Chapter Nineteen

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! Here is the ending climax to the epic battle taking place at the DWMA! Hope you enjoy it :)

This was the moment Misao had wished for her whole life; defeating a minion of the Kishin's and reducing the amount of power he had at his disposal. Her heart raced the closer she got to Gopher. All of her dreams had flashed through her mind. Her soul flustered with power, which was amplified by Blood's soul. 'Once I kill this guy, I'll go after Noah next.' "YOUR SOUL IS MINE!"

Gopher could barely move. He was in Misao's direct line of attack. She had him in her sights, but was then knocked backwards by a prickly vine that came from Noah's Book of Eibon. Misao was knocked into a wall, and left with a medium-sized gash across her chest, going to the top of her stomach. "Sorry, sweetheart. I can't have you killing my right hand."

"Are you alright, Misao?" Blood asked as Misao attempted to stand up. Her outfit was covered in blood. Her top was cut at the bottom, almost exposing her chest, but it was still held together.

She wiped blood that had dripped from her mouth, swaying back and forth as she tried to focus on her targets. "I'll be fine." She covered her wound, letting her blood soak on her hand. "I can still…fight." She wheezed slightly and tripped over herself when Maka and Stein came to her side to help her up.

"We got you, Misao." Maka told her. "Hang in there."

"Maka…Professor…"

"Like we told you, we don't let any of our allies fight alone. You're part of our family." Stein smiled at Misao, who gazed at him and realized the warm sensation she once felt in her village.

They all faced Noah, Gopher and Giriko with their weapons in hand and strong, impenetrable souls. "None of you will lay a finger on our friends." Maka announced.

"We'll show you what happens when you do." Soul's energy was through the roof as the friends surrounded each other.

"How cute. The kiddie meisters are defending their little friend." Giriko mocked them. "Unfortunately, even with your massive numbers, we're stronger than all of you put together. That girl is Asura's property. Whether you like it or not…her fate is sealed with his. Your academy won't last forever. The Kishin will make sure of that."

"That's enough." Misao stepped forward, holding Blood with both of her hands. "Go ahead and threaten me and my weapon all you like. But you will not threaten my friends, professors…or this school and its headmaster."

Giriko began to go into an uncontrollable laughter. "Have you seen yourself!? You've been tossed around left and right, and you think you have what it takes to fight off Asura!?"

"Don't forget what happened earlier, where I tossed your ass around." Misao glared at Giriko. "But…I hate to admit that you are right about one thing: we can't defeat you on our own. Our power isn't strong enough. At least mine isn't. But that can change. Right, Blood?"

Blood knew exactly what she was referring to. "Misao, are you sure about this? We've never been able to control it before."

"If we keep avoiding it, we'll never know how to control it. Blood, I know we can do this. You have to be on the same level as me. If we pull it off, we can stand against them."

He sighed, soaking in some of Misao's spirit to get him hyped. "If it is what you want to do, Misao, I am with you all the way."

"Thank you." Misao smiled, before bracing her stance and looking back up at Noah. "Professor Stein…you wanted to see Blood and I perform Soul Resonance, remember? Well…watch carefully." Misao began to unwrap the bandages from the handle.

"For as long as Misao and I have been partners, we've never once been able to perform Soul Resonance. No matter how much we trained…"

"…we could never pull it off." The bandages slowly unwrapped from the handle, gathering on the ground in front of Misao's feet. Once they were removed, it revealed an unusual mark embedded on the handle of a three-ringed hypnotic circle. Blood's handle released heat once the bandages were removed and the mark was fully exposed. "But now, we can try to use it to defend this place. It is a desperate attempt."

"I'm ready when you are, Misao." Blood said, letting all of his spiritual energy release from him and merge with Misao's.

"Alright, time to end this battle." The character of her soul manifested around her. Misao's hair flowed upwards by the massive energy that stirred. Her grip on her weapon tightened as the energy increased and flowed through her. It was passed back and forth from meister to weapon. "Blood, let's try to reach the maximum! Can you handle it?"

"I'll do my best! Keep focus!"

Noah was both impressed and surprised at the power Misao and Blood were giving off. He had a condescending smile on his face that also showed a spec of admiration for how beautiful she was with all that energy flowing around her. Along with the look of anger and vengeance in her eyes. "Simply intoxicating." He whispered to himself. "Their raw power is magnificent. But the orb's power is not a part of this swirling energy. In fact…majority of this energy isn't Misao's..."

"Blood, we're almost there!" Misao exclaimed. "Get ready to attack!"

"Be careful, Misao. I can already feel myself losing control of my power. It's flowing out of me rapidly."

"We just need to last a few minutes using Soul Resonance! Keep your control until we defeat these guys! Just a little more!" Their energy grew larger and larger. The amount of spiritual pressure the pair were releasing made everyone around them turn into statues, beholding the character of Misao's soul that slowly expanded. Its glow brightened as a wave of energy was sent flying towards Noah, Giriko and Gopher. "Alright Blood, this is it! Let's go for it!"

"Go! Soul Resonance!" Misao took in every drop of power Blood released to her and then launched herself into the air as the shape of her weapon began to change. The scythe end expanded, reaching all the way towards the spear end until it transformed into a large, half-bladed chakram with a bend in the handle. "YOUR SOULS ARE MINE!"

Aimed at her targets, Misao began to spin in a horizontal direction towards Noah and his comrades. She was approaching them at a rapid speed that made it almost impossible for Noah's gang to get out of the way in time.

"Misao. I'm starting to lose control! I can't keep this up much longer." Blood told her with force in his voice, as if he was talking while holding his breath.

"Hold on for just a little longer, Blood!" Misao exclaimed, keeping control of her attack. "We can pull this off! Just keep it…" A flux of energy shot through Misao that felt as if her chest and stomach were being squeezed and punched at the same time. It wasn't long before her entire body began feeling heavy and her energy shot everywhere until it was redirected back at her.

Misao let out a pained scream as her own energy flowed violently up and down her body, practically damaging her soul. Her attack had dismantled in midair, giving Noah and the others enough time to get out of the way of Misao's body slamming into the ground so hard that her grip on Blood had been lost. Blood was thrown to the opposite direction, bouncing several times before he turned back to his original weapon form and skidded across the concrete. "Bl…Blood…gah!" Misao's body still curdled in pain as an extensive amount of energy continued to flow through her body. She was being burned from the inside out.

Stein and the others quickly ran towards Misao to check on her. "Stein, what's going on with her?" Spirit asked as he was set down beside Stein.

Stein did his best to hold Misao down as her pain slowly began to fade. "Her weapon was feeding her too much spiritual energy from the looks of it. For a spilt second; at the moment she went out of control…their soul wavelengths were not in sync with each other's." He looked towards Blood, who was still in his weapon form. His eyes narrowed.

"…Blood…are…are you…?" Misao tried to sit up to look at Blood, but Stein forced her to stop.

"Stay still, Misao!" Maka exclaimed. "Your soul took a lot of damage. If you move…"

"I…have to get…to Blood…" She reached her hand in Blood's direction.

Blood reverted back to his human form and tried to stand up so he could get to Misao. "Misao…are you…" Suddenly he was ambushed from above, when a griffon held him down with his talons and squeezed him tightly. "Get this bird off of me!"

"No, get off of him! Blood!" Misao squirmed her way out of Stein's arms and tried to make her way to Blood. She didn't get far due to her lack of strength and the damage done to her soul.

Maka and Soul ran towards her and sat her back up. "Misao, you can't overdue it." Maka said.

"Looks like we have your right where we want you." Giriko sneered. "Now for the fun part." He lifted his leg over Blood's neck and let his blades spin rapidly. "Unless you want to watch your beloved weapon lose his head, quit wasting our time and give yourself up to the Kishin!"

"Blood, no!" Misao exclaimed, trying to move towards him. "Let him go!"

"That depends on your decision! We haven't got all day!"

Misao stared into Blood's eyes. With that gaze, he told her to leave him. He'd rather die in the line of duty than have Misao sacrifice herself. "I'm sorry, Blood." She said as she slowly rose to her feet while clenching her stomach. "Maka, Soul, please don't interfere."

"What are you doing, Misao?" Maka asked, standing up with her.

"Doing what I have to." She said weakly. "Just like my father sacrificed himself for my sake…I'm going to do the same thing for Blood. That's…how strong my bond is with him." Taking small steps, Misao approached Noah, who held the Book of Eibon at his side. He smiled victoriously as he watched Misao stop a few feet in front of him. She tried to stand up straight, but the pain she felt was still in her body that she had to hunch herself again. "I'll return to the Kishin if you let Blood go right now."

Noah adjusted his hat while chuckling. "That's a good girl." He looked over his shoulder at Blood and Giriko. The griffon let Blood fall to the ground and Giriko smirked while retracting his chains.

Blood had severe injuries to him that he just dropped to the ground, barely able to move.

Misao wanted to run to him to comfort him before she was taken away. But Noah grabbed her by the waste and jumped onto the griffon, departing the DWMA "This was fun meisters and weapons! But next time, be more passionate in your fighting! I was barely entertained!"

"Later losers! HA!" Giriko flicked his middle fingers at the academy as they flew higher into the sky.

'I'm sorry Blood.' Misao said to himself, watching Blood become more distant until the academy was completely out of sight. 'I'm sorry DWMA.' Tears she shed fell from her eyes and was taken away by the wind. They left a trail of sorrow that Misao hoped Blood could follow. 'History really is repeating itself…in ways I never thought possible.'

His maniacal laughter echoed through the halls. His mouth was wide open to where it looked as if his jaw had unhinged itself from his skull. His laugh got louder and louder for a short time before stopping instantaneously. "How was your short-lived freedom?" Asura asked, standing across from Misao. Did you get to spend a lot of precious time with your beloved Blood?"

She listened to the echo of his laughter bounce around her for a long time. The sound of it caused her hair to stand on end. However, it didn't faze her due to the numbing pain that still lingered from her Soul Resonance backfiring. Misao was silent, yet kept glaring at Asura's bandaged eyes.

"It was amusing to watch you run away with those spies." He slowly approached her, feeling the fear that dripped from her with the sweat of anxiety. "You should thank me for letting you escape so easily. If I wanted to, I could have ripped those DWMA spied slowly limb from limb until this forest was covered with their blood." Asura continued staring at Misao's pained eyes before looking at the scars on her body, as well as the massive damage done to her soul. "How badly does it hurt? The fact that your own weapon shot his energy at you and almost destroyed your soul."

His cold hand was placed on Misao's chest. Misao shivered at his touch, feeling like his hand was molding with hers and sinking into her skin. She let out a small painful gasp as his heavy spiritual energy flowed violently through her, causing her to collapse to her knees. Once she was on the ground, she violently puked for a minute. Her stomach and chest tightened to the point Misao felt like she really was going to die right there.

"The orb has lost its power." Asura said, watching Misao gasp in pain. "It's weak and can't protect you from my energy until you recover." He let out a disappointed sigh as he walked away from Misao. "I guess I have to wait to play with you. Noah, help her back to her room."

"Yes, Kishin." Nosah walked towards Misao after she was done vomiting and picked her up princess style. "Let's go, princess. Your tower missed you while you were gone."

'He touched me…again…' Misao's mind was almost broken. The fight back at DWMA haunted her mind. They were worse, replaying over and over without an end. 'So this…is his real power…my mind feels like it's going to explode.' Misao felt the orb trying to shield her; its energy was flowing through her, but not as strong as it used to be. 'We're still weak, no matter what we do. Our power isn't strong enough to fight to our fullest.'

"Here we are, princess." The room was the same as when Misao left it. Noah set her down in the bed. Misao rolled onto her side, facing away from Noah and buried her face in the pillow, silently sobbing. "You're lucky he was so merciful this time. Try another stunt like what you did, Asura will properly punish you. Have a good night." He left the room, slamming and locking the door behind him.

At that moment, all thoughts escaped Misao's mind. They seemed to vanish with every tear she shed. The decision she made to give herself up, to her, she thought was something her father would do…or did do. But lying there in her cold prison again, Misao regretted her choice, feeling like she had disobeyed her father's wish for her safety.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The main climax will be coming very soon so stay tuned!

Please R&R!