Fairy Tail: Dragon Slayer Lucy

Chapter 16: Gajeel Vs. Rogue

"Gotcha!" Gajeel delt a quick blow with his right arm to Rogue and followed it up with an Iron Dragon Pillar with his left arm. Rogue was sent backwards, but landed on his feet as he skid backwards.

"You ain't gonna surpass me in a day. Give up. The two of you combined couldn't take on Salamander. There's no way you're gonna-"

"You... do not possess the same amount of strength as Natsu Dragneel," Rogue interrupted Gajeel, rising to his feet.

"What was that?" Gajeel said, a vein popping out of his temple. Gajeel continued to land punches and kicks on Rogue, not letting him have the chance to fight back. He sent him flying with a powerful round house. Rogue rolled and landed on all fours, panting heavily.

"Rogue," Frosch sobbed, tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

"I dare you to repeat what you said," Gajeel said as he towered over Rogue menacingly.

"I'm beginning to understand... why you joined Fairy Tail," Rogue said as he stared at the ground.

"What the fuck are you babbling about?"

"Of course you wouldn't remember some kid wet behind the ears..." Rogue said, making Gajeel wonder what he was talking about.

"After all, I was just some kid who was infatuated with Phantom Lord, your former guild." Rogue continued to look at the ground as he spoke.

"So much so that I planned on joining when I got older. I idolized you," he admitted.

"But then the guild crumbled after the defeat by Fairy Tail. What made it harder to swallow... was when you joined Fairy Tail. It left me dumbfounded... How could you join the guild that destroyed your own?" he said, voicing old questions. Gajeel didn't say anything as Rogue continued to talk, just watch and listen in silence.

"There had to be something profound about Fairy Tail that would make you join. To call it your home... And I slowly began to see why," Rogue said, finally finding the answer.

"Friends, right?" he said with a small, soft smile.

"It's a foreign concept in Sabertooth. We're only minions of the Master. Where orders were absolute, and victory the only acceptable result," he said ruefully, memories of all the cruelties his guild had done flashed in his mind.

'A guild... should look after their friends.' Natsu's words continued to ring in his head.

"What is a guild? What are friends? For what reason... do I fight?" Rogue questioned to himself, looking at the ground with confused and lost eyes.

"It also explains your strength... and why we're no match for you," he admitted. 'The lady doesn't apply, she's in a league of her own... I guess it applies to Sting too, now that Lector's death has awakened him,' Rogue thought to himself.

"Get up," Gajeel said, breaking his silence. It surprised Rogue and snapped him out of his thoughts.

"You still don't get it," Gajeel said, earning a confused look from Rogue.

"Heh," Gajeel said with a toothy smirk. He bent down to Rogue's height.

"That frog. You think of him as a friend, right?" he said seriously, looking into Rogue's eyes.

"Frog?" Rogue questioned, wondering who Gajeel was referring to.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch said from the sidelines.

"Frosch is a cat!" Rogue shouted as he stood when he realized who Gajeel was talking about, getting flustered.

"I know he's an Exceed," Gajeel said with a smirk, getting up also. Rogue didn't say anything and his body shook, realizing that Gajeel was making fun of him.