This started out a one-shot but has continued. In the war, in Dead Men mission. please reviewThanks!

General POV

"Bespoke, catch the goddamn ball this time!" Skulduggery yelled and started to throw the bomb to him. It reminded Ghastly of when they were teenagers playing catch and Ghastly always dropping it. He couldn't drop it this time; if he did then London would go up in flames. No pressure then.

The red bomb soared through the air and Ghastly held his hands out and closed his eyes. Miraculously, it hit his hands and he whooped, opening his eyes. There was a rock in his hands and Anton was holding the bomb.

"Hey! I had it!" Ghastly protested and dropped the rock. It landed with a thud and Saracen sighed.

"Ghastly please pick up the rock." he said.

"Why? It's a rock." Ghastly replied.

"That rock is a precious last one of it's kind magical animal called a Tirana and it is our back-up plan against Drydale and his followers." Saracen told him.

"Oh."

"Oh indeed." Erskine shook his head then looked at Saracen. "Wait, how did you know what it is? Even Skulduggery doesn't know that, we've been researching it for months while you were off gallivanting."

Saracen grinned knowingly. "I know things." Then frowned. "I wasn't gallivanting, I got shot in my leg. A big difference. For one, I couldn't gallivant. It hurt."

"Then you spent the last month with those nurses." Dexter smirked.

"He did what?" Anton growled. "He made me send him boxes of gifts because he was in a bacteria-ridden hostel, recovering while hiding from the enemy."

"It was bacteria-ridden!" Saracen said quickly at Anton's glare. "There was a spider in the bathtub."

"He stayed at a top hotel, made for royals, in Paris." Dexter added. Saracen glared at him.

"It had gone downhill."

"It no longer had a private study in each room. Just in Saracen's penthouse suite." Dexter nodded.

Skulduggery interrupted with a cough. "Anton and Erskine, disarm the bomb, please. Dexter and Saracen please find Larrikin and get him to stop wandering off. Ghastly, find the creature."

"The creature is a Tirana." Saracen informed Skulduggery.

"And what will you be doing, Pleasant?" came a raspy voice and they all whirled round to see Drydale glaring at them all. The other Dead Men walked off to follow their orders. Anton was thinking hard while Erskine poked the bomb. Dexter and Saracen went into an abandoned warehouse that stored alcohol. Ghastly kicked rocks on the ground, hoping one would move.

"I was going to find you but you walked right into my trap." the walking, talking skeleton said, happily. "You saved me so much energy."

Drydale was an African mage that sided with Mevolent in the war and had his own strange tribal followers that followed his every command (even murder and suicide). He wanted the Faceless Ones back to ruin the world and leave it in chaos and wreckage everywhere.

He also wanted to be a slave to them.

He was a strange little man.

"A trap?" Drydale said. "Your comrades have left you to rot in the dungeons of my castle."

"Uh, actually, we're in London and your castle is a little shack in Africa. Lord, what are your dungeons? Are the conditions there even more abysmal than the shack?" Skulduggery asked.

"It's not a shack!" Drydale whined. "Everyone says it's a shack and it's not! It's a house!"

"A relatively small house," Skulduggery said.

"Well, yes, but it is my house! House! Not an abysmal shack in the wastelands of Africa! And I have slaves! They clean and cook for me! Actually they make a gorgeous steak with-" Drydale glared at him. "You're making me talk. How? How are you making me talk? I don't normally discuss my food preferences with my arch enemy."

"I'm flattered that I'm your arch enemy."

"Where are your comrades now? Sneaking up behind me? About to shoot me? I'm not going to fall for this attack." Drydale spun round, hand in a fist. When he turned to Skulduggery again, he was scowling in humiliation. "Where are they?"

"Um, ones there." Skulduggery pointed to Ghastly. Ghastly had hold of a rock and was hitting it against the floor. He sensed them looking and glanced up.

"Skulduggery, none of the rocks are moving and amid the rubble they all look the same." he called.

Saracen and Dexter strolled out of the warehouse with Larrikin sheepishly following them. "It's that one, Bespoke," Saracen said and Ghastly grabbed the grey round rock, holding it to his ear.

"Ow it bit me!" he yelped and held his hand to his ear. "Blood!" his eyes widened.

"Where are the other two?" Drydale asked. Erskine stood up from behind the car.

"Here! And Anton's..." there was some brief noises and Erskine looked in pain then he managed to drag Anton up. "...here!" Anton was still clutching the bomb.

"Oh. Well. Where's Kenspeckle?" Drydale said suspiciously.

"He's in Ireland, he fell out with us because Saracen and Larrikin here broke his new machine when they were inebriated." Anton said.

"Oh."

"So if you'd kindly put on these shackles?" Skulduggery suggested and shook the metal shackles.

"No!" Drydale screeched and leapt forward to fight. Skulduggery sent him flying towards Dexter. Dexter punched him squarely across the jaw and sent him reeling into Saracen who headbutted him and then Ghastly hit him on the head with the Tirana. Drydale fell on the floor with a cry of pain.

"Ow! That hurt, you evil devils! You tried to kill me, Scarface!" Drydale moaned.

"I hit you with a little bittle animal, Drydale, not exactly hacking at your thick skull with an axe." Ghastly rolled his eyes and held up the Tirana. "Skulduggery, it's cute, can I keep him?"

"What would you call it?" Erskine petted the rock and smiled. "Aw."

"I think it's a girl." Larrikin said and looked at it. "Does it have any-" he blushed and glanced down at Drydale. "-the things I shouldn't really mention in present company since Drydale doesn't have one."

Dexter laughed and walked over to Ghastly. Saracen followed. Now five Dead Men were petting a rock and the remaining two were exchanging looks of irritation. Drydale rolled around on the floor.

"Men! Get it together! We are not naming the rock." Anton snapped as Skulduggery put shackles on Drydale and stuffed him in their car.

"It's not a rock, it's a Tirana." Ghastly protested.

"We're putting it away, since we no longer need it."

"I have a great rocky atmosphere at my house. It will feel right at home."

"It's going back to Romania."

"Why?"

"It lives there with it's," Anton sighed. "The Tirana is missing it's friends and as the last in it's species it needs to be with his friends, if not his family."

"We haven't agreed it is a boy yet." Saracen grumbled.

"I think it's a woman, we need a girl in the group." Dexter said. Ghastly walked away, stroking his Tirana.

"Like a young dark and sarcastic little thing who puts us all in line and falls in love with one of us." Larrikin suggested.

"I think she'd fall in love with me." Dexter said.

"No, Skulduggery. He's charismatic and interesting, what's not to love?" Saracen said.

Dexter lifted up his shirt and revealed his muscles. Saracen shrugged.

"Meh."

"Meh?"

"I know why you exercise so much, Mr I Fancy The Girl Who Goes Running In The Park Every Morning."

"How?" Dexter was blushing furiously.

Saracen tapped his nose.

"You're going to have to tell me your power some day." Dexter glared.

Saracen merely laughed and got into the car beside Drydale. He looked at Drydale as the other Dead Men got in and smiled. "I think I like him. He's got an odd beard. You're my new friend. I know you don't have many friends since your wife sleeps with them all."

Drydale mumbled angrily at him but then Anton knocked him unconscious with another punch.

...

Conversations in the Car

"I can't believe you closed your eyes while catching a bomb." Skulduggery.

"Yeah but it worked, didn't it? I caught it." Ghastly.

"You caught a rock." Anton.

"A Tirana. I miss her." Ghastly.

"Her?" Skulduggery.

"Yeah. We also predicted that a girl would join our group. A tall dark-haired one who would fall in love with you." Larrikin.

Ghastly frowned, something striking a memory. Of his mother. Telling him something. Saracen was grinning. Did Saracen know something?

"Saracen have you ever known something that hasn't happened yet?" Ghastly.

"Uh, no comment?" Saracen.

Ghastly shook his head. Saracen definitely knew something. Perhaps about Ghastly's mother's vision. About Skulduggery and a dark-haired girl fighting unimaginable evil. Perhaps they defeat Mevolent or Serpine or Vile or Vengeous in the end. Ghastly shook his head and sighed.

"Now, about that girl in the park," Dexter said to Saracen. "You think you could work your magic and know if she fancies me or not?"

"it doesn't work like that, Vex." saracen moaned. "Believe me that would be very convenient but..."

"But no then." Dexter sighed. "Never mind."

"Dexter?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to know what my power is?"

"Oh Lord, yes!"

"Will you do my cleaning and my paperwork for a month?"

"Yes! I promise!"

"Okay. Thanks." Saracen settled back into his seat and looked out the window. A moment passed as Dexter looked expectantly at him.

"Um, Saracen, your power?"

"What about it?"

"You were going to tell me?"

"I wasn't. I never said a word like that. I said do you want to know."

"You son of a..." Dexter said and he kept on speaking but Erskine had reached over and started honking the car horn at some women who were giggling together. "...and that's why I won't tell you about my girl."

Saracen grinned even more than before as Drydale gave a little groan. "Hey, Drydale, want to know my power?"

Drydale moaned.

"Good. Good. See, Dexter? Drydale's not being nosy. Even though he thinks Larrikin's eyes are very deep and he thinks that Larrikin's hand is very close to his thigh and that that's very arousing."

Larrikin squealed in alarm and moved away. Drydale yelped as he was stood on. Larrikin crouched on Ghastly's lap, squishing the Tirana in it's box.

"Oops." Ghastly poked the rock-like creature. "I think Tirana's dead?"

Skulduggery stopped the car, got out and walked off towards a library for some peace and quiet.

I might do another about Saracen causing chaos with his power in the modern age. Review any suggestions. Also thinking of doing a Dead Men Mission - remember that mission - kind of fanfiction so review if you think that's a good idea or not or whatever...