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The Life of Valor (Grave x Kat)

Jessica smiled and nodded when he said he went to bed at a decent hour. She spent her day organizing papers and writing reports on what went on in the building, along with checking people in and out as they came and went. She grabbed a blt from the cafe for lunch then looked up at Scott as he approached her, nodding with a smile. "Of course, I could stand to stretch my legs as well." She stood and set out the sign-in along with her away on break sign and followed Scott out the door.
 
Scott walked with Jessica, enjoying the warm and sunny day. They chatted a bit, talking about small things. They turned the corner and began heading down another street. That was when he decided to satisfy his curiosity on something.
"So, I noticed that you knew a bit of martial arts? When did you start?"
 
Jessica blinked in surprise and chuckled softly. "You caught me." She said, thinking a moment. "I think it was around when I was 6 years old, boys liked to pick on me a lot in elementary school so I always beat them up, I almost sent one boy to the hospital so my dad decided to pay for martial arts so I'd at least know how to defend myself with the safety of others in mind."
 
Scott listened as Jessica told him about her past and how she learned martial arts.
"Well, you started earlier than I did. I started when I was fifteen, and had two martial arts instructors, one in hand-to-hand and one in weapons. They pushed me really hard but were some of the best people I've ever known."
He walked with her to a small park and sat down in a bench.
"Like you, however, I know what it's like to be picked on."

Scott guessed it was the same everywhere, people congregating to the group that was like them. Even at Shadowgreen, filled with metahumans, those that looked more human tended not to socialize with those that looked less human. Those that didn't fit the purity scale, like him, were also picked on. Bullying and cliquish behavior were universal, he guessed.
"Why did boys like to pick on you in elementary school? Were you shy?"
 
Jessica looked at him sympathetically and chuckled at his question. "I guess, I was just the weirdo I suppose. I was the bookworm AND the tomboy. I didn't have any friends so I was always sitting on the edge of the playground reading, but I was also the kid who won the sports competitions and would beat up anyone who bullied another kid. I didn't really fit into any norm, so I guess that's why they targeted me." She smiled at him, almost a smirk. "But, as I said before, they never got far." She then looked at him curiously. "So, I can understand hand to hand but why were you trained with weapons? Was it like... swords and stuff?"
 
Scott listened as she told her story, thinking that in so many ways it reminded him of himself. He could never claim to be a bookworm, but he had always loved physical activity, not unusual for a guy, he guessed. He had been so focused on his training that he did not make many friends through socialization, many becoming friends or at least acquaintances after he bested them in a fight. Like her, he also had a sense of justice, such as when he defeated six male students who were picking on a female student. Scott also had not fit into any norm at Shadowgreen, and he knew exactly what kind of magnet that was for jerks. He smiled as he thought about the fact that his antagonists had never gotten very far, either.

Scott chuckled as she asked him about the weapons.
"Oh, geez, you name it. I was trained with swords, knives, nunchuks, all the traditional Asian weaponry, as well as baseball bats, guns, even chopsticks, of all things. Apparently those can be very deadly if you use them right. It was part of my martial arts training and knowledge about general Asian cultures."
This was mostly the truth, although he was leaving out the fact that he mainly underwent the training how to better utilize Valor in combat.

He turned and have Jessica a wink.
"So, yeah, "swords and stuff"."
He looked into her eyes and noticed that the sun was glinting out of the green of them, looking like jade while her black hair looked like colored silk. She looked more beautiful today than he had ever noticed before.
"So, you said you won sports competitions? What kind of sports did you play?"
 
Jessica chuckled and nodded. "Huh, that's pretty cool, you should teach me how to use nunchuks, I've always wanted to learn." She said with a smile and looked at him, the sun was to his back and seemed to create a glow around him, highlighting his strong, muscular figure, she hadn't noticed how strong he really was before. She smiled at his question. "Oh, just the basics, soccer, baseball, basketball, even football back in middle school and high school." She said, smiling proudly as she had been the quarter-back.
 
Scott chuckled.
"If I get the opportunity, I just might. It's been so long that I'm not even sure I can use them right anymore."
She told him what sports she had played, and he got an idea.
"Basketball, huh?"
He got up and walked over to the basketball court where there was a basketball before picking it up.
"How about a game of one-on-one?" he asked as he twirled it perfectly on his right index finger.
 
Jessica chuckled at his words about the nun-chucks. She then nodded at his 'Basketball huh?' and then blinked in surprise, chuckling and nodding. She got up and pulled her business jacket off, tying her hair back behind her head with an elastic from her purse and kicked off her high-heels. She smiled, walking over in her under shirt and skirt barefoot. "Alright, you're on." She smiled and walked over to him, getting ready to play.
 
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Scott smiled.
"Excellent."
He got down into a lower stance and began to dribble the ball. He had never been a natural basketball player, but he was very athletic and a highly-trained martial artist, so he figured he could do well.
"I'll take first possession."
He dribbled the ball and moved around her, avoiding her quick movements as he went for the goal.

Jessica's experience showed as she kept pace with him and blocked his shot. He feinted to the left and then shot right, landing a perfect goal with a swish. He retrieved the ball and tossed it to her so that she could have a turn.
"Let's see how you do."
He assumed a defensive stance in front of her and watched her carefully. He smiled, enjoying the competitive fun they were having.
 
Jessica chuckled as he made the shot and caught the ball. "You're pretty good." She said with a smirk then began dribbling, she kept the ball low to the ground so it would be harder for him to steal it. She then quickly spun around him, rolling her back along his body as she kept the ball to her front without traveling. She then ran towards the goal while dribbling the ball, always keeping it out of his reach and made the shot, also making an impressive swish.
 
Scott watched her closely as she kept the ball too low for him to steal. However, even with his vigilance, she faked him out and went around him to have almost unimpeded access to the goal. She made the shot and they had a tie score. As she rebounded the ball and walked back, he smiled.
"You're not bad yourself. That was pretty fast."

It was his turn to take possession, so he dribble the ball low, having seen that that helped reduce the opportunities to steal. He took a step and stopped, angled his body to keep it between them, and then spun around her in the same motion that he passed the ball between her legs, the feint being almost enough to not notice the ball. He quickly closed the distance to the goal, having legs of steel from being used to running in combat, and jumped to make a slam dunk. He landed and caught the ball in one hand as it fell.
"I saw that trick in an old basketball movie. It's tricky, but it can work, especially if the opponent is not expecting it."

He passed the ball to her and took up a guarding stance. Now aware of her speed, he would be harder to pass. One of Scott's best assets was that he could adapt quickly to a situation. Whenever something came up, he could always find a way to knock it down. He kept farther to the side that she was not leaning on, ready for any moves of hers and not at risk of throwing off his own momentum. He also had figured out a weakness in the low dribble, and would take advantage of it if given the chance.
 
Jessica blinked in surprise as he learned the move so quickly. She chuckled and caught the ball again, smirking. "So far we seem pretty even. That's impressive, I didn't think you'd played basketball before." She began dribbling as she kept the ball low and slightly behind her right leg, planning out her next move, she then remembered one of her signature tricks she'd done back in high school. It always caught them off guard. She smirked as she made sure his stance was right to make it work. She was happy to see it would. She began moving, feinting left and then actually did go left, but didn't take the ball with her. As he moved his arms to grab for the ball in her hand, she bounces it down between his legs as she dashed around him, grabbing it as it bounced up behind him and dashed for the goal.
 
Scott smiled at her praise.
"To be honest, I've barely played any basketball."
This was the truth, and his apparent talent was caused by a unique trick of his body. Whether it had always been that way or had developed the ability through hard training, he could watch his opponent and adjust his own talent to meet theirs. It had been a necessity during his martial arts training to defend himself from his masters, and the ability had been an incredible help during his myriad of fights. Given enough time, he could adapt to and overcome any situation.

As Jessica made her push for the goal, he saw her use the same same trick he had. However, he had not been as fooled as she thought. As the ball passed between his legs, he pivoted around on his left foot and quickly closed the distance between them. Before she could make it within range of a goal, he simply reached out and took the ball so fast that she almost didn't realize it.
"Nice try, but you can't fool me with so similar a trick to my own."
He bounced the ball and tossed it over his shoulder, where it traveled an incredible distance and went in with a swish.

Scott then spun his body as he crouched down, doing a leg sweep maneuver to build up momentum. He then jumped off of his left foot and sailed backwards through the air as the ball dropped to the ground. He landed next to the ball and got it after it had bounced once.
"Since I made the shot on your possession, I'll be nice and let you have another chance to go for your goal."
He handed her the ball and then took up his guard position. There was a gleam in his eye, and one could tell that he was very much enjoying the competition.
 
Jessica stumbled a little when she realized that the ball suddenly wasn't in her possession anymore, then her eyes widened in surprise when he made an over the shoulder basket, without looking, from almost half-court. She stared in shock for a moment then blinked in surprise as he jumped back so far and got the ball all in one graceful motion. She stared at him in shock for a moment. No normal person could do something like that... She chuckled a little, seeming somewhat uncertain, thrown off by his movements and nodded. "Alright, one more then I really have to get back to work." She smiled at him a little and began dribbling, thinking of her next move, deciding to just go for it honestly and began charging at him with the ball, dribbling low and bouncing back and forth between right and left hand at random moments to try and throw him off. She then stopped before getting to him, at half court, and shot, she had a very high arch in her shot and watched as the ball sailed high in the air towards the goal.
 
Scott appeared relaxed and confident, but inside, he was chastising himself for revealing his enhanced agility. During battle, he used this movement to dodge to the side or move away, and had enough practice with it that he could do it rapidly. This was just a recreational game, but his body had adjusted so well to the pace that it had reacted the same as if it was a battle. His body had more than just muscle memory, it had muscle reactivity that could perform complex actions without consulting his brain. His was not unlike the body of an Olympic athlete, except for his Valor transformations. He would have to be more discreet in the future, especially since Jessica had also seen his impressive fighting prowess.

He nodded at her statement.
"You're right. As fun as this has been, we can't forget our responsibilities."
She came at him for real this time, and he tried to keep up with her randomized movements. She was giving everything she had for this one, and he had no opportunity to grab the ball this time. She then took a shot similar to his, sailing a long distance at high arc.

The ball hit the plastic rim of the basket, and looked like it might bounce off. However, it luckily bounced the other way, hit the other side of the rim, and went in. Scott chuckled as he went over and got the ball.
"Nice shot. We'll call that a tie game."
He sat the ball back where it had been and walked over to the bench with her so that she could get office ready again.

"We should do this again sometime when we have more free time. I had a lot of fun."
He held up her coat so that she could put it on easily and watched as she prepared herself for a comparatively boring job. He checked his watch and saw that his client was about five minutes away from leaving work. When Jessica was ready, he began walking with her back to the office. There was definitely more energy than their walk and easier smiles, and Scott was happy at how positive the afternoon had turned out.
 
Jessica made a face as the ball hit the rim then sighed in relief as it bounced off the other side and went in, smiling proud of herself. Perhaps she had exaggerated what she saw, maybe it had been a trick of the light or something. She smiled at him and nodded. "Sounds fair, and yes, we should definitely do it again, or maybe we could play something else? Like soccer or baseball." She chuckled as she went back and pulled her heels back on and smiled at him as he held the jacket for her, sliding her arms through and straightening it out before pulling her hair out of the pony tail and brushing it to a decent look with her fingers. She then smiled at him as they walked back. She was really enjoying his company, she thought they were on their way to becoming good friends. "Hey, tomorrow's Sunday and the building is closed, are you doing anything?" She smiled at him. "We could play again if not, then we could have dinner at my house. I bought a bunch of burger on sale and it's three days from going bad so I really need to use it up. I could make meatloaf."
 
Scott looked at her and thought about it.
"Well, I'm still working a case today, but I have no idea what tomorrow holds."
She offered to let him spend the day with her hanging out.
"If time permits, I would like to do that. I'm not big on meatloaf, though. Why don't I bring over my grill and we can cook up some burgers instead?"

Scott was enjoying spending time with Jessica, and it felt like they had become good friends. He had never imagined taking a day off from work when he was at Shadowgreen, but he had lately been getting the idea to enjoy life. He loved his work, but he was enjoying being a regular person again for the first time in a long time. They arrived back at the building and she sat at her desk.
"I need to catch up with a client, so I'll see you later."
He headed for the elevator and took it up to the yoga studio where Miss Harper worked.

All of the students were gone, and Valerie had been headed for the elevator when it opened.
"Mr. Young, how are you?"
"Good, but I'm going to do just what we talked about and follow you surreptitiously. You go down in the elevator and I'll take the stairs. Act naturally and do not look behind you. I'm going to see if I can get a look at the creep who's been following you."

Valerie nodded and they changed places in the elevator. As she pressed the button for the lobby, he hustled over to the stair door and vaulted a railing. Using his abilities, he dropped from railing to railing before hitting the bottom floor in less than two minutes. He then exited the building and watched the front door for Valerie to exit. When she did, he began to follow her, acting naturally so that no one would think anything of it. At the same time, he kept a careful eye out for anyone who was paying her an unusual amount of attention.
 
Jessica seemed a little disappointed when he said he might not be free tomorrow but nodded as he offered to bring his grill if he could come. "Sounds good to me." She nodded and handed him a paper with her number. "Ok, call me to let me know if you can or can't come." She said and went back to work. When Valerie came down she smiled and waved to her as she left and signed her out for her. "Have a good Sunday Valerie." She called to her then went about her work again. Since it was the last day of the building's work week the employees were all eager to leave and begin their evening and Sunday so everyone had left and she was able to leave by 6. It was summer so it was still bright outside as she walked home by herself quietly, smiling softly as she remembered the fun she'd had with Scott.
 
Scott continued to watch Valerie from a respectable distance. She walked into a restaurant, apparently wanting to grab a bite to eat before she went home. As she sat down at the table, he noticed that there was a swarthy-skinned man with dark hair standing near the doorway. He was looking at his smartphone mostly, not an unusual thing for a New Yorker, but every now and then he would steal a glance at the restaurant. Following his line of sight, Scott saw that he was looking at Valerie. The rate at which he glanced at her left no doubt that this was the man who was following her.

However, it seemed like he was not going to wait for her, as he put his phone in his pocket and began walking the other way. Scott decided that he would tail this man and see where he went, using what he discovered to piece together his identity. With the crowd going the same direction as his quarry, it was not hard to blend in and follow without being discovered. The man ducked into a side alley, and Scott carefully peered around the alley wall before following. The man was now heading for the industrial section of the city, and Scott tried to stay behind things and out of sight, as there was no one else here to blend in with. After Scott had followed him for about thirty minutes, the man ducked into a warehouse that was part of a larger complex.

Scott silently followed him into the complex, looking around for the man but not seeing him. The warehouse seemed to be deserted, but there had been recent activity here, judging by the warmth of a forklift's engine. He placed his hand on a shipping container, and almost jumped back when he heard a voice from within.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" he heard a woman say in a heavy Russian accent.
Scott have a quizzical look at the container and bent close to it.

"Why are you in there?" he whispered, knowing the answer but wanting to confirm it with her.
"I was kidnapped from my home in Saint Petersburg by gangsters. They said they were going to sell me to some rich American for money."
As Scott suspected, it was a human trafficking operation. Ice water ran through his veins as he realized that the man he was following was probably affiliated with the perpetrators of this crime, and that Valerie was a potential target to be sold in an overseas market. He clenched his right fist as hot anger flowed through him and his eyes hardened with focus.

"How many of you are in there?"
"Ten of us in total. There are five women and five children. The children were kidnapped from their parents, and there's been word that they plan to sell them to an organ ring."
Scott's anger shot through the roof, and he had to fight to keep himself calm. He was going to free these people and take down these traffickers, but he would be no help to anyone if he did not keep cool.

After several deep breaths, he placed his other hand against the container.
"I'm going to get you out of there."
"Please hurry. They said they're going to sell us off tonight."
"Okay. I'll be back."

Scott moved away from the container and looked around, seeing a door to a different section of the warehouse.
Valor, do you sense that man anywhere?
He is beyond that door in a large open area. There are many others around him. The next room must be their main headquarters, so tread lightly.
Scott nodded and quietly proceeded into the next room.

As he hid himself behind a shipping container, this one mercifully free of human cargo, he saw that there were several men on the ground floor. He could stealthily take down the men on the second floor, since there was plenty of space between them, but the ground floor was too open for him to replicate that there. As he thought about how to solve that problem, he felt a gun pressed to his head.
"Well, well, an intruder comes into our midst," said a man with a heavy Eastern European accent.
Scott put his hands up, seeing this as a perfect way to get within striking distance of his targets without them being aware of the danger.
"Move it," the man said, gesturing toward the other men in the center of the room.
 
Jessica made it home and made herself some dinner, leaving the burger in the fridge in case Scott was able to come over tomorrow. She made herself some left over mac n cheese and sat down to watch tv.
 
Scott moved into the center of the room, surrounded by men who were pointing guns at him. Some had pistols like the man behind him, and others were carrying AK-47 assault rifles. It was clear that these guys were definitely not small time. It was also clear that they were not about to let him walk out of here. There was only one thing to do, and that was to act fast. Despite the dangerous situation, Scott was eerily calm, and that unnerved the traffickers a little.

Ready, Valor?
Whenever you are.
A bright yellow aura exploded around Scott, blinding and disorienting those that had previously had him dead to rights. The power of Valor sent out shockwaves along the floor, knocking some of them down. Scott lowered his arms and kept one fist clenched at his side, increasing the intensity and power of the aura as his mind linked with Valor's to create the armor on his body. The power being generated by Scott was so intense that it was shaking the warehouse to its foundation and tearing up part of the floor beneath his feet, causing tremors to be felt miles away.

It was then that the black and gold armor of Valor began to appear on his body. It started at his feet and hands and began to work its way to his chest. After it had met in the center, it spread up to cover his face and neck, the part covering his face forming a silver face mask. The aura subsided, revealing his beautiful and terrible form to to criminals.
"Shoot the freak!" one of them cried out, although his voice lacked the confidence of before.
Gunfire exploded around him as each man began firing into him.

The bullets, however, were completely harmless. The shell of a Voltari, which was the essence of his armor, was completely impenetrable to exterior attack. The bullets ricocheted off of him, wounding some of the men around him that got hit by them. When the men ran out of ammunition, Scott sprang into action. Faster than the eye could track, his fists and feet dropped the men around him. He then punched the ground to launch himself up to the second floor, dealing with the rest of the traffickers.

Scott, however, doubted that this was the full-extent of their operation.
Valor, can you sense anyone else?
There are several others in three other warehouses around this one. It's hard to tell if they are traffickers or victims, so be cautious.
Scott nodded and headed for the next warehouses. The first two did not put up anymore of a challenge than this one, but Valor was getting bad vibes from the final one.

Scott, I can sense something evil within this warehouse, worse than even these traffickers. Do not let your guard down.
I'll be careful.
Scott entered the warehouse, and was immediately under fire. Word had spread around the compound, and all of the men were massed to shoot at him. Of course, just like the men before him, their guns were useless and they fell before his swift strikes.

Scott looked up to the second floor and saw a man in a blue suit retreating into an office.
"That must be the guy in charge of this operation."
Scott punched the floor to shoot himself up to that floor, and kicked the door in, only to find that the man had retreated into a second door. He had just forced open the door into the closet when he saw the man stick a needle into his arm. The man dropped to his knees and the syringe clattered across the floor. Scott at first thought the man had injected himself with poison to avoid talking about the operation, but the truth was far more horrifying.

Before his eyes, the man began to change. He writhed in pain and let out horrible cries as his clothes tore and fur began to cover his body. His hands and feet began to sport claws the size of Bowie knives, and his eyes turned a horrible red as the transformation completed itself. Within moments, he had the snarling jaws of a wolf complete with razor-sharp teeth. As the creature reared up to its terrifying height that had to be at least eight feet, it was a truly fearsome sight to behold. Whatever had been in that syringe had changed this man into some kind of werewolf.

Within seconds, the creature was on him, tackling him out the door and attempting to bite into his neck. However, even his powerful teeth could not penetrate the Armor of Valor, and his claws were no more effective against it than fingernails. Unfortunately, it seemed that Scott's martial art strikes, even powered up by Valor's armor, were not doing much against the thick fur and even thicker muscles. He found more success striking it in the jaw, but given that the creature was head and shoulders taller than him, it was hard to consistently strike there. The two appeared to be at a stalemate, the winner to be decided by the one who dropped first. However, Scott had resources at his disposal that he was sure would take down this beast.

Scott clenched his right fist and it began to glow with the same golden light as before. However, as his arm turned white with glowing energy and the rainbow spectrum of colors appeared around it, the intensity of the light became too great for his foe, who drew back away from it and tried to shield its eyes. Seeing his opening, Scott charged in, sliding forward a bit on his left foot as he threw back his right arm.
"Fist of Valor!"
He buried his fist deep into the stomach of the creature, the full force of the shot emitting a shockwave that threw the creature back and buried it into the wall. Even with its thick muscles, the blow was too much for the creature and it collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Within moments, the transformation reversed itself so that it was just a regular man laying there. Scott hustled up the stairs and found the syringe the man had injected himself with, holding it in his right hand as he examined it closely.
Valor, do you have any idea what was in this?
It seems to be some kind of mutagen, but that's all I can say for sure. This was the evil that I sensed, but I've never known its like before.
Scott's armor dissipated and he placed it in his pocket.

"I'll send it to Shadowgreen and see if their labs can turn up anything on it. Maybe if we find out what it is, we can find who made it."
Scott took out his cell phone and called the police as he hurried down the stairs. After he had finished the phone call, he went into each warehouse and herded the trafficked men, women, and children into the first warehouse he had entered. About ten minutes later, the police arrived, and after securing statements, they called INS to make preparations to send the people back home. Everyone thanked him profusely for putting a stop to this operation, and Scott wished that he could have felt as relieved as everyone else did.

As Scott departed from the crime scene, he had two more phone calls to make. The first was to his client, Valerie Harper, who no longer seemed to be in danger.
"Hello?" she answered on the third ring.
"Miss Harper, it's me, Scott. I have an update for you."
"Yes?"

Scott filled her in on the human trafficking ring that had targeted her, and though she was horrified to have been caught up in such a mess, she was relieved that she was safe now.
"Thank you, Mr. Young. Without you, who knows what would have happened."
"It's what I do, Miss Harper. If you ever need my services again, feel free to contact me anytime."
He hung up the phone and made his way to the office building, thankfully getting there before they locked up for the night.

Scott took the elevator up to his office and found the file on Valerie Harper. He wrote in the conclusion to the case, leaving out the part about the syringe and the werewolf creature, and placed it in his closed cases drawer. He then took out his phone and dialed the number for Jessica's house. Even though he had to mail off the syringe, that would not take very long. He would be able to hang out with Jessica tomorrow, and he was looking forward to it. If it went as well as their basketball game did, he thought they would have a lot of fun.
 
Scott smiled as he heard Jessica's voice on the phone.
"Hey, Jessica, it's me, Scott. I just wanted to let you know that we'll be able to hang out tomorrow."
He climbed into his car and sat there while he was on the phone with her.
 
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