16 Scuffle! (8)

The question could not be finished as the Knight suddenly jolted. Whatever change the purple colour signified, it turned out to be bad news for the Personal Knight as he was actually feeling the effects of the stun baton for the first time. He gritted his teeth and scowled at Relovan, before both of his hands began glowing bright orange, as if about to produce the flames they had been producing with such ease. This appeared to be much harder this time, and the Knight actually looked at both of his arms with an absolute look of confusion and dread.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" He asked yet again, however he got no answer, only more pain.

By this time, the lightning was deep purple and had increased not only in the sheer number of lightning streaks, but in size as well. The streaks were huge now, and as if remembering that all he had to do was pull the baton away from his skin, the Knight grabbed it with his left hand. This turned out to be a mistake however, as everything seemed to intensify as he did this, and the orange glow being emitted from the Knight's hand quickly changed and became purple. There was a final roar of pain and effort, before the stun effect truly took hold, forcing the Personal Knight down to his knees. This resulted in Relovan's feet touching the ground, but he too fell to his knees and from there, both men fell to the ground – Relovan on his side and the Knight on his face. The moment this happened, everything went still and silent, and it took a good few moments for signs of life to emerge as Relovan stirred first. His cap was absolutely steaming and appeared as though it had negated pretty much all of the lightning damage. He wheezed, hacked and coughed as the monumental struggle to get to his feet required every single ounce of willpower and strength that the Enforcer had. His left arm was limp and twisted, and his uniform, greaves and gloves were covered in bumps, scrapes and cracks of all kinds. He eventually managed to get to his feet after pulling the baton out from under the Knight and using it as a walking stick of sorts. He took a moment to try and get his bearings, however he was too battered and broken to do that. Blood poured from his mouth, nose and ears and his legs could barely hold his weight.

"…how is this possible?" The Knight asked as it appeared as though he was still conscious, but no longer able to move.

He didn't get an answer though; instead he was jabbed with the baton and the moment that happened, Relovan activated it and shocked the Personal Knight to shit once again. The Knight's screams were loud and filled with absolute pain, and Relovan stopped after a few seconds and pulled the baton away. He stared at the Knight with unblinking eyes and after a few moments, he jabbed the baton into the Knight's back once again, stopping seconds later. Things continued in this vein, with the stop/start use of the baton seemingly serving no purpose other than to torture the Void Lord's subordinate. The screams, which were loud and blood curdling, progressively became softer and quieter as the prolonged torture went on. The sheer wrath in Relovan's eyes seemed to become tangible in a way, with both of his eyes beginning to glow as purple as the lightning used to torment the Knight.

"Your mistake… was toying with me… out of… curiosity." Relovan said in a pained voice between breaths. "You had the ability and… the op… opportunities to kill me… but chose to play around even after… deciding to actually… kill… me."

Relovan was completely out of breath, but this didn't stop him as he jabbed the baton into the Knight's back one more time, not even producing a scream or reaction of any kind.

"You're… under arrest for… attempted murder of… an officer of the law."

He held the baton down against the Knight for longer this time, and only pulled it away when there wasn't even a hint of a reaction from the now unconscious Knight. Meanwhile, Juxtae's Knight, who had broken out from the flame prison before the baton was even introduced had been quietly waiting for his chance to strike. His strategy changed from waiting to pounce to watching in amazement as the Human came out on top. Relovan placed the baton back on his hip and rummaged around the undamaged parts of the utility belt before pulling out a pair of syringes – a Healing one and the Numbing one. He was so wrecked that he doubted the Healing Serum would have much of an effect, however it would still be better than nothing. He jabbed it into his sternum and pulled the trigger before doing the same with the Numbing Serum. It took a few seconds, but Relovan's breathing calmed down quite a bit, he stopped groaning and the severe grimace on his face eased just a bit. He then fished around behind his back and pulled out a single handcuff which he looked at hesitantly. Only a few seconds passed however and Relovan crouched down and clacked it on the Knight's left wrist. It took almost every bit of strength he had left to stand back up, as his legs wobbled and were woefully unsteady. He did manage to stand up straight and after a second or two, the energy tendrils snaked out from the cuffs and joined together. Relovan, who had started breathing somewhat heavily again was looking towards the sky when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He grabbed the stun baton off his hip and held it firmly in his right hand before his gaze shot in the direction of Juxtae's Personal Knight. The Knight stopped walking and looked at Relovan for what appeared to be the longest time. This was the Human Enforcer that had confiscated his gloves earlier, and who Juxtae had disciplined him for not listening to. As if remembering the pain he had felt, he raised both hands in a non-threatening manner.

"I am not here to continue the fight, Enforcer." The blue hulk said as he started walking again.

He looked at Relovan, this virtually broken Human whom he could probably wipe out with a single direct hit yet couldn't. It wasn't just because of the memory of being punished in front of everybody, but as he looked at this barely conscious man, he too could see what Vox's subordinate had seen emanating from Relovan – an aura of some sort. He reached Relovan, who was still glaring at him with his baton at the ready but was employing a sort of 'wait and see' tactic.

"I repeat, I am not here to fight, Enforcer."

"If you aren't approaching me to hand yourself over, then you are."

The Knight sighed as he actually lowered his hands and held them close together in front of him, as if presenting them to Relovan.

"If you must arrest me, then arrest me, Enforcer. However, I suggest that you receive some form of medical attention. I have—"

Without having seeing him actually get them, the Knight suddenly felt handcuffs being clacked onto his wrists by Relovan.

"Huh?" The Knight remarked as he looked at his wrists.

"You're under arrest." Relovan said to the Knight before touching the strip below his ear again. "This is Relovan. I have subdued two more of these Personal Knights. I shall be moving towards the Hotel now. I have sustained serious injury however, so I will impose on those who still have Healing items once at the rendezvous area."

Relovan then turned around and began to walk off without saying anything.

"Wait!" The blue Knight called out. "The Void Lords are more than likely at that hotel! What do you possibly hope to do when you get there?"

"Bring them in." Relovan said as he continued to walk.

"What? Even if you weren't a walking corpse, those two have the ability to obliterate you with a mere thought!"

"Even so, I must go."

"Why?"

Relovan stopped in his tracks and a somewhat convenient gust of wind which was likely generated by a shockwave caused his tattered cape to flutter about. Relovan then looked behind him towards the Knight and spoke with unwavering resolve.

"Because I am a Custodian of the Law."