It was the 31st October and somewhere in Haggard, a certain Skeleton and a certain dark haired girl were arguing. Again.

"Halloween's for little children!"

"It's the only day when you don't have to where the façade and you're being grumpy about it?"

"I just can't believe Tanith's having a Halloween party. And you have to dress up!"

"You can just go as a skeleton. I'm the one who has to dress up"

"What are you dressing up as, anyway?"

"You'll have to wait and see" Valkyrie smirked as she got out of the Bentley and ran up the steps to Gordon's.

"See you at eight" Skulduggery grumbled and drove off. Valkyrie was busy texting Tanith who had had the remnant removed via the coach-o-bowers. The remnant had died when her body did.

'-See you soon x-' Valkyrie finished texting and shut her bedroom door. Time to get ready.

At eight O'clock Skulduggery knocked on Gordon's front door. Technically it was Valkyrie's house now but it would always be Gordon's house to them. The door opened and Skulduggery gaped at the woman before him. Valkyrie was dressed as a soldier. She wore a helmet that was slightly too big and came down over one eye and an unbuttoned shirt with a crop top underneath. She had tiny shorts on and short boots. To finish it off, Valkyrie had smeared some face paint in two small lines on each cheek.

"Let's go!" Valkyrie said, rushing past him into the Bentley. "Nice costume by the way" she called. Skulduggery was simply wearing him normal suit and hat with a tie that had bats on it. He shook his head and drove them to Tanith's. The party had already started and a few people stared as Valkyrie swaggered in and said hi to Tanith who was with Ghastly. Ghastly was wearing a black suit and his scars gave him the perfect Halloween outfit. Tanith was dressed as a pirate with an eye patch and a dress than was jagged at the bottom.

"You look amazing!" Tanith squealed as she hugged Valkyrie.

"So do you"

The girls started chatting and Ghastly turned to Skulduggery.

"Doesn't Val get cold wearing that outfit?" he sniggered. Skulduggery glared at him.

"I'm buying her an outfit next year"

"Good idea" Ghastly laughed as a boy with straight red hair and a side fringe tapped Valkyrie on the shoulder. She disappeared into the crowd with him and Skulduggery had to resist following after them. As if reading his mind, Ghastly put a hand on his shoulder.

"She knows how to look after herself"

"She most definitely does"

After a few hours of pretending to be enjoying himself, Skulduggery was definitely bored. He spotted Valkyrie sat with a group of teenagers around her, laughing at whatever it was she just said. He wandered over and they looked at him warily.

"Who's that?" the red haired boy from earlier asked.

"My older brother" Valkyrie replied, sticking her tongue out at Skulduggery. He nodded and glared at the nearest person.

"Just ignore him. He's always this grumpy" she laughed before continuing her story.

"You want to go trick or treating?" one of them asked.

"Isn't that kind of babyish?"

"It is until we stop off at the club down the road. Valkyrie nodded and stood up.

"Lead the way" she giggled and waved goodbye to Skulduggery. "I'll be back tomorrow at the latest"

Ghastly chuckled as he watched Skulduggery storm off.

"Next year I'm making her go as a nun" he mumbled as he pushed through the crowd. Ravel was alone and his eyes darted around, looking for some excuse to escape.

"Ravel! Having as much fun as I am I see. Where did Dexter go? He was with you a minute ago" Skulduggery said.

"He was with Valkyrie" Ravel said, shaking his head "I told him she was too young for him but he wouldn't listen"

"Let's see if he'll listen to me" Skulduggery whispered to himself. Ravel and Skulduggery made pointless conversation until about one in the morning when a slightly tipsy Valkyrie staggered in. Her hair was messed up and the boys with her were equally drunk.

"Skulduggery!" she squealed and threw her arms around him. Skulduggery staggered back as one of the boys spilt his drink over Taniths sound system. The music crackled to a stop.

"Damn it!" Tanith cried and pulled out an old karaoke machine. After a few songs, they were running out of volunteers to sing.

"My turn!" Valkyrie yelled and grabbed a microphone. Skulduggery shook his head and a few people sniggered. They were all expecting her to be terrible in her drunken state. The music started and 'Waking Up In Vegas' by Katy Perry blared out. Valkyrie started to sing and Ravel dropped his drink. She sounded amazing. She sang loudly and shook her hips and flicked her hair to the music, dancing like a professional. Fletcher pulled out his phone and started filming to show Valkyrie once she was sober. Valkyrie carried on, unfazed. The song ended and Valkyrie fell off the stage to massive applause Skulduggery caught her and carried her off in a fireman's lift. She punched him weakly but fell asleep before they'd even got to the Bentley. He drove her home and lifted her into bed; shutting the curtains and making a mental note not to go anywhere near her until at least late afternoon. He took off her helmet and put it to one side.

"Night Val" he mumbled as he left through the window.

The next morning, Valkyrie woke up and groaned. A hangover probably meant that she'd done something dumb the night before. Valkyrie remembered the last time she got drunk which involved her waking up upside down hanging from a tree by the beach. A few hours later, Skulduggery tapped on the door.

"Yeah?" Valkyrie was in no mood to be polite. Skulduggery opened the door and wandered in.

"Feeling a bit better?"

"No. Did I do anything really crazy?"

"You sang"

"On damn"

"It wasn't that bad. Fletcher took a video. I think you should see it"

"Show me" And Valkyrie sat next to Skulduggery watching herself jump around to the music.

"Please tell me Fletcher didn't show anyone else this video"

"Only the people that were there saw it. I grabbed this from Fletcher at the first opportunity."

"Thank the lord"

"I don't suppose you're ready for work. There's a new case. A kid about your age has been murdering anyone who annoys him. We don't know what magic he can do but it must be pretty impressive because the last bunch of agents we sent never came back"

"Let me get dressed and I'll be ready to go"

"See you in 5" Skulduggery said as he closed the door behind him. Ten minutes later they were at a shabby looking house in a clearing in a thick forest.

"I'll be right back" Valkyrie said, signalling for him to stay there. Skulduggery went to follow after her but she glared at him. He stood there for a few minutes and just as he was about to go in after her, she came out leading a thin, curly haired boy out into the open. Skulduggery ducked behind a bush as Valkyrie reached up to straighten his collar, but quick as a flash she whipped out a pair of handcuffs and clipped them onto his wrists. The boy howled but Valkyrie was already dragging him to the Bentley and Skulduggery decided it was safe to come out and help.

"What's your power by the way?" Valkyrie asked as they drove to the sanctuary.

"Not telling" he said, sticking out his chin like a little child.

"We'll find out anyway. Tell us now and you'll save yourself a lot of pain" Skulduggery said.

"Fine then. I can make things explode by looking at them. Including people."

"Ew" Valkyrie said, wrinkling her nose.

"I would've exploded you too if you hadn't lied to me" he whined.

"I went in and pretended to be a mortal who had got lost on a day out in the forest." Valkyrie explained.

"What did he say?"

"He asked if I was single" Valkyrie said, shaking her head.

"You are single aren't you?" the boy said and Valkyrie hit him over the head. "Not for you" she replied, sweetly. Finally, they hauled him out and shoved him into a cell.

"Do you think he's related to Scapegrace?" Valkyrie asked as she heard another whining voice beg to be set free.

"Val!" an excited voice cried and Dexter Vex came round the corner.

"Hey Dex!" Valkyrie said and hugged him.

"I preferred the outfit you were wearing yesterday" he whispered so Skulduggery couldn't hear. Valkyrie slapped him playfully.

"I've got to go. Work sucks right?" she said and waved at him. He waved back and continued on his way.

Skulduggery was on the phone as Valkyrie walked back. He nodded and hung up.

"Bad news" he said "A time traveller's opening a portal to try and become Ruler of the World and all that. We need to go stop her" Valkyrie nodded. She started walking towards the Bentley but Skulduggery stopped her.

"I'm going alone on this one"

"No you're not" Valkyrie twisted from his grip and carried on walking. Skulduggery caught up with her and picked her up.

"Yes, I am"

Valkyrie used the shadows to poke him in the stomach.

"Ow" he said, dropping Valkyrie. She smiled and carried on walking. She sat in the Bentley. Skulduggery tried to lift her out and managed to dump her on the pavement but Valkyrie simply brushed herself off and started following the Bentley. Skulduggery shook his head and let her in. It was obvious she wasn't going to give up even if it cost her life. They drove to Aranmore Farm and a crazy looking woman with wild hair and overly large eyes was waving her arms around. A purple-blue hole was appearing in the sky. It was growing larger and larger until the woman noticed Skulduggery and Valkyrie and hissed at them. She threw herself forward to punch Skulduggery but he sprayed her with jets of water. She screamed and lunged at Valkyrie who neatly sidestepped her. The woman lied on the floor.

"Close the portal" Valkyrie snarled.

"It won't close until someone goes through it" she choked.

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery and he came over.

"There has to be another way"

"There's not"

"Then let's throw a sheep through there or something"

"It has to be someone who possesses magic and I doubt the sheep does"

The nearby sheep baaed and moved off to join its friends, and so was a peek moment in the life of Herman the sheep, but that's another story.

Right now, Skulduggery was talking to Valkyrie about the best way to try and close the portal when the crazy woman leapt up and slammed into Valkyrie. With a scream they both fell into the portal. Skulduggery tried to go in after her but it closed instantly. Valkyrie passed out.