newbienovelistRD and Skellington Girl: Cyber cookies and cyber hugs to both of you! You both guessed right! Great job!

Sparkling Lover: Thank you for the review, Amiga! Cyber cookies and cyber hugs to you!

Samz6-2: I had considered Vlad to be Rebecca's father, but decided that Pariah Dark fit the picture better with Rebecca's past having been filled with so much abuse, but still, it was a very good guess, so you get cyber cookies and cyber hugs too. And yes, Danny will make an appearance. And thank you for liking my story.

To all my readers, enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 10: The Dark King Returns

Phantina and Clocktina had come home and Clockwork was in the viewing room. He turned to them. "Rebecca fell asleep not long ago," he said.

"Daddy, why are those sticks so mean to my big sister?" asked Clocktina.

Clockwork and Phantina both chuckled as they remembered Phantina once calling the Observants 'sticks in the mud' and they were thin and looked like sticks, somewhat. So, Clocktina started calling them sticks to show that she didn't like them.

"They simply are too one-sighted to see that your sister needs to be left alone. She's already dealt with so much," said Clockwork.

A scream rang out and they turned to see Rebecca flying towards them with her eyes looking ready to leave her skull. Clockwork caught her as she tackled him and he hugged her, noticing she was shaking. "Did you have another nightmare, Rebecca?" he asked gently.

Rebecca shook. "He knows where I am," she sobbed out. "He's coming."

"Shh," Clockwork said gently. "He won't hurt you again, little one."

Rebecca was still shaking and Phantina held her to comfort her as well and even Clocktina tried to help. Clockwork turned to the time windows and saw something coming, but for some reason he couldn't see what it was.

Suddenly, there was knocking at the tower and Nocturne entered, carrying a severely injured Walker. Behind him was Ghostwriter and Frostbite, both carrying Ember and Skulker respectively who looked as badly hurt as Walker. Then Danny Phantom came, carrying his little cousin Danni, who was also injured.

The Time family immediately began helping the injured and Rebecca used her healing powers to heal them. She was healing Walker when suddenly he spoke.

"Rebecca, you have to run," he said.

She was surprised he knew her name. "How do you my name?" she asked.

"The one I was working for to take you back told me," he said. "He told me you were a runaway and I was going to take you back to him and get a reward. But, when Clockwork came, I realized that you were adopted into the time family and my employer grew angry. He told us to find you, but we couldn't and so he entered the Ghost Zone. We tried to stop him, but he injured us."

Rebecca looked scared as she had a feeling she knew. "Who was it?" she asked.

"Your father, Steven. But when he came to the Ghost Zone, he transformed into a ghost that many of us fear as much as we fear Clockwork."

Danny came up to Rebecca. "I fought him before, but somehow he got out again," he said.

"What is he called?" she asked.

Danny swallowed hard as he was also a bit scared. "Pariah Dark."

Rebecca flew backwards in shock as her nightmare came back to her. Her father becoming a very dark and frightening ghost. It made sense as to why the name sounded familiar when Vortex mentioned he'd rather face Pariah Dark instead of Clockwork.

"My father is Pariah Dark?" she asked, shocked. "Is that why the Observants want me dead?"

Clockwork looked upset. "Pariah Dark tries to rule the Ghost Zone and terrorizes everyone. The Fright Knight serves him," he said. "The Observants no doubt saw who your birth father was and now compare you to him, thinking you'll turn into him."

That made Phantina mad. "How dare they assume that!" she said. "Rebecca has been through so much abuse with him! You saw how she reacts at times! Why would they even hint she would become evil like him?"

Danny looked over at Rebecca, who looked as upset as her adoptive mother. He placed a silver-gloved hand on her shoulder. "It took a lot to defeat Pariah Dark when I battled him," he said. "Although you are his daughter through blood, I think you may be the only person to permanently send him away."

"How?" she asked.

The teen halfa smiled. "I saw how you trained in Pandora's realm. That shockwave is impressive," he said.

"But it's not fully developed yet," Rebecca said. "I don't know if I can fight him."

"Yes, you can," said Clockwork, coming over. "You are one of the family and my daughter, even though we adopted you."

Phantina nodded. "Just like Clocktina, you are our daughter, not Pariah's," she said.

Nocturne now spoke. "Phantana, you are not alone. I will fight alongside you to stop Pariah Dark once and for all," he said. The other ghosts immediately agreed with the sleep ghost and promised to help, but Rebecca knew that the small group wouldn't be enough.

"We're gonna need everyone's help," she said.

"Leave that to me," said Clockwork who immediately sent out a telepathic message to all the ghosts to meet at the Tower. At the time, Pariah was still in the human world, thankfully. Soon, all the ghosts assembled and looked at Rebecca.

"We will follow you into battle," said Vortex and the others cheered Rebecca's name. She was touched at all the support that she then put on a determined face.

"Mom, Dad, do you think I can do this?" she asked, still a little uncertain.

Both nodded. "You can do it and you will succeed with all of us behind you," said Phantina. "Pariah Dark will not stand a chance against us."

Suddenly, smoke filled the tower and Rebecca felt something grab her and she saw a glowing sword and heard Clocktina scream.

"Fright Knight!" Vortex boomed. "Let the children go!"

"Never!" the evil knight cried. "They belong to my master!"

"No!" cried Nocturne as he quickly flew towards the evil knight who flew off on his horse, but the ghost of sleep blasted him with a sleep ray, making both the Knight and the horse fall asleep and Rebecca and Clocktina dropped fast, screaming. Nocturne quickly flew to catch them and caught them in his arms just before a portal opened and they went through.

"NOOO!" Phantina screamed. "Rebecca! Clocktina!"

Clockwork let out a roar of anger, something that startled the other ghosts. He turned to them. "Be prepared," he said. "No one kidnaps my daughters and lives. Pariah Dark will fall."

No one dared to argue with the Time Ghost, but Danny went up to him to offer some comfort to the upset father. "Nocturne is with them, Clockwork," he said. "I may not trust him, but I can see that he really cares about his nieces. He'll keep them safe and I'm sure they'll be back. They just need to find a portal."

Clockwork turned to the halfa. "It may not be that easy depending on where they landed," he said and looked at the time screens to see the three were falling from the sky to snow-covered ground, but they didn't know where exactly they were. Danny looked worried.

"I really hope there's someone who will help them," he said.

"So do I, Daniel," said Clockwork as a couple of tears fell. "So do I."

Uh-oh! Looks like Pariah's coming and the Fright Knight too. Where did Nocturne and the girls land and will they be able to get back? Find out, next chapter!

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GoldGuardian2418