Holy crap! Is this actually the last chapter?! Yes. Yes it is. Thank you to those who reviewed, followed and favorited from last time, and to the two people who were rather rude about my absence, kindly sod off. To the rest of you, enjoy!

Scar

The battle seemingly over, an awed Miroku made to move forward towards their recent allies, only to have Inuyasha stop him again. "It ain't over yet," he said, his half-demon nose catching the scent of another demon.

"Don't you think maybe we should go help them now?" Kagome asked. She let out a frustrated sigh when he shook his head.

"If they can't handle it, I'll help. But for now, just watch."

Maka turned in a slow circle as she searched for the last demon–the strong one. Soul glanced around too, although he thought his doing so was kind of pointless. He couldn't see souls, after all.

He started when he felt a sudden burst of alarm from his meister. "Maka, wh-" The question didn't make it out of his mouth before she was already yelling.

"BLACK STAR, BEHIND YOU!"

The ninja's eyes widened and he tried to dodge as a giant clawed hand shot out and swiped at him. Maka's warning prevented him from losing a leg, but he still ended up being flung back, a long but shallow cut running across his thigh. Maka leapt forward as her teammate skidded along the ground, using Soul to block the pre-kishin's next strike. Black Star clambered back to his feet, looking pissed. "Tsubaki, enchanted sword mode," he instructed. Tsubaki didn't hesitate before transforming, knowing her meister could handle the powerful blade. Black Star sliced the long sword in a circle and turned to Kid. "Come on, Maka's getting all the spotlight!" the ninja laughed, although there was a serious glint in his eyes. Kid merely smirked at the ninja's typical words as they ran back into battle.

Okay, this thing might be trouble, Maka thought as she grappled with the pre-kishin before planting her boots on its arm and flipping backwards, forcing it to release is grip on Soul. She landed lightly on her feet between Kid and Black Star. Panting a little, she took a moment to examine their latest enemy. It had to be twelve feet tall, a bit on the skinny side, but with powerful muscles bunching up underneath black fur. The fur was torn away over its torso, revealing a bloody ribcage with a large, beating heart underneath. A patch of green-brown scales covered its lower legs. Unlike the other panther demons, it stood upright on two feet like a human. A paw–or hand, maybe–slammed down in front of Black Star, making him jump back a little. Sharing a look, the three leapt forward again.

Sango watched with wide eyes, a little worried. Sure, the meister/weapon group had been able to handle the little demons easily, but this was in a whole different league. She slipped her Hiraikotsu off her shoulder a little, prepared to jump in if necessary. The demon slayer didn't notice Miroku gripping his staff a bit tighter, or that Kirara had transformed behind her, or how Kagome now had her bow in her hands while Inuyasha unconsciously tightened his grip around Tetsusaiga.

Kid was getting frustrated. Black Star and Maka were both landing attacks, but the blades only managed to leave shallow scratches on the demon. It appeared Maka had also had enough as she stopped next to Kid, calling for Black Star through the Chain Resonance. Black Star listened (albeit reluctantly) and fell back to stand with them.

"Man, I am so done with this," he snapped, glaring at the pre-kishin.

"Agreed," Kid said dryly. They all ducked as the demon took a swipe towards them, his claws only managing to catch one of Maka's pigtails. She let out a yelp as the band pulled on her hair sharply before snapping.

"Ow, my scalp," the meister grumbled, touching the side of her head where her ash-blonde hair was now falling over one shoulder.

"Hey, Maka?"

"What, Liz?" she asked, feeling annoyance, stress, and a bit of concern emanating from the gun.

"It's Kid..." Maka turned, careful to keep the demon in sight. (It had sat down and appeared to be watching the trio and their weapons like a particularly interesting sitcom.) The agitation in Kid's wavelength was clearly expressed on his face as he stared at the scythemeister, face twitching spastically. Patti burst out laughing.

"Kid's gone crazy, Kid's gone crazy!" The entire group, minus Patti and a very distracted Kid, sweat-dropped.

"Hey, Maka," Soul said from inside the scythe. "Maybe you should take out your other ponytail before Kid faints."

Maka suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, instead yanking out her other pigtail. Kid's face instantly brightened.

"Look, Maka! You're symmetrical again!" he said delightedly as she slipped the hairband onto her wrist quickly (careful to hide it under her sleeve so Kid wouldn't see it).

"You'd think he'd have more important things to worry about in the middle of a battle," Maka muttered, irritated. Soul snorted and Black Star said, "Yeah right. Can we kill this guy now?"

She smiled. "Let's do it. "

"Hey, you don't need me to play, right?" Soul asked, sounding indifferent to everyone but his meister–she could hear the tiny bit of concern he was hiding underneath the question.

"Nah, we've been doing okay without it," Maka answered. Soul heard what she wasn't saying: You don't have to risk your sanity. We'll be fine. Sappy and uncool? Maybe, but that doesn't mean he wasn't secretly relieved to hear it.

"Alright, Tsubaki!" Black Star shouted. "Let's show this guy the power of a god!"

"The usual attack plan, guys," Maka said, rolling her shoulders. "Let's go!"

"Resonance link," the meisters chanted as one.

Black Star smirked and closed his eyes, concentrating on the thread connecting his soul to Tsubaki's, and beyond that, to Maka, Kid and the others. Final attack? he thought, and felt the other five agree. Okay then. Let's do this, Tsubaki! Dark tendrils slithered across his face and arms. Eyes snapping open, he smirked. "Tsubaki, Shadow Star!" he shouted. The shadows swirling around his feet raced forward, wrapping around the pre-kishin's back paws. The demon snarled, yanking ineffectively at the darkness. Black Star launched himself into the air with a battle cry and slashed down with the black blade. The pre-kishin roared as a deep cut appeared across its arm, black fangs flashing. The ninja moved faster than the eyes could see, sword opening up long gashes beneath fur. Black Star pushed off the pre-kishin's head, flipping in mid-air before landing behind it. "You're up, Kid!"

"Right." Kid nodded once, Soul Resonance already crackling the air between the Reaper and his weapons.

"Ready!" Patti giggled.

Red skulls flitted in the air and spikes shot out from the reaper's suit as his guns transformed.

"Resonance stable. Noise at 1.5 percent," Liz said, voice distorted as black lightning crackled.

"Black Needle soul wavelength, fully charged," Patti added, all childishness gone.

Kid crouched, knees to the ground, and looked up with a sly grin. "Oh look," he purred, "it seems you've been injured." His eyes narrowed and red light pulsed around Liz and Patti's cannon forms. "Let me help with that."

"Feedback in five seconds."
"Four." Giant scarlet skulls appeared over the barrels and continued to grow.

"Three."

"Two."

"One!"

Kid snapped his arms together and aimed. "Death Cannon," he snarled and fired. Unbelievable light shot from the cannons and struck the pre-kishin, making it keen in pain. When the smoke cleared, it was slumped in its place, trying desperately to slash at anyone.

"Shall we finish it off?" Maka said, a smirk in her voice.

"Let's."

"Soul Resonance!" they cried, wind whipping the meister's hair. Energy surged through their wavelengths and the scythe transformed into a huge and lethal curve of metal shimmering with power.

Maka charged with a battle cry. "Genie Hunter!" She swung and the blade passed cleanly through the demon, severing it in two. Maka landed, still in battle position, as the monster's body tore to shreds.

Letting go of their Chain Resonance, the weapons changed back into human form and all seven teammates turned back and trudged towards the shell-shocked group behind them. Stopping a few yards away, each party eyed the other, nobody sure what to say after a display of so much power.

Suddenly, Black Star broke the silence. "And that's why I'm a god!" he proclaimed with a giant grin as he stuck a 'godly' pose. The tension broke as everyone groaned.

Camp that night was different, but not in a bad way. It was like the battle had finally broken the invisible-but-still-present barrier between the two groups. The DWMA students, rather then sitting with each other, were spaced out among the Feudal warriors, laughing and discussing the fight. Inuyasha, however, was sitting alone at the base of a tree. Soul glanced at him.

"Hey, man," the scythe said, strolling over. "You okay with this?"

Hearing the unasked question–You okay with us?–the half-demon looked out at the others. He watched Tsubaki help Kagome cook, saw Maka and Sango trading fighting tips to the amusement of the watching Thompson sisters while Patti braided Shippō's hair, noticed Kid and Miroku in the middle of a deep philosophical discussion. No longer separate.

"Yeah," he said finally, "I think I am."

This is it! The end. Whoa. Before anyone starts to wonder, No, this isn't where I planned to end it, and Yes, there is a good possibility of a sequel continuing this when I have more time. I just wanted to get this done so no one would be waiting on it.

I want to thank anyone who stuck around long enough to finish this story with me, and everyone who followed/favorited. You're all awesome, and I love you!

See you around!

Scarlet Shayde