CH - 68 [ of different calibers ] 2

Doesn't feel good, does it?" Halcen taunted.

Vergo didn't reply. He was annoyed. Everything he had thrown at this pirate, he'd been able to take or redirect. He wasn't used to such powerful opponents, especially here in the East Blue. He knew he was going to have to up his game to take this pirate down. He pounded his fists together in menace.

Halcen didn't let it phase him. He waited patiently. He had to let Vergo be the one to make the mistakes.

Vergo charged in like a battering ram. He rushed with full force at Halcen who dipped to the side. But Vergo came up with a left uppercut and hit Halcen in the face. Halcen bit his lip and started to bleed.

"You bitch," he said as he spit blood. Alright then, that's enough fucking around. Time to take this bitch down. Halcen stood his ground and threw his own right hook over Vergo's arms and swung into his face.

Vergo took the hit with grace. He kept his place, and then threw his own right, straight at Halcen's chest. Halcen returned with a quick jab to Vergo's throat.

Vergo coughed, but didn't stop. He increased his own speed of throwing jabs and before they knew it, they were both locked in a quick stream of punches, one after the other so fast normal men could not have seen them.

Vergo finally became fed up with being hit over and over again with no protection. He had all his Haki in his arms to do as much damage as possible, but he was getting hurt without being able to protect himself simultaneously. "FUUUUUUUUCCCK!" He dug deep into his reserves and forced his Haki to extend across the rest of his torso. He pushed himself to his very limit. His head, throat, chest, and arms were now all fully coated in his demonic black Haki.

Oh, shit. Halcen knew he had to retaliate, so he mirrored Vergo's transformation in a dramatic fashion. "If that's the way you want to play it, so be it!" He shouted in forced pain.

And suddenly they were locked in a stalemate. Neither one was taking enough damage to actually be forced to quit or fall, but neither one was capable of doing much more damage beyond the other's Haki shield. This was going to drag out until they were both winded and neither could claim victory. Halcen knew he had to do something.

So he ducked down quickly, and swiped his right leg across Vergo's legs, not giving the man enough time to figure out what had happened, and then threw his might against Vergo, ramming the man into the side of a brick building. Halcen had his left hand Vergo's throat to hold him against the wall and began punch Vergo's face with his right arm. Vergo's face was a nice punching bag. Unfortunately, Halcen knew the simple act of hitting Vergo was not going to be enough to stop him, but that wasn't what he was after.

"Let me go, you letch!" Vergo shouted.

"After all the trouble I went through to get you here, why would I do that?" And Halcen continued to pound on the Marine against the wall.

With each punch, the bricks shook and began to crack. After about ten hits, there was a giant spider web of cracks in the brick wall, and with one final full-powered punch, Vergo went through. The rubble fell down on top of him and Halcen looked down on him from the street side. "I figured dropping a building on you would help."

Vergo was in pain, but he was still moving. He began to stand up.

"For God's sake, stay down."

Vergo began to pull himself out of the rubble and claw his way toward Halcen.

Halcen pulled out a grenade from him arsenal. "Fucking hell." Halcen tackled Vergo down onto his back inside the building and held him down by sitting on his arms. He lit the grenade and held it down on Vergo's chest.

"You're gonna blow us both to hell, you maniac.

The grenade's lit fuse glistened against Halcen's Armament Haki hide. He smirked, and then the rest of his body coated at the same time. "Oh, it'll hurt for sure, but it won't cause any real damage."

"What the hell…?" Vergo took one horrified look at the pirate. His entire body was coated in Haki.

Halcen looked deep into Vergo's eyes with menace and Vergo felt fear.

And then the bomb went off.

Halcen was thrown off of Vergo and against the wall himself. He sat, waiting for the smoke to clear.

Vergo was a bloody mess, but he was alive. "I will not let this end here," Vergo said with pride. He turned over, attempting to stand. At the last moment, he had managed to coat just his front side in a low level of Haki, preventing permanent injury.

"You just won't fucking die," Halcen said cackling and he stood up. "Suit yourself." Halcen picked up three more grenades, lit them all, and threw them at Vergo. Then he walked through the crumbling wall out of the rumble and watched.

The explosion took down the whole building. Halcen looked upon it with delight. He won't be getting out of there alive. He smiled, and began walking down the street, back toward the Black Tail, and his awaiting crew. "Now, to get the fuck out of here."

Vergo awoke in massive amounts of pain. He was still beneath the rubble. He was still alive, and still in one piece. His mind reeled over what had transpired. Fullbody Haki. I never knew such power existed. But now… He felt a deep change inside him. Now I know. He smiled to himself.