Chapter 27

Lucy, Sting, and Juvia were all going all out against Akuma. They were all jumping, running, and doing flips to avoid any of her attacks that would've caused any significant damage to them. But for Lucy, because of her broken arm, she was handicapped when it came to hand to hand fighting.

"WATER DRAGON: ROAR!" chanted Lucy. Water came shooting out of her mouth, straight at Akuma. After it hit Akuma's arm, there seemed to be no effect.

"Hahaha! You'll have to do better than that you worm." Akuma said mockingly as she sent a punch in Lucy's direction.

"Shit!" Lucy cursed.

Punch was coming in as high speeds, so she had to quickly push herself off the ground where she stood. Luckily, she was fast enough to dodge the attack, but she quickly felt a sharp pain in her ankle that went up her entire left leg when she tried landing on her feet. Lucy ended up tumbling over and was laying on her side in pain.

"Gah!" Lucy cried.

"Ha. Now you're mine." growled Akuma. She was about to grab Lucy in her hand.

"WHITE DRAGON: HOLY NOVA!" Sting shouted. His attack hit Akuma's hand and made her pull her hand away.

"Argh!" Akuma howled in pain. That gave Sting the opportunity to get Lucy away from Akuma. He ran over to Lucy and quickly carried her a few meters away from Akuma.

"Lucy, are you alright?" asked Sting.

"I'm fine, but...my left leg's broken." answered Lucy. While they were talking, Juvia now tried fighting back as well.

SCOILING WATER BEAM!" Juvia shouted. Scorching hot water came out of her hands and nailed Akuma on her right side. Much steam was created on impact.

"Ah! You little insect!" said Akuma in anger. She raised her hand into the air and quickly brought it down right above Juvia. And since that spell Juvia did had a small recoil, she couldn't move fast enough.

"Ah cra-" Juvia began, but the hand landed right on top of her, which created small cracks in the ground. When Akuma moved her hand away, Juvia was left on the ground, unconscious and bloody, in a small crater.

"Juvia no!" Lucy cried. She attempted to get up, but she winced from pain.

"Don't try and get up. I've got this." Sting said before running towards Akuma.

"Sting, no! She's too powerful!" Lucy cried.

"WHITE DRAGON: ROAR!" Sting shouted. A ray of light shot out of his moth, but suddenly, Akuma vanished.

"What the?!" Sting exclaimed. Before he could do anything else, he felt something grab him from behind.

"What!?" said Sting. He looked behind him, and there stood Akuma.

"Haha. How pathetic." Akuma chuckled.

"But how?!" Sting choked out while being in Akuma's grip.

"In this form, my strength and speed are at its peak." said Akuma. As she said that, she tightened her grip on Sting.

"AH!" Sting screamed in agony.

"Sting, no! Stop it!" Lucy cried, still on her hands and knees.

"Don't bother. It's no use" a voice rang in her head. But, this one was different. It was more feminine and evil. Lucy looked all around, but she didn't see anything.

"If you want to win, you have to let go." said the voice. Lucy then noticed the shadow in front her. It resembled Rogue's shadow, but Lucy's had a more evil grin and also had horns.

"You..." Lucy whispered. She could easily recognized the feeling that was present in her. It was her demon half.

"I can help you. All you have to do is let the darkness control you." said the shadow.

"No! No way! I never want to be that...thing, again!" Lucy shouted.

"Why fight it? You're destine to fall into darkness eventually. Besides, you have nothing without this power." the shadow said.

"You're wrong! Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Lucy cried, repeatedly slamming her fist against the shadow.

"You killed those other knights, you hurt your friends and showed no mercy. Just face the facts. You're a monster." the shadow said. Lucy's eyes suddenly widen. She began gritting her teeth and sweating like crazy. Her eyes soon started to shift between black and white. Lucy gripped her head tightly in pain.

"No! Stop it! I'm not a monster! I don't want your power!" Lucy screamed, constantly shaking her head. Her hair soon began to shift between blonde and black.

"Heh. You let your guard down little girl." said Akuma. Lucy was so distracted with her shadow, that she forgot about Akuma. Lucy quickly snapped her head up and saw Akuma hovering above her. She looked around and saw Sting's and Juvia's beat up and unconscious bodies.

"Sting! Juvia!" Lucy mentally shouted. While she was distracted, she didn't notice Akuma reaching down for her.

"Crap!" Lucy thought. Right before Akuma could reach Lucy, a bright blinding light appeared.

"What?!" Akuma exclaimed. Once the light died down, there stood Leo, Virgo, Scorpio and Sagittarius.

"It's been a while Lucy." said Leo.

"Where did those sprits come from?!" Akuma questioned. She then saw Lucy, breathing heavily, and holding three golden keys in her hand.

"Where did you get those?" Akuma growled.

"I..*huff*..may have new powers, but..*huff*..I'd never abandon my spirits." said Lucy, still struggling to hold onto herself. All this time, Lucy had hid her keys in her pocket all this time. Like always, she never went anywhere without her spirits in hand. And thanks to her training, she was able to summon more spirits.

"Don't worry Lucy/Princess. We'll handle her." all of her spirits said as they all began attacking Akuma.

"Thank you...everyone. Gah!" Lucy said as she continued her struggle with her power.