[Marcus and Dellapero] THE BATTLE FOR LONDON (MAIN STORYLINE EVENT)

Marcus watched the scene unfold not but moments after his own arrival, several others had arrived, both against and aligned with this invading horde. But, the greatest relief was certainly in that of the arrival of others as strong or stronger than himself to fight the women who had approached that he himself could not combat, not for the gaps in power, but instead for their gender. No matter the corruption, no matter how cruel or evil, he could never stomach the idea, of causing harm to a woman. It was a damnable factor of his personality at times, having led to near-death experiences many a time before, but it was a choice dictated by his own moral path. But, there was certainly an enemy he could fight, the Espada before him, this man who had revealed himself as Dellapero, an Espada whose number was, in fact, higher than the faded numero he himself had tattooed upon his chest. A pity though, as it was, this Espada before him was no stronger than he himself, thus, this Espada was already weaker than he himself. In all his rage, Marcus spared himself a silent musing of smug amusement. If there was a foe this Espada could have ever been so unlucky as to fight, it was certainly he himself, Marcus, he who was once titled the Legionairre King. Burning hues of rage stared holes through this man named Dellapero, a soul piercing gaze that held within it a handful of millenias' worth of knowledge, experience and horrors. This Espada before him, would either die, or see the light of his ways this day under the might of his own iron fist.

"Your dedication to everything but yourself does only enough to announce your weaknesses to the world....Dellapero. Prepare yourself and may you die a good death this day."

Gladiatoral courtesies were recognized, and the battle was to start, a thunderous crack of sonido carrying Marcus across battlefield before Dellapero, one hand releasing a blast of crimson tide cero upon the Espada before an additional cero made the man vanish once more, behind and ever so slightly below Dellapero's position, extending his arm and releasing the second blast of cero so as to lessen a chance of total escape, two cero approaching a single point at different angles, preventing most all routes from the very start. Yes, Marcus would draw blood this day, this Espada before him would learn the meaning of power, of honor, and of the consequences of the revel in the deaths of others. Again, Marcus carried himself away, retreating from his own cero in an instant so as to prevent any possible backlash effect from the blasts reaching him, appearing well off to the left Dellapero's position.

Marcus watched with a silent gaze, hues searching and scanning through the crimson particles of energy that littered the atmosphere, his reiatsu pulsing to its absolute limit from the very beginning, the faintest of smirks ever present on his face as he remembered the full effects of merely standing in his presence, this arrancar before him, this man who claimed himself an Espada and powerful, would only find himself weakened before the presence of the man who was rightful heir to the throne that leads the hollow race, the man who had suffered under the weight of leadership so as to recreate their hollow world into something greater. Yes, Dellapero would feel that weight upon his own shoulders as he felt the very reiatsu which gave him power was weakened, that iron hard hierro so many prided themselves in, those lusterious steps of sonido and so many other reiatsu or reiryoku based techniques found weak in the presence of this man known as Marcus. In the truth of it, the entire circumstance seemed almost unfair, had Dellapero only been stronger than he in the slightest, then maybe he would've had something of a valuable chance. But now, Marcus, the arrancar that stood with no visible zanpakuto, was all but guaranteed his victory, no matter the strategy, this Espada would come to realize, all of the world's chaos would bow before the might of this arrancar with the faded number.

"Soka?"

A curious gaze followed Dellapero's movements, the moment's between the cero blast thrown and the after image created already leading to the typical measure, an attack from behind. Marcus spun on his heel, hand reaching out open palm, intercepting Dellapero's own punch and halting its progression with a flex of the arm, his hand glowing crimson once more and releasing a sudden bala strike from the same hand, aiming to rip Dellapero's own hand off from the small explosion bound to result if the man were foolish enough not to retreat or counter. Marcus eyed the Espada with smug intent, the venom on his voice dripping like a seething ooze as he spoke. "So predictable, the lot of you..." Marcus lept back from the man, his powers still raging at the full of their height, his brow furrowed to a frown. "...simply rush away from the attack and attempt an attack from behind. Such is all the lot of you do, it grows boring after the first few hundred times or so." Marcus lept forward again, his steps carrying him directly in front of Dellapero before he pushed himself into an airborne flip directly over Dellapero, his hands pushing forward, releasing a quick pair of Bala downward at the Espada before Marcus "landed" and stepped backwards once more away from Dellapero, his sensories reaching around him just as his reiatsu pulsed about him.

He felt the muscles in his right arm, the feeling of the pressure placed upon his arm by Dellapero's own punch, even limited, the Espada showed a moderate deal of strength, enough to come just short of matching his own physical strength while the Espada before him was under the stress of his reiatsu. A quick mind thought in the solitude of his own self, measuring the strength used, where it was aimed and the manner in which Dellapero attacked. There was no use of reiatsu beyond that of his sonido, only a physical attack assisted by the speed of a sonido. Perhaps it was simply careful fighting, or maybe this man before him was the physical sort? It was far too early to say, but, even as Dellapero himself were hoping to assess the man known as Marcus, Marcus himself was assessing the enemy, his stance straightened to a proper height, the seven and some change foot man reaching a height above Dellapero's own with relative ease.

With a casual look, Marcus' arms crossed, a look less than impressed visible on his face as he scolded the Espada before him with a tone best suited for the strict father. [color=steelblue]"If this is the capability of the Tercero, then I was mistaken in believing you held any sort of capability..." Powerful hues watched after Dellapero's location with a raised brow, signs of a smug smirk present at the corner of his face as he thought. The Espada before him was physically impressive so far, but far too simplistic as it was. One did not return a cero with a punch, one does not attempt an escape and mediocre attack from behind unless they themselves know their enemy has not a chance of tracking their movements in the slightest. The boy was inexperienced from first impressions, and such was a disappointing one at best.

"A key factor in combat, do not seek to strike your opponent from behind with a single fell blow unless one of two conditions are fulfilled..." Marcus raised his right hand, his pointer and index fingers extended and presented in the hand form of the number '2'. "...One, the enemy is far weaker than yourself and you harbor the full advantage in speed and power. Or two...you are weaker than your enemy and have blinded or lessened their movement capabilities to the point of lessening their reaction time. Otherwise? Well...otherwise you've drawn yourself closer to an enemy who has already displayed a capability in the ways of reiatsu, making yourself the easier target." Marcus' arms folded once more as he continued to reprimand the Espada before him. "As an Espada, I would hope you were more accustomed to combat so as to not make such a mistake."

The Espada attempted a counter, but it seemed Marcus' own movements had drawn him naturally away from the uppercut Dellapero had intended for his nose. So far, the Espada was not impressive in any sort of manner, true, he held a quickness and physical strength about him, but such was all that was displayed in the presence of Marcus. He watched in silence, listened in silence, and readied in silence as Dellapero brought his retort, a stupid sounding child he was. Like all Espada, past, present and future, he claimed to have a higher plan, to have intended everything that truly was a mistake or misjudgment on their part, but such was the product of their arrogance as Espada, despicable beings that they were. But, as pathetic as this man's existence was, he was still before him as if he were a challenge, if such were the levels of power this Espada displayed outside of his release, then he wanted only to see the man release. Then again, as it stood, Dellapero had shown no dependency on reiatsu based techniques, but instead, he resorted solely to small tests and shows of physical attributes. A common man unfamiliar with combat knew this game, it was most likely that the Espada were attempting to draw from Marcus every ounce of fighting style and information from the man before truly dedicating himself to the fight. So, the question remained, how would he approach the man?

A keen eye glimpsed after the effects from the point blank bala that had torn at the flesh of Dellapero's hand. Hierro was indeed an impressive thing, but, at this Espada's level, an average arrancar's arm would have been ripped through, especially under the stress of Marcus' own reiatsu (hierro is limited by 15% as well). But, this arrancar's arm shown only signs of moderate burns and cuts, it seemed that a specialty was revealed, the arrancar's revealed preference, was hierro. At least, that was one preference. Rare it was to find an arrancar that invested so heavily in their hierro unless they themselves were beings of nothing more than physical power, often sacrificing the bulk of their reiatsu capabilities in favor of raw power and speed. It made sense, but, it seemed that Dellapero had made one recognizable mistake in his growth as an arrancar, he did not retain the ability to regenerate. Such usefull information and all from a simple bala at point blank.

Marcus nearly mused to himself over the revalation, at least he wouldn't have to worry about the man regenerating limbs. A smug glare present, he decided that a reliance on his reiatsu would be best suited, to force the Espada into a realm of comfort, to make him see that his power was in cero. Forward charge and leap led Marcus to arrive with hip at head level of Dellapero, hop cocked with leg swinging forward, a kick filled with every ounce of speed and power aimed for Dellapero's head, to crack the skull and to weaken the man. Pushing from his location, Marcus' body performed a half-ways flip from his current location, arm extending downward at the ground, posting itself as his wrist turned once more, Marcus' opposite arm suddenly swinging cross-ways towards Dellapero. A whisper of "Rasgar" and a sudden burst from his hand let loose the deadly reiatsu that would rend through flesh and bone, even through the weakened hierro of this Espada before him. And Marcus gave no time for counter, off of hand again he pushed himself backwards, landing on his feet once more, looking upon where Dellapero was at the moment of attack and senses ready to determine from where he would approach if the attack itself was deflected or dodged.

"If you think yourself capable, I recommend you prove so soon. I will warn, I've not yet met one of yours that can match my cero. And if you've yet to notice, your body is breaking, reiatsu is weakening. By stepping foot towards me, you have signed the first underline of your acceptance of failure."

Marcus watched in silence, it seemed as though Dellapero was finally ready to rise to the occassion, the Espada falling back so as to release his zanpakuto, a true pity as it was, the Espada was rushing things to an unnecessary level, rather, in releasing, he would press Marcus himself to release, as things stood, and as Dellapero exhibited, to battle brute force against a man whose true capabilities existed around the art of negation and deception, it was most unwise. But, it was as it was, he could not stop the arrancar from releasing his "power" now, the choice was made, and Dellapero began the playing of his supposed trump cards early in the game, the time that came and went between them was short, and the timing was strange in the hour of the release. He could but assume one thing, the Espada was most uncomfortable in Marcus' presence, to have damaged his hierro so easily and so early, it must have been unsettling for the youth, but Marcus, he simply stood and watch in silence, his look of stoic and unfazed presence ever present in his stance and words.

"You disappoint me yet again Espada, he who is quick to reveal is also he who is quick to lose."

Reprimand, it was a skill of his, both verbal and physical, perhaps it was time for the youth to suffer the physical. After all, at this point, no matter how fast or strong the youth's body became, he still came subject to the might of Marcus' reiatsu, to the taint that his body created, and to the fact that, no matter the gain, as it was, his movements, his body, and all of his attributes would remain in the area of manageable. So, Dellapero may have considered his actions honorable in waiting for Marcus to release his zanpakuto, the one that, for some reason, was not present to the eye. But, he would not have it, this Espada had yet to present a skill or reason to qualify for such massive amounts of force. Instead, Marcus would fight him as he was. Perhaps now, brute strength and such was on the side of Dellapero, but was cunning? If the man were so forward, it was not likely. Marcus vanished from his position, a sonido faster than even Dellapero himself could muster bringing the man to an unknown location, senses would have been wild, the presence of Marcus' reiatsu abounding with a sudden increase, just as Marcus himself appeared to the left, his hand brought before Dellapero's face, palm cut and indigo energies screaming their deadly hymn "You are weak...Gran Ray..." Marcus looked upon Dellaper's form with a look of wicked disgust for the man's existence, a sarcastic hint of a smirk present on his face. "...Cero"

The wave of point blank Gran Ray awashed over Dellapero's location, the full expanse of Marcus' powers undeniable, his mastery over that which was cero oh so clear, his affinity for raw destruction obvious. No matter the strength of that Espada's hierro, in the presence of a man who fought against Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez and drew blood and bone, Dellapero's physical defense could have no answer in the way of brute strength. Yes, it was a power that would scald, boil, even incinerate the man's body if he took the full of it without a matter of true deflection or lessening the blast. But, Marcus was not done, he stepped back from the blast itself, arms extended before him as a hail of bala stormed down and throughout the air surrounding the edges of the Gran Ray, refusing to give easy escape to the Espada if he were even so capable as to muster it. Yes, if Dellapero were to attempt to escape, it would not be unscathed, or rather, it would not be so easy to do so, the routes were closed, and the evidence of Marcus' power was ever so prevalent, the mass of his reiatsu stores still oh so filled with an entire fight's worth. If Dellapero were to dwindle this man's stores, he would have to do so quickly, for Marcus mused at his own power and at the pity to be had for the Espada and their Tercero who was most assuredly going to lose this battle.