"Alright, you all stay put at headquarters these next few days. Especially you, Hammer. Stop causing trouble and doing weird stunts. If you show up to the award ceremony looking ..."
Sengoku didn't finish his sentence, but the string of sinister laughter made Hammer's eyelid twitch.
Black coal ash fell to the floor.
"Get out! Don't scatter soot all over my office!"
Hammer: 'Fine... Sengoku, guess we have beef now. Just wait till I dock your pension. Lets see whos laughing then. Hmph!'
The four of them walked out of the office building together.
"Sakazuki, you reek of blood and sulfur. Can't you clean yourself up properly?"
"Dragon, why does your robe have so many extra patches?"
"Borsalino, what happened to your glasses? Why are both arm frames bandaged?"
Hammer flashed his soot-stained teeth as he "kindly" greeted the three rising stars of the younger generation like a "concerned" uncle.
Well, it'd be even better if one of them wasn't glowing, another wasn't smoking, and the last wasn't surrounded by gusts of wind.
"Hmph, Hammer, I heard you're Instructor Zephyr's teaching assistant now?"
"Looks like you've gotten a lot stronger than befor. How about a little sparring match?"
Sakazuki was the most direct, his outstretched right fist was already dripping molten lava. Terrifying.
"Hammer-kun~ I accidentally snapped my glasses' arm. Could you fix them for me~?"
The glowing "monkey" looked harmless enough. After all, who'd be scared of a guy with such a sleazy face? But that would change once you realized the light at his fingertips was hotter than someone's magma.
"Ahahaha! Hammer, perfect timing can you fix my robe for me. Bogard's sewing skills are terrible."
Dragon was the friendliest, but his roaring laughter was filled with howling winds, making it hard for Hammer to believe he wasn't planning to beat him up.
Hammer leapt back just in time a blackened mark scorched the spot where he'd been standing.
"Easy now! We can talk this out, no need to get violent!"
"I'm great at fixing things, but fighting? No thanks. You guys think I'm like you?"
"You're freaks. A Dog, A Monkey, and A Bum. Me? I'm just a blacksmith!"
Borsalino: 'A Monkey?'
Just as the trio's rage meters skyrocketed—
"CHEST-SHATTERING STRIKE! HAMMER TIME!"
Hammer struck first, pushing his Hammer-Hammer Fruit to its limits.
A thunderous sound rang out from his chest, and a shockwave spread, enveloping the trio.
The force sent them instinctively into defensive stances, exactly what Hammer was waiting for.
"Heh! I'm not done yet! HAMMERING OF THE SOUL!"
Hammer knew all three were Logia users. Normal attacks wouldn't work.
The chest strike was just a feint.
The real attack was the hammering of the soul, an invisible, concussive force that resonated directly in their soul.
They were momentarily dazed.
"Oh yeah? Magma?" *DUANG!*
"Hurricane?" *DUANG!*
His right fist, coated in Armament Haki, delivered three swift hammer blows straight to their heads.
The soul and physical impacts combined, sending them reeling.
Hammer wasn't worried about knocking them stupid.
Please. These three aren't like that weakling Judge. Their physical resilience is on a whole other level.
"Hit and run! Baby!."
"Ahahaha! Later, suckers!"
Having gotten the upper hand, Hammer laughed wildly as he used Soru"", vanishing at high speed.
Leaving behind the trio dazed, wobbling unsteadily.
"Damn it, Hammer! Did you he have to hit us in the head?!"
"My old man used to hit my head all the time, now we've got another guy who loves doing it. So annoying."
The three of them, now recovered, wore equally foul expressions.
Dragon rubbed the massive bump on his forehead, extremely annoyed.
Sakazuki remained silent, his face dark, but he said nothing.
Borsalino's eyes gleamed with danger.
"I didn't expect it... Hammer to actually awaken Armament Haki. We underestimated him."
"Indeed. Even Logia users have to be careful against someone with Haki."
After a long silence, Sakazuki spoke up.
Brutal as he was, he was honest, what's true is true, what's not isn't.
It didn't matter that Hammer used a sneak attack. The fact that he had Armament Haki meant he could actually hurt them. Without it, he wouldn't have made a dent, even with a surprise attack.
In Sakazuki's mind, Hammer's standing had just risen a few notch.
"How scary~ Armament Haki, but..."
"My Glint-Glint Fruit is unbeatable in terms of speed. I wouldn't leave an opening like that on a real battlefield."
"But Haki, huh... I'm very interested in Observation Haki."
Borsalino had absolute faith in his Devil Fruit.
His mastery over the past year surpassed the others. If Hammer hadn't been a comrade, he wouldn't have let his guard down...
Still, the concept of Haki now intrigued him.
Armament Haki wasn't his style, but Observation Haki? That would ensure Hammer could never pull this stunt again.
"Whatever. You two are boring. I'm going to find Hammer to fix my robe. Borsalino, you coming?"
Dragon shot them an unimpressed look. Even if they were peers, he never clicked with them. If not for Hammer, he wouldn't even bother talking to them.
"Fine. Let's go find Hammer. That bastard got his cheap shots in and ran."
Sakazuki glanced at his charred gauntlet and nodded.
Meanwhile, at the Elite Training Camp...
"What?! You hammered those three idiots?"
"Damn right! My hammer specializes in beating up geniuses! Ahahaha!"
"For real? I find that very hard to believe, brat."
"Hah?! You old geezer, you doubt my skills?!"
On the training grounds, Hammer, unable to forge without his furnace, was busy bragging to Zephyr about his "epic" victory over the three monsters.
Zephyr, however, wasn't buying it.
Since their early graduation, he'd kept tabs on those three.
They had all eaten Devil Fruits, and not just any fruits, but the rare Logia types.
Even if Zephyr disliked Devil Fruits, he couldn't deny that their strength had skyrocketed.
Sure, Hammer had improved too, even awakening Armament Haki, but taking on all three at once? That was pure fantasy.
"Hmph. Don't believe me? Ask them yourself when they get here!"
"My Haki is amazing, you know."
Zephyr: '...Should I call you "Black Hammer" now?'
"How scary~ Hammer-kun, your Haki gave me such a headache~ And my glasses arms broke again..."
The sleazy voice, the slimy tone
Ah. The Monkey had arrived.