Epilogue

TIME SKIP

S.H.I.E.L.D. HEADQUARTERS ANALYTICAL ROOM

"Superheroes? In New York? Give me a break!"

"These so called heroes have to be held for the destruction done to the city. This was their fight. Where are they now?"

"What? That this was somehow their fault? Captain America saved my life. Wherever he is, wherever any of them are, I just wanna say thank you."

Fury looked at the screens as the Senator Boynton berated the Avengers for Battle Damage caused. Sighing, he went to the Council chambers as Hill came to the viewing station and told him.

CENTRAL PARK

"You know, you never did tell us what you had done to make the GIW pass that rule, Danny." Bruce said as they sat down at the park. It was a week after the Battle and they were chilling out before seeing Thor and Loki of back to Asgard. Danny had turned back after they had apprehended Loki and taken him back to the Helicarrier, this time, putting him in another steel cage and Danny had put a coating of Ice around it, surprising Thor and the others as his green eyes turned blue and he shot the ice that came from his hands. He had laughed it off in the Shawarma joint later on that same day, when he had told them some of his adventures.

"I don't really know how it happened, Bruce. I just woke up one day and went out for a flight and they shouted up and told me to get on the ground or suffer from experiments. I think it must have been the fight from the day before that had done it. I was fighting Skulker and somehow the fight had wandered over to their 'secret' headquarters. The Mayor had even approved of the rule and had agreed to have shields put up around the City Hall." Danny told him, arm snaking up to his neck and he rubbed it, looking up and smiling at Bruce as he added, "My cousin will want to know what happened here. He's got a thing for stuff like this."

"Your cousin must be proud to have an Avenger as family then." Bruce said, leaning his head on his hands as Danny snorted and said, "If I can keep my secret from the town for three years, I can keep it a little longer from my cousin."

"I don't mean to pry and you don't have to answer if you don't want to. But in the lab, when we were arguing, you just stood off to one side and didn't say anything. And when I confessed that I had tried to commit suicide, you looked traumatised by something I had said." Bruce said, running his hands over his hair and gripping the back of his head as Danny bit his lip and shook his head as he took a deep breath and looked at the sky. The sun was shining that day as he began his tale of an adventure he had had in the past. He had met his evil jerky future self and had fought him, whilst trying to get a grip on what had happened in his timeline that had created this monster. As he spoke, he grew more like the teenager he was and he huddled up as he told the man beside him that his future self had travelled to the past and was going to attempt to create himself in the past. That had resulted in his parents, friends and teacher to get tied to the boiler in the city's restaurant, The Nasty Burger, and then during the fight that had ensued between present and future, they had died, only to be saved by the one who had warned him about the future, Clockwork.

"So you had to become an orphan to become evil?" Bruce said, looking at the teenager as he nodded and said, "It didn't happen straight away. Apparently I had to go and live with a friend of my dad's. My human self was torn with grief and sorrow as I lived there so I asked Vlad to rip out my ghost form and the negative emotions with it. He did just that and because both of my forms were merged together, I would feel it even harder in my ghost form. Anyway, after that had happened, my ghost self was angry at being ripped out and had retaliated by doing the same thing with another Half-ghost like me and overshadowing the ghost half, ultimately becoming the most powerful ghost in existence. As he flew out, my human self died and he became Full-ghost and evil."

"That's something we'll have to watch out for in the future then, isn't it?" Bruce said, looking at Danny as he smiled and looked ahead, saying, "I may have eagle eye vision in ghost form but I can't see all that well in human form."

"What are you saying, kiddo?" Bruce asked, looking in the same direction as Danny jumped up and said,

"I think the others have arrived."

With that, they walked away to the arranged meeting place, where everyone else was waiting to say goodbye to Thor and let him take Loki back to Asgard. The place had been blocked off by the agency that had united them as a team and they were making the best of the peace that had come with the final result. Danny hated to think what it would have been like if they had lost.

Looking at the team as they approached, Danny saw Loki handcuffed and gagged and being led by Thor and the others, Selvig carrying a case, which he guessed carried the Tesseract inside. Going over to them, they parted and Danny went over to Natasha as she beckoned to him.

"How're you going to back to Amity?" She asked, looking at the bound and gagged 'God' as he glared at them all. Danny shrugged and said, "No idea. My cousin lives near here so I might drop in there for a few minutes, see him."

"I doubt they would like it if you just dropped in, Danny." Clint said, looking at him, "We can take you back home, if you want."

"Thanks guys, I'd appreciate that." He said, smiling as he spotted Thor looking at him and going over to the thunder god and asking, "During this whole adventure, I felt the power coming from that cube and the Sceptre. I know it has something to do with me, but what?"

"I cannot answer that, Danny." Thor answered, looking out at his brother and back at Danny, and adding, "I will ask my father when I return to Asgard. He was the one who sent me here, so he may or may not know."

"Guys, we're ready when you are." Tony said, as Danny opened his mouth to answer and they moved to complete the circle as Bruce Banner put the Cube in a cylinder that Thor held and sealed it shut, shutting off the power that it gave off. Going to each of them, he said his goodbyes and shook their hands, giving Selvig a hug in goodbye, Danny saying, "If you're back on Earth, Look up Fenton Works in Amity Park. My friend would have loved to meet you."

"I will, young draugr." Thor replied, clapping him on the shoulder and beaming. Going into the middle of the completed circle, Thor held out the tube with the cube in out to Loki, who grabbed it reluctantly and Thor twisted his end and they disappeared in a swirl of blue light, going up and fading with the light.

Splintering off, Natasha and Clint went to SH.I.E.L.D. cars, from which they grabbed their bags and split apart, Bruce going with Tony Stark, Steve Rogers on his Harley Davidson, Danny with Natasha in a S.H.I.E.L.D. car and Clint in the last one. They all parted. For now.

S.H.I.E.L.D. HEADQUARTERS ANALYTICAL ROOM

Fury stood facing the World Security Council as they debriefed the Director and asked where the band of Heroes were.

"Where are the Avengers?" one of the Council asked, Fury looking in his direction and answering with, "I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts. I'd say they've earned a leave of absence. And they have earnt it, I would say."

"And the Tesseract?" another member, a woman, asked

"The Tesseract is where it belongs: out of our reach."

"That's not your call." The first council member argued, leaning forward in annoyance as Fury tried not to snap at him.

"I didn't make it. I just didn't argue with the god that did. Or the ghost that wanted it gone." Fury explained, looking at him calmly. He really hated these meeting's when they came about.

"So you let him take it and the war criminal, Loki, who should be answering for his crimes? And what about Phantom" the same council member asked, deadpan tone in his voice

"Oh, I think he will be. And Phantom is also being watched. In both forms." Fury said, crossing his arms and looking at the member square in the eye as he replied, "I don't think you understand what you've started. Letting the Avengers loose on this world. They're dangerous."

"They surely are. Some more than others. And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it. And every Dimension knows it." Fury said, thinking of the Phantom as he had explained his powers and even gave a demonstration of some of them the first day he was on the carrier. Out of all of them, he was the youngest and the most experienced with fighting and he wasn't even twenty yet.

"Was that the point of all this? A statement?" a third member of the council chimed in, arms going to her chin and resting her head on her fists as Fury shook his head and said, "A promise. And a warning to the worlds out there. Mess with Earth, you mess with the Avengers Initiative."

And with that, Fury walked out and ended the conference, towards the bridge, where he was met with his right-hand agent, Maria Hill. Walking towards the window, Hill voiced her concerns about the fate of the world, "Sir, how does it work now? They've gone their separate ways, some pretty extremely far. We get into a situation like this again, what happens then?"

"They'll come back. When that time comes, we will need more allies than ever. Who knows what will happen then. I sure as hell don't and if there's someone out there who does, it'll be Danny Phantom."

"You really sure about that?" Hill asked looking at her superior as he did the same.

"I am." Was his answer. Hill had complete faith as he repeated, "I am."

"Why?"

"Because we'll need them to. Hill, we will need to disband the GIW if Phantom is going to be one of the Earths mightiest heroes." He said, looking at her as she nodded and said, "I'll get right on it, sir."

DANNY

'Amity's changed a lot.' Danny thought as they pulled up in front of a house. In actual fact, he had changed a lot in the past month. He had grown out his hair to his shoulders and he looked at the world with a heroes intelligence and mind frame, whereas before when he had just saved the people of Amity Park and was well known in the area, he was now known as an Avenger. Looking down at his arm, he felt the sharp pain form the energy blast. A Chitauri soldier had gotten in a lucky shot during the fighting and now it was bandaged and in a sling. If he moved it the wrong way or was crushed, it hurt and he felt sick. Feeling the jerk of the car, he pulled out of his thoughts and saw that they had truly stopped.

Stepping out of the car, Danny looked around his home town in surprise and wonder as he looked at his home. Natasha stepped up to him as he turned around and bit his lip, saying, "I'm sure it'll be fine, Danny. Don't let it get to you and let any of us know if you need any help with the GIW, okay?"

"Thanks Nat. That really means a lot." Danny said, taking a deep breath and gulping before saying, "How the hell am I going to explain Fentons disappearance though. The town doesn't know Fenton and Phantom are one and the same."

"I would say that your ghost half needed help with your human half. It's basically the logical thing to say to the town." Natasha said, grabbing hold of his good shoulder and adding, "If you want me to come in, I'm more than happy to. It's no big deal if you don't want me to."

"Thanks and would you?" Danny said, looking at the house as pedestrians looked their way, which he noticed, "You may as well. People are staring at us."

Laughing, Natasha nodded and they stepped up to the house when Danny noticed another car in the driveway. Looking at Natasha as she drew out a gun, he shook his head and said, "My Aunt, Uncle and Cousins are here. What the hell are they doing here?"

"Beats me," Natasha said, holstering the gun and stepping up to the door and knocking, "They probably wanted to see you come back to Amity."

"Nah, they hardly ever come here. We always end up going to their house, where Dad ends up boring them to death with talks about ghosts, or chasing my cousin around the garden because he's convinced that he is overshadowed." Danny said, staring at the car in puzzlement.

"That was one time, Danny." Came a second voice as they looked around and saw a blonde-haired teenager the same height and age as the youngest Avenger who smiled and hugged his cousin, who hugged back just as tightly, looking confused at Natasha who smiled and looked behind the cousins and saw Mr Fenton looking at them as if he didn't recognise his son, who looked at him and broke the hug with his cousin and ran over into his arms, surprising him and hugging him back, smiling and looking at Natasha and saying, "You're welcome to come in, Agent Romanov."

"Thanks, but I'd better let Danny tell you his adventure with us." Natasha said, smiling and stepping away from the door as the blonde looked towards Danny and back again, before looking at Mr Fenton, who nodded and broke the hug with his son, who turned and waved at Natasha as she stepped away from the door and went back to the car, getting in and started the engine and driving off, out of the city that was haunted.

Back at Fenton Works, Danny stepped into his bedroom and saw the mess he had left it in. Looking at his desk, he threw the bag onto his bed and sat down on his chair, smiling in relief. A soft knock came before his sister, Jazz, came through and saw him, screaming and running to him, crushing him in a hug and kissing his head as he yelped and squirmed to hold his arm.

"Jazz, My stupid arms hurting. Be careful, would you?" He yelled through the pain as she stepped back and stood there sheepishly apologising. Face softening, he got out of the chair and gave her a hug in return, this time when she returned it, she was gentle as she asked what had happened in New York.

"I don't really want to talk about it, Jazz. Not with Ron here. He'll be jealous." Danny said, as said boy came bounding in the room and jumped on the bed, demanding to know where he had been and who he had been with.

"I was in New York, Ron. Helping a group of people fight." He said, thinking about the Chitauri as he said that. His throat clammed up and he made a strangled sound, before shutting it and running out of the room, Jazz running out after him as he locked himself in the bathroom and sat by the toilet, vomiting. He could hear his sister hammering on the door, wanting to be let in and shouting for their mother or father as he heaved again and spat in the toilet, getting up and rinsing his mouth out and looked in the mirror, seeing a pale and clammy person in the reflection.

"What happened?" his mother's voice said. She sounded concerned and worried.

"I don't know, Aunt Maddie. One minute, he was fine, then he just paled and ran from the room." Ron's voice answered, sounding sorry and fearful, "You don't think that it had something to do with what happened in New York, do you?"

"Danny, you ok?" His mother asked, soft knocking accompanying her question. He washed his face and stepped up to the door and unlocked it, opening it and stepped out to face his family who bombarded him with questions. Shrinking back, he looked at them all and shook his head, hugging himself as Jazz bit her lip and engulfed him in a hug, saying, "Its ok, Danny. We won't bug you if you don't want us to talk about it."

Smiling, he looked up at his mother as she wrapped her arms around him as well. Looking her shoulder, he saw Ron looking out of sorts and broke the hug and went over to him, biting his lip as his cousin said, "That bad?"

Looking down, Danny nodded and felt his mother's hand on his bad shoulder, wincing at the pain and looking at her as she snatched her arm away in apology, muttering "Sorry."

TIME SKIP

"What are we going to tell Sam and Tucker, mom? I promised to tell them when Danny came home." Jazz said, looking at her mother after seeing Danny to bed and shutting the door. The teen hero hadn't said a word since he had ran from the room earlier that evening. Ron had also gone up to bed, leaving the elder teen and Maddie and Jack in the room. Looking at her husband, Maddie sighed and said, "I honestly don't know, Jazz. I think we'll have to take it slowly with him. Slowly introduce him back into ghost fighting. Apart from that, I really don't know."

"That's easier said than done when the ghost's keep on coming." Jazz said, looking at the door to their laboratory and the portal down below.

"We'll shut it for now. Give Danny time to come to terms with being a world-wide famous hero." Jack said, looking up at the stairs and the bedroom at the top of them as whimpers came from it and drifted down to them, soon turning into shouts and screams.

Jumping up, Jazz, Maddie and Jack ran up to his room and threw open the door, Jazz running to the thrashing boys side and shaking him awake. Tears coming out of his eyes, he latched onto his sister and cried mutely as Jazz looked at their parents and said, "We'll definitely need to take it slowly with him, mom, dad. He's got PTSD."

Maddie nodded sadly and looked to Jack as he too nodded and approached his kids, gently wrapping them into a hug and cradling his son as he slowly fell asleep again, tear's streaming down his face as his breathing evened out and slowed.

Breaking the hug with his daughter, Jack put the sleeping teen back into bed and tucked him in again as Jazz and Maddie backed out and waited for him to join them, saying, "We will call Sam and Tucker in the morning, tell them to take it slowly with him."

"And the Portal?" Jazz asked, looking at her mother as she answered with, "That will be shut and locked. No ghost can open those doors."

'And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born-to fight the foes no single superhero could withstand! Through the years, their roster has prospered, changing many times, but their glory has never been denied! Heed the call, then-for now, the Avengers Assemble!'

THE END!

Hey guys, just my last author's note for this story. First of all, I would love to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has followed me through this. I am very, very happy and proud to call this a story, even when I was having doubts about my self during the writing. At some point, I will be doing the sequel and putting it up, but for now, I just want to say a huge, huge, huge THANKYOU! To all of you.

Anyway, I would love to say a huge thank again and I'm gonna leave this Authors note and go to bed. It's 00:41 over in England and I am bloody knackered.

Thankyou and goodnight.

Hermione Jean Burton xxxx