Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Chapter 28: Danger's Lullaby

The rioting had only started lightly, seeming like simple arguments, but now, as evident as the fighting meister he held against the wall, it began to turn more active. Strikes exchanged and voices grew louder and angrier. "YOU LET ME GO, SOUL EATER EVANS!" Maka shouted at him as she wailed her arms in hope to strike him as he kept her held against the apartment wall. Did she really just use his whole name?! Now this was rage… judging from how everyone else was going through the same outside and on the hall ways (which, thankfully their door was locked!) it was definitely one of those mysterious attacks Kidd acclaimed was from some odd sound waves. Why couldn't he hear them, though, he wondered?

"Maka! MAKA!" Soul screamed back, hoping to wake her up from it. Oh right…. Only he was immune to it… He sighed desperately. No matter what words he used, actions he took, she wouldn't relax and stop fighting. Unless… yes, perhaps that would work! Their resonance rang the strongest when they touched.

'Please don't hit me, please don't hit me, please don't hit me!' the man thought to himself as he thrust his body against hers on the wall, pulling her hands above her head and holding them against the surface with his own, fingers laced tightly to gain the most touch he could. Their faces were so close he could feel their warm breath mingle. He closed his eyes tightly and forced his lips on hers. In the moment of the one-sided intimacy, Soul could feel a warm blush come over his cheeks. Never mind the consequences or the red hue over his usually tan face. The point was that maybe this way he could reach beyond her soul. As their lips connected, Soul forced himself to focus on her he reached out to her soul.

A few impatient seconds later and balled fists dropped by her side as they resonated as one again. Soul jumped back and turned his head slightly, using an open palm to hide the shy red hue on his face. Now he really began to feel like he deserved to be hit. She wasn't in her right mind, and he pushed it on her! But it worked, right? That was the whole goal of it all when words alone wouldn't work! Still… he was at a loss of words, unsure whether to apologize or not. Her fearful voice broke the silence, though, turning his full attention back to his partner.

"S-Soul….?" Her voice wavered. "Soul, what happened? I… I couldn't…" She choked on her words and could no longer hold back the tears she'd kept in for minutes, days, weeks since the beginning of it all entirely. "I-I'm sorry! At first I thought I'd lost you! And then now, after I got you back, I just lost control and… and almost…" The girl dropped to the ground, letting her emotions loose.

"It's okay, Maka!" he consoled. Kneeling down in front of her, he leaned forward and tightly wrapped his arms around her balled up body. His confirming words and their strong resonance assured her that he held nothing against her for what had just happened, attacking him against her own will. Although, there was something else, something he could suddenly hear… a very distorted tune now that wasn't there before he resonated with her.

Remembering exactly how Kidd had described it, these sounded to be the odd sounds that made people, both meisters and weapons, do involuntary things. Yes, this sequence of notes was very agitating to listen to, jagged in pattern that would only irritate a person trying to decipher it. It also reminded Soul that there was more happening outside their small apartment, too. "Maka…" he started, pushing back to hold her shoulders, looking at her face to face, ruby eyes staring into jade ones. "The others, we have to save the others too!"

The girl nodded, her frown shifting into an expression of determination. "Any ideas in mind?"

"Perhaps if I could play something back…" Soul thought for a moment, trying to figure out what could possibly counter the aggravating make-shift of a song (that quite frankly wasn't even a song at all) as he continued to listen to it intently through the bond of their souls. He knew what he needed to do. "Maka, I'm going to play something soothing, something to turn that horrible…. song…. back around! I need you to use your soul perception to transmit it. "

Again, she nodded firmly. "Got it!" Walking with her partner to their window, she slid it open and grasped his hand tightly. They didn't peep a word down to the crowd below so they wouldn't get pulled back down into the battle. She didn't need to be told what to do. Their link said it all, their thoughts relaying to one another.

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As he stepped into the black and red tiled room, he could be seen adorned in the traditional black striped suit and red tie. Everything was as he expected it to be. Piano set and clean, the red velvet-lined chair, and the traditional phonograph that repeated the same jazz record every time it skipped. Really, why couldn't he just throw the vinyl away, he wondered? The white-headed man heard the track a number enough of times here, too many to count.

"Welcome back Soul… I really missed you quite a bit. Did you miss me?" Ugh, that voice… it was such a curse, and yet at the same time, right now it was a blessing as well, else this room wouldn't be possible with a piano to play on. The petite demon stepped out into view from behind long crimson curtains.

"Shut up, Oni… you know why I'm here," Soul snapped, no heart in his tone at all for this pest.

Waving a red hand in the air, the demon replied as though Soul had hurt his feelings. "Crabby today, are we? It's almost like you hate me!"

Soul bent down impatiently, now face to face with the short fellow. "Look, I've got a world to save. Are you going to cooperate or not?"

"Fine, fine… but you owe me a welcome-back party afterwards! "

"I'll think about it… " Although Soul would never offer the pest any such opportunity. The demon born from black blood knew this as well, but it was also familiar with how boring the world would be if there was nobody left to rival, so the comment was bypassed, assured that one day he'd have the opportunity to let loose again, if not in today's expectations.

"No less, I've set the stage for you already... I do love a good performance!"

Soul walked up to the grand piano and sat on the black leather-topped small stool in front of it. As he lifted the front to reveal the ivory keys, he couldn't help but to run a hand lightly across them. It'd been so long since he had to use this… In fact, it'd been since their defeat over Asura. Rest assured, though, he hadn't forgotten how to play!

First, he had to listen though! The off-key and off-beat tune of…. an attack… odd as it sounded, was going to be a tough one to counter. It was strong enough that he wasn't sure he could necessarily play over it, given the span of souls they had to reach by themselves… but perhaps he could play with it instead. The pianist needed something that could blend in, something that could change it and make it into something entirely different, something more soothing…

Gathering the awkward pattern of the disturbing tune that riled everyone up, he placed his slender fingers on the keys and began. The small Oni's eyes widened and he pulled long red fingers into his jagged-toothed mouth in excitement as he heard the melody that followed.

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She could hear the song in her mind, feel it in her heart as her partner played right from his soul into hers. This was the song people needed to hear. It was an odd song to hear if listened to alone, but when synced with the notes that brought the chaos, it blended into an entirely new melody. Together, it no longer sounded like something that would agitate a person, but rather, it lifted their spirits up, gave them a feeling of confidence, even… this was what would save the world from killing.

Closing her eyes, Maka focused on the souls outside their window and door. "Hear our song, hear our peace…" It wasn't a great resonance with them like the two of them had with each other, but it was sent out enough so the vibes reached their souls, their very beings until she could feel every individual's existence in Death City. Or so that seemed to be the limit of the destructive waves. With the combination of her ability to reach out and his ability to project those very signals with his piano, people began to stop in their steps, drop their weapons and tools of destruction, and gaze around at each other in questions on exactly why they were there at three in the morning, yawning and rubbing sleepy eyes into expressions of shock.

Now the song's tempo slowed down, the other present destructive melody no longer playing along. "Just a little longer, Maka…" Soul instructed his partner from his weapon form. "We can't have these people waking up now in fear, or we'll really have chaos on our hands." She nodded in confirmation, still remaining focused on strengthening Soul's musical signal to the city's residents. The streets began to clear out now as Death City's civilization proceeded to peacefully go back into their own homes once more to continue the rest that was disturbed so unexpectedly.

Once Maka determined that everyone was in their beds and falling back fast asleep, hopefully to blame this all on bad dreams, the two slumped to the floor, leaned back to back. They'd done it, they'd saved Death City! Soul sweat beads down his face and repeatedly clenched his fist as he attempted to regain his complete sanity after borrowing power from the little Oni, and Maka's breath fell heavy in the exhaustion of having reached to so many souls at once.

This was nothing like when they united to locate Chrona on the moon. It was a just a passing, a temporary cover up, a small moment's taste of what this could do if it spread any further. If they really wanted to be save and save Death City from this thing, they'd need more power than that…