Disclaimer: All rights go to the respective owners of DC Comics and Nickelodeon/Butch Hartman. The author of this story owns nothing; this story is for fun, not profit of any kind.
Chapter 21: Countdown
Weeks had passed since the incident in Central City and the Justice League became aware of several super criminals joining forces against them. In that time, several similar incidents occurred in other cities, and the growing list of adversaries working together became larger and more dangerous.
The Legion of Doom now consisted of Vlad Plasmius, Lex Luthor, the Reverse Flash, Captain Cold, Heatwave, Scarecrow, Catwoman, Sinestro, Solomon Grundy, Deathstroke and Cheetah.
The League had been working non-stop in an effort to stop these criminals. For Danny Phantom, this was made very difficult. Vlad had confronted Danny personally and threatened to reveal the teenager's identity to the world if he so much as breathed a word of his being Vlad Masters to the League.
Which, normally, Danny would have shrugged off. But with so many lives on the line, he was backed up against a wall. And it was eating him alive. Currently, Danny was outside eating lunch at his school with Sam and Tucker.
"I tell you guys, I don't know what I'm going to do," Danny said between bites of his sandwhich. "Between the stress of not being able to tell the League about Vlad and everything else, I feel like I'm going to explode!"
"I feel you, dude," Tucker said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "And it makes me glad I'm not in your shoes."
"What are you going to do, Danny?" Sam asked, concerned. "I mean, I know you don't want to tell the League about you being, well, you. But, you'll have to, sooner or later. I mean, what about when you hit a major growth spurt? You're not going to stay a scrawny 15 year-old forever! And they're going to notice when you get taller."
"I know, I know," Danny sighed. "I just don't want them treating me like I'm a kid! Or kicking me out of the League because I'm a kid! I mean, I'm finally surrounded by people who don't treat me differently because I'm a teenager; they treat me like I'm an equal!"
"That's because you've been lying to their faces," Tucker pointed out bluntly. "Aside from Batman, everyone thinks you actually are a ghost! And the best part? They actually buy it! They are gonna be so ticked off when they find out!"
"Not helping, Tuck!" Danny frowned.
Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice...
Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman were gathered around the large circular table in the meeting room, looking over several holographic reports on the Legion of Doom's activities. As Batman brought up another hologram, a glowing Egyptian ankh appeared and filled the room with light, causing the JLA members to wince in surprise.
Dr Fate stepped through, the long golden cloak billowing around the form of the powerful master of magic. Fate seemed troubled; more distracted; staring off distantly into nothing. It was then, after the bright glowing ankh vanished, and everyone clearly realized that something was... different about the good Doctor.
Dr Fate's shoulders were slumped, and he seemed forlorn. What little could be seen of his eyes could see worry and... fear. "I am... distressed," Dr Fate finally said. "Recent events are escalating to the point where even the Lords of Order have no answers. I wield the power of fate, and yet... I have never felt so powerless."
"And how are you holding up, Kent?" Wonder Woman asked, concern lacing her voice. She knew, as did the other members of the League, that the burden of the helmet could take a heavy toll on it's wearer. Even glimpsing fate could bring madness.
Dr Fate leveled her deep glare at the Amazon. "You speak to Nabu," Dr Fate clarified harshly. "Not Kent Nelson." While wearing the helmet of Fate, the bearer's mind was linked to the spirit of the helmet, Nabu, and could then wield the power of Fate, forming a sort of symbiosis. On occasion, Nabu would overwhelm the wearer.
Dr Fate then shook his head as though clearing it. "Forgive me," he said. "A momentary lapse. Sometimes, Nabu can become... touchy, when agitated."
Dr Fate paused for a moment before continuing. "I- I have come to warn you all," he said. "A storm is approaching. Soon. But I cannot decipher the cause. Something great and terrible. Even I will be powerless against it." The Justice League glanced at one another, now very concerned. Whatever Dr Fate had seen had upset him deeply.
"We're well aware of the threat that the Legion of Doom poses," Superman said firmly. "We'll stop them."
"I am not talking about such petty rabble," Dr Fate replied. "What is to come, no one can stop..."
"What's coming?" Batman demanded. He knew better than to ignore anything that Dr Fate says.
"The end," Fate replied gravely. "The end of everything, do you understand?All that we have known will cease, and I do not know the cause! An event that will come fast, and soon. Like a bullet speeding towards time, itself. But that is not the trouble part. I cannot see beyond that final moment. I cannot see the future! It's like standing on a ledge and seeing nothing beyond!"
In a flash of light, Dr Fate disappeared withing another glowing ankh, leaving the three heroes shaken...
Several Days Later...
Alarms were blaring. Chaos was running rampant. The sound of occasional explosions roared. The Earth shook.
The Hall of Justice was under attack.
The attack came without warning, as the Legion of Doom appeared seemingly out of nowhere. It seems that they had succeeded in creating a teleporter of their own. The battle raged outside the Hall, which had been damaged and several fires burned from within.
Lex Luthor had constructed a mechanized combat suit, and was currently trading blows with Superman. Luthor's large green and purple battle suit was able to allow him to almost match Superman in strength, as well as having a variety of weapons, including lasers, missiles and a gun turret on his shoulder. High above, Green Lantern and Sinestro were clashing, the light from their constructs lighting up the night sky with flashes of green and yellow.
Through all the chaos, Flash was chasing Reverse Flash in a high speed battle. From the pair of speedster's perspective, the battle around them was frozen in place. The two raced faster than they had ever before.
Inside the Hall, Wonder Woman and Cheetah were locked in a fast paced duel, each trading and blocking move after move without stopping. Cheetah's razor-sharp claws collided with Wonder Woman's gauntlets, and the Amazon kicked away her attacker. Cheetah gracefully landed on her feet before dashing away into the shadows.
"Surrender, Minerva," Wonder Woman said, calling her foe by her true name. She slowly made her way through the dark corridors of the Hall, her keen eyes scanning every inch before her. She kept her shield raised with one arm, and her lasso the other. Her sword had been lost earlier in the attack. "This need not end in more violence."
From the rafters, the glowing eyes of a predator watched her prey. "The Goddess demands Amazon blood," she hissed. "And your blood, she shall have!" Pouncing, she raised her razor-sharp claws and growled as she and her Amazon foe grappled. Her skin covered in spotted fur belied her impressive strength and speed. The long brown hair on her head whipped around as she increased the speed of her strikes against Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman was on the defensive, which was rare for her. Cheetah's claws raked across the skin on her shoulder, drawing blood. Minerva's claws were imbued with dark, twisted magic. Wincing, Wonder Woman changed tactics and stopped trying to match every strike and move with them, instead.
Rolling backwards, Wonder Woman grabbed her foe and flipped Cheetah over her, which caught the feline villain off guard. She struck the ground hard and a resounding snap could be heard as her shoulder was dislocated from the impact. Hissing in pain, the villain nonetheless rose to her feet and forced her shoulder back in place.
Her enemy tried not to show weakness, but Wonder Woman could see her enemy was injured. And that presented a target. Diana dropped her shield and unfurled her lasso once more and goaded Cheetah into attacking again. As Cheetah charged, Diana slid underneath and wrapped her legs around Cheetah's own, tripping her up. At the same time she used her lasso to tie a knot around Cheetah's wounded arm and wrestled her to the ground.
Despite her struggling, Cheetah was unable to overpower the Amazon and roared in anger as Wonder Woman grabbed her other arm and bound her tightly, before quickly doing the same to Cheetah's legs,leaving her immobile. That was one down...
Deeper in the Hall, Hawkgirl was stalking prey of her own. Deathstroke had injured Hawkman severely when the assassin caught the pair by surprise, and now Hawkgirl was out for blood. The two had clashed previously during the mass breakout in Gotham, back when the League was newly formed. 'Round two,' the Thanagarian warrior thought to herself.
"Been looking forward to this for a while, now, haven't you?" Deathstroke taunted from the shadows.
"You've no idea," Hawkgirl murmured. She made her way into the hanger bay. At least she had plenty of room to fly, now. Hearing a familiar sound of metal ringing out, she deftly rolled out of the way as Deathstroke dropped from the rafters, sword drawn.
Pointing at the tip at Hawkgirl, he said, "Had a few upgrades since our last go, Tweety-bird."
Hawkgirl gave a feral sneer and charged the assassin, her mace aiming for his head. Her mace's short reach put her at a disadvantage compared to Deathstroke's sword, but her raw strength made up for it. All she needed was one small opening to take his head off, and he knew it.
She kicked him away with a solid blow to the torso and quickly tossed several small knives at him. With ninja-like quickness, he dodged the knives and pulled out a small pistol and fired at Hawkgirl, who took to the air to escape the barrage of bullets. It was going to be a long night...
Batman made his way into the Monitor Womb. He had already dispatched Scarecrow quite easily. Inside the Monitor Womb, he found a familiar leather-clad figure at the consoles. "Catwoman," he said. "Step away from there. I won't ask again."
"Oh, Batman, really," she said. She turned toward him and gave a seductive wink. "When has that stern, commanding voice ever worked with me? And that one night on the roof top doesn't count!"
Batman frowned and made his way across the room to her. "Selina," he said, his voice softening slightly. "Why are you throwing in with the Legion? You aren't one for team work."
"What can I say, gorgeous?" she asked, slowly sauntering up to meet him halfway. "Money talks."
"Is that the only reason?" he asked.
"Maybe; maybe not," she shrugged. She traced one clawed finger across the bat symbol on his chest. Leaning in close to his lips, she whispered, "Maybe this kitty just likes our little game of cat and bat?"
"We both know that's not the game you're playing tonight," Batman said. "What are you really after? I want answers, Selina."
Scowling, Catwoman backed away from Batman. "Oh, you're never any fun," she pouted. "If you want answers, why not ask him?"
Whirling around, Batman saw Vlad Plasmius floating behind him. Before the Dark Knight could react, Vlad shot a pink ghost ray, which struck Batman in the stomach. "Well, well, the Dark Knight, himself," Vlad said, grinning. "I've often wanted to match our skills."
"You'll get your chance," Batman growled as he rose to his feet. Tossing a smoke charge to the ground, he grappled up to the ceiling, only to be met by one of Vlad's duplicates, who cut his grapple line. Surprised, Batman barely landed on his feet.
"Oh, don't bother with your cheap theatrics, Batman," Vlad's duplicate laughed. "I'm not superstitious, and as you can see, I'm well aware of your tricks!" The duplicate merged with Vlad and grabbed Batman by the collar. "I'm a ghost; and you don't have anything on your toy belt that can hurt me!"
"Care to bet?" Batman scowled, and lifted a small canister and sprayed a red mist into Vlad's blue face.
Vlad immediately yelled out in agony, and began to take on a misty red aura. Vlad fell to his knees and Batman stood over him. "That mist contains concentrated blood blossom extract," Batman said. "I don't think you'll be going anywhere for some time." After his experience with Undergrowth, he had contacted Poison Ivy, who had told him about the rare flower.
Vlad snarled at Batman as he lay on the ground in agony. Batman moved to land a punch to the ghost when a whip caught his arm and spun him around. "Selina, I don't want to do this," Batman growled as he strained against her whip's hold on his arm.
"Sorry, honey," she said. She smiled like a predator stalking her prey. "I won't give you a choice."
Batman freed himself from her whip and the two clashed. Plasmius, meanwhile, rubbed his face, trying to relieve the pain. The mist had diluted most of the blood blossom's effect, thankfully. But it was still agony. He rose to his feet and shakily ran out of the Monitor Womb. Cursing to himself, the half ghost snarled. He had planned for much, but blood blossoms were not something he had accounted for...
Danny Phantom and Power Girl were busy outside fighting off Solomon Grundy. "Grundy kill!" the zombie yelled.
Power Girl and Danny blasted Grundy with their heat vision and ghost rays, respectively. The effect caused a gruesome stench to waft off of the zombie. "Geez, this guy stinks," Power Girl commented, as she dodged one of his blows.
"Oh, tell me about it," Danny said. Danny was starting to feel fatigued, as earlier in the evening, he had been fighting several of Vlad's minions before the attack on the Hall of Justice. He wasn't at full strength. Danny knew this was part of the Legion's plan, as Danny's ghostly abilities made him a power house. The constant, intense fighting was wearing the teen down.
Nearby, Superman had tackled Lex Luthor through a wall. Superman landed on the chest of the Luthor's armor and glared down at him. "It's over, Lex," the Man of Steel said.
Lex looked up at his enemy and huffed. "Is this any way to treat your guests, Superman?" he asked.
Superman narrowed his eyes. "Seeing as how you crashed the party, I'd day we're even," he answered. Suddenly, a large energy beam from Luthor's chest piece blasted Superman off of him and through the same hole they had created. He followed the blast up with several massive fists to the Man of Steel. Superman caught the two massive fists, and were locked in a test of strength. Using the thrusters on his back, Luthor gained leverage and began backing Superman up.
"You're smarter than this, Luthor," Superman said as he strained against his enemy. "You're not usually this sloppy."
"Your kind attracts their kind," Lex said, tilting his head to the war going on behind them. "In a world of heroes and villains, I'm simply the humble industrialist caught in the middle. Soon, the world will see that I, Lex Luthor, am the true savior it needs!"
"Oh, you're anything but humble," Superman answered. He had used the opportunity of Lex's boasting to use his x-ray vision to scan Lex Luthor's armor for any weak spot. Using his heat vision, he sliced through several small spots on the armor's joints, causing the entire thing to fall to pieces!
Falling to the ground in nothing but his jumpsuit, Lex looked up in shock! "You- you'll pay for this!" he cursed.
Crossing his arms, Superman replied, "Knowing you, Lex, it's insured."
"Superman, it kills me to admit it," Green Lantern said over the comlink. "But I could use some help."
Glancing up, Superman saw that Sinestro had begun to overwhelm Green Lantern. Casting one last look at the defeated billionaire and flew up to assist his ally. Lex watched as the alien fool flew, and smirked.
The battle for the Hall of Justice raged on. In the air, Superman and Green Lantern were fending off Sinestro. Superman attempted to use his heat vision on Sinestro, who raised a yellow shield construct to block.
Sinestro was about to retaliate, when an unusual sound filled the air, that immediately grabbed the three flying combatants attention. An unusual, harsh, mechanical hiss appeared above them. Sparks began to appear and sputter out of seemingly nowhere before fusing together as though something was forming.
"Now what are you up to, Sinestro?" Green Lantern angrily questioned Sinestro, who gazed up with equal confusion.
"I assure you, Jordan, I have nothing to do with this phenomenon," the Yellow Lantern sneered back at his enemy.
The sparks suddenly stopped, and a massive, swirling red portal appeared above them! Swarms of dozens of humanoid creatures with wings began to spill out of the portal, and began to attack everything in sight! Sinestro, Green Lantern and Superman suddenly found themselves fighting a mutual enemy!
"What the hell are these things?!" Green Lantern shouted, as he and Sinestro used his power ring to blast away several of the creatures.
Superman used his heat vision to burn away several of his own attackers. "Parademons!" the Man of Steel shouted back.
Down below, the Justice League and the Legion of Doom found themselves forgetting their quarrel and were attempting to fight off the onslaught of parademons. "Heads up, everyone," came Batman's voice over the League's comlink. "Our Boom-tube generator was damaged in the battle. We have a bigger problem on our hands than the Legion. Portals are opening all over the city!"
"This is just the first wave," Superman shouted as he grabbed one parademon and spun it around like a baseball bat. "They're paving the way for-"
His sentence was cut short by two jagged red beams erupting from the portal as the parademons moved out of the way. One of the beams struck Superman and drove him straight into the pavement below. The other beam collided with the combined construct shields of Sinestro and Green Lantern, striking them both out of the sky.
From the portal slowly emerged Darkseid, Lord of Apokolips. The massive humanoid appeared to be made out of stone; a wall of granite-like muscle clad in blue and purple armor. His arms clasped behind his back, giving off the air of pure confidence and arrogance that comes with a being of his immense power.
"Behold, weaklings," Darkseid announced, his massive, deep voice bellowed across the city. "You're new master has arrived! Pledge your pitiful lives to me, and you will be spared! Resist, and you will beg for the sweet release of death!" He slowly floated to the ground, and Power Girl immediately confronted him.
"Didn't learn your lesson the last time you came here, you stone-faced freak?" she challenged.
"Kara Zor-El," Darkseid said. "I will break you for Granny Goodness, for I am your new god, woman!"
"Nobody talks like that to Power Girl!" she scowled. She unleashed her heat vision at Darkseid, who in turn unleashed his Omega beams. His Omega beams overwhelmed her heat vision, and the kryptonian was blasted across the ground, creating a large shockwave as she landed near her unconscious cousin.
Danny watched in shock. So, this was Darkseid. He had seen videos of his battle with Superman and Power Girl on TV in the past. But seeing him in person was much different. Standing at a nearly nine-feet tall, this guy radiated pure, raw power. Darkseid's aura was one of pure evil. The last time he had seen anything close to this level of evil and raw power was his once evil future-self, Dark Phantom.
Despite this, Danny's heroic streak didn't dim. "Hey!" he shouted. "Pick on someone your own size- er, someone half your size!"
Darkseid slowly turned around to glare at the fool who dared to speak to him. Scowling, he responded, "I am confronted by a mere child? What sort of being are you?"
"Danny Phantom," the half ghost responded, bravely.
Narrowing his eyes, Darkseid raised one arm before and as he gestured to Phantom. "On your knees, fool," he growled. "Or I will grind your bones to dust!"
"How about option C?" Danny shrugged. "How about I kick your butt all over this city?"
"Your lack of fear displays ignorance, not bravado," Darkseid said. In answer, Danny Phantom blasted two green ghost rays from his fists, striking Darkseid's torso. However, Darkseid didn't budge; he didn't even flinch!
"Challenge accepted," Darkseid said. Keeping his hands clasped behind his back, he unleashed his Omega beams at Danny Phantom.
Danny yelped and turned intangible, sinking into the ground, and causing the Omega beams to strike the ground. As the smoke cleared, Danny Phantom rose from the ground unharmed. Darkseid tilted his head slightly in surprise. There were few who could avoid his Omega beams. Such beings rarely survived to tell the tale, however.
"Density shifting?" Darkseid rumbled. "A parlor trick that will not save you!" He began to make his way towards Phantom, when Superman and Power Girl flew in to attack Darkseid, causing the ruler of Apokolips to forget about Danny Phantom.
Lex looked around, thankful that the parademons hadn't noticed him. Yet. He had to get out of here. Lex began to make his way for cover, when a stray blast of Power Girl's heat vision sliced through one of the massive pillars that lined the outside of the Hall of Justice!
Lex gasped in horror as the pillar collapsed into rubble, and he jumped out of the way to try and avoid the debris, but his legs were pinned beneath several several large chunks. His legs weren't broken, thankfully, but he was in pain and trapped. Yelling out a curse, he raised a hand to one ear. "Thawne! I need assistance!" he yelled.
A moment later, the Reverse Flash appeared in front of Lex. How the speedster got away from his adversary, Lex had no idea. Reverse Flash took in the sight and snickered. Lowering his cowl, Thawne crouched down in front of the billionaire. "My, my, Lex," he chuckled. "Quite the predicament we've gotten ourselves into, haven't we?"
"Don't just stand there, help me, you twit!" Lex sneered, in no mood for jokes.
"Save your breath, Lex," Thawne sneered, his voice taking on the familiar vibration of the Reverse Flash. The speedster rose to his feet and gazed around at the chaos. "This was a mistake. No, rather, a miscalculation. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a speedster to kill." A light seemed to go off in his head, all of the sudden.
"No," the speedster said. A deep scowl crossed his face. "No, I'm going to do so much worse than kill him..."
"You- you're just going to leave me here like this?!" Lex shouted in disbelief.
Looking down at Lex, Thawne shook his head and raised his cowl once more. "Sorry Lex," he said. "But to me, you've been dead for centuries. You've all been dead for centuries." In a gust of red lightning, Reverse Flash left Luthor alone and trapped.
Flash had subdued numerous prademons with the help of Snart and Rory, when the Reverse Flash tackled him from behind. Flash managed to kick Thawne off of him and he two rose to their feet. "What are you doing?!" Flash shouted. "In case you haven't noticed, they're after all of us!"
Reverse Flash grinned. "You know, Barry," he hissed. "At first, I came here with the intent to kill you. But then, seeing everything starting to go south, a new idea dawned. I imagine it's what Picasso or Da Vinci felt like when inspiration struck!"
"You're out of your mind, Thawne," Flash said.
"Some might call it differently sane," Thawne grinned. He and Barry slowly circled each other. "Fifteen years ago, I killed your mother! I ran a knife through her chest! But you still became the Flash!"
Thawne ran one gloved hand through his blonde hair in exasperation. "No; not this time," he continued. "I don't care if I get trapped in this hell-hole of a time period for the rest of my life! I'm going to ruin you!"
He then let loose a barrage of blows to Barry's torso, a crazed look in his eye. "This time," Thawne snarled, his voice vibrating dangerously as Barry fell to his knees. "I'm going to kill you, Barry. But not before I kill your mother and father in front of your eyes." He delivered a brutal kick to Barry's stomach, causing Flash to double over.
"Not before I slaughter Joe and Iris!" Thawne ranted as he grabbed Barry's collar and slammed his fist across his jaw. "I'm going to run back in time to that night, and I'm going to make them all suffer! And then, I'm going to erase you from the timeline, once and for all!"
In a blast of red lightning, Reverse Flash ran out of the Hall of Justice, leaving a shaken Flash to get to his feet. "No!" Barry roared.
"Flash, what's wrong?" Hawkgirl shouted, running into the room. She had lost sight of Deathstroke when Darkseid's parademons invaded. The Flash didn't answer, instead running after his enemy, the tailwind nearly knocking Hawkgirl off her feet.
Running to catch up with his enemy, he found Reverse Flash racing around and around the perimeter of the Hall of Justice, trying to build up enough speed to tear open a portal to the speed force.
Nearby, Danny Phantom had frozen several parademons, leaving Darkseid to Superman and Power Girl. However, a stray blast from Darkseid's Omega beams caused the ground at Danny's feet to explode, and the blast sent Danny careening into the blur of red and yellow lightning!
At that exact moment, an undulating circle of white light burst into existence, and the two speedsters disappeared within, only Danny had been caught up in the burst! Feeling weightless, with no clue as to what was happening, he grabbed onto whatever he could and held on for dear life!
In an instant Danny Phantom and the two speedsters rolled to a stop on a dimly lit street with fallen leaves dotting the ground around them.
Immediately, Reverse Flash got to his feet, as did Flash, and the two speedsters took off down the street. Danny felt woozy, but stood up and looked around. 'Now where the heck am I?' he wondered. He saw the familiar flashing of red and yellow lightning dashing around a nearby house.
Wasting no time, Danny flew to the house as fast as he could. From outside, he could hear screaming from inside. Turning intangible and invisible, he flew through the front door and was met with a sight of sheer chaos. Red and yellow streaks of lightning blurred at incredible speed all over the house. It seemed to be everywhere at once!
"Mom! Mom!" a young boy no more than 11 years old yelled over the cacophony. A man was kneeling next to the boy trying to protect him.
"Nora!" the man yelled.
A red haired woman was kneeling helplessly in the center of the room, clearly terrified as she screamed and reached out to the child and the man. A whirlwind of red and yellow circled her and created a tornado-like effect of red and yellow.
"Barry!" the woman screamed.
Barry Allen was fighting for everything, right now. His very existence and the lives of everyone he cared about were on the line. So the Flash ran. He ran as hard as he was able to. Both he and his ultimate enemy, Eobard Thawne, were locked in the showdown of their lives.
He and Reverse Flash were moving so fast as they battled throughout Barry's childhood home that even their past-timeline counterparts who were circling Barry's mother seemed to be moving in relatively slow motion.
They both landed serious blows, and every time Thawne made a move for either Barry's mother or father, Flash was there to respond. No words were exchanged. None were needed, any longer. Intent was clear: Move fast, or fail.
And for these two rivals, opposites, reverses of one another; failure was not an option.
The Flash had noticed his original timeline self had grabbed his childhood self and escaped the house, just as he had before, leaving the original Reverse Flash behind in the house.
Barry wasted no time and grabbed the Thawne from his time and ran him upstairs. Barry pinned his enemy against the wall of his childhood bedroom. All of this happened in the blink of an eye; faster than even the original speedsters could notice.
"I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else in my life!" Barry hissed at his enemy.
And then, oddly and without warning, the Reverse Flash stopped vibrating as the Flash held him against the wall, and Barry noticed a look of shock and confusion cross his arch enemy's face beneath his yellow cowl...
Danny, who was still invisible and had not made his presence known, was trying to decide on the best way to approach this situation. He had never exactly dealt with two angry speedsters, before. He looked at the child and the man who Danny presumed was the boys father, and decided his first priority was to get them to safety, and then try and get the woman out of there.
Before he could act, however, one of the speedsters circling the woman broke off and grabbed the little boy and was gone in an instant, leaving the man who had been with the boy unconscious on the floor!
"Barry!" the woman shrieked. "No!"
'Wait, did she just say, 'Barry'?' Danny thought. 'Isn't that Flash's real name? What is happening, here?'
Danny saw the remaining speedster, who was clearly the Reverse Flash, stopped and looked around, his eyes blazing red. He then turned his attention to the sobbing woman and picked up a large kitchen knife and stood before her.
Danny Phantom, having no earthly idea of what was happening, or the situation he had found himself in, acted on impulse. Seeing the Reverse Flash, not knowing it was the wrong Reverse Flash, the half ghost became visible once more and shouted, "Hey! Stop!"
The Reverse Flash jumped at the sudden shout, and whirled around just in time to be blasted by twin beams of green, ghostly energy. Reverse Flash yelled in shock as he roared back into the wall, and slumped to the ground, unconscious!
Upstairs, in Barry's childhood bedroom, the Flash's eye's went wide as the Reverse Flash he had pinned against the wall began to turn see-through, and suddenly vanish! "Wha-?!" the scarlet speedster gasped. What had just happened?! His heart thundered in his chest and his breathing as he suddenly realized that his still heard his mother whimpering downstairs.
Wasting no time, he sped down the stairs to see the form of his unconscious father laying on the floor and his- his mother?! She was still alive! He then noticed the unconscious form of the Reverse Flash, also laying on the floor next to a nasty dent in the wall where he had impacted. But how?!
"Flash!" came a voice that definitely didn't belong here.
Flash looked over in complete and utter shock to see Danny Phantom floating on the opposite side of the room. "You- what have you- how did you-?" he panted, nearly hyperventilating. However, the whimpering of his still frightened mother caught his attention, and Flash slowly made his way to her, raising a hand for Danny to stay back.
"Please, no, please, no," she whimpered, terrified and having no clue as to what was happening.
"It's okay," Flash tried to reassure her soothingly. He slowly crouched down in front of her. "I'm not going to hurt you. No one's going to hurt you."
His soft voice seemed to calm her down, slightly. The shock of everything still coursed through Barry's mind, but despite himself, he actually smiled as tears filled his eyes. A new realization bled through the shock and filled his mind.
His mother was alive!
That phrase began to repeat itself over and over in his mind.
"You're safe," Barry said, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and joy. He spoke those words his not only to her, but to himself. She was safe.
And suddenly, to Barry Allen, that was all that mattered...
To be continued...
Author's notes:
Alright, first off, I know, I know it's cliche and dumbly obvious to have Danny be the indirect cause of Flashpoint, but there's more to it, as you'll see in the next chapters.
Secondly: In my story, as I've stated in previous chapters, Zoom already happened, but Barry never went back in time to save his mother after he beat Zoom, like he did in the TV show.
Thirdly: Last chapter, several people seemed to get very, very upset with me for giving Vlad ghost-sense. Which made me laugh, honestly. No, I don't need a refresher course on the series. It's my story, my rules. And I say all ghosts can sense each other, even Vlad. End of story. Same goes with my giving Danny the vague ability to read auras. I think it's cool, and doesn't detract from the source material, at all. If people don't like that, too bad. I won't apologize for writing these characters the way I do.
Also, if certain parts in this chapter seemed rushed, it's because I needed Flashpoint to happen. I just was unsatisfied how the story was going. It felt like it was dragging, and I just wasn't happy with it. I needed there to be a fresh start, if I'm going to tell the stories I want. So, that's why it happened now. That's also why it took so long for me to get this chapter out. I was frustrated with the story, and I wrote several versions, several times. It became clear to me that it needed to happen this way.
In any event, just know that if there is a stretch between updates, that doesn't mean the story has been abandoned. The passion never fades, but I do, from time to time.
Thank you all for reading, and a big thank you for everyone who took the time to leave a review!