"Mary you don't think I'm a bad person do you?" "I don't think so. But when has it ever mater'd to you?" "I'm a father. I guise I have to worry about that kind of thing now." Mary tried to bisy herself by making Stien some miso soup. "but you never slept with Medusa right?" she asked looking out of the corner of her good eye, He shook his head. "How are you going to tell her?" "I don't know if I can." "Franken she cant just NOT know." "I want you to consider how hard this is. Do actually think Crona is going to be fine about all of this? Have you any idea how betrayed shes going feel?" she pored the soup into a small glass and set it in front of him. "I think shell just be confused." she sat across from him "were all a little confused right now" Spirit came through the kitchen doorway with a nonchalant look on his face unaware of the tension in the room and began rooting around in Stien's fridge. He grabbed a generic brand of soda that only himself and the professor drink "Orange MAX, oranges are vitamins" it said on the front of the can. Spirit sat between them at the table, they both stared at him with a scowl "What?" neither of them spoke "WHAT?" he repeated . Mary sighed "theirs just some tension right now. You came in at sort of a bad time." "What I miss?" he took a long swill of the soda so he could do one of those C-lassic comedic spit takes when Stien finished talking "Crona actually is my biological daughter and yes Medusa is her mother." Stien put the state of things so delicately, spirit didn't so much engage the spit take like he had planned and it more or less all sort of spilled out of the side of his mouth after he forgot momentary how to drink liquids and choked on the large proton that failed to go down his throat. He cleared his throat and composed himself. "Just how the hell did you manage that?" "That's what id like to know" spirit rubbed his temples trying to just make sense of it. "Mary may I talk to the professor privately for a moment?" "Yes. Of cores." she smiled got up and she patted Stien on the shoulder as she exited the room. "Okay Frank lets think back. How old is Crona?" "Shes going to be seventeen next month." spirit took a drink. "okay so that narrows down the year she was conceived. 1995" "Correct." "Did you have a girlfriend?" "Yeah but it wasn't...her." "Frank is their something your not telling me?" "No. I just." Spirit leaned closer "Franky come on, I'm not judging you" "Thinking back now she just.." "Yeah?" "You remember Euryale right? You met her all those times..after that new years party I think...maybe her and I.." spirit took yet another drink "T's all comein together." he made a dry laugh. Had yellow eyes and a snake tattoo up he arm. Sure as hell that was her." "She just ran off. I was devastated. I rely loved her." they sat there in silence. "What the hell do I do?" Stien asked looking at the table. "What can you do?" Stien mulled over all the options in his head "You need a drink?" Stien shook his head in reply. "Need a smoke?" he shook his head again "Should we set something on fire?" Stien looked up and spirit and began to twist the bolt in his head.

"Well hear we are again." Stien had already filled the paper waste bin for the month, Spirit dug the butane lighter out of his pocket and handed it to Stien "Its always such a pleasure." Stien said in a mellowtone voice. The flame of the lighter licked the pages and the contents of the can took alight.

Stien felt his phone ring just as his mind started to settle. The caller Id said "Nygus" and showed the special ID picture up her boxing with Sid. Stien uttered his four letter prayer and answerd the phone

"Hello?"

"Slow down your n-"

"Yes ill be right there."

"Don't worry. Evreything is going to be fine."

(meanwhile at death bucks)

Crona had not many flaws, certenly many quarks and short comings but none so that were a serious issue.

One however was that she could not control herself around sweets. She was the age of sixteen when she tryed something that was remotely surgery, She was sick for a week after that, after she swore she would never eat anything of the sort ever again Maka finely pushed her far enough to give it another try and after that you could not fucking stop her, which is pretty much ware she still is today. So imagen her in the middle of a not so busy Death Bucks coffee house with he nose pressed against the glass, marveling at all the sweets like shes an Amish girl on Ramp springer (a vacation from being Amish) witnessing the wonders of the twenty first century. "Come on man make up your mined." soul stared at her with a disapproving glare, Maka sat back watching taking in the sight of her favorite people finely acknowledging each other. After Crona had bought herself a few chocolate turnovers "dude are you guna share one of tho-." soul stopped as he and Maka looked to the sky, the chotting noise of a helicopter boomed, it flew over low and fast, low enough that the downward trust of the blades blew napkins off all the outdoor tables. It was orange and purple and designed for speed and transport not a military or new helicopter. "Its Life-Flite." said soul with a twinge of curiosity, Crona looked between him and Maka "whats Life-Flite?" "emergency medical transport helicopter" "in other words someones having a relay bad day." Soul sipped his coffee. Crona's phone rang in one of her many hidden pockets, she had chocolate all over her fingers so she almost missed the call by the time she could wipe it all off, the caller ID said it was Stien so it was probably important. "konnichiwa." " to the ER. paging to the ER please " the voice wasn't the professors but that of Spirit."Oh I didn't expect you." "Dad?" Maka tilted her head across the table "Crona, Franky needs to see you at the hospital, he needs your assistance"

"Yes understood." "Goodbye and hurry." "Gahneh." she looked sadly at her chocolate turnovers. "I'm sorry guys, I'm going to have to get these to go."

Brook haven hospital of Death City...

" were sorry to call you in on this one but its an unusual case. And as we understand it its sort of your specialty." the nurse try'd to hold back her excitement and fear of meting the legendary Franken Stien. Stien began the starelisation proses making sure to disinfected his hands all the way to the elbow. "ms I don't think you understand. Its not just my specialty. I made this man what he is. So of cores I know him inside and out. But your probably referring to his spieceas." he took a long wistful breath "aaahh.. Necro-sapien the 'living dead man' my greatest achievement to date." wow this guy IS as creepy as everyone sais, the nurse thought to herself. "you don't say.. I uhm have to go clean some bed pans in the burn ward right now...so see yu." spirit watched her leave as fast as possible from behind the two way observation glass that windowed to the operating room. "Is it just me or do you like doing that?" "I'm not going to lie to you spirit I take great relish in it." Crona pushed threw the double doors wareing one of Stiens old lab coats, she was careful not to touch the door with her bare hands "professor." she greeted him. Stien's blood became cold in sight of his daughter "good morning Crona...come to help your old man huh?" "uh..yes spirit gave me the call. Of cores I'm happy to help, i had just gotten the itch to tear something apart." she gave a toothy smile."you understand.." Stien walked up to the two way glass to meet Spirit face to face "just like me. She enjoys getting elbow deep into eviscerated bodys." Maka entered the observation room. "hay guys. Whats happened?" Stien took a brief moment to sugar coat the news for Maka the best he could. " Sid went and accidentally had himself shot up, blown into chunks and rolled off a cliff and buried in an avalanche of burning wreckage and concrete." Maka gasped "Frank you ass." spirit started at Stien with intentions on giving him a piece of his mind. The operating room doors burst open and Justin law stood in the door way holding a bloody garbage bag and waring a displeased look on his face that was only half hidden by a pare of telescopic night-visan goggles that made him look like the Splinter Cell or a "Vatican assassin" if you will. "doctor are you ready to operate?" Stien pulled on a thick pare of rubber gloves "yes, now wares Sid?" Justin set the body bag grade trash bag on the operating table with enough force it made the try of operating tools bounce and clink around "Right hear."

"Well Sid this time you have over fifty small caliber gunshot wounds mostly 9mm, A shattered elbow, two missing teeth, broken left left in three places, broken right leg in five basicly the whole thing. You have large amount of shrapnel damage all around your body and in some places you have third degree burns, a severed spine and a shattered left testicle, oh and if you haven't noticed your heads come off along with your limbs. How are you feeling today? Can you describe your pain on a scale of one to ten?" Stien gave a twisted grin. "I feel like shit frank. Thanks for asking." Sid (or rather Sid's disinbody'd head) lay sideways on the operating table watching Stien pick chunks of lead from his mangled abdomen with a pare of tweezers. "I don't see how he's alive. It is an abomination.." "why thank you Justin. I live to pleas." he turned to Crona "deer crona do you have the rest of his parts sorted yet?" she hummed the choirs of November has come by Gorillaz "Oh yes almost, his smaller parts are giving me trouble is all." she turned to Maka who watched behind the two way glass and held up one of Sid's fingers. "Maka dose this look like a ring finger or an index finger?" "Crona that's so gross." she try'd not to laugh. Nygus had joined them in the observation room "Man I'm glad he's okay. Don't know if I could loos him a second time." "I wouldn't just leave you without saying goodby. That's not the kind of man I was." "your a very sweet man." Stien wiped his forehead accidentally smearing a bit of blood on him. "Hay no bearing your souls in the operating room...You can cause an infection like that." "whatever Frank." Nygus scoffed "You know professors they say that blood makes the grass grow.." Crona handed Stien Sid's upper left arm. "yes indeed Crona. Blood is good for the Earth" Nygus became a little uncomfortable "Uh did anyone ells hear that wakidoo shit they just said?" "yeah that happens." Maka said scratching the back of her head and spirit nodded in agreement. "He lost a lot of blood, maybe the earth will be happy.." Crona's eyes shrank as she sat sewing toes back onto Sid's foot. "You know sometimes I forget these two are totally nuts." Nygus shook her her. "Yeah and their reassembling your boyfriend for free so mind your manners will ya." "Right sorry.." Stien held Sid's heart in his blood soaked gloved hands "Dissemble me nor more! I admit the deed! Tear up the planks! Here here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!" He jammed the heart into Sid's ribcage. "..." the four behind the glass were silent "Leeeets all just go to lunch.." spirit said backing away to the door and the rest fallowed him. "no wait!" Sid called out to them "Don't leave me alone with these psychos!" "hush now Sid or ill sew your head on backwards." Crona sang in a low terrifying manner.

(the castle of the NEW grand witch)

Medusa was never one to be particularly pleased about anything but to day she was royally pissed.

She had survived the bombing but had been injured by falling rubble, she now wore a cast over her arm and had many scrapes bums and bruises. She didn't not morn the death of the for witches that had died in the blast nor did she feel sympathy for the one in critical condition, she felt as though they hadn't done their job well enough and if they had detected the DWMA's agent sooner none of them would have been hurt or killed in the first place and they knew the risks of their job anyway. But at least now she was the grand witch, she had so much power, her own army, a servant to do all her biding. But what wold she do with that power? "stop, now move it to the left" Medusa sat in an oversized leather chair, she had started tiresome the task of having the grand witches study redecorated. Erika balanced her self at the very top of a rickety wooden latter moving a heavy golden statue around on a shelf and struggled to find the place for it that pleased Medusa "Move it further to the left" "but Medusa sama I cant." "can and will. Your not coming off that ladder until its in the right spot." Erika summoned all her balance as she gently pushed the statue as far as she could "their...got it." "no I don't like it there" Medusa made a long sight "just move it back to ware it was." sometimes Medusa just made Erika want to cry though secretly she in a way liked the abuse. However seance Medusa had been cut off from being able to haunt Stien she seemed to be more vulnerable, a little more humanized and humbled. "is something wrong Medusa?" Erika was often smacked down for taking interest in Medusa's business but other times she was rewarded with a pleasant conversation with her of even a rare compliment. "its nothing." Medusa said turning her head away. Erika knew she would probably regret it but she gave it the 'nothing ventured nothing gained' approach."is it about that white headed man?" "his name is Stien." "right well so why isn't he head over heals for you yet?" Erika began sweeping the hardwood floors "He is. Do not underestimate me in matters of the heart or you will pay the price." Erika knew she had stuck a cord as Medusa's reptilian pupils narrowed. "well then why isn't he hear?" "beaus hes just confused." "about what? That hes in love with a witch that's trying to kill everyone he cares about?" Erika wished that she had never said a thing Medusa just glared at her from behind her desk and their was no telling what she was about to do "yes quite so." Medusa looked sadly down at her desk " I cant help that I'm just so much smarter than everyone else or that my brain just happens to be evil. I don't know why he cant understand that. I know he doesn't like the things I do, but its not my fault that I think annihilating the useless people in all of the world is right , its what I was taught. What I was raised to believe." that was possibly the saddest evil thing Erika had ever herd. " I just need to figure out what to do, ether with him or myself. Their needs to be a change" "what do you suppose then?" Erika asked. Medusa was silent "don't you have sweeping to do?" "yes lady Medusa" Erika decided to quit wile she was ahead and perhaps later she would try even further.