Chapter 28

As Lucy's spirits were fighting Akuma, Lucy had to drag herself over Sting and Juvia as she struggled with her power. When she reached their bodies, she pulled them close to herself and stayed on her knees between her two friends.

"Sting...Juvia...You guys alright?" Lucy asked, out of breath. Neither of them answered, still unconscious.

"Damn...they've both been badly injured..." thought Lucy.

So, with all the spare power she could give, she had golden light surround her hands and placed them on each of her friend's chests. The light enveloped both of their bodies and their injuries were suddenly beginning to heal. Lucy was starting to look even more tired as she healed her friends. After a few minutes, the light disappeared and Lucy just sat there on her knees. Both Sting and Juvia began to sit up.

"Ah...my head. What happened?" said Sting.

"Last I remember...Lucy! Oh god! What happened!?" Juvia exclaimed after seeing Lucy's condition. They both moved closer to Lucy to see if she was alright. They could see she was exhausted and all beat up.

"I..*huff*...used the last of my magic..*huff*...to heal you guys." said Lucy.

"What!? But you have a broken arm and leg, how do you plan to fight back!?" Sting questioned.

"...I don't-GAH!" Lucy shouted. She clutched her head again and began to shake back and forth.

"Lucy!" said Juvia.

"Lucy, what's going on?!" Sting exclaimed.

"Hehe. She has lost practically all of her magic power. Now, she can no longer fight back." said the shadow. It had just now reappeared and now they all could hear and see it.

"Who are you?!" said Juvia.

"I am, and she soon will be, evil incarnate." said the shadow. It slowly began to vanish and Lucy suddenly shot up to her feet, forgetting any kind of pain she felt, and let a howling scream.

"AAHH!" Lucy yelled.

"Lucy!" both of her friends cried.

Lucy stumbled backwards for a few moments, but then had her back turned completely towards her friends. Slowly, black light began to pulse through her body, becoming brighter and brighter every time it appeared. Soon, the white of Lucy's eyes began to switch between black and white, but her pupils remained brown. Her nails also started to turn black and sharpen. She also began to grow fangs.

"Lucy!" cried Juvia.

She tried to move towards Lucy, but Lucy swung her left arm around and smacked Juvia across the face. Lucy was now half way turned from where she was standing. Juvia ended up landing on the ground on her side, a little shaken up and bruised.

"Juvia! Lucy, stop this!" shouted Sting. But his words weren't working. Lucy continued to slowly give in to the darkness.

"I...can't...I...I...need...more...power." Lucy said, her voice becoming more venomous as she spoke. After saying that, the scar on her face now started to become the black crack like it used to be. Sting could actually feel his heart sink after he heard Lucy talk like that.

"No...please...not again." Sting thought.

Images of Lucy in her demon form flashed into his mind. The mad-like smile, the aura of bloodlust, and the evil look in her eye. He swore to himself that he never wanted to see Lucy act like that. As he was thinking this, Lucy's transformation continued. She soon had her horns once again and she let out a similar demonic shriek like her fist one. Now, images of Lucy smiling and laughing with her friends flashed into his mind. Sting could now feel the tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Stop it Lucy!" Sting shouted as he dashed towards Lucy. He quickly wrapped his arms around the lower part of Lucy's neck and shoulders from behind. Lucy snapped her head around while growling at him. He saw that Lucy's pupils had now shrunken, but they aren't gone. Sting then just let all of his tears flow as he hugged Lucy from behind.

"Lucy, you have to stop this! This isn't you, and it's not how you're supposed to be! Please, just don't leave me again! I can't bear to see you like that again. I know you said you wanted to become stronger, but remember this isn't the right way. You can't do what Akuma wants you to. So please, just come back to me!" cried Sting.

As Sting continued to cry, Lucy just simply watched. Images of Sting, her and her friends began to flash into her mind, like going on missions with Juvia and being in Saber Tooth. The pupils in Lucy's eyes began to return to normal size and her nails, horns and fangs slowly retracted. The only thing left was her eyes that were still black.

"Sting. That's right. I'm still fighting with him and Juvia by my side...I...I want to protect him, I want to protect all of my friends." Lucy thought.

Lucy's eye began to turn back to white, but only her right eye. Lucy then turned her head around and cast a shadow with her bangs. She also placed one hand on one of Sting's arms that was still wrapped around her.

"I want power, but I don't want to hurt anyone after getting it. I need power, so somebody, please, help me!" Lucy mentally screamed.

Her grip tightened on Sting's arm and she began to grit her teeth. While that was happening, Akuma was defeating the last of the celestial spirits. Akuma had defeated Scorpio and Sagittarius with ease from the start. Virgo was able to keep her off balance for a good amount of time, but was soon crushed under Akuma's foot and defeated as well. While Virgo was doing that, Loke was using his own magic to stop her, but he too was soon defeated.

"Ha. Now you're mine." Akuma chuckled. A black sphere was formed in the palm of Akuma's hand. Once it was complete, she threw it straight at Sting and Lucy.

"Sting! Lucy! Get out of there!" shouted Juvia.

But it was to late. The orb hit the two of them dead on. Much dust and wind was created. It took all of Juvia's strength to not get blown away. Once all of the wind died down, the dust started to clear. And once it did, there only stood a giant crater where Lucy and Sting once were.

"Lucy, Sting, no!" Juvia exclaimed.

"Hehe. That was too easy. If only she had taken my advise." said Akuma.

"It's far from over Akuma." someone said. The two remaining fighters looked upwards, where the voice was coming from, and saw a magnificent sight.

"Impossible!" exclaimed Akuma.

"Th-thank goodness." Juvia whispered, almost crying.

What they saw was Lucy holding an unconscious Sting under her arm while in her transformation, but it wasn't her Hell's or Heaven's transformation. It appeared to be a fused version. She had one angel wing and one demon wing. Only her left arm had the markings and she only had one black eye and one was gold. Lucy was wearing her white tank top again, but now with a black left shoulder strap and her skirt had one black strip going through it and it was ripped up near the ankles. She also had her halo and only the lower left part of her scar looked like a black crack.

"But how?! She has fused her two transformations!" questioned Akuma.

"Lucy, you're incredible!" Juvia cheered. A few seconds later, Sting slowly began to wake up.

"Huh? What happened?" Sting mumbled.

"Sting, thank goodness. You're awake." said Lucy calmly.

"L-Lucy!? Wh-wh-what happened!?" exclaimed Sting after seeing Lucy's new appearance. Lucy quickly put one of Sting's arm over her shoulder so they would be eye level.

"It's thanks to you Sting. I was able find a way to fight, but still be myself. You saved me Sting." Lucy answered.

"Great! Now, Let's finish her off for good." declared Sting.

"Right." said Lucy, with confidence in her eye.