Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.

Prompt #25: Insanity - She prayed to whatever deity was listening that her mad idea would work.

Words: 1,387

Soul looked around the ballroom with a dispassionate air as the other guests sank to their knees, hands clutching heads and laughter escaping from twisted, psychotic smiles. "Looks like this is the place."

"Gee, ya think?" Maka sniped grumpily. Her grip tightened on her weapon's nonetheless. "Let's just claim its soul, all right?"

Standing on the raised dais in the center of the room was their quarry. Eliza "The Siren" Moretti was one of the most beautiful and gifted sopranos in the opera world. Rumor had it that she'd sold her soul to the Devil to climb the ranks of the opera world at record speed.

The truth, however, was much darker than that. She'd unseated many a talented prima on the way to the top - and left a trail of bodies in every city she performed in. Finally, after a mass slaughter following her last performance, Lord Death, formerly Death the Kid, had sent Maka Albarn and Deathscythe Soul Eater to reap her corrupted soul before there was any more loss of life.

Hopping over a lady rolling around like a demented rolling pin, Maka squared up in front of the dais. "La Sirène, formerly known as Eliza Moretti," she announced over the giggling masses, "for the charge of harvesting and devouring of human souls, you have been judged guilty and sentenced to death."

La Sirène threw back her head and laughed. Just like her singing, the sound of her laughter was enchanting and alluring, much like her moniker. "And how are you to accomplish this without a weapon, little girl?"

Soul gave the soprano the greatest look of Bitch say what? in the history of his signature looks. "Um, I'm sorry, what do you think I'm here for? Eye candy?" To demonstrate his point he held up his arm and transformed it into his scythe blade. "I'm the weapon here, Madame."

La Sirène's entire demeanor changed in a heartbeat. Darkness crept into her eyes and her voice, changing both into something less than human. "You're the weapon?" she asked in what could only be called a hungry growl. "Then by all means, come at me."

Maka held out her hand. Soul transformed in a flash of light and spun into her waiting hand. "Let's take her out!" he said. Maka expertly spun him around and activated their Soul Resonance. Soul's blade blazed with their combined energy.

"Tonight, La Sirène, your soul is mine!" Maka announced.

La Sirène laughed again. Now it was a warped, ugly, dark cackle worthy of any witch. "Let me show you the power I truly hold, little girl," she said. She drew in a deep breath, clasped her hands at her midsection, and began to sing.

Maka screamed in agony as Soul's staff burned her hands through her gloves. She let go against her will, her knees hitting the marble floor hard enough to make her grit her teeth in pain.

But the Demon Scythe never touched the ground. Instead, it arced over guests until it landed in front of the dais. In a flash of light, Soul Eater Evans stood tall in his Black Room attire, a blade curving out of his arm. Unlike his usual arm-blades, it bore the appearance of a piano keyboard.

Just like in Russia, she realized. She's aroused his Black Blood into madness.

With his unnaturally wide grin threatening to tear his face in half, Soul brought his free hand crashing down on his keyboard-scythe. Maka's Soul Perception watched as the resulting jangle of notes spread across the room to form a web - the Spider Queen's web - and dropped down like a giant fishnet. La Sirène's haunting melody traveled down the threads ensnaring the party guests and ramped up their madness.

"SOUL!" Maka screamed. The madness poured around her in raging torrents, battering against her defenses for any weaknesses. She braced her legs and held firm, bringing up the walls of her mind while sending out waves of sanity towards her partner's soul. The Spider Queen's web slowed her down, catching her waves like flies in the sticky soul fibers. Nothing reached him.

There was one thing she could do. Problem was, it was completely insane. But then again, everything was insane now. And there was the little problem of her having no other choice. So, abandoning all sane options of logic and self-preservation, Maka started to crawl.

She looped her arms around Soul's chest and held on tight. He thrashed around in her grip, still howling and playing that crazy, mad melody on his scythe blade's keyboard. She tightened her grip around Soul's waist and pushed her wavelengths even harder, diving into the blackness consuming him. It didn't escape her notice that this paralleled her own descent into madness years ago. She'd trusted Soul, and he had managed to pull her out.

Something beneath the ocean of madness gave a stifled shout to her very soul. She zeroed in on the noise like a bloodhound, diving deeper into the Black Blood. Arachne's web dragged at her, trying to keep her away from Soul, but Maka pushed on. Her Grigori soul's wings snapped wide open, ripping through the Spider Queen's web and lighting her way through the Black Blood.

Soon she could just make out a soft orange glow. She beat her wings once, twice, and gently glided further into the blackness. The glow barely brightened as she approached the soul of her partner. As carefully as she could, Maka reached out and brought Soul's soul into her embrace like a kitten. "I've got you," she whispered. "I've got you, Soul. I'm here."

The crazy, dark melody ended as abruptly as it began. After a moment of pure silence, one note rang out along the Spider Queen's threads. A high G, cold and clear, that seared the madness from every trapped soul.

Maka opened her eyes to feel Soul's hands under her armpits to lift her back to her feet. "I'm not even going to bother telling you how stupid that move was," he said roughly, his bloody eyes a mixture of relief and exasperation.

"Good." Maka looked over his shoulder at the flabbergasted soprano with a wicked smile. "How about we cut La Sirène's career to pieces?"

"Thought you'd never ask." He transformed in her arms, and Maka lunged to slice La Sirène's pretty face into shreds.

It wasn't until they were back at their hotel that Soul took Maka's hand and said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" She was more focused on getting a bath and climbing into bed for a long, uninterrupted stretch of sleep. When his grip didn't release, she turned to see his expressive eyes filled with guilt.

"For being played like that. It wasn't cool."

Maka looked up at him, remembering how quickly he'd succumbed to La Sirène's song. "It wasn't your fault," she said. "She was radiating madness like a full kishin. Hell, I was scared I'd succumb to it, and I've got the anti-madness wavelength." When her words had no effect on his gloomy expression, Maka rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Look, it's over and done with. We got her soul, and remarkably, no innocents died. Take the win."

He didn't completely smile, but the ghost of one hovered over his lips. Wishing to see it fully appear, Maka risked pushing her luck. "But if you want to talk about uncoolness, did you see La Sirène's face when we cut off her head? She looked like a fish with her mouth hanging open like that." That made Soul laugh. Maka laughed along, linking their fingers and pulling him towards the bed. "C'mon maestro. Let's get some sleep."

"Will you stay?"

He asked it quietly enough, she almost didn't hear it. Maybe she wasn't supposed to. Having thought that, Maka just squeezed his hand and said, "I'll be right next to you."

Where she always was. Where she would always be.

Just as he was for her.

Forgive the (what I see as) choppy storytelling, this has been stewing on my hard drive for too long and I just wanted to get moving along.

Review please!