Chapter iX
[LAiX: At the Bottom of Despair]
When he got home, he found it in ruins.
As he slowly explored the ruins, he started to find bodies. First was Zeno. The ESPer's body was near unrecognisable. Electrical burns had burned a hole through him. Next was Moniqa. She just had a bullet through her and had been tossed to the side of a room.
Had these two tried to stop Asimov? He'd been their old boss hadn't he?
Copen pondered what had happened. Had they gone to him, excited to see him, only for him to kill them without mercy? Had he tried fooling them only to stab them in the back?
The robots Copen had built to protect his home had been no help at all. They lay across the ground.
At the back of the house he found the worst sight. Not Nori's body but rather its absence. He found a cloud of ash with her silhouette. As he continued to search, he found a small note.
"Master Copen, I'm sorry I wasn't able to do more."
Copen clutched the note in his hands.
"Boss?" Lola asked "Is there..."
She couldn't think of what to say. She couldn't ask "Is there anything I can do?" because the answer was obvious.
No. There was nothing she could do. Just as there was nothing Copen could do.
Asimov had taken everything from him.
"I'll see him dead for this." Copen promised himself "Him, and everything else."
There was only a small shard of light left. Mytyl still lived but...
Over the next few weeks, he built a new base and researched the Data stolen from EDEN.
He learned about the butterfly effect. And that it had likely... already been created.
"No matter how long..." Copen's voice was still quiet "No matter how long I must hunt..."
He would find her again. No matter what.
[LAiX: Desolate World]
Copen continued to hunt, Lola singing her Anthem for him as he began his crusade.
The notes had said that Sumeragi was behind the butterfly effect plan and so he focused his intent on them.
As the years passed though, he realised he wouldn't be as strong as he was now forever. Instead of just upgrading his equipment, he began work on cybernetics to keep his body going no matter how long his hunt would take.
Over time, Sumeragi seemed to change. Instead of pushing forth the development of Adepts for the sake of power, their goals changed to support the Adepts themselves. Those born without Septima became known as Minos.
Sumeragi began to gain such a great control over the world that they began ordering the hunting of Minos. It seemed they wanted a world where only Adepts lived.
A sister organisation to Sumeragi, Shadow Yakumo, acted behind the scenes. They hadn't been completly taken in by Sumeragi's sudden change.
They assisted Copen, helping him find safe houses in the cities he passed through. They even provided him information on the Sumeragi Adepts he fought.
That wasn't to say they were a group of Minos. Due to Sumeragi's control, even Shadow Yakumo was made purely of Adepts.
After a long time, the name "Copen, The Adept Slayer" had passed into legend. No one knew him by that name anymore. Now, with "Lola, the Muse of Hope" by his side, he was known as "The Luminous Avenger iX"
After a very long time, Shadow Yakumo was able to find a possible lead on the Butterfly effect. They had found a new "Azure Striker" named Blade and from the information they had access to, it seemed that they were involved in a project related to the Butterfly Effect.
Finding Blade might be difficult but they had found one more piece of information. There was a certain set of slums where it is said that Blade came from, but not any further details about them.
And so iX and Lola travelled.
No matter what else happened. No matter how much time would pass. Copen would see things... if not put to right then at least he'd make sure his... He'd destroy the Butterfly Effect.
As they overlooked the slums, iX listened to Lola.
"Things look pretty bad out here too. But hey, it still looks better than a lot of the places we've seen so far, right? All the cities controlled by Sumeragi are super bright and busy. They're nothing like this."
He didn't respond so she continued.
"Really makes me wonder if we'll find any survivors... Hey, Copen..."
He saw an alarm go off on his new suit, the septima detectors were really useful in this world made for Adepts.
"We've got company."
Lola looked over, surprised at first but then bobbing to show she'd detected them too.
"Huh? You're right. I'm reading a bunch of Septimas, along with some heat signatures. They're some no-good Sumeragi punks?"
Copen shook his head.
"Civilian Adepts aren't allowed to leave Sumeragi controlled districts. If they're here, they must be..."
"Sumeragi Special Forces, right? What are we gonna do, Boss?" Lola asked. Copen shook his head though.
"You don't even have to ask. We're moving out, Lola."
Lola bobbed an affirmative again.
"OK! Here we go! Let's get 'em!"
Copen jumped off the roof he was standing on. As he fell to the ground, he made a wish and a promise.
"Mytyl. Don't worry. I'm coming to get you now."
End of chapter.
Yes, Chapter 9. Chapter iX. Released on the same day that luminous avenger iX released four years ago.
While this chapter might be a bit short, the date kind of crept up on me.
This is the "Final" chapter of this sidestory. I might eventually write one more though to link in to upcoming events in the main story. Thank you all for reading this side story though.