19 Scuffle! (11)

With each blink of the Enforcer's eyes, Vox appeared to grow in size until he not only towered over Relovan, but threatened to engulf him completely. This all caused Relovan to swallow a lump in his throat and wipe sweat from his brow with his forearm as well as his hand. He looked at just how drenched his palm was, and this truly alerted him to the truth of his situation – he was frightened. He was intimidated, and this didn't sit well with the Enforcer. Suddenly, sounds and images started flashing through his mind, from both the distant past as well as the very recent past. Images of war, of brutalised and mutilated bodies, of burning villages and informal settlements, people being beaten and hacked to death. The sounds of screaming natives, the pleas of the downtrodden. All these swirled within Relovan's mind before being replaced with images of him in a massive hall in front of hundreds of other recruits as he recited the Oath all policemen and women take upon becoming a fully-fledged officer, his unwavering conviction and loyalty to the rule of law. He then heard the words he had said earlier.

'We are here to enforce the law', 'we are Lawmen', 'whether a homeless vagabond who wreaks off urine and feces, or a Void Lord that smells of battle and death, if they contravene our laws, we bring them to justice', 'I am the Law'.

As these words all went through his mind, a rather peculiar look adorned Relovan's face. It looked as if he was struggling against something, and it resulted in him looking somewhat desperate, but also oddly determined. A moment or two later, his right hand suddenly reached down and grabbed the handle of his stun baton.

"My desire to subdue you and bring you in does not come from a place of hubris, Void Lord Vox." Relovan said as his hand shook ever so slightly before pulling the baton out from beneath the cape and extending his arm out at a slight angle. "This has absolutely nothing to do with personal desire or vanity. I do not stand before you with the intention of making a name for myself or dying as a martyr. All that I have done, all that I have faced, all that I have endured all boils down to a single thing; duty."

As Relovan said this, the stun baton seemed to activate itself and blue and white lightning streaks began to dance along the surface of the three-pronged head.

"Duty is the only reason why I stand here before you fully intending to successfully fulfil my duty as an officer of the law. Your complete disregard for the rules and regulation of the very same Coalition that has given you authority, that has given you planets and more, infuriates me to the point of making my blood boil."

The more Relovan spoke, the larger the lightning streaks grew and the darker they became, once again becoming purple – something that both Void Lords noticed.

"Just remaining upright is taking absolutely everything I have, and when I think that I still have to take you on, it makes my body ache in ways I cannot put into words. That said, I have no choice; I WILL bring you in without fail."

"You sound so confident." Vox commented in a snide tone. "Why is that?"

"…because I am the Law"

As Relovan said this, something inside him happened as the aura he had produced while fighting against Vo suddenly returned, only this time it was far stronger and far more visible. There were strong purple tones to the aura, and the longer Relovan drew it out, the stronger the colour became. The stun baton had actually started to go through physical changes, much like the motorcycle Relovan had ridden earlier. Plates all along the shaft started shifting as it changed shape, and the trident-like head grew in size as well. Seemingly, the baton was feeding off of whatever it was Relovan's aura was made of, however the plates started popping off all the way down the shaft, almost looking like flower petals. Lightning streaks suddenly started shooting out from these 'petals' and for every petal the baton had, at least three lightning streaks of varying sizes would dance out from that one petal. The trident head also developed these petal-like splinters which also produced extra streaks, while the original prongs produced the largest and most volatile looking streaks. The handle of the baton was near the top and was at a right angle. It was also modular so the baton's shaft itself could spin on an axis. The longer this display went on, the more interested Vox appeared to become, and he extended his right arm as well, and a massive flame sword suddenly materialised. He looked at Relovan and grinned, before spitting on the ground and sneering.

"Come." Vox simply said as he gripped the sword in his hand.

Every single instinct that Relovan possessed, including that sixth-sense he had regarding danger, all absolutely screamed that all that awaited him if he engaged with Vox was certain death. As if answering those dissenting internal voices, Relovan rotated his forearm in place, causing the baton and all the lightning to spin so quickly, it all became a whirling and crackling blur. Relovan's eyes began to glow bright purple as this happened. The moment he stopped rotating his forearm, Relovan bent his knees slightly and with a jolt of the shoulder, stopped the baton from spinning and pushed it forwards, sending a few streaks of lightning in the Void Lord's direction.

"I am the Law." Relovan repeated as his eyes glowed about as brightly as they could.

He thrust the baton out to his side as he hunkered down a bit before pushing off of the spot and beginning his assault as he charged towards Void Lord Vox, who just grinned at the oncoming Enforcer. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as lightning struck the ground below as Relovan ran. His eyes were wide open and unblinking as they continued to glow, and his cape and broken arm fluttered behind him. As he ran, the sound of Relovan's heartbeat became more and more prominent until it had drowned out absolutely every other sound – be it his breath or his thoughts. While he was aware of the slow-motion effect, Relovan ignored it and once he reached a certain distance from the Void Lord, he leapt into the air and thrust the baton behind him, as if preparing to strike with all of his might. He kept his unblinking gaze fixed on Vox, who was surprisingly doing the same and just as Relovan was about to strike, Void Lord Juxtae teleported into range and placed the very tips of her fingers onto Relovan's chest. He didn't even have time to look down at said chest as he was absolutely blasted away and could only watch his baton remain in midair above the Void Lord's head as he flew back. As Relovan closed his eyes to blink, he felt himself smashing into some kind of hard surface back first. When he opened his eyes to complete the blink, he saw copious amounts of blood spraying out from what he could only assume was his mouth and along with the blood, Relovan hit the ground. His entire body was wracked with the most intense pain he had ever felt, and the Enforcer tried his hardest to remain conscious. He was severely disoriented and the struggle not to pass out was intense. It felt like it took an age, but he raised himself just a bit with his forearms and looked towards the Void Lords, who were now engaged in yet another scuffle. Juxtae seemed to have her fingers deep inside Vox's sternum, and after a brief struggle, the large Void Lord grinned and grabbed Juxtae's wrist with his left hand. He then received what appeared to be the shock of his life, but Relovan couldn't quite see all of what happened next as what looked to be a massive pair of legs and feet dropped down right in front of him before some sort of red and blue dome shaped nova pulsed out from the pair of Void Lords while simultaneously, a kind of golden nimbus appeared above the both of them. Relovan didn't see what happened next however as he succumbed to both the immense pain and the multitude of serious injuries he had received – losing consciousness and slumping to the ground.