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 paragraph every time.

The Pirate Crew's Namesake! Red vs. Barboso!

As they stood there, the bear that was once Barboso looked around angrily, trying to seek out who to attack. Red, meanwhile, got into a stance, ready to go at it in a moment's notice. Calling from the side of the street, Miles asked Red if he would need any help with this one, seeing as how he was much bigger than he was before. Grinning, Red called back, "Nah, I got this one boys." Turning back to Barboso, he glared at him, preparing to end this fight as soon as possible. Sprinting forward, he saw Barboso-bear lumber into position to intercept him. Just as he was about halfway, he leapt into the air, shouting, "Jet!" and boosting himself at blinding speeds right towards Barboso's face.

What he failed to see was the massive arm swinging down from above. He felt the impact of the street before he recognized he had been hit from above, the wind being forced out of his lungs from the powerful hit. The force had been so great that when he was slammed into the street, he bounced a few feet into the air, and Barboso was ready. Whipping his head around, he side-headbutted Red straight into the wall of another house, interrupting a families' cowering. Dazed, Red looked up into the terrified faces of the people, and giving a weary grin said, "Top of the morning."

As he said this, he heard the muffled, gruff shout of Barboso, "Pain train, Bitch!" Hearing this, he muttered, "Oh no," as a big mass of fur tackled him through the house and out to the next street over. Looking back, he saw that the family managed to avoid it and get out of the house as it collapsed behind them.

Springing off Barboso, he slid feet first across the street until he felt his feet touch the next house. Now using this house as a springboard, he leaped towards Barboso, prepared to take the bull, -er bear, by the "horns". Shouting "Jet!" again, he raced towards Barboso again. But this time, he looked up and was able to shift to the side as the arm came, smashing the pavement apart. Skidding to a halt below Barboso's head, he leaped into the air, shouting "And again!", propelling himself into a strong uppercut and sending Barboso flying backwards into the ruins of the house.

Standing there, he waited for Barboso to rise again, as the bear-man lumbered to his feet. Standing erect, the bear grinned at Red, rubbing the place where he had been struck. "Gotta hand it to ya, kid. You know how to throw a punch." Scratching his head, Red grinned sheepishly, "Well I kind of expected you to go down after that one. Haha." In an instant, Barboso's grin went to a glare, "So you doubted my power?" he asked, nearly shouting the question, "I'll have you know, my Devil Fruit gives me the heightened senses of a bear. So not only has my strength increased, my senses can detect your movements way easier. And you'd be surprised how fast a bear can move when the want to…"

Saying this, Barboso leaped behind Red with greater speed than expected, and smacked him, sending him flying. Sliding through the rubble of the house, Red got up quickly to his feet, and was just able to dodge as a bear… foot came in for a kick. Leaping to the side, he stepped into a swinging punch to the side, but Barboso had spun around, blocking the punch with his own fist. Standing there, Red was the first to react as he bounded up his arm, delivering to hard rights to Barboso's face.

Reeling backwards, Barboso barely kept his footing as he came to a stop. Turning slowly back to Red, he grinned again as a small trickle of blood came out of the corner of his mouth, saying, "Thank you miss, may I have another." Clenching his fists, Red glared at Barboso, "Ok, that's starting to get annoying. I'm punching you, but you aren't budging." Barboso only answered back by raising his arms and shouting "Grizzly Tableflip!", slamming his arms into the ground. Cracking the pavement, the street began to fold towards Barboso, bringing Red right towards his punch. Red felt the wind being knocked out of him again, and then some, as he was slugged through the ripped-up pavement.

Flying across the street, the world seemed to slow down for him as he looked back. Seeing that he was coming in for a crash-landing into the same lamp post as before. Concentrating with all his might, Red imagined his body slowly form into the thing it was mostly comprised of. That was his final thought as he slammed into the wall behind it, his body in two parts. Miles, looking over, saw his captain in half and ran to check if he was alright. Kneeling at his side, he poked Red in the side, making sure he was still alive. Feeling the prodding, Red's eyes flew open and he shouted, "Oh God! That still feels so weird!" Looking down at him, Miles cocked his head, "So… do you need any help?" Shaking his head, Red said, "I got this one," and slowly dragged his body back together.

Hopping to his feet, he stretched out, trying to get the weird feelings out of his system, all the while Barboso was coming closer. Finally near enough to talk normally, Barboso snorted, "So you're a Logia type, and a bad one at that." Looking up, Red nodded at Barboso, explaining that he hadn't really trained it and had just mostly used his fists and gun. Hearing this, Miles shouted over, a quizzical look on his face, "Wait, why didn't you train it when it wasn't storming out?" Looking back, Red grinned sheepishly, "I've been reading the newspapers, especially those ones about that Sora character. But it's so conflicting because it's a Marine character too…"

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP SO WE CAN CONTINUE!"

Looking up, Red could clearly see that Barboso was steamed, obviously because he had been ignored. Shrugging his shoulders, Red turned to face Barboso, thinking he should probably talk about Sora later. Just as he was about to leap back into battle, Barboso pounced straight at him. Raising a fist, Barboso brought it down hard on the ill-prepared Red, driving him into the ground. Wide-eyed at his predicament, Red stated, "Well that was unexpected." Grinning down at the planted Red, Barboso raised his foot to squash Red, "Well did you expect this!?"

Before he stomped, Red shouted, "Jet!", blasting him out of the ground and into a stomach punch. It was Barboso's turn to have the wind knocked out of him as he reeled backwards, pinwheeling his arms to stay balanced. Just as he steadied himself, Red jumped up and round-house kicked him in the face, sending him sliding across the pavement. Struggling to his feet, he sniffed the air and felt it with his whiskers. Detecting movement, he swung his arm, landing the hit on Red who had been about to launch another attack. Spinning through the air, Red landed back on his feet and ran back at Barboso.

Seeing him running towards him, Barboso grinned, Is this the only thing this brat has? He's just making himself and easy target. Swinging his arm preemptively, he had been expecting Red to jump at his face again, but instead, Red ducked. Hitting the ground at a slide, he slid between Barboso's legs as he looked around confusedly. Stopping his movement with his hands, he sprung back, forcefully driving both feet into Barboso's back. As he fell forwards, Barboso managed to catch himself on all fours, but before he could rise again, he heard Red shout something from above.

Winding back a punch in midair, half of Red's arm became water as he stared down at the body of Barboso. Throwing the punch, Red shouted "Torrent!" as a wave of water erupted out of his arm, aimed straight at Barboso's back. As the water hit him, Barboso was slammed to the ground, smashing the pavement apart. Landing next to him, Red kicked Barboso a couple of times. Satisfied, he started walking towards Miles, Bede, and Henry, who were waiting to congratulate him. But just as he was walking away, Barboso began to rise once more.

Turning back to the giant, Red was shocked that he could endure the intense beating he had just received. Soaked, Barboso was angrier than before, but he didn't let it show. Rubbing his back, he growled down at Red, "I have to hand it to ya kid, that last attack stung… but I'll show you how to really hit a guy!" And with even greater speed than before, he lashed out at Red who dodge to the side, and right into his other fist. Smacked away, he wasn't quick enough to dissolve as he slammed head-first into the lamp post.

Dazed, he stumbled to his feet as the world seemed to spin around him. Clutching his head, Barboso didn't stop for a second as he began pummeling Red. Thankfully, he was able to shrug off some of the attacks due to being dizzy, but he could still feel each individual one until he was backed into the wall of another house. Forced into a corner, Red tried to dizzily dodge his attacks, succeeding as a few punches left holes in the walls. But a vast majority of them laid the punishment into him.

For some reason, the punches ended as Red struggled to stay standing. But they had only stopped so that Barboso could grab Red. Slamming him back into the ground, Barboso dragged Red through the pavement, ripping it apart as they went. As they came halfway, Barboso stopped, looking down, he could see that Red had started fiddling with something in his hands. Lifting him up to eye level, he realized upon closer inspection that it was a gun, and an old one at that. Smirking, he laughed in Red's face, "Kid you must be an idiot! That is one ancient gun, and from your position, you couldn't even shoot to kill!" Bringing him closer to his face, he growled menacingly, "In fact... I'll give you a free shot."

Cocking the gun, Red looked up into the eyes of the bear man and gave his own smirk. "Much appreciated, friend," he said, shooting the bear in the shoulder a half a second later. As the bullet hit him, the initial impact caused him to grit his teeth, but then he just smiled. "Is that all you got kid? You didn't even aim for my heart! I must've hit you too hard or something becau- what the hell?" As he spoke, he had begun to lose his grip on Red until finally he fell right through and onto the ground. Growling angrily, he bent down to pick him up again, he soon realized that it was much more difficult than before. "WHAT THE HELL!?" And right before everyone's eyes, he began to change back. The fur was the last thing to go as he gained his previous shape. Doubling over, his breathing became fast and raspy as he fell to the ground. The only thing that could move was his eyes and mouth as he stared up at Red, who had stood up like the beating was nothing.

"What… the hell… was that bullet?" he asked, getting the words out with some difficulty. Brushing off his shoulders, Red faced the man. "That was a sea prism stone bullet," he said casually as he stretched his arm, "Unfortunately, that was my last one. But it will make this part go faster." Lying there, Barboso tried to look as confused as possible with just his eyes and mouth, "Wait, make what part go fa-" but his question was interrupted by the fist. As the punch slammed into Barboso's face, it left a small indent in the road, which Barboso's head rested in when it was done shaking.

Standing up, Red turned to face the rest of Barboso's crew, who had stood and watched as their captain had been beaten down. Cracking his neck and knuckles, Red smiled at them, "Didn't hurt." Hearing this, the crew turned tail and took off running in the other direction, wanting to get as far as possible. Chuckling to himself, Red thought, Eh, the Marines will get 'em. As he watched them run, he heard someone clear their throat behind him and turned to them. Looking at Red with a concerned look on his face, Bede spoke, "Uh, Red. I don't think arms should look like that." Looking down, Red saw what Bede meant, what with the arm being bent halfway down the forearm. "Well damn!" and as he said this he fell backwards on to the road.

Seeing this, Rana immediately tried to run to his aide, but Miles grabbed her on the shoulder, "Leave him there, he's fine." Looking up at Miles, she replied, "But…" Interrupting her, he turned to face Red again, "Listen, the crazy son of a bitch is snoring." Confused, Rana looked at Red again and as they watched, a snot bubble began to form. "Oh."

Picking Red up on his shoulder, Miles looked back at Rana, "We'll talk later. Right now, we gotta get this guy back to the ship. I don't think he got much sleep last night." As they walked away from her and disappeared in the throng, she realized she hadn't even thanked them. Running back into the crowd, she tried to chase them, but they were already gone. Returning to the square, she looked back up at her home. It was burnt but reparable. Sighing, she wished she had been able to at least see them off.

As the people in the crowd were still focused on the orphanage, a cloaked figure stepped back into the shadows. Lifting a transponder snail, they whispered into it, "Patrol A is securing the area, Patrol B is now tailing the Cobra. Will report back when area is secure." Looking back into the street, he could clearly see the girl that Cobra had been willing to protect. We'll have to find out more about her, he thought, as he walked further into the alley, She has something to do with him. As he walked, a street thug jumped him from behind a pile of barrels. As he went for the overhead strike, the cloaked figure easily dodged the slice and casually kicked the thug into the barrels, smashing them apart. Walking away from the scene, scratched his beard, "Why do they always think they have the upper hand."