The Second Step (Closed)

As he drove towards the warehouse, a lot of thoughts ran through his head. Where had his father been all of this time? What was he doing? Was he in trouble? Why did he not say anything to Valo, or even stop by to show that he was okay? He had disappeared without a word, and Valo didn't understand anything to this day. Both of his parents vanished after the boy's life was saved, and he was taking care of his sister alone.

"Katarina, I've arrived at the warehouse."

He spoke to Sarah over his earpiece, parking his motorcycle in a hidden spot as he grabbed his bow and dismounted to survey the area. He was on a hilltop, and the warehouse was a small distance away. It looked like it happened been used in a very long time, and there were a lot of smaller buildings around. It certainly looked creepy.

"It doesn't look like anyone's been 'round for a while..."
"That's definitely the location we traced the signal back to, though... are you sure about this?"
"Nope."
"But you're going to do it anyway..."
"Yup."

He leapt down the hill, sliding down and rolling as he landed at the bottom, quicky regaining his balance and crouching behind a nearby crate, his bow at the ready. Peeking around the corner, he heard and saw nothing to indicate that anyone was even here. There weren't any guards, no security, nothing.

Cautiously, The Hood stepped out from behind the crates, moving to the nearest building and making his way along the back, keeping to the shadows just in case. Every so often, he paused trying to hear if there was any movement, and snuck a look inside the building to find nothing of note.

The main building was in front of him soon enough, and keeping a firm grip on his bow, he began to approach it slowly.

Here goes nothing...

---

"Let's see what's behind door number one..."



Valo approached the door to the warehouse, placing his bow on his back and equipping his arm crossbow, making sure it was ready as he began to turn the handle. The door was surprisingly unlocked, and he pulled it open cautiously and quietly as he kept that crossbow aimed in front of him, a bolt primed just in case he had to fire at anything.



The room inside was pitch black, and he brought his hand up to the mask across his eyes, tapping the left side of it. The black flashed a neon green as his night vision activated, and the contents of the warehouse were now visible to him. He stepped inside, not noticing anyone around. Instead, all he saw were a bunch of crates and boxes, all sealed tightly. Upon closer inspection, he saw the word "VALOR" scribbled in some place on all of them, and the mere sight of the word caused his head to throb in pain.



"A-agh..." He fell to his knees, clutching his head as everything started spinning around him. The pain was unbearable, and he wasn't sure where it came from. It lasted for what seemed like forver, as though he was suffering through the agonizing pain of someone stabbing knives into his skull repeatedly, before a voice snapped him out of it.



"Valo?"



He looked up, seeing a familiar face. That blue haired girl again. In this place? She was standing next to him, the imaginary him, and she had her hand on his shoulder. Valo gasped as he saw the state the other him was in: his skin was unnaturally pale, he looked very sickly and could hardly move. In her hand was a syringe.



"Are you sure this is what you want...?" She asked him, and he nodded his head weakly, trying to speak. "We don't have any other choice... The Project... is all that keeps me alive..."



The Project... what is he talking about...?



The blue haired girl nodded hesitantly, taking a deep breath and sticking the syringe into his neck. As she injected him, the other him reeled back and began to shake violently and scream. She didn't back away however, doing her best to hold him steady. "Valo! Just endure it for a bit longer! You can make it through this! Just keep a hold of my hand, please. We can beat this!"



Valo watched the other him suffer for a while longer before he just stopped moving entirely, the blue haired girl laid her head down on his chest and started crying loudly, clutching him tightly. Did he... did I die...? The Hood walked over to the two of them, looking down at the other him closely, kneeling down beside them. He shut his eyes in sorrow as he saw the girl continue crying. "Jayne... it's alright."



Upon hearing the voice, Valo opened his eyes, to see no one there anymore. He was back in his own reality, and he stood up looking around to verify this. Damn it... what do these visions mean? What did she inject him with? Who is Jayne...?



He got more questions than anything, even if he finally discovered the name of that girl. He was snapped from his thoughts as he heard a creaking noise above him, and he jumped out of the way just in time to dodge a blade coming down from above him. Rolling up to his feet, Valo pulled his bow out and nocked an arrow, looking at his attacker. It was a girl with long black hair, and she was wearing a claw on either hand. She looked at Valo and smirked. "So it seems the puppet is becoming more aware... that's no good."



Valo stared at her, pulling his bow off of his back and aiming at her, nocking an arrow and taking aim right at her heart.



"Puppet? What are you talking about? Who the hell are you?"



The woman smiled as she lifted her blade, the minimum light in the warehouse reflecting off of it. Valo could tell it was extremely sharp, and was sure it could cleave right through him if he wasn't careful.



"You don't get to ask questions. You're our plaything. You're nothing but a worthless reject of Project VALOR. And it's time to finish you off."



She charged at Valo, slashing downwards and aiming to cut his face. He blocked the blade with his blow, pushing back at her to send her stumbling back before he charged forward, swinging his bow for a horizontal attack to her head. She ducked under it, trying to impale him in the stomach, which he sidestepped before kneeing her in the stomach and slamming his fist into her face. She fell back to the floor, rolling up quickly. Valo fired an arrow at her, and she jumped out of the way. He responded by firing arrow after arrow, aiming to hit her in the legs with at least one of them, but she was a lot more skilled than most of his previous opponents, dodging them with relative ease.



"Not bad. At least you know how to defend yourself. But you're a coward who hides behind that bow of yours. You couldn't take me in a real fight."



The Hood remained stoic throughout her taunt as she called at him from the shadows, keeping his bow raised. Ha... like I'm gonna fall for that one. he thought, scanning the area for any subtle movements and keeping quiet for any sounds as to where she might be. After a minute, it was clear she wasn't going to move from her spot while he had his guard up like this, so he decided he would try a different approach.



Valo lowered his bow, returning his arrow to the quiver and placing the bow on his back. He closed his eyes and stood perfectly still as he listened to everything around him, taking the world in and trying to become a lot more aware of his surroundings. He took a deep breath and concentrated, looking for the faintest disturbance in the area around him. He became so silent that he wasn't even aware of his own breathing anymore. Everything felt like it was slowing down to a crawl, and the boy felt aware of everything around him.



A small clanking sound could be heard directly behind him, and instinctively, he stepped to the side just in time to avoid impalement from behind. He reached over, opening his eyes as he grabbed the woman's arm and wrapped his other arm around her neck. He restrained her, holding her in a way that she can't lash out at him.



"Now get talking. What is PROJECT Valor? Why are you calling me a puppet? Where's my father? And who are you?"



The girl started laughing. "You don't know anything at all, do you? Why would I tell you?"

"Because if you don't tell me, I'm gonna break your neck."

"Ha... all I'm going to say is you won't learn anything. Even the people closest to you could be lying to you and you would never know."



Before Valo could interrogate her further, a light broke out in front of him, blinding him and causing him to let go of the girl. She broke free and started running before Valo could stop her. He fired arrow after arrow at her, but she managed to get out of the warehouse in time. He sprinted after her, but upon leaving the warehouse, he was only met with silence as he was all alone. All he had this time was more mysteries, but somehow, he felt closer to finding the truth out.



He placed his hand on his earpiece. "Katarina, I need you to look up anything involving something called PROJECT: Valor..."

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