Rain was just starting to sprinkle overhead. They had already been fighting for a long while now. The Kishin they had come for was proving to be much more difficult than expected. It was no wonder that the kids that had gone out to try and defeat this monster had given up and returned to the DWMA. No student from their school would quit unless completely necessary, and from the looks of the returning pair and this Kishin, it definitely had been.
She felt good knowing that the kids hadn't just simply chosen too big of a mission for themselves, they really had been overpowered. She was glad they came home with only mild injuries that would heal soon enough. But at the same time she was at the moment wishing it was an easier foe. Especially now that the rain was starting to come down.
She was already beginning to get damp through her jacket, and her boots were doing little to keep her from sliding around in the mud. The rain was definitely not a scythe meister's best conditions, both because you have to hold on to a long metal rod, and because you have to move around so much to attack and dodge.
What she wouldn't give for Soul to be a pistol or gun or something right now. It was at times like these that she realized just how lucky Kid was to have the didn't have to worry about moving to attack, he could attack from wherever he was.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, she jumped to her left to avoid a sweeping attack from the angry creature. It was approximately three times her size, and pitch black. This didn't make it easy to fight since it was late at night and it wouldn't come out at any other time. As she landed her feet slipped in the mud, and nearly lost her balance. She narrowly managed to regain her footing and she swung back at the creature with a large amount of force. Disappointingly the hit missed and set her even further back in their fight.
'I should have listened to Soul and asked Kid or Black*Star to come along as backup. I just had to let my pride get in the way didn't I? I'm such an idiot.' She thinks to herself, she really was an idiot. She had thought that the creature wouldn't be any problem due to the fact that It had been a one star meister and weapon mission. Boy had she been wrong.
"GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS MAKA! THIS CAN'T GO ON TOO MUCH LONGER OR YOU AREN'T GONNA BE ABLE TO FIGHT. THIS FOOTING IS GETTING TOO SLICK." Soul yells at her from his weapon form. It's just what the doctor-or in this case, weapon-ordered.
The rain was absolutely pouring down from the sky. Each droplet was getting close to the size of a lemon. They bounced up from the ground and right into her boots, filling them up and impeding her fighting abilities even more than beforehand. This was not good.
Snapping back into her right state of mind for battle, she continues running and advancing closer to the Kishin. Dodging another hit, she knows Soul is right. This can't go on too much longer. She slips again, and as she gains back her footing, the Kishin attacks agin. She is sent flying onto the edge of a roof of a building a short distance away. Throwing Soul above her, she attempts to stop her sliding, but she can't get his blade through anything. She continues on sliding down the roof, before falling all the way down three floors onto the ground.
'Death damn it that is going to hurt tomorrow'. Slowly she sits up, and reaching for Soul's handle she pulls him back to her. Getting back to her feet she makes a firm decision. Throw everything she has left into one final attack.
"GET READY!" She yells to him, and then she charges. Lowering her torso forward towards the ground, she pushed herself as fast as safely possible. She skimmed the ground, Soul being pulled behind her like a kite. She gracefully pulled him in front of her and just as she was about to make her move she was once again slammed back into the wall.
She sat stunned slightly, coughing. Blood ran from the corner of her mouth, and her ribs felt broken, but she had to keep going. She had to defeat this monster, even if it killed her. She could do this. She attempts to get back up, but with a screech she falls back to the ground.
"Maka, are you okay?" Soul asks her hesitantly, she can tell he is debating whether to change back to human form.
"I'm fine." She grimaces, testing her wrist out again. It was sprained no doubt, if not was not going to be fun to fight with.
"Can you fight still? I don't wan't you to get killed Maka." He worries, and she responds by grabbing him with her injured hand and pushing herself to her feet with the other. She wipes the blood from the corner of her mouth, and steadies her swaying body. She feels like a twig in the wind, being bowed back and forth, nearly to the point of breaking. But she would persevere.
"I can do this." She says to no one in particular. She grabs Soul's handle in both her hands, ignoring the searing pain coming from her left wrist. She would not give up. She was a DWMA student. She was a two star meister, and her partner was Soul Eater Evans; The Last DeathScythe. She would not, no. She could not fail.
The ground was as slippery as ever, and she was completely drenched. Her clothes were stained with mud, blood, soot, and grime. Her pigtails were drooping, and as sorry as she looked, she had a new found strength. The truth was, if she didn't take care of this thing here and now, it was going too become the next Asura, and they could not have that happen.
"SOUL RESONANCE!" She yells, and the familiar feeling of her and Soul's souls joining as one overtakes her. She can do this. Despite pain, despite this foe's strength. She would not be beaten. Take her down to her knees sure, but they would not defeat her. She was Maka Albarn. She could do this,
She threw her head back, their wavelengths increasing. Her strength and his strength flowing through them. The melody of his piano calmed her mind, body and soul.
"Let's do this." She says taking him up in battle position, running even faster than before. She swiftly dodges each of the creatures attacks, not letting any more hits come to find their mark. Picking up even more speed, she finally gets close enough. She leaps into the air, lifting Soul up above her head.
"KISHIN HUNTER!" She screams at the top of her lungs. It makes her lightheadedness worse, but she comes down upon the Kishin with all of the last of her strength, and then some.
She watches as the giant blade slices cleanly through the monster's shoulder, and as it's body unravels, as if it was a bow being pulled loose. The glowing Kishin egg pops out, and as she collapses to the ground, Soul transforms back to his usual form. He carefully plucks it up and swallows it whole.
"Wow, haven't tasted one of those in quite a- Maka! Are you okay!?" He says in clear panic once he has turned around. She is hunched over, coughing into her muddy white gloves.
"I'm-" She coughs a few times before continuing. "-fine." She coughed more, It was extremely painful, and if she hadn't been hurt in battle so many times, and built up an extremely high pain tolerance, she would be passed out cold right now. Just the pain in her wrist would have been enough to knock quite a few out.
"You do not look okay Maka. You pushed it too far this time. I know you didn't want to lose, but this was ridiculous." He reprimands her, bending down to look at her. The rain was already soaking him through and through. When he notices the blood in her hand, a mix of black and red, he gets worried. "Maka, look at your glove."
"Huh- oh. Yeah." She says, not sounding all that worried. Its either from shock, or she's used to it. "I'll be-" She coughs again, and yet more blood. "-fine Soul. It happens when we resonate strongly. You-" A bit more coughing and she falls to her hands and knees. "-know that. Death damnit though, this hurts. Think I broke a few ribs." She comments to him. He kneels over, and feels her chest, going by the look on his face, it wasn't good.
"Anything else Maka" He asks her, she knew it was partially to get the information out of her, partially to keep her awake and talking.
"My wrist." She mumbles. She was getting sleepy, staying awake was getting difficult, "Soul, I'm getting too sleepy. Need to get home. Need Stein." She pleads as best she can at that moment.
"Okay then Maka, this might hurt, I'm sorry he says as he prepares to pick her up. Steeling himself for what was to come, he gently lifts her broken body into his arms. Her unstoppable cry of pain, and the following whimpers showed just how much had been taken out of her.
She was quiet most of the way back to the bike, besides her persistent coughing. She couldn't muster the strength to say anything more. She could feel her soul wanting to slip away, and this fact scared her. She knew something was more wrong than she could tell. She just needed Soul to hurry, before there was no meister for him to take back to the DWMA.
Water from his hair dripped onto her paling face, and she tried to focus on that as he drove the bike back down the long road to the place they called home, and Stein's house where help would be. She couldn't let go of what little consciousness she had left, or she knew she would not be able to wake herself back up.
"Please-" She gasps, air not coming to her. "-hurry." She finishes, and that's all it takes for Soul to look at her in shock, and then rev up the motorcycle, accelerating quicker than she would think possible with her in the position he had her in.
She moves her hand to the warm spot near her abdomen, and touching it she can feel sticky hot liquid coating the area. Lifting her hand ever so slightly, she sees the red tell-tale sign. She could barely feel her toes anymore. She was slipping away, dying, and unless they got to Stein's quickly, she would not make it past this night.
She looks back up at Soul, and just now notices the warm tears running down the boy's face. It hurt her that he was showing this much emotion. He was usually so straight faced. She felt hot tears prickling in her eyes, and she opened her mouth. Any words she could say seemed to be stuck deep in her throat, but a few seemed to rise to the surface.
"Soul-" She begins, it was barely audible over the bike, but she knew he heard her.
"Save your strength Maka, we're almost there." He says, the words sounding strangled coming out.
"Soul, I-I l-lo-love you." She says, so shakily, so weakly. She can barely recognize them as her own words. They were distorted, and didn't sound like her, but they were one hundred percent true. They were all she could seem to think about now. That and Soul's strong face and fluffy white hair, which was matted down to his scalp.
"Maka-" He sobbed, the tears were coming down in rivers now. "Please, stay with me. I love you too. I love you so much Maka, please stay with me Maka. You can't go. You can't die. I need you." He blubbers, gasping for air in-between every few words.
She let a soft smile form on her face as he said those words. The few words that put her at ease. That all had not been for nothing. She was loved and cared about. If she fell asleep now and never woke back up, she could find peace with that. Her dreams were fulfilled, her heart filled to the brim, and she was okay.
She could barely feel anything anymore, her body was going numb. She knew her blood has probably soaked the poor boy, trying so hard to save her. The boy she loved, and the boy that loved her. She would die with him, and that was okay.
She feels the bike come roaring to a stop now, and Soul jumps off the bike as quickly as he can. Running to Stein's door, he slams on the door as loudly as he can.
"STEIN, MARIE, SOMEBODY, HELP!" He yells, as loudly as his lungs will let him.
A few moments later and the door swings open, an grumpy looking Stein framed in the doorway. He takes one look and goes into a look of shock.
"What the hell happened?!" Stein freaks out, in shock over her appearance.
"No time. Maka needs help right now. Please Stein, she's dying. That mission was too much for her. She did it but you can see the results yourself." Soul pleads.
Stein just simply nods, and ushers them inside, hurrying them along. She can feel her mind blurring over, black dots clouding her vision. Soul must have noticed this also.
"Maka, no. Maka, stay with me now. Keep your eyes open Maka. You can't die Maka. No. No. No. STAY WITH ME MAKA." He says to her, but its no use. It's too late for her now. Her mind is fogged over and she's slipping. Farther and farther away she feels.
"I'm sorry Soul." She says with the last of her strength. That's when she closes her eyes, just as Stein opens his lab, a bed waiting just for her and her broken self. He was the only hope at this point. She hears Soul's screams and sobs, and thens when she goes under, finally allowing herself to succumb to the darkness.
'Goodbye Soul.'