It was mid morning and everyone was gathered at the normal spot they used for sparring practice. Marcus stood on one side of the field while Mihawk watched him with his arms crossed over his chest. Marcus cleared his throat before he asked, "So how do you wanna do this?"
"Just come at me with everything you have."
Marcus placed his hand on the hilt of his sword before he asked, "Are you sure you want me to use my real sword?"
"Stop wasting my time and attack." Mihawk said as he narrowed his eyes slightly.
Marcus nodded slowly in return before he drew his sword and took up a stance. Marcus adjusted his feet slightly before he slashed in a downward arc at the same time he disappeared from everyone's view. Mihawk's eyes widened as he instantly pulled his sword free and deflected an air blade before he slashed downwards to block an attack from Marcus who appeared in front of him.
With their blades locked in place, Mihawk locked eyes with Marcus as he said, "Shanks was right, your talents are being wasted in this sea."
Marcus attempted to push forward with his sword as he said, "I know, but I wanted to help my friends get stronger."
Mihawk easily pushed Marcus back with his blade and as they both disengaged Mihawk said, "Attachments will only hold you back… Now show me your real strength."
Marcus pushed off the ground and it cracked beneath the pressure and he disappeared again as Mihawk's sword slashed downwards. The distinctive sound of metal rang out continuously as Mihawk's sword moved in a blur to intercept Marcus who looked like a ghost to almost everyone else. Marcus pushed himself to the absolute limit as he used every ounce of skill and power he had to attack Mihawk like he once did Arlong. But unlike Arlong who had more strength than skill, Mihawk was a master of the blade and blocked everything Marcus threw at him effortlessly.
As the others tried to watch, Ace and Sabo used their newly unlocked observation haki to see almost everything. Sure they weren't masters of it by any means, but they could easily 'watch' what was going on in the fight and what they witnessed made their blood boil with excitement. They sparred with each other almost every day and they knew Marcus held back against them when using a weapon, but they didn't expect the gap to be so large…
Off to the side, Kuina frowned as she watched. Her eyes strained as she was barely able to keep up with the fight but knew she couldn't fight at that speed, currently. She mostly followed Mihawk's moves because unlike Marcus who was a ghostly blur. Mihawk had no wasted movements and was easy to watch with his larger blade. Zoro, who was seated next to her, watched the fight with the gaze of a predator hungry as it stalked its prey.
Some of the others like Nami stared with their mouths open at what was happening. While Luffy and Uta were excitedly cheering Marcus on as they each yelled very different things…
"That's my future vice captain!"
"That's my future husband!"
Both Luffy and Uta glanced at each other before they asked in unison…
"When did Marcus say that?"
"I never agreed to either of those things!" Marcus yelled in an annoyed voice as he continued to attack Mihawk.
Limejuice, who was sitting next to Gab said, "He's definitely progressed since his last fight with the captain…"
"But it's not as much as he should have… If he came with us when we left, I wonder how strong he would be now?" Gab asked as he easily followed the fight with interest.
"Maybe we should just kidnap him when we leave, it would be a shame to let the kid stagnate here."
As Gab slowly nodded in agreement a voice cut in and said, "I wouldn't try that if I were you."
Both men glanced towards the voice and saw the cook of Marcus's ship who was standing with his arms crossed watching the fight. He caught their gaze and smiled slightly before he asked, "Did you forget who that kid's grandpa is?"
It took a moment for Limejuice to remember and his back instantly went cold with sweat before he said, "Yeah, we're definitely not gonna do that."
Gab's eyes widened in realization a moment later and he quickly nodded in agreement as Zeff started to chuckle. Zeff stroked his long braided mustache as he said, "You guys are actually lucky, that man just left before you arrived here. Decent enough guy for a marine…"
As everyone watched, Marcus kept up his relentless pace for almost half an hour before the muscles in his legs finally started to give out. It was the exact same thing that happened in his fight with Arlong, except Mihawk didn't take advantage of his momentary weakness. Instead he waited another few minutes before he said, "I've seen enough, your legs are about to give out."
It wasn't just his legs, Marcus's arms were also hurting and he could feel his whole body protesting against his every movement now. But Marcus wasn't prepared to stop just yet, Mihawk wanted him to come at him with everything he had and Marcus still had one more thing to show him…
Marcus appeared in front of everyone watching and made sure there was no one behind Mihawk as he said, "I don't know if this will work properly again, but you told me not to hold back…"
Marcus's body tensed as he took up a certain stance while his whole body screamed in protest. Marcus concentrated back on his fight with Arlong and focused on what he felt during that last attack and slowly a small wave of conqueror's haki burst from his body. Everyone around felt it and while a few of them fainted, Mihawk's gaze sharpened as he took a proper stance for once. Marcus lost in concentration trying to to repeat his attack let his body take over as the ground cracked beneath his feet and his sword hungrily pulled in his haki before it slashed forward.
Both Limejuice and Gab stood up in shock as a black tinted air slash flew towards Mihawk at incredible speed. Mihawk's eyes narrowed as the attack reached him in less than a second and he slashed his sword downwards to meet it. There was a very brief power struggle before Marcus's attack was broken and dissipated into nothingness. The tiniest trickle of sweat formed on Mihawk's brow but quickly dried up as he placed his sword away. Marcus on the other hand collapsed backwards, completely spent as his whole body screamed in pain.
Uta was one of the first people to react as she charged towards Marcus and yelled out his name. When she reached him, she crouched down next to him as she checked him over and asked, "What happened? Why did you collapse? Are you hurt?"
"I'm not really hurt, I just over taxed my body. Once I rest and eat some food I'll be fine." Marcus said as the others arrived.
Ace and Sabo helped to pick up Marcus as Kuina asked in an upset tone, "How come you've never fought with us like that?"
"Would you be able to learn anything if I did?"
"No… But you still shouldn't hold back so much in our spars!" Kuina said with a frown as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Zero and Tashigi nodded in agreement before Mihawk said, "If he's training you, then it shouldn't matter how much he holds back against you as long as you improve after each fight."
"That's the exact reason I hold back and push all of you to your limit in our fights. Otherwise you would take longer to catch up to me."
"But that speed…" Kuina started to say as her voice trailed off for a moment before Mihawk said, "You should just be happy someone of his skill is helping you train so thoroughly. If anything he is harming his own growth by staying in a place like this."
Everyone glanced at Marcus who shook his head as he said, "I've been stuck at a bottle neck for over a year now…"
"It wasn't hard to miss, you are lacking real combat experience."
"Huh? But we train and fight all the time…" Luffy said as he scratched his head.
"He's talking about real opponents I can challenge myself against."
"But we fight pirates all the time?" Luffy asked in a confused tone.
"You fight them and I watch over you guys… I don't normally fight at all, remember?"
Luffy nodded along slowly before his eyes lit up and he pounded his fist onto his palm as he said, "Then the next time we fight pirates don't watch and fight them instead!"
Marcus, who was currently being held up by Ace and Sabo let out a sigh before he asked, "Can someone hit him for me?"
Before anyone could reply Uta stepped forward and smacked Luffy in the back of the head so hard he slammed into the ground. He popped up a moment later as he rubbed the back of his head and asked, "What the heck was that for?"
Uta smiled cutely as she said, "Marcus asked me to do it."
As Luffy started to argue with Uta, Kuina who was lost in thought finally turned towards Mihawk and bowed as she asked with sincere conviction, "Please teach me swordsmanship while you're here!"
Zero gritted his teeth but quickly followed Kuina's example before Tashigi bowed more properly as she politely asked, "I would be grateful for any guidance you can give me."
Marcus smiled at the scene before he said to his brothers, "Could you take me back to the ship, I need to rest my body."
"Sure" Ace said as Sabo nodded in agreement before they started moving towards the ship.
Uta noticed them leaving before she turned to Luffy and said, "We can settle this later, I need to go help Marcus."
Before Luffy could reply, Uta took off to follow Marcus and the others as they returned to the ship. Once at the ship, Ace and Sabo got Marcus settled into his bed before Uta kicked them out as she said, "Alright, I'll take over from here."
After they left, Uta skipped over to the bed and gently removed Marcus's shirt as he asked, "And what exactly are you doing?"
Uta carefully rolled him onto his stomach before she gently straddled his lower back and said, "You said you over taxed your body…"
Uta placed her hands on his shoulders and started to rub them softly as she said, "I read a book on how to give massages and figured this might help."
Marcus let out a soft groan as Uta applied a bit of pressure before she instantly stopped and cautiously asked, "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"
"No, not at all. That actually felt great, keep going."
Uta smiled at the slight praise before she started again in earnest. For the next half an hour Uta worked over Marcus's arms and shoulders until he said, "That's good for now, I just need a good nap and a meal and I should be good to go."
"Okay." Uta said before she rolled Marcus onto his back and curled up next to him.
She moved his right arm slightly before she rested her head on his shoulder and draped her arm over his chest. Marcus glanced towards her as he asked, "And what exactly are you doing?"
Uta tilted her head so she could see him, then playfully stuck out her tongue before she said, "You just said it was nap time."
Marcus still couldn't move properly and it honestly didn't feel bad to have Uta snuggled against him so it didn't take long till they both fell asleep. It was hours later when Marcus slowly woke up and felt a wet spot on his chest and a pair of arms and legs wrapped around his body. When Marcus cleared the sleep from his eyes he found Uta, dead asleep happily drooling on him with a slightly perverted smile on her face. When Uta started to wiggle around slightly as she let out 'hehehehe' in her sleep, Marcus's right eye started to twitch as he made a mental note to scold Makino for corrupting Uta…