Translator
Translator
"So, are you going to explain what you're doing here or will we go for the usual…?" Gunvolt asks with apprehension, stance shifted to lean a bit more forward in case he needs to suddenly dash his opponent's way. "You're no saint, but surely you got a reason to not just buy what you came for?"
Oh, he does have a reason, but Copen is not the type to admit weakness against an opponent, even if he was, he still has to keep the worst case scenario in mind. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm dealing with someone that's a fan of using an extremely rare poison and I'm getting the cure."
That's half the truth, and is all Gunvolt needs to know for all he cares. Still he continues, eyes ready to react at even the slightest aggressive body language coming from the striker and counteract it.
"A few individuals have been attacked by a masked woman earlier tonight, and they need panax to cure them of the neurotic that they've been injected by. Hence here I am, saving their lives…"
He stops there, not needing to add anymore detail to the altered truth. It's enough to make out the azure striker as the bad guy if he tries to get in his way and he's confident that Gunvolt's bleeding heart won't allow him to sleep at night if he's indirectly responsible for the agonizing death of others. As if to confirm this, Gunvolt's body stiffened in response, taken aback by his words.
"You could've just bought it instead of stealing…" Gunvolt contests, still unconvinced.
"And wait in the meantime as their bodies shut down? Just do nothing until it's too late?" Lola adds in the ruse, ignoring Gunvolt's remark, "If you let us leave now, we can save innocent lives! Isn't that something you would do yourself if the need ever arose, Gunvolt?"
"I would." Gunvolt nods in confirmation, "But I don't believe either of you are telling the truth."
"Aw C'mon!" Lola snaps at that, wings bristling with frustration. "Who do you think you are? Acting all high and mighty. It's not like we rob hospitals for fun! Why do you think we're here?"
"I think that you're telling the truth about getting the cure, just not for who." Gunvolt replies, met with a shocked look from Lola and a blank face from Copen, he continues onward. "Don't think I haven't noticed the way you slightly slouch and look all feverish, Copen. This is all for your sake."
Looks like the striker has gotten sharper, Copen "tsks" in displeasure. "So what?"
"So take the Panax already and get outta here." he firmly snapped, "It's the least I can do to repay Mytyl saving my life a year ago. My debt is now repaid. But Copen, I'll give you one warning. If I ever see you again messing around in my city, I will be the one to arrest you!"
"Hold on, arrest?" Lola questions, "Since when were you a cop? That's just not possible!"
Ignoring her question for now, Copen decides to take the opportunity before the striker can change his mind. He pulled out the syringe tool and tried to steady himself as he prepared to inject the Panax into himself. His hand trembled as the syringe was aimed at his arm. Then Copen stabbed down with the tool and squeezed on the trigger. The Panax drained out from the glass tube and into his body. The adept slayer could actually feel it coursing through his veins, fighting off the poison and restoring his health. It wouldn't act quickly though as Copen still felt a bit wobbly and nauseated but within reasonable time he'll be as good as new and that's what matters here.
It is within that now hallucination absent brain of his that he then realized two things.
One dose isn't enough. He needs to obtain some spare bottles in case he ever needed anymore Panax as long as the assassin still lives. He can't just run back and break into the hospital every time he ends up poisoned after all. Which means he has to get back inside, this instant and obtain more no matter what the azure striker thinks about it. Even if he has to get into a fight with them for it.
...Or does he? There's always the option of outright buying them now that his time isn't ticking.
And secondly his visor has been showing for a while that the striker's septima is currently being subdued by a mechanism that is unmistakably the signs of him having a glaive and thirdly that theory ends up confirmed when Lola loudly shouts, "Wait, so you work for Sumeragi now!?"
"It's a long story…" Gunvolt confirms and there it is. The pathetic embers of a half-wet campfire that made Copen feel 'Oh, it's Gunvolt' with the similar distaste of looking at a moldy old sock flared up with flames hotter than those fueling the depths of hell. This rush of determination, disgust, resoluteness and hate coursed through Copen's veins with a heat and stream so violent that his heart starts to beat twice as fast as a painful sensation sets within his stomach. The clouds in the background part enough so that the twin azure buildings of Sumeragi can be seen in the distance, towering and supporting Gunvolt with their might, making him the slayer's enemy once more.
Copen is the adept slayer and Gunvolt is an adept, there is only one road this will lead to. To have thought otherwise for even a second, was, is the height of foolishness, one Copen will not amuse.
The azure striker shall meet the same fate as those who banner under Sumeragi: Execution.
But not here. Not now, not when he knows so little about the adept's development.
"I expected nothing less from you." Copen retorted, interrupting the striker's conversation with his muse, then turns around signaling to the latter it's time to leave. "And I care not for your reasons…"
"But know this, azure striker…" Copen glares down at him from the upper building he jumped up to, his expression obscured by the blinding moon shining above him. "We will meet again."
And then he left, Gunvolt watched him dissapear amongst the rooftops, a stoic body language on him as he then turned around to see the reinforcement coming. They didn't look pleased.
"You let him go!" one of the sumeragi grunts accused feebly.
"Why'd ya do that?!" the other guard exclaimed.
"I didn't, he was just too fast…" Gunvolt lied, putting away his pistol and leaving the roof…
The first thing Copen and Lola did upon returning to the lab was separate, the former heading to the bathroom to cleanse himself from the sewer smell and filth while the other used a far simpler decontamination device to have her pods clenched one at a time in a manner similar to a car wash.
Having anticipated his arrival, Nori had already run a warm bath ahead for him. The pristine tub filled close to the edge with a herbal soap that gives the water an alluring glint alongside bubbles whose contact to his skin and hair would make them healthy and smooth as ever. As he undressed and prepared himself to immerse in the water, Copen noticed a small tray of meats and cheese on the side alongside a luxurious TV attached to the ceiling with HD widescreen, access to several streaming services and the internet. Unnecessary frivolities that he had definitely missed.
"Tv, put on channel 5." Copen commanded the device as he sunk into the water, holding a twitch as his body slowly got used to the heat, before sinking until only his neck remains above water. If he remembered correctly, the chosen channel would show the late night news which is a source of information he can pay half attention to while he cleans himself. And once that is done, he can change himself into night clothes and take a nap, before surreptitiously searching for any information on Gunvolt online. There's no way people don't talk about him if he works for Sumeragi and though he's no fan of trying to decrypt what's truth on social media and forums, to not even try would be a far greater crime. It is then that his thoughts are interrupted by a voice.
"From what the others told us, you were the only one to get a good look at the intruders, Mr Volt." says a reporter, holding a mic in front of who else but the Azure Striker, looks like the blondie is still stuck at the scene and he doesn't seem to be enjoying the attention either. "Can you describe them?"
"Hmph." Despite the question, Copen isn't worried at all. First of all he had his visor on so his face was hidden and voice changed, secondly he swiftly disposed of his foes and any cameras so the best anyone could say is that they saw some armored guy in red flying around and kicking ass….though that on it's own could be worrisome if ATEMS feverishly watches any and all japanse news.
It's not unlikely, what better way to keep a track on Gunvolt than to have inside agents in Japan after all? Even then, it'll take a while for a certain flamboyant prince to make his way here so Copen is not under the risk of having an adept suddenly teleport and nuke his lab into flames.
A gigantic bulbous titan of orange and white steel stares him down, his sister limp within the creature's grasp as the rest of her room is flames and debris with him stuck under a pile, helpless and unable to stop the titan from taking her away before Lola clears the rubble and they chase it.
Copen winces at the memory of Mytyl's capture by Eden, but dismisses it as nothing more than a memory, she's doing fine now but speaking of her, what has she been up to recently? Even if he's no longer her brother through title what's the shame in asking Nori about how she's doing later?
Nori….and now he remembers their argument. She hasn't said a word to him yet, just announced that his bath is ready and then moving to do her job elsewhere. Not that is something that troubles him, he wasn't in the wrong after all. But for a moment he does wonder whether he was too harsh.
He knows she cares for him, but to try and pull authority on him then and there, just like that? She should've known that wouldn't have worked on him. Then again, she hasn't seen in a whole year…
"Guess I'll have to make up for lost time." he concludes, a tinge of amusement in his voice.
"I'm sorry, could you say that again?" The reporter repeats, her tone gaining Copen's attention.
"I said I didn't get a good look." Gunvolt repeats for her, tone unnaturally stoic, as if he's pulling some sort of persona. "The criminals were professionals, they got in, they got out, they got gone." And that's the extent of his explanation, an act that makes Copen pull himself upright because…
"What in the hell are you playing at?" He asks to the screen, knowing it won't answer but glaring all the same. Even if the latter felt honor bound to let him leave once that doesn't mean he has to blatantly lie on live tv for his sake. Did the adept become an idiot or does he think this proves something? Sure he'll take the benefit but make no mistake, Gunvolt still remains the enemy.
Again, the tv provides no answer. Which leaves Copen with a half-ruined mood that has him glower at the screen and continuously snack on the tray next to him. Only leaving when his skin feels dry.
After the bath and some late night dinner, Nori took off with a goodbye to return to her own quarters as she's still got duties to attend to first thing in the morning. Leaving Copen and Lola in their personal room in the secret lab, the latter saw her off while Copen remained on a large red couch with a laptop on his lap, too focused with scouring the internet for info about his target.
Lola remained on standby next to him, scrolling the web on her own as well. Or at least he assumed she did, all he could see of her was her pod form curled up on a soft pillow. Looking very peaceful.
Well, that's fine. Because the fun part about the internet is that famous people can't have privacy amongst the hivemind of suddenly taken photos, hacked accounts, hear say and stalking that most fans are capable off. And seeing how Gunvolt is a young man that borders on the line of feminine and handsome, if not androgynous. There is no way people are NOT talking about the striker online.
So with a vpn alongside other security features to keep his IP hidden and a warm coffee cup beside him, Copen has everything he needs for a successful all-nighter research party, or so he calls it.
Gunvolt.
Just typing his name on a search bar proved enough to get the articles flowing. First thing on the list was a Wikipedia page because of course he'd have one, though some details remained incomplete if not completely fabricated from what Copen could tell. After that were several pages of social media accounts all under the name of Gunvolt ; The Real Gunvolt; etc. So Copen couldn't tell which one was the real deal, what was more remarkable however was how boring most of the shown pictures were, most of them consisting of a masked Gunvolt un-enthusiastically waving or looking at the camera or even holding a baby like it's a bomb to the delight of its parents holding the cam.
Others were no different, some blurry pictures of him jumping rooftops, others of him holding an electric line and providing energy with his Septima as a social stunt. A more noticeable image has him surrounded by a bunch of voltaic chained up bank robbers as Sumeragi grunts pose next to him.
The most consistent thing in the appearances however was that none of them showed his face, the only exceptions being fake videos and edited images with titles such as 'GUNVOLT FIGHTS DRACULA (NOT CLICKBAIT)' or 'I FOUND THE AZURE STRIKER EATING CEREALS IN MY HOME AT 3 AM? (GONE WRONG) (GONE SEXUAL)' which obviously had other blondies cosplaying as him, if not outright posing suggestively for the thrills of it? Bunch of deviants…
Either way, the slayer's search continued for a few brainless minutes as he shifted through garbage, gossip, fanfics that have the reader insert themselves as the striker's sexual partner and finally after a few more pages he found a site of note, or to be more precise, a forum dedicated to Gunvolt stuff.
The forum wasn't that different from any other, though on a closer look it was dedicated to all hot people that worked for Sumeragi or so it seems as other names also come to mind on the site. Still it had the typical rows of forum discussions boards and a search bar at the top right of it, so Copen with a sense of dread and honestly no expectations, just went ahead and looked at the recent ones.
Ezekiel: Just found out my girlfriend likes to keep pictures of gunvolt's navel. Should i dump her? I used to think we had a mutual feeling about Sumeragi pawns, but today I found her lusting all over some bizarre fetish? (0 likes, written 2 hours ago)
username270533: I like his navel too so no. pic: (A zoom on said body part, with glitter effects and moan emojis covered over the screen) (Likes: 200, written 2 hours ago)
Copen couldn't help but let out a groan of disgust as the navel and stomach was blatantly shown on screen, the slayer quickly changes the page even though Lola is nowhere nearby his screen, for that matter he also takes a moment to delete that part of his history before he looks at another entry.
Hazz$r: Is gunvolt a top or bottom? (A poll that lets one vote for it)
Ok, no. Copen doesn't even read the replies, instead looking for the next one.
Except there's one problem: The majority of entries here are just horny about him. Copen doesn't know if it's some ironic joke but none of the moderators seem to complain about it either so perhaps he's on the wrong kind of site altogether? He makes a last attempt and then he'll try elsewhere.
Thunderf cker: Yooo guys! Whose thise next to volt-man? Is it his gffff?
The post shows a picture of Gunvolt seated next to a teenage girl with dark green hair and light brown eyes, she's smiling contently as the striker looks genuinely relaxed next to her, completely oblivious that whoever posted this a day ago took a picture of him. He's even wearing casual clothes and sunglasses (to hide his face) but those clearly weren't enough if it's now here.
Copen doesn't even need to read the replies to understand from body language alone that this is someone close to him. (To the heartbreak and outrage of many fans calling this fake and edited or even theorizing that the girl is his sister or something) And that's just what he needed to progress.
Putting the image on an advanced reverse searcher, he quickly gets a name behind the girl: Quinn Sakurazaki, 17 years old, she's an illegitimate child of the famous car brand family and with some more research it's easy for Copen to find out that she lives in some mansion in the north district.
"Bingo." The adept slayer can't help but say. Though he kills adept for a living, that doesn't mean murder and science are his only skills. Often, managing to get the circumstances for a perfect kill is significantly more complicated than putting a bullet in someone's brain. It's those skills he uses as he starts to brainstorm an idea with the information he now holds within his palm.
Now that he knows where someone that the azure striker treasures live, he's got the perfect opportunity to cause a meeting in which regardless of his intentions, he'd be the one in control.
The azure striker can't fight to his best in the house of his friend after all, even less if said friend is within the gun-range of the adept slayer. Though Copen would never kill a civilian that isn't something the adept knows and thus, he can finally move the gears forward on his own rhythm.
Though then again, he could be hasty here? Whose to say the girl wasn't some fan that the striker was amusing? Copen is better off observing the girl for a few days before making his strike.
And so he will, with that and his other priorities in mind (Seeing how Mytyl is doing ; going to S-Fit and finding and taking care of this assasin) for the days to come. Copen has a job to do.
And when he does a job, he does them right.
