The Doctor, Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Tanith, and Ghastly Bespoke all sat in one car. The Doctor was peppering their new companion with questions.

"Why are they dissing my bowtie? Why not yours?" The Doctor asked accusingly.

"Apparently, I pull it off," Ghastly answered.

"And I don't?"

"To put it lightly, you look like an idiot," Skulduggery said complacently. The Doctor frowned.

"You're a skeleton wearing a suit."

"Correction: I'm a handsome skeleton wearing an attractive suit. And I have a hat."

"He loves his hat. Trust me, I know," Valkyrie chimed in.

"I still haven't forgiven you for that," the detective said.

"I know," his partner replied, chuckling.

"So, Ghastly...aside from looking good in bowties, but not as good as myself, what is it you do?" The scarred man looked at the Doctor.

"I'm a tailor."

"Then why were you brought here to help? You must have respectable abilities as a mage."

"I'm an Elemental and a boxer."

"Boxer?"

"My father taught me how. Sewing, I learned from my mother."

"It's the other way around, actually," Valkyrie said, annoyed. Ghastly looked at her.

"Why did you feel the need to say that?"

"Because why not?"

"Because back when I was a kid, people weren't exactly accepting of women and men doing things out of their gender boundaries," Ghastly answered.

"Thankfully, people aren't quite as stupid now, aren't they? Some are still rather closed-minded about it, but not as many. Anyway, back to you. You box, you use Elemental magic, and you sew. I, for one, am thankful to have you with us," the Doctor said.

"Thanks."

"Now, if my bowtie gets ripped up, I know who to come to."

"Just make sure you don't get ripped up with it. Stay behind us," Skulduggery said.

"Oh, I will. But if you don't mind me asking, Ghastly...what happened to your face?" Valkyrie looked at the Doctor, clearly ticked off by his intensiveness. He looked back at her.

"I'm the Doctor. I can ask whatever I want, thank you very much," he said, annoyed. Ghastly chuckled.

"My mother was jinxed before I was born, hence the scars."

"Ah. Sounds complex."

"It was." Conversation then came to a halt.


They were headed to a castle on the outskirts of town. The Doctor stared out the window, taking in the scenery. He had said he hadn't visited Ireland all that often, so it was a treat to him. Valkyrie and Ghastly waited, worried but ready. Skulduggery was simply angry. Angry that Serpine had come back, angry that the man he thought he'd killed had the gall to come back for more. But mostly, he was eager. Skulduggery felt that he could do something he hadn't been able to do last time: get proper revenge. Real revenge. Hurt Serpine every bit as much as Serpine hurt him. He would foil his plans a second time and make him writhe in pain. Some part of him knew he shouldn't. He should focus on the task at hand. But, despite what the Doctor thought, Skulduggery wasn't as much like him as he thought. Skulduggery was a much darker, much angrier man, and he'd have his revenge. Last time, he wanted to bring Serpine to justice. This time, something snapped. This time, he'd kill him. He didn't know why, but he felt compelled.

"You haven't told me everything, detective." Skulduggery looked at the Doctor.

"Excuse me?"

"All of their plans. You haven't told me why they want my name."

"I assumed you'd know."

"No you didn't. Tell me." Skulduggery looked back at him.

"Fine...trapped in a different world are dark gods known as Faceless Ones. As you might assume, they have no face. They are evil beings intent on destroying everything they come across. They fought the Ancients, the first beings to use magic. When all hope was lost, the Ancients invented a weapon, the Scepter of the Ancients, to destroy them and banish them from their world. However, they then used the Scepter to destroy themselves."

"So humanity was corrupted by the power...no surprise there," the Doctor muttered angrily.

"The last Ancient left buried the Scepter, and I suppose went to start a family, because there are those with Ancient blood alive to day. In fact, Valkyrie and her family, the Edgleys, are descendants of the Ancients. Anyway, the Faceless Ones destroyed world after world, until they found a world and were trapped there. Presumably, Serpine and the Great Intelligence want to use your true name to control you and force you to bring the Faceless Ones into our world, our reality." The Doctor thought about this. Ghastly and Valkyrie looked almost as unhappy as he did, and Skulduggery kept on looking like a skeleton.

"So they want me to bring back these Dark Gods...what I want to know now is...who worships them? All gods have followers...who would be crazy enough to worship the Faceless Ones?" He asked.

"Serpine," Skulduggery answered.

"Of course."

"So, Doctor...how do you feel about this?"

"Angry. And you?"

"Same."

"Valkyrie?"

"Annoyed." Skulduggery laughed.

"Doesn't anyone want to know how I feel?" Ghastly asked with mock neglect.

"Not really," Skulduggery replied jokingly.

"I do," Valkyrie said, playing along. The Doctor smiled.


They pulled up at the castle, staring at the dark walls and grimacing.

"So...do we sneak in, or shoot down the door and start killing things?" Skulduggery asked.

"I thought you'd know," Tanith asked.

"I do. I just want to hear what everyone else thinks so I can brag about how much better my plan is," the detective replied.

"You're impossible," she replied.

"Literally and figuratively," the Doctor added, scanning the area with his screwdriver.

"Wait...something's wrong."

"What is it, Doctor?" Mr. Bliss asked.

"Something's underground. I think the castle was a front, something the Daleks weren't told or perhaps got deleted from their memory."

"And why would that be?"

"Maybe Tanith damaged the one we got and the others are fine, I don't know. All I know is that the castle isn't their base."

"Well then how do we get underground?" As Valkyrie spoke, a man shot up from the dirt. The ground had parted for him, and he planted his feet on the ground that had cracked where he came out.

"I could help."

"Sanguine?" Skulduggery muttered.

"Aw, don't look so sad. I'm not the only one." A familiar vampire jumped out from behind the castle. Skulduggery cursed.

"Dusk."

"And don't forget me. I'm here too," a voice shot out of the darkness.

"Springheeled Jack?" Valkyrie sighed.

"Yep."

"You do realize we have Mr. Bliss here, right? You're basically screwed," Tanith said.

"Are we, though? I think you've overlooked one crucial detail, sweetheart," Sanguine said.

"And what would that be?" She asked him.

"He hasn't got any eyes!" The Doctor shouted in amazement.

"His outburst aside...well, you forgot that we've got a certain Nefarian Serpine giving the shots." And with that, a very unwelcome surprise showed itself. Serpine walked out of the castle and held up a gloved hand.

"Hello, Mr. Bliss." He took off his glove, but Mr. Bliss moved first. With a furious punch, he knocked Sanguine into the castle. He was knocked out on impact. He then got halfway to Springheeled Jack before Serpine pointed his hand at him. Mr. Bliss roared and Skukduggery fired his pistol at Serpine, but the the bullets were swept away in a purple vapor.


"Damn," Skulduggery muttered. Dusk ran at Tanith, and Ghastly took on Springheeled Jack. Skulduggery stepped up and found himself being hit by the tailor, having been thrown at him by Jack. Dusk, meanwhile, hissed as Tanith cut his arm with her sword. He flailed and she flew into Valkyrie, who used air to catch her. She threw flames at him, but he dodged and Tanith proceeded to step up to him again. Skulduggery shot at Serpine some more, and Ghastly was getting revenge on Jack by throwing him into Mr. Bliss, who was knocked away from Serpine's hand. Mr. Bliss then punched Jack and knocked him out. At this point, Skulduggery and Ghastly joined Tanith in beating up Dusk, who didn't last too long against three opponents. Serpine snarled, but found himself being tossed back by Valkyrie, who was using the wind to control him. He slammed into a wall, but used vapor to trip his opponent and recover. He then snapped his fingers and a group of Hollow Men walked out. The Doctor screamed.

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing! Gaseous, magical beings! It's a shame they have to go, but a fight's a fight." At this, Skulduggery snapped his fingers, and a group of Hollow Men exploded into flame. The rest advanced, and Ghastly and Tanith jumped in. Serpine had vanished, and the Hollow Men had their ranks very thinned. Things were going fine, even when Dusk's reinforcements showed up. Mr. Bliss ripped vampires apart, completely annihilating any who approached. His legendary strength was on display for all to see, and it didn't disappoint, even when he flew backwards and slammed into the castle. The shot would have killed a normal human, but Mr. Bliss was no normal human.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" Tanith cursed and used her gravity powers, but found herself unable to do anything. The Daleks fired, and Skulduggery cursed. He, Valkyrie, and Ghastly used their powers to push themselves and the others into the castle, leaving Mr. Bliss to fend off the Daleks, which he did. They heard their shouting stop as he ripped them apart, and soon found him joining them.

"Serpine went this way," the Doctor said. They followed him down dark halls until he came to a strange wall, a wall that didn't look right. He pushed it and the floor descended. They fell down to a dark, metal room. And then things went a bit wrong. Up until now, the fight hadn't been so bad. They'd won their battles, and the Cleavers had stayed up to deal with the remaining Hollow Men, vampires, and arrest the three hired villains. But things always got complicated. They landed and heard a click. A strange red energy flew towards them. It was a trap.

"Dalek technology!" The Doctor cursed. Mr. Bliss quickly stepped in front of everyone else, and they all got behind him. Attempting to make a shield of sorts, the three Elementals pushed the air forward, creating a current.

"That won't work!" The Doctor shouted. Mr. Bliss was their only hope, and he wasn't big enough for all of them to hide behind.

However, Skulduggery had an idea. He stood next to Mr. Bliss, who looked at him and said nothing.

"Skulduggery!" Valkyrie shouted. And then, the energy enveloped them.


THERE'S NOT A LOT OF TALKING, I KNOW. MAYBE THAT'S A GOOD THING, MAYBE NOT. AGAIN, I'D LIKE TO HEAR OTHER THOUGHTS. WHAT'S HARD NOW IS MAKING THINGS SEEM A BIT HOPELESS FOR OUR HEROES. INCLUDING MR. BLISS IN THEIR GROUP PRESENTS A CONSIDERABLE CHALLENGE, SEEING AS HOW HE'S MR. BLISS. HOWEVER, I'VE GOT TRICKS UP MY SLEEVE FOR THE ENEMIES, AS WELL. ALSO, CONFUSED AS TO HOW THEY STOLE THE BOOK OF NAMES WITHOUT THE FIELD THAT MAKES THEM NOT WANT TO STEAL IT (FOR LACK OF A BETTER NAME) GETTING IN THE WAY? READ ON TO FIND OUT!