One Piece: Gold And Fire

Blood was dripping from the fresh wound on his forehead where Ragna's rock had struck him. His glasses were cracked, and his calm, composed demeanour had completely vanished.

Instead, his eyes burned with pure rage as he glared at Ragna. "You,"

He didn't say anything, there was nothing more to say anyway, now there was only one thing on his mind, to kill this boy and everyone here. The only person he would be spared, at least for now, was Kaya as he needed her.

So, he took out his famous claw from his pocket and wore it, ready to shred the boy who made him bleed.

Everyone else on the scene was frozen in fear seeing the man stand up again. Kaya was trembling, not being able to move, Usopp was the same but that was before Kuro was down, the moment he was back to his feet, Usopp bolted from from his position by dragging Kaya by her hands and rushed behind Ragna.

Even Nami, who had been through her fair share of dangerous situations, looked worried. She was ready to get out of there any time. Though she has been partnered up with Ragna for the time being, they are no friends and the same is the case with others, she has no problem leaving everyone behind if it means saving her life.

"Come on already, I have more important things to do besides fighting a sort, not a butler," Ragna said with a yawn coming, unlike others, he felt a thing, for him Kuro or Klahadore as he knew him was nothing more than a common butler...

Kuro's teeth clenched, his claws gleaming as he adjusted his broken glasses. "A butler? Is that what you think I am? Fine. Let me show you what this 'butler' can do." He lunged at Ragna with claws extended, his was fast and without any useless movements that any normal untrained person would have.

Ragna dodged the first swipe, tilting his head casually. "Not bad," he said as his eyes slightly narrowed.

He had fought pirates but this was the first time he felt that he was fighting someone who knew how to fight. He was a little surprised as well seeing how good the butler was.

'Maybe not a normal butler after all...' He couldn't help but thought to himself and slowly took out his sword, now slightly taking the match seriously.

He swung his sword at Kuro, who parried with his claws. The clash sent sparks flying, and everyone else watched in stunned silence as the two began trading blows.

Kuro was holding back, avoiding his infamous high-speed movements to keep Kaya safe. He couldn't risk losing control and harming her, which frustrated him even more.

If only he had control in that fast state of his on whom he targets then he would have been so much more powerful, but right now pretty much everyone around him would be in danger if he used that technique...

"You're lucky I have my priorities," he growled, slashing again.

'What Priorities ?' obviously Ragna didn't get it, he was just enjoying fighting with someone strong. However, this level of strength was still nothing to him.

"You're good for a butler. However skilled you might be but you lack the needed power behind those attacks of yours..." Ragna honestly commented, that he really felt that Klahadore was a good fighter, just not strong enough or fast enough for that matter.

Even after being vastly inexperienced when it comes to fighting, Ragna was able to keep up with Kuro just because of his raw strength, speed and reaction time. His reflexes were off the charts too due to the short but intense training he got from Tashigi.

Kuro's eye twitched. "Stop calling me a butler!" he roared, unleashing a flurry of slashes. Ragna, however, countered each one effortlessly, his movements calm and precise.

Little did Kuro know that he wasn't the only one holding back, Ragna was holding back as well, after all, he wasn't fighting a Pirate and didn't want to kill the butler. At best, he will restrain him before knowing what's the matter here...

Each of Kuro's attacks was met with a counter, and his frustration grew. "What is this guy?" Kuro muttered under his breath, sweat dripping down his face.

Meanwhile, Usopp and Kaya watched in disbelief. "Who is this guy?" Usopp whispered. "He's fighting that pirate like he's handling 5 year-olds!"

"Ragna is... sigh forget it. Just don't compare us, the normal people, with that monster, that will help you keep your sanity," Nami shook her head. Already used to the absurd thing that boy pulled off. She thought he would have some trouble handling Kuro but nope.

Kuro stumbled back, glaring at Ragna with fury. "You'll regret underestimating me," he said, blood dripping from his wound. But Ragna just shrugged while saying. "Yeah, and what you gonna do? Add more Sugar Cubes to my tea... BUTLER." Ragna grinned, he was having fun now.

There is just a different kind of joy in annoying someone, especially when you don't like the said person.

Kuro was getting more annoyed now and he just rushed in at Ragna with his claws out.

This mad rush of Kuro was more predictable than earlier for Ragna to not only dodge the attack but even counter it.

Ragna dodged and then swung his sword directly cutting a big slash across Kuro's chest as blood flew out, making him stumble back.

"Captain..." Jango who was also watching the match immediately wanted to rush in, though they weren't a very loyal pirate group but he saw his captain in danger, and he still wanted to help.

Jango honestly wasn't a bad guy, he worked for Kuro, yes but he himself wasn't bad.

But that was when a gunshot rang out, a bullet passed right through Jango's side making him stop.

"Don't move, or you gonna be the first one I cut down..." Ragna said as he had his pistol out, pointing it at Jango.

Jango can't help but gulp, Ragna almost pulled that shot without even watching where he was and yet he pulled off a shot where the bullet passed only a few inches apart from Jango's face but didn't hurt him...

'Shit, I missed again...' if only Jango knew what was Ragna thinking then he would have cursed him to the high heavens.

Kuro's chest heaved as blood seeped from the deep slash Ragna had inflicted. His face twisted with pain and fury, and his rationality snapped.

"I'll kill you all!" he roared, his voice echoing through the area, it was like a roar of a wounded beast.

Ragna too seeing the cut bleeding thought maybe he went a little heavy-handed there. He ultimately wasn't planning on killing the fellow.

Kuro's grip tightened on his claws, and without another word, he disappeared. It was like one second he was there and the next he vanished from his place...

"What the—?!" Even Ragna barely had time to react before a gust of wind whipped past him, making his eyes widen. Then, pain. A sharp slash tore through his arm, and he stumbled back.

"Shit..." Ragna muttered as he quickly brought his sword in front of him, he didn't even see where the attack came from.

Kuro had entered his high-speed mode. His movements were a blur, impossible for anyone to track. Not even Ragna, despite his training, could see him.

Kuro darted through the field, slashing at everything in his path. The ground got littered with claw marks within seconds.

"What is this now ?" Usopp shouted with his legs shaking maybe even faster than Kuro's speed.

"A devil fruit ?" Ragna thought, after all, now that he was sure that those things existed, he could only blame those magical fruits for this paranormal activity.

Ragna barely managed to raise his sword, but Kuro's claws struck him across the side before he could fully defend himself. The pain was sharp, and he gritted his teeth, blood dripping down his torso.

"Where is he ?" Ragna finally was getting serious, now he knew that this was not a mere butler.

Kuro wasn't just targeting Ragna, though. Or more like he can't he had no control over who he targeted in this attack. His attacks were wild and erratic, cutting through everything in his path. Usopp and Kaya cowered behind holding onto each other while Nami, despite her fear, tried to shout directions to Ragna, mostly talking about how right now was the right time to run away.

"Oi, stop using that devil fruit and fight me face to face !" Ragna shouted. He swung his sword wildly, hoping to catch Kuro, but his blade sliced through empty air every time.

Another gust of wind passed by, and Ragna felt claws rake his back. He fell to one knee, his breathing ragged.

"That one hurt..." He muttered with a pain grown as he stood up again.

Despite his injuries, he forced himself to stand again, shielding the others with his body. He might be able to handle those attacks, but he knew that others couldn't.

"Oi, stop hiding and come at me, you coward..." Shouted Ragna but no result, right now Kuro wasn't even in the state to understand what was going on. He was almost completely mad.

Another attack came at him and this time Ragna was hit on the back where he was completely unprotected, leaving a long deep gash.

"Ahh..."

Not sure what to do he started thinking, clearly he had seen enough superhero movies to know that the man was going supersonic or something. A speedster.

'Need to get used to his speed...' Ragna gritted his teeth and started focusing. Predicting his attack patterns and his speed.

All this time he was getting attacked and suffering many wounds. However, he was getting used to Kuro's attacks.

At one point he was even able to see Kuro with his hyper-focused state, but he wasn't able to predict his movements. He could only say that there were no patterns to his movements, it was completely uncontrolled chaos.

Not sure what to do he gritted his teeth and started to think about his training, maybe he could find some way to beat this guy.

And that is when something clicked inside his head...

He immediately sheathed his sword and got ready.

"Now or never I guess...

xxx

[Word Count: 1700]

By the way, to put MC's power right now, it's lower than Luffy or Zoro in romance dawn.

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