Marcus's conqueror's haki clashed against Doflamingo's for a few seconds before it was pushed back. Unlike the first time it wasn't completely crushed, but it definitely wasn't an even fight. As soon as Marcus felt his conqueror's haki stabilize and not be completely dominated like last time, a feral grin played across his face. A moment later the ground around Marcus exploded as he disappeared.
Doflamingo's eyes widened behind his glasses as his arms whipped forward with haki coated strings. Sparks flew through the air as Marcus's sword clashed against the strings only inches from Doflamingo's neck. Veins bulged along his forehead as Doflamingo snarled, "You think you can kill me, brat?!?"
Marcus smirked as he said, "It was worth a shot."
Doflamingo sneered as he swung both hands downwards and forced Marcus to retreat. As soon as Marcus touched the ground he sheathed his sword while Doflamingo whipped his hands towards Marcus's new position. Marcus's breathing settled into his breathing technique as he adjusted his grip on his sword and concentrated some conqueror's haki into his blade.
As Doflamingo's strings crashed down towards Marcus, his eyes narrowed and his muscles tensed as he whispered, "Thunderclap and flash tenfold!"
Doflamingo's strings ripped through Marcus's after image as the ground cratered where he just stood. At almost the same time Doflamingo dodged to the side as a bloody gash opened across his chest. Doflamingo's whole body blurred for a few seconds as he attempted to dodge, block and parry Marcus's relentless assault with his conqueror's haki infused sword. During those same few seconds the ground around Doflamingo exploded from the backlash of Marcus's attacks and became a massive crater.
When Marcus finished his attack he reappeared at the edge of the crater breathing heavily from the strain the move just put on him. Doflamingo meanwhile was covered with a handful of gashes across his upper body and arms. Doflamingo's gaze was laser focused on Marcus while strings appeared from his body and stitched all of his wounds back together as he said in a deadly tone, "Now I'm really going to kill you."
Marcus's breathing settled at the same time as Doflamingo recovered before his whole body tensed up while he took on a new sword stance as he said, "Let's see if you still have that ability."
Marcus's sword streaked forward covered in conqueror's haki as he launched an attack similar to divine departure but also different before he followed along behind it. Doflamingo's eyes widened and his right arm whipped upwards as he yelled, "OVERHEAT!"
Doflamingo's attack erupted from his palm so fast that the thick string turned fiery orange and caught fire from the air friction as it sped towards Marcus's attack. The two attacks collided and time seemed to freeze for a few moments before the attacks destroyed each other and caused a massive explosion. Nicholas, who was over a few hundred yards away, was thrown off his feet along with Doflamingo's string clone.
Nicholas recovered almost immediately by using his geppo and landed on his feet as a pressure wave slammed into him next. He glanced in the direction of Marcus's fight and caught a glance of him locked in battle with Doflamingo before he dodged to the side as a string shot past his head. Nicholas narrowed his eyes as he refocused back on his own enemy.
Doflamingo, wary of Marcus's strength, did everything to keep him out of attack range by constantly attacking him with strings. It worked for a while but Marcus managed to blow past his guard a few times and land shallow wounds that were quickly healed by his strings. Their fight ended up in basically a stalemate for over ten minutes as Nicholas struggled against Doflamingo's string clone.
Nicholas was currently covered in tiny gashes that slipped through his haki. He wouldn't be injured at all if he wasn't trying to conserve his stamina. But he honestly had no idea if he would be able to even win against this clone, so he was trying to last as long as possible for help to arrive. Even if J wasn't able to contact anyone for help, Nicholas was positive his Commander would show up once he heard about this commotion.
Nicholas gritted his teeth as he charged in under strings that shot towards him as he dodged and weaved his way towards the string clone. A handful of attacks landed glancing blows, but Nicholas's haki protected him from any serious injuries. When he reached striking distance, Nicholas's haki coated arms stuck out in a quick combo of punches as he pummeled his enemy. The blows forced the string clone backwards and even caused it to deform slightly under the powerful blows.
Before Nicholas could properly press forward with his attack, the clone kicked out with a powerful attack of its own. Nicholas was forced to block the attack with both arms, but that allowed the string clone to gain some distance as it threw out more string attacks. Nicholas dodged most of the attacks before he charged in again, trying to close the distance for another attack.
As both of them were fighting J was having a panic attack since the first number didn't answer when he called it and neither did the second. He tried both of them a few times, but whoever they were didn't seem to be near their snails at the moment. After the fourth failed attempt, J glanced at the third number as he heard what sounded like explosions going off in the distance.
J quickly dialed the third number while it sounded like the world was ending outside. As J waited for someone to answer the phone, he hesitantly glanced towards the area where Marcus and Nicholas were fighting and more explosion-like sounds went off. On the fifth ring the line finally connected as an older man asked, "What do you want, brat?"
"Help! We need help!" J said in a panicked tone.
"Huh? You're not that brat Marcus… Who is this?"
"I'm J, Marcus told me to call you and tell you we're in grove thirteen of Sabaody Archipelago and he needs help! Doflamingo is trying to kill him and Nicholas!" J said his voice in a much higher pitch than normal.
"Doflamingo… Marcus should be able to handle him." The man said through what sounded like a mouth full of food."
"But it's Doflamingo!"
"Bah, I could smash that idiot with a single hit, Marcus should be fine… Anyways, only call me back if he doesn't win."
J stared at the den den mushi with widened eyes as he yelled out, "Wouldn't that be too late, won't he be dead by then!?!"
"If he really dies, I'll beat the life back into him… But I guess I can have someone go check on him just in case." The man said before the line went dead.
"Hello? Hello?!?"
J's eyes widened as he stared at the snail for a few moments before he shook his head and hung it up. After a moment he glanced at the last number on the paper Marcus gave him. He stared at it for a few moments wondering if he should call it before a massive shock wave caused the ship to tilt past forty five degrees. J was thrown off his feet and barely stopped himself from slamming his head into the ceiling. As the water and the ship settled back down J scrambled for the den den mushi and dialed the last number.
Back on the island after the massive shock wave passed, Nicholas glanced in the direction it came from for a split second. Unfortunately he couldn't make out anything from that direction because of the large dust cloud in the way. Inside that cloud of dust Marcus was locked in a fierce fight with Doflamingo as they both launched powerful attacks at each other. Back and forth they traded blows with neither person gaining an upper hand.
Any attack Marcus landed was almost instantly healed by Doflamingo as his strings stitched his body back together. Doflamingo on the other hand found that his normal attacks were easily cut down by Marcus. As for his more powerful attacks, they couldn't really be blocked or cut down, but Marcus was fast enough that he could dodge almost all of them. Over half an hour passed and the longer it went, the more Doflamingo grew agitated.
Not only was it a blow to his pride that he couldn't handle a literal child, but it was also the fact Marcus improved so much in a short time. In just over a year the brat had gone from being completely thrashed in minutes to almost fighting him on an equal level. Sure his conqueror's haki still overpowered the boy's, but he could feel it as they fought and it was growing at an alarming rate.
Doflamingo also wasn't fighting against Marcus using his full power either, which just made everything that much worse. He was Donquixote Doflamingo, a god descended from the heavens. He shouldn't need to use his full power to crush some slave that doesn't know his place!
Doflamingo's anger peaked and he started to attack Marcus with ruthless abandon pushing him back. As Marcus was finally forced to go on the defensive, Nicholas was being pushed to his limits against the clone. He wasn't losing, but he definitely wasn't winning either. As Doflamingo lost control of his emotions, his string clone started to suffer and Nicholas found an opportunity.
Nicholas quickly dodged another incoming attack as he slipped underneath it before he charged closer. Nicholas dodged and weaved through a handful of attacks before he appeared in front of the clone and landed a devastating upper cut.
The clone's head snapped backwards and Nicholas even saw the strings holding it together start to snap from the powerful blow. Nicholas quickly pressed his advantage as he landed punch after punch on the clone's head as it tried to respond. Slowly more strings started to break and the clone itself lost more of its power before Nicholas was able to knock its head off completely.
The head fell to the ground and turned into a pile of strings as the body itself fell backwards onto the ground but didn't collapse into strings. Nicholas glanced down at the clone for a few seconds before he turned towards Marcus's fight as he tried to catch his breath and recover some of his haki. Nicholas couldn't see much of the fight but sometimes he would catch a glimpse through the dust and debris of Marcus as he clashed against Doflamingo.
Just as Nicholas caught his breath, his observation haki flared up and he dodged to the side. A thick string pierced his shoulder from behind and shot out near his collarbone. Nicholas coughed up a little blood as he took hold of the string with his haki coated hands and ripped it out of his body as he turned around in a defensive stance. The clone's arm was still pointed where Nicholas just stood and without his last minute dodge it's attack would have easily gone through his heart.
Nicholas frowned slightly as the clone attempted to stand back up before he quickly rushed towards it. The clone tried to defend itself but its movements were uncoordinated and jerky as it attacked from the ground. Nicholas easily dodged everything before he used his haki coated feet to kick its arms out of the way as he jumped on its chest. As he stood on the clone's chest he reached out before he grabbed both arms and pulled with all of his adrenaline filled might.
After a few seconds, tearing sounds filled the immediate area as Nicholas ripped the clone's arms off. Once fully removed from the main body, the arms quickly turned into strings as they collapsed. Nicholas then did the same thing to the clone's legs before he pulled the torso apart and the whole thing finally collapsed into strings.
Nicholas took a couple minutes to recover as he tore off his shirt and used it as a makeshift bandage. Once finished he took ten minutes to recover as much stamina as possible before he headed towards Marcus's fight and found that the ground looked like a battlefield. Craters covered the entire area and new ones would quickly form as Marcus clashed against Doflamingo.
Nicholas took a few moments to assess the situation before he moved behind Doflamingo and used the current terrain to move closer. At first he thought Doflamingo didn't notice him, but once he passed a certain distance, Doflamingo started sending basic attacks to hamper his ability to move freely. Pinned down, Nicholas could only watch as he waited for the perfect opportunity to attack.