The tall, skinny man stood under the tree, avoiding the majority of the rain. He could have just manipulated the water around himself but didn't bother. The rain that did penetrate through the foliage landed on his hat, a black so deep it could barely be distinguished from the surrounding darkness. The sound of his phone broken the deafening silence. Dipping a bony hand into his pocket he brought out a phone and flipped it open.

"Hello," he greeted the caller in his usually velvety voice.

"Hey, Skul-man, you need to get to my place now. Bring that girl with you. I'll explain when you get here." was all that was said before the phone was disconnected.

Finbar's regularly tone of voice had been replaced by a one of panic. The only times that Skulduggery had heard him sound like that had been during end of world scenarios. End of the world scenarios weren't surprising to him, but still he never looked forward to them. He slipped the phone back into his pocket and walked to his car, a 1954 Bentley Continental r-type, one of only 208 ever made, he would tell this to anyone who asked.

Before getting in he manipulated the water of his coat and away from him, to avoid ruining the inside of his precious vehicle. The drive to Haggard was event less, though he that would end when he got to his destination.

He parked the car around the block and walked back to her house, manipulating the air to keep the rain off this time, then manipulating it to raise him to the roof of her house. He was quite thankful to the darkness for hiding him. He leaned over the edge and gently rapped his knuckles on the glass of her window. The sixteen years old girl looked up from her desk, and if it had been a few years earlier she would have screamed. Seeing a living skeleton hanging outside your window could be considered scary by some. After seeing him almost daily for three years, she just grinned when she saw her partner. She got up and walked over to open the window. When the window was open he didn't enter, though. He just sat on her roof not moving.

"Skulduggery? Are you just going to sit out there and get soaked or come in and talk?" there was no response. Skulduggery hadn't moved the slightest bit. She turned to see what he was looking but saw nothing. Turning back she saw Skulduggery almost shaking in fear. Her entire vision turned a blinding white. In this new world there was herself, Skulduggery, a huge set of double doors, and a grinning shadow. It was on the shadow that Skulduggery's eyes were locked.

"It seems we meet again Mr. Al-che-mi-st."

"Truth, you know I can't have opened the gate because you have taken it from me, and there are none in this world, so what are we doing here?" Skulduggery said, rising to his feet from the crouching position he had been in on Valkyrie's roof.

"No, but someone else did. Anyway I am sending you back, and since someone else opened the gate to move you I must give you back this." the thing, Truth, said as another set of doors appeared to their left. This set was elaborately carved with what looked like thousands of elaborate circle with varying designs.

With the appearance of the gate Skulduggery shuddered from the return of the science to him. "Know that I have that back, I wish for two facts that should be included in the deal. Who open the gate to retrieve Valkyrie and me and where are we going?"

"Both of those questions will be answered upon your arival, and coincidently, your return. I do believe, however, that she requires some knowledge before you go." Truth said, acknowledging Valkyrie's presence.

The gate behind Truth opened and thousands of black hands reached for her, pulling her toward it. "And don't worry of a toll, this is of no charge to either of you." Once she was inside the gate closed and her head was filled with so much information it could burst, though all the info was about her past and of her family history, nothing that could be of any importance. Eventually all the info caused her to pass out.

When she awoke she was lying on a cold stone. Looking up she saw that she was surrounded by a large group of gun-holding people dressed in blue army uniforms. All the guns were pointed at her on the ground.

"Hell, not this again." she muttered.