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. P.S. I wonder how many people actually read this every time.

Chapter 17: Feeling Indebted! The One-Armed Shipwright Attacks!

As morning rose upon the island, the wildlife began to wake. Birds began chirping, rabbits sniffing the dewy air, and dragon flies fluttering around, searching for a meal. As the rising sun cast its light through the broken window of the house, the sun's rays were cast onto Miles' face. Slowly opening his eyes, Miles glanced around without moving. Squinting, he stared at the open window that shined light down on him. Rolling his eyes, he closed his eyes again. But he did so only momentarily, as they flew open to stare into the face of Bede who had rolled over and was now drooling with his mouth open onto his pillow. Backing up fast, Miles slammed his head into the wall, causing a wheel from a ship to fall and crack him in the head.

Clutching his head, Miles shouted, "DAMN IT!" waking Bede from his sleep. Looking around drowsily, Bede quickly deduced nothing was wrong. Yawning, he began to roll back to sleep, but was stopped when Miles grabbed him, a look of anger on his face. "What the hell was that for you idiot!" Perplexed, Bede looked at Miles, seeing the welt that was beginning to form on his head, and the fallen wheel. Putting two and two together, Bede came up with the obvious conclusion: "So you slammed your head in the wall, how is that my fault?" Looking like he was ready to cut Bede to pieces, Miles reached for his sword, but before he could unsheathe it, Thomas barged into the room looking panicked. "You two haven't seen Henry have you? I went to check on him, but he wasn't in his room."

Setting their differences aside, Bede and Miles looked at each other, wondering what could have happened. Looking up at the old man from where he was sitting, Miles said, "We're not sure, we were sleeping so we don't know what happened," turning to look at Red, he continued, "What do you think happened, Re-" but stopped, seeing the empty bedroll. Sighing, he turned back to Thomas, and said, "Well now we have to worry about Henry and our Captain."

A few hours earlier

Waking from his sleep, Henry rose from his bed and landed softly on the floor. Looking out the window, he deduced that it was around midnight and began gathering his things. Putting on his jacket over his tank top, he felt for the lump that was his hammer. Smiling, he slipped on his boots and began to slowly creep out of the house. Passing over the sleeping forms of Red and his crew, Henry glared down at them and continued his silent walk. Passing next too Red, he heard a quick break in his even breathing and looked down at him. His mouth hanging open and his eyes closed gave him the look of relaxed sleep, but just to make sure, he kicked him in the ribs. Seeing there was no break in breathing again, Henry went on his way.

Walking out of the house, Henry began his hike down the mountain, contemplating all that had happened to him during his seventeen years in this world. He had gone through more than a boy usually did at his age. He'd not only lost his parents, but he'd lost his arm, and many times he wondered how his life would've turned out if he hadn't lost them. Thinking back to that stormy night, Henry only grew more determined to what he was about to do. Reaching the bottom of the mountain, he had a quick snack of bread and cheese and began his walk again.

As he neared his destination, his thoughts turned to what he would do once he was finished. Knowing he'd probably be dead if he failed, he instead thought of his grandfather, who had slaved away trying to fix the ship while he was stuck in bed. Cresting the hill, Henry looked down at the encampment the pirates had set up. It looked like they had spent the entire night up, because fires were still lit and men were still drinking their booze. Looking at their relaxed demeanor, Henry clutched his fist in rage as he began his walk down the hill to the cove.

Looking up, one of the men, less drunk than the others, saw Henry walking down the hill and laughed, calling out, "Hey guys, look! Stumpy's here!" Hearing this, the men began laughing and jeering at the one-armed boy. Ignoring them, Henry called out, "I've come to speak to your captain! Where is he?"

"Oh? You want to speak too little old me, boy?" said the Captain, rising from where he was sitting, the sarcasm laid on thick. The Captain was a giant of a man, standing taller than most of the men on the beach, and if that wasn't enough, he had a barrel of a chest, giving him the widest girth of all the men. Smiling, the Captain flashed his mismatched teeth, some twinkling from being made of gold or silver, some blackened from smoking. "So what have you come to talk about, boy?" Marching up to stand before him, Henry stared him in the eyes, shouting, "You know damn well why I'm here! I want you off my island, NOW!" Flashing another toothy grin, the Captain replied back, "Oh is that so, then I'll just… Refuse!" Laughing at what he thought was a clever joke, the drunk men around him laughed with him.

Gritting his teeth, Henry shouted again, "Remember, you're indebted to me. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be here right now!" Smiling, the Captain leaned down and got in his face, "Well you know what?" glaring at his face, Henry didn't see the fist coming until it nailed him square in the gut, "I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!"

Flying through the air, Henry landed on his back, sending a cloud of sand into the air. Coughing and trying to get air back in his lungs, all the while, the Captain continued his speech: "You forgot that you were dealing with pirates, boy! Not some goody-goody code of honor follower! I don't give a rat's ass what happened to you, all I care about is that I survived!" Looking up at the Captain and the men surrounding him, the only thing he saw was the depths of the sea and ship debris floating in it. Pulling the hammer out from his jacket pocket, Henry smiled as he went on the attack.

The drunken men toppled like dominoes as he struck them down, sending them reeling as the steel face of the hammer smashed into their sides. As he went from man to man, the pirates slowly realized their predicament, pulling out their weapons, which were quickly knocked aside by Henry's powerful blows. As Henry charged at one of the last pirates standing, he was stopped dead in his tracks as a man rushed forward and stopped his hammer mid-swing. He looked up at the man who had stopped him, but before he could get a good look, he was smacked aside as what appeared to be a pole sent him flying. Rolling to a stop, Henry slowly rose to his feet getting a better look at the man.

It was the quartermaster, looking at Henry with contempt written all over his face. He held a staff in his hand, which he dug the butt end into the sand. Standing shakily to his feet, Henry stared with the same level of contempt at the quartermaster. Lifting his staff out of the sand, the quartermaster pointed it at him, saying, "I think that's enough. We don't want any more brain dead crewmembers." Ignoring this, Henry charged forward, swinging his hammer. Swaying from side to side, the quartermaster avoided Henry's attacks, causing him to become more frustrated than ever. Henry couldn't understand how he was dodging his attacks, he was more than strong enough to knock out a few cronies easily, but he couldn't understand how a simple quartermaster could dodge his attacks.

Finally pushed past his breaking point, Henry went for a heavy downward swing, but was again easily dodged by the quartermaster, saying, "We're done here," as he brought his staff down on Henry's hammer. As the wooden staff collided with the hammer's shaft, the force was beyond the handle's endurance and the wood splintered. Winding back again, the quartermaster smashed his staff into Henry's side, cracking ribs and sending him flying again.

Lying there, Henry panted and writhed in pain. Reaching down, he felt where the staff had hit him, sending another jolt of pain up his body. Walking to where Henry lay, the quartermaster was cheered on by all the conscious pirates, until finally he stood over him. Smiling down at Henry, the quartermaster raised his staff for one final blow. Staring up at the quartermaster's smirking face, with the sound of men laughing at his demise in his ears Henry thought to himself, Sorry gramps.

But the sound of laughter was cut off by a gunshot that rang across the cove.

Dropping the staff so that it laid at Henry's side, the quartermaster gripped his shoulder as it blead profusely. Turning around, he looked up to see a young man leap down from where he had been sitting watching the whole spectacle. Walking up to him, he didn't look intimidating, he was wearing a simple t-shirt and shorts, with a plumed hat on his head, but something told him he had aimed for his shoulder, and at the distance he was at, he shivered at what else he could have aimed for. Finally reaching him, the quartermaster began, "Who the hell are y-" but stopped short as the right hook dropped him to the ground, unconscious.

Nobody stopped him as he helped Henry to his feet, they just stared at the person who had downed one of their stronger guys. Looking at him, Henry recognized him, asking "Why are you here?" but before he could get a response, the Captain began laughing again. "Alright, boy, what's your gimmick? Why the hell are you helping this worthless piece of crap?" Staring at the Captain, Red began walking towards him, just like with what he had done with the quartermaster. "My gimmick? No gimmick, I'm just a guy going after the world's greatest treasure." Hearing this, the pirates began to laugh, but quickly shut up when Red gave them a quick glare, "And I'm helping this 'Worthless Piece of Crap'," began Red as he charged at the Captain, "Because he's joining my crew!" shouted Red as he jumped to deliver a striking punch to the Captain's face.