The collaboration arc continues! Sorry this took so long. We were both at an anime convention last weekend and we haven't gotten any work done on our stories. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

LordsoftheRoses: Review below! Let us know!

In the middle of the park in Rose Lake, Yukino was confronting Jellal and Foster, readying her two Golden Gate Keys.

"Crap, she found us." Foster said.

"Pisces!"

Yukino summoned her two giant fish that lunged themselves at Jellal and Foster, but the two jumped out of the way.

"We won't be able to get away if this girl keeps attacking us." Foster said to Jellal. "What do you suggest we do?"

"It seems like we have no choice." Jellal replied. "Meteor!"

A golden aura appeared around Jellal and his movement speed increased drastically, dodging the attacks from Pisces with ease.

"Forest God Shield!"

As one of Pisces charged toward Foster, he created a barrier of black leaves in front of him that blocked the attack.

Back where the Phoenix Dawn wizards were, Sakura managed to climb her way out of the crater she was in and limped her way toward Jason. She knelt down to him and started to heal him with her magic.

"This isn't good." Sakura said. "He's got a few broken ribs and a fractured skull. It's probably going to take a while to heal him."

"Well, I don't think we'll have any more problems right now." Flora said as she sat down next to Sakura. "It didn't seem like that Sabertooth fellow has any intention of killing us… I hope…" She then thought to herself. *He said that he wasn't even among the guild's top 5 wizards. Is Sabertooth really that ruthless?"

"Here, kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty." Kyo said to a stray cat.

The cat went up to Kyo and he petted it.

"Oh, you're so adowable…"

"I can't believe it!" A guy said to another guy, a couple feet away from Kyo. "There are wizards now fighting in the park!"

"Godammit, why won't these wizards just leave us alone?" The other guy replied.

Kyo stood up and faced the men. "Hey, which way's the park?"

"Oh no, you were one of the wizards fighting at the bazaar. I ain't telling you no-"

BAM!

Kyo, in his Steel Body, punched the man in the face and grabbed him by the skull. "WHERE'S THE PARK?!"

The guy couldn't speak, so he pointed in the direction of the park.

"THANK YOU!" Kyo slammed the guy's head into the ground and walked off. "The least I can do is make sure she doesn't die."

Suddenly, he felt something sting the back of his head, right by his hairline.

"Ow…" He looked around, but there was nobody behind him. "Freaks."

Pisces kept charging at the two male wizards, but Jellal was moving too fast and Foster managed to block all of the attacks with his Forest God Shield.

"Forest God Hammer!"

Foster surrounded his arm in black leaves and knocked back one of the Pisces while Jellal kicked the other one in the chin.

"Pisces, go back!" Yukino sent Pisces back to the Celestial Spirit world. "Libra!"

Libra appeared and changed the gravity where Jellal and Foster were, pinning them down while Yukino made a dash toward the two.

"Forest God Bellow!"

Foster shot a breath attack consisting of black leaves, but Yukino sidestepped out of the way. However, she noticed that Jellal had a slight smirk on his face. She turned around to see that the breath attack was heading toward Libra and knocked her back a bit. This changed the gravity around the two men back to normal.

"Heavenly Arrows!" Jellal swiped his hand and released several arrows of light that struck Yukino head on.

Yukino managed to recover from the force of the attack. Just as the attack passed, Kyo came walking up casually.

"Ah, here's where you are." Kyo said.

"Kyo!" Yukino said. "Can I have some help?"

Kyo shook his head. "No, you've got to do this all on your own."

"But Kyo, I can't-"

"Too bad!" Kyo interrupted her. "I'm tired of repeating myself! You want to join Sabertooth, you have to show how strong you are. In fact…" He turned toward Jellal and Foster. "Don't go easy on her! Hit her with your best magic!"

Yukino looked at Kyo with disbelief. "Kyo…"

"I want her life in danger!" Kyo said. "Keep it up!"

"You're despicable!" Jellal said as his heavenly glow disappeared. "What kind of person would force their friend into danger like that?"

"It's for her own good." Kyo replied. "She wants to join a strong guild she has to show how strong she is."

"… That logic is stupid." Foster said.

"Well, screw you!" Kyo shouted. "Yukino, finish them off!"

Yukino stood where she was, looking down at her keys, then at Jellal and then at Kyo. She was also shaking a little at that moment.

"HURRY UP AND DO IT!" Kyo ordered.

Yukino shook her head. "No."

Kyo looked surprised. "'No'?"

"I want to join Sabertooth, but I can't stand being bullied around by you!" Yukino said. "It's just not worth it."

"W-w-wait, bullied?" Kyo asked.

Yukino just walked away.

"Wait, Yukino! Yukino!" Kyo called out to her, but she continued walking away.

When she was out of sight, Foster scratched the back of his head.

"Well… that sure didn't go the way you wanted to, did it?" Foster said.

Kyo turned his head toward him and Jellal, rage building in his eyes. "You are both dead!" His body became covered in steel.

Foster charged at Kyo, forming a wheel of black leaves around him. "Forest God Pinwheel!"

The two attacks collided and they were at a stalemate for a few solid seconds before Kyo managed to push Foster back and dissipate his attack. Foster slid across the ground on his feet until he was right next to Jellal.

*How was he able to push back my attack?* Foster wondered. "Forest God Bellow!"

Foster shot a breath attack of black leaves at Kyo, but Kyo just held out his hand and split apart as the attack struck his hand, bouncing right off him.

"There's just no way…" Foster said. "Even in a fully armored body, that attack should've still damaged you."

When the attack passed, Foster noticed that Kyo's hand was glowing whitish blue and a blast of energy fired from his hand, heading directly toward Foster and Jellal. A small explosion occurred where the two dark wizards were and when the energy dissipated, they both disappeared.

"You're not getting away!" Kyo growled as he tried to give chase.

On the rooftop of one of the houses, Jason was on lookout for Kyo.

"Where did he go?" He wondered.

Sakura climbed up to the rooftop and walked up to him.

"You find anything?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing." Jason replied. "You'd think as destructive as that guy was, he'd be messing up the town."

"I think we should call it quits." Flora said. "That guy made a wreck of you guys."

"He just caught me off guard." Jason said. "Next time I find him, I'm gonna beat him."

"How?!" Flora questioned.

"I'll figure something out." Jason answered. "Hello, what do we have here?"

Jason saw Yukino walking on the streets below.

"Looks like he and his friend got separated." Jason said.

As they got closer to Yukino, they could hear her talking to herself.

"Ignorant jerk…" Yukino grumbled. "Where does he get off?! Yeah, I want to join Sabertooth, but he's being completely unreasonable! … Isn't he? What if he's right and I'm not strong enough to be in that guild?"

She then looked down at her two keys, staring at them for a couple of seconds. She clenched them in her fist with a pump and her expression became more resolved.

"I am strong enough." Yukino said. "I'll show him."

She turned around and walked back to where she came from.

"I'll show him I'm not weak." Yukino said. "I am a powerful Celestial Wizard! And I can get into Sabertooth with or without his recommendation!"

Jason and Sakura stayed closed behind Yukino.

"Let's follow her." Jason said.

In an old, abandoned residential district with buildings made of rotting wood and broken-down homes on the edge of the lake, Kyo, still covered in his steel body, looked around.

"Knock, knock." Kyo said before punching a hole in one of the houses.

The whole building came crashing down from the force of Kyo's punch.

"COWARDS!" Kyo shouted. "YOU ARE BOTH COWARDS! FIGHT ME!"

"Forest God Spear!"

A stream of black leaves was coming at Kyo from behind and it hit his steel body, although he didn't flinch at all. Foster came charging in with his right arm covered in black leaves.

"Forest God Hammer!"

Kyo grabbed Foster's arm before he could strike him in the back of the head and Kyo tried to punch him with his steeled fist, but Foster grabbed his fist and held it in place, leaving the two in a momentary stalemate.

"That energy you used, what is it?" Foster asked.

"I'll be happy to show you again." Kyo answered.

Kyo freed his right arm and punched Foster in the face, using the force of it to knock him headfirst into the ground.

"Night, night, princess." Kyo said.

The force of a train smashed Kyo right in his own face, cracking the steel body armoring it. The force made him disorientated and he fell on his side onto the ground. After a few seconds, he regained his senses, but his head felt like it was going to split open.

"What the hell was that?" Kyo asked holding his head.

As he held his head, he saw a pink, glowing band around his wrist.

"What… the hell is this?" Kyo asked.

"It's Sensory Link." Jellal said, standing on top of one of the buildings with Meredy. "Put it simply, you and Foster are connected. Whatever pain he feels, you feel."

Kyo stood up to his feet and checked the cracked armor on his face. "You think a weak punch like that is going to keep me down?"

"We don't have to fight." Jellal said. "Just give up and fall to your knees."

"I'M NOT YOUR MOTHER LAST NIGHT!" Kyo shouted.

He then jumped up toward Jellal, ready to knock his head off with a clean punch. A crystal ball came from above and knocked him in the face, breaking the steel armor and he fell back down to the ground.

"Oh, dammit!" Kyo held onto his face.

He removed his hands and there was a stream of blood falling down his face along his nose.

"How many tricks do you guys have?" Kyo asked.

"Always one more for creeps like you." Ultear said, standing in front of the building her allies were on and balancing a crystal ball on her arm.

"Y-you?!" Kyo asked surprised. "You're one of them?"

"That's right." Ultear answered.

"Why would you do this?!" Kyo sobbed. "We could have had something beautiful together! We could have had beautiful children together!"

Jellal and Meredy had confused looks on their faces.

"What's this about children?" Jellal asked.

"Ur… You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend." Meredy said.

"I would never be caught dead with this disgusting slime!" Ultear snapped.

Kyo got up and shook his hair a little bit. "Well same here, you old hag!"

"Hag?!"

"Yeah!" Kyo said. "I didn't want to say anything, but your age is showing. Wrinkles all over your face, warts on your skin and your sagging breasts, it's disgusting."

Ultear's eyes were twitching at his insults.

"I prefer young and beautiful women like pinkie up there." Kyo said, pointing to Meredy.

"I'm beautiful?" Meredy asked.

"How about when you renounce this life of crime, we can go out on a date sometime, beautiful?" Kyo asked. "A gentleman like me can treat you right."

Meredy blushed and scratched her cheek with her index finger. "Well…"

Foster suddenly got up and tried to punch Kyo in the face, but he blocked with his arms crossed. Kyo grabbed Foster by the chest and threw him into the building Jellal and Meredy were standing on. It shook a little bit, but Jellal and Meredy didn't move.

"You just don't know when to stand down!" Kyo said.

He then did a burst move toward Foster, ready for another hit.

"Arc of Time!"

Kyo's reactions began to stiffen and eventually his whole body stopped moving. He looked down at the steel on his body to see it rusting and chunks of it falling off. He looked over to the caster, Ultear, who had red eyes like a demon and hair slithering like snakes with a dark aura surrounding her.

"A HAG, AM I?"

Kyo immediately started shaking his head. "No! No! I didn't mean it! You're very beautiful! Don't hurt me!"

"Libra!"

A massive force of gravity pushed Ultear to the ground and Yukino came by with Libra.

"Yukino… you came back." Kyo said.

Yukino ignored him and Libra used the same gravity effect on Kyo, forcing him to the ground and breaking the rusted steel armor.

"Ow, Yuki-This kind of hurts…" Kyo groaned.

"Good." Yukino said before turning her head in his direction. "Let's get something straight! I AM a strong wizard! I AM strong enough to join Sabertooth, with or without your recommendation! But what I am not is strong enough to take them by myself. You forced this mission on me when I'm not ready for it, so the least you can do is actually help me get it done. And if you just want to sit on the sidelines and watch, then YOU are the coward!"

Kyo grabbed onto the ground and pushed against the gravity to stand himself up. "You… You of all people…" He lifted his head up to look her directly in the eye and his eyes were filled with only anger. "You did not just CALL ME A COWARD!"

Yukino gulped. "Uh oh, I went too far."

"I'll show you…" Kyo said, his body slowly being covered in steel again. "I'LL SHOW YOU I'M NOT A COWARD!"

He fired a blast of energy at the house Jellal and Meredy were standing on and it exploded. The shockwave scattered them a little bit in the immediate area. Almost immediately, he turned to Ultear and kicked her in the face, sending her flying back a bit. Yukino gasped at the brutal sight.

"I AM NOT WEAK!" Kyo screamed, kicking Ultear again and she rolled over.

Ultear tried to get up quickly. "Arc of-"

Kyo punched her in the face and the force knocked her out. He then grabbed her by her skull and lifted her up.

"I WILL NOT BE PUSHED AROUND BY ANYONE! EVER!" He began to crush her skull.

"Kyo, stop!" Yukino called to him. "That's enough!"

Kyo grabbed Ultear's head with his other hand. "I'LL CRUSH HER HEAD LIKE AN EGG! IT'LL BE EASY!"

Meredy got up after the shockwave and looked up to see Kyo with a death grip on Ultear's skull.

"Ultear, no!" Meredy shouted.

A gust of wind picked up Ultear's crystal ball and sent it flying right into Kyo's gut. This pushed him back several feet and released his grip on Ultear. Another gust of wind pulled the crystal ball back toward where it flew from and Jason snatched it from the air.

"You're about to learn, buddy, that you should never piss off Phoenix Dawn." Jason said with Sakura standing right next to him.

A/N: Sorry this took so long. Not only did we have that convention, but I also got myself sucked into Tales of Xillia 2. Anyway, I hope the wait for the chapter was worth it. Stay tuned for next time!