THE FALSE KING
Deep, deep into the New World, there is an island situated on the Calm Strait which is said to have been the birthplace of Busoshoku Haki. Children born on this island naturally possess the ability to harden limbs, it not being unheard for a newborn baby to have limbs and fists already embodied and blackened with powerful Haki, having learned how to perform the art at some point within the mother's womb.
This inherent ability was integrated into the daily lives of the Islandfolk. Blacksmith's used their Busoshoku Haki to harden their fists into makeshift hammers and perform their metalwork with them. Fishermen with lungs imbued with Haki dived deep into the ocean, being able to reach incredible depths beyond what most Fishmen would have been able to survive at. Some powerful individuals had such a mastery of Haki that they were able to transfer their Haki into the air itself with and channel blasts of wind capable of disintegrating rock. This Island was called Elderwill.
This island was the object of the World Government's focus for as long as each have existed.
A Buster Call on the island was called many years into the Great Pirate Era, due to the Marine's "inability to ignore the prospect of an entire new generation of Legendary pirates emerging from Elderwill". 5 Vice Admirals and 10 Marine Warships were sent to oversee the destruction of the island, as is typical of the Buster Call. However, due to the circumstances, an Admiral was also tasked with ensuring the elimination of the Haki users: Admiral "Hurricane Fist" Carter, the Wind man, widely believed to be the Marine's strongest fighter for a great deal of time and renowned even amongst Yonkou for his power and violence.
Against him stands a pacifist island, an island which hates and outcasts violent behaviour and refuses to use their immense destructive capability in combat. The entire island, except two young men, who hone and practice their incredible ability with one another and dream of one day setting out to sea so that they may travel the world.
BOOM.
A gigantic gust of wind billowed across the island, emerging from the Champion's Plateau and violently rippling through the air, causing all manner of objects to be throw away by the force of the blast.
On the plateau, a young fair-haired man doubled-over and trembled.
"Aaa… uuuuuggg… hhhhhhh!"
As he groaned, blood fell from his mouth and onto the ground. The man's dark body began to fade and soon, he had returned to his natural, tanned colour.
"How did you…?" He attempted, before falling to his hands and knees, his hair falling over his contorted face. "I trained..."
"So did I," came another voice. Another young man, tall and lean, stepped towards his fallen friend. "Seems like it wasn't enough for you to surpass me." He extended his hand.
Gasping, the man on the floor grasped it, before pulling himself to his feet. He tried to straighten his posture, but his abdominal muscles protested and brought him back to one knee.
"I don't get it though, Anton. One punch…? Augh!"
Anton pulled him back up, unhardening his body and running his hands through his messy, straight white hair. "I told you to brace yourself, Hanan. You have no one to blame but yourself."
Hanan glared at Anton through gritted teeth, half because of the harsh sunlight blinding him, half because of his infuriation with his own incompetence.
Anton had been away with his father, the Village Chieftain, on an important meeting with the World Government. Hanan had seen the chance to train whilst he was away and surpass him, finally, but his plan hadn't worked. Hanan's improved defence had crumbled before one confident swing from Anton's Haki-imbued fist.
"Was that even a named move…?" Hanan asked, secretly dreading the answer to his own question.
"It used to be called Judgement."
"That was Judgement?! It used to be your signature move! And far weaker..." he added in an undertone. Anton shrugged and moved over to one of the large rocks on the plateau, hopped onto it, and sat cross legged facing him. "My regular punches have surpassed Judgement so I've decided to change it," he said lazily. "I'm not quite sure which of my attacks I want to change it to though, I have a few that I haven't named."
Hanan stared in awe of his friend, who was barely excited or even shocked by the level of power he had reached. "Why don't you show me some of the attacks then?"
Anton narrowed his eyes, then laughed. "What, so you can steal them?"
"No!" he cried indignantly. "So I can help you decide on the new Judgement move." And take the necessary precautions never to lose to you again, he thought with an inward smirk.
Anton stretched, a somewhat thoughtful expression on his face, before he jumped off the rock and made his way to the edge of the cliff.
"This one is Solid Air Cannon, so far, at least."
Before Hanan could say a word, Anton had crossed his arms, stepped back into a regular fighting stance and then stepped into a punch that rock the very cliff itself. A blast of wind hurtled across the sky, before gradually losing speed and power and turning into a gentle breeze as it moved through the seaside town beyond the plateau. He had punched and moved the air itself.
Hanan's jaw hung open, agape, in sheer wonder of Anton's abilities.
"Just how strong did you get…?" he said in amazement.
Anton shrugged again and took another stance. "This is not so much an attack as it is a way of attacking." Hanan watched again as Anton's fists, legs, torso and head respectively blackened and hardened with Busoshoku Haki.
"That's just full-body Armanent Haki. What am I missing?" Even he could do that, they both could for as long as they could remember.
"Just watch." Anton replied calmly. Concentrating excruciatingly hard on his right forearm, the rest of his body slowly began to be drained of it's Haki.
"...You're just negating your Haki-" began Hanan, before Anton interjected with a cold stare, then returned to concentrating on his arm. Several seconds later, Anton's Haki armour had almost entirely receded into his right forearm. Hanan then noticed the bulge and straining in his arm.
"What the fuck? Is all of that Haki in just one of your arms now?!"
Anton only smiled, before relaxing and breathing outwardly, examining his arm. The Haki stopped just above the elbow and below it, his arm was grotesquely defined. Each muscle, vein and bone bulged and protruded, too visible and under too much pressure from the condensed amount of Haki in the one area. Anton swung it around easily.
"Haki up, bro. I wanna test this thing." Anton said without even looking at Hanan, still fawning over his latest invention. Hanan only stared back in horror.
"No WAY. Nuh-uh." he half-shouted, shaking his head. "You can forget it."
Anton flexed his arm and grinned at it. "You're right, this would probably kill you. I'm calling it Black Hole: Gauntlet."
As Hanan watched, Anton moved and wriggled his fingers, clenched and unclenched his fist, before eventually snapping his middle finger and thumb together.
BOOM.
The effect was immediate. A gust of wind blew out from his snapped fingers, forcing Hanan back a step before Anton's hand caught fire.
Hanan yelled. "Put it out, put it out, shit!"
Anton only looked at it in astonishment. "The flames don't hurt!" He took a stance and swung his fist. Then he began to shadow box.
"Dude, I have a fuckin' fire hand!" he laughed delightedly.
Hanan just stared in shock, before laughing too, despite himself. His friend looked so happy.
Spinning on the spot and drawing back his flaming fist, he punched a nearby tree.
"AUUUGH!"
The result was quite dramatic... and gigantic. An explosion of heat and flame blasted forth from Anton's fist, destroying a sizeable area in front of him immediately. A large cloud of dust and debris erupted from the area, unearthing the tree as it spontaneously burst into raging flames. Momentarily, Anton was obscured from view by the haze.
After the dust and ash cleared, a panting Anton was revealed on his knees, his arm having returned to it's original form. "All… of… the… Haki… was released..." he breathed. Hanan stared at him.
"It… was… fucking… awesome…"
They looked at each other, then at the gigantic crater that Anton's attack had left.
"Was that even a punch, or an explosion?" Hanan forced, fighting back his laughter.
"It felt like I was the one being attacked..." said Anton, tears forming in his eyes.
Then, in unison, the two fell to their backs and howled with laughter, both in fits of hysterics. "How did you fuck that up so bad?!" screamed Hanan, rolling around on the ground, roaring with laughter. "You looked… so surprised..."
"Shut up, you prick," Anton wheezed. "That was awesome and you know it."
After some time, they picked themselves up off their backs and examined the damage. The ground was smoking and charred. Rubble and debris were scattered across the Champion's Plateau. Both of them knew that this could get them into a lot of trouble.
"Fuck… I promised my father I'd stop devising violent techniques..." Anton sighed.
"Well, good luck with that," Hanan murmured in response, serious again after his short fit of laughter. "You do realise that you wanted to hit me with that?"
Anton snorted. "Don't start me off again or I'll imbue my laughter with Haki and tear your eardrums to pieces."
"Fat chance."
Forgetting the crater, both of them grinned at each other and activated their full-body Busoshoku Haki. Hanan crouched into a kicking stance and snapped his leg out towards Anton's neck, a basic martial arts kick he had taught himself. Not even bothering to block the attack, Anton extended his fist out and hit the air in front of Hanan.
"SOLID AIR CANNON!"
Before Hanan's attack even had time to harmlessly bounce off Anton's armament Haki, a blast of air took him off his feet and hurled him across the plateau. Anton grinned.
"That's the first time I've actually used that move. Tell me: What does a mouthful of fresh, Haki-imbued air taste like? You're the first to know."
Enraged and embarrassed, Hanan leapt to his feet.
"That's enough out of you, cocky shit. EBONFIST!"
Hanan rushed forwards, then used his counterpart to Anton's Judgement punch. It was a close range, fast punch, travelling at a speed faster than the average eye could see. It never beat a Judgement head on in terms of power, but it outmatched it in speed, something Hanan had always been proud of and well aware of. He commonly abused it in their fights.
Whether or not Anton could have blocked it, he didn't attempt to. Smashing his fist into Anton's gut and grinning wolfishly, Hanan waited any second for him to cough up a pint of blood. He hadn't just improved his Armament Haki: He'd worked on his fighting techniques too.
He waited with his outstretched arm, prepared for the moment Anton's legs would buckle. Several seconds passed and nothing happened. Then, slowly, Anton extended his pinky finger, raised it to his nose and began to pick it.
"BASTARD! WHY AREN'T DEAD?! EBONFIST! EBONFIST!" raged Hanan, hammering Anton with the attack over and over again. Anton showed no sign of pain or even mild discomfort.
"Your Haki simply doesn't compare to mine and it's the primary factor in both of our fighting styles. I learned this the hard way on my trip." he muttered.
Drawing his leg back, he suddenly snapped it skywards, his foot connecting with Hanan's head and rocketing him back across the Champion's Plateau.
