"Franken!" Marie's voice shrieked from her weapon form, the witch they were fighting slamming hard against the meister.

He hit the ground, Marie skidding from his grasp. The woman took human form and darted back towards the prone meister, slamming bodily into the witch, her arms wrapping around the woman's stomach as she frantically twisted her body, trying to yank the woman away from Stein. It seemed to work; the witch turning as Marie's body twisted around her.

It put Marie with her back to Stein, between the witch and the meister. The weapon screamed as a gout of energy slammed into her, causing her to collide with the meister, the two of them sliding across the hard, rocky ground. Even barely conscious Stein fought to take the brunt of the impact, trying to cushion Marie's body with his own.

Blood covered the two of them from a myriad of scrapes and scratches. A few long cuts ran across Marie's legs and Stein's back. Stein staggered unsteadily to his feet, one hand twisting the screw in his head even as the other reached out to Marie. She slipped her hand into his and a second later was in her weapon form again, resting against his arm.

"Marie, catch me."

The words hung on the air as Stein charged the witch. Marie felt his soul reach out to hers, and she let it wash over hers, wincing at the intensity of the madness that she could already feel battering against her.

"Franken… be careful." A whispered plea to a man that could no longer hear her, a prayer to whoever could. She felt him draw upon Izuna, felt the electrical surge as it rushed over both of them, and she wanted to giggle.

She knew she shouldn't.

But she wanted to; something was welling up within her and she wanted to. She wanted to laugh with Stein, to let go of everything and just live in the moment, and not worry about what might be happening in the next.

She knew it was madness, leaking through their resonance.

So, while Stein fought the witch, his attacks blurringly fast and violent, his manic laughter echoing through the underground cavern, she fought against the madness, threading as much of her calming wavelength into him as she could maintain with the strain of Izuna.

The witch landed a solid blow, and Marie felt their resonance shift. Blood poured down Stein's face, his lips twisted into a sadistic grin. She tried then, she reached out to him even as he fought; she tried to drag him from the depths of the madness. Blow after blow landed, and she felt him giving into the madness more and more, even as she could feel the madness creeping over her, threatening to tear her apart. His soul clung to hers, desperation beginning to mark it. She clung desperately to his, trying to rip him out of the grasp of madness.

He blocked with her suddenly, and the pain broke her fragile concentration. With a shriek she hit her human form even as Stein's wavelength slammed into the witch one last time, destroying her. Trembling laughter flitted from the scientist as he looked down at the quivering soul in front of him, his eyes wide and vacant, his right arm hanging useless at his side.

A giggle at his side pulled the man's attention away from the soul. He stared at the woman that was sitting with her legs splayed out in front of her, her hands covering her face as she desperately fought against another giggle.

He answered with his own, kneeling down in front of her. She dropped her hands from her face and met his gaze boldly with her singular eye. A single giggle slipped out. A grin crossed his face as giggles escaped him, only to be answered by hers. A moment later they were giggling together, walking away from the scene of the battle, grins painted on both their faces.

The trembling soul behind them was soon long forgotten and unimportant.

A/N: I don't own Soul Eater. I plan on flushing this out- it was inspired by the pic that graces the cover art for this. Major props to whoever the artist is. I wish I knew.