Chapter 3

As the last day of the Grand Magic games continued, Sting remained in his hidden alleyway. He was able to faintly hear the commentators with his strong Dragonslayer ears. He heard that Quatro Puppy's team had been completely eliminated and that Mermaid Heel only had two members left. However, Fairy Tail had all five members left. The commentators announced that Erza and Kagura had begun to fight. Sting was not paying much attention until he heard Minerva's name. Milady? Fighting with Erza and Kagura? I hope she'll be okay.

He decided to listen in to the battle more attentively now that his fellow Sabertooth member was fighting with two strong opponents. As the battle was progressing, Sting saw a magnificent pillar of light shoot up into the sky. He recognized it instantly as Minerva's magic. Milady is so powerful. There's no way she'll lose.

"Do you see that? It's her," said one commentator.

"Yes, it's Milliana," said another.

"She seems to have been captured by Minerva's magic. She looks like she's in a lot of pain."

"Is that even legal?"

"Well this is certainly a complicated situation. Tell me Yajima, what do you make of it?"

"Umm, well there isn't any rule against taking hostages during the battle royal, therefore, we have no choice but to look at this kidnapping as a tactical play."

Sting could not believe what he was hearing. He was shocked that Minerva would stoop so low as to take hostages. It sounded to him that she was hurting her hostage, as well. That's cold. Even for Milady, that's cold. How could she do something like that? Wait, she actually has done something like that recently. She technically did kidnap Rogue. Wait, she wouldn't hurt him would she? No! If I find out that she lied to me and hurt my best friend, she's dead!

"We haven't seen Sting in a while, I wonder if he will make an appearance?"

"That's odd, the lacrimatron cameras can't seem to find him anywhere in the city."

Sting was so enraged thinking about Minerva hurting Rogue that he did not even notice that the commentators were talking about him. All he was focused on was that he needed to get his partner back, now!

"You fight real dirty, Milady. But it ain't gonna matter, at least after I'm finished. With the plan I got in mind, there's nothing anyone can do to keep me from getting Rogue back. I'm gonna make you proud, partner."

After some time, Sting heard that Erza had seemingly defeated Kagura, however, Kagura was able to get back up. There was silence from the commentators for a while after that, however, just then,

"Minerva has struck down Kagura! Sabertooth scores five points for defeating a leader. That puts them ahead of Fairy Tail by four points, and with Erza badly hurt on the battlefield, Fairy Tail may lose one of its best!"

How could she? Sting knew Minerva could be ruthless, however, before that week he had no idea how ruthless she could be. His desire to get Rogue back increased dramatically. He knew now that he could not trust her with his partner's life. Rogue, I'll get you back, I swear it.

Sting heard the commentators talk about how Minerva and Erza were fighting one-on-one. Sting was hoping that Erza would win. If Erza did not defeat Minerva, he would. He would do anything it took to get Rogue back, even if it meant fighting his own teammate. He remembered that Minerva promised to give him Rogue back if he won the games, however, he could not trust Minerva anymore. He had no assurance that she would follow through with her promise. He needed to take things into his own hands. Sting stood up from where he was sitting and started creeping over to where he could smell Erza and Minerva fighting. The smell of blood coming from there was powerful. All he had to do was follow that smell without encountering any other wizards. He began his journey to retrieve Rogue.

As he advanced closer and closer to where Erza and Minerva were fighting, he heard crashing sounds and shouting as the battle raged on. Then he smelled it, Minerva's blood. Erza had injured her.

"Erza's done it! She defeated Sabertooth's leader and scored five points!"

She did it. She actually beat Milady. Erza didn't just injure Milady, she beat her. But wait, I smell something else. That's not Milady's blood, or Erza's - No, it couldn't be, it's-

"Wait, what's this? Where did he come from?" questioned one commentator.

"I don't believe it! That's Sabertooth's Rogue Cheney! He appeared when Minerva was defeated."

"But that means - was Minerva holding one of her own teammates hostage?"

"He looks like he's in pretty bad shape too, just like Milliana."

That's the smell of Rogue's blood! I'll kill her, I'll kill her for this!

Sting started running. He ran as fast as he could towards the battleground. He had to get to Rogue. The smell of his blood was overpowering. Sting did not care about being stealthy anymore. He wanted-no, he needed-to get to Rogue.

Sting reached the battleground where Erza, Kagura, and Minerva had fought. He saw Erza standing to the side. She was injured and leaning on her sword for support. He looked over and saw Minerva. Her clothes were shredded and she looked terribly hurt, however, she was still conscious. He looked back at Erza and saw her tense up in the possibility that he would try to fight her. Then, as the dust cleared, he saw Rogue. Finally, it was the person he wanted to see most. Sting smiled, but then his eyes widened in shock as he noticed the condition his partner was in. He was laying on the ground unconscious. Sting rushed to him and fell down to his knees by Rogue's side. In the corner of his eye, Sting saw all of the other Fairy Tail members had arrived at the scene. They looked equally as worn out as Erza. They also looked tense in case they had to fight again. However, Sting had no intention of fighting them. He looked back down at Rogue and grabbed his hand. He felt his pulse and was relieved that his best friend was still alive. Rogue was battered, bloody, and drained of magic power, but he was alive. That was all that mattered to Sting. He placed his partners head on his lap and smiled down at him.

"What are you doing? You fool!" he heard Minerva shout weakly, "Fight! If you beat all of the Fairy Tail members, Sabertooth will win! They're weak! Destroy them, Sting! Destroy them now! Don't be a coward! You and Rogue both, you're both cowards!"

Sting had tried to ignore Minerva, until she said that last line. Then, something in Sting snapped. He did not care about her calling him a coward. However, she dared to call Rogue a coward, and that was definitely not okay.

"What did you say about Rogue!?"

As soon as Minerva saw Sting's face when he looked at her, she knew she had made a grave mistake.

Sting slowly began to get up. He was careful to set Rogue's head down gently. He stood up fully and made his way towards Minerva.

"Did you dare call Rogue a coward?! How could you! He stood up for me, he defended me, and he almost got himself killed for me. And you're calling him a coward!? Rogue is the bravest person I've ever met. You're the one who's a coward. Kidnapping teammates, holding hostages, and bribing for your life. I'm disappointed in you, Minerva. Leave, leave now before I make you," Sting said.

Minerva was surprised that Sting did not kill her. However, she did not want to wait around for him to change his mind. Even though she was badly injured, she scrambled away as fast as she could. Once she was gone, Sting turned around to go back to Rogue. When he looked back, he saw that Rogue was awake, and smiling at him. Sting rushed towards him.

"Rogue! You're awake!"

Sting slid onto his knees next to Rogue. Sting started sobbing intensely. With a wince, Rogue pushed himself up into a sitting position. Instantly, Sting wrapped his arms around his partner. Rogue was shocked at first, but then he smiled and hugged Sting back. They stayed like that for a while until Erza said,

"Umm, Sting, are you okay?"

"On right. Forgot you were there. Yes, I'm more than okay. And, I surrender. You win. Thank you for helping me get Rogue back."

The Fairy Tail members around him were shocked for a minute. But then, they realized what his words meant and they all rejoiced at their victory. Fairy Tail was the winner of the Grand Magic Games. Earlier, Sting might have been upset at their victory, but now, he had Rogue back and that was all that mattered. Even if he did win, it would not have been the same without Rogue fighting and winning alongside him. They were partners, they did everything together. Nothing could keep them apart for long. They were both crying and smiling now while they were still wrapped up in each other's arms. The twin Dragonslayers were reunited once again.

The End

Note: This story is finished. I had a lot of fun writing it. I kind of want to make this "What If" story into a series. They would all be stories very similar to the anime except with minor differences. I would just pick a scene and be like, "What if this happened instead of this." and then see how the story progresses from there. I had a couple ideas, so I'll see what you guys think of them. 1: What if Ultear actually tried to kill/killed Rogue when she had the opportunity to? 2: What if the dragons had captured Rogue like they were supposed to? Feel free to tell me which one you would prefer or feel free to suggest new 'what if' topics. Thanks for reading!

-Mizaya Z. (P.S. I have a Tumblr now. I use the same name on there so feel free to follow me).