(Author's Note) Here it is. The real deal!

Finally at least one thing has gone right for me recently. That is this: I'm going to go active duty within a month or two. What this means for all of you is that this story will be TEMPORARILY discontinued. While I shall most definately continue to work on it before and during my time in the service, I have NO idea when I'll be able to update in the coming months. It is for that reason alone.

Now, onto the main event. Enjoy!

Unleashing Valor

By: Tellemicus Sundance

Kunai and Shuriken

Everything was quiet. Like someone had turned mute on a television. Like she had just put on a pair of earmuffs. It unnerved her to no end, especially from her seat of choice: William's arms.

Raising her head, she glanced around in the darkness. The storm had stopped. From her point of view, it looked as though it had never occurred. But this did nothing to ease her terrified mind.

Desperately clinging to the only thing that could give her comfort, Sissi felt as though she'd been abandoned. Her precious Ulrich hadn't come to save her. He hadn't come to comfort or protect her. She hadn't seen him in hours.

Patting her back reassuringly, William stood up and partly lifted her with him. "It's okay," he said softly. "I think it's over."

Normally she'd have made a remark at the obviousness of the statement. But now she clung to each syllable as she did to him. It was in this moment that Sissi found a new love interest. One that could, would, and had protected and soothed her.

Poor William.

Aelita saw her chance and leapt from the Flying Mantas she was on. Her fall was cushioned by a sand dune. Tumbling gracelessly down the slope, she managed to dig her hand in and slow her fall.

By this time, the Mantas swarm had recovered from their collective shock at seeing the Scyphoza so brutally destroyed. They still had a job to do. Unfortunately, she seemed determined to do it the hard way. Assembling into trios, they began their attacks.

Instinctively, Aelita drew up a partial dome of sand around her as the lasers approached. As the Mantas swarm began to circle her, she was forced to completely shield herself. Drawing on sand from within the immediate area, her dome hardened to steel and was several inches thick.

"Jeremy?" Aelita called out. "How's Odd? He's not hurt, is he?

After a moment's hesitation, a disgruntled Jeremy answered. "Well, I don't know. Whatever happened to him has drained all but five of his life points and it would seem as thought he's fallen unconscious… If only Ulrich and Yumi were here, then we'd be able to get to him."

Aelita wanted to reach her blonde friend but she was trapped. If she tried to leave, the Mantas would swarm her. But she couldn't stay as they were pummeling her dome even now. If only she were invisible—

She gasped as an idea struck her like a mallet. Gathering the sand that was directly underneath her dome, she sent it up to reinforce the structure. Then by simply 'pushing' the sand aside, she formed a tunnel.

"Jeremy, guide me to Odd," she said as she dropped inside. As she did, she replaced the sand to hide the entrance. "I'm underground."

"Behind you and slightly to the right," he answered quickly.

Off in the distance, a figure appeared in the sky. When he'd taken full form, he dropped lightly to the ground. Breathing in the hot air, he let out a relieved sigh. WHAT A RIDE! He thought gleefully.

Then he checked himself over. He wore a teal uniform that was classically reserved for martial artists. Strapped to his thighs was a pair of holsters with a dozen shuriken stars and kunai daggers that gleamed proudly up at him. And bound to his left forearm was a miniature computer. Feeling his face, he was relieved again to find his mask in place.

Smirking, he lifted his arm and a holographic display of the region appeared. It zoomed in to the eleven figures to the eastern portion. Nine Mantas were firing at a glowing structure as their prey slipped sneakily away from them underground towards another figure that was sprawled on a cliff top nearly a hundred meters away. His smirk widened at Aelita's resourcefulness.

Next he studied the basic layout of the landscape. It was mostly a rocky canyon with several stone stalagmites and a sea of sand dunes surrounding it. It would take him almost a half hour to reach them, on foot.

"I love coming prepared," he mumbled to himself. It was a lucky break on his part he'd considered this possibility and made preparations.

As he made ready to use his special ability, he felt tingling sensation creep down his spine. Someone or something was watching him. Looking in the direction he felt it from, he glimpsed a stubby head ducking under the horizon.

Smiling at the fearful gesture of the once-almighty deity, he yelled out, "You are not my enemy! Besides, only cowards hide when there's a battle to be fought, Xana!"

With that said, he teleported to where he was needed.

Erupting out of the sand dune like a bat out of hell, Aelita ran for the cliff face. With a simple gesture and 'pull,' a series of formed leading to the top.

"Hurry, Aelita!" Jeremy said nerv9ously. "The Mantas have almost breached the dome."

Reaching Odd within moments, Aelita knelt down and shook him. "Odd, wake up!" But there was no response from him.

In the distance, the swarm let out a furious roar. They'd finally destroyed a considerable section of the dome, only to find it empty. Circling around they began searching for their prey, which was relatively easy to spot. They didn't care how she got there. But now that they found her, it was time to complete their mission.

Aelita didn't realize the danger until seconds after Jeremy's warning. The swarm let loose a wall of laser fire as she was turning to face them. She was struck no less than six times in a moment's notice. Lucky that half were glancing blows or she'd been devirtualized on the spot.

"Ten life points remaining!" Jeremy said, sounding considerably panicked. "They're coming around again!"

Struggling to stand, Aelita watched as the swarm circled around. She would've started running or created another dome, but it was too painful. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think. It just plain hurt!

She watched as the leading Mantas began charging its laser. The urge to dodge was great, but her body felt like it was trudging through molasses. She knew she wouldn't be able to move fast enough. The laser began to glow ominously.

The sound of metal whistling through the air suddenly broke the silence that was growing from the tension. Two metallic blurs seemed to have materialized from nowhere and struck the two leading Mantas. A deep, glowing puncture was visible on the Xana eye before both detonated.

"Oh yeah!" a loud voice cried out from what to seemed to be everywhere at once. "The Hero of Justice has arrived!"

The swarm broke apart in a chaotic fashion. Trying to find the new threat, they began scanning the terrain. It was unnecessary however. For the next instant, Aelita's savior made his presence known.

"Omega!" the loud voice yelled. "Why don't you pick on someone who isn't defenseless, you cyber-reject?"

Aelita stared with confusion at the being that stood on the opposite side of the canyon. The first detail that really caught her attention was that the self-proclaimed 'Hero of Justice' was short. Yet his size didn't diminish the aura of confidence and humor that seemed to radiate from him.

Unsheathing a pair of kunai daggers, the boy tossed one to his other hand as he dropped into an aggressive fighting stance. The remaining Mantas had regrouped and were converging on his location. He chuckled as they opened fire on him

Ducking, dodging, blocking, and deflecting the hail of lasers, the boy broke out in wild laughter. He moved with an agility and flexibility that would've made many gymnasts seethe in jealousy. It was almost as though he knew where the attacks would come from and had already moved to deflect or dodge. And the whole while, he had scarcely moved two feet from his original position.

As the swarm attempted to veer away, his hand snapped to his thigh. A trio of shuriken stars literally flew out of his hand and impacted the leading three monsters.

Jumping away from the cliff, he turned and sprinted down deeper into the canyon. The group was disoriented for a several moments before pursuing the boy. The something strange happened. He vanished.

Even with his bright teal uniform that was horribly out-of-place in the golden desert, he couldn't be seen. Then his mocking laughter at their futile search attempts only infuriated them more. Judging from his voice, he seemed to be everywhere at once again.

"You sent mere grunts to fight an entire army!" his voice held more arrogance then any normal person could ever hope to acquire. "But this is getting boring."

Suddenly he reappeared at the far end of the canyon. In one hand he held a kunai and a shuriken in the other. With his arms crossed over his chest, he would've seemed to become dangerously serious. If not for his resounding laughter, that is.

The Mantas regrouped and swooped down toward him laser cannons glowing. Seeing this action, the finally stopped laughing uncontrollably. Yet from his body posture, it was clear he still found much amusement in the situation.

Dashing forward, the two sides rushed each other. Deflecting any stray laser near him, the boy's image suddenly blurred as he increased his speed astronautically. With a mighty leap, he landed on the lead monster. As he slashed the eye, he cast the shuriken at another to the side.

Hopping to the other side, his arm snapped out. The kunai dug a deep furrow across the Mantas's backside as it attempted to dive away. Quickly extracting the weapon, his body flickered out of existence. Only to instantaneously reappear and drop onto the final monster.

Stabbing the eye so deeply, he was forced to relinquish his hold on it. Carelessly leaning backward, he dropped to the ground. As he landed gracefully on a solitary stalagmite in the canyon, all four monsters exploded in almost the same instant. He glanced over his shoulder at the flaming debris and a small chuckle escaped his lips.

Aelita watched all this and was both awed and frightened. This stranger had just displayed a level of combat prowess that she didn't truly believe could exist. He destroyed nearly a dozen Mantas without even getting a scratch. In fact, it was clearly a game to him. Now, as he slowly walked back towards her, one question lingered in her mind.

What does he want?

Above her, her two other friends finally were virtualized above her. This did little to ease her nervousness.