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Star Guardian issued handcuffs.
Flame Nova furrowed his brow. He knew exactly what they looked like because he'd used them before. In his long and checkered history, as a Star Guardian and not...
This was the first time he has ever had those handcuffs put on himself.
"You need to keep a better eye on your equipment." He muttered, narrowing his eyes at his currently locked right hand. The handcuff fit snugly around his wrist.
"Sorry, sorry..." Blue Cop reflexively bowed his head.
Of course, the only thing Blue Cop was guilty of was holding onto his old things. They had been safely stored away, but apparently someone broke in and thought they would make for a funny prank. That certain someone had already made himself scarce to avoid the inevitable lecture.
Because one end was a thoroughly unamused Flame Nova. On the other...
...was Solidhorn, trembling with fury.
".........!"
He hadn't said a word since he noticed their little predicament. He was too busy glaring at Flame Nova, trying to pulverize him with his gaze alone. Even now, he was moments away from punching the other in the face.
The only reason he hasn't was because he was holding himself back. And that was because the kids had asked them to at least try to get along. Pretty please?
He still hated Flame Nova's guts.
Flame Nova really couldn't care less at this point. He's made too many enemies to care about just one, even if that one was only a step away from him. It was nothing he couldn't handle.
He might be losing his touch if somebody had managed to get the drop on him though.
"Um, I'll go get the key, I'll be right back so please try not to kill each other? Please?" Blue Cop pleaded with his hands together.
"I can make no promises." Flame Nova closed his eyes.
After a few moments, Solidhorn snorted loudly.
"I'll be quick!" And with that Blue Cop darted off.
...Blue Cop wasn't even out of sight for five seconds before Flame Nova raised his hand to catch Solidhorn's fist.
Undeterred, Solidhorn lashed out with his leg.
Flame Nova stepped out of the way. He yanked on the handcuffs as he did, pulling away from his body.
Solidhorn was dragged forward. He narrowly avoided hitting his head on Flame Nova's excavator arm. He caught himself with his free hand, stopping short of crashing onto the ground. He pushed himself up and whipped his head around with a glare.
The two giants stared each other down.
And then, Flame Nova sighed.
"...I'm not dealing with this right now." In one movement, he removed his excavator part and disconnected his arm, leaving it to drop off. He then promptly walked off without a second glance.
"Wha-?!" Solidhorn gaped, his face darting between the leaving Flame Nova and the discarded arm. The discarded arm that he was still attached to.
What.
"Where do you think you're going?! Get back here!" He shouted in outage. He tried to chase after him, but the arm left an uncomfortable weight that dragged him down.
He weighed his options for a moment.
With some fiddling, he managed to disconnect his own arm, and shoulder. Both arm dropped onto the floor still attached to reach other by the handcuffs.
Solidhorn tipped over to the side with a stumble, but quickly caught himself. After reorienting himself, he chased after Flame Nova with renewed vigor.
"We're not done talking yet! FLAME NOVA-!!"
Flame Nova's response was to sidestep out of the way, leaving Solidhorn to charge past him.
Solidhorn skidded to a stop. He whirled around, landing on his hand and fired his backpack cannon.
Flame Nova immediately blocked the shots with his excavator part.
"So persistent." He narrowed his eyes. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?"
"No, I don't." Solidhorn growled. "I've been waiting for this moment for too long! I'm going to beat you up, even if I only have one arm!"
"Humph. Suit yourself. I'm still going to win either way." Flame Nova sneered.
They charged.
...
It took two minutes for Blue Cop to retrieve the key. It took three for Edo to find the disembodied arms and scream. And it took thirty to break up the two giants' fistfight. Well, that long for the kids to safely get close enough to Take Back.
At one end of the yard, Soleil was busy trying to calm Solidhorn down.
"Let me out! I was so close, I almost had him!"
"No. You're on time out. I don't like it any more than you do, but that's no excuse for you to be causing trouble for anyone else."
"At least let me punch him again! Just once, please!"
"I said no."
Meanwhile at the other end, Blue Cop was very upset with Flame Nova.
"Why am I being locked up?! I was defending myself!"
"You're more than capable of deescalating a situation like that without resorting to violence! You're supposed to be better than that!"
"...He started it."
"Are you serious?"
Jun could only sigh. It seemed that peaceful days were still pretty far off.