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 4: Clash with the Monkey Family! The Conflict on Doeter Begins!
West Blue, The Island of Doeter:
And with that, Red pulled his trigger.
The chief went down with a bullet to his abdomen and his men looked awestruck to see that someone had managed to shoot faster than their chief, but their awe lasted only a few seconds as Red went on the attack.
Red bolted to the first man in the line and gave a quick right hook to his stomach, and while he was reeling back, gave a quick knee to his forehead, causing him to fall down unconscious. By that time, the other two men realized their predicament and pulled their guns on him, but Red quickly fell to the floor, kicking the feet out from one of the men. Leaping to his feet, he gave a quick roundhouse kick to the side of the standing man's head, and sent him crashing through the window of the building. Picking up the other man who was still lying on the ground, he marched over to the window and threw him out the empty pane. Brushing his hands off, Red smiled, saying, "Whelp! That's that!" Through that entire time, Bede only stared in a mixture of awe and horror at the pirate who had come into his shop. He didn't even react when he had smashed his windows to pieces.
Walking over to Red, Miles nudged him to get his attention. "So those guys wanted to know your name, and then they attacked. Why would they do that?" Scratching his chin, Red thought for a second. Of course, they could've just been Marines that were out of uniform, or even more simply bounty hunters. But from what he saw, they didn't seem like the type off collecting bounties. And even if they were bounty hunters, he knew from the last time he checked his bounty that it wasn't high enough to get the attention of some small-timers. Whoever they were, they had an ulterior motive. "Hey Doc!" Bede looked up, snapping back to reality as Red called over to him. "Who were those guys? Are they the ones controlling the island?" Sighing, Bede responded, "Yes... but is it true that you are a Cobra?" And just like before, without a second of hesitation, Red simply nodded, confirming he was a member. Sighing, Bede walked away from them, looking out of the unbroken window that faced the ocean. Turning back to them, he said, "I was going to tell you this earlier, but those guys attacked us. This island is under the jurisdiction of the Monkey Pirate Organization."
Red stared at the doctor, shocked at the news of his predicament, but then his face turned to a mask of calm, while his eyes turned cold. He turned to Miles, saying, "Hey Miles?" Turning back to Red, Miles had his own mask on, as if he knew where this was heading. "Yeah, Red, what's up?" Without waiting for Miles to stop him, he started speaking, "Why don't you stay here with Bede, I'll be back in, I don't know, half an hour, and hour. Just stay here till I get back," then he furrowed his brow, as if racking his brains for a good lie, "I just need to go out and get… uhhh, some milk! Yeah, just some milk…" Giving a sigh of annoyance, he looked at Red with an equally annoyed look. "If you're going out there to fight them, then I'm coming along, I'm not having my captain die over a stupid grudge," replied Miles.
"Please! Neither of you go out there!" Bede nearly shouted this. He had a look of genuine concern for the people he had met less than half an hour ago. "You're my patient, and although you're a Cobra, I can't just let someone with an injury, albeit a very small injury, go and fight!" Red scoffed at this, obviously not ready to listen. "I don't let my doctor prescribe who I'm allowed to fight, this is a conflict that's spanned multiple generations, so no matter what you say, I'm fighting these shits and there's nothing you can do," said Red, with a note of finality in his tone. Without even thinking, and with more determination than the average town doctor, Bede spoke out, saying, "Oh yes, there is something I can do, I can go out there with you."
Red and Miles looked at each other, then to Bede, then back again, and then fell over laughing. They went on for about a minute, with Red pounding the ground, and Miles leaning against the wall for stability. After they stopped laughing, the two stood up straight and wiped the tears from their eyes. "Why should we let you come with us?" asked Red, still a little giggly at the doctor's request, "Like I said this is a conflict between two families and you don't need to get involved." Now it was Bede's turn to scoff at Red. "Oh, but I want to," replied Bede, "do you know how long, these bastards have oppressed this island? They put high taxes on every village, just so they could milk us out of every beli we have, and if anyone doesn't pay the taxes, then they kill their entire family. It's a cruel system and I want to put a stop to it. So, now do I get the right to fight them?"
Red grinned, turning away from Bede, and glanced over his shoulder back at Bede. "Sure." Glad that they had taken him up on his offer, Bede gave his own grin back. "Thank." But Red quickly spun around again, holding up two fingers. "BUT, only on two conditions. The first being that you have to get us off this island…" Thinking for a moment, Bede nodded, "Alright, that shouldn't be too hard, I bet after you defeat these guys, if you are as strong as I think you are, then we'll be able to get a boat no problem…" But Red interrupted him, an even bigger grin on than before. "And the second condition, is that you have to join our crew and be our doctor!"
The room was silent as Red let those thoughts sink into Bede's head. Not only did he have a chance of dying from this, but he would have to not only get them a boat, which he already had an idea about how to do so, but he would have to also join this Cobra's crew. He was put in a corner, on one hand, he really did like these guys, even though the one he had treated had broken his front window, but he wasn't sure if he was ready for sea life. But he had been preparing for months to leave in the dead of night, so he knew he still wanted to leave this dreadful place, and the first step was…
"Yes, I'll go with you to become a pirate, I have a ship and everything ready so we'll be golden once we're done with this mess." He said this with the determination he had before, as if stepping into battle was the same as setting out as a pirate. Red grinned even wider, if that was possible, and slapped him on the back, Miles was smiling, too. "Good," said Miles with a grin, "Then we don't have to tie you up." Bede laughed at his, but then the laughter died down at the prospect of actually being tied up. "Wait, you weren't actually gonna tie me up, were you?"
"No time for that now!" said Red, smiling at the prospect of beating up a family rival, "Let's go kick the crap out of a Monkey!"
When they left the building, the chief, who had been presumed unconscious by the three, slowly got to his feet, trying to stem the flow of blood with his hand. He used his other hand to grab the transponder snail out of his pocket and calling in to the head. "Sir… we were unable to stop… the Cobra…" said the chief, coughing up blood at every pause, "he was too… fast and… strong for us… I'm sorry, sir." The voice on the other end gave the speaker an air of eloquence, but you could almost hear the lairs of fat on him. "No need to beat yourself up about, you did as good as expected of you," said the voice on the other end of the line, "at least you were able to report in about what happened before it was too late. Now we have a good sense in what we're dealing with, thank you for your service." And with that, the person hung up.
"Thank you… Skyler…" And with that, the chief passed out from blood loss.
