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


Chapter 8: Darkness Falls

"Everyone will blame you, Danny Phantom!"

Danny Phantom was shaken to the core. He was so utterly numbed by conflicting emotions, he could do nothing but sit hunched over on the cold roof of the skyscraper he had been so unceremoniously dumped on. He couldn't even make his limbs work. Within the last few minutes, he had arrived home, only to have his home explode before his very eyes. And his family... cold dread flooded his veins at the thought. Tears silently fell from his eyes. He had called Sam, and told her to gather everyone at home...

He looked up at the nightmare standing before him. It really was him. This was no dream; no nightmare.

Dark Phantom.

A twisted abomination from his past and once possible future. A cruel, vile and chaotic combination between himself and Vlad Plasmius. The end result was an entity of true evil. An impure creature of the night born from your worst nightmares. Vampire-like fangs, blue skin, red eyes, hair made of pure white flames, and a large, muscular build made up the frightening visage.

"Y-you," Danny whimpered. "But... but how?"

Dark Phantom snarled. "My timeline has been erased," he explained. "My future; my world is gone, thanks to you. And, also thanks to you, I now exist outside of time, itself. Meaning Clockwork can't touch me. I admit, it took a long, long time to regain my strength after our battle. And that was no easy feat, being trapped inside that damn thermos. I managed to escape during your little 'Dis-asteroid incident'; when the entire Ghost Zone was in your world, turning it intangible. Since then, I've been keeping tabs on you over the years, and moving my pawns into place."

"Why wait so long to strike? What more could you want from me?" Danny asked, his breathe shuddering.

"Everything," Dark Phantom growled, menacingly.

"You said everyone will blame me," Danny said. "I haven't done anything!"

"Trust me, you will," Dark Phantom said, his lips curling into a smirk. "Or, rather, I will."

"I'll stop you," Danny said, his strength starting to return, reinforced by his anger. "And if I can't, the other Avengers will."

Dark Phantom threw his head back and laughed. "The Avengers?" he scoffed. "Back in my time, the Avengers were formed because of me; to stop me. Fury and his puppets weren't able to do much. Hell! SHIELD and HYDRA actually banded together to try and take me out. If they couldn't stop me then, how will they now?"

"There's no shortage of heroes out there to stop you," Danny shot back.

"Heroes die," Dark Phantom growled, his voice laced with venom.

That comment enraged Danny, and he sucked in a fast breath, readying his Ghostly Wail. Faster than humanly possible, Dark Phantom threw a glob of ecto-energy at Danny's mouth, effectively muzzling him. Danny reached for something on his belt, when Dark Phantom shot more ecto-energy at Danny; tying him up and rendering him defenseless.

Dark Phantom looked straight into Danny's eyes, and said, "Never forget: I am the original Phantom!"

He then proceeded to beat the living hell out of a defenseless Danny; delivering blow after blow to his head and body. There was no pulling any punches this time; now that he existed outside of time, he had no reason to hold back. Soon, Danny was rendered unconscious, and fell to the floor in a bloody heap. Dark Phantom chuckled, and picked up Danny by the back of his collar, and they teleported away from the roof top.

The place they arrived in was like a large, dark cavern, and had several advanced screens. Dark Phantom strode towards a wall that had several battered figures chained to it like trophies. They were bruised and cut, but alive. They also had globs of ectoplasm over their mouths, just like Danny. It was Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam and Tucker!

Dark Phantom stood before them, and lifted up the limp body of Danny by the back of his collar. "Look at your hero," he growled slowly and menacingly. "This ghost is no god. He is nothing!" His audience stared at him with expressions ranging from fear and shock. Dark Phantom then reached under his cape, and pulled out a Fenton Thermos! He pulled off the cap, and sucked Danny inside! He set the Thermos on a nearby end table. "Poetic justice," he spat. "But I need you out of my way and out of my hair for the time being."

Turning back to his captive audience, and gestured to the large screens on the nearby walls, and said, "You're wondering why I don't just kill you all, right? Well, I want you all to watch as I tear this world apart. Piece by piece. As I rip each and every person living in this miserable world limb from bloody limb."

He slowly walked before each of them, looking at them pointedly in the eye as he passed. "And once that's done; once you've all gone insane from grief and horror; then I'll kill you. Slowly. One at a time. And then, finally, I'm going to kill him." He pointed at the Fenton Thermos holding Danny. "But I want your corpses to be the last thing he sees. I want him to have the knowledge that he failed; that he could do nothing to stop me."

He turned to a shadowed area of the cave, and the Fright Knight stepped from the shadows. "Go," Dark Phantom said. "You know what to do. Go and spread your fear, far and wide. But leave Amity Park alone, for now. It's mine."

Fright Knight bowed his head, and said, "As you wish, my liege."

As the Fright Knight left, Dark Phantom glanced back to his captives. Smiling darkly, two rings of light appeared at his waist, and his form shifted into that of a nineteen year old Danny Phantom! The only difference was his eyes were red, instead of green! Glancing at Jazz, Dark Phantom said in Danny's voice, "Just like old times, eh, Jazz?" Laughing loudly, he disappeared in a puff of green smoke.


The Avengers were scattered throughout the Tower, each doing their own thing. Steve, Thor, and Barton were in the mission prep room with Maria Hill, working on their debrief of their mission at the small HYDRA base. Their mission had turned up something useful; the name of HYDRA's new boss. A man named Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker, a former SHIELD agent, (big surprise). They were currently trying to narrow down Strucker's location, which should be easier now that they new his name. Natasha and Banner were in the common area, and Stark was in his workshop.

They were all surprised by JARVIS, who alerted them to an emergency news report from Amity Park. They all gathered around the nearest screen.

"This is Lance Thunder, reporting from our eye in the sky chopper here in Amity Park," came the reporters voice. "What started out as a rare ghost-free evening here in Amity Park has turned into one of terror. Only a few moments ago, the FentonWorks building; home of hero Danny Phantom and family; exploded in a firey blast."

The camera then switched views to show the burning rubble. "The exact cause of the explosion has not been identified," the reporter continued. "And fire crews are trying to keep the flames from spreading to other homes in the neighborhood, but the heavy smoke has made this difficult. As of this time, no survivors have been found, but emergency crews continue to-"

As the report continued, everyone quickly gathered in the mission prep room. Everyone had a disturbed expression. "JARVIS, have you tried contacting Danny?" Steve asked.

"Yes sir, several times," came the reply. "But I have received no reply."

"He should have reached Amity Park by now," Natasha said.

"Then we should go see what happened," Barton said. "Even if he wasn't in the building when it blew, an entire building just randomly exploding just doesn't happen. And of all the buildings in that city? No way."

"Agreed, we must go," Thor said. "Phantom would do no less for any of us."

"All right team," Steve said. "Romanoff, Barton, and myself will go check things out. The rest of you, stay here and keep an eye on things, just in case this is a ploy to lure us into a trap. Let's move out."

"I'll prepare the Quinjet for launch," JARVIS said.


Dark Phantom, now disguised as Danny Phantom, reappeared in Amity Park on the same rooftop he had been on a few moments before. Grinning, he looked out over the city. Like a rocket, he blasted off for his first objective. As he flew, he glanced down to see a large stature of his younger self in front of town hall. The one erected in his honor after saving the world from the Dis-asteroid. He floated in front of it for a moment, the look of disgust on his face morphing into hatred. "Pathetic," he sneered. He then leveled the statue with a single ghost ray, and continued to his destination.

He phased through the ceiling of the Amity Park Police Department, startling all the officers on duty, who were already frazzled and on edge from the explosion of the FentonWorks building. Upon seeing the form of Danny Phantom, they muttered uncertainly to each other. Dark Phantom gazed down upon them, his eyes glowing red. "The days of Danny Phantom protecting this city are over," he announced.

To illustrate this point, he shot a brutal ghost ray into the chest of the officer closest to him, sending them to the floor in a heap. "Take him down!" another officer shouted. A hail of gun fire aimed at Dark Phantom sounded throughout the station.

Dark Phantom laughed maniacally as he turned intangible; the bullets soaring through him. "Nice try!"


The Avengers' Quinjet soared through the air at supersonic speed, cloaked and invisible. The team of Cap, Widow, and Hawkeye landed the jet in an empty parking lot, and headed out on a trio of motorcycles that were customized by Stark. They quickly arrived at the site of the destroyed Fenton household, which was surrounded by firetrucks, ambulances and police cars. The fire had been gotten largely under control.

The trio split up. Cap went to speak to the police, Widow made her way to the rubble to look for clues, and Hawkeye made his way to a nearby roof top to provide any cover in the case of an attack, as well as to get a better view of the surrounding area.

"Tell me what exactly happened here," Captain America ordered the nearest officer, wasting no time.

The young officer looked startled at the sudden appearance of the Super Soldier. He was clearly a rookie. "Wha- Captain America? Here?" he stammered.

"Calm down, kid," Cap ordered, his voice clear and authoritative. "I need answers. Phantom is an Avenger; we need to know what happened.

"Uh, y-yeah, sorry," the young officer apologized. "W-we're not sure yet. The place just exploded outta no where."

"Any survivors?" Cap asked.

The young officers shook his head in response. "We haven't found anyone."

Meanwhile, Widow was examining the scene of the explosion. Something seemed... suspicious about this. Everything was destroyed or burnt to a cinder. But she saw no evidence of bodies. True; after such an explosion, there wouldn't be much left. But there is always something. Human bodies are remarkable hard to reduce to ashes, (as she knew from experience). There was always something left behind. But she saw no evidence. Not to mention that both Danny and Danielle were half ghost.

She strode up to one of the CSI team members on the scene. "Have you found any bodies?" she asked.

"No bodies," they said. "Only trace DNA evidence that someone was here. But not much to go on."

Up on the roof, Hawkeye was looking at the scene. Looked pretty bad. He sighed heavily, but he had enough experience to know when something was off. It looked like a planned explosion; like a cover up. Like whoever did this was trying to hide something. And where the hell was Danny? The ghost was a good friend. If Danny was still alive, and his whole family was gone, he would be devastated, Hawkeye knew. That was something Danny might not come back from.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hawkeye caught a light in the distance. His impressive vision caught a flickering that shouldn't be there. He squinted to try and see further. A fire? "Hey guys," he said over the com. "I think I've got something. Looks like a fire down town. Maybe the two are connected?"

"Copy that," came Cap's voice. "Let's go check it out."


The trio arrived a block away from the source of the fire. A police station was up in flames. "Oh, boy," Widow muttered. Not good. "Any ideas on who did this?"

"A ghost," Hawkeye suggested. "Someone who does not like Danny. Maybe that Skulker guy he's always talking about? He sounds like the type who likes to blow things up."

Without warning, a green shockwave blasted the Avengers to the ground. Cap managed to land on his feet, but Hawkeye and Widow were knocked into each other. "Actually, that was me," came a familiar voice. Danny Phantom was floating above them, his eyes glowing red. The Avengers looked on in shock at Danny.

"Danny?" Cap said. "What are you doing?!"

'Danny' chuckled, darkly. "Let's just say... I've had a change of perspective on life, old man." He fired a powerful ghost ray at Cap, who blocked it with his shield.

"Stand down, Phantom!" Cap shouted. "That's an order! We're not going to fight you!"

"Good," Phantom spat. "That will make things easier. Time to go back on ice, you worthless relic." He rocketed towards Cap, his fists coiled to strike. Captain America lifted his shield out of instinct, but his ghostly opponent phased his fist through the indestructible shield and struck Cap's jaw full on, sending him reeling in a daze.

"Your shield is meaningless and useless against me," Phantom snarled. He then landed numerous blows to Cap's torso. Cap tried to dodge and counter, but everything he threw just phased through Phantom's form. But every blow and strike from the ghost landed with violent and startling speed and precision. Captain America gasped and felt his ribs crack under the onslaught. One more blow from Phantom sent Cap flying and landing on his back.

Captain America shook his head and clutched his side. He was in pain, but ever the soldier, he forced himself back to one knee, ready to continue the fight. He had never seen his ally act this way. He had done plenty of training sessions with the young man before, and even in battle, Danny never fought with such brutality. He looked up and saw Phantom carrying his indestructible shield.

"How amusing," Phantom said, a smile on his face and his eyes glowing red. "I get to kill you with your own shield. Who knows? I might actually keep it as a trophy." As he raised the shield over head to deliver the final blow, a burst of electricity struck Phantom in the back. He flinched and scowled. He spun around and hurled the shield as hard as he could at the attacker. The target was none other than Black Widow, who had fired her Widow Stingers to distract Phantom. The assassin deftly dodged the flying shield in an elegant manner.

"Widow," Phantom growled and flew toward the former SHIELD agent. As he approached her at inhuman speed, his eyes red and his expression twisted into one of murderous rage, Widow simply held her ground, glaring at her opponent. Her expression devoid of emotion with merely a frown, she pressed the Widow symbol on her belt buckle at the moment Phantom reached her.

As soon as Phantom touched her, he howled in agony, and green electricity arced around his form! He recoiled in pain and rage. "A Specter Deflector," he grunted, his teeth bared.

"A little something I added to my arsenal, not too long ago," Widow said, glaring. "Keeps ghosts from touching me."

"I know how it works, cretin," Phantom spat. He glared and smirked at the same time; a frightening expression. "You always were smarter than I gave you credit for. But just because I can't touch you doesn't mean I can't kill you." He lifted his arm to blast her with a ghost ray, only for an arrow to strike him in the shoulder. "Gah!" he snarled, and reached up to pull the arrow from his shoulder.

"Not on my watch, pal," Hawkeye muttered, having regained his senses after being struck by the shockwave earlier. He pressed a button on his bow, and Phantom yelled out in pain as the arrow in his shoulder released a nerve agent of some sort into his system. He fell to one knee, but managed to rip the arrow from his shoulder, and gasp in relief. But the arrow had done it's job in weakening Phantom

"This isn't over," Phantom growled darkly. "We'll meet again. Soon." He vanished in a puff of green smoke.

Hawkeye looked around, nervous. The chemical compound in that arrow was designed by Danny, himself, to take him down, should the need ever arise. Something was way off. Widow helped Cap to his feet, and put one of his arms over her shoulder. "What the hell happened to Danny?" Hawkeye asked, picking up Cap's shield. "Why would he turn on us, all of the sudden?

"That wasn't Danny," Widow muttered.

"What?" Hawkeye asked, confused.

"I'll explain later," Widow answered. "But we need to get back to the Tower. Cap's hurt pretty bad."


After returning to the Tower, the Avengers were disturbed by what had transpired, to say the least. The Tower's anti-ghost protocols were activated, and all the non-essential personnel were sent home. Steve Rogers was in the infirmary, his wounds being tended to. He had several broken ribs, and deep cuts from his brief but violent encounter with Danny Phantom.

"It wasn't Danny," Natasha said to the others.

"Sure looked like him, to me," Rogers huffed from his bed.

"Widow, how are you so certain?" Thor asked.

"His eyes were red," Romanoff replied. "Danny's eyes are green, even when he's angry. It was also the way he moved; the way he spoke. It was Danny's voice, and yet... there was something off about how he strung sentences together. Not to mention he showed no signs of anything close to this kind of behavior before he left. And the Danny we know wouldn't be capable of something like this."

"I agree," Thor said. "It must be some foe that can take another's form. Loki was more than capable of such a farce. It is not unheard of."

"Regardless of who it is that did this, the fact is that Danny Phantom is now wanted for murder," Maria Hill said. "He blew up a home, and killed an entire police department. We need to find him and bring him in, or put him down. Now."

"Natasha, where was the last place you saw Danny before he left for Amity Park?" Banner questioned.

Natasha sighed. "I think... it would be easier to show you," she said. "We need answers, and I think I know just who has them."