"You have to got to be fucking kidding me..." Grace whined as she turned around to discover the King Tajitu hissing in the forest behind her.

The Grimm wasted no time in attempting to kill the young huntress-in-training. The ebony snake head lunged forward, snapping open its mouth revealing its fangs.

Grace's eyes shot wide open when witnessing the Grimm's attack. Her left hand quickly reached towards her belt. She gripped her hidden blade, Ravensbane, ready to reveal the tactical ninjatō at any given moment.

Knowing full and well that she only had a split second to move, she launched herself out of the way, dodging the incoming bite. The Grimm dug it's fangs, splitting the towering evergreen behind her in half. She tucked her shoulder in, performing a combat-roll as she landed and took stance, avoiding the falling tree fragments and half-trunks.

A loud screech escaped the King Tajitu as it slithered to readjust itself to attack again. The Crimson eyes of the beast fixated onto Grace, hissing as it stalked her. The snake began circling around her, trying to ensure its prey doesn't escape.

Appearing still as stone, Grace gripped tighter to her short blade. She wasn't afraid of the creature of Grimm, though she appeared petrified. Most would be struck in fear and paralyzed to react. But Grace wasn't like most, she was trained as an assassin, an opportunist, waiting for the ideal time to strike. Smoke seeped through the crooks in her killer's look, leaving little streams of grey floating upwards from her mouth. A similar cloud radiated over her left eye. Her sharp, brown eyes appeared to be losing their color. She was going to activate her semblance.

The snake lunged forward, mouth opened wide in efforts to devour her whole. Grace closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. Upon opening her eyes, they went from a fading brown to a pale white. This was the opportune time to strike.

"PHA-" Grace shouted before being cut off by another battle cry.

"TAKE THIS YOU SCALEY FREAK"
Marcus yelled as he leaped diving from a tree above, punching the King Tajitu, knocking off the Grimm's original strike trajectory. The impact was so powerful that it sent the whole snake flying off into the clearing ahead of them.

Upon landing, Marcus then revealed his weapon, his metallic right arm, Shaddai. His right arm began to disassemble, rearrange, open up and transform into a cannon. His left hand held steady his cannon, firing off bursts of small fire tornados. The fiery tempests encased the Grimm's head, temporarily slowing it down, just enough to allow for what was to come...

"WHAT THE HELL MARCUS? I HAD IT UNDER CONTROL!" Grace huffed, flailing her arms and stomping her foot down as her eye color returned.

"YOU WERE ABOUT TO GET EATEN YOU UNGRATEFUL BI-" Marcus screamed, flailing his arms back in frustration, being cut off at the last second.

"YOU BETTER NOT FINISH THAT WORD OR I'LL KILL YOU!" she howled at her 'guardian', raising her short blade to his throat.

"SO THIS IS THE THANKS I GET FOR HELPING YOU OUT?!" He yelled back, rolling his eyes at the frustrated girl.

Before Grace could even take a breath to respond, the King Tajitu's white head lunged forward at the bickering duo.

"WATCH OUT!" Marcus yelled as he noticed the attempt at their lives. Without hesitation, he grabbed hold of Grace and leaped out of the way and into the clearing.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! LET GO OF ME!" she screamed as she squirmed out of Marcus' arms.

"Well would you look at that, I JUST SAVED YOUR ASS AGAIN!" He sassed back, flipping her off.

"WHO SAID I NEEDED THE HELP?! I WAS PERFECTLY FINE BEFORE YOU SHOWED UP AND PLAYED 'HERO'!" she mocked using the air quotations gesture.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? YOU NEARLY HAD YOUR ASS HANDED TO YOU FOR A THIRD TIME!"

"WHO SAYS I CANT HOLD MY OWN?! I CAN MANAGE PERFECTLY FINE WITHOUT YOU MESSING THIS UP FOR M-"

Cutting off their heated argument, both snakeheads arose and hissed loudly at the two. Grace then removed her sheathe from behind her and grasped it. The sheathe transformed into a miniature crossbow as she aimed it at the Grimm. In the same fashion Marcus aimed his arm in the same direction, transforming it into his cannon. The two shot a deadly glare at the Grimm. "SHUT UP!" the duo yelled simultaneously as they both fired off shots at the King Tajitu heads. The snake fell to the ground, lifeless and immobilized. It soon dissolved like any other defeated Grimm. The duo soon went back to their conversation as if nothing happened to interrupt it.

"I'm sure you can hold your own. I just- I just didn't want to see anyone die today. So I'm sorry." Marcus said in a quieter tone than before, holding his head in shame.

"OH YEAH WELL- wait what?" Grace asked wide-eyed, taken back by his sudden apology.

This wasn't like the Marcus that she knew. He wasn't the invincible tough guy anymore. He wasn't the one that almost creamed her on day one. He looked like he had honor and he genuinely cared. Marcus slowly lifted his head up. The glint in his eyes changed from the usual heterochromatic Red and Yellow. Instead of possessing the look of a killer or hunter, his eyes loosened up. They showed a look of a father's towards their child. Those were the eyes of someone who lost a lot in their life. Unfortunately enough for Marcus, that was true.

"I was hopping from tree to tree looking for a partner. Then I saw you, you looked helpless and I knew I couldn't just standby and do nothing." he said in the same quiet but more frustrated fashion, sighing soon after. "I didn't want to see anyone get hurt, okay? There I said it." he confessed, breaking eye contact.

"Bullshit." Grace 'coughed' under her breath, still skeptical of his motives.

"Hey like it or not, we're partners now! If I have to put up with your ass, you better not hold me back-" growled the brawler. Catching his tone, he sighed into a calmer fashion, "I'm not gonna let anyone die on my watch, and as much as I'd hate to admit it, you're no exception."

"Marcus.." Grace said to herself, loosening up.

Marcus smirked to the shocked huntress in-training, "If we're partners, you don't tell anyone of what I just said, got it?" he proposed as he extended his hand out to Grace.

Grabbing hold of his hand Grace replied "Alright then, partner." rolling her eyes as they shook hands. "But this doesn't change the fact that I still don't like you."

It was true, she didn't like him. She was still skeptical, what if this whole thing was a circus act? She was still afraid that his short fuse would end up screwing them both over. She wasn't going to let her guard down, even if they just became partners. But after witnessing his heart, it made her think. Although rough around the edges, he has a good heart. So what the hell, she might as well give this whole partner thing a shot. It might just turn out right.

"Eh, understandable." Marcus shrugged nonchalantly, "Looks like we have company." he said, nodding in the direction of two girls walking their way.

"I knew I smelled shit, because look here, I see an asshole." Krystal joked as she and Tiffany arrived to the scene.

"Ahh blondie, missed me?" Marcus snarled as the duo approached the newly made partners.

Clearly disgusted by the comment, Krystal just rolled her eyes and scoffed Marcus. She then shot a killer's look towards him. Unfortunately it only made him smile. When the two's eyes met it felt like two lightning bolts collided. An explosion of tension was created between the two, making Tiffany uncomfortable. Thinking quick, she cut the sudden awkward silence.

"We heard a scream and came to help! But it seems like you've already er-... eradicated the problem." Tiffany said, awkwardly smiling at the strangers.

"YOU COULDN'T HAVE COME LIKE FIVE MINUTES EARLIER?!" Grace blurted out.

Recognizing Grace from the ballroom incident, Tiffany asked "Wait... didn't I bump into you before?"