"Marshall? Are you okay?" Fionna asked worriedly as they came to the end of the tunnel. "You haven't said anything in a while."

"It-it's nothing." He stuttered. Well, at least you haven't developed a crush on TWO women. He told himself.

"You don't look okay..." She frowned and leaned in. "Do you have a fever?"

"N-no... I just... I forgot that I agreed to meet a friend, and...!" He took off running, and Fionna frowned. That was weird. I just hope it doesn't get any weirder.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gumball looked unamused. "So, what exactly is the problem here, Marshall?"

"She's my archnemesis!"

"And your friend. And if I know your patterns of behavior, someone you will be involved romantically with very soon."

"No. She's different."

Gumball looked pleasantly surprised. "She didn't give in to your advances? Excellent."

"Yeah, nowhere close, which is your fault. But I wouldn't just toss her aside even if she was. She's special. I can't place it, but..." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, she hates me."

"Fionna hates Marshall or the Shieldmaiden hates The Demon?"

"The Shieldmaiden hates The Demon." Marshall clarified. "But Fionna would hate Marshall if she found out."

"I'm sure that she doesn't hate you."

"She called me despicable!"

"Yes, she randomly insulted you for no reason while you were just sitting on a rooftop, thinking about kittens. Explain the context, please."

"I may have... been a little... threatening when I wanted her to pay attention to me."

"Threatening to whom, Marshall?"

"Uh... the townspeople."

Gumball was not amused. "She's right. You are despicable."

"I never would have done it! I just... I like spending time with her. I love our little game of cat-and-mouse. And I don't like it when she gets sad because real people are being hurt."

"You sound like you're in love. A strange, twisted, somewhat frightening love, but love nonetheless."

"I am not."

"If it really bothers you that much, I'll talk to Fionna when she comes in. But until then, act like nothing's changed. If you don't let it bother you, it won't bother her."

Then he frowned. "But know this, Marshall Lee. If you hurt, pester, or generally make a nuisance of yourself to my assistant, I will take measures against you."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"For example, I will place sodium chloride all around the museum. I will 'salt the earth', if you will. And I will refer to the theories in the textbook."

"...in other words, you're going to put salt everywhere, even in your computer, and then you're going to put up wards."

"You make it sound like it's 'magic'."

"Stop trying to rationalize it, Pink Hair. Magic is real."

"In any case, even if I don't conduct those measures, I have your mother's phone number memorized. She would not take the harassment of my assistant well, Marshall. So think carefully, and tread lightly." Gumball hissed. "Now get out of my office."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Marshall returned to the campus as Fionna's classes ended for the day.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

He nodded, before forcing a smirk onto his face. "Never better."

"So... who was your friend?"

"Oh... you know." He wasn't going to admit that he was friends with Gumbutt, which was kindly reciprocated.

"A girl?" She pressed.

He snorted. "I wish." Then he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Jealous?"

"Of what?" Fionna said innocently. "It's okay for you to have other friends... but you said before that you couldn't keep them, remember?"

Marshall nodded. "Yeah... I sort of have... one friend. Sort of."

"Gumball?" She guessed, since Gumball had mentioned him before.

"You said it, not me. He's different. We act like we hate each other, but he's my closest friend. Mostly because we already dislike each other."

"I didn't know that you two were such good friends, even if it's just sort of friends." She smiled. "Anyway, what did Gumball want?"

"Just... nerd stuff."

"Okay. When are you going to stop lying to me?"

He jumped. "How do you know that?" He demanded.

"Body language." Fionna sighed. "My sister took a course on psychology when she was in college, and I would help her memorize things."

Marshall watched her carefully. "I told him a secret. A secret that I can't tell you, because you might hate me."

"I don't think I could hate you... you didn't hurt anybody, right?"

"No... no. I didn't."

"Then I can't hate you."

Marshall smiled sadly. "I'm glad."

"Why do you do stuff like that?"

"What?" Marshall asked, caught off-guard.

"You're usually this carefree guy, but then you have moments where you say something like that. Or, when I asked about siblings... why do you do that? You don't know me that well, and then you brush it off."

"I guess... I'm just comfortable with you. And I brush it off because I don't like to think about it. And... I don't want you to be sad."

"You too."

A new voice interrupted them. "May I suggest the name 'Becher', for your first born child? Or, if it's a girl, Adesina? If my sources are correct, the name Becher is Hebrew for "Young man, first born", while the name Adesina was used as a marking that this child would be the first of many."

Both Fionna and Marshall turned to see Gumball standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Fionna asked.

"I have some papers to deliver to the professors. Had I known Marshall was coming back here, I would have made him deliver the papers."

"Wouldn't have done it anyway." Marshall muttered.

Gumball rubbed his temples. "Do you delight in being difficult, or do you really see no other option?"

"I don't know. I assume your meaning of difficult is, 'not a pink-haired nerd'."

"Oh, wow. It's almost like I have a stable job and emotional relationships, and you don't."

Fionna gasped. "That was a low blow, Gumball."

Marshall smirked at Gumball from behind Fionna. "I agree."

Gumball frowned at him. "Leave my assistant alone. I thought that we already went over this?"

"You said I couldn't hurt her. I have no intention of doing that."

Fionna huffed. "Um, guys, I'm still here. Wouldn't my opinion carry more weight on my future than either of yours?"

"I'm just looking out for you against the annoying womanizer." Gumball protested.

"Excuse me, what exactly do you think I was doing to Fionna?" Marshall asked angrily.

Fionna let out a shrill whistle. "I don't care what you two think of each other. Marshall is a very good friend of mine Gumball, and I would appreciate if you didn't antagonize him. Marshall, stop bothering him."

"What happens if I don't?" Marshall purred.

"Are you seeing this? This is exactly what I warned you about." Gumball huffed.

"Marshall doesn't mean any harm." Fionna explained, waving the man in question off. "He's not being serious."

"...have you had absolutely no experience with men? He's practically hanging off of you." Gumball snapped, before rubbing his temples. "Never mind. I have work to do, and your personal life is your own."

"Can she have the rest of the day off?" Marshall asked innocently.

"Since you're the one asking, no. I don't care which excuse you tell me this time. I'm not giving my assistant the day off so that you can spend the rest of the day attempting to seduce her."

"Why do you even care so much?" Marshall demanded.

Gumball sighed, moving past them. "I refuse to be drawn into another argument with you."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hello, sweetheart."

The Shieldmaiden jumped as the voice suddenly purred in her ear. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Why not?" The Demon laughed.

"It's just going out of your way to be rude!"

"Aw, did I scare you?" He laughed, spreading his arms wide. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

Her eyes met his, and she did a double-take. Why does he have red irises? The only other person who has them is Marshall, and... oh Glob.

"Shieldmaiden? You look like you've seen a ghost." The Demon commented.

"I'm... fine." The Shieldmaiden said apprehensively. "Now, leave me alone, I have more important work to do, just as soon as I find it."

"What if there's only one criminal out tonight, mm?" The Demon asked, stepping closer. "How are you going to handle me?"

"I'm not scared of you."

"You kind of are."

"You snuck up on me!"

The Demon shrugged. "So?"

"I'm not scared of you, I just don't like being startled- like all normal people."

"You're not normal though." The Demon pointed out. "You seem to be a good deal stronger, as Lamp-post Lady can attest, and you can survive things that would kill a 'normal' person. Face it. You're like me."

"I am nothing like you." The Shieldmaiden growled.

The Demon raised an eyebrow. "We're not two people in our early twenties with a habit of dressing up in costumes to achieve our end goals while carrying superhuman powers? And that's not even getting into location and stages of education. See? We're similar."

"Ethically, we're not."

The Demon frowned. "Do I look like an insane serial killer nazi to you? Ethically, I just like to steal stuff."

"You threatened the people of the city."

"Which was an outright lie, I'll have you know. I also do that. Stealing stuff and lying isn't so bad. I'm like Aladdin, but not Arabic and I wear this ridiculous costume. And I don't sing, or have multiple sidekicks for merchandise purposes."

The Shieldmaiden cracked a small smile. "In any case, it's still bad. I protect the people. You steal from them."

"Personally, I don't really care. I just want to be feared... adored..." He moved closer to her, smirking.

"Your plan for public adoration is more than somewhat terrible." She retorted.

"What are you talking about? The ladies love a bad boy."

The Shieldmaiden wasn't amused. "So, I should be honored that you deigned to give me the time of day?"

"No, my dear Shieldmaiden. That's not it at all. They're impersonal fangirls. They like the idea of me. I want you to fall in love with me."

"Tough luck. Your methods of courtship are even worse than your plans for universal adoration."

He grinned, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Oh no? I seem to be having a little bit of luck with you..."

"How can I fall in love with a man who hides behind flirting? I know nothing about you."

"...hmm. I'm not going to divulge my secret identity."

"I'm not asking you to."

"You might figure it out."

"That's a risk that I'm willing to take." She said, pretending she hadn't already figured it out.

He smiled softly. "What if I figure out who you are?"

Her breath caught in her throat. "Then... I don't know. It's in your hands. But don't start a brawl with me on campus, the teachers will decapitate me."

"Don't give it away." He said lightly, before adding, "They'd blame me anyway."

She laughed softly. "They probably would." She sat on the edge of the building that they were currently on top of, and he joined her.

"I love to look at the stars." He sighed as he leaned against her.

She leaned back. "I agree." Then she leapt up. "I can't do this."

He was unamused. "Clearly, you can."

"No. You're a villain, I can't... I can't fall in love with you."

He stood up slowly, and walked over to her. "Why not?"

"Because then I might become compromised, and fall to the side of darkness..."

"Good Lord, how dramatic you are. I'm not going to convert you to total evil, Shieldmaiden."

"I might not perform my duty." She warned. "I might let you get away."

He paused. "Is that really a bad thing? I'm not that bad of a guy... I'm just bad enough."

His lips ghosted over hers, before he kissed her gently.

"And the worst part is, I'm falling in love with you." He murmured as they pulled away.

Her eyes widened, and she moved past him. "I have to go..."

He caught her hand. "But I thought that you were my superheroine? I don't like sharing you, Shieldmaiden."

She frowned at him. "You've made that really clear. But even if I encourage... this, I think its safe to say that you're the only villain who wants to kiss me."

He smirked. "Hurry back, Shieldmaiden. I'll be waiting."