CH - 67 [ of different caliber ] 1
Halcen stood at the end of a Loguetown street, in the dark town, standing ready. His arms were coated in black Haki, and his body was already sweating. He was irritated. He had already spent much of his energy freeing Bo's family from the Marine's confines. Now he was forced to go toe to toe with his new foe, Captain Vergo. These random encounters were senseless. There were things he needed to attend to and every wasted second on this island meant his goal was getting further away.
Vergo was a few inches taller than Halcen and a decent bit bulkier. He was also about ten years older, but his aging didn't make him any less dangerous. He was a serious threat. The Captain was a powerful warrior and an excellent Haki user in and of himself.
Vergo's arms crossed in front of him in a fierce stance. He was ready. His long black arms were intimidating, but not enough to deter Halcen from taking him on. "I won't be allowing you pirates to trample through my island without repercussions, not with our inspection so close at hand," Vergo said with intensity. "I will take you down first, and then be on to capturing the rest of your crew."
Halcen knew what his odds of actually beating Vergo were, but it didn't matter. He was still going to fight with everything he had. And if he should fail, then Grey would take care of the rest of the crew and they would flee Loguetown and go on to find Shanks. "Unfortunately, I can't let you win." Halcen took a step toward Vergo. "I have to get out of here. I can't die in the hands of the Marines. I have something important to do. So if you'll allow me to just pass, I won't have to hurt you."
Vergo chuckled, but didn't actually respond. He just continued to stand in Halcen's way.
Halcen sighed. "If that's the way you insist on this going… I have no choice." Then Halcen got into his own battle stance. Then he charged toward Vergo at sprinting speed. Vergo was about twenty feet down the street, so Halcen had to cover a decent gap quickly. And his attack was easy to predict.
He lunged forward with one fist and Vergo reached out to block it, but Halcen ducked down and dove to the right and rolled under Vergo's arm. He was on the ground and pushed Haki into his right leg, then swung it at Vergo's, taking the man by surprise and knocked him off balance. Vergo fell onto his back, but was able to use his Haki to prevent any damage to his back. He kept his arms above him covering his torso and then recoated them in Haki.
Halcen popped up off the ground and was immediately upon Vergo. He began to pound away at his defense. Halcen wasn't getting anywhere though because Vergo's arms acted as a black shield. He continued to smash his own blackened fists against Vergo, with no reward. Vergo's Haki was too strong to get through with sheer force. This guy's defense is too strong. I need to rethink my strategy. I can't win this on strength alone.
Vergo sensed Halcen's hesitation and took advantage of the situation. He coated his legs in Armament Haki and kicked at Halcen's legs, knocking the pirate back. Vergo bounced up in a second and was raring to go. He charged at Halcen, his arms recoated, like a bull.
Halcen was forced into a backpedal, but he ran out a room when a building came up behind him. He threw his legs up onto the wood and launched himself away from Vergo, and rolled off to the side once again. I can't just keep dodging and rolling. I'll run out of energy and he'll catch me. Think Halcen. He spun back around and was crouching with his legs wide and one hand firmly planted in the ground. He stayed there, staring at Vergo. Come on, come on.
Vergo began walking toward Halcen, slowly. Vergo was proving to be more difficult to handle than Halcen had hoped. He was able to maneuver his Haki in an instant. And his Haki was strong, nearly unbreakable. And Vergo clearly wasn't worried about his stake in this fight.
Halcen decided to go for a Hail Mary, and took out his knives and held them backwards in his hands. He coated them in Haki as well. He then leapt at the oncoming Vergo, knives aimed at his left ribcage. Halcen passed by and rolled away again. His blades had only left the faintest scratch on Vergo. The Marine had been able to protect himself in an instant.
"Did you really think that would work?" Vergo asked.
Halcen sighed and stood up. "I wasn't sure, but I had to test it. Your ability to cover your weak spots so quickly is impressive." Halcen resheathed his knives. He now knew no standard weapons like guns and knives were going to be of any aid in this fight.
"I'm so glad you approve." He raised his arm in a fist, shaking at Halcen. Then he jumped toward Halcen with lightning speed.
Fuck.
Halcen didn't have time to dodge, but he moved Haki to his torso, which took most of the damage. Vergo's fist slammed into Halcen's stomach with all the strength the Marine Captain had. And he was a very strong man. Even without a Devil Fruit power, he was formidable.
Halcen was still standing, but had the wind knocked out of him. In the same moment, he latched onto Vergo's hand with both his blackened arms, preventing Vergo from moving his right arm.
"Really?" Vergo asked, annoyed. Then he thrust his left arm at Halcen's face, also coated in black.
Halcen didn't have a choice but to let go of the right arm with both hands, but caught the wrist with just his left hand as Vergo tried to pull it back. Halcen used his own right hand to catch Vergo's oncoming fist. They were locked in stalemate.
Vergo kept pushing and got Halcen down on his knee. "You're quite strong for a lowly pirate," Vergo said with attrition.
"So glad you approve," Halcen said, struggling. Then he yanked on Vergo's arms, redirecting his energy to behind him, while simultaneously pulling his own self up, and smashed a black knee into Vergo's stomach. He smiled to himself as Vergo reeled back. Vergo had been surprised and hadn't had enough time to coat his stomach in Haki. Halcen had finally gotten in a good hit of his own.
Vergo looked up at Halcen, still holding his stomach, then stood up full, an angry look on his face. "Are you quite finished?"
"I wouldn't count on it," Halcen said with a sly smile.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to wipe that smirk off your face," the Marine said, stepping forward.
"You're a lot of talk for someone who's supposed to be a high ranking officer," Halcen said.
Vergo looked at Halcen in rage, then clenched his fists.
Halcen knew it was risk, insulting him like that, but he didn't have time to stand around in idle banter. Let's fucking do this.
That's when Vergo decided to get serious. His eyes were locked in a dead stare and his body became rigid. He stalked toward Halcen with much more purpose than before. He wasn't going to mess around anymore. Too much time had been wasted playing with this pirate and there were other important matters that needed to be taken care of.
I need to be careful. This guy isn't a joke. He's a rank above Commander Darmichal, who took both Kazuki and myself to take down. Bo and Kazuki did say a rank can be an entirely honorary title, and not at all a measure of one's physical prowess, but I really don't think that's the case with Vergo. He's definitely strong. I think Darmichal was just one of those rare characters that's unbelievably powerful. But Vergo…. I can handle him.
Both Vergo and Halcen had their two arms only coated in Haki.
Vergo threw a right jab towards Halcen's face, but Halcen was ready and threw up his left arm to block it, but it was a fake. Vergo simultaneously had transferred the Haki from his left arm to his right leg and thrust his leg at Halcen's side. Halcen didn't have time to drop his left arm and took a kick to his side.
He dropped to his knee and groaned in pain. Fuck that hurt. He rubbed his side with his right arm. He stood back up and looked to Vergo. "Alright, if that's how it's gonna be."
Vergo didn't say anything. He was focused. He approached Halcen, knowing he was injured and weak. He threw a hard left uppercut.
Halcen stepped back in time to dodge it.
Vergo threw a right hook.
Halcen grabbed it. He twisted himself around and turned his back to Vergo and flipped the larger man over his shoulder and down onto the ground on his back.
Vergo hadn't had enough time to move the Haki to his back with how fast it all happened.
Halcen tried to stomp on Vergo with his right armored leg, but Vergo grabbed it and yanked Halcen down to the ground too. Halcen still had Haki on his leg and managed to get in two quick kicks to Vergo's head before Vergo was able to block him. Vergo grabbed tightly onto Halcen's foot and prevented him from moving.
Vergo sat upright and began standing. He got a full grasp on Halcen's leg and flipped him over onto his stomach. Vergo coated his own right leg in Haki and began stomping on Halcen's back.
Halcen was able to move his own Haki to his back quick enough to avoid substantial damage. It was still painful though. With each stomp, Halcen began to grind his teeth harder.
"How much more of this do you need before you give up?!" Vergo shouted.
"Give up? Please, I've got you right where I want you."
Halcen twisted his free leg around Vergo's left leg and tripped him. Vergo fell back to the ground and Halcen was back up in a second. He got in a quick kick to Vergo's side and then withdrew, knowing the longer they were down on the ground, the better shot at victory Vergo would have.
Vergo brought himself back up and rubbed his left side in pain.
"Doesn't feel good, does it?" Halcen taunted.