changing form into an old man. He pulled out a time medallion from his belt. "I used one of these. Nice, hmm? Fused inside you. Intangible, and unreachable. Normally, it wouldn't have worked, but my power has been upgraded, thanks to this." Clockwork raised his staff, showing off the new gem in the center.

"This is the Time Stone," Clockwork continued. "The original source of time, and in all of creation, with this, nothing is impossible. And now that the medallion in your chest has been amplified by it's power, even you cannot escape time itself!"

A look of fear appeared on Dark Phantom's face. "No," he whispered, his voice shaking. "Th- that means-"

"You're now a part of the timeline, once more," Clockwork finished for him, a victorious smile crossing his features as he changed into an adult. "Which also means, you must now face me."

Dark Phantom glared at his nemesis. A look of grim acceptance appeared in his eyes; the look of a man with nothing to lose. "Fine," he snarled. Pointing at Danny, he continued, "But he will never be the same. Ever. He's finally broken. Even if I get destroyed, I accomplished what I set out to do. I destroyed the Avengers, and brought this world to it's knees. And he will always know that he couldn't do a thing to stop it. He shares the blood on my hands. He is me!"

With that, he charged Clockwork, who raised his staff and a massive cone of pure time-energy blasted from it. Reality itself seemed to warp inside the cone, as Dark Phantom bellowed in agony. Time seemed to be flowing faster, and at the same time looked like it was going backwards.

Dark Phantom was being torn asunder, warping, changing, appearing as both a teenager, and an adult, and back again; all the while, yelling in agony and rage. Clockwork grunted under the strain, and seemed to be slowly giving way, until he redoubled his efforts. Danny watched in awe as the scene unfolded. He had never seen such a level of power, nor had he ever seen Clockwork look in trouble.

Even Clockwork, himself, a being; the being that was able to control time itself, was struggling to control the raw power of the Time Stone. As Dark Phantom bellowed, reality seemed to be shifting around them. Danny had seen enough of how time worked to know that if this continued, reality could be undone. Destroying a creature that existed outside of time, one that had caused so much damage to the time stream, was no easy feat, even with a time medallion inside him.

"No," Danny Phantom muttered. He would not let it end this way. He would not let Dark Phantom win. He jumped to his feet and flew to Clockwork's side.

"What are you doing?" Clockwork shouted over the rippling and buckling of time.

"Helping," Danny shouted back. "In case you haven't noticed, everything's falling apart!" Before Clockwork could respond, Danny grabbed the staff to help steady it for Clockwork, hoping to add what meager power he possessed.

The moment he touched Clockwork's scepter, however, Danny immediately gasped and his eyes widened. His hands locked around the scepter. His vision changed, and he saw a mirage of sparkling white light, and images began to flood past, blurry at first, but slowly clearing.

'Wh- what is this?' Danny wondered, in awe and fright. He was beginning to have serious doubts about this decision. But, it wouldn't have been the first time he made dumb choices without thinking.

It's everything. From everywhere, Daniel. Don't be afraid. You are seeing things how I normally see them. From above, and all the twists and turns time may or may not take. Everything you are seeing is how time plays out in, not just our universe, but every universe.

The voice was Clockwork's, but Danny couldn't see him. 'Clockwork? I can't make sense of any of this! I only wanted to stop my jerky future self!' Danny replied. He seemed to be floating, without form, witnessing other timelines, and events from history; events from his own past and future, and the events of other's.

You are witnessing time itself. You were right. I did need your help, to fix what has happened. Don't fight it. Calm yourself. Let go of the trauma you have witnessed. Let time flow. Focus.

Danny listened and relaxed his mind, and events flowed past more clearly. He saw his childhood, when he first met Sam and Tucker. He saw Jazz, his parents. He saw when he first got his powers, but then, something strange happened. That one pivotal moment seemed to then branch off time into different paths.

He saw himself as a teenage villain, a criminal, with red eyes, and being hunted by police. He then saw a different scene of himself exiting the Ghost Portal without being harmed; no powers, nothing. He then saw himself as an older man, with kids playing at his feet, and then he saw Sam, with silvering hair standing nearby. 'Wait, I'm gonna have grand kids?' Danny thought confused.

Another scene unfolded where he saw himself as a 15 year old, standing with a group of what he assumed were other super heroes with bright costumes, all standing around a table. One wore a blue suit with a red cape and a large yellow 'S' on his chest. Another wore dark blue; almost black with a yellow bat symbol on his chest. A tall woman stood by Danny with long black hair and wearing what resembled ancient Greek amazonian armor, a man wearing bright red from head to toe with yellow lightning accents stood next to her. A man wearing green, stood next to another man and woman with wings, and a taller blonde woman with a red cape slung over her shoulder. 'What is this?' Danny wondered. 'Who are they?'

The scene shifted to show Danny, around seventeen, standing in some sort of warehouse with a serious steam-punk theme. Danny's eyes looked sad, but happy, too. He was talking to a girl with short red hair and goggles on her head and purple gloves on her hands, who was carrying some sort of old junk. Nearby, a man and woman seemed to be arguing with an older guy with glasses.

That scene faded away, and Danny saw himself yet again as a teen, in a mansion walking beside an older bald man in a wheelchair. They walked past a man with large sideburns and a woman with red hair. As they walked further through the mansion, he saw other kids of varying ages, using... powers? 'Is this some sort of school?'

More scenes went by, one with Danny riding in a yellow Camero, driving beside a red semi-truck with blue flames that... turned into a robot? Another with Danny running across a roof top in New York with a woman in a red leather jacket, and they ran up to a... big, purple... gargoyle?

The scene vanished, and was replaced with Danny standing on a dark rooftop in New York, alongside a young woman with a black leather jacket and jet black hair. She had a beer bottle in her hand, and had a perpetual look that said, "screw you". Nearby, a man in a red and black outfit with devil horns on his mask stood with his arms crossed.

Another showed Danny, around age twenty four, arguing with a woman with dark hair, holding an apple. Danielle was between the two, trying to calm them both down. Nearby, a man in an expensive, dark suit, leaned on a walking stick, and the man had an amused smirk on his face. 'What the hell is all this?'

Danny, focus! You are letting it overwhelm you! The Time Stone is growing unstable! Focus on this timeline! Your timeline!

If he could have shook his head to clear it, Danny would have. Clockwork was right. He focused all his thoughts on his world, his time. Dark Phantom... His attention rocked back to where they were. He saw Dark Phantom, writhing, still fighting. He shared a glance with Clockwork, who nodded, and they managed to focus all the Time Stone's energy on the villain.

Dark Phantom gave one last inhuman roar, before being reduced to a withered old man. He continued to age until all that was left was dust. Dark Phantom was no more, and the time medallion that was inside him fell to the ground!

Clockwork and Danny gasped, and the Time Stone's energy stopped flowing out of Clockwork's staff, and reality snapped back to normal. They both panted, and Danny fell to the ground, exhausted. "It's over," Danny said. But his voice was laced with sadness, grief and bitterness. He looked over at the bodies of the Avengers; his friends, as well as the ruins of the city he loved. The threat was over, but at a horrible cost. How many had died?

Clockwork gave Danny a sad gaze, and then glanced at the Time Stone. "No," he said. "It's not over just yet, my friend." Raising his staff once more to the heavens, he yelled, "TIME OUT!"

Danny noticed he was now wearing a time medallion, and the world shifted around him, before everything went dark...

"TIME IN!"

Danny's eyes shot open, and he sat up with a gasp. He realized he was no longer wearing the time medallion. He looked around, and he was on the roof of a skyscraper. Panting, he looked over the edge to see... Amity Park? It wasn't a war-torn hellscape! It looked downright normal! Danny took in the sight, and gave a sigh. Behind him, he heard a noise. More like a gasp. Specifically, the gasp of a startled man.

Danny spun around to see...

Tony Stark! He was sitting up, missing his armor, and looking around in confusion! The other Avengers were also sitting up nearby, in equal confusion! They were alive! Banner, Clint, Steve, Natasha, Thor! All of them! The others were all wearing time medallions, that soon faded away. They began to rise to their feet and saw Danny staring in shock, frozen in place.

His mouth was agape, and his eyes were wide in disbelief . "Kid? You okay?" Steve Rogers asked, concerned.

Danny shook his head, and ran over to the Avengers, quickly giving them each a huge hug, much to their confusion. "Ugh, not really the hugging type," Tony groaned.

"You're okay!" Danny shouted with glee, ignoring Tony's comment. "All of you! You're not dead!"

"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" Banner asked. Then, a look of grim realization crossed all of their faces.

"Wait, a second," Clint said, rubbing his forehead.

"Were we not just fighting Dark Phantom?" Thor asked.

"Danny, what happened?" Natasha asked.

"Clockwork happened," Danny said. "We won. With his help. But, you guys... you died."

"We died?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Danny said, still shaken up. "Dark Phantom had us beat, and killed all of you. Almost killed me. But... somehow, Clockwork fixed everything. He and I destroyed Dark Phantom with the Time Stone, and then... he must have used it to turn back time; and fixed everything. I'm not sure, really.

"But all that matters is that everything seems to be alright," Danny sighed. "Finally."

"That's correct," came the voice of Clockwork, surprising the Avengers. His signature portal opened, and he floated through. He had a smile on his face, and shifted into his infant form. "I couldn't let Earth's Mightiest Heroes perish, nor could I allow so many lives to be lost.

"After the two of us destroyed Dark Phantom," the Time Master continued. "He was truly removed from existence with finality. And, I was finally able to repair the damage he had caused. Using the Time Stone, I was able to set things right. Now, it's as if Dark Phantom never existed in the first place."

Clint shook his head. "Ugh, all this talk about time hurts my head," he moaned, with most of the Avengers sharing the sentiment. "Way beyond me. We beat the bad guy, right?"

"Correct," Clockwork said.

"Good enough for me," Clint nodded, satisfied. "Let's just leave it at that."

"But, we all still remember what he did, and us fighting him," Banner mentioned, causing Clint to groan. "If you made it so he never existed, how can we remember him?"

"I left those memories as a reminder for you," Clockwork said. "A lesson learned, even if you don't realize what that lesson is, yet."

"Told you he was cryptic," Danny muttered.

"Oh, my new friends!" came a surprising voice from behind the large satellite on the roof. Vlad Plasmius nervously walked out into view, a worried look on his face.

"Oh, I knew we could stop that menace together," he said, shakily chuckling. "I always believed in team work! First and foremost!"

The Avengers and Clockwork all glared at Vlad, remembering clearly how he turned tail and ran the first chance he got. Vlad chuckled nervously. Maybe trying to butter them up wasn't such a good idea...

"What do we do with him?" Natasha asked.

Danny smirked. "I think I might have an idea..."

Hela, ruler of Helheim, sat on her throne in boredom. She rested her head on one hand and lazily looked at her fingernails as two ghostly skeletons bashed at each other with swords.

Suddenly, a green portal opened above, and a man with a white cape and green skin came unceremoniously crashing down to the ground at her feet. "Hey, Hela," called a voice from above. She looked up to see Danny Phantom poking his head through the portal he had made.

"I seem to remember you saying you've always wanted a half-ghost to keep you entertained," he continued. "Well, here you go! Vlad, this is Hela! Hela, Vlad Masters, aka Vlad Plasmius! I think you two fruitloops would be a really good fit together! Have fun!"

With that, the portal closed, and Hela leaned forward with a smile on her face. Vlad looked up, worry on his face.

"Bring me my best warriors!" Hela shouted. "Let's see how you fair in combat!"

"Oh, cheese logs," Vlad whimpered.

Later, the team had regrouped at Avengers Tower. They were weary from what had happened. Although, only Danny remembered seeing his team die in front of him. They had JARVIS check every media site he could, but found no trace of Danny Phantom being a wanted criminal, nor any instances of crime in Amity Park. Even Maria Hill didn't know what they were talking about.

Danny didn't care. He was just so happy they were alive, and that everything was over. It felt like a new beginning. A fresh start. He was standing out on the balcony, watching the sun set. Inside, Stark and Banner were in the lab, talking about the Iron Legion and upgrades to be made. Steve was in the gym, and Clint was on couch. Thor was somewhere around, too.

Natasha walked out to the balcony. "So," she said. "What's next?"

"What do you mean?" Danny asked, not following.

"I know that look," she replied. "It's the look of someone who's homesick."

Danny sighed. "Yeah," he said. "I'm heading home, for the time being. Taking some time off. I need to get back to my roots. Start fresh. Plus, I miss Sam. Badly." It was true. He hadn't seen her in way too long. And this whole experience had left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had taken his loved ones for granted.

Natasha nodded. "Well," she said "You'll always have a place on the team, Danny. Don't worry about us. We'll be fine. Not every bad guy we face will be a Dark Phantom. At worst, we'll be taking on the rest of HYDRA's goons, at least that's what Steve and Thor want us focused on."

Danny's expression fell. He still felt guilty, on some level, for everything that had happened. And even though it had ended alright, Dark Phantom was still him, or a version of him, at least.

Natasha put a hand on his shoulder. "Stop," she said. "He's gone. And he wasn't you. You're a good person. And, you're my friend. Not a lot of people can claim that."

Danny smiled at that. "Good point," he chuckled. Although she still wasn't very open with people, Natasha only let her guard down around people she trusted. Danny was lucky to count himself as one of them. He gave her a hug, and transformed into his Phantom form. Giving Natasha one last smile, he took off into the sky, heading home.

As he flew at top speed, he could feel it in his bones. Everything was going to be alright, this time. He arrived back in Amity Park in record time. He landed on the door step, turned back into Danny Fenton, and walked in. Inside, his parents were working on some contraption in the kitchen. Jazz and Dani were both sitting on the couch; Jazz reading a medical journal, and Dani was reading comic books.

Also in the living room were Sam and Tucker, who jumped up to greet their old friend. "Danny, your here!" Sam exclaimed happily. They shared a kiss, and Danny held her a little tighter than usual.

"I've missed you, Sam," he whispered in her ear.

"Good to see you, dude," Tucker said. "How ya been?"

Danny looked around at everyone, and smiled softly.

"Danny, what's wrong?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," Danny said. "Nothing's wrong. It's just good to be home. So, what's happened here, while I was away?"

As he listened to his friends and family talk, he never felt more at home.

Clockwork watched the scene unfold from his lair. Danny's loved ones had no memory of Dark Phantom's return. It was for the best. A smile crossed his face. Everything was the way it's supposed to be. Time was restored. All was right.

"Clockwork!" came a shout from outside his castle.

The Master of Time sighed. Of course, they would show up. The door opened, and the two Observants floated through, their large eyeball heads staring accusingly at him. "Care to explain yourself?" they demanded.

"Not particularly," Clockwork replied. "But I know you won't leave until I do." He turned around to face them, changing forms into an old man. "Yes, it's true. Dark Phantom escaped and nearly caused the end of the world, for the second time. Worse, he nearly undid the time stream, itself."

"We told you he and his younger self were your responsibility," one of them scolded. "But you failed to keep them in check!"

"We told you the boys should have been destroyed the first time," said the other.

"And I endeavored to find a different path," Clockwork replied calmly. "A better path."

"'Better'?!" the Observants yelled in unison. "Were you not aware of how many people died because of your foolishness? And then you altered time again to bring them all back!"

"And then, to top it all off, you used the single most forbidden artifact of time, the Time Stone," one said.

"And what of it?" Clockwork scowled, crossing his arms. "Everything is the way it's supposed to be. Time has been reset, Dark Phantom is destroyed, and the world is still intact. And that's all I have to say on the matter. Now, leave."

The Observants glanced at one another. "Very well," one said. "But we must know-"

"What did you do with the Time Stone?" the other finished, noticing that Clockwork's staff had reverted back to it's original state.

"I put it right where it needs to be," Clockwork said, cryptically.

"You, more than anyone, knows what that would be capable of in the wrong hands," the Observant said.

Clockwork lowered his gaze. He knew all to well what the Time Stone, and the rest of the Infinity Stones, would be used for, one day. And by whom. But, that was a tale for the future. "Of course I do," he said.

Turning back to the Observants, he smirked, and then said, "I know everything."

The Observants then exited Clockwork's castle, leaving the Ghost of Time to his musings. He glanced over at the end table where the Fenton Thermos that once held Dark Phantom used to sit, now empty. Smiling, he placed a new clock on the dusty table, and calmly returned to his vigil.

Clockwork knew Danny would overcome his demon. He knew the coming years would be difficult, and wrought with danger. He also knew that, in any universe, good always triumphs over adversity. And for the Avengers, their trials of protecting the Earth had only just begun.

No matter the danger, no matter the problems and personal squabbles, no matter the roster, the Avengers would always stand assembled. As one.

END

The Avengers will return