The Weird, Wild, and Wonderous World of Beyblade

Valt-Journey

All rights reserved to Hiro Morita.

It was days like these that made Valt wish he could control time.

Staring out at the gray snowy sky from the window of his room at BC Sol, the teen ran a hand through his spiky blue hair as he sat on his bed. Gray and dull, just like every other day.

Ever since his last battle with Bell and Rashad, the world around Valt just seemed to be going on autopilot. It had been three long years, and all of them were just dipping in and out of a routine: training, a title fight, a media circus. Even the bouts for the champion's belt themselves got samey, there hadn't been a new pair of eyes on the other side of the arena. At this point, only the best of the best had the guts to stand up to him, and it was beyond tiring.

With all that in his head, how could he not question if everything was worth it?

Looking back to when he first started, he probably could have cut back on the arrogance, something he now realized was probably a product of him trying to pump himself up after so many people looked down on him. The boy's brown eyes narrowed, and his nose crinkled as he remembered how confident he used to strut around after winning a match, even though most of them were fairly close calls.

The teen made a mental note to thank Shu the next time he saw him for keeping his head straight.

Two months later he found himself in Spain, gearing up to take on the world as part of BC Sol with the biggest grin of his life, and man, was he anything but prepared. Training sessions stopped ending at his leisure, talk of being kicked off the team was constantly hurled his way, while it seemed impossible given where he was now, being on the world's strongest team went downhill real fast.

And then Shu's downfall happened.

The teen felt his lips twist at the memory. The white-haired teen was bad enough as Red Eye, but the mask coming off only made it worse. Seeing his friend's face, a face he'd known since childhood, one he'd usually pictured smiling at him, glaring and snarling at everything that got in his way as Spriggan Requiem's eerie aura poured off of it hurt Valt in ways he never hoped to experience again.

In a way, he kind of had to thank the much more hyper critical atmosphere of BC Sol for toughing him up to deal with things like this.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, though. During this time, Valkyrie's strength shot through the roof, moves like Bound Attack became a staple in Valt's arsenal, especially when it came time to snap Shu back to his senses, and for that, Valt would be forever grateful.

After becoming world champion, life began to squeeze Valt harder and harder: deadlines, the media circus, all the things he hadn't even considered the minute he decided to shoot for the top came crashing down on him from all sides.

He wouldn't break from it in the end, but he'd be lying if he said he was fine that the simple life he envisioned of being surrounded by his friends only to be occasionally interrupted by a challenge for the belt didn't come to pass.

Everything beyond that was static just like today, same old fights, hardly a challenge in sight.

Valt turned from the window and looked down to his wooden desk, his partner, Ultimate Valkyrie sat idly as its blue and red colors were dulled by shadows. Valt couldn't help but smile at his partner. They'd been through so much together: their fight to overcome Lui and Longinus in the Nationals, struggling to bring Shu back to his senses while facing Spriggan Requiem, defending the champion's belt from guys like Aiga, Lean, and Rashad. Thinking about it brought his mood back down; despite all the problems he and his friends faced, a selfish part of Valt wanted time to rewind so he could see it all over again.

Before he could sulk any further, his Bey began to glow a soft blue.

The light washed away the shadows and consumed Valt's vision. The minute he blinked again, he was surrounded by an autumn-like forest with gray trees that hoisted up leaves of the lightest and darkest shades of blue.

Turning around, Valt's eyes widened at the sight of Valkyrie's avatar, a horseback warrior clad in blue and gold armor. The warrior's glassy yellow eyes gleamed along with the red lightning-like markings on its cheeks as it drew its sword. Its feminine voice echoed a bit in his ears.

"What troubles you, partner?"

Valt recovered a bit from the shock and stumbled back a bit. He'd never had Valkyrie summon him like this before. "N-nothing. No trouble at all, just feeling a bit groggy today." Partners or not, he didn't feel like bugging Valkyrie with this. He already asked enough from her when it came time to fight.

Valkyrie didn't budge as its horse snorted a bit. "You have no need to lie to me, Valt. Our Resonance has allowed me to sense a disturbance in you and our partnership requires us to have equal access to the other's feelings. Now out with it, please."

Valt hung his head and caved. "It's just... is this it for us? All those battles, all that training, and now it just feels like we're running in place. Barely anyone's a challenge anymore, I've lost contact with so many of the guys from back home, I can't..." He had to breathe for a second before looking up at Valkyrie. "I can't keep doing this, but no matter what I do, I can't look back."

Valkyrie pondered this for a minute, bringing an armored hand to its chin as its six yellow eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Perhaps you are being too jaded about this."

Valt tilted his head to the right.

"Who says that this is all there is to our journey? It would seem that you've gotten so used to having challenge after challenge that your expectations are too high."

Valt straightened his head. That did make a bit of sense. Maybe he wasn't used to this routine because he had traded in an old one. "I-I guess, not really sure if that helps me out or not."

Valkyrie sighed. "Forgive me, but for all my power, I cannot answer your every plight. Maybe you should look inward more. You humans, for better or worse, often accept your own answers as opposed to another's."

"I-I guess that rings true. Thanks, partner." And with that Valt began to walk off only for Valkyrie's voice to stop him again.

"Valt?"

The teen looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"If you can't find your solution soon, do not lose faith. Of the many things this journey has given you, the strength to never give up is one of them."

Valt felt a smile break out. "Thanks."