Mike charged at Matt and hit him with all his might and hit him with a punch squarely in the face. As Matt staggered back, Mike kicked him in the side. Mike went for another punch, but Matt disappeared before his and the crowds eyes.

'What the-' the announcer began, but was broken off as Mike disappeared too.

Kilhoon looked at the arena and rubbed his eyes.

'What happened?' he asked to the people in the back.

'You can't see?' Ryan asked him smugly.

'No, can you?' Kilhoon replied honestly.

'Yes I can' Ryan told him.

'What's going on?' Kilhoon asked.

Another voice spoke, but from the corner, and had a much lower voice, 'Matt and Mike are even, both land a punch or kick, and then they evenly block each other.'

The other figure turned to Kilhoon and also spoke, 'Matt has landed a kick on Mike, look at the arena.'

Surely enough, Matt and Mike reappeared, with Matt kicking Mike backwards. Mike slid to the edge of the ring and his head slumped over the edge. The tournament announcer scramble over to the edge and looked at Mike.

'He's not eliminated yet, folks!' he shouted out to the crowd in the stands.

Mike jumped back up, swore and looked at Matt. He cupped his hands and smiled.

'KA…ME…HA…ME…' Mike shouted, with Matt shouting the same.

Mike smirked and looked at Matt with a glint in his eye.

'HA…REVERSE!' mike shouted, disappearing and reappearing behind Matt.

Matt turned around and held out his hands, with the blast heading straight towards him.

Matt slid across the ring, grasping the blast trying to stop moving. But, he couldn't. He neared the edge every second, and what if he let go?

Thousands of innocent people could die, and Mike didn't care if it would help him win the Tournament. The crowd started screaming, and Matt knew what to do. He jumped backwards, and kicked the blast into the air. Silence erupted throughout the arena, everyone looking at Matt as if he was something weird.

'W…What the hell?' Mike said, panting, breaking the silence.

Matt knew it was over, Mike used all his energy up trying to get Matt to take the blast and eliminate himself. Matt ran up to Mike and kicked him out the ring. The announcer broke himself from his trance and looked in the ring.

'THE WINNER' the announcer shouted, 'MATT!'

The crowd immediately cheered and clapped Matt, as he had just saved some of their lives. Matt walked to the back, and was given congratulations by the other three. Then, Mike was brought through on a stretcher, carried by two monks, and Steve and Robert following them. Mike looked at Matt with disgust on his face.

'Just you wait Matt,' he said slowly, 'I will get you, don't you worry about that!'

Mike was carried off with Steve and Robert giving Matt the middle finger, and Mike began laughing madly.

'I think your punch last night might have made him crazy…' Sam said slowly to Matt.

Matt didn't contradict him, there was no need, he was almost certainly right.

'THE NEXT MATCH IS SAM VERSUS YARUM!' the announcer shouted.

Sam and one of the cloaked figures made their way up to the arena, and the announcer started the match right away. The fighters in the back couldn't hear what was going on, as the roar from the crowd was deafening, and Kilhoon and the cloaked warrior were blocking the view.

Sam ran at Yarum, and met a kick in his back. Sam turned around, but was hit by a punch halfway through turning. Sam spun in a graceful arc and hit the arena floor. Sam immediately jumped back up, and looked round. Sam was suddenly in pain, and the source was a flurry of punches and kicks from Yarum that he could barely see. It started to go black as Sam felt himself fall backwards, and felt the grass as he hit the floor and felt no more…

An eerie silence fell over the arena. Horror emitted from the crowd. Ryan, Matt and Liam knew it wasn't good. Kilhoon and Nantra moved out of the way, as Sam was brought out on a stretcher. Matt cursed and ran up to Sam. Not really paying attention to anything else, Ryan and Liam followed, but Liam's arm was grabbed stopping him. It was Nantra.

'Your friend will be alright, I saw your other friend pull out a Senzu Bean…' he spoke softly.

'You know about them?' Liam asked sceptically.

'Oh yes' Nantra said indifferently, 'our match is next.'

Nantra walked out to the arena and Liam started to follow.

'LIAM!' a voice shouted.

Liam spun around, and saw Sam run in with Ryan and Liam following.

'Be careful' Sam said, gasping, 'those guys are deadly.'

Liam nodded and walked off to the arena. Yarum made his way back into the waiting area and looked at Sam and nodded his head, as if he had realised something. Liam looked directly at Yarum, knowing what they could do. He knew that he might have a hard fight, but what if he could do what Sam couldn't?

Yarum gave a comical bow to Liam, and waited for him to make the first move. Liam knew he couldn't fall into that trap, it was an obvious one, and so Liam waited as well. The crowd were still in a stunned silence from the last match, it was almost unbelievable that you could hear the wind blowing around you. Liam waited even longer, not being able to tell what his opponent was thinking. Then, he was hit by piercing pain in his stomach. It then erupted all over his body, stinging him everywhere. Why couldn't he have just died? It would have saved him from this horror; he wouldn't let it befall on anybody. Then he felt another pain in his stomach, this time even more powerful.

Could it be possible that he would be allowed to die? Did Nantra not care about the match? What could he have against Liam?

Liam gave a yell of pain and shouted 'I QUIT!'

The pain suddenly stopped and Liam fell to his knees. Nantra walked back towards the waiting area, and Liam sat breathlessly in the arena.

'THE WINNER NANTRA!' the announcer shouted down his microphone.

Liam had lost the match, yet he had not received any scratches, bruises or cuts. Liam slowly walked to the back as Kilhoon and Ryan made their way out. Ryan shot an inquisitorial look to Liam, but Liam disregarded it as he made his way back.

Ryan looked at Kilhoon, and couldn't believe him. He had a smug look on his face that made Ryan sick. He looked as if he believed he was the king of the world and was the ultimate treasure of it. Ryan knew that Kilhoon couldn't stand a chance against him, but Ryan was more focused on the fact of the matter ahead to him. If he won, he would face Nantra in the next round…

Kilhoon ran at Ryan, and caught him off guard; he kicked him squarely in the side. Ryan felt it, but rebounded with a kick of his own. Kilhoon jumped backwards, and clutched his side. Ryan knew that it was over, and he attacked Kilhoon with a sharp punch to the face. Kilhoon crumpled onto the ground and lay there. The announcer counted to 10, and Ryan was declared the winner. The crowd went out of their trance, and started cheering loudly for Ryan, as if he was some kind of celebrity.

'The Next rounds matches are Matt versus Yarum, and Ryan versus Nantra!' the announcer shouted, trying to make himself heard over the din caused by the crowd.

Ryan knew they wanted to see something better in the next round, as the quarter-finals had finished in less than an hour, with the longest match being Matt versus Mike, which was short in it's own respect.

Ryan made his way to the back, and Sam, Liam and Matt congratulated him. Nantra and Yarum stood in the corner, determined not to look at their opponents. Ryan knew something was strange about them, but he couldn't say what.

'We've got half an hour before my match' Matt told Ryan, and they left to get a snack. Leaving Yarum and Nantra, speaking quickly in a language Ryan could not understand.