Payback

'This is really going all according to Mavis' plan.' Meliodas flew above the city, going over the plan in his head as he scanned the streets below. He was impressed with the accuracy of the predictions Mavis had mentioned. 'Although...I think I already forgot who the next person I'm supposed to deal with was. I think Erza was in this area. Maybe I can-'

Out of the corner of Meliodas' eye, he noticed two figures standing on a rooftop and immediately recognized them both. 'Minerva and...Milianna?'

Minerva stood in front of Milianna, grabbing her by the neck as she struggled to break free. Meliodas began to slowly and silently descend towards the rooftop the two female mages were standing on. Minerva immediately felt Meliodas' presence and turned around, leaving Millianna suspended in the air.

"So you're finally here." A smirk formed on Minerva's face as she looked at Meliodas. Despite her confident facade, however, there was a hint of nervousness in her voice as a bead of sweat ran down her face.

"M-Meliodas?" Milianna grunted. Meliodas glanced over at Millianna whose body was covered in gashes and bruises.

"Huh...didn't know you were into this kind of thing Minerva." Meliodas taunted.

"She was only an appetizer. It looks like my main dish has just arrived." Minerva made a swiping motion with her right hand, causing Milliana to disappear.

"I'll admit. You're someone who I can't afford to mess around with." Minerva began to wave her arms around in a circular motion as Meliodas recognized a familiar feeling surrounding him, reminding him of his fight against Rezeria back in Bosco five years ago.

"Yradg. Nehl Wilg Mion. Dels Ercantias!" Minerva chanted as her magical power began to rise drastically. Meliodas remained still inside of Minerva's zone she created around him as he observed, curious about the language she was speaking unknown to him.

Suddenly from the rooftop beneath Meliodas' feet, rays of light began to erupt, destroying parts of the building they were standing on as the pillars of light shot upward into the sky. Meliodas looked up and his eyes widened as behind Minerva, he saw an ethereal, six armed, god-like effigy.

"Yagdo Rigora!" Minerva shouted.

The light coming from the ground erupted into a massive pillar that shot up into the sky, destroying all of the buildings in the nearby area and flattening that portion of the city. A huge column of smoke filled the skies as Minerva stood on the flat ground of where many buildings once stood.

"Well, well, well." Meliodas' voice echoed from the smoke. Minerva's eyes widened with shock as Meliodas' figure emerged from the smoke, his clothes tattered and torn, revealing his bare yet unscathed upper body.

"I'll admit. That stung a bit." Meliodas continued.

'I knew that attack alone wouldn't take him down but...he took no damage?! What a monster…' Minerva took a few steps back as Meliodas started walking towards her. She looked down towards her hand and noticed herself trembling. 'Why...am I afraid of him?!'

"AND ERZA SCARLET HAS SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED KAGURA MIKAZUCHI, EARNING FAIRY TAIL FIVE POINTS!" Chapati's voice echoed throughout the city.

"Oh good Erza's done. Guess I'll finish things up here too." Meliodas said as he began to walk towards Minerva.

"I don't think so!" Minerva swiped her right hand in front of her. Meliodas immediately sensed several magical presences appear around him the moment Minerva had swiped her hand. 'Spatial distortions?'

Suddenly, Meliodas found himself engulfed in flames as five large explosions erupted from around him.

"I'm aware of how your Full Counter works. It is certainly a formidable technique. However, you can't counter attacks you can't initially see." Minerva commented.

"Guess you think you got me figured out then!." Meliodas leaped straight through the explosions and right towards Minerva with his right fist wound back. "But something like this-"

Meliodas threw his punch forward, straight into Minerva's stomach. Minerva gasped in pain as blood came out of her mouth. The Sabertooth mage was sent flying towards another building, crashing straight into it and out the other side into another, causing both buildings to fall to the ground.

"Isn't enough to take me down." Meliodas finished.

"WITH A DEVASTATING PUNCH, MINERVA IS KNOCKED OUT COLD! MELIODAS HAS GAINED FIVE MORE POINTS FOR FAIRY TAIL! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT GAJEEL HAS DEFEATED ROGUE AND LAXUS HAS DEFEATED LYON AND SHERRIA, EARNING FAIRY TAIL THREE MORE POINTS FOR A TOTAL OF EIGHT."

Meliodas looked at the scoreboard floating high in the air above crocus. There he could see Fairy Tail had 71 points with all of their members still participating. Just underneath them in 2nd place was Sabertooth. Sting was the last member remaining and they had 64 points.

"I'm surprised they haven't called it yet." A voice said from behind Meliodas.

Meliodas turned around and saw Erza limping towards him. Meliodas immediately rushed over to her and supported her over his shoulder.

"Thanks." Erza said. Meliodas nodded his head and smiled.

"You're right though. Even if Sting did defeat all of us, he would only have 69 points. Maybe they have something else planned for us?" Meliodas commented.

"I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE! THERE HAS BEEN A NEW RULE PUT INTO PLACE! FROM THIS POINT ONWARD, PARTICIPANTS WHO ARE DEFEATED ARE WORTH DOUBLE THE POINTS!" Chapati announced.

"So that's it…" Erza commented. She and Meliodas stood in the middle of the street in silence. Meliodas stared up at the sky which was becoming darker and darker as night fell.

"We still have to find Sting, though." Meliodas said, breaking the silence. At that moment, several blocks away, a large Sabertooth insignia made of light magic sparked in the sky, illuminating the area.

"It's like he wants us to come to him." Meliodas commented.

"Then we'll take his challenge and win!" Erza responded.

---

'I have to win…For Sabertooth...for Lector!' Sting stood alone in the middle of a dimly lit park looking down at the ground. As he heard the footsteps of several people approaching, he looked up.

"So you've all made it here." Sting commented with a smile. He looked at each of the Fairy Tail members standing in front of him.

Erza could hardly stand on her own and was still leaning against Meliodas. Gajeel was panting heavily and supporting Gray up who had many deep wounds on his body that were frozen over to stop the bleeding. However, both Laxus and Meliodas were practically unscathed, albeit Meliodas was missing his shirt and his pant leggings were ripped, almost looking like shorts.

The smile on Sting's face faded as he stared at both Laxus and Meliodas. 'I can deal with those three...but those two…'

"So...you're all gonna come at me at once?" Sting questioned.

"No. We're gonna fight you one on-" Just before Gray could finish his sentence, Meliodas interrupted.

"I'll be the one to fight you." Meliodas said.

A grin formed on Sting's face. "Here it is...my chance to test if my newly awakened power is enough to deal with you. I haven't forgotten about the time since you took that Masquerade dark guild quest from me and Rogue. Now show me how much stronger you've become since your time in Crime Sorciere!"

Meliodas flinched as Sting mentioned Crime Sorciere. He sighed, knowing full well that this battle was being broadcasted and his secret was now out to the council.

"Well, well, well. I don't know what you're talking about." Meliodas said with a cheeky grin as he took a step forward towards Sting, trying to play it off. "As much as I want to have a fun fight with you, none of us can afford to lose here."

"Neither can I." Sting answered coldly. He suddenly jumped forward towards Meliodas with his right fist wound back and glowing with bright magic.

"White Dragon's-"

Sting stopped in his tracks as he felt a tremendous pressure fall over him. Meliodas stared at Sting with a serious look on his face as he flared out his magical power. A wide eyed Sting grit his teeth as he tried to move forward. 'What the hell is that power?! It's nothing like from years ago...My legs...they won't move! Dammit...I need to do this for Lector.'

"AAAGGHHH!" Sting shouted, his body straining as sweat was running down his face. "I can't lose this! For Sabertooth...no...for Lector!"

"Sting…" A voice said quietly from Sting's side. Sting turned his head to the side and saw a familiar red Exceed running towards him.

"Lector!! How did you-?"

"When Meliodas beat Minerva, I was let free from Minerva's magic." Lector said as he jumped into Sting's arms. As Sting embraced Lector, he looked back up at the rest of the Fairy Tail team who were watching him.

"I surrender."

"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT. SABERTOOTH HAS SURRENDERED, LEAVING FAIRY TAIL AS THE WINNERS OF THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES!" Chapati announced excitedly as the crowd cheered in the arena.

"So it's finally over huh?" Gajeel commented. Meliodas made his way over to Sting and stood over him as he was sitting on the ground with Lector. He raised his left hand up high and delivered a swift chop to the top of Sting's head. Sting grunted in pain as his face was knocked straight into the ground.

Sting recovered from the blow and held his face and mouth where his face had just planted into the ground.

"What's the big idea?! I already surrendered!"

"Keep the Crime Sorciere thing on the down low would ya?" Meliodas said with an unamused expression. Sting nodded his head.

"Say…" Sting said as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Why didn't Natsu participate?"

Meliodas averted his gaze away from Sting and looked in the distance towards the Crocus Castle. "Something came up."

---

"No way...you're Rogue from Sabertooth?" Natsu questioned with a surprised look on his face. The figure standing right in front of him was definitely Rogue but with a drastically changed appearance. He had long hair tied into a ponytail, half of which was white and the other half was black that fell over his right eye. At the left side of his face was a sharp, curved, black tattoo that extended around the edge of his left eye.

"So you say you come from the future?" Lucy asked..

"I can't believe there was someone else apart from me who came here…" Future Lucy said silently to herself in disbelief.

"What did you come from the future for?" Carla asked.

"To open the door." Future Rogue answered.

"You're talking about Eclipse, right?" Lucy asked.

"Eclipse can be used two different ways. One way is to move through time. The other is as a weapon called the Eclipse Cannon. This is the only way to defeat the ten thousand dragons." Future Rogue said.

A grin formed on Natsu's face as he heard Future Rogue's answer. "Hah! That makes things easier. You're on our side then!"

"And you've come to save the future!" Wendy added optimistically.

Future Rogue remained stoic despite the cheerfulness of the Fairy Tail members in front of him. "No...it isn't quite as simple as that. I came from seven years in the future where the world is ruled by dragons and not even ten percent of humans are alive. Eclipse in the future did not have the power to stop the dragons. It's only at this time that it is capable of doing so. If the dragons aren't stopped here and now, the world will end."

"So we just open the door no problem then." Natsu added.

"However…" Future Rogue continued. "There was one who stood in the way of opening the door. That person kept the door from opening and the Eclipse Cannon never fired at the ten thousand dragons. That person set the world on the path to destruction. I've come back to assassinate that person. That is why I am here."

"And just who is this person?" Natsu asked. Future Rogue immediately focused his attention towards Lucy with a cold stare.

"You! Lucy Heartfilia!" Future Rogue shouted as he raised his right hand and pointed it at Lucy. At that instant, a black blade of shadows materialized in front of his palm and shot straight towards Lucy. Lucy's eyes widened as her life began to flash before her eyes and time seemingly slowed down for her. To her right, she noticed her future doppelganger begin to make a move as her body wouldn't react.

Suddenly, the blade stopped just short of hitting Future Lucy, being held in a tight grip by a hand clad in flames. A look of surprise formed on Future Rogue's face as he saw the person who was holding his shadow blade.

"Y-you…" Future Rogue stuttered as he stared at Natsu. The hallway around them began to grow hotter and hotter as Natsu glared at Future Rogue. The blade of shadows in Natsu's hand began to burn away in his hand.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT FUTURE YOU COME FROM! YOU'RE NOT GONNA KILL LUCY!"