Reasoning

She surveyed the room, fighting back the need to laugh at their gormless expressions. They all looked so surprised by the sight of her. Too stunned for words, only Skulduggery filled the silence.

"Why are you doing this? I'm sure you didn't wake up one morning and randomly decide this" His voice was heavy and accusing.

She took a while to respond, taking moments to look at Skulduggery, and then Faith, then Lucian and then Mendacious. She wondered what they would say, if they even could say anything. It's like they were frozen in place, she wanted to reach out and poke them.

"I have my reasons, if you're all good then I shall tell you. But first, why do you think I did this?"

He cocked his head. "I think something happened in your childhood that warped your mind"

She chuckled. "Close, same idea but a later time. And I wouldn't say my mind is warped, just challenged. I can see outside of the box now, no stupid morals or humanity to get in the way."

"Okay, what happened?"

"It was a few months ago..." She then proceeded to tell them what happened the day her family died, and the day after when she saw Darquesse kill her father. All the while she was holding her hands behind her back, orchestrating the next stage of her plan. Her gauntlets buzzed with the power, ready to strike the moment her will allowed it. They all took it in, the first to respond being Lucian.

"Here's what I don't get. I understand why you killed Erskine, hell you could have just said he's Erskine. But why the rest of us? You're mad at Ravel and Darquesse right?"

She shook her head and he scowled. "I'm mad at them, yes. But I punished Ravel, and I can't exactly punish Darquesse can I considering she's in some other realm. But I then watched how Valkyrie was cleared of her sins not only as Darquesse, but letting all this happen. I watched as Skulduggery shielded her from guilt. Hide her from all the questions, allowing her to run away like a coward. So my revenge consumed him as well, for pardoning her for her actions. And then you all did the exact same thing. Upon learning who she was you all felt sorry for her. Sorry! People lost lives because of her!" She suddenly became aware she was shouting, she wasn't the type to lose control so she breathed in deeply. "Sorry. As I was saying, She was shielded by everyone, not a second thought for anyone else. No condolences for the people who lose family members and their loved ones. People who were left all alone by the carnage that ensued from the fight. All worry was to poor little Valkyrie, poor little world breaker who couldn't handle it so she ran away. No case was taken by the great skeleton detective. Even the funding for people like me was cut short to aid you in your search. All of the took time off from the rebuilding of Roarhaven for her. So this isn't just about punishing you for your negligence, by killing all of you the skeleton detective is shown how ineffective he is. How easy it was to bait you here. All I needed was to warn Faith how bad of an idea it would be for you to come, I knew she would warn you not to come and you wouldn't heed the warning and come anyway because you always do what you want whenever you want. Then the deaths of all of you in the name of Valkyrie would do one of two things. Either draw her out of hiding for revenge, thus making her easy pickings for me. Or, she would be so weak with all the guilt and shame she would do the job for me."

Skulduggery stepped forward. "She's stronger than you think. She would never do that. I accept the blame for my part of all of this, I've never said otherwise. But it's wrong to admonish everyone else for someone elses actions. So we should settle this, right now. Just you and I"

"I couldn't agree more" She smiled and twisted the wrist of her gauntlet, sending a pulse of electricity at the others. It took them all off of their feet aside from Skulduggery, who she missed on purpose. She then turned tail and ran, all according to plan. All she needed was to lure him in, all alone. She spun round the corner, sneaking a look behind her. Sure enough, he was right on her heels. Even spotting the fireball he threw at her, she kicked off the wall and pushed through the secret hallway she had constructed. If he was shocked he didn't show it as he continued the chase. Would he fall for it twice though? Come to think of it, how did he escape? Did either Faith or Lucian break him out? That was probably the case. The hallway got narrow, a precaution she made incase one of the bigger people who were staying here decided to chase her. But as it was they both flitted down it with no problems. She arrived into the secret part of the house that even dear old Erskine had no idea about. A grand spruce door stood in the centre in all of it's glory. She pushed it open and closed it behind her swiftly, just to buy her a little more time.

*

He stepped out warily, looking up and down the stylish but foreboding hallway. Holding his gun by his side, but ready for anything. He walked towards the only door he could see, it was taller than all the doors in the house. Come to think of it, this whole hallway looked out of place. As if it didn't belong to the house at all. That Delilah was fast, and clever. Her plan was well thought out. But he had a habit of foiling peoples plans.

He nudged open the door, beginning to scan the room before realising the lack of need for it. She was stood in the centre of the room, gauntlets donned, sigils on the floor shining. She had a wicked grin on her face and a spark of mischief in her eyes. He walked over and aimed his gun at her, all she did was smirk.

"Your gun won't work in here detective. In this circle is where I will pull apart your bones and make something out of them. Maybe some jewellery, or some piano keys. No magic works in here, well no magic aside from mine. Because I have this." She showed him the amulet, the same amulet her accomplice had. Her grin grew cocky, he now had his advantage.

"So I assume we fight to the death? Seems a touch unfair since you have your magic and I only have my fists."

"Seems fair to me. You have the most experience in the field of combat, in a regular fight you would win hands down. So I needed an edge over you."

He nodded slowly, withdrawing his other gun and placing them on the floor. "And your gauntlets?"

"Oh these! Do you like them? I do. They channel my magic and enable me to transmit it more fluently. Watch this" She turned and swung a punch through the air to his left. Air shot past him impossibly fast, smashing through the wall and revealing the hallway on the other side. He made a mental note to not get hit by that.

"I'd argue those tip the scales quite far in your favour."

"Well, in your eyes i'm the villain. From my standpoint i'm rising through the forces pushing people like me down and striving for righteous revenge. From yours, i'm the evil bastard killing all of your friends whilst you try and stop me but inevitably failing. Don't feel bad, in every story the good guy wins, you just believe you're the hero in this one." She punched the gauntlets against each other. "Time to remind you of your place in this story"

She threw a wall of air at him, causing him to roll to the side. He needed to get close to her. He rolled under a barrage of flame and charged towards her. She laughed as he lashed out a kick, blocking it with ease and headbutting him in return. He growled and feinted a punch, turning it into an uppercut at the last moment. It clipped her chin but didn't do much damage, didn't even remove the smile from her face as she grabbed his arm. He felt the bones in his arm shake and knew he didn't want to know what would happen next. Twisting in her grip, he smacked an elbow into the side of her head, she sidestepped and her grip loosened. He stamped on her foot and wrenched his arm away from her. She smirked and tightened her grip, causing his pull away to rip his arm off. He cried out and stepped back whilst she waved his arm around.

"Need a hand?" She laughed whilst he considered his next plan of attack. If she got more cocky, she could get sloppy. That would present his opening. He just needed to hope she didn't kill him before that happened. He jumped up as she shot a bolt of lightning at him, forcing him to run around her as she continued firing shots. He slowly started stepping in with each ring, no lungs making him run out of breath. She realised a second too late, catching a jumping kick to the jaw for her mistake. She dropped his arm which he quickly scooped up, backhanding her with it before locking it back into place with a grunt. She glared at him from her knees and stood up confidently.

"Clever, but I knew this wouldn't be easy. The games over Skulduggery, time to die your past due death."

She closed the gap with speed and cupped his skull with both hands, he kicked out and back flipped out of the hold, rushing forward and kneeing her in the chest. Before he could land she grabbed his ribs and flipped him, slamming him to the ground. He tried to roll away but she stamped on the newly relocated arm. He punched out her knee and she buckled, but landed on his ribs, snapping the bottom two clean off. For the second time he cried out whilst she regained her balance. The cocky grin growing back on her face, she imitated his head tilt before punching the side of his skull with force. He went skidding across the floor, hitting the wall with a harsh impact. She strode over, admiring the gauntlets.

"Someone real special made me these. For this task no less, with the promise that I could keep them after I complete this."

He needed to keep her talking, because her talking meant she wasn't hitting him.

"Someone special? Almost sounds like your working for someone."

She paused and showed genuine confusion. "I am... at least I think I am. I'm in collaboration with this, but I don't remember who. Quite annoying."

"I remember a similar circumstance, if you'd allow, I can help jog your memories."

She titled her head back and forth, contemplating it. But that was probably for show as she kicked him in the jaw. "I'm alright, but thanks for the offer."

"No...problem" He caught her next boot and throw her into the wall, unrelentingly lashing out punches. She raised her gauntlet in defence, the bones in his hand ricocheting off of it. This gave her the space to kick him off and get back to her feet. She wiped the blood from her lip and grabbing him by the scruff of his suit.

"You don't know when to quit do you?"

"If I could have one last request, mind the suit. It's one of my favourites."

She chuckled and threw him through the wall, he rolled to a stop whilst she stepped through the hole. Grabbing his ankle and dragging him back through into the room. Once clear she swung him towards the centre of the room, stalking over whilst he shakily got to his feet. She jumped in the air, aiming both gauntlets down at his skull. This was his moment, he withdrew his secret gun and shot her in the knee. She cried out, landing where he would have been if he hadn't dived to the side. Her knee hit the floor and her cry turned shrill. As he got to his feet once more, she turned with rage in her eyes, hands holding her broken knee.

"How?! The circle stops guns from working!"

He reached into his jacket and brought out the amulet. Her eyes widened with shock, tears beginning to spill onto her face. "I took this from your friends jacket, handy little trinket. Nullifies sigils I do believe, that's how you have retained your powers right?" He brandished a set of cuffs and advanced towards her. She hugged her leg and stared up at him as he stood over her.

"Seems...you have me beat..."

"Give up and i'll make sure your knee is healed before you go into a cell."

"Giving up...isn't in my nature!" She pushed at the air and knocked him back, the cuffs flying from his grip. He looked over as she staggered to her feet, limping over. He looked for the cuffs and spotted them a few feet away. He reached out for them but she reach down and punched his hand against the ground. His hand splintering, each finger breaking off. He clutched his wrist whilst she painfully knelled next to him.

"That was a good try Skulduggery, truly. I should have been more cautious. Nevertheless, I have won. Time to claim my prize."

She reached for his skull, taking it in both hands. He fought the urge to scream as his skull violently vibrated. Threatening to collapse in on itself. In a last ditch effort, he clicked a flame into his hand and thrust it into her face. She screamed and instantly let go, patting at her face to douse the flame. She rolled away sobbing, clutching her face. He took a few seconds to get to his feet, collecting his cuffs. Shambling over, he fell to his knees whilst she cried with her head in her hands. He pulled one of her arms back and cuffed her wrist, finding no resistance from her. He pulled off her gauntlet, doing the same with the other before fully cuffing her. He looked up as Lucian, Faith and Mendacious ran into the room.

"Oh my god...are you okay?" Faith asked as she ran over. He couldn't find the strength to talk so he just nodded, slipping into unconsciousness.