13 Scuffle! (5)

As Relovan got closer to the Hotel and he continued to try and process it all, his senses screamed at him to try and evade incoming danger. He was unable to however, and before he was even able to identify what the danger was, something smashing into both him and the bike, launching them both into the air and then sending them all hurtling towards a building. Unlike last time, Relovan tried his utmost to keep his hands firmly on the handlebars and to stay seated, as he would remain under the protection of the motorcycles Shields. As it turned out, he would need it because he not only crashed into the wall, but through it as well. As whatever smashed into him, smashed through the wall with him, Relovan managed to maintain his grip on the bars even when the vehicle hit the ground, bounced a few times, smashed through a few trees and slid into yet another wall. The thing that had hit him kept him company the entire time and slid to a halt along with him. The Shields absorbed the brunt of the damage, and the Enforcer slowly got off the bike and stood up gingerly. He looked to his right and upon closer inspection, realised that the thing that hit him wasn't a thing at all, but a who. It appeared to be a Personal Knight belonging to Juxtae, and moments after Relovan had made that distinction, the Knight shot right up and was enveloped in a blue shroud that looked Water Essence. Tall and well built, this Knight looked rather familiar.

"This is Poli—oh, it's you." Relovan stated as he reached for a pair of handcuffs. "You're under arrest. Hand yourself over."

"Huh? Who the fuck are – it's you!!"

"Yes, Enforcer Relovan. Now hand yourself over – I will not repeat myself."

"This really isn't the time for that, Enforcer!" The Knight boomed.

"Don't be absurd. It's always 'the time' for the law."

"No, the weakling was right, Human Policeman." A deep, burbling voice declared from above.

Both Relovan and Juxtae's Knight looked up and saw a man who was built differently to the rest – much like the Knight beside him. Rather than being built like a brick house, he was instead tall, wiry and unlike his colleagues, he was clad in a type of robe that covered his body completely, whereas the others wore sleeveless breastplate type tops, armoured trousers and heavy boots. He had a type of headdress that was adorned with spikes, and a pale, sickly complexion. His gaunt face was set in a permanent scowl, and flames pulsed gently from his eyes. The blue skinned hulk of a Knight next to Relovan genuinely looked as though he was less than happy to see the wiry Knight and swallowed a lump in his throat. The Enforcer looked at the other man with something of a scowl on his own face and then unholstered his gun slowly.

"Do you also subscribe to this ridiculous belief about it not being the time for the law? No wonder you are so willing to destroy property in Coalition owned land. You are under arrest. Surrender yourself willingly and face the wrath of the law." Relovan stated as he turned to face Vox's Knight.

"I have a question for you, Human Policeman."

"What is it?"

"What if I refuse to hand myself over and submit to your law?"

"Then I will have to bring you in forcefully."

"Yes, well you appear to be woefully lacking in ability to do that, Human Policeman. If you do not leave myself and my friend next to you to continue with our business, you will be the first to perish."

The intensity of Relovan's scowl suddenly increased as his eyes grew large and he raised his gun, aiming it at the skinny man who was still floating in the air. Without even waiting for a word to be spoken, the Enforcer fired off a shot aimed directly at the Knight's head. The Knight had raised his right hand before the shot was fired, and it hadn't even reached him when it suddenly burst into flames and exploded in midair. Relovan didn't even flinch at his bullet exploded, as his eyes were large and filled with anger.

"Threatening an officer of the law with death is a crime punishable in extreme cases by death itself; I suggest you take that threat back before the situation becomes extreme right now."

The menace in Relovan's voice did little to intimidate the Knight. In fact, he floated down to the ground, touching down gently as a smile actually creeped across his face, and what could only be described as morbid curiosity filled his eyes.

"Human Policeman, I will not withdraw my earlier statement. I am standing right here if you wish to mete out any form of justice or punishment."

As if he had been waiting for permission to do so, Relovan fired off another regular bullet, and it too burnt up in the air. After that happened though, he was already on the move; extracting two more smoke grenades from his belt. He tossed the grenades while running towards the Knight, staring at him with unblinking eyes. The moment they exploded, Relovan – who had turned the dial on his pistol from STUN to CRYO – fired off two shots into the smoke. Without even breaking stride, he flew into the smoke cloud with his gun still raised. As soon as he did however, he felt an almost unnecessarily hot gust of wind hit his body, forcing him to stop in his tracks and shield his eyes with his arm. As the wind continued to blow, the smoke cleared almost immediately; resulting in the grenades being blown away. The Knight stood there looking at him with both of his arms completely covered in ice from the shoulder down. The right arm, which was extended out front of him appeared to have a glowing red spot in the palm of its hand, and the Knight was still smiling at Relovan. The Enforcer quickly fired off two more bullets into the Personal Knights' quads, rapidly encasing his legs in ice and then turned the dial back to STUN. After pushing off from where he was standing with some force, Relovan dashed towards the Knight, running with his pistol at the ready. The closer he got to the Knight however, the more prominent the glowing spot in his palm became. With each passing step, it grew from a mere spot, to a medium sized orb and as Relovan reached the Knight, the ice around the outstretched arm had begun to crack.

'Shit!' Relovan thought to himself as he reached the Knight.

Just as he began raising his gun to shoot, the ice around the Knight's arm shattered completely and the large hand suddenly changed direction and pointed at Relovan, with the orb in its palm immediately growing larger as Essence Flames danced all around its surface. Relovan strained absolutely every single fiber in his body, lowering his arms, dropping his right shoulder as low down as it could go while simultaneously pulling his head as far to the left as it possibly could. The instant Relovan had done all that, a beam of orange and black flames blasted past his face. The beam was cylindrical in shape, and not much larger than Relovan's face itself, however the flames themselves were completely different from those used by the other Knights as they were actually hard – solid flames. They made a peculiar sound as they absolutely boomed past his face, and it took everything Relovan had not to cry out in immense pain from the residual heat. Instead, he tossed his gun into his left hand while planting his left leg and using it as a pivot. He powerfully swiveled his hips and as his right foot slid across the ground, Relovan began raising his left arm. Upon finishing his 90-degree swivel, Relovan's pistol was pressed squarely against the underside of the Personal Knights' chin. Without wasting a moment, he pulled the trigger and fired off a shot.

"Hmph." The Knight scoffed as Relovan realised that the ice around his left arm had also shattered, and that the Knight had grabbed his pistol and tilted it, diverting the shot and sending it into the sky above.