So this is a crossover I was thinking about doing for a decently-long time. I'm not going to explain anything here, but, rather, let you get through it, and, then, I'll try to clarify stuff in the author's note at the end of the chapter. Just stick with me, okay?

FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T WATCHED SOUL EATER: I will try my best to explain the basic concepts so that you should still be able to follow this. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

I do not own Hetalia. Hetalia belongs to Himaruya Hidakaz.

I do not own Soul Eater. Soul Eater belongs to Atsushi Okubo.

The song, "Shoo, Fly. Don't Bother Me," was written by T. Brigham Bishop.

Shoo, fly. Don't bother me.

"But, please, sir! You have to have some compassion, aru! I'll give you all the money I have!"

In one of the man's trembling hands was a fistful of crumpled, mostly-green bills, and, in the other, a leather wallet. Emptied of the cash, the only thing that remained inside the billfold now was a worn identification card that declared this man Wang Yao and more importantly (something the dealer in front of him was all too aware): another Meister.

"That's not even half of the asking price," the dealer huffed. "Don't insult my intelligence."

"B-but I need a Weapon, sir! Please!" The Meister's hysterical pleads only grew shriller. "You don't understand what it's like out on the streets without one! Ever since my Weapon abandoned me, I have no way to defend myself, aru! There are kishin eggs everywhere! You don't know what that kind of fear is like! I'm begging you, sir!"

The Meister dropped his wallet in favor of grabbing the dealer's arm and pressing the currency, both American and Chinese, to the man's chest. The dealer looked down at the man with distain, shoving the beggar away from him and into the same murky puddle his wallet now floated in.

"Of course I know what it's like. It's the kind of fear that drives people into the desperation that keeps my trade alive. I'm a black market Weapon dealer on the west side slums of this horrible city. If you're looking for charity, go to a church."

The dealer straightened out his suit and left Mr. Wang to soak. The Meister grabbed the sides of his head and let cold sobs rack him before sniffling and looking toward the dealer walking out of the alley with distain.

"I hope the VARGAS company puts you out of business! See how good your trade will do then, aru!"

The dealer hesitated long enough to laugh to himself and answer while he lit a cigarette.

"Ha! Even if they do end up creating an 'artificial Weapon,' the demand for the real deal won't end, and it won't stop people like you from groveling at my feet when they can't afford the 'artificial Weapons.' VARGAS doesn't scare me."

With a satisfied exhale of smoke, the dealer disappeared from the alley and the weeping Meister within it.

Meanwhile, a blond teen was passing on the grimy street, not far from the alley. The conversation between the dealer and the man faded from his hearing as he walked out of earshot, but his chest still boiled with tight anger.

"Gah! They make me sick –both of them! The dealer –more like trafficker- and the man both didn't give a thought that it was a human being that they were 'trading!' Can you believe that, Matt?"

"…."

When he didn't hear a response, the blond turned and looked to his left where he had last seen his fellow teen only to find him gone. Panic replaced the anger and his heart started to spasm. He spun around and looked back toward the alley; his mind automatically thought the worst had happened.

"Matthew!"

"I'm right here, Alfred."

He turned his head so fast he might have gotten whiplash, snapping to his seven-o'clock to see the familiar face of his best friend. He breathed heavily a few times as he tried to convince himself that what he was seeing was true –Matthew wasn't kidnapped. He had just switched from walking on his left side to his right. There was nothing to panic about.

"Dude," Alfred said, running an unsteady hand through his hair, "turn the ninja skills off. You're freakin' me out."

"I'm sorry, but my 'ninja skills' as you say, are entirely product of your poor observation and over-active imagination."

"Ha ha. But seriously, man. How 'm I supposed to protect you if I can't find you?"

"Calm down, Alfred. Besides, it's my job to keep us safe, Meister."

Only after Alfred looked and saw how Matthew's small, mischievous smile was twisted on his face did Alfred's trademark grin return. The two laughed as they continued to walk down between the mostly abandoned city buildings.

That's when they heard someone cry out followed by the roar of what was clearly something unnatural.

"Kishin egg?"

"Most definitely."

"We shouldn't risk it. We're still not very strong."

"Hey, the more we defeat; the stronger we get! Let's go! The hero needs to protect the innocent!"

Matthew rolled his eyes, but went along with it so both teens tore down the street toward the sounds. A couple blocks later they saw what was the cause of the commotion. In the middle of the street was a huge kishin egg. It looked more lizard-like than human at this point, a long tail and clawed hands to boot. Alfred couldn't help but shudder at the fact that this is what any person could become if they committed evil deeds, or, in his own definition, became a villain.

In front of the snarling creature was a man, a Meister from how he was using the power in his soul to attack –a technique unique to Meisters called Soul Force. And, this Meister was taking the kishin egg on all by himself!

The Meister was green-eyed and quick, dodging the monster's attacks while taking any opening to strike, but he was tiring. Without a Weapon to help channel his energy, any sort of continuous soul combat would be exhausting. That, and Soul Force is more effective on human opponents or witches –not kishin eggs that don't even acknowledge their souls anymore.

"Have no fear! The heroes are here!"

Both the creature and the thick-browed Meister paused their battle just long enough to shoot a short glance toward whoever was stupid enough to want to enter this fight.

"What are you doing?! Get out of here!" the Meister shouted, turning back just in time for his reflexes to kick in and roll out of the way of the kishin egg's tail swipe.

"Ha ha ha! It's no match for us! Mattie! Transform!"

"Right!"

Matthew jumped into the air and disappeared into a shining red light that flew toward Alfred's open hand. Alfred closed his hand in the light and, in a flash, he was now holding a solid hockey stick. Flipping the Weapon around a few times for effect, Alfred finally got into a battle stance, trademark smile now a smirk.

"Let's do this!"

"Just be careful, Alfred," came the small, echoing voice of Matthew from within the Weapon.

He nodded then swung back and brought the hockey stick down hard on the kishin egg's head as it was in mid-swipe at the lone Meister. The monster let out a terrifying screech as it reeled in pain, but it recovered too quickly for any of the humans to take advantage of the opening. The kishin egg then spun around and sliced at its newer opponents. Alfred blocked the attack easily with the shaft of the hockey Weapon.

"Get out of here, dude. We got this!" Alfred said through gritted teeth as he pushed hard against the claws of the kishin egg that reached for him but couldn't due to Matthew being in-between them.

"I'm unarmed but not helpless! Soul force!"

The Meister ran with hands sparking and outstretched toward the lizard-like monster, but it abandoned its efforts to kill Alfred and Matthew momentarily and spun around to dodge the green-eyed Meister's attack. It followed that up with an immediate counter attack –a powerful backhand that sent the solo Meister flying into the wall. He slammed against the brick, hitting his head hard enough to make him almost blackout.

"Dude! Are you okay?" the cowlicked blond asked as he watched the man crumple against the ground. However, in his concern, Alfred failed to see that the kishin egg had already gone back on the attack.

"You idiot! Watch out!" the Meister cried as his consciousness slipped.

Alfred only had enough time to turn his head back when he was smacked in the gut by the creature's tail. The hockey stick flew out of Alfred's grip and landed a distance from his reach. His head swam and stars began to cloud his vision as he tried to regain all the breath that was just knocked out of him. With a flash, Matthew untransformed from and scrambled desperately to his feet, but he just wasn't fast enough. The kishin egg was already bringing his claws around for a finishing blow on Alfred.

"No!" Matthew cried.

His voice seemed to bring Alfred out of his stupor just in time to bring his right arm up in reflex. Without thinking, a blue light shined and his arm from his elbow to his hand transformed into the business end of a baseball bat.

The beast's claws were deflected, but Alfred cried out in pain –holding his arm tenderly against himself as it had immediately returned to normal afterward. The kishin egg wasted no time to attempt another strike with its other clawed hand, but Matthew, who was running toward the two the whole time, finally reached them and dove toward Alfred –transforming in mid-jump. Alfred grabbed him with his off hand, the one that wasn't injured, and dodged just in time to avoid the swipe of the claws by ducking down and spinning. As he finished his spin, he extended his arm and slashed with all his might.

The kishin egg jolted as the hockey stick sliced through him not unlike a scythe then exploded in a burst of light, leaving behind only its glowing red-orange kishin egg. There was only a heartbeat of stillness before Matthew untransformed again and set upon fussing over Alfred.

"How bad is it?"

"I'm fine."

"You know, you should take this soul this round. It might make you stronger so this won't happen again."

"No. You take it, dude. It's nothing."

"Really now? Then let me see your arm."

Alfred shrunk back, hiding his arm behind himself and out of view.

"I said I'm okay!"

"Alfred!"

The cowlicked blond flinched as Matthew was never refused what he wanted when he used that tone.

"Ugh! Fine! …Ouch! Don't poke it!"

Matthew frowned as he even more tenderly now inspected the appendage.

"You're bruised all up and down your arm, but I don't think it's anything serious."

The blue-eyed teen quickly removed his arm from Matthew's grasp and rubbed it gently.

"See. I told you. I'm fine."

Matthew wasn't fooled by the thousand watt smile.

"Al! Your arm is purple! That's not 'fine'!"

"It'll heal in a few days!"

Matthew's face became red as he clenched his fists and shut his eyes in frustration.

"And then what? You just go until you get hurt again because you refuse to take care of yourself?!"

"Matt! This is what we have to do to survive!"

"We're not going to 'survive' for much longer if you keep making me take all the souls! You can't even block one attack without bruising up like a freaking banana! You need to start taking them and getting more powerful yourself!"

"Matt, it was our agreement that I would wield you would get all the souls. We've been doing it that way for years! I don't understand why you're so mad at me. I'm so not resonating with you right now!"

"Our resonance doesn't even matter! We're both Weapons! We don't have anyone to resonate with! We're just going to keep going with this charade until we are either kidnapped by Meisters or killed! I can't live like this!"

Matthew's eyes were red and watery, on the verge of spilling over, and his breathing was ragged as if he had just run a marathon. Alfred stood in awe at how distraught Matthew was over his arm getting a little bruised. Usually Matthew was the anchor between them –bringing Alfred down to earth whenever he had a crazy idea or when he was convinced there was a ghost nearby. It was rarely ever the reverse and Alfred wasn't sure he was prepared for it. A tiny sliver of panic rose in his heart again. It was the kind that would make him say anything as long as it kept Matthew from being mad at him.

"I'm sorry, Mattie. I'm sorry. I'll take the soul, okay? Will that make you feel better?"

He nodded.

"You're my brother, Al. I just don't want to see you hurt again."

"Don't worry, dude! I not only protect myself but I protect you too because I'm a hero!"

Matthew shook his head and smiled, his runaway curl bobbing in front of his face rather humorously. Oh, how he wished that simply because his brother declared himself a hero that he actually was one. He tried to snap himself out of solemn thoughts as he retrieved the glowing orb of a kishin egg from the air.

Then they heard a groan from the huddled form of the Meister. He'd finally come out of it and was rubbing the side of his head gently.

"Hey! You're awake!"

The Meister flinched at the volume of Alfred's voice and tried to get his bearings.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, we defeated the kishin egg for you. All you missed was our epic finishing moves. Matthew was just about to eat its soul."

Matthew gave his brother a subtle glare as he himself now had to eat the soul in order to keep up the act. Fine. The next kishin egg soul he would force Alfred to take.

"You put up a hard fight back there and without a Weapon! That was pretty boss!" Alfred continued as the Meister struggled to a stand.

"Lacking a Weapon is what landed me on the concrete in the first place. It would have gone much different, that battle, if I had one."

"What can I say? I was lucky to find Matt!" Alfred exclaimed, slinging his arm over Matthew who smiled softly back. "I'm Alfred by the way!"

"Arthur."

"Pleased to meet cha, Arthur!"

Alfred tried to extend his hand to shake but thought better of it when a lance of pain struck him. Oh yeah. He was going to have to get use to babying his bruised arm. Matthew offered his own instead. Arthur looked at the open hand and took it.

"Likewise."

Then something jolted from Arthur's hand. Matthew could feel the strange energy racing up his arm and zipping through his spine. His back jerked to ramrod straight and he opened his mouth to scream, but the strange feeling overwhelmed him and strangled all the breath from his throat. Something deep inside his chest spasmed, and, against his will, he was overcome with a familiar red glow and transformed into his full Weapon form.

Alfred gasped and paled as the Meister held the hockey stick that was his brother.

"M-mattie…?"

How was it possible that a Meister could force someone to transform? Matthew clearly didn't want to, but it looked like he had no choice! What was going on?

The Meister narrowed his green eyes toward Alfred. There was no way he could know Alfred was also a Weapon. Arthur was unconscious when Alfred partly transformed by instinct to block that one attack, but he couldn't let Arthur touch him just in case. And, on top of that, he had to get Matthew back! How could he fight Arthur without a Weapon and without physical contact?! Arthur was still injured from the battle so Alfred thought if he could just grab Matthew, there was no way he could catch them. Alfred could still be the hero! It was his best bet, so he went with it.

He widened his stance and went for the grab. However, Arthur took the Weapon in his hands and with two swift movements struck Alfred on the head with the top end then shifted and took the business end of the stick down on Alfred's legs. The cowlicked blond cried out and fell to his knees as pain throbbed in his calves. Before he could really comprehend how his plan had failed, Arthur gripped his wrist and it was over.

"No!"

Alfred could feel his body undergoing the transformation he had so rarely had to experience, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

With a flash of blue light, Arthur, the strange Meister, was now holding a red and white hockey stick in his right hand and a star-spangled baseball bat in his left. He breathed a sigh of relief and let loose a heavy-lidded grin. Then he walked down the street toward his flat.

Wouldn't Francis be surprised?

This is just something I thought up after watching Soul Eater for the first time. I was surprised to see how few fanfics there were about the Hetalia characters being Meisters and/or Weapons. I'm sad because I would have liked to read more of those kinds of fics, but I also like that I'm doing something slightly unique.

Okay. Here's the clarification I promised:

-There is a shortage of Weapons in the AU!world and an abundance of Meisters. Because of this, Weapons are often times fought over like trophies or out of desperation for protection from the kishin eggs that are running rampant.

-Meisters in this AU are well-practiced at soul combat because they have to protect themselves when they don't have a Weapon, and they are also well-practiced in matching soul resonances because Weapons are too valuable to not be able to team up with simply because the Meister and Weapon can't resonate.

-The irony is that because people are kidnapping/selling Weapons, that means that people are being evil and thus turning into kishin eggs, which only makes the situation worse. It's a vicious cycle that has no end in sight.

-VARGAS, which you'll find out more about later, is a company that is researching a way to solve this crisis by creating artificial Weapons. Whether that is by robots or genetic modification, no one is quite sure. All everyone knows is that they want the company to succeed because something needs to be done desperately. No one likes the black market, but you have to do what you have to do to survive so there isn't much of a government effort to stop it. Besides, the more people who have Weapons, the fewer kishin eggs there will be…right?

I apologize for starting out with awkward and forced exposition by China and a random OC. I know it's not the best writing ever, but I just needed to get that out before the action could really take place. I mean, Arthur had to have a reason for doing what he was doing, and that was the fastest way I could relay that information. Anyway, I'll try not to do that to you again. Sorry.

And I don't think we'll be coming back to China for a while. I have a whole side plot that focuses on VARGAS and includes most of the rest of the ensemble characters, but I'm not sure how I'm going to write it in yet or if I even will in this story so just hang tight with me.

Moving on, Alfred and Matthew are both blunt-force Weapons. They are kind of doing the thing Liz and Patty can do where one of them wields the other even thought they are both Weapons. They aren't very powerful because they are both Weapons, but at least they can defend themselves.

Alfred is very weak as a Weapon because he hasn't ever eaten a kishin egg soul before. That's why he was so easily injured when the kishin egg struck him. Well, that and he's not being wielded by a Meister.

Arthur's power will be explained in greater detail later along with many other things. We'll also meet Francis next chapter. Yay! So I hope that helped explain some things. I hope it wasn't too confusing, but I think you'll catch on quickly if you don't already.

Okay, about the whole "Shoo, Fly" thing. I don't know why but I thought that this story would go well with the nursery rhyme for some reason, and it stuck. Every chapter will start with a line from a nursery rhyme or children's song, and, hopefully, it will fit the mood of the chapter in some cryptic way.

Just a reminder, there will be no romance in any way between any of the four main characters: Alfred, Matthew, Arthur, and Francis. It is completely platonic between them.

I am not sure if this will ever be updated consistently for a long time. I've been having major writer's block recently so I'm not going to promise anything. I do have a couple other chapters done so maybe I'll post them some time later.

Just to let you know, I respond via PM to every review and I post a thank you to all who favorite in the author's note at the beginning of every chapter.

And now that you've gotten a taste of my obnoxiously long author's notes, I ask you to please bear with me as I am very excited to share this story with you all.

Review and fav as you so desire.

Looking forward to it!