(Howdy. I've just registered to but I've been meaning to post a Skullgirls fan fiction for quite a while now, it being probably one of the games on my top list and what not, and with it's lore being specially intriguing to me. This series will mostly be a collection of several head-cannons I have for the game, mostly concerning Valentine's background, with a little bit of a few other characters here and there. Most of my experience with writing comes from Role playing rather than writing out on my own, but hopefully I can adapt without much trouble. Without further ado, let's get started, shall we?)

Ah~~

Canopolis.

Home of the Canopy Kingdom, ruled by the Renoirs, this prosperous land was filled with sights of both beauty and despair. While the nobles sheltered themselves away from the rest of the world in their casinos, mansions and parties, the common folk slummed about the dirt, getting stomped on by mafia, corruption, disease and whatever else decided to set it's eyes on them...No, really, wonderful place though, especially for family vacations, the slums are perfect for pictures, they're colorful and look very lively, good thing photos don't carry smell though.

Enough rambling, the point of this story is not to sell you tickets to Kingdom, rather, to talk about a specific woman who lives here. Of course, she doesn't live on Canopolis...Not yet, at least. At the moment, she's just arrived at the city by bus. The bulky transit bus puffed out smoke as it finally stopped, the driver cleared up his throat and then grumbled out.

"Renoir Palace. This is your stop, Miss..."

"Valerie." The woman responded, her eyes locked on the majestic palace before her. Surrounded by tall buildings, the palace stood taller than any of them, piercing high into the skies with it's ivory towers, decorated with the motif of the Renoirs. Such a beautiful sight, it could easily bring tears to someone's eyes...Or maybe that could be just the fact you almost have to stare so close to the sun to get a good view of the whole thing.

"Thanks for letting me know." She cut off, before then getting down from the bus, grabbing her luggage and stepping down onto the streets. Her white shoes gently tapped against the cold streets as Valerie then seemed to take another moment to fully take in the sight ahead of her. Since we're talking about her shoes, I think this would be a nice point for us to give you a good idea of what Valerie herself looks like, wouldn't you agree?

Our protagonist sported medium-length blue hair, reaching down to her shoulders, pale skin and dark red eyes. Her slender six feet of height would make her look like a stick, weren't it for her wide hips and chest, which evened out her figure. Speaking of her figure, most of it was currently covered up in a long white dress suit, that went down past her knees. A red scarf which was carefully tucked into her coat gave her clothing the much needed color, though it focused everyone's view on her face, as her skin and the dress nearly molded into a single shade of white.

Letting out a short sigh, the bluenette waltzed her way over to the palace, her shoes tapping lightly as her swung about ever so slightly.

"Halt." Announced the guards at the door, two of the "Black Egrets", the Renoir's armed force. Brownish outfits with helmet and masks, leaving only their yellow eye goggles. Around their right arm, a band with the symbol of the Renoirs. Both carried rifles on their hands and pistols around their waists. One of the guards continued. "You are approaching the Renoir palace, state your business."

Valerie fixed her hair, pushing her bangs out of her face, before replying. "I understand the Black Egrets are recruiting, are they not? I'm here to join." She announced, her lips curling up slightly in a smile as she spoke. That smile quickly dropped into a frown, however as she noticed the Egrets chuckling at her resolve. "Don't get me wrong, dear. But just because we accept people from anywhere, that doesn't mean we actually take in anyone. We have tests and exams. Only the best actually get admitted." The soldier bragged, resting his rifle over his shoulder. "Why don't you spare yourself the embarrassment and get yourself back home, huh? Keep yourself from breaking your nails, eh?" He chuckled some more.

Before Valerie got to break her nails on the Egret's face, however, someone delivered her retribution for her in the form of an oversized exhaust pipe delivered to the back of the guard's head. Not strong enough to cause actual brain damage, sadly, but strong enough to get through the helmet and make him wince a bit. "Why I ought to-" The guard cut himself off and then saluted when he realized who he was talking to. "Roxie, Si- Ma'am!"

Before them stood the Egrets's ace mechanic, Rosie, usually called Roxie by the Egrets. The bulky, dark skinned woman sported her usual baggy and heavy clothing, stained with oil. The red bandana on her head did it's best to keep her puffy hair held down, though a puff of her brown curly hair still managed to sneak it's way out around the side of her head. "Do me a favor and end yer' shift early. If that's how you been receiving the recruits, it's no wonder we ain't been getting that many people." The soldier raised a finger to reply, but Roxie simply stared him down. "Now." With a whimper, the soldier scampered off and once he was out of view, Roxie turned her eyes to Valerie.

"...So. You want to join the Egrets, do ya? I don't suppose ya got any previous experience with-?" Valerie interrupted. "I do. I was a field medic in the Grand War. I didn't actually go face to face against the Gigans or the Rooks but...Well, being in the field, you end up learning how to defend yourself."

The mechanic smiled widely and nodded. "And to think that scrap head almost turned you away, you've no idea how hard it is to find people with experience around here. Come on over, I'll take you to get signed up. First things first though, I've gotta tell the Princess I'm done fixing her car." Roxie explained, waving the exhaust pipe around slightly. "You don't mind accompanying me, do you?"

"No. Not at all, that's quite all right. I'll be working under her after all, won't I? I suppose I ought to know her as soon as possible." Valerie affirmed, following the mechanic into the actual palace grounds. Before entering the actual castle, the castle's massive courtyard was populated with soldiers and recruits, going about their daily training routines and what not. Roxie led Valerie to the shooting range, as evidenced by the loud sounds of gunfire that echoed from the building. Roxie made her way to the source of the noise, with the medic right behind. She tapped the exhaust pipe against the wall, making a loud sound to announce her arrival, followed by her equally loud voice. "Oi! Your Highness! Your car's working again already."

Valerie winced a bit at all the noise, but then focused her eyes on the princess. Upon hearing Roxie, the princess set down her pistol on the table, followed by her ear muffs. She slowly turned to face the mechanic, carrying a graceful smile on her lips. "Excellent work, Roxie. I knew I could count on you." Princess Parasoul Renoir, heir to the Canopy Kingdom, by all means she should already be called Queen, since she was handling everything by herself ever since her mother's disappearance and her father's death. Ruling a whole kingdom while simultaneously leading an elite army force, while also having to deal with a hyperactive younger sister? It was a wonder she even found time to sleep. The Princess had long straight red hair and amber eyes, wearing a black blouse, skirt and shoes, she stood almost as a complete opposite to Valerie, whom the Princess then took note of. "And who is this, Roxie? I'm sorry, I believe we haven't been properly introduced...I am Princess Parasoul Renoir, leader of the Black Egrets, may I have your name?" Parasoul requested, holding her hand out for a handshake.

Valerie stared down at Parasoul's hand, and then her eyes slowly travelled back up to Parasoul's face, without moving an inch, the bluenette replied. "Valerie. I expect your "leadership" is the reason why the Black Egrets are so desperately looking anywhere for recruits?" Roxie immediately puffed up, her nostrils huffing like truck pipes. "Why I ought to-"

"It's fine, Roxie." Parasoul interjected, before then retreating her hand to her side and turning her focus to Valerie once more. "The Black Egrets have always welcomed people from any and all walks of life. This recruitment campaign is merely a result of the Grand War and the subsequent fight with the Skullgirl, we've lost many good soldiers with those unfortunate events."

"Yeah, your mother sure did a number on everyone, didn't she? I heard she was classified as the most powerful Skullgirl the world has ever seen, took the three kingdoms actually having to suck their pride up and working together to finally take her down." Roxie was positively irate at this point, but the Princess kept a neutral expression, she smiled at Valerie.

"You could say that. But her wish from the Skullheart did come true in the end, we have peace, as uneasy as it may be. Though I intend to keep that peace in my reign, while also being on the watch out for future Skullgirl threats, I do not wish history to repeat itself, after all I believe it would be wise for us all to learn from the past, to keep ourselves from repeating others mistakes."

"Oh yeah? And how do you intend to keep that peace, hm? You going to throw bombs and bullets at whoever speaks up against you like your father did? Or are you going to ask the Medici to deal with them from under the table?" Valerie crossed her arms and stared down at the princess, waiting for a reaction.

The princess simply shot another smile at Valerie, then gladly replied. "No, in fact. I would much rather avoid any further conflict, but the Canopy Kingdom will be ready to reply to any hostility that comes towards us. I also intend to make the Medici family answer for their crimes, once they receive proper judgment. Their status or power cannot protect them from me for too long. Enough about me, however, I take it you are here to join the Black Egrets, Miss Valerie?"

"Oh, right, I am. Roxie, now that you've delivered your message to "Your Majesty", could you show me where I can get signed up?" Roxie had murder in her eyes as she stared back at Valerie, she seemed about to just try and land a punch on the woman's face, Parasoul interjected however. "Yes, Roxie, please, escort Miss Valerie to the Recruitment Office and get her a room, if you please."

With an annoyed huff, Roxie complied, and opened the door for Valerie to head on ahead. Once the bluenette left the room, Parasoul called the mechanic's attention for a final addendum, her expression now serious and annoyed. "And also, tell Adam to keep a close eye on her." Roxie fixed her bandana before nodding and heading after Valerie. "Didn't even have to ask."

A short walk and some paperwork earlier, Valerie was signed up to join the Black Egrets, Roxie had left to attend to other matters and the woman was now being accompanied by Officer Adam Kapowski, second in-command for the Black Egrets. The young man sported gray hair and bright blue eyes, wearing the usual Black Egret uniform. Looking at him, Valerie couldn't help but think about how...Average, he was. It wasn't an insult of course, though not really a compliment either. Adam looked like that sort of guy who'd have a wife, one son and a dog. The kind of average Joe who always pays his bills on time, works during the day and then comes home in the afternoon to talk with his wife and child about the weather while he drinks coffee. The kind of guy who, as a hobby, goes fishing in the weekends. Valerie shivered, never mind, that was an insult.

"These will be your quarters from now on. Unless of course you're not chosen to join, in which case, we'll have to ask you to vacate the room for other recruits." Adam explained, handing over the keys for Valerie to enter the room herself. Her room wasn't actually inside the palace, though that was to be expected. There were barracks neatly annexed to the main building, though not actually connected to it, where most of the Black Egrets slept and ate at. The place wasn't that badly kept, surprising, still needed to have a look at what the insides of the room looked like, but from what she could say, this place actually looked decent enough for someone to live in. Wonder what are the local rules on noise though, they probably wouldn't enjoy Valerie's afternoon classical music sessions, few people did anyways, she'd probably have to muffle up the music a bit, what a shame-

"Did you get all that?" Valerie snapped back as she noticed Joe- Adam, had finished talking. Not wanting him to possibly repeat himself, the bluenette nodded in response. "Yeah. Yeah, sure." The Egret Officer smiled in approval and headed off. "Good. Remember, your first exam is tomorrow at seven o'clock. So try to get some sleep." The medic nodded in response distractedly and simply headed off into her room, it had been a long trip and right now a good night of sleep sounded like it'd be a good idea.

At first glance, the room appeared to be...Adequate. There was a single bed with white sheets and two pillows, a night stand next to it with a lamp, a wardrobe, a sofa, a short table, and an office desk, accompanied by a chair. The room lacked a ceiling light, but made up for it by having a lamp post next to the desk. That, coupled with the lamp on the nightstand was more than enough to properly illuminate the room. Valerie's first thought, regardless, was that she would have to do some re-decorating on this room...Followed by wondering if the others would mind if she ordered some noodles, the average rations they served in military barracks tasted like crap, anyways.

Enough of this, however, the time was getting late and, according to Adam, there would be much to be done in the morning. Tossing her luggage aside and deciding to skip dinner, the bluenette took a deep sigh and then dropped herself on the bed, quickly dozing off into dream world, as she awaited the next day to rise.