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So. It turned out the impromptu movie night was more fun than expected.
Sure, it was unprofessional, and only done because long hours with nothing to pay attention would be a sort of torture to Copen's companion. But he and Lola took a shine to watching diverse fictional tales be played out in front of them, be they comedic or dramatic in tone. Lola tended to laugh a little too loud at jokes Copen would see as boring and generously hold in tears at scenes that kept him completely dry-eyed. But there was an energy behind the harmless activity that the slayer didn't know he missed until he realized he couldn't see that when he's too busy throwing himself at work. He was too busy doing the things he should do, that he forgot what he likes to do. Clearly he is a workaholic at heart and that is something he'll need to take care off once everything is over.
But only once things are over, which in hindsight may be never but thinking like that helps no one.
Then again, this wasn't the best thing ever either, Copen thought as he watched Lola encourage the female main character to shoot the serial killer a second time, just to make sure they're dead, only for the latter to not only drop their firearm but run back into the woods instead of civilization. This naturally made his green-haired friend let out a groan of disappointment and disgust as she sulked her back further against his own chest as she comfortably sits against his lap of all places. Not that he really minded other than giving a token complaint, as he's already used to her platonic touches.
"I know you're a total romantic," She began after she pressed the pause button on the movie, a secretly annoying thing she does whenever she feels like speaking up to Copen's dismay. "But even you have to agree that that movie was a load of cheese!"
"I might agree with you, if someone hadn't been talking over the whole movie," Copen retorted, no heat in his tone as he played one-handedly with her hair, if only to irritate her right back.
Lola shrugged, shaking her head frantically to move his hand away. "Trust me, it was a mess."
"Not even a hot one?" Copen asked with fake interest and an out of character gossipy tone.
"Nope, not even a hot one!"
Copen could agree to that, though perhaps not in reference to the movie as he eyed the submarine screen that so generously showed the ocean floor in front of their ship, alongside the ruins of other fallen ships and debris that have foolishly tried to smuggle themselves past the barrier only to be shot down by the marine guard or disintegrated from making contact with the actual barrier. Part of him worried that the space in front of him might suddenly disintegrate like that, but so far everything was going just fine. The ship was making good distance and soon they should be there.
"I'm not surprised," Copen continued the conversation. "It's an action movie, and Hollywood typically tacks on a romance as an afterthought. They may as well have not included it."
"That's harsh, coming from you." Lola replied, shifting her head a bit to make eye-contact.
"Is it?"
"Yeah, I mean," Lola began. "Wouldn't you say that some romance is better than none?"
Wasn't that the one hell of a question. "Not at all. If a romance is paltry and pathetic then it's not worth having. Even more if the two have every reason not to hook up. But we're talking about movies, mind you. And pairing the spares is basically tradition for those."
"Right, right, movies. So no romance in action movies-"
"That's not what I said."
"What do you mean, boss? You just said-!"
"I said it was an afterthought. It wasn't given the care it needed to be a fully-fleshed out and satisfying story arc. It was surface level only," Copen said, pointing at the screen for emphasis.
"A lot of romance movies are surface level," Lola remarked, eyebrows raised as if she expected him to suddenly get agitated about it.
"You're right," Copen replied. "They rely on plain bread stereotypes and unnecessary drama to create something that'll make money. A soulless cash grab. Hardly romantic."
Lola, a little thrown off by Copen actually saying she was right when she fully expected a sarcastic retort, blinked at him. "So what's a good romance movie, then?"
"I don't know, I'm not in the habit of going to the movies," Copen answered.
"Really?!"
"Yes—why is that so surprising?"
"Uh, cause movies are fun!" Lola declared. "Not just, like, watching the movie, but going to the theater, sneaking in your own snacks—"
"You say that as if you can eat," Copen interrupted.
"I would if I could!" Lola insisted. Copen rolled his eyes, but let Lola continue. "And of course it's always a contest with yourself to see if you can keep from needing to go piss—"
Letting her continue had been a mistake, it seemed. "Do you really have to be so crude?"
"Do you really have to be a prude?" Lola sniffed back in a mocking tone.
"So it's the experience you like, rather than the movies themselves?" Copen went on to ask, ignoring the jibe, filing away this little factoid for a later occasion once they've got time again. "That would explain why you talked through the whole movie." He deadpanned.
"If it had been worth listening to, I would've listened," Lola said.
"How do you know it wasn't worth listening to if you didn't listen in the first place?" Copen challenged.
"You know what I mean!"
"Do I?"
Lola gave a pout to show her displeasure, "Yeah, you do, you're just being a butt for the sake of it. Anyway I guess you get to choose the next movie to see since this one was a total flop."
"Really? You want to see another one?" They've seen like what, four or five by now.
"Mhm, that's what I said."
"I hope you don't plan on getting addicted, honestly none of the remaining movies look at all appealing," Copen said.
"What did I just say about it being the experience that matters and not the movie? Haven't you ever watched a bad movie just to laugh at it?" Lola asked, eyes a bit surprised.
"I've never paid to watch a bad movie on purpose, no." Why waste money and time when you can see the same movie for free in about five years from now? If he doesn't forget about it, that is.
"Okay, I guess that's fair, but you don't strike me as the pirating type," Lola said.
"Too much effort to watch a bad movie," Copen replied.
"I think you're just stuffy and have high standards."
"So what if I do?"
"It would explain why you're single."
Copen smiled, sensing a prime opportunity to tease. "And what does it matter to you whether I'm single or not?"
"It doesn't," Lola insisted, her eyes glimmering with that underlying suspicious expression that was so often present in her these days, although it showed up more often whenever she thought he wasn't looking. Copen could tell she was hiding something, but trusts her enough to not weasel it out of her, confident that if it was really important, she'd have told him by now. "But I figured that someone like you, a rich and pretty boy, would have no problem scoring if he really wanted to do so."
Copen huffed. "Shows what you know. It's not about scoring to me."
"Then what is it about for you?"
Copen blinked. Lola was suddenly attentive, eyes boring into Copen as if trying to drill a hole in his skull to pull the answer out herself. Another killer question. Not that there's any shame in admitting it, but Copen didn't have time for personal romances. He was only ever resting for short stints these days, and dating was of all things, a fleeting concept. Something that might happen to a future him once all of his promises have been followed, something that he doesn't have any time for himself.
"It's… about finding the right person," Copen answered. It was a loose answer. Not entirely untrue, but not very specific to what he wanted either.
Lola snorted. "You have no clue."
"What about you then? Do you know what you want?" Copen demanded.
"Not a damn clue," Lola admitted as she began to let out a yawn before sinking back further against him, her head using his upper chest as a heated pillow. "And if I did, it'd be a secret too~"
"How about this," Copen tried, instinctively slipping into work mode now that he'd found an opening. "Do you know what you don't want?"
Lola hummed in thoughtful noise. Apparently the question was cause for consideration, as she hummed a whole song of hers before answering.
"I guess… I don't want someone who wants to fix me up to what they think I should be like, you know? I know that people change, and I'll change, but I don't think that sort of thing should be forced, much less for someone else," Lola said slowly, seeming to choose her words carefully.
The thoughtfulness of the answer surprised Copen, and so he was unprepared when Lola turned his own question on him. What did he not want? Automatically he thought to make a jab at Lola, say that she was the last person in the world he would consider being with in any conceivable way, but, well—he was here with her now, wasn't he? They've seen the whole world together too. Maybe not in a romantic way, but a friendly one, at least. So Copen, as Lola had done, gave it some genuine thought.
"If I had to choose, I think I wouldn't want to be with someone that's a chore to be around," he answered slowly. Lola opened her mouth, eyebrows knit in irritation. "And no, I don't mean someone that is a bit loud and sometimes too easy to excite but ultimately does what she's got to do. I mean someone that doesn't put forth any effort into the relationship whatsoever. I don't need to be putting in two hundred percent while my partner gives zero."
"I thought relationships were supposed to be fifty-fifty," Lola remarked.
"Maybe on a bad day, but a relationship doesn't succeed with half-effort. A relationship needs to be composed of entirely willing parties, not half-committed ones," Copen explained.
"But then how are you supposed to live life?" Lola asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean—some people give their all to living, having fun, and making the most of every day so that in the end, they're satisfied. They give a hundred percent to life. How are you supposed to give two hundred percent?"
"You can't give a hundred percent to every area of your life all the time," Copen said exasperatedly. "You have to find a balance. Like, you can't give a hundred percent to both work and play, can you?"
"But then you're still splitting it up—the math doesn't make sense!"
"Oh, forget it!"
"Have you considered," Lola began slowly. "That maybe it's not as simple as assigning a number to the level of effort people give?"
"Of course it's not that simple, it's supposed to be a way to begin understanding how to approach a relationship. It's like the movie. You can't make a half-baked attempt at it and expect everything to fall into place," Copen argued, feeling defensive despite the fact that Lola was making completely valid points.
"On the flip-side, I don't think you can follow a rule-book, do everything right, and expect everything to fall into place either," Lola said. "Love is a coin toss. It'll happen whether you put forth the effort or not, so why bother?"
"Because it's more likely to happen if you put forth effort."
"But being overbearing can drive it away, too."
"Oh, yeah? And you would know?"
Lola's expression darkened, that same flash of a shadow Copen had seen only a few, rare times before when his words really harmed her feelings, only this time it lingered. She removed herself from his person, put down the player where she sat, and moved to another room, not looking at him.
"Yeah," she said, a moment before she leaves. "I would."
Okay, so Copen had stepped on a bomb, and it blew up in his face. The problem though…
"What did I say wrong?" is that he doesn't get what he did wrong, but right now isn't the time to ask, best to just let her sulk in private and continue with the mission. Is what he'd like to do.
However his thought returned to what she said. 'I would'. This implied she knew something about being overbearing in love. Implying that she'd experienced a relation or perhaps a genuine, romantic connection- in which someone was overbearing, and it pushed the other away. And, given Lola's stormy exit, it was highly possible that Lola had been the overbearing one- or perhaps Lola had pushed someone away that she thought was being overbearing, and now regretted it?
Copen knew he could spend the entire night contemplating a whole web of questions, baffled by the possibility she could have had a relationship without his knowledge. But he shuts the thought down, before it can end up spiraling in him trying to re-contextualize every connection she has with every person he knows she has interacted with. Because frankly, it is none of his business whatsoever.
"I guess there are things even I don't know about her." He wisely nods to himself, coming to the completely wrong conclusion. A slight bitterness in his tone that he mistakes for grudging respect.
"Under the sea~"
"Please don't…"
"Under the sea~!"
Ignoring the slayer's dismay, the cyberdiva continues to sing her song throughout the aquatic octagonal labyrinth that is the Submarine Base. Her voice easily echoing throughout the dark corridors as Copen carries his way across on foot, only occasional jumping over rows of spikes that have clearly rusted and wall jumping to scale on top of platforms that have reached disrepair due to the ages of time. No security has been met with yet, but even so, this isn't the time to be singing, least of all when they are both still underwater. Though part of him can appreciate the mood it sets as they continue to travel with the marvels of the sea floor set as the background of the tunnel walls.
"What are they hiding~ Under the tidings~ Sumeragi can't hide this from me~!" Even so her song remains uninterrupted, this isn't exactly the first time Lola has shown her displeasure through an outlet and just like usual, Copen lets out a sigh as he continues paving the way. Instead soaring off into the air and bouncing upwards wall against wall as he heads up an abandoned elevator chute. Keeping an eye for danger even as wind got in his face from the momentum, not that he minded the sensation, if anything it felt refreshing at the absence of danger, reminding him of the freedom he has right now, freedom to tackle any problem that comes his way and make the world a bit safer.
That feeling is short lived however, once he makes his way to the middle floors. After he made his way past steel gates that prevented any of the water leaked in below to head further up, he got to realize that some parts of the lab remained in use after all. Even if repairing the whole thing would be a waste of funds, still using the bits that are stable could still be profitable...at the cost of risking the lives of any grunts and researchers that would work there, then again, this is Sumeragi.
And when did they care about something like human rights? Hint: The answer is never.
Even so, he doubts they're responsible for the bloody sight left in front of him. Well, bloody was an understatement. The amount of Sumeragi guards slashed, impaled or outright molten by some sort of acid could be called nothing but the remains of a horror show. Turrets that were pointing out of the ceiling and walls have been crushed by physical force and from what Copen can tell used to be the remains of a red alarm lamp. Whoever was responsible for this didn't even bother using stealth, instead they just boldly came in and massacred every employee they found. Even researchers.
"What the—why would anyone do this?" Lola asks, suddenly stopping her music when she takes in the sight, looking uncomfortable at the sight, not out of squeamishness, but more out of pity. "Do you see those expressions boss? All these people clearly died slow and agonizing deaths…"
"Recently too, from what I can tell." Copen adds in, tone filled with disgust. He takes a moment of silence for the departed and claps his hands together in a quick prayer, before moving past them, not one to let the sight bother him if the culprit is already far away. "Guess, we'll never know why."
"Oh, hold on. There's something over here." Lola speaks up before Copen can just continue, picking up a still working digipad belonging to a guard that's slumped over at the edge of some cover. A clean hole in their kidney and gut having taken their life unlike the other ones.
Last will and...who the hell am I kidding.
Radley was a traitor. No idea who he was working for and I don't really care. He's dead now. He was one of the scientists. He set explosives, drowned half of the labs we still had. Killed most of the others by remote when the robots and turrets went crazy. A computer virus. Something. The rest were hunted by some crazy mask-wearing bitch. He kept babbling all the while about how it's time for the warriors hiding in the shadows something to rise up right before I put a bullet in his head.
Better than he deserved. One of those stupid turrets tagged me in the kidney and gut and I can feel myself bleeding out...small mercy really as it meant the assassin gave me one glance and kept walking when she noticed my wounds were already fatal. Swore I heard a laugh as she dissapeared when I tried giving her a hail of gunfire. Last laugh on me though cause I'm making sure someone will know what happened. I know the higher ups will try to clean this up. Call this a debriefing team, too bad we'll be all too dead to be killed for our incompetence. So screw whoever finds this.
PS: The transgenics have been cut loose from their cells, so if you get eaten, tough luck buddy.
Last will and testament.
Hayashi Kenma.
"Looks like there's another party messing with Sumeragi too." Lola notes, "And they've got ninjas too, huh? Man, that almost makes me worried, but I doubt there's that many if they only sent one."
"That or they're confident in their skills." Copen retorts, "And I don't believe this luck, one bit." Copen gives a glance to the room again, looking for any hidden spots as Lola waits for him to continue after asking what he meant. "This message was clearly left undisturbed on purpose."
"So that this debriefing team gets to learn about their imminent fate?" Lola guesses.
"That's assuming the killer is a sadist or here to send some sort of message."
"What kind of message?"
"I don't know. We don't even know what kind of creatures they've been operating on, and honestly I'm fine not knowing as long as it means we get out of here with nothing getting in the way."
Lola snorts at that, as if Copen told a joke. "With our luck? There will definitely be an encounter."
"You're right." Copen holds in a groan, "When have bad things not happening ever been a thing?"
The answer to that is never. And the one about the transgenic, well, it's…
"Seriously? Mermaids? Are we in a Disney inspired horror movie now?" Lola complains.
"More like Mer-people to be honest." Copen corrects her, even though he's in the middle of shooting down some grotesque fusion between a man and a sea-snake that can somehow control bio-electricity. Dashing once or twice to avoid the ink-spit of some half-octopus and finally smashing down on the ground to both reload and crush the head of a man-seal of all things.
It's almost strange how casually he takes the situation he finds himself in and just moves on. Then again when you've seen the whole world. Even the weirdest and most desperate nonsense Sumeragi comes up with doesn't faze one that much anymore. It seems like they're eager to find the next best thing other than just making more adepts. Copen doesn't know why though, then again he can figure out why once he's done making sure these things will never see the shore in their lives.
Either way, one failed mutant movie extermination later and Copen and co find themselves in front of one of the elevators that still seem to function and would send them back to the surface.
Which happens to be the only one of three that is still contact. Whose doors are invitingly open with plenty of dark spots around the hallway around marking this as a prime spot to ambush someone.
Could this be a trap perchance? Of course it is. Is Copen just going to take it anyway? Yes.
Copen didn't even take more than three steps towards before he heard something leap up into the air and let out a blood-curdling screech that could freeze even the most courageous of man. He turned around still, just in time to see a shape coming towards him and land straight on the spot where he previously was with a thousand-fold tanto cutting a straight line through the ground like it's butter, it's blade glowing with a maleficent green glow. The assassin swiftly unleashed another swing with their other hand, the twin blade releasing a green energy wave that the slayer dodged just as easily by jumping over it. Done with her introductory attacks, Copen keeps his gun aimed at his opponent likewise Lola had her pods drawn out, ready to shoot any ex-weapon when the fight continues.
"Looks like I finally met someone that can fight back." the woman purred, a mask depicting a fox biting down on a snake hiding their upper face but not their long black hair. Their body's covered in an emerald-colored robe that has white cherry tree petal symbols adorning it yet providing little defense against any attack, clearly making them the agile type if it wasn't obvious enough. Mystic symbols of siddham script are engraved on her arms and legs through blue tattoos, combine that with two bell earrings and the whole look gives off the appearance of a mystic warrior. If she wasn't dripped in dried blood that is. Now she just looks crazy, "This will be fun then~"
"You must be the assassin." Copen redundantly muttered, hiding the fact that he was annoyed by the fact that her appearance gave him a total blank. He'd never fought someone like that before, except for Serpentine. But he doubts she's working for ATEMS. "Why did you kill all these peo-"
"Ahah. Not people!" the assassin hissed with one finger raised as she wags it disapprovingly. "I deal with scum. My superiors tell me of people that have crossed the line and I kill them, surely you don't believe that fruitless human experiments like these deserve anything less?"
"Of course we don't think that!" Lola shouts back, "And it's not like we came looking for trouble here either. So how about we just move on and pretend we never met each other, maybe?"
"Hmph. Your toy isn't the smartest is it?" the assassin remarks, ignoring the loud outburst this provokes in Lola, still addressing Copen. "Don't you know that when one sees an assassin…"
"You don't come out alive." Copen guesses, tone dry and kept unimpressed. "If you're done with the chit chat, then let's continue. I have places to be and things to do, all more important than you."
"You have one hell of a tongue, Adept Slayer." The assassin's smile turns a bit more predatory when Copen's frown becomes harder in response. Great, she knows who he is, "But you're right."
"Type Six-Ten-Six: Calamitous Serpent Estu!" She declares, immediately starting with an Sp attack.
"Time to end this farce of a horror show!" Copen replies, ready to dodge and counter it.
Her attack started with a sudden stampede his way, a toxic flame like aura surrounds the woman in the shape of an open snake's mouth, fangs bared and ready for a stab with her blade. Naturally Copen predicted the trajectory and dived out of the way as she and her after-images closed in. He returned plasma fire her way as she kept going, scaling the wall and ceiling like it was nothing while deflecting one or two shots that came close with her blade. Finally, she put strength in her legs and dove for him again. Gaining more and more speed the more she did so, and had Lola not warned him, then Copen would have walked back towards a spot where she once swung her blade, the cuts of which somehow still remain in the air, ready to slice the skin of any who touch them.
"There's no point playing it passive here, show her what's what boss!" Lola encourages him after the third loop of dodging sudden dashes and slices, and Copen listens. Using the power of wide-reaching Ex-weapons such as Stellar Spark and Wide Circuit to limit her dodging space before suddenly dashing into the one space he predicts she will be, successfully hitting his assailant. The assassin cried out as she was knocked down onto the ground, clutching their chest in pain from receiving several burn wounds from the now more accurate golden lasers. Believing the fight to already come to an end after his unarmored foe took such gruesome injuries, Copen charged towards and grabbed her arms, intending to pin her down. But then his foe contorted herself, moving her leg somehow out from underneath her opponent and then wrapping it around him, or at least she tried to because the moment she took contact with his armor, he flashed a crimson color and turned intangible, easily backing away from her as crimson feathers flutter around her.
"For an assassin, you sure suck at straight fights." Then again isn't that kind of the point? Most likely his opponent is used to swiftly taking down her targets through sneak attacks or poison. The woman ignores his taunt however, instead using a back-flip to avoid being wrapped up in a coat of ice meant to harm and slow her down, quickly regaining her feet and using a smoke bomb to vanish.
Copen remained where he was, only slightly moving his head an inch to the left to avoid the blade aimed for his neck as then grabbed onto her arm, threw her away with all of his strength and smashed into her mid-air with twin golden drills painfully burring themselves into her gut. The woman took the blows, not seeming to be fazed by them at all as if she could feel no pain. She instead drew her arm back and shattered her blade against one of the drills, creating an acidic burst of flame that caused Copen to become intangible once more and thus free her as well. Still in mid-air, she spun on the spot, sweeping her leg through the air and sending it crashing against the side of Copen's head. Despite her slender frame and agile appearance, she was much stronger than she looked, something Copen now realized as his head began reeling from the kick. This woman figured out his evasion has a limit, no, she already knew it in advance! Copen shook his head, trying to get his senses back but all that did was leave him open to attack. The assassin lashed out with a powerful back flip upper kick aimed at his chin. The armor cushioned part of the blow for the adept slayer but the momentum was still enough to fling him back across the room until he hit a wall.
He shook off the pain as he quickly stood up, forcing himself to focus as the assassin stood still for a moment to return a quip his way, something about how he's all too eager to over rely on evasion.
"Let's see if it will save you from something like this." She finally ends her statement, then twirls her remaining blade in a circular clockwise manner with both hands. In response, one more, two more, three more of her appeared side by side all holding the same pose. "Type Four-Ten-Two: Overwhelming Blitz Of Shadows!" And immediately, all of the assassin at once, attacked him.
Yeah, no, he's not dealing with that. Instead of trying to contend with a dozen foes, each of whose weapons are tainted by a deadly poison. Copen instead jumps in the air and uses his own SP attack.
"Shred Storm!" He hurriedly declares as Lola's p bits turn into a hurricane of claws and fangs, quickly shredding on the assassins that come his way far too fast to bother with any chant. Some of the assassins carried on their way, using their own allies as meat shields to come even closer, only to be met with the same fate regardless. Copen makes an effort to avoid their blood spatter, not wanting to know if even their blood is poisonous, but he doesn't need too, as soon enough…
None of them remained, except for one, forced on their knee and covered in bloody wounds. But she doesn't stay down for long. In fact she stat up...and starts laughing! But why? Did she find pain amusing or something? Or was she some battle maniac too? She slowly climbed back to her feet.
"Fantastic Slayer!" she crowed, "Such bravado and skill you've displayed! Ah, if only you were a woman…perhaps you could have been a comrade in another world."
"Sorry to disappoint." Copen retorted.
"As much as I'm enjoying our fight though," She hissed, "It has come to an end and I must go."
"What are you even talking about?" Lola replies, "We're still capable of kicking your ass!"
"Take a better look at yourself, boy." she gloated and Copen only did when Lola gasps the moment she looks at him, with the aid of an ice mirror Copen notices a small slice on his left cheek, some green liquid's coalescing with his blood. The wound didn't hurt at all, but when did she….?!
"I killed you. And in a few more minutes, your body will realize it." The assassin sneered, her lower face twisting into a hideous smile. "Coursing through your veins right now is my own poison, made specially by me and responsible for hundreds of deaths caused by me!"
Copen could hardly believe his ears at that. Still as suddenly as he became aware of it, his body started to flare in pain. He couldn't waste time fighting anymore, he had to retreat so he could find an antidote for it. If he didn't, the poison would finish him and he'd be in Japan a dead man.
"I'll let you go this once." he said weakly, hoping she wouldn't prolong this lest he'd have to actually flee from the fight, "But once I'm cured, I'll be coming back for you and your boss."
"Sorry slayer, but my venom is death itself." She continued to gloat, "You can try and find a cure, but my poison will kill you before you get close to ever making it! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"
Believing her job was done, the unnamed assassin ran off into the night, leaving him to die. She was clearly the sadistic type if she is just content to leave him to succumb to the effects of the toxin.
"We have to go, now." Copen firmly said as he swiftly starts dashing his way up the open elevator, not even using it the intended way to faster. He had to get home and reach his secret lab fast...or the poison would be sending him to the same place his parents had been sent many, many years ago…
Nori was relieved to see the familiar of a shape of a white figure crossing through the forest trees and heading towards the secluded garden space of the Secret Lab nearby the Kamizono Mansion. No matter how many times Copen and Lola went out into the world to fight off those who use their powers to harm the innocent, she would always be relieved to see them back. As she knew, there could be a day where their next outing could as well be their last.
But as her young master made the landing and promptly collapse on one knee into a coughing fit, blood reaching the floor after he stopped, the head maid began to feel that this night could as well be his last. Copen staggered back to his feet with Lola using some bits to help and keep him up, looking as if he could hardly stand. It was miraculous he had even managed to platform his way here properly. He was clutching at his chest as if his heart pained him and his armor has clearly seen better days from the old scars on it that haven't vanished. Nori could also see that there was blood and something green pouring out from a wound on his face. Nori quickly helped them both over to the medical bay, no word or greeting needed to know that right now, he is on borrowed time.
"Master Copen! What happened to you?" She exclaimed, tone not withholding her worry.
"We met an assassin in the subaqautic base." Lola explains for him, "It didn't well. She poisoned him and we need to get an antidote right now!"
"I see...let's quickly identify the poison then." Nori offered.
The med-bay consisted of three simple beds, some equipment for analyzing the patients and cabinets full of medical equipment. It was like a miniature hospital, a lot more potent and well-equipped than a simple medical bay. Even having several containment pod-shaped chambers to put in patients that refuse to cooperate or don't want to be there in the first place. Copen was laid down on a simple bed and Nori went over to a machine. She switched it on and expertly operated it to perform a diagnostic scan. The machine was a mechanical arm with sensor beams and scanning equipment stored in the "head" section. This kind of machine was a basic model used all over other hospitals in Japan and that's because it's extremely reliable. The machine ran a blue scanning beam over Copen. The armored boy lay still as the beam documented every bit of information it picked up from his body, from his blood type to the size of his internal organs. Once it reached his face, the beam turned green and the screen that was attached nearby came up with a warning. It had detected what was wrong with Copen and Nori and Lola stared at the screen as a bunch of text began to type itself up, displaying the information it had picked up. It said:
Patient Analysis: Poison detected coursing through bloodstream
Analysis of poison: Powerful neurotoxin. Foreign make, quite different from other poisons of the same name
Prognosis: Will lead to sickness, tiredness and eventual deconstruction of body tissue, organ function and eventual death
Lola could only gasp as the machine relayed its information to her while Nori stayed grimly silent. Copen knew straight away that this wasn't good news, sitting up with great difficulty.
"So...not good?" he muttered.
"You better believe it Master Copen..." Nori said, her face deathly pale. She looked like a ghost as she delivered the news, "You're infected with a neurotoxin that will quite literally cause you to deconstruct piece by piece! If we don't get you cured you'll..."
"I know." Copen interrupted, "Ungh...I can't die now. Not like this. We must make an antidote immediately."
"Absolutely!" Lola agreed, "The medical scanner should be able to identify what we need to make a cure, right?"
Just as she had said, the medical scanner was already filing through the medical data files in order to identify a cure for the poison coursing through Copen's bloodstream. Various names and labels flickered across the screen as the computer searched. There wasn't a virus in its data banks that it wouldn't be able to find a cure for, technology that Copen knew he was lucky to afford given his vast wealth. Being filthy rich like he was had its benefits, many, many benefits to his crusade.
In a matter of seconds, the computer had found what it was looking for and was now relaying some information for anybody looking at the screen to read. The cure for the assassin's neurotoxin had been identified and Nori quickly read through the walls of text to see what it was. She read:
Cure Identified: Panax
Information: Very potent medicine that can cure many forms of neurotoxin by repairing damages done to tissue, bone and organ functions by the toxin. Expensive to buy and difficult to produce to the scarce nature of its ingredients.
Side effects include: Brief periods of light-headedness, sickness, tiredness and dry throats. Side effects generally wear off in a few hours up to a couple of days.
"The antidote we need is Panax, boss!" Lola announced, "That should cure you in no time at all!"
"Good thing…" Copen paused as he began to cough, "…we have the ingredients needed to make some right now. Let's get…making it."
"I'm afraid we cannot do that." the head maid sighed, "There's are some primary ingredient we don't have. And buying them separately isn't an option either. Sumeragi hoards all valuable medicines."
Copen nodded, cursing himself mentally. What Nori said was right, it was more profitable for Sumeragi to withhold the existences of some medicines and simply create lesser versions in order to dry the pockets of anyone who needs them to survive. In this day and age where even lost limbs could be restored, things like diabetes and cancer were simply too profitable to unleash cures for.
In other words, the only way to obtain Panax would be to buy some from the Black Market, valuable medicines like that tend to slip out occasionally and drug lords and smugglers tend to grab as much as they can and sell them off for great prices. But could he even buy some from them? And how long would he last? Would he even get in time? His decaying body wouldn't last that long.
No, he couldn't wait for someone to get the cure for him. There was no time for that. He'd be dead before sunrise. Copen thought for a moment, he could try a different antidote and hope it works.
Or…
"I know what to do." Copen suddenly declares.
"What might that be?" Nori asked curiously.
"We all know that Panax is expensive to buy and thus you can't just get it anywhere…" the boy explained. "except from the place it's being produced and hidden by Sumeragi. If I'm to be cured, I'll have to go infiltrate their medical bays in order to get the Panax myself."
"Master Copen, that's a suicide mission!" Nori protested, "You're already dying, you can't go out and challenge Sumeragi just to get the antidote you need! They've upgraded since you've been gone and will tear you apart before you get your hands on it!"
"It's the only way." Copen sighed, shaking his head. It wasn't that he thought Nori was saying something stupid, it was that he knew she was right but he had no other solution to the problem, "Any other option will be too long. I'll be dead before it arrives. It's risky but I have no other options and besides, there's only one place that's guaranteed to have it."
"And where would that be?"
There was a brief but daunting pause that fell over the lab.
"The Medical Center in Tokyo." The most guarded one out of them all.
"Copen, you cannot be serious!" Nori gasped, so shocked she couldn't believe what he said.
"I've stressed the point enough time, Nori. It's that or me dying a horrible death." Copen retorted, standing up from his seat and moving towards the exit. "I will challenge Sumeragi once more."
"But you're on death's door!" Nori continues her protest, while Lola looks over the argument.
"They won't even know I'm there, Nori…"
The argument continued for a while, Copen persisting on the point that he can do this while Nori insists that this is a suicide mission. Not wanting to hear any more of this, Copen continued heading to the exit. Prepared to take off the moment he can, the toxin wouldn't finish him off for a while yet. Due to his great physical peak and health alongside his armor's features, he would last longer under the poison than the average person. He might even be alive for another hour so, hopefully.
But just as he was about to leave, Nori stood in the way. She wasn't going to let him leave that easily and would perhaps even stop him by force. Copen narrowed his eyes at the sight.
"Get out of the way, Nori." he ordered, not quite shouting at her but his voice still raised and commanding as he spoke the words.
"Master Copen, I vowed to your parents as they were put to rest that I would not let you nor Mytyl die like they did!" Nori states with genuine emotion. "I've already failed once and I cannot in good conscience allow to you just fly of into the night with a deadly bloodstream tearing you apart piece by piece and thus, guaranteeing that you'll either die before you complete your mission or you'll be easy prey for Sumeragi's forces! Please Copen, come to your senses."
There was something in the maid's eyes that Copen had never seen before. Sadness? Fear? Grief? Despair? Whatever it was, he could see that his mentor and father-figure was really afraid for him.
"I don't want you to kill yourself like this...please, understand where I'm coming from. Don't go Master Copen, we'll find a safer way to cure you." Nori pleaded.
"Guys…" Lola states a bit reluctantly, then lets the sentence die. She can see both sides have their point, but she doesn't really want to favor one of them over another. "Can't we compromise?"
Copen and Nori both ignore that sentence.
"I appreciate your concerns, Nori." Copen replied, "I vowed to my parents that nothing will put me down, and I can promise you, that I will not die tonight. Not to this poison, not to anything Sumeragi and other forces can throw at me. I know what I'm doing and have a plan B."
"And what that might be?" Nori asks, but is met with silence. "Don't bother lying to me."
"I will succeed."
"And you think because you say that, it will happen?" She rejects the logic, "If these are the fires you're playing with then I will not allow you to go. You've become far more arrogant than before-"
"I'm what?"
"You're not some god of vengeance. You're a brilliant young man whose allowing his anger to frisk with limits his body cannot handle. You are in over your head and I won't allow it to end you."
"Who is that you think you're talking to?" Copen snarls, eyes narrowed and voice cold. "The boy you made run leaps around the house? The teenager who you drove to his first science fair? While you are here every day, I was out in the world. Taking down monsters, terrorists, dictators, mad men that thought themselves free to prey on the innocent. With me as the only one to punish their sins."
"You may be, but-"
"No, Not 'may be'. I am. When the man filled with gold in his pockets and the woman that commands the sea with her hands stops to think twice – that is fear. That is what I am. That is why they try to hunt me, because I am the constant reminder that no amount of wealth or power will make them divine. That no matter how godly they seem, my claws will make them bleed red."
"So, no, Nori." Copen continues moving forward, daring her to stop him. "I am NOT in over my head. Tonight will not be my end. But it will be the start of theirs."
She still doesn't move, so Copen lets out a sigh and instead has the P-bits create a lazy laser through manual command instead of asking Lola, then moves to go through that instead. Lola follows of course and soon enough the two of them are gone, leaving Nori the lone person in the corridor.
"…" frustration is clear on Nori's face, but even so, "Please don't turn out to be wrong..."
A little while later, the adept slayer had arrived at his destination. It had been a struggle to keep himself from passing out as the poison began to slowly build and affect him more. His vision had become hazy but he had forced himself to keep awake. Luckily for him, the motorcycle he's using to scale roof to roof in the dead of night had autopilot so if it became too dangerous for him to drive, he would just activate the autopilot and let it or Lola herself drive for him. But he was now here, close to the Medical Bay's archives, and closer to his cure.
Copen had studied the building's layout many, many times in the meantime. Burning every useful corridor and room where the cure could be into his memory. Had this been any other day then maybe he might have also taken the time to record the proof of corruption festing within and leak it to the greater net. But he didn't, so the plan was kept simple: Get in, get the cure and get out.
"...Are you allright?" Lola asks, the third time in a while and just like the other two, Copen says..
"I will be, once we get the cure. Just focus on leading the mission, I'm counting on you." he really is, with the possibility that he might collapse midway it's best to let his partner lead the way, that way he won't end up in front of an attack that he's suddenly unable to dodge or slow things down.
Worst case scenario, she can just cover him in the same floating bubble that they've put Layla in before. Either way, things should be smooth. As long as Lola doesn't mess up, and she won't.
The two of them landed one roof away from the Medical Bay, overseeing the building in all it's glory. They were quick to notice that the wealthy building was crawling with security. Guards with sniper rifles were set on the roof alongside flying drones, unarmed guards were put at the front of the floor entrance alongside some humanoid mechs capable of pulling out saws, mini-guns and even flamethrowers depending on their type. Clearly this place had gone for the best security measures. Still, the slayers kept their cloak on and descended into a nearby dark alleyway as they observed their surroundings, looking for a way past the guards. Rushing in without a plan wasn't an option, even if he weren't on the verge of death. Because doing so, would be a quick way to end up overwhelmed by the reinforcement that would soon come alongside the national military.
"Hey...um, boss?" Lola suddenly started, tone of voice and body language conveying nervousness and an uncharacteristic amount of guilt. "Before we go in, I think you need to know some things..."
"What is it?" Copen replied uneasy. His head was swimming, no doubt an effect of the neurotoxin. He shook his head, trying to fight off the effects. But then something else began to happen. As Copen opened his eyes again, he saw...Nori, standing right in front of him! The slayer stared incredulously. How could Nori be here?! She was back at the lab! But there she was, standing there and looking very dissapointed in him.
"N...Nori….?" Copen whispered, unable to believe his eyes.
"-may be working for S-wait, did you just say Nori?" Lola stops her talk, confused by him.
"I don't see why you keep this this farce Master Copen." Nori said grimly. "You'll never make a difference to the world. Humanity is beyond saving and you know it. Even your parents knew that when they were killed. You're fighting a battle that won't bring them back. Just give up and join your parents in death…"
"N-no...I can't...Nori, I promised them…" Copen protested, still keeping his voice down so he wouldn't attract attention. Too enthralled to notice Lola's eyes boring into his back and her words.
"You made a promise you already failed to keep Copen. Just give up and let the merciful Angels of Death come for you." Nori replied.
Copen was almost tempted to cry out in anguish, let out all his frustration and sadness and satisfy Nori. Don't hold it back anymore, just let them go already! Nori will approve! But then Copen closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain that suddenly swarmed through his head and he looked up...only to see Nori had dissapeared. It was just as he had expected, Nori was never really there at all. It was another side-effect from the poison, it was causing him to hallucinate. Now he had to get the Panax before his hallucinations clouded everything.
His mind slowly returning to focus, he could hear Lola's repeatedly trying to get him back to reality, the pod whisper-shouting at him until he lets out a groan and looks at her. "I'm back, I'm back…"
"Well good!" Lola lets out a sigh of relief, then continues to float in front of his face, clearly waiting for him to continue. "So, what were you coming back from? You looked really, really out of it."
"...Hallucinations." Copen stated, part of him embarrassed to even say it, but not wanting to be a liability wins out. "Made to tempt me into giving up. We'll keep going regardless. We have to."
"Fine, I wasn't going to say otherwise. Do you want me to carry you?" he nods no at her question, and with the conversation considered over. He takes a better look around. That is when he sees it, a nearby manhole. No doubt that if he opened that and crept down into the sewers, Lola could find a way up into the Medical Bay through the pipes. Once she's there, it'd only take a Lazy Laser at her coordinates for Copen to reunite with her at the bathroom. The manhole was shrouded in shadows too, meaning nobody would see him. Copen crept towards the manhole and opened it up, being as quiet as possible. He descended down into the sewers that lay underneath, closing the manhole behind him so nobody would get suspicious. He slowly climbed down the ladder, making sure to not lose his footing. The ladder was rusty and the sewer tunnel he now found himself in was filled with smells so revolting that for a moment he envied Lola for not having a nose at all.
As Copen reached the bottom, his knees suddenly gave way and he collapsed onto the ground. The poison was effecting him more and more as he went on. He could feel himself slowly decomposing. He was feeling very weak and he had to force himself as hard as possible to get back up again. As he stood up though, he saw a horrifying sight. Serpentine was there, standing before him with a wicked smile on her face and her staff out! Copen flinched, taken aback by the sight of the supposed to be dead Adept.
"Serpentine" he blustered.
"Yes Copen, I have returned from the depths of hell..." Serpentine hissed gleefully, "I wanted to watch you succumb to the effects of the toxin! Oh it gives me so much glee to watch you falling apart even if I'm not responsible for it! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"
"No...you're not here...you're a hallucination!" Copen grunted, massaging his temples, "The toxin...is making me see things..."
"That is what happens to any bastard that gets a taste of the poison of an expert." Serpentine crowed, amusement clear in her voice. "They see their deepest and darkest fears come true, a truly sadistic end to their pathetic lives as one gets to find out the worst of the victims before they perish! What a magnificent creation! Ah, if only I could get some for my own use..."
Then she strode towards Copen, her pose hunched aggressively as if she was preparing to strike. She came so close that she could practically whisper in his ear.
"Give in to the neurotoxin Slayer...You'll make your death less painful if you do." the undead woman purred.
Her last sentence had been as sweet as honey. Copen was almost tempted to cede to Serpentine's demand. Just give in, let the toxin kill him, it'd make his death less painful and silence his suffering. Don't fight it, give into it and put an end to it all! No...don't even go there! Not now, not while there's so much at stake! Copen let out a yell that unleashed all his anger and pain. Let it all out, don't let anyone win but yourself!
He took a swipe at the fake female...and just as he had expected, she disappeared into nothing. He had hallucinated again, the toxin was beginning to toy with him and break his mind apart piece by piece. He couldn't let the toxin tear him apart, he couldn't let some random assassin be his end!
"Focus...focus..." Lola encouraged him, looming over as she slowly helps him back up, "You can do this...beat the poison...oooh, if only I could use Anthem on demand! Then maybe it would hurt less." Copen didn't have the strength to disagree with that, but he did, even if Anthem refused to be an easy 'I win' button, its conditions were still reliable in it's consistency. So it could be used later.
For a while he forced himself to carry on, walking through the sewer tunnels with the terrible stench in the air. The smell made him feel worse but he could manage, he'd been trained to deal with that. He was in luck as he walked though for the security here was composed of only a few drones that couldn't see past their cloaks. Anyway, some few minutes and pipes later and step B was a go!
As in, after making sure that the room, as in the bathroom is empty. Lola activated a portal that let Copen walk into the room as well. Now they were in the building, so all that's left is making sure that they don't make too much noise, bump into anyone on accident, trigger any sort of alarm while on their search of the rooms that the drug could potentially be hidden in. Being extra careful, Copen put on his visor and used heat vision to detect if any living person was on the other side of the bathroom exit, then he follows that up by electron-vision to see if there are any machines or cameras pointed that way. There weren't, but he had opened the door without checking for any of them, then any of them detecting a sudden door opening with nobody holding it would easily mark it as someone using cloaking tech to infiltrate the building and respond with the proper counters.
A few rooms and close encounters later, Copen finally found a well-lit room with several rows of shelves containing various drugs. Bingo. He searched around the room, eyeing the labels on all of them to see which one contained his cure. Several of them had names he never heard off, others had illegal substances that are in high demand such as cocaine, marijuana, heroin and more. Copen even saw a shelve containing steroids of various levels, from people that wanted to cheat at sports to those who want the strength of ten men at once. There was enough merchandise here to put all the people working here behind bars! Even so Copen didn't have the time to do so. Not right now.
Finally, Copen saw the one shelf he wanted more than anything. There was yellow pill shaped medicine container just a few rows away with the words 'Panax' tattooed across the lid in red stencil font. Of course Sumeragi had some of the stuff! Copen was right to trust his guts after all!
Copen staggered over the medicine, feeling very tired but still having enough strength in him to see himself cured. He opened the container and was rewarded with the sight of the drug alongside a medical tool to inject it into one's bloodstream. Quickly filling the former with the latter. Copen was then about to inject himself with the antidote but then things suddenly took a turn for the worst.
One of the doors to the room burst open and in walked an elite sumeragi guard, easily recognized by their blue power-armor and high tech riffles. "Take down the intruder!" he shouted as he started aiming and likewise his companions started pouring in, all ready to gang up on the trespasser.
They aimed their guns but didn't dare fire immediately in case they accidentally hit the drugs behind and in front of the intruders. They had Copen and Lola right in their sights and moved in for the kill. Copen was about to fight but then suddenly, the hallucinations kicked in again and he saw not a bunch of armed guards, but a horde of white-haired azure strikers all coming towards him. It was like something straight out of a nightmare, only worse. They all cackled in unison as they closed in like a bunch of hunters about to shoot down their prey with their stolen Border I's.
"The end is coming for you, boy! Ha, ha, ha! You cannot defeat all of us!" the "Asimov's" all cackled.
Copen didn't try to fight the hallucinations this time. They would instead motivate him more to fight and guarantee his chances of surviving. Copen quickly put the filled medical tool into one of his hidden pockets. He would inject himself with the cure later, he couldn't spare a minute to pump it into himself while dodging gunfire. He lashed out at the first Asimov, landing a well-thrown kick to the back of their head, the moment of which he used to flare up his boots and continue the dash. The move threw the first Asimov off their feet and crashing into a nearby wall. It seemed that the terror of having to fight several Asimov's at once was bringing new strength to Copen. As his next counter against the second's Asimov's pathetic gun-swing was to move slightly out of reach, move to the other side of them and kick them hard in the stomach with a rocket boot that propelled the other into a bunch of his compatriots like a bowling ball hitting a bunch of pins. The pathetic display alongside the fact not a single bit of electricity was flying around was making the hallucination begin to fade for the guards transformed back into their old selves.
Copen didn't bother waiting for them to get up, instead dashing down a hall in the nick of time before a security wall could barricade him in and surround him with turrets. Although he was doing well, Copen knew that he wouldn't last long in a prolonged longer in his condition. Any second now he could succumb to the effects of the poison and leave himself vulnerable for attack. He had to get out of here and quickly. As he panted deep breaths, trying not to feel too sick from the constant g-pressure on him from his movements. One of the guards jumped down from the ceiling and sliced their laser knife straight into his back. This sent the flying avenger stumbling forward, straight into another guard. The guard almost rammed their blade into the slayer's face had he not doubled over and jumped out of the roll with a twin kick to the guard's face flatly knocking them down to the ground, not done Copen raised his gun and shot about three lasers into their face just to make sure that they're down before facing the one that ambushed him and failed to pierce his armor.
He didn't need to move though because a P bit swiftly knocked into the guard's thigh, stabbing a blade of frost and drawing blood. The attack was so painful that the guard crumpled, clutching his frozen to the ground leg in agony. Copen then moved over and gave them a full-body swing kick, almost dislocating their jaw, knocking the guard out instantly. Another guard ran down a corner and shot out a barrage of heat seeking missile his way. Projectiles easily tricked by Lola shooting a crazy bomb their way (explosive flame bomb) which the missiles instantly targeted, hitting nothing.
"We're getting out of here, now!" Lola announced, then put two fingers in her mouth, letting out a whistle now that she's in her idol form. Seconds after, a black motorcycle blasted through a window and does a 90 degree angle drift, inviting it's owners to jump in and get outta here, which they do.
[Mission Accomplished!]
"Crashbolt!"
An azure thunder strike hits the escape vehicle amid it's fifth jump. Instantly destroying it with their voltaic might. It's occupants however had the reflexes necessary to jump out of it and land on a roof nearby, Copen's pose firm and gun aimed at the heavens while Lola has her p-bits float around them in a circular motion, ready to react to any more sudden attacks. But none come descending.
Instead, floating down slowly from the sky comes a familiar sight. Azure energy concentrates in a perfect sphere shaped shield around it's wielder. Blue feathers flicker in the air, a young man with golden long hair, blue armor that always exposes his navel and a butterfly mask on his face comes down to meet with Copen.
"Gunvolt.." Copen said the name with a tone of 'oh shit' as this really isn't his preferred time to come into contact with him. Though he was all too ready to be furious with him before he remembered that the latter hasn't given him a reason to murder the shit out of yet and had to calm the vitriol down. Though the negative feeling felt a bit lighter than usual, like he despised the azure striker as much as he despised walking days in the desert and diving into the sewers instead of feeling like every day the man is alive is a personal slight to him. A chore kind of hate, like it was put in a dinky closet for months and he just now remembered he shouldn't leave it to just rot away.
In hindsight, that's a good thing right? It means he won't just burn the bridge immediately before he can give the latter the necessary info about ATEMS. At least it lets him know that fighting the latter to the death right here and now wouldn't make the adept any closer of believing his words…
So, despite all his instincts telling him otherwise, he for once in his life, put his gun down.
The masked Gunvolt, -because it has to be Gunvolt who else it could it be? Copen isn't stupid- if they noticed the gesture, made no response to it. Still keeping the stiff pose of having his gun lifted behind his own head with one hand and the other put relaxed on his side, a clear feint if anything because Copen remembers that even in this pose, the striker can still dodge any incoming attack.
"I suppose you would have eventually returned, Copen." Gunvolt speaks, tone wary and curious. "Though I never guessed you would devolve into the type to steal from hospitals." And there is the snark and sense of justice, why does that guy wear a mask again? It's clearly not working.
"I don't have to explain myself to you." Copen replies, because trying to remain sort of cordial and outright admitting weakness in front of a dangerous opponent are two different things. "Nor do I have more time to waste on you right now, leave me be and enjoy your last peaceful days."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Ah, he stiffens a bit, obviously taking it as a threat.
"You'll see in due time." Copen cryptically answers then gestures at Lola to do the thing.
"Um...about that." Lola doesn't do it. "We've run out of flash and smoke-bombs a while ago."
"Oh, don't bother running. I'd have to kinda, chase you down, if you did." Gunvolt warns.
Dammit, that means his plan of a quick escape is busted. As much as he wants to just jump down the roof and make a run for it, the azure striker would definitely match his speed if not catch up to him in his current condition. And he definitely can't risk a fight either because if the antidote in his pocket shatters from a blow, then he's a dead man, unable to head back and retrieve more.
Well, still he has to think of something! If he doesn't hurry up, Gunvolt could lose patience, the other guards could catch up, he could suffer another hallucination. He has to say something.
But what?!
TBC.
Uh oh, Copen sure has a tendency to end up in bad situations.
Also from what I can tell, the Sumeragi Logo is only on the back of Gunvolt's armor, so Copen wouldn't figure that out immediately unless he saw it or finally looked stuff up on the web.
Will he find a way out? End up in a fight anyway? Find out next time!