CH - 58

Halcen looked up at the giant man standing in front of him. He had a lot of extra heft so he kinda swayed while he stood there. There was a decent amount of muscle, sure, but it was mostly hidden underneath an extra layer of fat; padding. He had thick, but mangled, bright orange hair that came down around his head.

"Who are you?" the man asked, with a deep voice that echoed in the chambers.

Halcen gulped. This was not what he had expected when he entered the requisitions room of the Loguetown Marine base. He had planned for some small traps, sure, a few armed guards that they had already disposed of. But not this, not some behemoth man that awaited them inside. "Nobody of importance," Halcen said. He had to think. This was supposed to be a stealth mission, and it had failed. He needed to figure their next move.

Kazuki stood opposite Halcen, on the far side of the room, behind the guard. The man hadn't seemed to have noticed Kazuki yet. He motioned to Halcen.

Halcen didn't respond, for fear of giving away Kazuki's position, but knew Kazuki was smart enough to understand that. "Who are you!?" Halcen asked in response.

Kazuki began to move. He needed to do recon. He was a former Marine of Loguetown, but had never known there to be a guard inside the requisitions room. Surely this must have been a mistake.

"I am Commander Darmichal."

"And what are you doing here, 'Commander?'"

"I came here to turn some equipment in, but I found it so cozy in here, I had to take a nap… and then you came in and woke me up!" He yawned.

"I see…" Halcen started backing toward the door. "Well, I think I ought to just step out and let you get back to your nap."

The man glared. "That's not a Marine uniform…"

Shit. "I think you had best forget I was here," Halcen said.

The man sighed. "Oh, how I wish that were true. I'd rather go back to my nap, but I'm awake now, and had best do my job. I'm not an officer of the Marines for nothing."

Fuck. "I really don't want to do this," Halcen said. "We're both lazy, let's just let bygones be bygones and I'll be out of your hair. You'll pretend like you never woke up and I'll pretend like I was never here."

The man looked sadly at the pirate. He just shook his head. "So what have you come for, thief?"

The word stung his pride. "I'm no thief."

"Then why are you here?"

Halcen couldn't look directly at Kazuki, but saw him in his peripherals. He took a moment to think about how he wanted to answer. We still need to get their rifles. But should we withdraw until this guy leaves? No… if we leave, they'll be onto our plan and reinforce the room. We need to take this guy down so we can take the rifles and get out without anyone else noticing. I fought Reluji and took him down. He was a Commodore. This guy is only a Commander. That's two ranks lower. And I have Kazuki to help. I can do this. "I'm a pirate," he smiled, "and I've come to claim my booty!" Halcen pulled a pistol and fired a shot off.

Darmichal was large, but surprisingly quick. His large fat body lunged, kicking up all the loose pieces of equipment that he had been lying under, and spraying them about the room. Darmichal himself was across the room in no time, and had avoided the bullet before Halcen had a chance to pull the trigger. His legs landed on the side of the gate and he pushed himself off and pounced toward Halcen. On his way back, he crashed into a bunch of chests and racks of equipment, making a mess of the room.

Halcen rolled out of the way as the giant came crashing to the spot he had just been. He was able to get a good ten feet distance between himself and the Marine Officer. Darmichal was still getting up and turned back around, so Halcen took a second to glance around for Kazuki. Halcen couldn't see anything. The sniper had found himself a hiding spot. Good. That means I don't have to worry about giving him away. I can focus on the fight.

Kazuki knew he needed to get out of the way, fast. This beastly Commander was nothing to toy with. He had heard of Darmichal as being quite odd, but very powerful. He had risen through ranks almost as quickly as Vergo had. But where Vergo had Haki, this man had his own power. Word was that he was being chosen to be promoted to Captain and put in charge of his own base elsewhere in the East Blue. This was only what Kazuki had put together from second-hand knowledge of the man. Kazuki himself had never spent much time with him, only in passing and during general assemblies. But he knew well enough to stay out of his way, especially when he was about to go toe to toe with Avarik Halcen, Carbon Carnivore, Captain of the Chaos Pirates.

Kazuki had the eyes nobody else did to spot the things that nobody else could. He found himself a nestling spot in the rafters hidden in the darkness above the metal gates running around the room. There was a ledge of concrete that cut in a couple feet and let him spy from above. There, he would be hidden. From there, he could plot.

I need to figure out a plan. If I just sit here, I could get caught up in this fight, and that won't be pretty. Halcen and I need to get out of here before this guy gets serious. He looked upon the two men circling each other and testing each other. Halcen hadn't put on his Haki yet, probably as a means to keep his power secret until needed. That was smart. He didn't know the Commander's powers either. But if Halcen's still here, he's probably intent on an actual fight. That won't be good. He knows that if we try to flee, there's no coming back, and our whole operation is blown. He knows he'd need to take down Darmichal to keep this secret. So what do I do? And then he thought to himself a wicked thought. I could escape. I could let Darmichal take down Halcen and that would be the end of it. Surely, this man would be powerful enough at least to do some serious damage. I could slip out, take Bo and Masterson, find his daughter, and we could all escape Loguetown before the crew knew what was going on. Without Halcen to keep them together, I don't think they'd be able to get their shit together fast enough. I could do that. But then he came to reality. But that wouldn't be me. Even after all this bullshit, I still owe him. And we still need him. We can't save Bo's family without him. So I have to make sure he wins this fight. Fuck my life.

Kazuki knew what he had to do.

Halcen stood still, staring at the Commander. He was far too fast for such a big man. Halcen was having a hard time keeping himself from getting flattened out. He was also having a hard time keeping himself from using his Haki. They were only testing each other thus far. Darmichal had not shown his own power, nor would Halcen until necessary. This is just warm-up, Halcen told himself. I can't go all out right now and waste my Haki. I have no idea what this guy is capable of. So he widened his stance and strengthened his legs, ready to move when Darmichal came for him.

The man shot off like a bullet at Halcen, again blowing away the weapons and armor that had been neatly stacked about the room. Halcen barely had time to jump. He rolled into the ground again. And stood up just slightly before the Commander was able to. He still didn't have enough time to get ready. The Marine threw himself again, blasting off from the ground toward Halcen. Halcen barely managed to stumble off to the side and he fell on his ass, but just out of the way.

Halcen sighed relief. This guy is too fucking fast. What am I supposed to do? He hasn't even begun to get serious and I'm already starting reach that point. What the hell am I supposed to do here?

Halcen rolled back and jumped up onto his feet just as the giant man swung his massive arm across. Halcen hadn't been able to dodge far enough away to be out of arm's reach, so he was right in the swing zone. He didn't have time to think or even try to use his Haki. Darmichal's swing was way too fast, and it threw Halcen across the room and against a wall.

Halcen hit the fence with a loud creek, bending the metal. He slid down onto his knees and looked up at the Marine. You bastard. Halcen wiped the blood from his mouth. Alright, fine. He stood up straight and got ready. His body was a bit sore, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. This was the first hit of the fight. It was about to get real.

"Haha!" Darmichal shouted. "At last!" He seemed upbeat now. He was sure he was in control.

Halcen was glad for that. He stood patiently.

"If all you're going to do is stand around, then maybe you ought to quit now, thief!" He said.

"I told you already, I'm not a thief."

"If you say so." And then the Commander came again. He thrust himself with much more might this time, being that he was farther from Halcen, and he was in good spirits. So he came much faster.

But there was still enough room. Halcen threw himself into a spiral and whipped out his gun at the same time that Darmichal clashed into the metal fence, right where Halcen had been. Halcen pulled the trigger and the gun exploded on the Marine.

Darmichal's body took the impact of the bullet in full, as shown by his groaning face, and the jerk his body took caused by the bullet. But the bullet did not break skin. It crumpled and fell to the floor, as if it had hit armor. There was no visible damage.

Halcen gaped in disbelief. "You gotta be fucking kidding me." His mind raced. That wasn't Haki. I didn't see or sense anything. There's no way he's wearing some kind of invisible armor. What the hell is going on? There's been something off with this fight since the beginning. Something weird is going on with this man. Halcen looked on in horror as the man turned back around and looked down upon the little pirate.

"Oh, drats. I guess you got me," the Marine grunted mockingly. "I've been defeated," then he began to chuckle. And his laugh echoed through the small room. Then he brushed his shoulder, pretending to look for blood. "I've been sho- oh wait… I guess not." Then he looked back at Halcen with a devilish smile.

"No… You've got Devil Fruit power."

"Oh, you figured it out, did you? I was hoping you would be dumb enough to just simply freak out while I killed you. But I guess that's a bit of a pipedream, huh?"

"What is it? Some kind of invincibility?" Halcen asked.

"Sure, you can call it whatever you like," the Marine said, not wanting to give away his power. The fact that Halcen had figured out he was a Devil Fruit user was enough to give him a little help. The Commander didn't want to risk losing the fight by giving away the power altogether.

No, that's not it, Halcen thought. There's something more… complicated than that. He's been fighting weird this whole time. He's inhumanly fast… so that's gotta be part of it. Maybe a weird Zoan that doesn't need to transform? No… that's not in. It's not a Logia or the bullet would have gone right through him. So it's gotta be a paramecia. But of what? Speed? No, that wouldn't have stopped the bullet. He took the bullet, felt the pain, but it didn't do real damage. Fuck. Halcen didn't have any more time to think.

Darmichal was on him again. He blasted off like a rocket and came hurtling toward Halcen. And it seemed to be even faster than before.

Halcen threw himself out of the way, rolled into a stop, then turned to watch.

Darmichal was too fast this time and smashed into the gate, even causing a crack in the concrete beneath him when he landed. It took him longer to get up this time too.

Halcen took advantage of that, and ran all the way across the other side of the room, avoiding slipping on the weapons and armor that had been thrown about the room by all Darmichal's blasts. Halcen stopped on the far side of the room.

And then Darmichal readied himself once more. The Commander had had enough playing around. And it was time to take this thief down. They had both taken a hit, but the Marine had taken no damage. But the fact that it had happened at all wounded his officer ego. He readied himself for one strong launch.

BOOM!

BANG!

The sound of Darmichal taking off and breaking the concrete created its own shattering sound. But then came the sound of a heavy rifle. From somewhere above, a gun sounded that shot a single round at therocketing Marine. One could not place the exact location, being that the sound echoed so heavily in the small room.

Halcen knew it was Kazuki, attempting to help in the fight. He must have found his rifle.

When the bullet hit Darmichal, it knocked him off his rush, and flung him to the side, spiraling him into the metal gate on the opposite side of the room. It creaked as it ripped, and the crash seemed to blast a large hole in the concrete wall. It was several feet wide.

But when Darmichal pulled himself from the wall, Halcen once again saw that there was no noticeable damage. He had taken the brute force of the bullet, but taken no injury with it. How the hell is this possible?

Darmichal spun out, struggling to get back up. He seemed out of it, but he quickly came back to. He looked about the room, wondering where the bullet had come from. "So you've got reinforcements," he said, not even looking at Halcen.

"So it would seem," Halcen said, confidently. But now that he's in play, I need to keep Darmichal focused on me. If he gets to Kazuki, he's done for. Halcen stepped forward, and grabbed a couple swords from the ground, and held them each in one hand. They weren't very heavy, but they were enough to cause a distraction. He grabbed them tightly and rushed at Darmichal, shouting as he went.

Darmichal didn't see that coming. He snapped back to focus on Halcen and readied himself for the shorter man's attack.

Halcen jumped up at the man, swinging the swords down at his torso. Halcen could see the visible worry in the Marine's eyes as their eyes met. He was afraid of the blades. Halcen came down as hard as he could.

But Darmichal's swift arm tossed Halcen aside like nothing. He had outmatched him in the test of strength. That was painfully obvious.

But in the moment he was open, another bullet slammed into Darmichal's chest. His body jerked backwards again, but this time he was ready to take it on. He was pushed back a few feet, but was able to keep his feet on the ground, and prevented himself from getting slammed into the wall. He groaned in massive pain as the bullet bashed into his chest, but then began laughing once the drained bullet fell to the ground. "Oh man, what a rush!" he laughed. "I haven't taken this many hits in a long time. I'm usually able to take down my enemies pretty quickly." Then he turned to look at Halcen. "But you two," he said as seemed to vanish, but then appeared before Halcen, arms in the air. He slammed them down on Halcen in a heavy hammer that crushed him into the ground.

Then Darmichal pushed off from the ground even faster, jumping upward to the ceiling, landed upside down, spotted Kazuki, then pushed off again, breaking the ceiling stone, crashed into Kazuki, grabbed him by the body, then did a backflip, and came down in a massive slam with Kazuki smashing into the ground.

Kazuki groaned in agony. How the hell did he find me?

Darmichal stood up from the two men he had seemingly just taken down. He heaved in pain at all that energy exertion. He also smiled in pride. "That's what you get for messing with a Marine."

Then he heard the cackling of a pirate. "That's what pirates do," Halcen laughed. Halcen slowly stood up, his body shaking. He was able to get his one foot up, and proceeded from there.

Darmichal turned and looked down at the man. "Seriously?" the Commander gasped. "How are you not dead?"

Halcen's breathing was impaired, but he was still able to talk. "You're gonna have to do a lot more than that to take me down." And then he looked up at the Marine and stared in his eyes. "Especially since I now know how your Devil Fruit works."

"Oh, you figured it out?" Kazuki asked, grunting. He was able to gather himself enough to stand up. His body hung a bit to the side, his right leg not quite able to support him. But he still had himself and his gun.

"No… You don't know," Darmichal said with clear concern.

Halcen laughed.

"You're lying."

Halcen began walking about. He had a slight limp, but nothing impeding. "It was hard to figure out at first." He took a breath and cleared his throat. "There we go. Like I was saying. It was odd, because it's pretty complex, so it wasn't easy, but I got it. You were able to bullrush in a very inhuman way. I began to suspect you might have a speed-like boost, but that was too simple. That didn't explain why you were able to just take the bullet. And an armor-like power didn't explain the speed. Then I saw how you got faster… after all three bullet hits… as if you absorbed the energy. And in the moment you smashed me into the ground, I realized it. I didn't have time to avoid your attack, but it was a worthwhile sacrifice. I'm guessing it's some kind of hyper energy fruit, where you're able to absorb and use energy to your advantage."

"Damn," Kazuki said. "That makes sense."

"Well, I'll be. I'm impressed a pirate was able to figure that out. I guess since you got that, I might as well tell you its name. It's the Doteki Doteki fruit. It's turned me into a Kinetic Human. I can bend kinetic energy to my will."

"I knew it," Halcen said. "That would explain why you fell asleep here. There's no energy. There's no motion. You'd get weak and sleepy. But the opposite is true too. The more intense the fight gets, the stronger you get. That's a pretty impressive power for someone only in a Commander's rank."

"I've only been a Commander for about a year. I'm being scouted for Captain. They're gonna put me in charge of my own base."

"I see." Halcen had all the information he needed. What he didn't have was an answer; something he was not prepared for. How are we supposed to kill someone who can absorb any attack we throw at them, and then get more powerful from that? How the fuck are we supposed to beat this bastard?

"I'd heard some rumors about that," Kazuki said.

"And just who are you?" Darmichal asked, confused as to how this lowly pirate knew about him.

Dammit. I shouldn't have said that. "Just another nobody," Kazuki said.

"No… wait… I know you. I've seen your face."

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

"Ureha Kazuki, traitor extraordinaire. You betrayed your commanding officer to pirates."

Kazuki's face twitched. Dammit.

"Then that makes you," he said, looking to Halcen. "Avarik Halcen. Carbon Carnivore. Captain of the Chaos Pirates. My, my. You're both wanted men. This makes my day all the better. Looks like this is the last stop for you boys.

And then they were out of time.

"I suppose now is a good time to end this little game," the Commander said, tired of playing. "I'd best finish this off so I can get back to my nap!" He tilted his head to Halcen. "Here we go."

"Here we go," Halcen said. I don't know what to expect from such a complex ability. He's got nearly infinite applications to it. And he must know how to use it, seeing as how he's been promoted many times. I have to prepare. But I also have to keep Kazuki alive.