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.
Another First Roadblock, The Mysterious Addison Attacks
Intro: /Ob3ul4QL22U
Reaching the gate, the group stopped for a moment, wondering how they should open it. With Henry's expertise, they could see that the doors were made of sturdy oak and reinforced with iron plating. But while they were busy discussing, Red walked up to it and knocked on the door. Turning, the group was about to reprimand Red for doing something so idiotic when a voice on the other side began to speak. "Yeah, what is it?" Clearing his throat, Red spoke up so he could hear him, "Look, promise you won't laugh… we kind of forgot the keys." The three looked at Red like he was crazy, thinking something like that would ever work. But to their surprise, they heard an audible sigh on the other side as the door clicked open.
Without warning, Red reeled back his fist, shouting, "Torrent" as he knocked the door clean off its hinges. Looking at Red like he was even crazier, the three shouted in unison, "What the hell was that for!" Turning to look at them, Red smiled, saying "Haven't you guys ever heard of an entrance?" And with that, he left his crew outside even more confused than before and marched into the plaza. As soon as he entered, he was greeted by a group of shocked pirates. As the three followed in after, they had a small stare down with the pirates. Cracking his knuckles, Red grinned. "Let's go." And with that, the small crew charged.
-With Miles-
Sitting in the dark room, Miles breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. It was hard to tell how much time had passed since he had been left there. Because there were no windows, he couldn't see the sun. All he knew was that it felt like he had been in that room for so long. That was probably the intended affect. In reality, it had probably been less than 30 minutes.
Once his breathing had gotten steady, he took in one final breath and began to struggle again. Veins pulsed on his forehead and his muscles physically shook as he tried to get up. Sweat poured down his forehead as he groaned from the strain. Just as he was about to break, he relaxed, breathing slightly heavier than he had before. As he sat, regaining his breath, he tried to figure out what exactly Bartholomew had done to him. Sitting there, he concentrated on the events that happened little less than a half-hour ago.
"What the hell do you want?" Miles spat this out as he was dragged by his arms to kneel in front of Bartholomew. "I thought I made myself clear that I didn't want to see your ugly mug again." Grinning, Jim bent down and shoved his face in Miles', breathing the ugly scent of his preferred tea. "Shouldn't it be proper that a crewmember appears when his captain summons him?" Glaring, Miles bared his teeth, speaking through them, "You're – not – my – captain." Standing up straight, Bartholomew laughed, obviously amused, "And who is your captain? That pathetic Cobra? He's a wimp! News flash: He's on his way right now, trying to rescue you of course! And once he gets here… We'll kill him!"
Standing there, Bartholomew had given him some time to think on it, let the news of Red's arrival sink in. But Jim had begun to chuckle, drawing Miles' attention towards him. "What's so funny?" Waving his hand, Jim said in reply, "Actually, I should really rephrase my sentence.
"I meant to say… you'll kill him."
Mind pulled back to the present, his breathing came out raspy and short. But it wasn't from his escape attempt. Listening, he realized that the pirates running around outside had interrupted his thoughts. They were probably at that moment preparing for his crew's coming. Drooping his head again, his chin rested on the collar that shackled him. Red… everyone… I don't know what happened to him in the past two years, but please, be careful.
-With Red-
Running into the plaza, the group barreled past the meeting party, knocking them all aside and unconscious. Bede and Red took ten between them while Henry and Rana took four. Clearing them out, they looked up and their eyes were immediately drawn towards the mansion. It was the most prominent thing in the compound, other than the large canal that led to the ocean. Looking at it, they knew this would either be where the pirate's captain was or where Miles was being held. Hopefully both.
But they had no time to think as another group of pirates charged at them. Dashing forward, Red was the first to meet them, lashing his foot out and kicking three down before they could react. Another three went down as Bede palm-struck each of them down. Some of the smarter pirates decided not to go for the obvious strong ones, instead going for who appeared to be the weakest: Rana. But unfortunately for them, she may have appeared to be weak, but she at least knew how to fight a little. She had picked up the best places to hit someone from many failed robberies.
Seeing the pirates, coming she reacted almost immediately. Bringing her staff up, she met the pirate's overhead swing halfway, lodging the blade in the tough wood. Taking the advantage, Rana lashed out with her foot, stomping on the guy's foot and probably breaking a few bones. As he reeled away from the pain, another pirate took his place. Charging at her, he brought his sword up, trying to go for a heavy slash. But a quick jab between the eyes sent him careening backwards. Glancing over, she smiled as she saw Henry take down another pirate. He may have had only one arm, but he was still stronger than the small fries. But that didn't stop him and her to be the weakest on the crew, comparative to the other three.
Finally, Red threw the final punch, knocking the last enemy in that group down. Standing there, the group stood in a small circle of fallen bodies in some form of unconsciousness. But something seemed off, like they weren't done yet. Turning to the left, they were surprised to see someone sitting there, in a chair that hadn't been there before. And the weird part was, they were clapping. They were applauding them for beating so many of their underlings. Standing up, the cloaked figure kicked away the chair, or more appropriately, kicked it to pieces as it shattered from the small punt. In the shadows of the hood, they could see them smiling, as they spoke, "My name is Addison, and I must say, you must be feeling pretty proud of yourselves for taking down such a group. Especially you two," they said, pointing at Rana and Henry.
But as Addison said it, Henry obviously took the insult poorly. Lifting the Hammer, Henry ran forward, seething with anger. Reaching them, Henry glared up into their face, only to be smirked at from the shadows. This only made him angrier, as he swung it and slammed it into their stomach, only to – once again – receive nothing but a cloud of smoke. Glaring down at the Hammer now, Henry shouted, "You gotta kidding me!" as the other three face-palmed at Henry's forgetfulness. But something did come of Henry's mistake, because as the smoke rose, it sent Addison into a coughing fit. In an attempt to clear out the smoke, they took off the hood that had been there for so long. Turning back on them, Henry glared back up at Addison, only for his eyes to go googly. Because as Addison pushed their hood back, she also pushed her shoulder-length hair back to reveal a very feminine face.
"Well hey there, beautiful!" Henry shouted, immediately dropping his guard and his Hammer. Clenching his fists, Red shouted, "Are you kidding me, Henry?" only to be ignored. Smiling, Addison pushed her hair back behind her ear, saying, "My my, that's sweet of you." As she said it, steam shot out of Henry's ears as he blushed heavily. Raising her arm, the sleeve fell to reveal a dagger strapped to her wrist. Smirking at Henry, she said, "It's going to be hard cutting up someone like you… not really," as she lashed out with her dagger, going for Henry's neck. But as the knife descended rapidly, Rana rushed forward, lifting her staff and slapping Addison's hand away. Turning to face the nuisance, Addison glared at her, saying, "You brat," as she went for a slap.
Leaning back, she avoided the hit and called over to Bede and Red, "You two go on ahead, I'll make sure to keep Henry alive." Nodding, the two ran off towards the mansion. Staring after them, Addison smirked again, turning her gaze on Rana and Henry. "If the small fries really want to deal with me, then that's fine. I can leave those two's deaths in very capable hands."
"So, do you think those two will be alright?" Bede asked Red, as they ran towards the mansion. They had made good ground, almost within 100 feet with no real opposition. Glancing at Bede, Red nodded, "Of course, I'm confident in their abilities. What I want to know is whether anything is wrong with Henry. What with that steam or whatever." Bede shrugged his shoulders to this. Maybe he was some kind of robot, but didn't know. "Also," Red continued, bringing Bede's attention back to him, "I don't know why Henry acted like that all of a sudden. Don't you think it was kind of obvious that it was a woman? I mean, women disguised as men to appear more intimidating isn't unheard of." Before Bede could answer back, they had already reached their destination. Mounting the stairs, Red walked over to the doors and kicked it down and into another group of pirates. Glancing back, Bede could see in the distance the two fighting with the enemy. Let's hope those two can hold their own for now.
-With Rana and Henry-
So far, it seemed like a miracle that they had lasted this long. Addison was clearly faster than the two by wide margins, and the cloak she wore made it difficult to gage her move. Every time either of them lashed out with their preferred weapon, she would just dance to the side, letting them flounder for a second trying to recover. And every time they did, she left no room for extra time as she'd slash at them with her dagger, causing them to awkwardly step to the side. Not only that, but every once in a while, she'd send Henry a flirtatious look, causing him to freeze up and blush heavily again. When she did this, Rana either had to push Henry out of the way, or knock Addison's hand aside.
Needless to say, it was a very mismatched fight. And just as Henry went on another attack, Addison easily dodged out of the way, throwing one of her infamous looks, making Henry freeze up. And once again, Addison smirked and went in for another slash. Running forward, Rana slammed into Henry, knocking him a few feet away from Addison's attack. Addison, despite being fast, didn't chase after them, taking her time as she made her way to him. Breathing heavily, Rana glared at Henry, shouting, "Would you please stop doing that!" But Henry only, shrugged, whispering "When she does that next, don't save me." Raising an eyebrow, Rana had an incredulous look on her face, wondering what he was planning.
But Henry pushed past her and charged at Addison, who readily accepted it by sidestepping to the left. And as Henry tried to recover, Addison gave Henry the look, causing him to freeze in his tracks. Seeing this, Rana was about to run in after him, but hesitated. She wasn't sure whether to trust him, but she guessed that if it worked out for him, that would be the deciding factor. She hoped against all hope that whatever Henry had planned wouldn't turn him into a shish-kabob.
As Addison went on the attack, she shouted, "I guess your friend got tired of protecting your pervy ass!" But as she was about to land the hit, Henry smiled at her, saying, "No, it's just that she actually put her faith in me." Sidestepping, he let the dagger sail harmlessly past him as he pulled out the Thunder Cannon. As he let loose a powerful swing, he shouted "And I have to earn that faith somehow! Thunder Cannon: Blast!" Nailing her right in the stomach, her body absorbed the impact, and she was sent flying. Spiraling through the air, she slammed into the wall, bringing some down on top of her.
Hefting the Hammer on his shoulders, he sent a cocky grin towards Rana. "I'll admit, she caught me off guard with her looks. But it was only a matter of time before I got used to them and could ignore them completely." But his statement was betrayed as Rana noticed the tissue stuck in his nostrils. I guess he couldn't ignore it completely, Rana thought. Smiling, she turned to walk away, calling for Henry to follow so they could catch up to Red and Bede. But before they could go a few more steps, they heard something behind them that made their blood chill.
"I'll admit, I underestimated you two. But then again, that's probably the best you've got. Right?"
Turning, the two stared at where part of the wall had been demolished to see Addison standing. She was slightly bruised and her cloak was torn to reveal a striped shirt tucked into some jeans, but otherwise she was unharmed. Henry clutched his head, a shocked expression on his face. "What the hell!" he said, obviously confused as to how she could still be standing after his Thunder Cannon landed the hit on her. Smirking, she called over to the two, "Did I forget to mention that I'm the First Mate? I'm not a small fry that will be taken down by tricks like that." And with those words that came out of her mouth, the two realized just what kind of trouble they were in. They really hoped Red would finish his fight and come save them.
