Yamato traded blows with Marcus for over an hour straight while people started to wander over and watch. It was an unending barrage of punches from both sides as they used raw strength and a bit of haki on their fists. Each punch sounded like a hammer blow when it pounded against an anvil which is what first drew people's attention. But once they realized it was a fight, people moved over to watch and bet on the outcome.
The fight slowly increased in power and speed as it went on as both of them tested each other. They also started using more haki and after another hour the two of them were almost going all out. Neither one took the lead in the fight and it was relatively even for now, but the people watching were forced to move back. Each punch they threw at each other created gusts of wind and even left groves in the ground.
Marcus was having a great time finally fighting with someone who could match his physical strength after so long. Sentomaru gave him some good spars because of his haki mastery, but his physical strength lagged behind Marcus by a good bit. Yamato on the other hand seemed to have strength to spare as she would match or even increase the power of her counterattacks against Marcus.
Marcus wasn't sure if it was just her body or the amount of training she did. But he was definitely surprised when he finally reached his full power and Yamato matched it without issue. Thankfully she didn't push past that amount of power, so either she was being nice or she was also at the current limit of her physical strength.
They traded blows like that for at least another hour as more people came out to watch. There were even a couple of giants who took a seat off to the side and were watching the fight as they happily drank. As for the normal people, some had set up an area away from the fight where they served food and drinks. Because apparently Marcus and Yamato fighting was the best entertainment to watch right now.
At some point, Yamato finally got frustrated with the stalemate and retreated to grab her weapon. When she picked it up, some people cheered while others boo'd since they lost a bet about who would use a weapon first. Marcus braced himself as the first blow with her kanabo flew towards him. He struck out with his fist to counter and while he stopped the blow. It still forced him back five feet and the only reason he wasn't sent flying was the trench his feet dug into the ground. Marcus's blood was thundering in his ears by this point and he let out a crazy laugh similar to Garp's as he met her weapon with his fists again.
With Yamato using a weapon, Marcus was finally put on the back foot. But he used her new found slowness to his advantage as he easily dodged the slower attacks instead of countering. When he did that he would move closer and land a couple solid hits against her that she tanked with her body and haki.
Yamato wasn't the only one taking hits though, as she landed a couple decent blows against Marcus that staggered him. One of them even sent him flying and he just barely missed slamming into the crowd of gathered people. Even with the added weapon, Yamato wasn't strong enough to beat Marcus or make him draw his sword. Marcus on the other hand also couldn't win with just his fists against Yamato and her kanabo. But he wasn't disappointed though as he just found it as another form of training as they beat the shit out of each other.
It wasn't until the sun started to set that Marcus attempted to end the fight as he said, "Alright, lets call it a draw."
"But you didn't even use your sword."
"And you didn't use your devil fruit, so let's call it a draw and go eat." Marcus said as he blocked another incoming attack.
"No, we fight till there's a winner."
Yamato shifted into her half beast form and the still gathered crowd cheered in the distance as she hit Marcus and set him flying. Switching to her hybrid form boosted her strength dramatically and it caught Marcus off guard which turned him into a human baseball. Yamato let out a triumph roar as Marcus flew into the distance. Marcus spun through the air for a few moments stunned before he was able to use geppo to stop himself and found he was almost a mile away from Yamato as he landed on the ground.
"So you wanna play like that, huh?" Marcus said to himself as he cracked his knuckles before he disappeared from view.
Marcus flashed across the ground like a ghost as he used soru at full strength. Within a few seconds he appeared in front of Yamato and punched her with everything he had including the momentum from his charge. Yamato barely blocked the attack in time, but it lifted her off her feet and sent her flying. Yamato flipped over once before she swung her kanabo into the ground which helped to stop her as it created a small trench.
Yamato's smile was feral on her wolf face as she lifted her kanabo up onto her shoulder before she said, "Now we can really fight!"
Marcus appeared in front of Yamato again after she spoke and threw an uppercut this time. Yamato intercepted the punch with her left elbow as she swung her kanabo down on Marcus's head. Dirt and debris exploded around them as her kanabo slammed into the ground by Marcus when he stomped it into the ground after he landed on it. Marcus rushed up her weapon and punched her in the face which she blocked with a headbutt.
A new round of fighting ensued as Marcus used speed to try and match Yamato's strength. It helped him dodge most of her attacks and land a good amount of blows. But for every ten attacks he landed, Yamato was able to retaliate with a solid blow which easily outweighed any damage Marcus caused to her. They traded like that as the sky darkened and after a while Marcus realized he would lose unless he used his sword.
After a few more exchanges, Marcus retreated and finally gripped his sword as he murmured, "Thunder clap-"
The ground around him exploded as he launched himself towards Yamato like a lightning bolt. Yamato brought her weapon up to block but Marcus bypassed it with his speed before the edge of his sword was touching her throat. Marcus pulled his sword away as he said, "Let's call it here before one of us gets seriously hurt."
Yamato's eyes narrowed as she said, "I blocked that with haki."
"And I didn't use haki."
Conqueror's haki exploded out of Yamato as she said, "I said we will fight till there's a winner!"
Marcus felt the suppression of her haki for a moment before he unleashed his own conqueror's haki and they clashed against each other. Pirates off in the distance started to collapse as the sky above split apart and Yamato attacked again. Marcus parried the heavy attack before he slid past her weapon that he forced to the side. When he arrived in front of Yamato his sword blurred as he attacked without restraint. She tanked all of the hits with haki and her body, while Marcus made sure not to cut her since he long learned how to control what he cut.
The battle erupted into a whole new round of violence as people still conscious cheered in the distance. Marcus with his sword easily pushed Yamato back this time and she couldn't even land a single blow as he dominated her completely. As they fought their conqueror's haki clashed repeatedly, but while Marcus sensed his conqueror's haki was stronger, he never used it to his advantage. Instead he trained her like Rayleigh trained him, barely overwhelming her with it until she adapted to it.
The sky had long fallen dark and the people watching lit big bonfires as the two continued to clash. While Marcus knew he could end it at any point by now, he was having a lot of fun and decided to see how long Yamato would last. The fight continued the entire night and as the sunrise approached, both of them were still fiercely fighting. Even though they fought through the night, their audience never left and even grew in numbers. As for the people who passed out, they either woke up after a while or were dragged off to recover.
The area where they fought was completely ruined by this point, filled with craters, rubble and trenches from sword slashes. Yamato and Marcus traded blows in the middle of it all covered in sweat and bruises. As they clashed, Marcus's laughter filled the air whenever Yamato landed a blow against him before he would counter with a few of his own.
It was around noon when Marcus finally decided to end the fight because he was more hungry than interested in having fun. Marcus gained distance from Yamato before he took a stance and prepared a flying slash as she charged towards him. After he launched the attack, Marcus sheathed his sword as he followed behind its wake. When Yamato swung her kanabo to block the attack, Marcus moved underneath the clash and unleashed a devastating punch filled with advanced armament haki.
The punch was like nothing Yamato had felt before and it knocked the wind out of her and caused her to drop to one knee. Before she could catch her breath or even recover, Marcus hit her in the temple with a weaker version of the punch that knocked her out. Yamato reverted to her human form as Marcus caught the taller woman in his arms while half the crowd cheered and half of them boo'd. Marcus paid them no mind as he tossed Yamato over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and picked up her weapon with his free hand.
When Marcus approached the crowd of pirates and the bar, a bunch of them approached to congratulate him. He nodded to them in return but didn't say much else as he made his way towards the bar entrance and entered it. While the building was made for giants, they created an entire area for normal sized people. It was raised off the ground and after entering the normal sized doors, Marcus was greeted by an elevator. The elevator carried Marcus, Yamato and a bunch of people who were congratulating him up to a platform that put them around mid height for the giants.
The area was actually set up on the main bar the giants used, but was set up for humans. There were other similar areas around the bar where humans could hang out, but the bar top area seemed to be the main spot as far as Marcus could tell. Marcus moved towards an empty table and placed Yamato in a chair slumped against the table before he sat down as people tried to talk to him. Marcus glanced over all the pirates around him before he finally said, "Thanks, but we don't wanna join any crew. We just wanna eat while we wait for Shanks."
As soon as Marcus said that, the offers to join pirate crews immediately stopped and besides a few people coming over to congratulate him. Most people left him alone and he was finally able to order food from a human waiter. Marcus placed a large order that would easily fill up two or three tables, but the woman didn't even blink as she left to put in the order. Marcus didn't try to wake up Yamato when the food arrived and dug in alone instead.
Yamato did wake up though not long after Marcus finished off his second plate of food. She looked around in confusion for a few moments before her eyes landed on Marcus and they narrowed as she said, "You could have won at any time…"
"Pretty much, but honestly you were a lot stronger than I thought. If you knew advanced haki techniques you probably could have won." Marcus said with a smile as he pushed a plate of food towards Yamato and she started to eat as they talked.
The two of them spent the next hour devouring food as they talked about the fight and fighting techniques in general. When they finished eating and were relaxing while drinking tea, the waiter came over and asked, "How would you like to pay for the meal?"
Marcus glanced around the room for a moment as he thought about capturing one of the pirates for their bounty when two familiar voices yelled, "Marcus!"
Yamato and most of the bar turned towards the voices and found two girls running towards Marcus. Behind the girls stood Shanks and part of his crew which made Marcus smile before he pointed at Shanks and said, "Put it on Shanks's tab."
A moment later the two girls slammed into Marcus who stood up to greet them and he was almost knocked off his feet. They both hugged him in death grips as Uta said, "Jasmine said you looked dead the last time she saw you!"
"Jasmine?" Marcus asked in confusion before another voice said, "Hey Marcus."
Marcus looked up to find a slightly familiar, yet unfamiliar face as he asked, "J?"