Meanwhile further in the city, Relovan was moving closer to the Hotel which had now come into view. He was capitalising on the Numbing Serum being in his system and was moving as briskly as he could as he was able to ignore most of the pain. As he got closer to the Hotel however, he noticed some changes happening around him. The sky had changed and become a deep red, and the temperature experienced fluctuations in either direction. One minute there was the kind of sweltering heat that felt like it could melt steal, and the next it was so cold, Relovan though he would freeze solid. Lightning bolts would appear out of the blue and strike the ground with such force it would actually split. Manhole covers would suddenly blast off as flames shot out of the manholes themselves. It was such a volatile place to be in, and Relovan was being forced to shield himself with his cape every so often while he walked. Many times, he had to duck behind a wall or a large vehicle to take cover, and his trip to the hotel was slow going as the more progress he made, the more extreme conditions became. Soon enough, Relovan reached a point where he could actually see the cause of the volatile conditions – Void Lords Juxtae and Vox. Everything that Relovan had been experiencing was amplified ten-fold down where they were fighting. Lightning bolts crackled and struck the ground all around the two, as did almost sentient looking beams of flames that snaked around the ground and the sky. Storm clouds gathered and produced near gale force winds, intense heatwaves that melted the ground and the surrounding buildings as well as set the plants on fire suddenly hit, and right in the middle of all this, Juxtae and Vox were engaged in combat that was of a far higher level than any of the skirmishes Relovan had witnessed previously. Almost unfathomably destructive Essence Powers were being thrown about as if they were nothing, and Relovan had to shield his eyes with his right forearm multiple times as he watched.
Void Lord Vox, true to his style, was a relentless force of brute strength and destructive power, and most of his Powers were focused on pure damage. He charged Juxtae, leaving footprints in the ground below as he did.
“Dragon Fist.” He virtually whispered as flames swirled around his fists.
The flames took the shake of dragon heads, and as soon as he reached Juxtae, he unleashed a barrage of strikes that looked as though they could split the planet in two. Juxtae simply raised her right hand, and thick lightning bolts came down from the sky, with each one landing in front of her and blocking a strike. Flames clashed with lightning and the ground shook with each blocked fist. Flame twisters suddenly spawned out of nowhere and began tearing through the battleground. Soon after the appearance of the twisters, massive lightning bolts that were as thick as the twisters struck the ground and began to move around as if they were being pulled along by some imaginary string. The bolts and the twisters also clashed and coupled with all the other extreme things that were happening, it made for quite the sight and the scene. Yet much to Relovan’s surprise, the Void Lords fought as though they didn’t even notice anything that was going on around them. Instead, the more they fought, the more extreme effects would be added to an already crazy situation.
“T-This is Relovan.” He said as he activated the radio again. “I am standing in front of a building close to the Hotel, and I have a clear view of not only the Hotel, but the Void Lords as well. They are currently engaged in combat, and to be honest with you all, I don’t think the planet can take much more of this. We need to go down there and at stop this, or we are all fucked. The building I am standing in front of houses a restaurant called The Table. I am requesting that anybody who managed to make it this far come as quickly as possible.”
Relovan quieted down as the pair unleashed even more Essence Powers. He watched on in silence while occasionally looking around to see if any of his fellow Enforcers were around or at least approaching his position.
“This is Relovan again.” He said, getting on the radio again after a few minutes. “Things are escalating. Now would be a great time to confirm whether or not you’re close.”
The cold silence he had been receiving since he started giving status reports did not bug Relovan more than it did at this exact moment. At first, he figured his fellows were either preoccupied with subduing the other Personal Knights or something like that, but the more he asked for confirmation on positions and such, the stronger the sense of abandonment hit him. Things continued to get worse and worse down in front of the Hotel, and more weather effects ripped the buildings and the ground around them to shreds. Eventually, Relovan pressed the tape below his earlobe once and spoke in a wrath filled whisper.
“This is Relovan. Things have reached the point where I cannot wait any longer, so I am going down to engage the Void Lords by myself. Fucking cowards.”
Relovan took the deepest of breaths as he stared at the Void Lords down below. These were beings that possessed the power to destroy all of the planets and the station with relative ease, and the Enforcer seemed to be taking a moment to steel himself in order to confront them. The moment passed fairly quickly and soon, Relovan began making his way down towards the Hotel.
Meanwhile, down in front of the building and right in the centre of the craziness, Juxtae and Vox continued to fight. Vox was still going at Juxtae with the Dragon Fist technique, and she raised both of her hands, from which a rather impressive Essence Power known as Chain Lightning shot out and struck the large Void Lord directly. Streaks of lightning would splinter off and bounce off of something before darting straight back at Vox and hitting him in the back, the sides, everywhere. The attack never seemed to end, and this caused Vox to let out a roar which was followed by a flame dome pushing its way out from inside the lightning, dissipating the lightning and freeing the Void Lord from it. He grinned at Juxtae and snorted.
“You’re weak, Juxtae. You have no right to deny me what I seek.”
“The Lady says she has the right to deny you whatever she feels like denying you.” One of her assistants yelled from a distance.
This prompted Vox to scowl and lob a fireball in the direction the voice came from before glaring at Juxtae.
“How many times have I told you not to speak to me using those whelps of yours!!” The Void Lord absolutely boomed.
Before the conversation could continue, a loud voice interrupted them.
“Void Lords Vox and Juxtae, this is Police Enforcer Relovan. By engaging in combat here in this Neutral Zone, you two have knowingly contravened our laws. I request that you both disengage and leave one another alone. If you do that, then out of respect for your positions, I will not cuff you.”
The bold claim actually caught the attention of both Void Lords and caused them to actually look in the direction the voice came from. Relovan was standing on the edge of a wall that was rather high above the sunken parking lot of the Hotel. He stood with his arms down by his side, although the left arm dangled limply more than anything. There was a brief silence as the two looked Relovan over before they actually recognised him – well, Juxtae recognised him as a person, and Vox recognised him as a Human. Juxtae actually backed off of Vox a bit, and all of the weather effects, at least from Juxtae’s side, started to die down.
“Enforcer Relovan?” Vox asked, sounding somewhat amused. “If we willingly stop, you won’t cuff US?”
“That’s right, Void Lord. I repeat, I am requesting that you both stand down. The planet we are currently on will not survive if you two continue to engage in this battle. That will result in casualties and create issues between you and the Council. Please, stand down.”
Juxtae looked at Relovan in what seemed like silence for a while, before her two assistants suddenly teleported in and flanked her.
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“The Lady says she will do as you ask.” One of the women said.
“Surprisingly.” The other added as she looked at Relovan as well.
Relovan nodded his appreciation at Juxtae, however her willingness to cooperate with him only seemed to incense Vox, who glared at the Enforcer as flames began to pulse from his eyes.
“Don’t think for even a second that I care about the Council and it’s laws. I only follow and answer to the voice of Da-Xa, and He tells me to do whatever it is I want, whenever I want to do it. Right now, what I want to do is crush this Void Lord and her two worms.”
“…that is unfortunate, Void Lord Vox.” Relovan said as he reached down for his stun baton. “Am I correct in assuming this means you will not stand down like Void Lord Juxtae?”
Void Lord Vox just snorted as he looked at the three women and launched a volley of fireballs in their direction. The two assistants simultaneously raised their hands and created a wall of lightning which blocked the attack.
A few seconds later, Vox noticed Relovan jump down from the wall into the sunken parking lot below, before slowly standing up and looking at the large Void Lord.
“I would ask that you refrain from attacking Void Lord Juxtae, Void Lord Vox. She has submitted herself to the law, and thus attacking her further will only worsen your charges. I will give you one more opportunity to stop this and come with me willingly.”
“What will happen if I refuse this final offer?” Vox asked.
“I will have to subdue you and bring you in.” Relovan replied with conviction.
This drew a massive bout of laughter from Vox, who genuinely looked amused. The Void Lord laughed until he was actually in tears, and as the laughter became progressively more boisterous, the weird weather effects from before returned, with flames appearing from nowhere and dancing around him. Relovan strained his eyes a bit as he tried to ignore the immense heat being generated by the laughter and everything else that happened. After a bit more laughter, the Void Lord eventually calmed down and wiped his tears away. Those tears that managed to drip to the ground were so hot, along with the ground below them, the moment they hit the floor, they boiled and turned to steam.
“Oh, that was fantastic.” Vox said as the smile on his face slowly disappeared. “You Humans are such an interesting race, transient little things that you are. You love to zip around to every corner of the Void, strutting around with your little chests puffed out like Valuvian Cave Birds, clucking about. You are all about as insignificant candles in a snow storm. Just look at you… you walking corpse. A single glance at you reveals all I need to know about your current physical state. Blood leaking from every orifice on your little head, bones so broken your torso looks like it will fall apart at any time. Your breathing so ragged, you sound like a Void Slug. A weak, pathetic creature that is on the verge of death like you thinking that it has any authority over a being such as I, is hubris of the highest order, as funny as it may be.”
Vox suddenly glared at Relovan, and as he did, the Enforcer felt a great amount of weight and pressure on his body. It felt as though a small planet was trying to squash Relovan and it was taking all he had not to buckle under the weight and be reduced to a smudge on the ground. The struggle against the pressure was causing Relovan to bend his knees.
‘Don’t let them see you struggle!’ Relovan chanted internally like some kind of mantra.
As if in an effort to prevent the Void Lords from seeing just that, Relovan seemed to use every bit of strength he had left to stand up straight and upon doing so, attempted to look at Vox with a scowl of determination. He was instead met by the sight of the Void Lord staring at him with a scowl filled with such intensity, it almost caused the Enforcer to recoil. The look in Vox’s eyes was one of pure disdain and his face was warped with disapproval. He body emitted intense heat that was made worse by the fact that it was accompanied by a shockwave-initiated gust of wind. The heat was almost too much to take, and Relovan was alerted to just how much he had been sweating by a few beads that rolled down his cheek. 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.