Skulduggery Pleasant One Shots

Death By...(Part 1)

Skulduggery pressed his hat regretfully into her shaking hands. He couldn't meet her eyes. See how absolutely broken she was. See the tears streaming down her face. It was all his fault. If only they didn't find out he was Lord Vile.

"Something to remember the good times by." He whispered; his voice laced with sadness. He turned his back to her racking sobs and walked away. Time seemed to slow down as his regrets washed over him. The smiles of his friends echoing in his memory, now only a distant ghost that had lost all meaning. He wished his family happiness in whatever heaven they were in and regretted that they would be left forever, sadly waiting for him to arrive, when he never would.

"Stop!" Valkyrie cried out, her voice cracking. "You don't have to do this! You don't have to always be the hero!" She had collapsed to the floor now, not even trying to conceal her sobs. "I-I can't d-do this without you!" Guilt washed over him. He had no choice.

"I'm no hero. All I've ever done is hurt the people I love. I'm going to be killed anyway, and rightfully so. The Dead Men are racing after me as we speak. I might as well put my demise to use. Goodbye Valkyrie." He replied, without turning around. He continued walking and stepped into the accelerator. He slowly turned around.

"Until the end..." Valkyrie desperately tried. He paused and looked down at her.

"Until the end..." He replied. He saw the hope flare inside her once again, making him feel guilty. Guilty for all the things he'd done. Guilty for making her think he was going to come back. Guilty for not being able to cry.

"But now is the end. Forget me... It will make life easier." He said, looking at the floor. He heard a hum, saw a bright flash and then, nothing...

She watched in horror as he disintegrated, her vision blurry from tears. How could she not convince him to stay? How could she have meant so little, as to not be able to save him? She collapsed on the floor sobbing. How was a world without Skulduggery one worth living in? The door burst open and the Dead Men ran in. Furious.

"Where is he?!" Ghastly raged. "Where is the traitorous scum?!" The Dead Men behind Ghastly, were displaying similar hatred towards their ex-friend. Valkyrie shakily rose a hand that pointed at the pile of dust. The Dead Men smiled and stalked upstairs, whooping with joy, over the moon that their friend was dead. It brought a certain kind coldness into Valkyrie, to see them act that way. Only Ghastly and Valkyrie stayed. Valkyrie wracked with sobs and Ghastly's face flickering with mixed emotions. Finally, Ghastly's face turned stony.

"Good riddance." He declared, his voice devoid of any emotion. He turned and went upstairs to join his real friends. As far as the world was concerned, this was a time for celebration. Everyone would remember this day as the day Lord Vile died. Valkyrie disagreed. He died a hero and would always be a hero to her even though everyone else would only ever see Lord Vile. She clutched his hat, the last part of him she had left.

"Until the end..."

And that was the last time anyone saw Skulduggery Pleasant. But it was not the last time anyone saw Lord Vile.

Free from chains of Skulduggery's mind, he rose from the bone dust and melted into the shadows. He was going to have some fun. He moved swiftly through the shadows, past the broken girl and- Wait a moment. She was loved. She was cared about. She would be incredibly easy to kill. He lazily lifted a finger and the shadows speared her heart, taking it backwards with them. Her crying halted abruptly, and she fell forward onto her face. Lord Vile reached out and took the slimy heart into his hand and strolled over to the remains of his old prison. He bent down, holding the heart over the top of the bone dust and squeezed, squeezed until the heart burst and its gooey chunks rained down on top. Lord Vile watched the crimson stain spread through the dust in patches. Now they could be together forever. He stood up and turned around menacingly, only to see a horrified Ghastly Bespoke, watching him with his mouth open and tears streaming down his cheeks.

Ghastly had come down from the party to check on Valkyrie. When he got downstairs, he saw Lord Vile explode her heart over the remains of Skulduggery. He saw Valkyries motionless body, determined to make a sea of blood. They had got it wrong. Skulduggery wasn't Lord Vile. He had tried to kill his best friend. They had all tried to kill him and celebrated when he died. Ghastly had never felt so impure in his whole life. Tears cascaded down his hideous face, following the routes that were his scars. He felt as hideous on the inside as he was on the outside. Skulduggery had died thinking no one cared for him. No one except Valkyrie. Valkyrie, who was lying dead on the floor, her heart in pieces. Ghastly could only watch as Lord Vile turned around, having seemed to enjoy what he just did and saw him. Lord Vile stalked forwards as Ghastly stood their shattered and stopped right in front of Ghastly. Red hot anger flooded his veins. Anger for his friends. Anger at himself. Anger at this...this thing! But before he could do anything Vile rose one dark, metal finger to Ghastly's lips and whispered "Shhh..."

Suddenly Lord Vile was gone. Ghastly's anger was still there but it was temporarily overridden with confusion. Where had he gone? In a flash of panic, he realised, Vile could have shadow-travelled upstairs to murder more of his friends! He tried to turn around and run up the stairs to warn them, but nothing happened. His body then slowly turned around of its own accord and ascended the stairs. Ghastly had no control. That was when Ghastly realised where Lord Vile had gone. Inside of him. He was possessed by the man that had slaughtered his mother and Valkyrie and countless others, but he could still see everything that was happening. He was Lord Vile. Ghastly's body reached the top of the stairs and lent against the door frame with an evil grin, gazing out at the party. Ghastly felt a pang of guilt upon seeing the celebration but the guilt was quickly replaced with terror when he heard Vile think his next words.

"Let's have some fun."

To Be Continued

Comment some one-shot suggestions and I will write it... Maybe. Only if I can be bothered. I probably will be bothered so please comment.