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 8: The Siege Begins! Skyler the Glutton!
Bede and Miles stared as Red punched the door off its hinges. They had had no idea that he was so strong and were so confused about what he had done to do it. But they weren't allowed to think about it for long, because Red had started running into the building. The two followed quickly after, unsure of what was going on, all they had to go off of was Red's shouting, "Follow me! I know the way!" They didn't even have to worry about enemies. Every time they tried to set up defenses, Red catapulted himself over their heads and took them down quickly with several punches and kicks to the back, then he just kept on running.
Miles looked at Bede running alongside him, "What's with him? Does he have some sort of Monkey Radar in his head?" Bede glanced back to him, "No, I saw nothing like that when I examined him, maybe he's going off smell, or maybe…" but when he looked back again, Miles had an irritated look on his face, "That was a rhetorical question, wasn't it?" Miles looked forward again, "Yes, yes it was." Bede glanced away to see that Red was no longer in front of them. The two halted in their tracks, looking around frantically for where their captain could have gone. That's when they heard Red's call, "Guys! You passed me up, I found where we need to go!"
They ran back to see Red in front of a door, one that they probably would've passed by if it hadn't been for Red pointing it out. They stood in front of it, preparing for the fight of their lives. Red tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Hmm," said Red, scratching his chin at the inconvenience, "Whelp, looks like I'm going to have to bust the door down, stand back you guys." The two happily stood back as Red gave a winding punch… and knocked a hole in the stone wall next to the nob. Red scratched his head at what he had done, "Huh… I missed." The two looked at Red like he was crazy, "NO SHIT, DUMBASS!" Red looked at them and grinned, "Whatever. No time like the present," then reaching through the hole, he unlocked the door, and finally opened it… to see that it was a kitchen.
The two looked in after Red, who had casually strolled into the room. He walked over to the refrigerator, while Bede and Miles stared at him open-mouthed, and opened it, just to reach in and grab an apple, and start crunching on it. The two finally got over their shock, enough to yell, "YOU LED US TO A KITCHEN!" Red looked back at them, and said, "What, I was hungry."
The two were unable to be mad for long, seeing as half the room was blown up before they could speak. The trio were blown back as a massive fireball that destroyed half the kitchen, leaving the smell of smoke in their noses. They stood up to see a shadowy figure hidden in the smoke, "So, it looks like you've found the kitchen," said Skyler, the smoke slowly receding revealing himself, "To be honest, this is my favorite room in the castle. Other than the gold room of course, chahahaha."
The three looked him over, assessing whether or not he was strong. He didn't look the part of an intimidating opponent, though. He had muscles, but they were mostly covered by fat, giving him a bubbly and lumpy appearance, but he tried to cover this up with a coat that covered most of his upper body other than his chest, because he wasn't wearing any shirts under it. All in all, he would've looked a bit more intimidating if he was less fat.
He started walking towards them, causing them to get on their guard. They still weren't sure if he was dangerous or not. But instead of attacking them, he turned to walk towards the miraculously intact refrigerator, where he plucked a full pig's leg out of the cool interior and started munching on it. They stared open mouthed as he finished the leg within seconds, even going as far as eating the bones. He wiped the grease from his mouth and said, "So are we gonna fight, or what?" To this, Red replied, "Oh yeah," and pulled his gun on him, shooting him in the shoulder. Skyler bent over from the sudden pain, grabbing his shoulder, "You ass! You shot me!" Red confused at the statement, shouted back, "Of course I did! That's how I fight!" then Red, aiming his gun at the bent over Monkey's head, "Hope we meet when you're less of an asshole in your next life," and pulled the trigger.
Click. The sound startled Red, because it meant something that he was afraid of. "I'm out of ammo, hold on," and he started rummaging through his clothes, patting down on his pockets, hoping against all hope that he still had some bullets left. And while he was trying to find bullets, Skyler was starting to recover from the sudden pain and was straightening up from his slumped over position, he even started digging in the wound for the bullet. Miles, shocked at this, tried to voice this to Red, "Um, Red?" Red, unaware of what was happening due to his continued search, just said, "Hold on, I think I got one more somewhere." Miles looked back to Skyler, who had successfully removed the bullet, and watched him do something disgusting. Skyler popped the bullet in his mouth like a pill and swallowed. Miles, even more shocked than before, tried again, "Uh, Red!?" Red, still unaware to what was happening, replied, "Hold on! I swear I got one more in here," then finally pulling out a bullet, "There we go," but then he was shot in the shoulder.
"OW! Bitch!" shouted Red. He looked up to see Skyler making a finger gun, with smoke coming out of his extended finger, as if he had fired the bullet out of it. Red glanced at Miles and Bede, startled to see their shocked faces. He looked back to Skyler, a smirk playing across his face, and he realized that he had fired the bullet out of his finger. "What are you… a devil fruit user?" asked Red, wondering what kind of devil fruit would allow someone to shoot bullets out of their finger.
Skyler smiled, obviously amused at Red's predicament, "There, now we're even. Oh, and yes, I am a devil fruit user." Red, still perplexed at what devil fruit he had, asked, "What devil fruit do you have?"
Skyler sighed, "If you must know. I ate the Munch-Munch Fruit, it gives me the ability to eat anything I want, even steel," seeing Red still unsure of whether he was powerful or not, continued, "And whatever I eat, I can will to be a part of my body, like so, Cannon Arm!" and suddenly, Skyler's right arm became a cannon, as if it just naturally grew there. The trio stared at it, hesitant at whether to be freaked out or amazed, but before they could say anything, Skyler answered for them, "Cannon Punch!", and threw a punch with his cannon, launching the cannon ball at the same time, straight into Red. Unprepared for the attack, Red was blown straight through the wall and into the main hall. He managed to catch his footing, sliding to a slow himself down, but not before he was slammed into the wall, and fell on his hands in knees. He spat up blood from the force of both the punch and the wall, coming to a shaky stand after the impact, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Skyler leaped through the hole he created and bounded at Red, prepared to deal another one of his punches, but before he could get there, Red also had a trick up his sleeve, "Jet!" Launching pressurized water out of his feet, Red was hurled forward at the charging Skyler, landing a solid punch in the middle of his forehead, launching him backwards to the base of the hole in the wall. Red rolled to his feet, panting as he held his shoulder, which was jarred from the force of his punch. "I may prefer to fight with my gun," began Red, slowly panting as he regained his breath, "But you bet your ass I can fight with my fists." Skyler climbed to his feet, his paunchy belly bouncing as he stood. He sneered at Red, thinking that he would have an easy victory, and again he charged.
Red was not prepared for the attack, and took a knee to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He was thrown back, but managed to stay on his feet, sliding across the floor. Skyler aimed his arm at Red, shouting, "Cannon Arm: Fire!", launching the projectile at him. Red managed to dodge to the side as the cannon ball screamed past him, blowing away some of the chairs and demolishing some of the floor, revealing a large hole underneath the chamber. Through the smoke, Red couldn't make out anything, and was unprepared for someone yelling "Surprise!" behind him, as Skyler leaped through the smoke, landing a punch, sending him crashing through the table, splitting it in half. Red stood, bent over from the punishment he'd been taking, a slow trickle of blood leaking from a cut in his forehead. He stared with hatred at the Monkey, as Skyler slowly made his way over to him, pushing one half of the broken table out of his way. Skyler laughed, "Chahahaha! You expect to make it far in this world? How could you make it to the next island, let alone Raftel, if you can't even beat me?"
Red stared in hatred at him, "SHUT UP!" this caught Skyler off-guard, thinking he had broken his enemy, "I don't care how long it takes! I will make it to Raftel! I will conquer the Grand Line! And above all else, I will become the Pirate King!" Skyler stared at Red, as if he had gone mad, and was scared at what he saw. He saw a man, driven by ambition, to accomplish what he had set out to do. He saw before him a man, willing to risk life and limb for what he believed in. He saw something deep in him, spinning cogs fueled by his desire for greatness. He saw the workings of a man, one which would kill him if necessary for his goal. And that terrified him.
Knowing he had to end the fight, Skyler decided to send Red to his death. Shouting, "Cannon Arms!", he changed both arms to cannons and started to fire. He unloaded on the room, causing Red to constantly dodge. Bede and Miles had come in to see a wrecked room, and many explosions going off. Skyler laughed, "Chahahaha! You may have your determination, but I will always be stronger!" As more explosions went off from the cannon balls, more of the floor crumbled and fell into the pit that led to the caverns. So he's trying to make us fall into the cave system under the fortress, thought Red, Cunning, but it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. A cannon ball whizzed by his head, making him duck down to avoid it, but Skyler was hoping for that, and he sent another one flying directly at Red's feet, causing him to be blown back. Red landed on his back, sliding across one half of the broken table, giving Skyler a clear shot as he opened fire.
Red rolled off the table in time to avoid getting blown to smithereens, but nearly fell into one of the holes that now pockmarked the room's floor. And unfortunately for Red, he landed on a part of the floor that was holding it all together. Starting a chain reaction, the floor crumbled outward from Red as they started to stumble into the pit. Skyler laughed again, "Chahahaha! Enjoy your stay in hell, Cobra scum!" But Red wasn't done yet. Time seemed to slow down for Red as he grabbed at the lone bullet that he had searched for earlier. Loading it into his gun, he took aim, and fired. Red shouted, "If I'm going down, you're coming with me!" The bullet entered Skyler's thigh, who kneeled down due to the pain, but that was his downfall. What with his arms still being cannons, the weight dragged him down into the pit with the other three men. Then Red finished his statement as the four men fell, "Literally."
