This is my first time doing something like this so I hope you like it! Please review, I have no idea if this is good or bad so I would welcome some feedback/advice or any opinions on how you want the story to go.

Chapter 1

It was another long dark night, and as Valkyrie waited in the gloomy cobwebs of an old bus stop she allowed herself to think about what a normal 21 year old would be doing at eleven o'clock on a Saturday night. This was the part she blocked off from herself, the moaning, whinging tired part that had no place in her life of adventure. She longed for a steaming cup of hot chocolate, she longed for rubbish TV that she could watch without having to understand, and above all she longed for the warm, welcome embrace of her family, who she had forsaken long ago. It was for the best, she knew, and if the psychics had stopped having the visions of her family dying then it was good enough for her. But still her thoughts turned to that dark day...her reflection, finally put to good use, lying, shot dead in the middle of her kitchen, the haunting screams of her mother and maybe even worse, the grieving silence of her father. Her sister, of course, was too young to understand, but at least, Valkyrie thought, she could now grow up in a world where she could live a happy, sheltered, normal life. It was worth it, she told herself.

Now thoughts of Darquesse emerged, thoughts of what she could have become. Darquesse was gone, of course, at least for now. Valkyrie didn't hear her voice anymore, couldn't find that power deep within herself. It was buried deep and with Darquesse had gone Valkyrie's true name.

"It's rare", Skulduggery had said, "Rare but possible. If we change enough, then yes, our true names change with us. But it can change back, if your old personality reasserted itself.

She shuddered, terrified at the thought of failure. So she pulled out her faultless facade that everyone, including herself, had come to depend on and focused on the present, away from Darquesse, and the many lives resting on her success. Those few minutes during which she had slipped in the past had only been a taster of the possibilities. And as she did this, shutting out those errant thoughts that scared and worried her, Skulduggery Pleasant turned the corner, driving very fast, very hard and of course, very well.

"We have a problem," his velvety smooth voice explained as Valkyrie climbed in.

"Don't we always?" Valkyrie replied. "Problems seem to find us."

"Ah but in this case, you see, it seems that we are the problem. And with a problem, there is always a solution-one that seems to be chasing us as we speak"

With this, Skulduggery tapped on the accelerator, and the Bentley surged forward, pressing Valkyrie against the creamy smooth leather. He sharply rounded a corner and glanced at her.

"Put on your seatbelt", He ordered. Just in time to, as he looked up, saw another car heading straight for them and promptly veered off the road. The Bentley slammed through a barrier and plummeted, onto another road, where it promptly rolled once, twice and fell still.

All Valkyrie could hear was a ringing in her ears, and she could feel blood running down her face as her vision flipped over and over. Her brain yelled at her, forcing her to look up, get up, run, escape, but her mind was fuzzy and her eyelids fluttered, slowly closing. She forced herself to be strong, just as a hand sneaked through the shattered window screen and pulled her from the wreak. She was slammed once, twice and a third time against the bonnet before she kicked hard in her attackers face. He faltered, dropped her, and she slammed an elbow into his jaw and whipping a shadow at his chest. He fell to the ground, got up again and she responded with a savage kick to the groin. This time her attacker didn't get up.

She turned around; saw Skulduggery and another man launching vicious punches at each other. But as she started towards them, she was grabbed by the throat and hauled back. A sneering, scarred face came into view as she was thrown on the ground, and she could taste blood in her mouth as the man started to squeeze her throat. She tried to struggle, her hands grasping as his, tightening around her throat yet he was too strong.

Valkyrie knew she would be dead in a minute. She took her hands away from her throat and clicked them quietly, summoning a spark and then a flame. She pressed this against her attacker's face, and he shrieked but didn't move, so she slapped him hard in the face, hissing as her fingers bent back. But this did the trick, and his weight left her for a minute.

A minute was all she needed. She was up, and as he scrambled up to meet her she moved in, ducked a clumsy punch and twisted her hip as he fell into it. He landed in a pile on the floor, just as Skulduggery crept up behind with a shackles. She stomped angrily on his face and he fell unconscious, leaving Skulduggery able to restrain him and look up at her, concerned.

"Are you ok?" He asked haltingly.

Valkyrie groaned. Her lip was torn and bloody, two fingers were bending back at a bizarre angle, blood ran down her face from deep cuts from broken glass, and she felt a biting pain in her chest. One, maybe two ribs were broken. "I'm fine," she murmured, starting for the car before crying out in pain. She took another step, muffling another groan and leaned slightly into Skulduggery as she limped towards the car. After a few minutes the shattered vehicle coughed back to life, and soon they were driving the familiar route back to Kenspeckle Grouse.