Blade vs Blade Maker

Since Daz Bones ate the Supa Supa No Mi and became a Blade Man, he became a practically unstoppable existence in the West Blue.

His skin, muscle, organs and bones have the hardness and toughness of steel, so until now he had been immune to bullets and swords, the majority attack methods in this world. At the same time his body is a deadly weapon, he could turn any part of his body into sharp blades with which he could slice human flesh without any effort.

He had trained his body and skills diligently, was experienced in both battles and assassinations, his mind was cold and calculating and had ambition.

Since he started working as a mafia hitman at a young age he had never had a problem completing any mission, no matter how complicated they were. He really was at the top of the murder business in the West Blue.

There was only one small drawback that ruined his professional satisfaction.

'Frederick Fred, the Superkiller'

They were both similar in age, monstrously strong within their environment and, although with subtle differences, both made their living killing other human beings.

It was inevitable that they would be compared and no matter who did it, Daz Bones always was the loser, something that greatly damaged their pride. However, as much as that hurt his pride, Daz Bones wasn't an idiot, so he wouldn't go find Fred to duel.

He was aware that Fred was a master of poisons and mastered many strange combat tactics that negated the advantages of his iron skin. It's not wise to fight with him for such a stupidity, much less do it for free and also harm the organization that pays him a good salary.

He simply had to turn a deaf ear to those comparisons and continue improving until he could join the true big leagues of the Grand Line.

But a week ago and more specifically today, Daz Bones sensed that he could finally fulfill his wet dream of showing those who compared him to Fred who was really the best.

'I almost had him...'

Daz Bones believed that today he could finally be crowned as the strongest teenager in West Blue by removing Fred from the throne, but…

Bang! Clank!

Daz Bones never expected that there would be more worthy competition in that tournament, much less that this someone wasn't fighting for the throne and was also part of Fred's team!

"Come on, let's go! Show me what you can do!" Stephen shouted with more lust than bloodlust despite fighting to the death. "My ancestors and I want to see how a steel man fights!

STEEL-STEEL-STEEL!!!"

Stephen Steel not only had a crazy, annoying, even worrying obsession with steel, but he was also incredibly strong, tactical, and annoying, especially in the way he approached this fight.

'Bastard' Daz Bones thought furiously upon see that his enemy wasn't treating him with the seriousness he deserved. 'Let's see if you're so elated when I cut you into pieces?'

Daz Bones ran at full speed towards Stephen with his hands turned into swords to cut his enemy as soon as he had the opportunity, but the truth was that he was having serious problems getting close to Stephen.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

A few simple shots wouldn't have even bothered Daz Bones, much less made him back away as he ran, but the weapons built into Stephen's armor were different.

Their firing power were similar to that of a cannon!

But it wasn't just about power, Stephen's superhuman aim and incredible timing almost always managed to hit the right place at the right time to knock him off balance. Furthermore, his enemy didn't sit still either, he always kept a good distance between them.

Stephen wasn't giving him much chance to get close to him.

Clacnk! Clank! Clonk! Plom! Clanck! Clink! Plam! POM!

'Damned!' Daz Bones cursed in his mind after falling to the ground again 'I can't let him dictate the rules of this fight, I've to get as close as possible'

Despite having a steel body Daz Bones knew that steel wasn't invulnerable to high speed collisions with equally or harder materials and now Stephen was reminding him.

If Daz Bones was properly blocking these attacks they wouldn't be so annoying, but he couldn't afford that luxury against a long ranged expert as Stephen. He needed to advance towards the humanoid battleship in the middle of that annoying hail of bullets that were little by little accumulating damage to his skin, muscles and even bones.

He hadn't bled yet and some bruises had already appeared on his skin, especially on his ankles. It was only a matter of time before his injuries would pile up if he were only passively taking hits.

'Got you!'

After several attempts, Daz Bones finally managed to get close to Stephen, close enough to allow his right hand to pierce Stephen's armored chest with a powerful vertical slash.

Slash!

However, Daz Bones greatly underestimated Stephen's reaction and movement speed. With or without heavy armor, Stephen trained alongside Fred and was all too accustomed to his speed and the range of his attacks. Much greater attack range and speed than Daz Bones.

Fliu!

With a simple and quick lateral movement Stephen dodged Daz Bones' attack and placed himself in an ideal position to counterattack him with his enormous war hammer, which was already above Daz Bones head.

'Shit!'

Daz Bones normally didn't care about sword, axe or mace strikes. His steel-hard body had always allowed him to avoid being hurt to a greater or lesser extent. However, after receiving those powerful shots he no longer had so much confidence in himself, he was sure that Stephen's hammer blow would be several orders of magnitude more powerful and painful.

The chances of avoiding it were practically zero. Stephen had coordinated this counterattack almost perfectly so as not to give him time to use his feet, but even if Daz Bones could, he wasn't going to do it either. It had taken him a lot of effort to get close to Stephen, he couldn't walk away now.

With that underdog mentality in mind, Daz Bones mentally prepared himself to endure that blow to the head.

BANG!

But Daz Bones wasn't prepared to be shot in one of his eyes and couldn't help but let out a short cry of pain.

"AHHH!"

BANG!

A serious mistake, just as he opened his mouth to scream a second bullet hit his uvula, causing an indescribable pain that forced him to retreat.

"UGHHJ!"

FIU!

And the most humiliating thing of all is that he had the opportunity to back down. Stephen didn't finish that combo with his hammer despite having the perfect opportunity to do so!

Instead Stephen let him escape and now looked at him with interest and a degree of concern.

"Awesome! Your eye and the inside of your mouth also have the properties of steel!" Shouted Stephen, he was enjoying this discovery like a curious child. "Although they're weaker and more sensitive than other parts of your body, but that was to be expected.

No wonder Fred is so interested in your Akuma No Mi."

And this was precisely the most humiliating thing of all for Daz Bones

It wasn't being totally overpowered in this match, getting a black eye, almost vomiting, and almost choking on a bullet.

The most humiliating thing is that Stephen was treating him as if he were a test subject in what was possibly the most important fight of his life.

Being underestimated in this brutal way was slowly corroding Daz Bones' rationality.

"YOU! Take this seriously!" He shouted Daz bones as he spat out the bullet he had almost swallowed. "Why didn't you attack me with your hammer?"

"To that... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Stephen replied, almost forgetting that he was in serious combat. "I was testing how effective my shots were on you, but I've gotten the general idea.

From now on I would like to try with my hammer

Come here"

Stephen still underestimated him, something extremely humiliating, but at least now he was giving him the opportunity to take the fight to his field, hand to hand combat.

Slish!

Without the fear that Stephen could easily make him fall with more shots to his legs, Daz Bones turned his foot into a blade and thus slid on the ground, as if he were skating on ice.

For the first time and with much better momentum than before, Daz Bones managed to get in front of Stephen and this time attacked much more carefully to avoid receiving another masterful counterattack.

SLASH! 

But that was an unnecessary worry. Stephen did nothing to avoid his cutting hand.

CLANCK!

But he didn't need it either. That cut didn't make a single scratch on his armor made of HTX-109.

"Your body is made of metal and that's why metal items cannot pierce your skin easily."

This's obvious, but…" Said Stephen, who didn't know if he should be relieved or disappointed. "Can you damage metal or is that your limitation too?"

Daz Bones wasted no time in being surprised by his lack of success, in responding or in getting annoyed by his enemy's mocking attitude. Instead, he tried to hit him harder.

CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

But it wasn't working, his slashing attacks weren't even scratching his opponent!

Even if he tried to cut the joints they were perfectly protected, that armor with so many built-in weapons had no weaknesses.

"My turn"

Stephen had already tested the hardness of his invention; Playing at being a turtle was over.

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!!

POOMMMMMM!!!!

Stehen's warhammer mercilessly struck Daz Bones in the face, sending him flying out of the boundaries of the mansion's garden.

'Ohhgg...such strength...'

That attack managed to bleed Daz Bones slightly, caused him great damage, and shook his brain. He had a hard time getting up, as if he were a boxer who had been hit precisely on the chin.

"From what I see your blades have a hardness similar to that of Damascus steel." Said Stephen, pretty sure of his analysis after hitting him with his job tool "Is it possible for you to imitate the hardness of any steel or are you limited to what you currently have?"

Daz Bones didn't respond 

Daz had no idea if that was possible, and while it was a very good idea to explore, he didn't have time for experiments right now. He had to make do with the tools he knew and had at his disposal to win.

FIU!

After recovering from the concussion Daz Bones charged again, this time prepared to unleash one of his most powerful attacks.

"Sparkling Daisy!"

Daz bones turned insides of his hands and fingers into blades, placed his hands together wrist-to-wrist and simultaneously stabbed and sliced his enemy with his hands

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

An attack with such sheer force behind that normally not only cut his intended target but things behind his target as well!

His attack connected with certainty and cut the mansion behind Stephen into ten pieces, but…

CLANK!

That attack didn't harm Stephen, who stopped it with his hammer, which didn't receive a single scratch.

"WOW!" Stephen shouted in surprise as he looked at the trail of destruction behind him. "How did you manage to cut the things behind me without cutting me?

It's weird as hell! Is it part of your Akuma No Mi's powers!?"

And once again Daz Bones didn't answer. He attacked Stephen again, this time catching him by surprise, since neither his hands nor his feet were within the optimal range to touch him.

"Spar Break!"

Daz swined and crosses his bladed arms in front of Stephen, resulting in several powerful horizontal slashes that bypassed the distance and also the items behind him.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Once again the mansion behind Stephen was damaged, something that hurt him quite a bit.

CLANK!

But once again there wasn't a single scratch on his armor.

"And you can also throw long-range slashes, not bad!

But they're quite different from the ones Fred makes with his sword" Said Stephen after inspecting his armor "His long-range slashes are much more powerful, although they are visible and don't cut things behind their targets even if they aren't damaged.

I think that if you could complement this ability of your Akuma No Mi with that sword technique you could obtain incredible results.

A superior result to the two added skills, an incredible synergy!"

Daz Bones didn't answer once again.

He had heard rumors that in the Grand Line there were swordsmen capable of projecting their cuts from a distance, as if they were cutting beams of energy and that some were even capable of cutting steel with ease despite using a normal steel sword

He believed that these were just fantastic stories, jokes that his superiors played on him so that he would remain humble and not lose his desire to progress as a combatant despite having few rivals in that environment.

But after hearing what Stephen told him and more importantly...

SLAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Seeing firsthand how Fred and Laffitte unleashed those power outages not far from him, Daz Bones realized the hard truth. He was weaker than he would like to admit and was wasting the Supa Supa No Mi's potential.

Daz Bones wasn't a swordsman, he never had been, he had never needed to be one and he even looked down on them.

Why did he need to learn how to use a sword if his trained body was better than a sword? Why did he need to learn from swordsmen when he's their natural enemy?

None of them had managed to hurt him and he had killed them all without using a weapon! He could even cut his flesh from a distance with a wave of his hands! To them and to everyone who was behind them covering them with their guns!

It was stupid to try to learn anything from them!

Or so he thought to this day. Stephen, Fred and Laffitte really opened his eyes.

'Unfortunately I won't be able to learn that technique right now.' Daz Bones thought, feeling defeated although the fight wasn't over. 'I'll have to make do with what I have...'

Daz Bones knew that he was about to reach the climax of the fight and that he only had one technique with the potential to penetrate the solid defenses of his natural enemy.

"Spiral Hollow!!"

Daz created four circular blades along his forearms before making them spin, turning his forearms into mini-tiller blades that shred anything they touch. Due to the way the blades spin around Daz's arms, his arms resemble drills used by excavators.

And with those drill-shaped circular saws he was about to test the strength of Stephen's armor, although he didn't seem too impressed.

"Why do you announce your techniques?" Stephen asked with a bit of embarrassment. "Are you a little boy or something?"

But Díaz didn't let that comment demoralize him. He charged at the enemy and managed to glue his arms to his armor.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

Sparks were flying from the surface of Stephen's armor, a sign that this attack, unlike the others, was having some kind of effect on that humanoid bunker.

"Interesting"

But if it had any effect it was too superficial and Stephen wasn't willing to give Daz time to get the desired effect.

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!!

POOMMMMMM!!!!

Stephen once again sent Daz Bones out of the mansion with a hammer blow and once again after a few seconds Daz Bones returned for more of the same, starting with listening to Stephen's impressions.

"That's interesting.

Not only can you turn parts of your body into blades, you can also create blades on your body and move them at will!" Stephen shouted, much more impressed than before. It was as if he had regained his passion for Daz Bones "It's a very good application, but...

I don't understand...

If you can do this, why don't you always do it?"

Daz Bones wanted to attack again and also contradict him, but he couldn't.

He had run out of ideas and really wanted to hear what Stephen wanted to tell him, even if hearing it hurt his pride.

"If you can do that with your arms, why limit it to just your arms!?

You could make blades appear all over your body and circulate them at high speed without rest in a defined efficient and effective pattern.

You would get great defense and attack permanently!

You could have even easily deflected my bullets like that!"

Stephen was right!

Why hadn't he done it? It sounded coherent, even logical.

"Although on second thought... this's not entirely necessary.

You could simply create blades all over your body that rotate statically on themselves, like circular saws, this way you don't have to think about a movement pattern.

THIS WAY YOU WON'T LEAVE ANY PLACE UNCOVERED!

And although this seems more complicated to me, you might be able to continuously launch ranged attacks from your entire body without having to move your arms...

You'll probably need a lot of practice, but I don't see it being impossible either."

Yes, that was even better, it really could be a great skill.

What name should I give to such an ability?

"And what's the minimum and maximum size of the blades that you can create in your body?

If you can make them so small that the human eye couldn't see them that would be amazing. You would be like a super sandpaper and you wouldn't have mobility problems when using the technique that I mentioned before.

And if you can make them very big and long you could suddenly surprise your enemies, you would destroy their sense of distance!

By the way...

Can you stack multiple blades on top of each other?

If that's possible you could do very interesting things! Entire constructs made of blades attached to your body!"

He didn't know, he had no idea... he had never... thought about all those things...

Why? Why had he never thought about these possibilities?

"And you could also do things to improve your mobility.

You could create circular dull blades on the bottom of your feet to act as wheels...

Eye! You could even turn yourself into a circular blade and roll!

You could also turn yourself into some kind of drill and move across the ground so I wouldn't have been able to shoot you.

And... it may be fanciful, but I don't see it as impossible that you can fly using the rotation power of your blades...

The Guru Guru No Mi that Fred once told me about accomplishes something similar with rotating items that grow from the user's body"

Why after so many years of being Akuma No Mi user, had he never thought about these uses?

Does he lack imagination? Is he an idiot while Stephen is too smart?

"By the way...

Have you ever thought about growing your hair long?

If you grew your hair long and learned to use the Seimei Kikan you could do crazy things.

You could transform your steel-hard hair into all kinds of blades and move them as you please.

It would be super powerful and you would gain a lot of versatility

I can imagine Fred putting that to good use.

By the way, can create saw blades? You would be better at cutting steel and..."

And at this point Daz Bones didn't want to listen anymore.

"SHUT UP!"

His self-esteem had already hit rock bottom!

"You would do this, Fred would do it better…" Daz Bones said completely unhinged, something not very natural for him. He always showed a calm attitude even in adverse situations, but this shameful experience managed to break him. "AND WHAT ABOUT YOU!?

I haven't seen you manipulate your hair or launch cutting or blunt energy attacks with your weapon.

However, you reproach me for not knowing how to do it!

Like it was easy!

DO IT YOURSELF IF YOU'RE SO SMART!"

His self-esteem hit rock bottom and like almost every teenager he became defensive towards the person who showed him an uncomfortable reality even though that person didn't want to attack him with those arguments, only to provide ideas.

Any other fifteen-year-old boy would have been offended by this nonsense, but Stephen was surprisingly mature, patient, and even kind when dealing with this pathetic rage outbursts.

"You're right, I don't know how to do any of that."

Stephen didn't mind admitting it.

"The Seimei Kikan is certainly very useful, but I fight in armor. It doesn't do me much good to manipulate my hair. Learning to manipulate my bodily functions is useful no matter the situation, but is dangerous and the learning curve is very steep.

It would take me a long time to learn to use useful techniques for the little use I would give them… and my time is very limited"

Stephen wasn't making excuses, he really thought that.

"And regarding energy attacks with my ax and hammer...

Yes, I won't deny that it sounds cool and all that, but it wasn't a high priority for me either.

I can already use ranged attacks very well as you have seen and until recently I didn't know if this option really existed.

My brother sometimes tricks me with jokes and I don't know whether to believe him with certain things, but now that he has shown me that it's possible, I'm learning."

And those arguments weren't an excuse to sit idly by while his brother Fred trained hard to learn those superhuman techniques.

"A few days after purchasing the Seimei Kikan manual, for my birthday my little brother spent a fortune to buy me a strange manual that could complement me.

My little brother is not very good with gifts, but that day he was totally right.

I had my doubts at first, since it sounded too fantastic when I read it, but...

My brother knows me well and knew that I wouldn't waste his gift and that's why I practiced hard."

And then, Stephen moved... but without moving from his spot.

His entire body shook, vibrating with a supernatural frequency... and all those vibrations ended up in his war hammer.

The huge hammer with ax back began to shine as if it had its own light!

"Fred explained to me that there are many people in this world capable of producing fire without needing to have an Akuma No Mi with that specific power.

Well, I'm part of that big little club" Stephen said, happy to be able to use his true strength for the first time in a long time. "A club that Fred doesn't belong to.

He believes that plunging his swords into fire is impractical... and he's partially right.

That would stop the bleedings and evaporate his poisons"

Stephen's war hammer ignited like iron in a furnace, radiating extraordinary heat into the environment. The heat was so extraordinary that burned the garden grass under the hammer, even though was several meters away from the heat source.

"And since you like to name your attacks, I'll do it too.

I call this movement...

SULFURAS!"

Fred actually named it after a World Of Warcraft weapon, but there was no need to give that detail to Daz Bones right now.

Daz Bones head had a lot more to worry about now, especially that hammer, which seemed to threaten his very existence. Daz felt like a knife in a furnace and had the feeling in front of him that he had a blacksmith who wanted to transform him into something different with his hammer.

He had no proof but no doubt either, his steel-hard body wouldn't save him from his enemy now!

And faced with that stress, Daz Bones was forced to experiment precisely with the ideas of his enemy. He made thousands of small blades appear on his body, all of them evenly distributed without leaving a single space unreached and then he made them spin over themselves at high speed.

Right now Daz Bones had become a human crusher! A humanoid blade tornado!

FIU!

Daz Bones felt the need to try out the new mobility ideas Stephen had suggested to him, especially those that would allow him to fly, but he wasn't so sure he could master that method on the first try if the possibility of flying with his Akuma No Mi existed…

Instead he settled for the idea of creating practically non-sharp blade wheels, with which he managed to reach a speed that he had never experienced before.

In the blink of an eye, Daz Bones arrived in front of Stephen, whom he tried to grab by the arm with his entire body to prevent him from using his big hammer. But not only that, if he managed to immobilize it, his thousands of rotating serrated blades would have time to destroy his enemy's armor.

A simple and effective plan!

But...

FIU!

Daz Bones once again underestimated his enemy's reaction and movement speed... 

Stephen ran hundreds of miles a day carrying more weight than he was carrying now. He was able to dodge a straight line attack as predictable as this one and more.

'Shit...'

However, the same didn't happen with Daz Bones. He wasn't used to dodging attacks and had never practiced with this new type of movement method to change direction quickly.

He was screwed...

GOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJ!!!!

Stephen hit Daz Bones squarely with his glowing hammer.

GOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJ!!!!

But this time Stephen didn't give him the chance to bolt out of the mansion garden.

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

Every time Stephen hit him with his hammer from the right he quickly landed another blow from the left.

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

Every time Stephen hit him with his hammer from above, he quickly delivered another blow from below.

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

Again…

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

Again…

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

Again… and again… and again…

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

He couldn't move, he didn't know where he was, in what direction he was being shaken or how it was possible that his whole body hurt so much. He was no longer touching the ground and didn't know in which direction Stephen was hitting him with his hammer blows.

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

Daz Bones was caught in an incandescent storm of hammer blows that melted and shattered every blade on his body again and again, giving him no time to counterattack in any way.

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

It sounded crazy, but Daz Bones believed his body no longer had a human form. Before losing consciousness, Daz Bones imagined himself turned into a metal ingot by Stephen's continuous and precise burning hammer blows.

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

GOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!!! FRRRRRJJJJ!!!!

And that's probably what would have happened if David hadn't arrived and reminded him not to kill Daz Bones yet.

"Stephen-san! Be careful! If you kill him Fred won't be able to do... that..."

His voice brought him out of that trance he had entered and finally Daz Bones was able to fall to the ground, in an unrecognizable state, but still breathing.

"Ufff...

I almost screwed up and turned him into a sword" Stephen said, sweating under his armor, but not because of the heat. "I owe you one David…"

Both he and David had already defeated their respective adversaries, two Akuma No Mi users. Two Akuma No Mi's that Fred planned to extract for scientific, commercial and bellic uses.

They were both in horrible condition, but they were strong guys, they would survive a few more days even if they had most of their bones shattered. But this didn't worry them too much, after all they wouldn't need them alive for long.

"Perona, send two of your ghosts to take these two to the fortified cell vats full of water" Stephen said through the den den mushi integrated into his helmet. "Once you finish, come with your astral form.

Let's watch our president's fight together

He's having a complicated fight, unlike us."

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You'll be able to see 8 chapters in advance in my Pa-treon

pa-treon.com/user?u=83938371