It has been fifty-seven years since the execution of the Second Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy, and he has left a legacy in his wake so great that some say he was more legendary than the First King, Gol D. Rogers. But like the last Pirate King, at his execution, he told the world that he had again hidden the One Piece for the world to find. Many saying it was the start of the next Age of Piracy, but then, war broke out among two families: the Monkey family and the Cobra family. After four decades of bloodshed, the war finally subsided. And nineteen years later, a member of the Cobra family set out on a quest to obtain the One Piece, his name is Cobra D. Red.
Chapter 3: Controlled Island: Introducing Mystery Doctor
The island Doeter, West Blue:
"Wow, I didn't think we would actually make it to the next island!" said Red. Glaring at his captain, Miles gave a swift strike to Red's head with the paddle he was holding. "Well if you haven't noticed, the port is still about a hundred yards away, AND HALF OUR BOAT IS UNDERWATER! KEEP PADDLEING!" yelled Miles, angry at his captain for being so relaxed.
The two men continued rowing while dumping bucket upon bucket of water out of the boat, until finally making it to the island Doeter. They both relaxed as they pushed the already sinking fishing boat into the pier where they watched it sink. The two men then turned to face the town they arrived at, hoping against all odds that they'd find a ship here. Meanwhile, a man was watching them from the shadows of an alleyway, talking over a transponder snail, reporting that the two assaulters had entered the town.
"Man, you have to admit Miles, that that was a close call," said Red. Miles snorted, knowing Red had probably just forgotten what just happened. Shaking his head, he chose to forget about it, too. "Yeah, but right now, I'm thirsty, let's head to the nearest pub," replied Miles. Turning in, the walked into the building and sat at the bar, eagerly awaiting drinks. When they finally got them, they clinked their glasses and started to chug their beers.
"That was some bad luck about our boat though, wouldn't you say," said Red, wiping the foam off his lip. "Yeah, says the guy who chose the smallest boat in the harbor," Miles remarked. Glaring at Miles, Red shouted, "A few hundred Belly wouldn't pay for a warship, ya know!" But as their argument was getting heated, the barkeep called from behind the bar, "You fellas having boat issues?" Turning to him the two nodded. "Yeah, you know anything about the boat situation in this town?" asked Red. But before the keeper could answer, a man from behind walked up, with the smell of alcohol on his breath, and grabbed Red over the head, laughing drunkenly.
"You hear this fellas?" said the drunken man, slurring his words doing so, "These boys wanna get off the island, guess they're new in town, Ha ha ha!" Hearing this, Miles spoke up to the drunken man, hoping to get a semi-cohesive answer. "What do you mean? What's the problem?"asked Miles. Scratching his chin, the drunk tried to gather his thoughts, finally speaking, "I mean, the starting price for boats in town is half a billion bellies…" Miles shouted in shock, "WHAT!" But the drunk kept talking, even after being interrupted. "And that if a member of your family leaves the island, the boss here has permission to blow them out of the wat- " But before he could say the rest of the word, Red, who was still being grabbed on the head by the drunk, grabbed him by the collar and smashed his head into the bar, smashing his glass along with the drunk's face.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" shouted Red. Jumping to his feet, Miles shouted, "WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING! HE'S THE ONE WITH THE BROKEN NOSE!" Holding up his hand, Red showed that there were several gashes in it, with blood pouring out of them. "I got glass in my hand!" he said as a tear slowly trickling down his face. "Are you serious?" Miles said, annoyed with his captain. Then he said to the Keeper, "Where's the nearest doctor? My captain was an idiot?" Nodding in concern, the barkeeper said, "Yeah, it should just be down the street. Are you sure he'll be okay?" Miles turned back as he lead a tear soaked Red out the door. "He'll be fine, sorry to cause you trouble." The bar keeper then started to wash off the counter from the blood and spilled booze, but then looked up suddenly and shouted, "HEY YOUR FORGOT TO PAY!" but the two were already out the door.
The two then started walking to the building with a red X on it, assuming it was the doctor's place, they then walked in to see a man sleeping on the floor. He had a brown hair with black beard stubble. He wore a white doctor's coat, with a brown t-shirt underneath that had the words "Jazz Man" and black pants that went to just below his knees. Bending down to look in face, Miles waved his hand in front of his face. "Ummmm, hello?" Miles said, wondering why someone was sleeping on the floor. The man stirred from his sleep and looked up, undisturbed at why strangers were looking at him from above. "Oh hi, are you here for something?" Looking down with Miles, Red was now over the fact that his hand was filled with shards of glass. "Why were you sleeping on the floor?" Standing up, the doctor brushed himself off, explaining, "If you must know, I'm pretty sure my bed gives me back problems."
Stretching, the doctor asked, "Did you come here just to ask about my sleeping arrangements or did you actually need something?" Nodding, Miles responded, "Yeah, my friend got glass in his hand from smashing another guy's face into his glass," replied Miles. Tilting his head, the doctor had a contemplative look on his face. After a few seconds of thinking he finally said, "Huh, so you bring me the guy, who sounds like the aggressor, who only has glass in his hand, while the other one, sounds like he might have a broken face?" Looking over at Red, Miles wasn't sure how to respond. He didn't know what kind of moral code doctors had about this kind of thing, so he just gave a meek, "Yeah?" Nodding, the doctor gave a small smile, saying, "Okay then, that guy probably deserved it, let's see about the glass in his hand."
Guiding Red to a chair, he propped his hand on the counter so that he could get a clear view. He then set to work on removing the glass from his hand. Grabbing a pair of tweezers from his desk, he turned back to Red with them in hand. Lowering them to the cuts in his hand, he was about to set out on his meticulous craft, but then he quickly flipped it around and poked Red hard in the forehead. "Ah! The hell was that for!" shouted Red as he grasped his forehead with his uninjured hand. But when he looked down, he saw that while he was covering his forehead along with his eyes, the doctor in a matter of seconds had removed every piece of glass that had been in his hand. "In my books, pain is the best medicine. Something as simple as a hard pinch can distract someone from a bullet in their thigh," said the doctor. Miles, a concerned look now on his face, spoke up, "How do you know that?" Without even looking at him, the doctor replied with little to no emotion, "There are a lot of shooting incidents here."
Completely ignoring the statement, Red hopped up from the chair, examining his newly bandaged hand. Turning to the doctor, he gave a smile, saying, "Thanks, what's your name by the way?" Giving him his own smile, the doctor responded, "The name's Bede Cordova, but you can call me Bede." And with all the tact of a cow, he asked, "Hey, since you're a good doctor, do you wanna join our crew?" Staring at him for a second, Bede was taken aback by the statement. But it was only a second, because after that he started laughing. "You two really are new here. There's no crews on this island! Have you not heard? If anyone tries to leave this island, the authorities have permission to destroy their ship and gun down anyone who survives." Facing Bede, Miles took a serious tone, obviously not amused. "Yeah, we heard. But we're going to leave this island, one way or the other," but then a thought came to him, and he was curious for an answer, "Another thing, who came up with that stupid rule? Did the Marines come up with it?"
Shaking his head, Bede knew about the stereotype of all Marines being corrupt. But he responded, "No. Due to the new Fleet Admiral, the Marines have been earning their respect back, although a considerate amount of respect was lost due to the measures they used in the Pirate Wars. Who knows if they'll ever get that respect back. No, the people in control of this island are- "
Suddenly, the door was kicked off its hinges, as about half a dozen men stormed the room, with rifles trained on the three men. One man, obviously the leader of the group walked forward and took his place in front of the other four men, who still had their guns locked on the pirates and the doctor. Bede calmly walked forward, as if he had done this before, and looked at the men with a cold light in his eyes. "Gentlemen, if this is about not paying the taxes on time, I will gladly give the money due to you after I am finished operating, as you can see, I clearly have a patient who needs my attention, so if you don't mind- " But before he could say more, the leader of the small group interrupted him. Scoffing at his words, he said, "This isn't about your damn money, Cordova! We have reason to suspect that your patient is a wanted criminal to the higher ups," said the chief. Turning to Red, he shouted, "Give me your name, bastard! NOW!"
Turning back to Red, Bede gave him a questioning look. "Funny," said Bede, "I don't know your name either, I should have asked, what is your name?" And again, with all the tact of a farmyard animal, Red simply stated, "Oh, my name's Cobra D. Red. Why? Who are your higher ups anyways?" And with horror on his face, Bede stared at Red, only managing to get out four words: "I… treated… a Cobra?" But the chief only smiled, saying "Heh, that's all I needed to hear." And with that, he pulled the trigger.
