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.

Author's note: This chapter is a bit short, but it serves its purpose. As I've said before, I'm not a big Flashpoint fan, so it won't last too long in this story.

As always, thank you all for reading!

Chapter 23: Flashpoint: Part Two

Over the past few weeks, Barry Allen fell into this new timeline with relative ease. Both of his parents were alive. He still had his job at CCPD, so that was good. No crazy meta-humans causing problems, either.

He also hadn't met Caitlin and Cisco, yet, either. In fact, he wasn't even sure they were even in Central City. And, sure, he hadn't developed any sort of relationship with Iris, yet, but that would be easily remedied.

The only problem that troubled him with this new timeline was the war in Europe. But that was beyond his control, and he had no way of stopping a full war between the Amazons and Atlantis. It hurt him to know that there were so many people suffering as a result, but it was beyond his control.

And as far as the Flash was concerned, the city didn't need him. In fact, there was a new Flash, running around and saving the day! Barry found it ironic that at one point, he had even been rescued by this new Flash.

Danny Phantom had tried contacting him several times over the past few weeks, but Barry thought the ghost should relax. Frankly, he didn't understand why a ghost would be so freaked out the timeline being changed.

Which brought Barry to the abandoned warehouse that currently housed his worst enemy. Barry sighed as he entered the building and closed the door behind him. In his hand, he carried a bag full of fast food.

In the center of the dimly lit building was a specially constructed cage designed to hold the Reverse Flash, and counter his speed. Sitting on the floor of the glass and metal cage sat Eobard Thawne. His yellow cowl down, Thawne's blond hair was messy and he had grown out a substantial amount of blond scruff on his jaw that was beginning to resemble a beard.

"Dinner," Barry said dryly holding up the bag of food. He wasn't cruel; he still brought the man food and water.

Thawne turned his head to glare at Barry as he approached and huffed. "There had better be curly fries in there, this time."

"You know," Barry replied. "Human beings can go three weeks without food, so I'd sound a little more grateful, if I were you."

Thawne scoffed as he rose to his feet and leaned on the door of his make-shift cell. "Oh, you wouldn't do that to me, Barry," he said. "After all, you're the hero. Or did you forget that? Too busy leading your reverse 'It's a Wonderful Life'?"

He then chuckled at his joke as he turned from the door and leaned back against the far side of the cell. "Reverse, huh? That's irony for you," he sighed. "So, what should we call this, uh, 'brave new world' that you and your little super pal have whipped up for us, huh? I was thinking... Flashpoint."

Barry sighed in disgust and held up the bag of food. "So you don't want this?"

Thawne's glare was like ice as he stared at Barry. "You may have figured out a way to dampen my speed with this glass cage," he said, ripping the bag of food out of Barry's hand through the bars. "But I will get out of here, and I will destroy your life."

Barry had to laugh at that. "Nope, you won't," he replied and pulled up a crate to sit on. "You're never getting out of here. And, you're never hurting anybody, ever again."

Barry looked at Thawne with a smug expression. "I have everything back that you took from me," he said. "I have everything that Zoom took. I'm finally free. I'm home."

"This isn't your home, Barry," Thawne shook his head. "This is a mirage; a fiction that will end us both unless you let me the hell out of this thing!" He slammed his hand against the cell wall in anger to punctuate his statement.

"Wow," Barry said, unimpressed with Thawne's outburst. "You're not listening, Thawne. Why would I want to get outta here? I'm whole, here."

"And while you sit around and hide like a lost, lonely little boy," Thawne pressed. "Our common enemy is coming for us both."

Barry frowned at Thawne's choice of words. "What common enemy is that?"

"Time," Thawne answered.

Barry rolled his eyes and smirked at that, but Thawne continued. "You might not even be aware of it, but it's already screwing with you and everyone you love, and pretty soon it's gonna take me down right along with you."

"Wow, wow, you've got some nerve, I'll give you that," Barry said, standing up. "Warning me about screwing with other people's lives."

"And he's right."

The sound of a new voice startled both speedsters, who turned to see the glowing green eyes of Danny Phantom floating near the darkened entrance to the warehouse. "And I'm honestly in shock that I find myself agreeing with a fruitloop, like him," Phantom said as he floated into the dimly lit room.

"Danny? What are you doing here?" Barry asked in surprise.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Danny frowned, crossing his arms. "You don't call; you don't write. You stopped answering my texts a week-and-a-half ago. Kinda left me without many options."

"Danny, this isn't the right time for this discussion, okay?" Barry sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"No, this isn't the right time, period," Phantom said, his voice echoing. "In case you haven't noticed, Flash, the world out there is awful! The Amazons are at war with Atlantis; most of Europe has been devastated. There's no Justice League; Superman, Power Girl and Green Lantern are no-shows-"

"Wait, wait," Thawne said from his cell. This was all news to him. "Forgive me, but I've been a little... out of the loop when it comes to current events. But that sounds even worse than I could have thought. See, Flash? Doesn't that bother you? All that suffering?"

"You shut up," Barry pointed at Thawne, who grinned.

"No, no, no," he shook his head. "Even you're little buddy, here, can see what a mess things are." He pointed at Danny, who glared in response. "Even he knows that all of this is wrong!"

"Again; utterly floored that me and him are in agreement," Phantom held up his hands.

"That makes two of us," Barry glared at the ghost. "Look. I'm not blind to the fact that this world might not be perfect, okay? But neither was the old one."

"Barry," Phantom sighed. "I get it; I really do. You've got your family back. And Heaven knows I'd probably be as stubborn as you're being right now, if I were in your place. But you have to see the bigger picture. Take it from someone who has traveled through time on more than one occasion."

Thawne's eyebrows shot up. "You have time traveled, before?" he asked, skeptically.

"Yes," Danny replied tightly, not wanting to speak to the killer. "I prevented a particularly nasty future from coming to pass. And I also know the dangers of altering the past. Heck! I've been in this exact situation, before!

"Look, I won't apologize for reacting on my gut instinct to save your mom from this jerk," he continued, looking at Barry imploringly. "But look what's happened as a result! Thousands of people are dead! Including-"

Danny flinched, and resisted talking about his father, especially in front of the Reverse Flash. "To be blunt, Barry," he said instead. "I'm going to find a way to set things right, and I need your help."

"I can't, Danny," Barry said, his anger growing. "I just can't."

"Phantom," Thawne said from inside his cell. "You seem like a reasonable guy; more than this fool, at least." He glared pointedly at Barry, who returned the sneer.

"I'll be honest with you," he continued. "In my time; the future I come from, that is; you and I never had a problem; never even crossed paths in any serious way. I'm willing to set aside the fact that you played an unwitting hand in all of this, because you, at least, can see what a mess this is."

He leaned forward and gripped the metal bars of his cell door. "Just let me out of here, and I'll set things back to the way they were before," he promised. "Your hands will be clean, and I'll bring you and Barry back to your rightful lives. Everything will be back to normal-"

"You're not going anywhere," Barry yelled at Thawne in anger. He then turned to Danny, who looked slightly conflicted. "Don't even think about it, Danny. Believe me, I don't want to, but I'll lock you up, too, if I have to."

That got Phantom's attention, whose eyes flashed brighter with anger. "Don't threaten me, Flash," he warned, his voice like ice. "You couldn't, even if you tried."

Which honestly wasn't far from the truth; Flash didn't know how to contain ghosts, and there was no ghost hunting technology in this world. Without his parents or Vlad, real ghost tech was virtually non-existent.

"Don't try anything, and we won't have to find out," Barry replied, matching his tone. Thawne watched the exchange with an amused expression.

"Barry, cool it," Danny said. He then turned his glare to the prisoner and started towards his cell. "Now, you-"

"No!" Barry yelled.

In a burst of speed and lightning, Danny found himself rolling to a stop on a nearby rooftop. Danny rose to one knee and glared at Barry, who was now in his Flash suit. "Alright, Flash," Phantom scowled as he ran a gloved hand through his snow-white hair. "If that's how it's going to be."

Phantom vanished from sight as he turned invisible and came up behind Flash with a ghost ray, knocking him down. Now it was Flash who found himself on one knee, looking up at Danny Phantom, who returned to the visible spectrum. He floated above the Flash with his arms crossed.

"Stay down, dude," he warned the Scarlet Speedster.

The Flash ignored the warning, and used his speed to strike the ghost, but Danny was ready, having made himself intangible. Flash skidded to a stop behind Phantom and whirled around to find Phantom in the same place.

"I didn't come all the way to Central City to fight," Phantom said. "But if you insist, I'll just have to kick your butt!"

Danny began firing ghost rays at the Flash, who managed to dodge them with ease. Not being able to reach Phantom while he was up in the air, he began to spin his arms at incredible speed. The result created two large twisters that trapped Danny Phantom inside a massive vortex. The young ghost was sent flying across the rooftops.

Flash then ran up the side of a skyscraper and launched himself at Phantom as he soared past, landing a punch on the ghost's torso. The blow sent Phantom flying, but he quickly recovered in mid-air. As he regained his sense of where Flash was, he saw several bolts of lightning hurling towards him!

"Whoa!" Phantom yelled in surprise.

Below, Flash was running in tight circles and hurling bolts of lightning at the ghost. Phantom was able to dodge the first couple, but he was struck by one in the chest. Phantom yelled out as the electricity ran through him, he was sent out of the air and collided with the street below.

Groaning, Phantom lifted his head to see the Flash running up the street towards him. Accessing his ice powers, he aimed carefully at where he expected the Flash to be next and caught the speedster off guard by coating the whole street in ice. The ground froze before Flash could react and he slipped, causing his momentum to carry him headlong into the side of a parked car next to Phantom.

Flash groaned and fell on his back, laying next to Phantom on the street.

"Wow, I didn't expect that to work," Danny chuckled. He smirked, but then winced in pain and exhaustion from the brief fight.

"Nice trick," Flash grunted, mirroring Phantom's smirk. "Forgot you could do that."

Both heroes slowly and sorely rose to their feet. "Look, Phantom," Flash sighed. "If you're going to try and fix the timeline, I won't stop you. But don't trust Thawne."

"I wasn't planning to," Phantom panted. "I was about to tell him off before you decided to fight me."

"Sorry," Flash shrugged. "I overreacted. I couldn't take the chance of that monster getting out."

The two began to notice that onlookers were starting to notice the two strangely dressed guys who had just duked it out over the city. Flash quickly sped them to a nearby skyscraper rooftop. Flash removed his cowl and looked at Phantom.

"Like I said, if you want to look for a way, I won't stop you," Barry said, his eyes expressed frustration. "But I would like an explanation, though. Why are you so hellbent on putting everything back to the way it was? I mean, you're a ghost; what could have changed so much for you?"

Danny Phantom sighed, once more. Barry noted this sigh was laced with something more than irritation or exhaustion. It was one of a weary soul. He also noticed that Danny seemed to be mulling over something in his mind.

"Barry, I trust you," Danny eventually said, making his mind up about something. "I know your real identity; I guess it's only fair you know my secret."

Barry looked surprised as two glowing rings of energy appeared at Danny's waist and traveled across the half ghost's form. In an instant, Danny Phantom's white hair and glowing green eyes had been replaced by black hair and blue eyes. His black and white uniform was replaced by regular clothing.

"My real name is Danny Fenton," the fifteen year-old introduced himself. His voice was the same, but now lacked the distinctive ethereal echo. "I'm not actually a ghost; not really dead. I just have ghost powers."

"You're a meta-human?" Barry asked, taken aback.

"Not exactly," Danny explained. "I didn't get my powers from your Particle Accelerator; I got them from an accident in my parents lab. Long story."

"So, who else knows?" Barry asked. "Anyone in the League?"

"Apart from my family? Only Batman, so far as I know," Danny shrugged. "And now you."

"Why keep it a secret?" Barry asked, suspiciously. He was starting to realize he didn't really know anything about the person in front of him. He was only a kid. He was also now aware that Danny had been lying to everyone about what he was the whole time. "Why let everyone think you really were dead?"

"Because, I-," Danny sighed, rubbing his neck. "I didn't want you guys treating me any different because I'm a teenager. For the first time in my life as a hero, I was surrounded by people with powers, like me; people who weren't treating me like I was a kid."

Danny walked over to the railing on the rooftop and leaned on his elbows as he looked out over the city. Barry noticed that the kid looked like he was bearing a tremendous weight on his shoulders. He was starting to see him in a different light.

"Apart from my two closest friends and my family," Danny sighed. "The League are the only ones who didn't act out with fear or revulsion when I told them I was a ghost."

"That's why you want to change the timeline back to the way it was," Barry realized. "Something's changed for you, too. Something bad."

Danny hung his head and gazed down at the street below, a far away look in his eye. "While you've been living your dream life, my life has crumbled around me, mostly. My friends are completely different people from the ones I remember. My mother is distant, my sister is unrecognizable to me. And my dad... My father is dead. Killed in the war in Europe."

Barry suddenly felt guilt wash over him. Danny was right; Barry finally had everything he wanted, but Danny had lost almost everything he knew. "Danny, I'm sorry," he said.

"And the worst part?" Danny continued. "My parents never studied ghosts in this new timeline; Danny Phantom doesn't even exist, here. I don't have access to the Ghost Zone, none of my parents inventions, not the Infi-map; nothing that's going to help me get to Clockwork."

"Clockwork?" Barry repeated, not sure what that meant.

"He's the master of time," Danny clarified, turning to face the speedster. "If you don't help me, Clockwork is my only other hope of turning everything back to how it was. Clockwork controls all of time; nothing happens without his knowing."

Danny then sighed heavily. "Ugh, maybe this is his way of punishing me, in some way, for altering the timeline."

Barry looked troubled at the information. "So, this... Clockwork guy controls all of time? Like, the actual Father Time?" This was... slightly disturbing. What did that mean for speedsters, like him and Thawne, who could travel through time at will?

"That's right," Danny nodded. "I first met him before the League formed. He helped me prevent a really bad future from happening."

Barry noticed Danny shudder at that, as well as the emphasis on the word 'bad'. "How bad?" he asked.

"End-of-everything-level bad," Danny said. He hadn't told anyone in the League about what happened with Dark Phantom. But he felt like Barry could understand. "In that future, I'd lost everything and everyone I'd ever cared about, at that point. My family, my friends; all gone.

"In that future, there was no Justice League," Danny continued. "I ended up being taken in by my arch enemy, Vlad Plasmius. He was the only one who understood what I was going through. Long story short, he separated my human half from my ghost half to free me of my pain."

The distant look in Danny's eyes hardened into steel. The memories of what he had seen in that future haunted him. "Unfortunately, that freed up my ghost half from having any soul or remorse at all, and Phantom murdered my human half."

Barry's eyes widened at what Danny was saying. How could any of that be true? "Your ghost half killed your human half?" he repeated. "So, are you two different people sharing the same body; like Firestorm?"

"No, not at all," Danny explained. "It's just me. The science behind what happened is tricky, but Vlad managed to splice me into two different versions of myself. He miscalculated; expecting my ghost half to retain my soul; to simply have two copies of me. He was very, very wrong."

Danny left out the part about his ghost half merging with Vlad's ghost half; seeing as he hadn't revealed to the League that Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius were the same person, for fear of Vlad exposing Danny's identity to the world.

"After killing my human half," Danny continued. "My ghost half was left without any moral compass or inhibition. And over the next decade, Dark Phantom unleashed a reign of terror that left the Earth an arid wasteland and the Ghost Zone devastated."

Danny went on to describe the horror of Dark Phantom's brutality, and his killing off every hero and villain on Earth. Danny then described how Clockwork intervened, and at first seemed intent on killing Danny here in the past.

The young ghost and his friends tracked down the Master of Time in the ghost Zone, and quickly found themselves in the dark future he had described. After being attacked by Dark Phantom, Danny found himself trapped in the future while Dark Phantom went back in time to ensure his creation. After escaping back to his time, Danny confronted his dark future head on, and defeated him with nearly disastrous results.

Were it not for Clockwork, who intervened and revealed he had been helping Danny, all along, Danny's family would have been killed. With Clockwork's help, Danny had prevented the worst possible future from coming to pass.

Barry joined Danny at the ledge of the roof. That was a lot to take in, but he could see where Danny was coming from.

"Now do you understand why I need to find Clockwork?" Danny asked. "He's the only one who can fix things. This is all my fault; and now, this awful timeline is verging on being almost as bad as the one I turned evil in. So many people are dead, Wonder Woman is a tyrant, the rest of the League are nowhere to be found. It's my duty to make things right."

"Danny, this isn't your fault alone," Barry said. "I have equal blame in this; after all, I was the one whose been ignoring you. I could have reversed this whole thing the moment it started, but I chose not to. I was so caught up with having my family back, I couldn't see things for what they were."

Danny looked over at Barry with surprise. "To be fair; I'd be acting the same way. Anyone would. Having both of your parents back in your life? I can't imagine what you must have felt."

Barry looked down at the street below for a moment before meeting the teen's eyes. "So, what do we need to do to find this Clockwork guy?"