Knock, knock, knock.
"Who is it?"
At the sound of knocking, Butcher came to the door with bloodshot, reddened eyes after another night of intensive internet surfing.
Out of a professional habit from his days as an agent, Butcher did not open the door immediately.
He stood warily outside the door's line of fire, trying to remember where he had left the nearest weapon.
Damn it, the aftereffects of staying up all night!
Where the hell was my gun?!
"Open up, room service!"
The classic wrong answer came from outside. Butcher's eye twitched, and he muttered under his breath.
"Which little bastard is it? Don't let me catch you..."
His eyes swept his surroundings. Finally, as though remembering something, he bent down and pulled a tape-wrapped pistol out from under the shoe cabinet.
With a click, he chambered a round, and his confidence immediately soared.
Even if some pansy supe were standing outside right now, he could shoot out his eyeballs or his asshole before he used his powers.
"Like fucking hell! This is an apartment, not a hotel, you little... wait?"
Halfway through his tirade, he suddenly found the voice outside familiar. It seemed...
"Boss?"
He flung the door open. A tall, muscular man dressed entirely in black and wearing a baseball cap stood outside.
Butcher stared in surprise. "Who are you?"
Josen took off the War God Baseball Cap, pushed past Butcher, who stood frozen with his pistol in hand, and entered the room.
Behind him, F-kid reached out to catch the falling cap, activated his ability, and turned it into a card before putting it into the deck.
"Boss, is that really you? I didn't recognize you at all..."
Was I hallucinating?
That couldn't be right!
*It wasn't as if I'd never pulled an all-nighter before. Why