You jumped over the leg swinging towards you, and steadied your landing by displacing the air. Natasha frowned. She aimed a flurry of punches towards you, one hitting your stomach and sending you sprawling across the grass.
"Son of a fucker." You hissed through gritted teeth. Natasha helped you stand up.
"Last time I went easy on you. That won't happen again. You're stronger now and we both know it." She said. "Also, if you use magic around me, that's technically cheating."
"Says the master assassin." You reply. She gives you a kick to the shins and you nearly fall. You stand up, growling. Loki was behind her, watching. He smirked, and you growled. Behind him, a man and a teenage girl walked past... more like pushed past, and made their way towards you. Natasha objected, but was ignored.
"You're going to have to come with us ma'am." The man said, with an irish accent. He was wearing a fancy suit, and matching hat. Loki ran over.
"Why?" You asked him. The man sighed.
"Because we have some questions for you." Said the girl. She was quite pretty, with dark hair, dark eyes, and an astonishing outfit made of some bizarre material that looked really helpful when it came to defence.
"About what? And who's asking?" You said. The man looked up, his eyes narrowing at Loki.
"Have I seen you around before?" Loki asked him.
"No." The man said. The girl kicked him gently.
"They're not mortal." She whispered. "We can ask them here." The man looked at her, and nodded.
"Who's not mortal?" Natasha chimed in.
"Everyone but you. Um... can you please excuse us for a moment?" The man said Natasha huffed, and turned to you.
"You two can make your own way back to the tower, right?" She asked, and you and Loki nodded. Natasha gave a quick nod of her own and walked away.
"Now, what is it you're going to ask us?" Loki asked them.
--
The girl was technically stalling you, but you all walked over to a desolate part of the park and finally the man spoke.
"First of all, don't use magic around mortals, please. In fact, I don't even know who the leading sensitives around here are and you could reveal us all to the world." He said, voice all seriousness. "And second of all, have you seen this man?" He showed you and Loki an image of a man with sandy blonde hair, a little stubble, and large sunglasses. You shook your head, but Loki kept staring.
"He's a really annoying texan man who has a really annoying habit of killing people for money." The girl said. The man nodded at her.
"The only really annoying people I know right now are a lunatic called Lucifer and Tony Stark." You answered. "Who's the guy you're looking for?"
"His name is Billy-Ray Sanguine. He is an american hitman, currently on the run from magical law enforcement all over midgard. I've met him." Loki said. You stared up at him. "He's how I came to get you from Cyndaris the second time." He answered. The girl looked at him carefully in awe. The man nudged her a little bit.
"Stop being distraced. Also, could you please go over there and talk to this young lady for a moment." He said. She nodded, and the two of you walked over to a tree while the man and Loki talked about something completely serious.The girl looked at you briefly and then Loki.
--
"He's your boyfriend?" She asked, and you picked up the strong irish accent.
"Yeah." You answered. "His name is Loki." Hod it sounded like you were intoducing a puppy... a really attractive yet annoying puppy.
"He's a hottie." She said, an you smiled.
"Uh huh." You laughed. "So? Who's Billy-Ray Whatshisface?"
"He's a criminal who's been wanted all over the world for a few years now. He's... flirtatious, at that." She said.
"And you're after him why? You're probably only seventeen." You said.
"That I am."
"Damn."
"Anyway, he's pissed me and my... work partner off on more than one occasion. Tried to kill me on more than one occasion."
"Oh my god... wait earlier Loki said he was on the run from magical law enforcement.. Do you have magic?" The girl nodded.
"I'm an elemental, but I also do a little necromancy."
"Cool." You laughed. "Wait.. necromancy is darkness and death, isn't it?"
"Yeah... I got into it a while ago because I needed a little more... power to use." She said. The man beckoned the two of you over.
"Well, we know where they might be now." He said. The girl smiled.
"They?"
"Billy-Ray was travelling with someone. Called Tanith Low." She said. You nodded. "Billy-Ray can tunnel through the ground, walls, anything, while Tanith can run up solid object and open doors by tapping the locks. She's also incredibly powerful."
"We'll keep an eye out for them. Nice to meet you, detective." Loki said. You were incredibly confused. The man and girl started to turn but you stopped them.
"What are your names?" You asked.
"This is Valkyrie Cain," Said the man, pointing to the girl as she grinned. "And I am Skulduggery Pleasant." He said, moving the collar of his shirt down, and he tapped his collarbones. His face melted away to nothing but bones and you felt a little faint. He then tapped his collarbones again and walked away as a completely new face grew over the skull.
"Oh, hell." You said.
~~~~
A/N
CROSSOVER TIME.
YES. THIS JUST HAPPENED.
I LOVE SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT. THE SERIES IS OVER BUT OH GOD I WANT MORE BOOKS.
... God this means I'm going to include Dexter Vex and he's hot too... So many hot people.
ALSO 40TH CHAPTER WOOOOO!!!!!
<3 Ebony