Disclaimer: All rights go to DC Comics and Nickelodeon/Butch Hartman. The author of this story owns nothing; this story is for fun, not money or profit of any kind.

Authors note: Apologies for the long wait between updates; I've had a sever case of writers block, compounded by the recent passing of a family member, followed by the stress of this whole Coronavirus situation. So, yeah, 2020 has been by far the worst year of my life, so far.

Regardless, please enjoy!

Chapter 25: Paradox, Part 2

"TIME IN!"

Danny Phantom and Barry Allen gasped and jolted back to reality. They looked around, and found themselves outside of the Hall of Justice seemingly at the moment they had left. But the two heroes quickly realized that things were not as they had left them.

There was no damage to the Hall, or the surrounding area. No rubble strewn about, no fires or smoke. No shattered glass. Everything looked as serene as it could be. The most shocking missing feature was the utter lack of parademons, or Darkseid himself, who was in the process of invading when Flashpoint began.

"We're back!" Flash breathed with relief.

"I knew Clockwork would help," Danny grinned.

Danny and Flash then glanced at one another and gasped in surprise and began speaking at the same time.

"Your suit-" Danny said, pointing at Flash

"When did you change-?" Barry said, pointing at Danny.

They then looked down at themselves, shocked. Flash's suit was a much brighter shade of red, and his logo now had a white circle around the lightning bolt. The gold lightning decals that ran across his suit were also more pronounced than before. Barry ran his gloved hands across his suit, confused, but excited at the same time.

Danny Phantom's suit hadn't changed much, but it now had more white details to the torso and across his shoulders, and the white collar had black lines running up it. His logo hadn't changed, and remained where it had always been and the overall suit itself seemed to have been made of a different material than the old one.

Before they could admire themselves any further, a familiar voice sounded over their communicators.

"Phantom, Flash, why are you two standing out in the courtyard?"

"Batman? Uh, well,-" Flash stammered.

"It's nothing," Phantom said quickly. "Nothing at all. Just getting some fresh air." Upon receiving no further response from Batman, they shut off their communicators.

"I don't think we should bring up changing the timeline to anyone," Flash said. "No need to open up that can of worms unless we have to."

"Oh, I agree," Danny nodded. He quickly took out his phone and looked through everything. Texts, calls, and his social media feed. "Everything seems to be back to normal. Maybe better, even? No sign of a Darkseid invasion!"

"That's definitely a plus," Barry agreed.

Shortly, after being given a lift back home by the Flash, Danny made a bee-line for home. Upon arriving, he phased through the door and the sight nearly gave him a heart attack!

Jazz! She was sitting on the couch with their mother, reading a book, not a trace of goth or depression on her! She looked up and saw Danny standing in the doorway.

"Hey, little brother," she said. "Everything okay?"

Danny rushed over and gave his sister a big hug. Before Jazz could respond, Maddie joined her children in the group hug when suddenly, Jack Fenton burst into the living room.

"Yes!" he bellowed. "My newest invention, the Ecto-Annihilator-3000 is finally finished! I can't wait to test this baby on some filthy, slimy ghost!" He then noticed his family hugging one another and smiled fondly.

"Aww, my family," he said. He then gathered all three of them up in a bear hug with his large arms. "The only thing in this world that could make me forget whatever the heck I was just talking about."

The hug ended, and Jack continued. "Good to see you home, Danny-my-boy," he said, proudly putting his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Seems like an eternity since you've been home from saving the world!"

"Believe me, it's great to be home," Danny chuckled. And he meant it.

Back in Central City, Barry Allen was putting back the pieces of his life. Thankfully, nothing seemed to be too out of the ordinary, at least on the surface. It might be quite a while before he uncovered everything that may or may not be different.

As it stood, he was still with Iris, Caitlin and Cisco were right where he left them in STAR Labs. Caitlin was still married to Ronnie, who was still one have a Firestorm with Professor Stein. Unfortunately, his parents were gone once again. His heart hurt at the thought. But he had them back for a time, and he would cherish that forever.

A few hours later, Barry was about to head home when a blur of lightning grabbed him from behind, surprising him.

In an instant, Barry found himself sitting on the ground on a secluded road next to a sign that read, 'Welcome to Keystone City!'. Barry looked up at the man standing before him in surprise. It was the original Flash, Jay Garrick!

"Flash?" Barry asked.

"Flash," Jay nodded, his voice filled with disappointment. He tossed Barry a change of clothes. "Here, put these on. We need to talk."

Jay had led Barry into a diner, and the pair took a seat. "You want anything to eat, cause I'm starved," Jay said, thumbing over the menu. "I tell ya, the cornedbeef hash here is the best I ever had."

"So, why'd you bring me here?" Barry asked, concern lacing his voice. "Something tells me it wasn't just to buy me a meal."

"It's because you reset the timeline after screwing it all up," Jay said bluntly, putting his menu down.

"Oh, yeah, I know about that," he continued, noticing Barry's shocked expression.

"Wh- How did you-?" Barry stammered.

"I was in the speedforce when the timeline changed," Jay explained. "Must have saved me from the changes in the timeline, cause when I came back out, I noticed things were... a bit different."

Barry sighed. "I'm sorry, Jay, I-"

"No, no, let me finish," Jay held up a hand. "I was impressed by how well you handled yourself, back when you and the others saved me and the JSA from Trigon. So, I decided I'd keep an eye on you for a bit.

"After that, Cisco filled me in on what you've been through," he continued, his voice taking on a more fatherly tone. "About what happened to your mom and your dad, too. Having a loss like that in your life, I see why you'd want to erase it. I mean, who wouldn't want to save their parents?"

Barry stared down at the table as Jay continued, feeling like a little boy being lectured by their parent.

"I understand that, Barry, completely. But the thing is, there are consequences to time travel."

Barry scoffed. "I just had this conversation with a ghost that could control time" he said. "I- I have heard this all before."

"Not from me, you haven't," Jay said firmly. "I am not some doctor with a theory, Barry, or some supernatural being."

Jay leaned forward on the table, and his voice grew softer. "I'm a speedster, like you, who's traveled in time and made these same mistakes you are making right now."

Jay picked up a ceramic coffee cup and held it up between them. "Let me show you something."

Barry started to protest, but Jay held up a finger. "Humor me, kid," he said. He tapped the cup with his finger. "Think of this cup as the space-time continuum. Whenever you go back in time, it breaks."

Barry watched as Jay vibrated the cup until it fractured, a small chip breaking off and landing on the table. Jay picked up the piece and continued.

"Now, you can reset the timeline; try to fix it." He placed the chip back in it's place, and pointed to the cracks. "But no matter how hard you try, it's never going to be exactly how it was."

Barry sighed. "I didn't even want to go back; it was Thawne," he insisted. "I had to follow him and stop him from making things worse. But after seeing Flashpoint- uh, that's what Thawne called the alternate timeline- I've seen all these things first hand. I'm not going to make the same mistakes-"

"Mistakes- what you just said right there," Jay interrupted. "That is the paradox of time travel, and also the paradox of life. I mean, 'if I only knew then what I know now'... Barry, we're not gods; we're men. Who, for whatever reason, have been blessed with extraordinary powers."

Jay leaned back in his seat and folded his arms, seemingly finished with his lesson. "So, have you figured out everything that's different? Because I had a few surprises when I came out of the speedforce. Number one being the JSA is back together."

Barry's eyes shot up. "Really?"

"Oh yeah," Jay chuckled. "Here I was ready to retire from the hero life, and now Scott, Fate and I got a bunch of teenage heroes in training. The next generation, as Cisco would say."

"That's- wow," Barry shook his head. "Teen heroes? I wonder if Danny's heard about that? I'm sure he's still figuring out what's different, too."

Jay frowned at that, surprised. "Danny? You mean Danny Phantom, right; the ghost kid?"

"Yeah," Barry nodded. "He sort of got roped into coming along with Thawne and I. One of his ghost friends, the one I mentioned before that lectured me? He's the one that set the timeline back."

"That's interesting," Jay said. "Because, as I understand it, the whole idea of getting the JSA back together to mentor the next generation was Phantom's idea. You'd better get in touch with him; chances are he's not aware of it, yet."

Authors note (Part 2): Yes, this is a very short chapter, but that's what I planned. This story is getting close to being wrapped up; maybe one or two more chapters at the very most. Yeah, that's been a long time coming. I've been wanting to start fresh, and frankly, the idea of a new timeline has given me the perfect starting point to do just that. Just a few loose ends to tie up, and the introduction of the changes in the post-Flashpoint universe.

Also, it must be said that I'm seriously burnt out writing superhero/Danny Phantom stories. I think that's been a contributing factor in my loss of interest in writing. I really want to branch out and write different kinds of stories.

Either way, thank you for reading my story! I genuinely appreciate it!