Notes: Thank you to all that reviewed, I'm glad no one has flamed me yet!
Shakespeare
"You will be brilliant!"
She huffed, "That's what you say."
"Only because it is true," He said, "You've acted through real situations before, Valkyrie. Remember the friendly Torment? You did quite nicely to entertain him."
"That was only because I didn't want to die yet, and you agreed!"
"Yes, I did, but only because I had a plan." He shrugged, "We're lucky that it even worked."
"Whatever."
"But let's not get off-topic, shall we? Here," Picking up the script that had been laid on the table, Skulduggery flipped through pages until he found a page that satisfied him. He offered the book back to Valkyrie and stepped back, "Read that."
Valkyrie scanned the page quickly and looked up, smiling, "You have to be kidding, Juliet says those lines?"
"Yes."
"What?!"
"What's wrong with a couple of lines?"
"These people are crazy! Do they constantly talk to themselves?"
Skulduggery sighed, "You're horrible at Shakespeare."
"Thank you, I intend to be."
"Believe me, it is better than Macbeth--"
"You said it!" Valkyrie pointed fingers.
"... What?" Skulduggery stared at the girl.
"The Scottish Play," she said, "You said it!"
"It'll do no harm to me, I'm already dead." He folded his arms and leaned against Gordon's study table. Skulduggery pointed at his brunette partner, "Read."
2:45 PM, the play was almost over, and Stephanie Edgley was starting to hate her normal life more than usual. As much as she loved horrible, dramatic deaths, the costume she was wearing is too much.
It was pink, and frilly--no, that was the other dress. This dress, however, was a wedding dress. A wedding dress. She must admit that it has a nice structure however, and felt very comfortable since it was a one piece gown. It was cream, complete with long gloves and a top hat (haha--what?). Her dark hair had been tied into a neat bun, and because she hated make-up, she had declined the make-up artist's offer of prettying her up. The only flaw about her costume was her boots, tucked under her dress. Stephanie never liked heels.
Still, it was a dress.
Her part was coming up, and she readied herself.
Go. Her mind said, and she took a step forward. A gloved hand grabbed her wrist and Stephanie was pulled back behind the curtains.
"What--" It was Skulduggery, a finger to his lips.
Valkyrie tried to speak again, but he only pulled her deeper backstage.
"We have to go." He said.
"But I have a play to finish, wait, the reflection!"
"Perfect, I'll call it."
"Wait!" The brunette said, "Didn't we send 'me' with Tanith to London? I'm applying to Oxford, remember? She's probably at an interview at this very moment."
"Stephanie Edgley, you're on!" Cried the director and peeked back out the curtains, "Whatever you're doing, do it now and get on stage! I don't know how much longer the boys can improvise--who's that?" The director had turned back and noticed Skulduggery, in his disguise of course. She was just... staring.
The skeleton detective noticed his partner's clothes and drew back, "I thought you were taking part in Romeo and Juliet?"
"I am," Stephanie replied, "But we're doing a modern adaptation of the play."
"You could've warned me about that. Get on stage and do your part." He waved her away. The girl gave him a bewildered look before she shook her head and walked off; Skulduggery could be so weird at times. The director kept staring.
"Here comes the lady: O, so light a foot Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint--" The priest called out as 'Juliet' walked on stage. Stephanie quickly cut him off, "This lady apologizes, for thy father had nearly captur'd me in the act of escapist."
"Ah Juliet," Romeo began, "if the measure of thy joy Be heap'd like mine and that thy skill be more To blazon it, then..." They were stepping closer to each other, smiling, and taking each others hands, when a loud bang erupted from backstage and a skeleton, dressed in a suit fell between the bride and the groom.
Romeo screamed and fell back, stumbling over himself he fell to the ground in a heap. He looked up at Skulduggery, horrified. Stephanie on the other hand tried to contain her laughter, as her mentor took grab of her and tried dragging her off. She had to hide her face and quickly improvised a scream for the audience.
Everyone knew the story of Romeo and Juliet, but they had never expected a twist from the school director. Everyone cheered at the creativity.
"What, ho!" The priest decided it was time to improvise, "A... a man! No, thy eyes do not fool me, a dead man!" He pointed at Skulduggery, who pulled Valkyrie back.
"I'm afraid so, Friar Laurence!" The skeleton replied, "Juliet is mine!"
"Oh, spare this beautiful face the pain and agony of hell's destined fate!" Stephanie cried, throwing her head back and pretending to faint, "Oh dear Romeo, save me soul!"
Romeo did nothing.
"Back, you devil's acquaintance, back!" The priest cried, pulling out holy water and constantly trying to drown Skulduggery in imaginary church water. The 'priest', Stephanie's classmate, was enjoying the spotlight. His scarfed opponent however, gave him a light kick and the priest pretended to cry out and fall down, unconscious.
Skulduggery wrapped an arm around Valkyrie's waist and tugged on the rope he had entered with. They started to rise, and with an unconscious Juliet in his arms, the skeleton detective screamed at the audience, "Look to the western sky, that's where you'll find me!" He cackled and disappeared above the crowd.
"That line is from Wicked, Skulduggery." Stephanie said as she was set down. Skulduggery fixed his tie and replied, "How brilliant of me to think of such a thing, don't you agree?"
Valkyrie took her top hat off and threw it aside, before slipping out of her dress and gloves and untying her hair; she wore nothing but a tank top and shorts. Skulduggery handed her her coat and a bag of clothes, and they exited the building after the girl changed.
Ghastly was in the Bentley waiting, and he sighed at them, "Skulduggery, you're full of surprises."
"I think so too."
I'm sorry for all the grammatical mistakes; I don't have a word processor to check it over.
