(And here's my next chapter. This is the beginning of the Mahora Martial Arts tournament, and the challengers selected will get to show what they got.)
When morning came inside Eva's resort, they all returned to the normal world where it was still night out and headed back to the dorms for an extra bit of sleep. Though a majority of them found it hard to sleep due to already having a good number of hours sleeping in the resort, and were excited for the tournament tomorrow.
When morning came, over half of the school was gathering to where the tournament was being held at Tatsumiya shrine. While a large majority of people could attend the tournament in person, those who still had activities to do or were unable to make it watched via TV monitors set up all throughout the school grounds.
Negi, Dustin, Alistair, Fate, Kotaro, and Rin entered a lounge where the other competitors were waiting. They looked around and saw the rest of the participants, Mana, Chao, Mei, Chachamaru, Ku, Kaede, Takane, Eva, Setsuna, and Kasuga.
"We got us a full house here." Dustin said.
"No kidding." Alistair agreed.
Rin looked to Negi, "Are you ok, Negi?"
"Huh, of course I am. Are you?" he asked.
"Never better."
"Oh, this is gonna be so cool!" Kotato beamed, "I'm gonna blow away the competition."
Fate glanced to him, and spoke, "Don't bark before you bite, Kotaro."
Kotaro glanced at at Fate growling, "Watch what you say, pretty boy knight. Otherwise I'll have to mop the floor with you."
"If you can even make it to the final round." Fate continued to bluntly insult him.
"Ok, you wanna do this here and now?!" Kotaro was about to fight, only for Kaede to block him.
"Save all that energy for the fighting, Kotaro." she suggested.
Kotaro backed up having calmed down, "Yeah. You're right."
"How're you doing, Kaede?" Negi asked.
"Doing perfect. I hope you're all ready to show us what you got." the ninja hoped.
"Trust me, we're more than ready." Alistair assured.
Eva approached, "And though a majority of us specialize in magic and spirit and dark energy, let's make sure not to go all out and destroy each other."
"You're actually wanting us to keep it cool?" Dustin asked in shock.
"I may love a good hardcore fight, but we still have to keep the existence of magic and all a secret." Eva reminded him.
"That's true." Negi agreed.
"Hey!" came a voice.
The group looked back and saw Dustin's pals, Roswell Bowers, Arthur Kaufman, Darius Mikael, King Lucas in a business suit, Zyphon, Burai, Mitsukai, Xever, Valmont, and Belmont.
"Dad, Professor, Master Darius?" Dustin asked in surprise.
"Hey, son. Good to see you." Ross greeted him.
"It's great to see all of you too. When did you get in?" the boy spirit warrior asked.
"Just this morning," Arthur answered, "Takamichi informed us of your participation in this schools martial arts tournament, and we decided to come down and watch."
"I look forward to seeing all of you in action." Darius told the younger participants.
"Thank you, sir. We'll all try our best." Negi promised.
"Papa!" Rin cheered, as she hugged her father.
"Rin. It's so good to see you," he turned to Fate, "And you too, Fate."
"Thank you, sir." Fate bowed his head in respect to his king.
"Well, we all better get to our seats." Burai said, knowing it was almost time.
Xever turned to his younger brother, "Alistair, go get 'em."
Alistair smiled and nodded, "You bet, bro."
So they left to join the rest of the audience, as Kazumi and Sayo entered. The camera girl spoke up, "Ok, participants gather around. Welcome to the Martial Arts tournament. Now if you'll listen closely I'll go over the rules. You will be fighting in a single arena in combat, and the way to determine the victor of a match would be to either knock your opponent out of the ring and if they don't get back in within a ten count they're out, if they are pinned and are unable to get up within a ten count then they're out. And if an is knocked out, surrender, or breaks any of the previous rules yesterday involving projectile or bladed weapons then they're automatically out."
Everyone was committing the rules to memory, as Kazumi finished, "The best of luck to all of you. Give them a show worth watching." she smiled.
"And have fun." Sayo put in. The competitors nodded, and were all ready to get started.
Surrounding the arena was water for those who get knocked out of the arena. Surrounding the whole area was a wide audience of students, faculty, and close friends. In one section, Dustin's friends, family, and Alistair's brother, and Rin's father. In another section was Class 3A, Michael, Theodora, Poyo, and Zyphon.
Finally on a huge TV screen appeared Kazumi and Sayo, "Hello Mahora Academy, and Martial Arts fanatics. I'm Kazumi Asakura coming to you live at Mahora Festival's Annual Martial Arts Tournament!"
"And I'm her trusty sidekick, Sayo Aisaka!" Sayo announced with spirit.
"We have with us an assortment of competitors this year all aiming for the grand prize of 100,000 yen!" Kazumi announced, as the fans were excited to hear who would win such a large cash prize and the competitors themselves itching to win it.
"And now without further adieu, let's bring out our first competitors for match one!" Kazumi announced, as the fans cheered. Stepping up into the arena was Kotaro and Mei, "First we have that all around hot headed ninja boy, Kotaro Inugami!"
Kotaro waved to the audience as they cheered. Natsumi watched Kotaro, and saw he noticed her. Kotaro smiled and gave her a thumb's up. The girl felt embarrassed, before calling out, "Kotaro-kun! Do your best!"
Kazumi continued, "And his opponent is the shy and ever so adorable girl, Mei Sakura!"
Mei timidly waved to the audience, as Takane smiled while watching her from where she and the other competitors were.
"Now then, let the tournament begin!" Kazumi announced, as the fans cheered.
Mei and Kotaro stared each other down, as Mei shipped out a pactio card, "Adeat!" she called, as a broom appeared in her possession. She twirled it around like a bo-staff.
Kotaro watched seeing Mei was ready to come at him. He thought to himself, 'I can't hit a girl no matter how skilled they are... Wait a minute, I think I know a way around that!' he took off to attack Mei, as everyone watched in suspense.
Mei had swung her broom at Kotaro, only for him to duck and retaliated with an uppercut. Negi watched in shock, "Is he really going to hit a girl?"
"Guess, he has to go against his code." Chamo shrugged.
The audience were surprised to have seen Mei dodged the blow to her chin, but Kotaro smirked. Mei ended up getting shot upward and was sent flying out of the arena and into the water.
"Whoa, what is this?" Kazumi gasped, "Kotaro Inugami landed a blow against Mei without even touching her. How did he do that?"
Kotaro as if answering her spoke, "A simple air palm like strike. I may not have hit her directly but the sheer force from my uppercut was enough to send her flying."
Eventually the ten count was up and Kazumi spoke, "And Kotaro is the winner of the first round!"
Kotaro relished in all the cheers and applause, until he heard a cry for help. He looked at the water seeing Mei splashing about, "Help! I can't swim!"
Kotaro not liking this jumped into the water, and grabbed hold of Mei dragging her back on solid ground, "Are you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine. Thank you." she answered.
"And what a wonderful display of true sportsmanship by Kotaro to rescue his opponent from drowning." Kazumi announced.
Kotaro and Mei seeing the attention they got smiled, before going back over to the competitors, who congratulated them, "Kotaro that was awesome." Alistair said.
"Thanks," Kotaro answered before looking at Fate with a smug expression, "What do you have to say to that, Fate?"
"That was an easy match that anyone could have won." Fate answered.
"Hey!" Kotaro called, as Mei felt ashamed.
The girl was comforted by Takane, "Takane-sempai, I tried my best. Really I did."
"I know, Mei. I know." Takane smiled.
Rin turned to Fate with a frown, "That was very rude of you to say, Fate."
"I was just speaking the truth."
"Even so. You have no right to talk to Mei like that."
Fate nodded knowing what must be done. He approached Mei, and bowed his head, "My sincerest of apologies to you, Ms. Sakura. What I said was completely uncalled for. I do hope you can forgive me."
Mei smiled, "I forgive you. And I will try harder so next time I will not lose." Fate looked at her and nodded in agreement.
Soon Dustin knew it was his time. He looked and saw his opponent Chachamaru going on ahead of him, "Wish me luck, guys." he said before catching up to her.
Kazumi announced, as the two entered the arena, "And our second match will be between one of Mahora's boy geniuses hailing all the way from New York city. Give it up for Professor Dustin Bowers!"
"Go Dustin!" Yuna called.
"Give 'em hell!" Haruna cheered.
Madoka and Sakura did a little cheer, "Go-Dustin, let's go! Go Dustin, let's go!"
"And his opponent the robot girl of Class 3A, Chachamaru!" Kazumi declared, as Class 3A cheered, as Satomi watched waiting to see her go to work.
As the two stared each other down in the arena, Chachamaru spoke, "Let's have a good fight, sensei."
"Let's." Dustin agreed.
As the bell sounded, the two took off and fought up close using their combat moves. As Dustin fought the robot, he was concentrating his spirit energy into his fists so to get a stronger blow to Chachamaru.
As Dustin blcoked some strikes from his opponent, he spoke, "I admit it's challenging having not to rely on my classic spirit attacks."
"And I am learning a lot from not relying on my missiles, lasers, or blades as well." Chachamaru agreed.
Kazumi commented, "And look at them go. Dustin was reported to be exceptionally good in martial arts, but against the prized automaton of the robotics club by our geniuses Satomi Hakase and Chao Lingshen, this is proving to be quite a match.
"That's my boy!" Ross called.
Zyphon spoke to the girls, "I certainly hope Master Dustin doesn't do too much damage to Chachamaru. Seeing another fellow robot get torn apart is too much for me to watch."
"I think they'll be fine." Konoka answered reassuringly.
As Dustin got up close to Chachamaru, he was looking over her body as if waiting for the right moment.
'Almost... Now!' Dustin thought, as he jabbed his fingers covered in spirit energy into Chachamaru's shoulder piercing her latex covering and exoskeleton.
Chachamaru gasped, as she suddenly found her joints freezing up becoming inoperable. With no power to her joints she fell to the floor of the arena.
"And Chachamaru is down, whatever Dustin did he managed to stop her." Kazumi called.
"What happened? What did you do?" the inoperable robot asked.
"I had originally gone over some blueprints of you that I snagged from Satomi and Chao. I learned from them by shorting out one of your joint wires it would cause the rest of your joints to shut down rendering you unable to move."
Chachamaru answered, "Clever move, sensei. It appears this match is yours."
"You made for a good opponent, Chachamaru." Dustin replied, as he was declared the winner.
Dustin smiled seeing all the praise he was getting before helping Chachamaru up and brought her back to the others.
When he and Chachamaru returned, everyone gathered around to not only congratulate Dustin, but to help Chachamaru onto a bench.
"Will you be ok, Chachamaru?" Negi asked in concern.
"I'll be fine, Negi-sensei."
"You really left yourself open in that fight, Chachamaru." Eva noted.
"I am sorry, mistress."
Eva sighed, "Well, not much to do about it now."
"Coming through!" Satomi came in, "Chachamaru!"
"Satomi." the robot answered.
"Don't worry, I'll have you fixed up in no time flat." she pulled out her tools.
"Thank you." the robot replied.
As Satomi got to work, Dustin spoke, "I'm sorry for disabling her like that, Satomi."
"Well, I'm just grateful it was just her joint processors and not something too bad." she answered.
Chao spoke, "Well, my match is up next."
"Our match." Alistair corrected.
"Right." Chao smiled and nodded.
"Chao, Alistair," Dustin began, "Good luck to both of you." The two smiled and proceeded to the arena.
When they arrived, Kazumi announced, "For our third match, we have one of our smartest, skilled martial artists and chefs of Mahora, Chao Lingshen! And her opponent, the boy in leather from the Mahora elementary school, Alistair Savage!" Alistair tightened his black cap onto his head so that his mullet wouldn't get in the way of his fight.
When the bell rang, both fighters took off throwing all they had in terms of hand to hand. Sayo spoke up, "What an amazing match between a young boy and a expert in Chinese martial arts."
"You said it." Kazumi agreed.
As Alistair and Chao fought, the Chinese girl spoke, "You're quite the opponent. I'm really glad you became our allie."
"Well, being with the Shadow master has taught me some better combat moves." Alistair answered, as the two fought.
From the audience, Xever cheered, "You go, brother!"
"Alistair is doing very well, without having to use his dark energy in the forms of long range attacks." Valmont noticed.
"As long as he's not tempted." Belmont put in.
"Don't worry," Xever spoke, "My bro knows what he's doing."
Alistair and Chao harnessing their spirit and dark energies to further empower them fought to the peak of their strengths. Alistair had dodged a punch, before tripping Chao off her feet. Chao attempted to catch herself, only for Alistair to thrust his hand out causing the force of his dark energy to push Chao off the arena and into the water.
"And Alistair has knocked Chao right out of the arena!" Kazumi called, "Can she get back into the arena in time?"
Chao swam as fast as she could, but by the time she got back into the arena, the ten count was up, "Alistair Savage is the winner!" Sayo cheered.
The fans cheered, as Xever jumped out of his seat applauding, "Bravo!"
Chao pouted, "Oh, poo, and I was this close."
"Hey, you fought well, Chao." Alistair admitted.
Chao smiled, "Thanks. You did great yourself, Alistair." the two shook on it before going off to join the others.
With the other competitors, the group congratulated Alistair and commended Chao. Dustin spoke up, "Alistair, you rocked out there, and Chao, you fought perfectly."
Chao smiled, and embraced him, "Thanks, Dustin." she said, before Dustin pecked her on the cheek.
Negi and Dustin knew the next match was between two of their best partners Mana and Ku. The two fighters looked at each other and smiled without saying a single word.
When they went onto the arena, Kazumi announced, "Next we have Mahora's skilled sharpshooter in the Biathlon and heir to the Tatsumiya shrine, Mana Tatsumiya! And her opponent that proud member of Class 3A's Baka Rangers Ku Fei!"
Mana and Ku faced each other down as Ku summoned her artifact. The bell rang and they took off. As everyone watched, Negi spoke, "Any idea who could win this match? I mean Mana and Ku are two of our strongest fighters, Dustin."
"It could very well be a close match." Dustin admitted.
"I agree," Kaede nodded, as she watched while standing between the two, "So let's see who gets the last shot."
As Mana and Ku exchanged blows, Ku spoke, "You're good, Mana, but I cannot lose until I have faced my disciple."
"Funny, I don't wanna lose either. Because I want to face Dustin as much as you desire to face Negi." the gunslinger answered, as she was dodging Ku's bo-staff strikes.
The fans watched in amaze at the performance the two were displaying on the arena, while the scene zoomed out to reveal Ragnarok, Diabound, and Thorn were watching it from their lair.
"It's so nice to watch them fight each other for a change." Thorn noted.
"Too bad it's not to the death." Diabound said in disappointment.
"In time." Ragnarok answered, as he continued t observe the fights.
Back at the arena, Mana had powered up her spirit energy and went at it with Ku without holding back. Dustin cheered her on, "Go, Mana!"
"Master Ku!" Negi cheered.
All of 3A was cheering them on, as the two continued to fight hard. Soon the two delivered the final blow, only for Ku to sneak in a quick one and pounded Mana to the ground. Everyone gasped and wondered how the tall girl was. They saw Mana on the floor looking too weak to move.
"That was good work, Ku. You managed to best me." Mana smiled.
"You yourself provided the perfect challenge, Mana." Ku nodded, and bowed her head in respect.
"Ku Fei is the winner!" Kazumi announced, as the fans hollered with cheers.
Ku and Mana were brought back to the infirmary of the competitors area, where everyone was gathered around Mana.
"Don't worry, guys. I'll be fine in a few moments. Dustin, sorry. I really wanted to fight you."
Dustin smiled, "I would've wanted to fight you too. But there's always another time," he leaned down and kissed her on the lips, "Consider that a reward for effort."
Mana smiled, "Thanks. If you win I'll give you more than just a kiss tonight." she whispered the last part.
Dustin blushed up, "Oh, baby." he panted, as the group chuckled.
Fate walked on knowing his match was next. Before Kaede to follow, Negi stopped her, "Good luck out there, Kaede."
Kaede smiled, "Thank you, Negi." she followed Fate, as the others went to see the match.
Kazumi seeing both competitors on the arena spoke into the mic, "For our next match, we have another of our schools Baka Rangers, and yet strongest of fighters Kaede Nagase! And her opponent that mysterious silver haired youth of a substitute teacher, Fate Averuncus."
Fate spoke up to Kaede, "Let's both not hold back. I want you to fight me with your full strength, Nagase."
"As you wish, Fate." Kaede smiled.
"Begin!" Kazumi announced, as the bell rang.
Without wasting time, Kaede and Fate took off and clashed. The two fought as if it were the whole Kyoto incident all over again. Only this time no one's life was on the line.
Kazumi and Sayo watched the match and commented, "Whoa, challenger Fate looks like he's hardly breaking a sweat. In fact he doesn't appear to be sweating at all."
"But Kaede isn't going down without a fight, either." Sayo commented.
As the two fighters fought hard, Fate spoke, "Your skills are formidable, but never underestimate a Knight from the Kingdom of Light!" he delivered a powerful kick to the ninja hoping to knock her out of the arena.
Fortunately for Kaede, she grabbed a railing of the arena and pulled herself back in, "Good move, Fate. Now let's see you stop this." she activated her pactio and used her artifact cloak to camouflager herself.
Fate froze and looked all around, "Clever move." he admitted, as he tried to pinpoint where she would strike. Unfortunately he couldn't figure it out fast enough, and ended up getting attacked up front. With a kick to his gut he was knocked back but managed to stay in the arena.
"How does it feel to be a knight losing to a ninja?" Kaede joked.
"The fight is not over yet." Fate retorted.
"Then let's change that." Kaede used her artifact again.
"Talk about a ninja vanish." Kazumi spoke into the mic.
Fate however being more prepared focused, and spun around and reach out catching something invisible out of thin air, "That won't work on me a second time!" he thrust his hand out using a bit of magic in his punch sending Kaede out of her cloak and landed into the water.
"Kaede!" Negi called, as the rest of his partners were concerned.
"And Kaede has been tossed out of the ring! Start the countdown!" Kazumi called, as it began.
Kaede surfaced while looking tired. She knew she wouldn't make it in time before the countdown, but at least made an attempt. She grabbed onto the arena and pulled herself out moments after the match was called.
"Fate Averuncus is the winner!" Sayo announced.
Many of the female spectators cheered for Fate who just stuck his head up proudly, before looking at Kaede, "You did better than I hoped."
"Thanks. And congratulations." Kaede said, as they two left the arena.
Once they returned to the competitors area, Negi hugged her, "Kaede, you were incredible. Even if you lost I'm so proud of you."
Kaede smiled and returned the embrace, "Thank you, Negi. Hearing that makes me feel happy."
Kotaro spoke to Fate, "not bad, Fate, seems you and I both won our opening matches. Which means we'll soon be meeting on the arena against each other."
"Only if you can last long enough." Fate snarked, but this time Kotaro brushed it off.
"Will the next two opponents come to the arena at once?" cam Kazumi's voice.
Takane and Negi looked to each other before giving each other a smile before they headed to the arena.
"Negi!" Kotaro called, as he looked back, "Don't you dare lose! Because I want you to be there and face me."
"Right." Negi nodded, as he continued on.
Once the two stepped onto the arena, Kazumi announced, "Here we have senior student Takane Goodman and the second child professor Negi Springfield!"
"Let the match begin!" Sayo announced, as the bell rang.
Negi got into a stance, "Are you ready?"
Takane smirked, "You bet I am." she threw off her cloak revealing she was wearing her shadow armor underneath.
"Wearing your shadow armor, are you?"
"Oh, yes. I'm not going to go down fighting without bringing out my ace." Takane answered.
"Well, then. Let's fight." Negi announced, as the two engaged combat.
"Go, Takane-sempai!" Mei cheered.
"Go, Negi!" Dustin, Alistair, and Kotaro cheered.
"Negi-kun!" Negi's partners cheered.
Eva watched seeing Negi fight while using the ring she gave him in place of his staff. She thought to herself in hope, 'I hope he gives me a good show when I have to fight him.'
As Takane got close to Negi, the shadows from her armor came to life and grabbed onto Negi. The spectators were confused, as Kazmui spoke trying to maintain clueless, "Whoa, what is up with Takane's battle garb? It's literally grabbing onto challenger Negi."
As Negi was getting squeezed up, he was struggling as Takane brought him closer, "Don't worry, Negi-sensei. After I win I promise to let you have a date with me."
Negi looked her in the eye, "I'd love that, but I don't love the idea of you beating me!" he concentrated all his magical energy resulting in a big burst sending flashing lights and colors all around.
"Whoa, talk about a killer light show!" Kazumi called.
"I sure hope our challengers are ok." Sayo said in worry.
"Smoke is clearing and..." Kazumi began, until everyone gawked.
Negi was holding onto Takane, as the girl groaned before waking up seeing Negi before her, "Negi-sensei?"
Negi answered, "Yes, Takane?"
"Did I lose?" she asked.
"I'm afraid so." he answered.
Rather than feel upset, Takane only smiled, "Congratulations. I'm glad I got to fight you."
"Yes. I feel that way too, but right now..." Negi trailed off while looking flustered.
"What is it?" she asked in confusion.
"It's your state of dress." Negi explained.
Takane suddenly realized her shadow armor had been vanquished leaving her bare naked. Feeling humiliated she let out a panicked shriek, as many boys started taking pictures with their cellphones. Xever, Valmont, and Belmont were blushing up, while Mitsukai turned to Burai who shielded his eyes with his arm.
"I'm not seeing anything, I swear!" he said.
"Good." Mitsukai answered.
Takane cried, until Negi wrapped a cloak around here, "Here. I'm sorry I ended up doing that to you. I didn't want to humiliate you like this."
Takane ceased her crying and spoke, "Oh, it's ok. But next time you strip me naked... Can we do it in the bed?"
Negi blushed, but whispered, "Sure."
Takane smiled, as she and Negi got up and left the arena. When Negi was back with the competitors the group was congratulating him on a job well done, while Mei and Nutmeg who had just came in were comforting their sempai.
"Next two competitors report to the arena." Kazumi announced.
Dustin looked to his two partners Setsuna and Kasuga, "This is it girls. Make me proud."
"Yes, Dustin." they answered before nodding to each other and headed for the arena.
When Setsuna and Kasuga went onto the arena, Kazumi announced, "And for our next match we have our sword girl, Setsuna Sakurazaki. And our Athletic nun, Kasuga Misora! Challengers, let the battle commence."
Setsuna who was using a kendo stick fought Kasuga who was using her own spirit energy to fight better. Dustin watched his two partners fight, as Cocone joined him, "Hey, Coco-chan, rooting for Kasuga I'll bet?"
"Yes. But I have my doubts she'll win." she answered.
"True Setsuna's a better fighter, but hey it could go either way." Dustin replied.
On the arena, Setsuna and Kasuga we're still going at it, "You know compared to our normal spars at Eva's resort, this doesn't feel much fun."
"Because we're holding back our true potential from everyone around us. We have to make use with what we can do." Setsuna answered, as she attacked with the kendo stick.
Kasuga back flipped, "And I intend to." she fought against Setsuna, managing to disarm her of her kendo stick,
Setsuna not backing down fought Kasuga head on exchanging blows, before Setsuna launched her fist at Kasuga blasting her out of the arena and into the water. She surfaced looking tuckered out and was hereby declared a loss.
"Setsuna wins!" Kazumi cheered.
Konoka cheered, "All right, Setsuna!"
Setsuna looked up in the crowd seeing Konoka cheer for her and smiled, before she waved at her and the rest of her fellow classmates. After Kasuga was collected by medics and brought back to the med area, Setsuna went back to join the others.
Finally the last two opponents being Eva and Rin went onto the field, as everyone watched, "For our final match we have Evangeline McDowell and Rin Hikari!"
Eva looked to Rin who felt nervous knowing not only were all her friends from class watching, but her father as well, "Rin."
"Yes?"
"I want you to know that whatever happens you have nothing to be ashamed about. What matters is you fought to the very last breath."
Rin was amazed to hear such words come from her, and answered, "Yes, Eva."
When the bell sounded the two went at it, and the audience were once again taken by surprise seeing what looked like children were putting up quite the fight.
As the other competitors watched, Negi spoke, "Eva must really be trying to hold back since if she uses her magic she could destroy Rin."
Chachamaru answered, "Mistress wouldn't think of harming Rin. She's a very dear friend of hers."
"That's reassuring." Dustin replied.
Up in the audience, Ross spoke to Lucas, "Your daughter is doing very well, even against Eva of all people."
"I know. And your son certainly is strong like you as well." Lucas replied.
"Thanks," Ross sighed, and thought, 'If only Nagi were here to have watched his own boy. I'm sure he'd be very proud of him.'
Eva and Rin continued to engage in combat, while Eva spoke, "Now this is how a true magic user should fight. You truly aren't disappointing me."
Rin smirked, "I hope you're not spitting out compliments in hopes of lowering my guard."
"Now where would the fun in that be?" Eva asked, "I prefer a match where my opponent is strong and not weak."
"Then you'll love this." Rin retorted as she delivered a spin kick to Eva's cheek.
She growled, "Oh, now you've made me angry!"
Rin's eyes widened, "Oops."
Eva went all out on Rin like it was a cat fight, which was leaving the audience in shock. Kazumi spoke into the mic, "And it looks like this martial arts fight has escalated into a cat fight. And boy does Eva look pissed."
Eva had Rin pinned to the ground, as the girl looked scared out of her wits, "Sorry. I didn't think it's be that hard of a hit to you." she cringed.
Eva smirked, "Seeing you squirm like this is too precious." she laughed.
Rin looked confused, "You mean you were acting like that to frighten me?"
"And it worked." Eva answered, as Kazumi called.
"And that was ten! Eva is our winner!"
The crowd cheered, as Rin felt embarrassed, "Well, I feel sheepish."
"Maybe, but you did better than I expected." Eva brought Rin back onto her feet.
Kazumi announced, "And that concludes part one of the tournament. We'll be back in twenty minutes."
Once back with the rest of the competitors, Chachamaru spoke, "Is your cheek all right, mistress?"
"It's fine." she answered.
"Evangeline, Rin," Negi began, "I want you both to know I'm proud of both of you." he pulled them into a group embrace.
Rin blushed, while Eva looked embarrassed, "Not in public." she grumbled.
Soon Negi, Dustin, Alistair, Fate, Ku, Eva, Kotaro, and Setsuna stood together, "Well, we all made it to this round, and here's hoping we all fight well no matter what." Dustin began.
They nodded, as they checked the updated tournament chart seeing the next match would be between Dustin and Kotaro followed by Alistair and Ku, Fate and Negi, and Setsuna and Evangeline.
(And that's the chapter. Don't miss next time for part two of the Mahora Festival Martial arts Tournament. See you then.)