With Great Power

The Blading Hour

Valt's eyes snap open at some point that night. He sits up and looks around the room. It's still dark outside, and everyone else is still sleeping. Sisco and Rantaro are sharing a bed, apparently. They're both spread out, like they're trying to steal it from each other. Next to him, Cuza is curled up, hugging a pillow tightly to his chest, snoring lightly. Valt looks over at the clock. 3:01, it reads. He takes a breath and sighs. Of course it's three in the morning. Valt has woken up at three every morning since the whole 'Spin Emperor' thing in Japan. He's used to it, at this point.

Valt looks away from the clock, but then his eyes are drawn to the nightstand again. He sees a glow. He looks down at the source of the light, and sees that it's Valkyrie. It's glowing a bright blue. Valt looks at everyone else, but none of them seem to notice. They're all still sound asleep. He grabs his Bey, and stands up. He stares down at it.

"What is it, partner?" Valt whispers.

Valkyrie doesn't say anything, but Valt can tell there's something wrong. The aura it gives off unnerves him. It's as if it wants to say something, but it can't. It's as if it's trying to warn him about something.

Valt turns and looks back at his friends. They seem sound asleep. Valt standing up and whispering to his Bey didn't wake any of them up. The most it did was make Cuza roll over. Valt takes a breath. He looks at the door to his hotel room. He knows that leaving is a bad idea, considering that Trad already said they were getting scolded for leaving earlier that night, but Valt feels like he's supposed to. It's like he's playing a videogame, and the only way to access the next quest is to go through that door straight into the boss battle.

Valt takes a breath. He starts walking toward the door.

"CARL!" Cuza suddenly shrieks.

Valt whirls around. Cuza is sitting up in the bed, frantically looking around the hotel room. His eyes are wide and frenzied. He jumps up, standing on the mattress, looking around the room, spinning in circles.

"WHERE'S CARL!?" Cuza screams.

"What're you screaming about!?" Sisco props himself up on his elbow, and reaches for the nightstand to grab his glasses. "Shit, they're in my hotel room," he mutters.

"I can't find Carl, he's not in here!" Cuza panics and spins in a circle again. Then, he remembers. "Oh, right. I'm not in my hotel room." He falls back onto the mattress, sighing with relief. "Carl's in my hotel room."

"So you're done screaming?" Sisco says.

"Yeah," Cuza answers.

"Good." Sisco rolls back over. "Goodnight."

Everyone decides to go back to sleep. Valt climbs back into bed, but he's wide awake now. The second everyone else is sleeping, Valt gets back up and leaves the hotel room.

Valt appears to be the only one awake. Everyone's doors are shut, and the hallway is completely deserted. The main lights had been turned off, in favor of less intense, power-saving lights. The entire hallway is lit a dim gold color. Valt's footsteps seem to be the only sound.

Valt feels on edge for some reason. He keeps looking over his shoulder, fearing that someone is following him or watching him. He knows nobody is there, though. He can't hear any footsteps, and every time he looks over his shoulder, he doesn't see so much as a shadow. There can't be anyone following him, unless they're a ghost.

A shiver runs down Valt's spine. What if it is a ghost? What if it's the ghost of someone he knows? He shudders and hugs himself. That can't be it. He tries to tell himself that he's just scared for no good reason. He's just paranoid, since he's wandering a hotel at three in the morning. He's just worried that he's going to get caught, and he's going to be in trouble. That's the only reason he's so on-edge.