And so, it had been seven years since that fateful day, when Amity Park turned their backs on their hero. Life was much harder, now. Sure, there was still Valerie and the Fentons to take care of ghosts, but they weren't as good as Phantom was, and the amount of ghosts that plagued the town doubled, each more dangerous than ever. And now, Vlad had sent his Masters Blasters once again, and the citizens had to pay twice as much as before everytime they were saved. The pain of having Danny gone gradually lessened for Tucker, Sam, and Jazz, now in their twenties, but it was still there. The citizens of Amity Park were starting to wish their precious hero would come back, the ghosts were getting bored yet more malicious, and all the students who had known Danny felt bad for having been so careless to him, especially those like Dash and his gang. Maddie and Jack took it the hardest. After Danny left, and Jazz, Tucker, and Sam began to fully explain things, they were left almost-dead after the huge hurricane of guilt hit them. The realization that they had attacked their own son and sent him away with a heavy heart and a feeling of neglection swept them away like a tsunami. They stopped working on inventions, they lost their youthful appearance, and they moped around the house in a depressing state. At least Jazz had some comfort that she had stood up for her brother, but now Tucker and Sam would have to carry the guilt that they had turned their backs on their friend for as long as they lived. Everyone was hopelessly convinced that Danny Phantom would never return. Until he did.

It was another average ghost attack, nothing new. Oh, except of course that this time, Valerie and the Fentons were being held hostage by them, the Masters Blasters were being taken to the hospital on account of serious injuries, and all the ghost weapons anyone could find had been utterly destroyed. Which meant that no one was protecting the town. Which meant that Amity Park had to fend for themselves against these ghastly intruders. Which meant that, to put it simply, they were doomed.

The citizens ran around in circle, screaming their heads off that the end of the world had come at last. The unknown ghosts floated above the scattering crowd, cackling and blasting ecto-beams at them, as if they were no lower than ants. Sam and Tucker were running along with everyone else, trying to find any type of weapon they could get their hands on, all in vain. They, too, were getting a sense of hopelessness. It seemed all was lost.

"Hey, uglies, why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" Or was it?

The entire crowd literally stopped and turned in the direction of the voice. Sam and Tucker turned too, and they eyes nearly popped out of their heads. Sam's mouth opened and closed in disbelief, much like a fish would do, until she suddenly shrieked,

"DANNY?!"

The crowd gasped. All of Amity Park gasped. Even the Masters Blasters, who were watching what was happening on TV in the hospital, gasped. For indeed it was Danny. The crowd awkwardly stepped nearer to the figure that had shouted his command, hope slowly but surely coming back to them. Could this be? Had Danny Phantom finally returned?

Danny Phantom, however, took no notice of them. Instead, he, along with three other ghosts (who whizzed by so fast that no one could interpret who they were), flew at full speed towards the evil spirits. They formed into a well-practiced circle around the ghosts, and slowly circled around them, trapping them in while they showered them with ecto blasts. The ghosts shrieked in agony and slashed out at the group with their tentacles, whipping each of them down. It was now that they were on the ground that the crowd got a good look at them. Everyone recognized Danny, of course, who didn't look very different from when they last saw him except that he was taller and more muscular (he still had the same haircut that gave him away), but there was also a blonde guy in a biker outfit, a girl with short-cropped green hair in a red leather jacket and mini-skirt as well as black ankle-high boots and fish-net tights, and finally a pregnant blue-haired girl clad in black leather pants and boots but a comfortable-looking black cotton shirt that hid her stomach. An unknown green-haired little boy in a baseball attire peeked out worriedly at them, but remained next to the two shiny, black motorcycles that Danny Phantom and his gang had apparently arrived in.

Though the blow had hit them roughly, the four quickly shook it off and flew up towards the ghosts again, carefully avoiding their tentacles this time. The crowd stood in amazement as they watched their long lost hero and his new team beat the ghosts to a pulp. They could tell that Phantom and his team were getting tired, but Phantom suddenly shouted "Amy! Take 'em down!" to the blue haired girl, and the remaining three heroes created a distraction while 'Amy' sneaked behind the evil ghosts and out of nowhere pulled out a soup thermos. She opened it and sucked the monsters in. Once their shrieks ended, she quickly clamped the lid shut, smirking at the smoking thermos in glee. The team grinned at their success and walked forward to congratulate each other, when a sudden burst of cheers made them freeze.

Amity Park had errupted into cheers and whistles, clearly thankful that this ghost team had gotten rid of the villainous ghosts that had attacked them. Phantom instinctively pulled the pregnant blue-haired girl closer to him, and the green-haired girl and blonde guy looked around in confusion at the ecstatic crowd. But it was Sam who squeezed her way between the crowd and walked bravely to the person she thought she had lost forever.

"Danny?" she repeated meekly, as if she didn't believe he was really standing in front of her, solid flesh and blood. Danny blinked, and realization suddenly dawned upon his face.

"Sam?" The gothic girl nodded, glad that Danny had not forgotten her after all.

"Danny?" called another voice. They looked over to find that Maddie, Jack, Valerie, and Jazz were freed now that the ghosts were gone, and were walking cautiously but eagerly towards the one they thought was never to return. Danny frowned slightly at them, but as soon as he saw the orange-haired young woman that was his sister, his face broke into a smile for the first time.

"Jazz." He said her name tenderly, and she noticed this and ran forward without thinking, straight into Danny's arms. He 'oofed', but did not push her away. Everyone took that as a good sign, and silently breathed a sigh of relief. Sam reached forward to embrace him too once he let go of Jazz, but to her surprise, he backed away. She stopped, hurt and confused at his actions.

"Danny," she said, almost pitifully, "Don't...don't you remember me?"

For a moment, a ghost of a smile seemed to cross his face, but to their dismay, his next words were, "Yeah, I remember you. You're the one who turned her back on me."

Sam flinched, clearly hurt and guilty by what he said. It was then that Danny noticed his parents and Tucker, standing awkwardly on the sidelines.

"So," he said in an almost bored-sounding tone, nodding at them, "We meet again. Where are the guns, huh? Don't you want to destroy me?"

They all shrank at the coldness of his voice, but were all aware that Danny had every right to say those things. Maddie cleared her throat, and when she spoke, her voice quavered,

"Danny, what we did was wrong, and we know that. But...we forgive you."

Here, Danny snorted.

"You forgive me? I have nothing to be sorry for."

Maddie ceased talking as soon as she realized she had said the wrong thing. Sam's eyes watered.

"Danny, we're the ones who are sorry. Please, understand."

"Why should I?" he spat. "You didn't understand me."

"Just, please, forgive us!" Sam pleaded desperately. "You forgave Jazz!"

"Yeah, well, unlike you, Jazz tried to defend me. She stood up for me. But you? Of course not!"

Sam flinched at the harsh implication of his words, but just as she was about to speak, some brave soul from the crowd shouted, "Who are you?"

Danny smirked, and outstretched his arms to indicate his team.

"We are Team Independence. Why? 'Cause we don't need anyone other than each other. You should all remember me as Danny Phantom, but I go by just Phantom now. That," pointing to the blonde guy, "Is Johnny, or Johnny 13. That," pointing to the green haired girl, "Is Kitty. And this," holding the pregnant blue-haired girl closer to him, "Is my wife, Amy. Or, as you probably know her, Ember McLain."

Now, knowing that Johnny and Kitty, two of Danny's enemies, were on his team was shocking enough. But the fact that his wife was Ember McLain? Now that was just too much.

"You married Ember McLain?!" Sam schreeched in a sudden fury. "Ember McLain?! The one who tried to kill you, the one who almost wrecked our friendship and tried to take over the world, Ember McLain, the bitch?!"

After her heated rant, Sam suddenly found herself on the ground. It took her a while to process that Danny had pushed her. He now stood over her, glaring.

"Don't. You. DARE. Call. My. Wife. A. Bitch," he said through gritted teeth. Sam could only blink, frightened by his reaction.

"I've had enough of this place," Danny said angrily. "We're leaving. Youngblood," shouting to the green-haired kid in the baseball outfit that still stood next to the motorcycles, "Start up the bikes!"

Youngblood did as he was told, and the motorcycles started up. However, they died just as soon as they had started.

"Youngblood, I said start the bikes!" Danny repeated, apparently fed up.

"I can't!" Youngblood called back. "They broke down!"

"What do you mean, broke down?!" Danny asked angrily, marching over to the motorcycles along with Johnny. The two men checked the motorcycles inside and out, but the results weren't exactly pleasant. The vehicles had indeed broken down. Danny growled out furiously, and looked at his wife helplessly. "Now what do we do?"

Kitty looked at the blackening sky. "It's getting dark," she pointed out. "We need someplace to stay."

"But the bikes broke down," Danny repeated the obvious. "How are we going to get anywhere?"

"How should I know?" she cried indignantly. "You're the leader here, think of something!"

"You could stay with us," Jazz suddenly piped up, interrupting their conversation.

"Under the same roof as Maddie and Jack?" Danny asked her incredulously, as if it were the craziest thing he had ever heard. Maddie and Jack winced at the fact that Danny had used their first names, and not that nicely either. Jazz, however, was persistent.

"Sure," she urged. "At least until you get your bikes fixed." She pointed at the dark sky. "I also have a feeling it's going to rain." The air did have that kind of feeling. Danny opened his mouth to protest against Jazz's offer, but Ember pulled him aside and whispered something in his ear that made him reconsider. He looked back at his once family and sighed.

"Fine," he agreed, earning smiles from them, "But as soon as we get our bikes fixed, we're out of here. Period."

Maddie and Jack got in the Fenton RV after hooking up the motorcycles to a tow line on the back of their truck, and beckoned for Team Independence to enter the RV as well. Sam watched with scrutination as Kitty and Johnny clambered inside with Youngblood, and her gaze hardened as she watched Danny help Ember into the vehicle with great care and gentleness. He looked at the crowd, who gazed right back at him, before his eyes finally landed on Sam and Tucker. His gaze lingered on them for a moment, before he sighed and climbed in after Ember. The Fenton RV took off.