I quickly realized I should get in there and help out Valkyrie when two more flyin' things landed behind me and one knocked into my side, slammin' me into the pavement. I staggered up and picked up a piece of street that had, for some reason, broken off. I hurled it at Creature #1's big ugly face and backed up away from him. I glanced over and noticed Valkyrie fightin' with two big things. They seemed to have developed a system: one would hit her so she would lurch backwards, then the other one would swoop in and boost her back up so it could start over again. She was about to be kicked backwards again, but I, on a stupid whim of bravery, jumped in and knocked her away.

She groaned into my shoulder and hoisted herself up in time to roll away from the things. They clawed at the ground where Valkyrie had just been lyin'. I frowned as I realized the only weapon I had against these guys was my tiny little razor. But I still reached into my pocket and flashed the blade at the thing. It snarled at my somethin' nasty and tried to eat it. I almost got to pull away my hand before Valkyrie suddenly held onto my arm and forced it upwards, plungin' my razor into the thing's roof of the mouth! It began to bleed out all over my sleeves and Valkyrie's hand.

Valkyrie removed her hand from my arm and leaped and stomped the head into the ground. She dug the heel of her boot into one eye and wrapped a strong rope of blackness around his neck, pullin' tighter and tighter until it finally stopped strugglin' for breath and died.

"Come on!" she muttered at me, gesturin' for me to follow. The other two things had been subdued temporarily by shadows. I guess Valkyrie couldn't keep control of all that at once. They broke free and advanced quick as a ragin' bull. One flapped its wings powerfully and knocked me to the side into the car. My elbow crashed into the glass of the Mustang, and it shattered. I could feel the fragments embeddin' themselves into my skin. I ignored the pain as best as I could and ran back into battle. I had grabbed a shard of glass from the ground and chucked it at one of the beasts. It didn't actually hit the thing, but it distracted it enough so Valkyrie could create another rope of blackness and choke it to death.

The last creature left seemed a little afraid at this point. But it still came runnin' after me. I dodged its first attacks, but I eventually felt a very huge blow to my left side. I heard a few things crack and pain shot up all around in me. I watched as it advanced closer and closer, and then I kicked out blindly. I guess I may have hit the monster in the crotch or some other special place because it instantly backed up and flew away. Valkyrie took a deep breath and dived to her car. She slid through the broken window expertly and wrenched open the glove compartment. She withdrew a gigantic gun much like Funny Bones' and aimed and shot.

The bullet must have made contact because the creature howled in pain and agony until it eventually decided to get the hell outta here. It flew off in the opposite direction.

I looked at Valkyrie. "Well, wasn't that fun?" The battle hadn't lasted that long, but it was hard and intense.

She was cradlin' her left arm against her body. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I've sustained no injuries whatsoever, Valkyrie. As you know, I am invincible."

"Sanguine!" she shouted firmly. "Are you hurt?"

I furrowed my brow. "My hand won't move, and it hurts when I breathe. Also somethin' sticky is runnin' down my neck."

Valkyrie sighed and meandered over to me on the ground. She lifted my head gently and touched at the back. Withdrawin' her hand, she wiped my blood away on her shirt. "We need to get going."

"Uh, what are we supposed to do with all this?" I motioned at the dead things and the destroyed car. "Leave them here for some random person to find them?"

Valkyrie shook her head and winced. She was limpin'.

"Valkyrie, you can't walk," I said quietly, glarin' at her.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious! I really need that observation. That definitely really completes everything, don't you think?" she snapped. "Please, continue to be helpful."

"No need for that li'l darlin'." I managed to get up myself and force Valkyrie to lean on my good and not-broken side.

"I need to call Skulduggery," she moaned.

"How're you gonna do that?"

"Pay phone." She pointed weakly to a little stand off to the side.

"There're still payphones around here?"

"Here in the creepy and totally empty mage neighborhoods there are."

Valkyrie clutched the receiver and dialed the number slowly. "Hello," she said cheerfully after waitin' a while before it just went to voicemail. "While you were off being Skulduggery Pleasant, Sanguine and I were attacked. Badly. There are some bodies I'm sure Ghastly'll want to see, so I suggest you all get out here quick; it's on the road we take to get to Finbar's place. My Mustang should still be in working order, despite being practically destroyed, so we'll go get healed up. My phone is broken. Call Gordon's and I'll be back with you. Or come and find us. But I doubt you will."

She hung up roughly and allowed me to drag her back to the car.

"Can you drive?" I asked.

"I'm not the one with a ton of broken ribs."

"But your entire left arm looks completely useless. Also your face is bleedin'."

"Good thing I have another arm and more blood to go around!" Her good hand touched her cheek lightly, only to draw out more blood. A very thin and deep gash had formed along her cheek; probably from the talons of those things.

Valkyrie kicked away the broken glass from around her car and slid into the driver's seat. She revved the engine and pulled away. Speedin' along the road, we were silent. Valkyrie turned onto a back road and still sped along. She seemed to know the track by heart, 'cause she'd know when to swerve out of the way to avoid a root or whatever. She parked the car next to an old buildin' that was completely fallin' apart. Moss and vines grew up all over it and windows and doors were broken and cracked.

I pressed my hand to my side as Valkyrie pulled me along with her not-broken arm. The deep gash on her cheek bled and bled down her face, and I kept waitin' for her to wipe it away, but she never did. She led me to a rusted old door hangin' off its hinges. But Valkyrie just pulled at it weakly and pushed me on through.

"Where are we?" I asked quietly. The hallway we were passin' through was dank, dirty, and dark. Valkyrie didn't answer. There was another door up ahead, and she pulled me through that again. Valkyrie wordlessly sat me down in a little chair. Bloody curtains hung from rings on the ceilin'. They separated the room into chunks for privacy.

"Hello?" she called faintly, her various injuries causin' tremendous pain, probably. My own hurt somethin' terrible, too.

"Ah, you're back!" a high-pitched voice called from somewhere in the room. There was a rustlin', and then the curtains drew back, and a…thing appeared.

"Good afternoon, Doctor Nye," Valkyrie sighed.

…It cackled and greeted her back. "Another scuffle?" it joked and reached out with a slimy gray hand to grip her bleedin' face. Its arm was crazy long, and so were its legs. Its cold eyes scanned her over, but they suddenly slid over to me. "You brought a friend?"

"I did," Valkyrie answered shortly. "Heal him first and then me."

"May I have your blood and hand?" it asked greedily (what kinda question is that?), rubbin' its hands together like a maniac. Its mouth curled around into a sickly smile as she nodded tiredly, sayin', "Of course you may."

"May I take him away with me?" It tilted its head towards me, but Valkyrie shook her head. It nodded and sighed before…slitherin' away and returnin' again a few minutes later with a box. It placed the box on the chair next to me and pulled a blue lump of thing from a little baggie from the box.

"Open your mouth," it commanded.

I looked to Valkyrie for support. I guess she could tell my eyes were trained on her, 'cause she nodded stiffly once. I did as told and opened my mouth; it darted in and dropped the blue thing on my tongue. I expected to suddenly fall to the floor in pain and agony from whatever the heck that was, but instead, the pain all in me subsided instantly. It grabbed a little jar with holes in the top and instructed me to remove my shirt. I stood up slowly and did so, and I really noticed how awfully hurt my side was. It clicked its tongue in distaste at me while rubbin' a fine purple powder into my skin. It told me to sit down and not move until they returned.

"His head is bleeding as well, Doctor," Valkyrie added tiredly.

It sighed and grabbed a white cloth from the box. It plastered it to the back of head where the wound was and then turned to leave.

"Come, Valkyrie," it said as it took the little box away again. "I'll get you fixed."

It reached out another slimy hand, and Valkyrie reluctantly grabbed it. This Nye thing placed the other hand on her back and pushed her along in front of him so they disappeared behind the bloody curtains.

Just what the hell is that thing?

I feel like I've heard its name somewhere before. Doctor Nye…I think I've heard less than good things about him. Valkyrie's got some serious explainin' to do. Really, why would she use this monster? Surely Funny Bones doesn't approve. I guess I gotta ask when Valkyrie gets back.

And she did return about an hour later. Her face was no longer bloody, and her arm swayed gently at her side like normal, and she was no longer limpin'. I had even noticed my side lose the bruises and intense pain. Nye removed the white cloth from my head and told me it was back to normal.

"Thank you, Nye," Valkyrie said, tryin' to smile.

"My pleasure, dear Valkyrie. I suppose it would be strange if I said I'd love to see you here more often, though that would mean more painful injuries, yes?" It paused and then laughed. "Though pain tends to follow you around like a predator, hmm?"

"It does, it does." Valkyrie kind of bowed her head. "Again, thank you. We should really leave now, Doctor Nye."

It waved goodbye and slithered away backwards behind the curtains.

"Put your shirt on later," Valkyrie whispered frantically to me. She grabbed the material and pulled me along with her. We rushed from the buildin' and into the car fast. Valkyrie immediately started the car and drove off in a frenzy.

"What the hell is that all about, Valkyrie?" I asked as I struggled to get on my shirt. I buttoned it up as she sighed loudly and pulled onto a main road.

She didn't say anythin' for a while, but eventually muttered, "Kenspeckle Grouse is dead. You know this."

"Yeah, everyone knows."

"Right, well he was the one who healed all of us. He helped Skulduggery and I get on track. Only when all those Remnants…" Her eyes glossed over. Valkyrie bit her lip hard like she was tryin' to not cry. "Kenspeckle Grouse is dead. Once everything was all over, I realized what would happen if somebody was mortally wounded and needed medical help? I knew that Nye was something that had the ability to heal if it wanted to. So I struck a deal with it without Skulduggery knowing. Obviously he knows now, but he's furious."

"I was wonderin' if he was all gung-ho about all that…"

"He's not," Valkyrie responded gravely. "He absolutely hates that we use it. He won't admit it, but Skulduggery's scared of it. I'm terrified of it, but I know it won't harm me."

"What was the deal you made with it then?"

Valkyrie took a deep breath and seemed to be ponderin' stuff. "Well…okay, Nye after sealing my true name discovered that I was some kind of treasure with my abilities or some crap like that. I didn't know it at the time, but Nye kind of, um, developed a desperate need for me."

"Oh God! That's the grossest thing I've ever heard!"

"Not like that!" Valkyrie shouted. "No, Nye's just…fascinated by me. It thinks I'd be interesting to study when I'm dead. So…that's just it. In exchange for getting my body to do with as he pleases later, it heals myself and everyone who comes in with me."

"Are you lyin' to me?" There was somethin' in her voice that made it seem like she wasn't tellin' the whole truth.

Valkyrie turned to look at me sharply. "Yes, I am lying."

"What? Are you secretly married to it or somethin'?"

"Oh Lord, no! Nye…" She paused again. "Nye, whenever I come in with injuries it gets to somehow recreate the body part it just healed."

"What for? Just to have an arm lyin' around?"

"No."

"Well for what?"

"Making copies of my body parts enables it to, uh, build its own personal Valkyrie."

"What. The. Hell."

"Yeah, I know."

"What kind of sick and twisted maniac does that!"

"Doctor Nye does, it seems."

"That is by far the creepiest thing I've heard. Will it ever complete it – er, you?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea. I really hope it doesn't get the chance too. Nye can't bring back the dead; I've tried that."

"On Funny Bones?"

"Kenspeckle."

"I bet that didn't go very well."

"It didn't, Sanguine." She looked at me. "Not at all."

I debated sayin' somethin' back to her, but Valkyrie immediately set her sad eyes on the road. She looked tired and weak and hurt. Mentally hurt, that is. Her voice had been quiet the whole time she explained her dealin's with Nye.

It still felt like there was somethin' she wasn't tellin' me. Maybe I'm just a paranoid person with all this bein' around Valkyrie business, but I ain't sure.

It'd be best not to push her. It seems like she's been through so much so far.

People talk about how great and fantastic Valkyrie Cain is. But they don't see her at night when her guard is down, now do they?

Um. I don't really know what happened with this. Something about this chapter kind of bugs me. I feel the flow is off somehow...

But! Were you expecting the Nye thing! I hope you weren't.

Hopefully if all goes according to plan, there shouldn't be a boring chapter left for the rest of this story. I don't have the very end planned out totally, as there are a few details I can't decide about. Just in case you were wondering…XD

Thanks for reading and sorry for any mistakes! :DDD