Over a week passed since Marcus and Yamato arrived on Elbaph and met up with Uta and the others. During that time they pieced together a drum set Yamato could use to practice with and planned to buy her a proper one later. They also worked on Marcus's ship and turned two of the smaller storage areas into bedrooms. They were more like glorified closets, but they allowed a person to sleep and change clothes without issue. They also added a second full bathroom so there wouldn't be any issues.
It made the ship extremely cramped with all of them living on it and it was hard to carry a lot of supplies. But with how fast the ship was, it wouldn't matter much in the long run. The current plan was to head back to paradise and have a new ship made after they collected some more money. That wouldn't happen for at least a few weeks though, since Marcus wanted to spar with Shanks and apparently Mihawk was coming.
Mihawk was originally coming just to see Shanks and see if he was still worth sparring with. But after hearing Marcus was alive and on Elbaph, he told Marcus to wait for him so he could test him too. While waiting for Mihawk to arrive, Marcus started training again and sparred against some of Shanks crew. He beat some of them, but he lost against Benn and Lucky who were two of the crew's heavy hitters. Marcus also wanted to spar with Yasopp, but the man refused because of their past interactions.
During their stay they never left the area around the bar or the port itself. It wasn't that they couldn't, but Marcus was focused on his ship and making sure it was ready for travel instead. Each day after training he worked on the ship, sometimes alone and other times with help from the girls. It was the middle of their second week on the island when Mihawk finally arrived. He caused a commotion among the pirates docked in the harbor, but he paid them no mind as he headed straight for the bar and Shanks.
Marcus was training behind the bar when he arrived, so he didn't notice anything until Shanks and Mihawk came out to spar. Shanks was laughing and talking to Mihawk when Marcus spotted them both as he did push ups with a massive boulder placed on his back. Uta and the others were around him doing the same thing except they had smaller boulders on their backs. Well, Yamato actually had the biggest one, but her strength was ridiculous compared to a normal person.
Mihawk noticed Marcus and gave him a slight nod in greeting before Shanks and him moved past everyone. They headed further inland and Marcus wanted to watch them spar so he quickly followed behind them. Yamato and the others also joined him along with Benn, Lucky and a couple others Red Hair pirates. Mihawk and Shanks stopped miles away from the bar and the coast, just before the ground started to show spots of snow.
Shanks talked with Mihawk for about a minute before they finally separated and each man drew their swords. They stood there for a few moments before they seemed to teleport next to each other as their swords clashed together. Marcus watched them clash a few times before Mihawk pulled away and said something that made Shanks laugh. The two of them sheathed their weapons and talked for a few minutes until Shanks walked towards the people watching while Mihawk stayed behind.
When Shanks got closer he focused on Marcus and said, "He's waiting for you."
Marcus glanced towards Mihawk who was watching him and adjusted the sword on his waist as he nodded slightly before he walked towards the man. Shanks patted his shoulder as they passed each other and said, "Good luck."
"Thanks."
Marcus approached Mihawk and once they were thirty feet apart Mihawk said, "I heard you fought Doflamingo."
"Twice."
"And you lost."
"Both times… But I heard he hasn't really been seen since."
Mihawk nodded once as he said, "You injured him severely and he just recovered fully from my understanding… He thinks you're dead by the way."
A vicious grin played across Marcus's face as he said, "Good, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees me again."
"You should be careful, Doflamingo won't be so reckless next time."
Marcus let out a dark chuckle before he said, "Don't worry, I plan to be the last thing he ever sees."
"I'm not worried, it would just be regretful if you died before you reached your full potential… It's hard to find worthy opponents."
"I'm sure Zoro and Kuina will be able to give you a challenge sooner or later."
Mihawk grabbed his sword and slowly drew it as he said, "Those two… They showed promise, but I'm not here to discuss them."
Marcus drew his own sword as he said, "It's been a while since we last sparred."
"Hopefully you improved." Mihawk said just before he appeared in front of Marcus as he came down with an elegant overhead slash.
Marcus moved one step to the right as he raised his own sword to meet the attack. When the two blades touched, Marcus felt almost no pressure from the impact beside a gentle downward force. Marcus tilted his blade as he parried the attack to make it slide along his sword blade towards the ground. Mihawk stopped the attack just short of hitting the ground, but an invisible pressure wave exploded the ground around them and created a trench a few hundred feet long.
Marcus barely dodged the explosion and paused for a moment as he asked, "Not going easy on me at all, are you?"
"The only way to test you is to find your limits and push you past them." Mihawk said as he appeared next to Marcus again as he attempted to bisect him with a horizontal slash.
Marcus jumped and used his sword against Mihawk's to help clear the attack and flip over his blade. He landed off balance from the momentum, but used it to help him slash towards Mihawk with an attack of his own. Mihawk shifted one foot backwards and easily dodged the blow before he shifted his weight and swung his sword back towards Marcus. Marcus jumped over the attack again with the same trick but turned his flip into an overhead slash before he even landed.
Mihawk twisted his sword and easily blocked the attack with its large cross guard as he asked, "I expected more, is this the best you can do now?"
Marcus didn't respond but his after image disappeared a moment later and he flickered around Mihawk as he unleashed a barrage of attacks. Mihawk moved with absolutely no wasted movements and easily countered or blocked everything Marcus sent towards him. It almost looked like a dance to everyone watching when Mihawk moved and countered. Marcus, undeterred by how effortless he was blocked, kept going and continued to pick up speed.
At some point Marcus was moving so fast it looked like four copies of him were attacking Mihawk at the same time. Mihawk lips curled the tiniest bit upwards as he parried all of the attacks and said, "That was almost good, now show me what else you've got."
As Yamato and the others watched the fight progress, she narrowed her eyes and studied Marcus's movements. They were ones she saw before when they fought each other, but they were even faster now and without haki she wouldn't be able to keep up. Even now, she knew she was too slow compared to Marcus who only seemed to speed up as the fight continued. At one point it looked like Marcus was standing in ten places all at the same time while Mihawk easily deflected every attack before he sent Marcus flying.
Marcus flipped through the air a few times before he could stop himself and immediately found Mihawk in front of him attacking. From that point on it was no longer Marcus attacking, but him being attacked by Mihawk who sent him flying with each attack. Marcus was barely able to block or parry each new attack, as he was tossed around like a rag doll over the next hour. By the end of it, Marcus ended up blooded and bruised with Mihawk's sword resting above his neck.
Mihawk removed the blade and sheathed it as he said, "You've improved, but you're still lacking. Your speed is impressive for your age, but you haven't matured so your strength is currently underwhelming."
"If you can stay alive long enough to reach maturity, you might end up being a worthy opponent." Mihawk said with an expressionless face before he turned around and walked away.
Marcus was too beat up to do more than grunt in response before he passed out. When he woke up it was already the next day and he found himself in the med bay of the Red Force. He was covered in bandages and had a couple of fluid bags connected to his arm which caused him to frown. Marcus glanced around the room, and when he found it empty he decided to get up. After pulling out the iv lines and tossing on some clothes he found set next to his bed, he stumbled out of the room looking for food.
It didn't take long for Marcus to run into other crew members, a few of which told him he should be resting. Marcus waved them off and headed up stairs to the gang plank before he ran into Hongo. Hongo stepped in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest and asked, "And just where do you think you're going?"
"To eat."
"No, you need bed rest, fluids and time to recover."
Marcus shook his head as he said, "I know my body, I need food and I'll be fine by tomorrow."
"As your doctor, I won't allow it."
Marcus started to walk past him as he said, "I appreciate what you tried to do, but I'm not part of the crew and I never asked for your help to begin with. So don't try to treat me like Shanks and the others."
Hongo reached out to grab Marcus and his hand passed through an after image, while Marcus landed on the dock below and yelled out, "Just leave it be doc, I'm not gonna listen to you on this."
Hongo watched Marcus walk away before he let out a sigh and said to himself, "See if I help you next time you little brat."
Marcus made it to the bar where he devoured a bunch of food while he talked with Shanks who was happily drinking. Mihawk was already gone. He left shortly after beating Marcus up. Whether he had something to do or didn't want to be annoyed by Uta and Baby 5, who were berating him for beating up Marcus was anyone's guess. But Mihawk only stayed for a drink before he left a message for Marcus which said, "Seek me out once you've become a true master swordsman, then we will have a proper fight."