Author's note: Hey guys please enjoy, this is also my first fanfiction so no flames please (now I wish i was Vindick Leather)

Chapter 1

He stumbled over a rock, almost losing his footing. If he did, they would catch him, and he didn't want to imagine what could happen to him if they did. Caine Unscrupulous could've teleported if it wasn't for the sigil they had carved into his back before he escaped. It would wear off in time, but Caine had to keep running.

Caine, of course, wasn't running with no plan. Caine Unscrupulous did nothing without a plan. For now, he would keep having to stay away from his pursuers and mime panting and scared looks until he could carry out said plan.

The desirable location was a narrow back alley. Caine pretended he was out of breath and stopped. They approached him, wary of the fact it could be a feint.

Caine leapt into the air as the gauntlet on his wrist glowed and a gleaming sword appeared in his hand. He kicked at the first one, catching him across the jaw, causing him to crumpled. The second one unholstered a gun. Caine grimaced. Why couldn't everyone be like him, guns were cheating, firing from a distance was really unfair.

The first shot narrowly missed his head. Caine was almost offended; why didn't the Church send somebody important, like Crypt, or Teal. Why three unprofessionals who probably had just joined the Church.

Caine flipped off a wall, the hilt of his sword smashing against the guys skull. There was a sickening crack and he dropped to the floor. The last one looked like he was about to try to run. "I'm giving you a chance," Caine said in a strong British accent, "Be like those guys, or go back to your Church."

Like Caine predicted, he turned and fled. "I told you, Valkyrie," said a smooth voice from the shadows, "he didn't need our help."

"I told you, Valkyrie," Skulduggery Pleasant said, "he didn't need our help."

Valkyrie Cain saw young man, maybe a couple of years older than her, emerge from the shadows. He was tall and tanned, with spiky black hair and dark, glinting eyes.

The boy spun around at the sound of Skulduggery's voice. "They sent more of you, eh?" he said, in an accent similar to Fletcher, "Let's get this over with then!"

"Wait!" Valkyrie said, "We aren't trying to hurt you!"

"Well then, tell me who the hell you are!"

Skulduggery stepped forward as his fake face melted away, leaving just a skull.

"The Skeleton Detective," he said, in a less harsh tone.

"A pleasure, as always," Skulduggery said, "You are Caine Unscrupulous, I take it?"

"The one and only," Caine grinned, "So this young lady is Valkyrie Cain. I didn't know you two still worked together. Now I know who you are, I think I can trust you, but what do you want with me?"

"Get in the car and we'll tell you on the way to the Sanctuary."

"Please don't be one of the replacement cars," Caine muttered.

"You've seen the replacement cars?" Valkyrie said.

"Yeah," Caine said, "there was this horrible yellow car, back when he still needed his hat-and-scarf disguises."

When he saw the Bentley, Caine whistled in appreciation.

"Thank god."

They got into the Bentley and as Skulduggery started driving, he began to talk, "Caine, Supreme Mage China Sorrows requested help from you. She is recruiting the most powerful Mages in the world to combat the Church of the Faceless. We have a list, in fact, of the people who we need."

Skulduggery handed Caine as long sheet of paper.

Skulduggery Pleasant. Valkyrie Cain. Caine Unscrupulous. Tanith Low. Fletcher Renn. Saracen Rue. Dexter Vex. Donegan Bane. Gracious O'Callahan. Aurora Jane. Frightening Jones. Dai Maybury. Creyfon Signate. Myosotis Terra. Temper Fray. Richard Melior. Geoffrey Scrutinous. Philomena Random. Flynn Shroud. Calliope Remorse. Jayden Glaze. Crimson Steele.

"I don't know who the last four are," Skulduggery said after Caine finished reading.

"Jayden and Crimson are friends of mine," Caine said, "But I don't know Shroud and Remorse either. But anyway, you said something about the Church."

"Yes, actually," Skulduggery said, "They have been working with a group we know as an anti-Sanctuary."

"Anti-Sanctuary?"

"We don't know their real name," Valkyrie said , finally speaking, "We only know that the members are Nero, a Teleporter, Cadaverous Gant, a Neoteric with a special discipline and a woman named Razzia."

"Gant?" Caine said, "Dammit, I thought I hadn't killed him."

"You've met Gant?"

"Once. But it wasn't a very friendly one."

"Is it possible to have a friendly meeting with Cadaverous Gant?"

"Can we go back to the topic please?" Caine asked.

"Of course," Valkyrie said, "you may have heard of Alexander Crypt. He can drain magic from anyone, dead or alive. We think they may have recovered Azzedine Smoke's body and used his magic. Sorcerers everywhere have been going missing for a few days, then re-emerging as psychos obeying Crypt's every command."

"Caine," Skulduggery said, "please tell us about yourself, like how you eluded the Diablerie, and who Jayden Glaze and Crimson Steele are."

"With pleasure. Sit back, relax and enjoy-"

"Caine," Valkyrie said, exasperated, "just get to the point. It is bad enough having Skulduggery talk all the time."

Caine grinned sheepishly, "Alright then. A week before it started a friend of mine, he was a Sensitive by the way, warned me about a purge of Teleporters."

"Who was the Sensitive?" Skulduggery interrupted, "None of ours saw the threat."

"His name was Lyric Reverse," Caine said, then frowned, "And don't bother trying to find him, he's in a coma."

"How?"

Caine said one word that made Valkyrie go cold, "Darquesse."

Caine must've noticed Valkyrie stiffen when he said, "Don't worry. That was Darquesse, not you. I think it is unfair how you are blamed for what she did."

"It was impossible for anyone to escape. The Diablerie used Sigils to track every Teleporter on Earth."

"That's just it. I wasn't on Earth. I stowed away on a NASA spacecraft."

"Clever."

"I am, aren't I."

"So," Valkyrie said, "Would you mind telling us about Jayden Glaze and Crimson Steele?"

"Jayden is an American Wall-Walker. We met when the British Sanctuary paired us together to track down Cadaverous Gant. We became close friends after that. Crimson and I have a long history. Me, her and Lyric were childhood friends, all from sorcerer families. Crimson is an Elemental but she still carries a gun, sometimes I think she does it to irritate me. But she disappeared a year ago. One day she said she had to find someone, but she never came back."

"Well, that's inconvenient."

"Where are we even going?"

"We have a meeting with the Supreme Mage."

"Ah, Supreme Leader China Sorrows."

Valkyrie frowned, "I'm not sure she'd like to hear you say that."

"And?"

"Good point."

The rest of the journey was in silence, mostly, due to the fact both Skulduggery and Caine were in the car.

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please submit ideas in the comments and remember, this is a SYOC.