"He's mine."

Stein cracked his eyes open, his head aflame with pain.

"Hah. You're deluding yourself; he would never choose you over me."

His vision refused to cooperate with his brain, resulting in a black smudge that was only lighter in the middle by a small margin. The scientist blinked rapidly, hoping that something would change.

"You only want to use him!"

The sounds of combat were more prevalent now, and Stein's vision was clearer.

"And you don't? Tsk, tsk. We both know your true motive don't we, Ms. Mjolnir?"

Mjolnir? Stein shook his aching head, closing his eyes, agony shooting through him. His left hand reached up to turn the screw in his head; with a single click most of the pain disappeared and he reopened his eyes.

"I'm going to keep him safe! It's a weapon's duty!" Marie screamed as she darted at the other blonde headed woman.

Medusa. Stein twisted the screw again before staggering to his feet. An arrow appeared beneath his feet and before the meister could move it flung him backwards into the wall and the pain erupted in his head again.

"You didn't keep him safe from that did you now?" Medusa's voice hissed out at the death scythe.

"Once I take your soul I'll never have to worry about protecting him from you again! You'll be nothing more than a stain, easily forgotten!" Marie screamed, slamming her transformed arm into the ground right beside the witch.

"Even the simplest of stains is never forgotten, if it is in plain view," the witch retorted. "You don't honestly think that a few kind words can remove the stain of madness from his soul, do you? As long as that stain is there, I will be as well!" A sudden twirling movement accompanied her next statement. "Vector Storm!"

Through blurry eyes Stein watched as one of the arrows took Marie in the shoulder, ripping her sleeve and spraying blood into the air. He tried to stagger to his feet again, but his body felt like lead and wouldn't respond.

Marie darted at Medusa again, her body moving faster than Stein could follow. Her name died on his lips as he tried in vain to shout for her, to warn her against using Izuna without a meister, his body refusing to take any orders from his brain.

A hammer transformed arm met a Vector Sword. The two sprang apart, snarling curses at each other. Marie proved fast enough to avoid Medusa's arrows, but it was obvious that her reserves were running out, each attack came closer to hitting the death scythe.

"Aww, getting tired are you? Tsk, tsk. Seems like he will be mine after all. What will you do then?" Medusa's face twisted in a hideous snake-like grin. "I know! You'll die!"

Arrows exploded from the witch, Marie's arm pounding into them, the deadly arrows destroyed almost instantly. Medusa's eyes widened and she back flipped away from the other woman. Marie pushed the attack, her hammer transformed hand slamming into Medusa and sending the witch crashing into a wall.

"You'll never take him, you bitch! He's not your plaything, Medusa! I'm going to take him home and you're going to die here!"

Stein's eyes widened from his position on the floor as Marie swung down, connecting solidly with Medusa. Another downswing, this time accompanied by the crunch of bone. Marie gave one final scream, this one of triumph, as she brought her hammer transformed arm down on Medusa's face. A moment later a black-ish purple soul was floating in front of her and Marie grinned, grabbing the soul.

"I told you that you were going to die here, Medusa. No one messes with Franken Stein so long as I am his partner." The death scythe said smugly, slipping the soul into a small box she pulled out of a bag on her side. She stood and nearly fell as she released Izuna, the strain from the technique immense.

Walking to Stein she smiled down at him. "Let's go home, Franken."

Suddenly he could move and the meister lurched to his feet, wrapping long arms around Marie as her knees buckled. They stood together, propped up against each other for a long moment before Marie managed to stand up straight again.

"I'll always come find you, Franken." She said sweetly. "No matter what."

A ghost of a true smile flickered across Stein's face as he looked at Marie. "That would make sense, seeing as I am apparently yours."

A blush spread across the death scythe's face, but she didn't rebuff the statement.


A/N: Medusa/Marie rivalry over Stein… it had been brewing in my mind for a while. I enjoyed writing it, even if does feel way too short. I'll probably flush it out, maybe into a something longer, later :)

I don't own Soul Eater. Cover art from EpicNeutral on deviant art (at least, that's where I found it)