So here it is, the showdown between Vile/Skulduggery and Elizabeth! I really hope you will enjoy it! :) Please review!

Four eyes stared at him. Two green and two deep browns. However, it was the deep browns that he focused his attention on. In them he could see the pain they had needed to endure, how much they had sacrificed for him, how much they loved him...

No, not him. Skulduggery.

Quickly, so fast that none of the persons could see him come, he had pushed Elizabeth into the wall in front of her. He bent down in front of Valkyrie before he laid his arms around her and pushed her hard towards his own body. He was so focused on her that he did not hear when Elizabeth flew into the wall so hard that the wall got a big crack.

He stroked her hair slowly and looked deep into those brown eyes that he loved more than anything else. For which he could do everything. "Vile..." she whispered.

Vile flinched and looked down at the girl in his arms. How did he get here, with her in his arms? He would never have... Then it hit him. Of course! Skulduggery must have taken control for a few seconds in the same second as he saw the girl's body lying in a puddle of her own blood. Considering how much he cared for her; it was not that weird when he thought about it.

Please, just a few more seconds so I can tell her what's happening. She is confused and on her way into a psychosis.

Vile snorted but let Skulduggery take control. The armour pulled back, but only in the face so Valkyrie could see that it was Skulduggery and not Vile who was there with her. "Valkyrie, I'm here now. I would come for you; do you remember me saying that?"

Valkyrie slowly nodded with half-closed eyes. She was so weak, pale and covered in bruises. Coagulated blood covered most of her body and small runnels of blood flowed alongside her unhealed wounds. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out of her lips.

Skulduggery hugged her carefully and put his head in her hair. "Valkyrie, I must leave you for a while now. You're still in danger and now it'smyturn to saveyou. I'll be back soon, I promise."

Slowly he twined the blanket that lay on the mattress Valkyrie had slept on around her so that she would not be cold. He wanted her to stay warm to prevent her from falling into shock, but also to make sure she did not lose any more blood. When he was satisfied, he stood up and let some of his shadows lay around Valkyrie as a protective cocoon. If Elizabeth tried to attack Valkyrie, the shadows would protect her from getting any more injuries.

A sound made him turn around. Elizabeth was just climbing up from the wall that Skulduggery had pushed her into. Behind Elizabeth that once had been a solid wall, there was now a big hole that had emerged when the power from Skulduggery's push made her fly straight into it.

"I'm going to kill you for that..." Elizabeth growled and showed her teeth. "Do you think it's just to roll in here andhurt mewithout it having any consequences? First, I'll put you out of combatable condition and then force you to watch when Islowly, very slowlytorture Valkyrie to death!"

Skulduggery did not answer her but just looked at her with his empty eye sockets. He tilted his head as though he was listening to someone and then said "She is all yours. Go for it."

The armour closed itself and Elizabeth once again stood face to face with Lord Vile. The two necromancers stood still and looked at each other. Valkyrie, who had found the strength to sit up and lean against the wall for support, understood that Vile and Elizabeth measured each other's strengths. After all, they had not met for hundreds of years and much had happened since that day.

As by a given signal, which only they could see or hear, both necromancers flew into each other in what could only be described as a tide of shadows. Wherever Valkyrie was putting her gaze, she could see nothing but shadows that cleaved, torn, and cut in an attempt to access the others' skin and bones. The shadows were shaped and changed according to the wishes of its practitioners, ranging from spears and hammers to razor sharp knives.

Valkyrie found herself having difficulty concentrating on what happened. The only thing she wanted was to close her eyes and disappear to a place where nothing could hurt her anymore. The only thing she wanted was to have some peace and quiet where she could think things through...

She woke up with a jerk when one of the shadows that Skulduggery had laid around her lay around her wrist and pushed hard. Somehow, it had felt that she had fallen asleep and woken her up. Valkyrie looked at it and for some reason she could not explain to herself, she stroked it tenderly as if she thanked it. The shadow wrapped itself around her hand and she did not know how she could know it, but the way the shadow touched her was a message from Skulduggery that said that she should not worry, that everything would be all right.

That he was there now and would not let anything more hurt her.

Valkyrie again looked at the two fighting necromancers. As far as she could see nothing new had happened since she last had watched them. She sighed and wished she could have helped Skulduggery, but given the treatment she had received from Elizabeth, it would take a long time before she would be able to fight again. If she just had not been so stupid!

She came to think back on what had happened before Skulduggery and Vile had gotten there. She had thrown herself straight into Elizabeth's shadows without worrying about what might happen to her. She had been so angry and had nothing else in her mind than tearing Elizabeth to pieces. She had evoked her magic and aimed at the gap in Elizabeth's dress, but before she had been able to release the energy, Elizabeth had grabbed her wrist and raised her hand upwards so that the energy beam had hit the ceiling instead.

She had instead chosen to try to kick Elizabeth's knee to then follow up with a fist in her grinning face, but Elizabeth had seen what she had meant to do and blocked her kick and followed up with her own fist to her stomach. In the moment she lost her breath, Elizabeth had laid her hands around her face and looked her in the eyes. "Good try, Valkyrie, but not good enough, I'm afraid."

Then Valkyrie could not remember more than the black sea that had surrounded them both and such a horrible pain that the world had disappeared around her for a few seconds. When she had regained consciousness, she had been lying on the ground in a large pool of her own blood and with fresh gashes around her entire body. She recalled that she had wondered why Elizabeth had not killed her when the sound of Skulduggery who whispered her name had interrupted her thoughts.

The feeling that filled her when she realized that Skulduggery had found her could not be described. She had been so relieved and happy, but at the same time worried about him, since she had seen, with her own eyes, what Elizabeth was capable of. She knew that if Elizabeth had the chance she could cut through Skulduggery's bones as easily as she had burst through her own skin and then there would not be much left of Skulduggery when Elizabeth was done with him.

All this and a little bit more, she would have liked to tell him when he had raised her into his arms but found that she was too weak to say anything at all. Instead, with all her senses, she had taken in the feeling offinallybeing by Skulduggery's side. The feeling of his bones against her, the sound of his velvety voice, his scent...

Valkyrie was interrupted in her thoughts by Vile's voice that spoke to Elizabeth, and she concentrated on hearing what he said.

"You have become significantly stronger since we last met," Vile whispered with his hoarse voice. "It will be a pleasure to tear you apart and hear you scream with pain when your limbs are teared apart from your body."

Elizabeth ducked from a shadow that was trying to cut her thigh muscle and sent away one of her own in a counterattack while laughing. "I never know if you praise or just state the facts, Vile. That's what I have always liked about you, that you are sounpredictable. If, on the other hand, you think that I'm going to let you kill me without resistance, you arewrong."

Valkyrie shouted out of horror when she saw one of Elizabeth's shadows coming inside Vile's armour and crawled into his shoulder. She tried to stand up but noticed that she was too weak. She cursed herself because she had been so foolish for attacking Elizabeth when she was already weakened by blood loss and lack of food. If she only had listened to Skulduggery...

Without knowing it, she stood up and took a stabbing step towards Skulduggery, when the shadows that guarded her pushed her back against the wall she had just been leaning against. She looked down at them and tried to understand what this meant. Why couldn't she move? Had Skulduggery somehow enchanted them to protect her? As if the shadows understood her thoughts, they stretched out against her and pressed her gently back down on the mattress where they continued to apply pressure as soon as she tried to get up from the mattress.

She sighed and nodded down to them. "Okay, I understand. I will not try to throw myself into their fight anymore."

The shadows eased their grip on her but did not let her go. Valkyrie let them be and instead looked up to the battle that appeared before her. Vile did not seem to have received any more damage since Elizabeth had cut him in the shoulder, which relieved her. Instead, Vile had managed to get some hits on Elizabeth, both with his shadows, fists, and kicks. Valkyrie could see the outline of a bruise on Elizabeth's cheek, and she saw that she limped a little on her right leg, causing Valkyrie to suspect that Vile had gotten in a rather hard kick either on her knee or shin.

"Be careful, Skulduggery..." Valkyrie whispered and felt how a lonely tear slid down her cheek.

As if he had heard her, Vile turned his head and looked straight at her. The shadows around his helmet pulled back and Skulduggery looked her in her eyes with his black eye sockets. He leaned his head, and the gesture got Valkyrie to smile. Skulduggery had heard her! He was still in there!

Elizabeth took note of the opportunity and threw herself toward Vile. She flew into him with her shoulder first and they rolled around a few times in the small room before Vile managed to tear himself away and immediately attacked with his shadows. Elizabeth, however, saw his attack coming and blocked with her own shadows. She held Vile's shadows while forming some new ones into a sharp spear which she cut Vile's armour with.

"Watch out!" Valkyrie screamed, trying again to sit up, but once again was pushed down by the shadows that guarded her.

Vile blocked Elizabeth's attacks while he walked closer and closer to her. Soon he stood right in front of her and took hold of her wrist. If it were not for all the shadows that surrounded them and trying to hurt the other, one might have thought that they were an in-love couple from the Middle Ages who had found each other again after the man had been to war for many years. However, the illusion lasted only a few seconds. Vile lifted Elizabeth's wrist and turned it until a loud cracking sound could be heard. In the small room that consisted only of stone walls, the sound of broken legs was so high that Valkyrie wanted to lay her hands around her ears to shut out the sound.

Elizabeth's scream soon followed, and her hand lay relaxed alongside her side. She stared at Vile with rage radiating from her eyes. "How dare you?!" she screamed and used her second hand to send away a massive wall of shadows against Vile.

Vile had no choice but to jump back from Elizabeth to avoid most of the shadows, but despite this, some of them hit him in the chest, causing him to fly into the wall next to Valkyrie. When the dust had subsided, Valkyrie looked at Vile where he was laying only a meter from her. She could see that he had not hurt himself seriously and soon he got up and brushed away dust from the armour.

Valkyrie lifted her hand and let it encircle Vile's left. In the same moment as their hands braided together, the shadows that had guarded her went back into Vile. "Here, Skulduggery. I think you need these more than I do. In order to defeat Elizabeth, you need all the power you can get. Believe me, I will be all right. If Elizabeth tries something, I'll have enough power left in me to put up a shield that protects me from at least one attack, maybe two."

At first it seemed that Vile would protest, but after a few seconds he nodded and gave her hand a careful push before releasing it and again turning to Elizabeth. She floated in the air, supported by her shadows with her hair swirling in line with the shadows which gave the impression that her hair had merged with them. Valkyrie thought she looked like an angel of darkness coming up from hell. The similarity caused her to shiver, and she pulled the blanket around her closer to her body.

"I may have respected you once upon a time, Vile, but now... Now the only thing I am feeling is hatred. How could I be so stupid that I believed you and I could rule over the mortals? I should have understood that you would change. After all, you only fight on the winning side, so you get more chances to kill..." Elizabeth laughed a laugh without the slightest feeling.

Vile did not answer but just went closer to Elizabeth. When he was right in front of her shadows, he also floated up into the air and now they floated opposite each other, the two necromancers who once had been brothers-in-arms but who were now sworn enemies. That once upon a time had fought along with each other, but now they did not want anything higher than to tear each other apart...

Valkyrie frowned her eyebrows. Something about what Elizabeth had said had made a thought to be born in her. Could it be that Elizabeth once had...likedVile? As in,really liked? That would explain a lot. Why she was so obsessed with him, why she wanted to have him by her side. When Valkyrie really thought about it, Elizabeth was not so different from Abyssinia, Skulduggery's ex.

She was interrupted in her thoughts by Vile who was grunting in pain and when Valkyrie looked up, she to her horror saw Elizabeth hold a stranglehold on Vile with her unbroken hand while letting her shadows find their way inside his armour where they cut him without any kind of mercy. Vile tried desperately to protect himself, but as soon as any of his shadows tried to drive away one of Elizabeth's, she immediately sent a new one who threw his away.

Valkyrie understood that if she allowed this to continue, Vile, and even Skulduggery, would lose. If they lost, they would disappear forever, as Elizabeth would not hold anything back this time. This time she would not stop before her enemy was totally wiped out...

She stood up. She walked peacefully and firmly over to Elizabeth and was not surprised when none of Elizabeth's shadows hurt her. They were completely focused on Vile and did not see her as a threat. That perception would change, and soon... When Elizabeth understood what she was planning to do, all those black shadows would turn towards her instead.

The moment she stood in front of Elizabeth, the necromancer caught a glimpse of her. She wrinkled her eyebrows but did not stop cutting Vile. Valkyrie smiled and stretched out her hands, resulting in that the blanket she wore fell to the floor. She once again stood completely naked in front of Elizabeth, but the difference this time was that she did not care about it. Instead, she concentrated, and a faint light could be seen in her hands. At the same time as the light arose, Elizabeth got a hint of fear in her eyes and pulled back her shadows from Vile.

"Valkyrie, don't do it!" Vile and Skulduggery said with one voice, which allowed Vile's hoarse voice to get a hint of Skulduggery's velvety one. "You are too weak! You do not know how your body will react to your magic when you are this weak!"

Valkyrie shook her head while she continued watching Elizabeth in the eyes. "Do not worry, Skulduggery. This time it is my turn to save you, and I will not fail.I love you, Skulduggery."

Before Skulduggery had time to stop her, Valkyrie raised her hands and put them against Elizabeth's chest. The gleam in her hands grew until it was so strong that Elizabeth had to protect her eyes, but Vile, who did not have any, saw it all. All three were enclosed by Valkyrie's light and Vile felt the strength of it.

Stop her! She will kill herself if she continues!Skulduggery shouted in his head, but Vile did nothing to stop the girl. He wanted to see what she could do. There was something special about her, even he must acknowledge that. Not many would sacrifice themselves as selflessly as she did now. She was fully aware that she could die, yet she had chosen to do this.

She must really love you, Skulduggery, Vile thought and felt how Skulduggery tried to get out so he could stop the person he loved above everything else from hurting herself just to save him.

Just then Elizabeth started screaming and the light became even stronger. Vile had to back a few steps to not be drawn into the girl's light. Who knows what would happen to him if he was pulled into that light, since he almost only consisted of shadows? Perhaps he would suffer even though it was not directed at him. After all, neither he nor Skulduggery knew what Valkyrie's new powers really were.

The gleam faded slowly, and when Vile could lift his eyes again, the sight that struck him was making him freeze on the spot. Elizabeth lay on the floor in front of Valkyrie, completely immobile. All her shadows were gone, and her skin was deathly pale, as if Valkyrie had drained her powers. Valkyrie stood as still as a statue with her hands still stretched out. Vile could not see her face, so he did not know if she was feeling okay or not, which made Skulduggery scream at him to go check on her.

Vile walked around Valkyrie and up to Elizabeth. He bent down and felt for her pulse. It was there, but extremely weak. He could not feel the smallest ounce of Necromancy in Elizabeth's body, which could mean two things. Either that Valkyrie had taken away Elizabeth's powers or temporarily blocked them. Regardless, Vile was not going to take any risks. He laid his hands around Elizabeth's neck and twisted until a cracking was heard while letting one of his shadows pierce her heart.

He wanted to be a hundred percent sure Elizabeth died this time.

Vile stood up and was about to turn around when a punch from behind made him fall on the floor. He rolled around and stood up on one knee while looking up. In front of him the girl was surrounded by Elizabeth's shadows. They twisted around her as if she were covered in the darkest darkness, and Vile understood that the shadows somehow had jumped from Elizabeth to her just before her light had struck and incapacitated Elizabeth.

We must get the shadows away from her. They will feed on her life energy until she is completely drained. If we let it happen, she will die.

Vile laughed without any emotion and dodged out of the way from a shadow that Valkyrie sent after him. "Why should I care about the girl,skeleton detective?Youare the one who loves her, notme."

Because if you are not going to do anything, I will force you.

Vile felt how Skulduggery's will were blending with his own and how Skulduggery forced him to get himself closer to Valkyrie. He tried to fight against Skulduggery's control but quickly noticed that he could not get out of the skeleton's grip. Instead, he decided to merge with Skulduggery, and it did not take long before they stood right in front of the girl.

Valkyrie's eyes were unseeing, and Skulduggery knew that it was because the shadows controlled her and not the other way around. She was entirely in the necromancy's grip and since she could no longer use that magic, it had now taken control of her in order to be able to harm its enemy. What they did not know was that their enemy was not going to let them take advantage of their new host body for so long.

Skulduggery/Vile raised their hands and began to first create a hole in the window that was above them, to then use their own shadows to draw out the shadows surrounding Valkyrie. They forced the shadows to roll into a ball which they then threw out through the broken window. Without a body to take over, the shadows would soon disappear by themselves.

The sound of a body that fell to the ground made Vile flinch and that moment gave Skulduggery enough time to take control again. He drew his attention to Valkyrie. She lay completely limp under his feet, and he lifted her up in his arms. She had her eyes closed, did not breathe and her body was ice cold. Skulduggery shook her gently but got no reaction.

"Valkyrie, do you hear me? It's me, Skulduggery. Everything is all right now. Elizabeth is gone, she cannot hurt you anymore." He laid his head against her forehead and pressed his teeth against her cold skin in a kiss. "I'm here now, everything will be fine. I promised I would find you, did I not?"

Valkyrie's eyes moved under her closed eyelids, and it did not take long before she started breathing again. It was as though his voice had pulled her back from the dead and he wasextremelygrateful for that. Skulduggery did not know what he would have done if he had lost Valkyrie. A shiver propagated through him, and immediately he threw away all thoughts of her death.

"Skulduggery..." Valkyrie whispered and slowly opened her eyes. "Is it you?"

"Yes, Valkyrie, it is. I'm here now." He stroked her cheek very tenderly. "At last, we are together again. I thought I'd lost you the moment I stepped into this room. If I had only used Vile earlier, I could have..."

"Sch..." whispered Valkyrie and slowly raised her finger that she laid over his teeth. "I understand. It must... have been extremely... difficult to succeed... keeping control of Vile... under this kind of... circumstances. I am... proud of you... Skulduggery. Thank you for... saving me."

"Until the end."

"Until the end", Valkyrie replied and slowly lifted her head up against Skulduggery while she let the finger that had rested on his teeth slide down to his clavicle where she activated his façade tattoo. In the same moment his human face appeared, she kissed his now human lips and the feeling offinallybeing able to show Skulduggery what she really felt for him was overpowering.

Skulduggery answered her kiss and pushed her closer to himself as if he were worried that all of this would just be a wonderful dream that he would soon wake up from. He could stay in this moment for the rest of his life. The moment when he finally got to embrace and kiss the girl, he loved over everything else and knew that she felt the same for him.

As they drew apart, Skulduggery kept holding Valkyrie in a careful embrace in fear of causing her more harm. He laid his head against her hair and drew in the smell of her scent that was the most wonderful smell in the world, and that he would never get enough of. "I love you, Valkyrie Cain."

"And I love you, Skulduggery Pleasant."

Skulduggery looked down at Valkyrie and soon their lips once again met in a new kiss. This one lasted a bit longer and Valkyrie pushed herself closer to Skulduggery. Not in a sexual way, but just to assure herself that he really was there with her and that he reallylovedher the way she loved him. That he really was there by her side and forever would be.

When the kiss broke this time, Valkyrie put her head against Skulduggery's chest and closed her eyes. She sighed happily and couldfinallyrelax in the knowledge that she was again safe thanks to Skulduggery. Her mentor, partner, best friend and now boyfriend.

"Valkyrie, do you remember what we were talking about before you disappeared?"

"Mm..."

"If I had not taken you with me that day, even though you actuallythreatenedmy hat, would you still have trampled on it?"

Valkyrie laughed and the sound of it got Skulduggery's non-existing heart to swell with joy. This had been a test to see if Valkyrie was indeed back with him. If she understood what he was talking about, it meant that she had not gotten too severe damage to her mental health, something that relieved Skulduggery a lot.

"What do you really think about me, Skulduggery? Do you think that I would have done such a disgusting thing against such a delicate thing as one of your hats? No, I probably had just put it on my head and challenged you to try to take it away from me. I now know that I had probably not come a long way, but I've always hoped and thought you still would have chosen to take you with me, simply because you would have understood that it would be interesting to have me along."

"And you are quite right in that, Valkyrie. The last 13 years I've had you by my side has been amazing in a way I did not think could be possible."

"You know me, Skulduggery. Fantastic, beautiful, and absolutely irresistible."

"Surely you are", Skulduggery said and again bent down towards Valkyrie. The kiss he gave her got Valkyrie's entire body to wear herself free from her cold condition and get filled with a heat that only the skeleton above her could give her.

I gotta admit that I took some liberties considering Valkyrie's powers. But since at the time when I wrote this story, we did not know exactly what Valkyrie could do, so I decided to write something that I at the time thought would be cool, and I wasn't that far off, since we found out in later books that she actually can absorb other peoples magic!