A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first Skulduggery Pleasant fanfiction, I hope I portrayed the characters properly. Spoilers if you haven't finished the series. Tanith is free of the remnant (after a lot of Tanith screaming, Nye cursing and Valkyrie crying). Also, Ghastly didn't die because he is just amazingly awesome.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant or any of the characters apart from Iron Thunder.
Okay. Enjoy Chapter 1 :)
The 12-foot-tall man stomped through the city, his large boots breaking the road. His black eyes glared at all the screaming mortals as he fingered the golden sword. His fingers glossed over the ruby encrusted hilt, the jagged edges of the uncut gems scratching against the pads of his fingertips. That sword was an artefact belonging to the British Sanctuary. It had been stolen last night, and as the giant of a man had escaped to Ireland, Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain were naturally given the task of returning the sword to the British Sanctuary. Tanith and Ghastly had tagged along as well, not wanting to miss out on the fun, and as they stood in the middle of the crumbling road, Valkyrie knew that Geoffrey was going to have a hard time this evening. There looked to be over a hundred mortals gathering around the road, most of them filming the giant man but some of them whispering about Valkyrie and her friends. She knew how strange they must look. Tanith, clad in brown leather and her trusty sword in hand, Ghastly, the misshapen scars he had been cursed with crisscrossing the top of his bald head, Skulduggery, dressed in an exquisite suit and his gun in his hand and herself, decked out in her black protective gear and her glowing shock stick ready to strike. The man approached them. He regarded them warily, taking in the sharp edges of the sword held by the woman and the primed gun held by the man in the suit. He grinned. His first challengers.
Valkyrie ran at the man, gathering the shadows from a nearby alley and flinging them into his eye, leaving him distracted enough to allow Tanith to leap up onto his back and run up to his head. Perched on his shoulders, she nodded to Valkyrie who threw her shock stick into Tanith's waiting hands. Tanith raised the stick and rammed it as hard as she could on top of the man's head. He faltered, and stumbled from side to side, but quickly regained his balance.
"You DARE attack Iron Thunder?" The man rumbled. Iron Thunder… Valkyrie thought. Now that is a weird name.
She clicked her fingers and threw the fireball that appeared in her palm at Iron Thunder's chest, keeping him focused on her while Tanith moved to slice his throat. Valkyrie joined Ghastly in hurling fireballs while Skulduggery shot bullet after bullet. Iron Thunder flailed his hands and grunted in pain as a bullet pierced his left arm. Valkyrie jumped backwards as the tip of the stolen golden sword whistled past her, but she didn't dodge fast enough from the gigantic fist that punched her in the stomach, knocking all the wind out of her and sending her smashing into a nearby building. Valkyrie groaned. Her clothing had absorbed most of the blow, but she knew that she'd still have a huge bruise tomorrow. She heard faint mumbling and a soft buzzing sound that she assumed to be the screaming and panicked mortals, who were shocked at how the young girl was alive and crawling to her feet. Valkyrie shook her head, trying to regain proper hearing. The buzzing was clearing, and through the haze she heard a woman scream in shock. "STEPHANIE!" Valkyrie whipped her head around, her hearing returned, and she spotted her distraught mother and her confused father dashing towards her. Oh hell this not how I wanted them to find out. Valkyrie pushed at the air and gently moved her parents back into the crowd of mortals, instructing them to stay put for now. She dashed back towards Skulduggery who quickly checked that she was okay, before accepting her nod and moving away to continue firing. Valkyrie glanced back at her parents one more time before re-joining her friends in the fight against Iron Thunder. Tanith had stealthily positioned her sword against his neck, and at Skulduggery's nod she quickly pulled, slitting Iron Thunder's throat and ending the battle. She jumped down and turned to her friends. "Well," Ghastly remarked, "That didn't go as planned. Weren't we supposed to question him or something?"
Tanith shrugged. "Doesn't matter now, right Val?" Tanith looked at Valkyrie's expression. "Val?"
"My parents…" She whispered, pointing at the two mortals who were quickly stumbling towards them.
"Right. Well I'm not explaining!" Skulduggery said, then slipped behind Ghastly as Valkyrie gave him her trademark glare.
"Steph! You… you were thrown into a wall! And the shadows, and the fire… You pushed us! With… the air! And you're supposed to be with Alice! We left her with you! But you're here-" Desmond Edgley was cut off by his daughter.
"Mum, Dad, I haven't been honest with you. I'm…" Valkyrie sighed. How can you explain years of training, multiple near-death experiences and dangerous adventures with your friends in a couple of words?
"I'm magic," Valkyrie said, smiling and clicking her fingers.