A/N: for those wondering Marius and Cassandras armor pieces, Marius has Emmie arms, steel watcher helm, and nobright chest, and a crimson crest ornament, Cassandra, is still to be decided, i dont actually play PK much so i do not know the armor peice names, but im open to suggestions, i have an armor design for marius on one of my Lawbringer loadouts, so sooner or later ill get a screenshot for you guys

"speech"

'thought'

"latin, probably"

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"Haku, I want you maintain a mid-strength Mist jutsu."

"Zabuza-sama?"

"I'm going to test our newcomer, and the less outside interference we have, the better." Nodding, Haku makes a few handsigns. As he does this, Zabuza let's out his killing intent to disperse the crowd.

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Marius was getting ready to leave when he notices a thin mist blanketing the area, eliminating visibility in at least half the square he was standing in. What really put him on guard was the large crowd suddenly screaming and scattering. A lone figure with a massive sword on his back walked into view.

"Glad I could steal you away for a moment, that was quite the show you put on there, an armored man showing up out of the blue and enforcing law in a lawless village. Who are you anyway?"

"It's only common courtesy to give yours first," Marius said, while thinking, 'theres no way he could possibly use a weapon that big.'

"Fair enough, I am Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"Marius, a Lawbringer of the Iron Legion."

"You don't look any samurai from Iron country that I've ever seen."

"That's because I'm neither samurai nor from Iron country, I am a knight of Ashfeld."

"Ashfeld? Never heard of it."

"If my suspicions are correct, you never will, now down to buissness, what do you want?" Zabuza chuckles and draws his blade with one hand. 'What?! He can lift that weapon with one hand?!' Marius thought.

"I thought that was obvious."

"Fine, if you want to fight," Marius points his pole axe at Zabuza, "Then come get some." Zabuza rests the blade on his shoulder as he simply walks towards Marius. Marius however holds his ground. 'He's not charging me, probably wants to test my defense.' The moment Zabuza is within range, he two-hands his blade to bring down a powerful overhead slam, and Marius parries it.

'What? That blow should ha-' Zabuza's thoughts are cut off by Marius' light riposte which stuns him. With his blurred vision, he faintly sees Marius winding for an overhead slam of his own and attempts to dodge to the side, but he didn't expect Marius to feint the attack and suddenly grab him, paralyzing him at the touch. "What the-" is all he can say before Marius slams his blade into Zabuza's side before igniting and shoving him back. Marius attempts to follow the shove with a light, but Zabuza dodges back, forcing Marius to retake a neutral stance. "Not bad, thats some weapon you got, it should have been cleaved in half," he says.

"Your welcome," Marius says with a slight bow.

"Those flames, they don't burn, and that paralyzing jutsu you used on me, what is it?" Zabuza asks.

"Forgive me for answering a question with a question, but what is a jutsu?" Marius asks.

"You really aren't from around here, are you?"

"Truth be told I haven't the foggiest idea where I am," Marius replies before getting an idea. He starts walking backwards towards the pole.

"Whats the matter? Losing your nerve already?"

"Given what just happened, I should be asking you that question." Zabuza growls at that.

"Why you." Zabuza charges in with a quick side slash, which Marius easily blocks then quickly shoves Zabuza back again. Zabuza, expecting the shove to be followed with a light again, attempts to dodge to the side, only for Marius to guard break him again and throw him against the pole. Zabuza grunts at the impact.

"Nōn superstites!" Marius ignites again and drives the bottom of his axe into Zabuza's gut, knocking the wind out of him and flipping Zabuza over his shoulder, leaving him defenseless as he eats another side heavy, followed by a shove knocking Zabuza back again. Zabuza holds his ground as Marius follows up the shove with a top heavy, which Zabuza blocks, but makes him stumble slightly.

'Damn, he's strong!' Zabuza thought as Marius ignites, throwing the top executioner blow.

"Ad Mortem, Inimīcus!"

'Can't let that hit me!' Zabuza quickly jumps back causing Marius to whiff the attack. Marius then charges Zabuza, and attempts the Impaling charge on him, but Zabuza see it coming and blocks it, rendering Marius out of stamina, and Zabuza could tell by the heavy breathing. "Out of breath already? That spells your death sentence!" Zabuza was about to attack when Marius taps his pole axe into the ground, causing four transparent shields to surround him.

"*huff* just *huff* try it." Zabuza then goes on a relentless offensive, throwing blow after blow after blow. Marius does his best to block as he regains his stamina, but some attacks slip through his guard. 'I need to time this perfectly!'

'Whats going on? He's clearly taken a few of these blows head on, he should have lost a couple limbs by now, but his armor, it's barely getting scratched!' Zabuza thinks as he keeps up his assault of fast slashes.

'Just a little more, and, NOW!' Just as Marius regain his stamina, he parries one of Zabuza's light slashes, causing a slight burst of sparks. 'A light parry!' Marius ignites, "Ad Mortem, Inimīcus!" Zabuza is unable to recover in time to dodge the flaming axe being brought down on him. When it lands, it snaps through his collarbone and Zabuza drops his weapon. Marius pulls his axe out of Zabuza, who weakly attempts to punch him. Marius catches his fist, snaps his wrist, and spins him around placing him in a chokehold.

Right as Marius was about to snap Zabuza's neck, "ZABUZA-SAMA!" is all he hears before he takes a kick to the head out of nowhere, causing him to stumble and drop Zabuza. He turns to fight the newcomer, but the aggressor opts out to grab Zabuza and his sword and disappear before Marius can attack.

'What the? They're gone?' Marius notices the mist that was blanketing the area clears out. 'Just my luck.' With that, Marius sets off to meet up with Cassandra.

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Haku rushes to the hideout with Zabuza, bursting through the door and surprising the demon brothers.

"What in the? Haku? What happened to Zabuza!?" Gozu asks.

"Zabuza fought some armored behomoth that showed up in the village out of no where executing Gato's thugs." Haku says laying Zabuza down to tend to his wounds. "He's in very bad shape."

"What about the plan?" Meizu asks.

"It's still on, go kill the bridge builder, I'll stay behind to heal Zabuza."

"Alright, don't let him dies on us." Gozu says as he leaves with Meizu.

"He's not going to die, I won't let him die." Haku whispers to himself.

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Cassandra was waiting for Marius at the meeting point. "About time you got here, your late," she says in Latin, her hands on her hips to emphasize her annoyance.

"Sorry my love, I got a little sidetracked."

"Define sidetracked."

"A man with a sword bigger than you with more than enough strength to wield it, I was about to kill him, but he had a partner to save his life." Cassandra looks him up and down, taking note of his minor injuries.

"Doesn't seem like he was too much of a challenge for you."

"No, he wasn't, but something tells me that was only because he underestimated me, we should be more careful in the future." Cassandra thinks for a moment.

"Is it that much of a problem?" Marius nods. "Alright, I'll see if I can't do some snooping around later, maybe track him and his partner down, and kill them before they become a real threat."

"If you find them, your not taking them on without me."

"I can take care of myself thank you very much."

"Cassandra, I'm serious, I think he was way stronger than he let on, promise me you won't take them on without me."

"Marius I-" Marius cuts her off by grabbing her shoulder.

"Promise me." Seeing how serious he was being, she takes him at his word.

"Alright, I promise, now lets go, I'm sure you could use some rest." He nods and walks with her to Tsunami's house.

"Cassandra."

"Yes Marius?"

"Thank you." Cassandra smiles softly under her mask.

"Anything for you, my love."

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A/N: another day, another chapter, hope you enjoy