(And here I am with the semi-finals and final match for the Mahora Martial Arts Tournament. Hope you enjoy these last three fights.)

During the brief intermission, Dustin was doing some stretches as his inevitable match with Alistair would soon take place.

He stopped his exercises, and took some breaths, as Zyphon handed him a bottle of water to hydrate, and Domino dropped a towel on his shoulder. After Dustin toweled off, Zyphon spoke, "Are you all set, master?"

"I am, Zyphon." Dustin answered.

"I hope so. You and Alistair haven't fought each other since Kyoto." Domino cawed.

"I know. But this time we will be limited to our power level," Dustin reminded them, "While we can use our energies to power us up, we cannot attack using them the way we're prone to use them."

"This shall make for an excellent handicap, huh?" Zyphon asked.

"Just like when Negi and Fate fought." Domino added.

"I know." Dustin nodded.

"Dustin." came a voice, as Dustin saw Mana approaching.

"Mana, I was just about to head to the arena."

"I know. I wanted to catch you beforehand. How do you feel about fighting Alistair again?" she asked.

"Truthfully, I'm stoked. Both of us are perfect examples of a young spirit and dark warrior stronger than most of our classes at our ages. We'll see at this point who is the strongest."

"Well, good to luck to you." Mana said, as she pecked Dustin's cheek making him smile.

In another room Alistair had finished tucking his hair underneath his cap, and used the spell tag to make his body look like a normal human being.

"Alistair?" Yue asked, as she came in.

"Yue? Why aren't you with Haruna and Nodoka in the crowd?" Alistair inquired.

"I wanted to see you before your match. To wish you good luck."

Alistair smiled, "Thank you. Hearing you say that gives me a lot of reason to want to win." he embraced the short girl, who returned the embrace. After Yue pecked him on the cheek, Alistair walked out to the arena.

Fievel climbed onto Yue's shoulder, "There he goes." the mouse said.

"I know." the girl nodded.

Out on the arena, stood Dustin and Alistair as the crowd cheered them both on as Kazumi spoke, "And here's match one of the semi-finals. Here we have Professor Dustin Bowers and Alistair Savage!"

The crowd cheered, as Dustin spoke to his rival friend, "So here we are."

"Yeah." Alistair nodded.

"I assume you've also anticipated we would be meeting like this?" the spirit warrior inquired.

The dark warrior answered, "I have, but I had hoped it would be an all out fight and not some tournament."

"Hey, what can ya do?" Dustin shrugged.

"True."

Kazumi spoke into the mic, "Challengers, are you ready? Fight!" the bell sounded.

Dustin and Alistair wasted no time and went into battle. Upon reaching each other they exchanged blows from punches and kicks while dodging.

From the crowd everyone watched in excitement, as Xever was cheering his brother on, while Dustin's pals from New York were rooting for him.

Darius watched in interest, as Ross spoke, "They're both formidable fighters, master."

"Indeed. Your son is as always at the top of his game. And Alistair is proving to be quite the dark warrior." Darius answered, as he continued to watch the match.

Dustin threw a punch to Alistair, who did a dodge roll. The dark warrior got up and swung his leg at Dustin. The spirit warrior caught the leg and spun around still holding onto Alistair. When he released the dark warrior's leg, Alistair was flying but grabbed onto the edge of the arena and pulled himself back into it.

"And Alistair saves himself from the drink!" Kazumi called.

Alistair got into a stance, "Good form, Dustin. But I'm not going down just yet."

"Bring it." Dustin beckoned him.

The two once again fought, as their energies started powering them up. The girls and Negi noticed this and knew things were going to get intense.

The two fighters began fighting each other head on pulling out all the punches. They were so caught up in fighting, they hadn't realized their spirit and dark auras were releasing energy waves all around them causing everyone in the audience to feel uneasy.

"Whoa, I'm getting goosebumps all of a sudden." one student said, while holding onto himself.

"I know. What's this feeling in the air?" another student asked.

The girls, and the others knew what was happening, as Mana thought, 'Dustin, what're you doing?'

Xever thought, 'Alistair, are you trying to give yourself away?'

Darius thought, 'Boys, they just can't resist throwing all they have.' he sighed.

Watching from his viewing orb was Ragnarok, Thorn, and Diabound, "Well, this is quite the performance." Ragnarok said.

"Both of them are incredibly strong, even when they're holding back this much." Diabound added.

"Such a shame Alistair betrayed us." Thorn added.

"Indeed," Ragnaork agreed, "But don't worry, in the end he will have no choice but to join me again. As will they all." he snickered.

Back at the fight, the two fighters were itching to end this fight, as Dustin spoke, "This is it!"

"Our final blows!" Alistair called, as they powered their right fists up and went at each other delivering one final punch.

Both their fists connected to each others cheeks and were repelled from each other and were sent out of the arena and into the water.

"And they're both in the dip!" Kazumi called, "If none of them can make it back into the arena by the ten count then they're both out," Dustin and Alistair swam for their lives to the arena, and climbed back up before the ten count was up, "And they avoid the time limit for being out of the arena. Question is can they continue to fight given their state?" Kazumi commented on how exhausted they looked.

Both Dustin and Alistair looked like they were hanging on by a whim trying to remain on their feet. The two struggled to step up to each other, but before they could get close enough to attack, Alistair spoke, "Dustin, this was a great match."

"Yeah." Dustin agreed.

"But only one of us can move onto the finals."

"I know."

"And that someone has to be you." Alistair finished, before groaning and fell down flat.

This shocked Dustin and everyone else, as Kazumi spoke, "What's this, Alistair Savage dropped down flat before he and Dustin could engage again. Well, judging from his state he's in no condition to continue fighting. To that end, Dustin Bowers is the winner and will be moving onto the finals!" the fans in the crowd cheered, as Darius, Ross, and the warriors from New York applauded.

Dustin smiled at his victory, but looked down at Alistair seeing he was willing to drop first. He picked him up and carried him under his shoulder to the recovery area. From the crowd, Xever watched feeling bad that his brother lost, but proud that no matter what the end result he did his best.

In the infirmary area, Alistair was lying on a bench recuperating, as Dustin spoke, "You did fight well today, Alistair."

"Thanks. But you may have one today, but next time I won't lose." Alistair promised.

Dustin smirked, "I won't either." the two fist bumped.

"You two look like you're doing ok." Came Mana's voice, as they saw the gunslinger and lazy philosopher girl approached.

"Hey, girls." Dustin greeted.

"Congratulations, Dustin," Mana began, "And, Alistair, you did great yourself."

"You sure did." Yue agreed.

"Thanks." Alistair smiled.

"You two should hurry, Negi and Setsuna's match will be starting soon." Mana said.

"Yeah." Dustin agreed, as Alistair got up feeling much better and they walked to get a view of the match.

On the arena stood Negi and Setsuna, as Kazumi called, "And here we have the second semi-final match between Professor Negi Springfield and Setsuna Sakurazaki!" the crowd cheered as the girls of 3A watched with excitement.

"Are you ready, sensei?" Setsuna inquired.

"I am." Negi confirmed.

"Let the final semi-final match begin!" Kazumi announced, as the bell rang.

The two fighters took off as Setsuna used her own martial arts spirit warrior training in conjuncture with her wooden kendo stick. Negi was using his own martial arts training with Ku and Kaede to defend himself and attack.

As they fought, Dustin and the others watched, as Kotaro spoke, "Man, look at them go."

"Setsuna and Negi aren't holding back." Konoka said in amaze.

"Either one of them could prove a challenge to you, Dustin, when the final match comes." Fate said to the spirit warrior.

"Perhaps," Dustin answered, as he watched the match closely, before looking in the corner and spotted someone in a cloak within the crowd, "Huh?" he squinted and thought he saw a hairstyle through the hood looking similar to Negi's. He blinked and suddenly saw the cloaked figure was gone, "Who was that?"

Negi fought Setsuna head on as his magic amplifying ring was helping him power up. Setsuna continued striking at Negi with her kendo stick not wanting to insult him by holding back.

'I will fight and I will win for Dustin, no matter what the odds!' she thought, as she continued to fight Negi.

Negi himself was deep in thought, 'I can't afford to lose, not when I've come this far!' he thought before throwing a punch at Setsuna's stomach and the girl was sent flying off the arena and into the water.

"And Setsuna's been launched out of the arena!" Kazumi called.

"I hope she's ok." Sayo said.

Suddenly they saw Setsuna surface, and Kazumi began the countdown. Negi and the others noticed Setsuna was just floating in the water not even bothering to try and swim back to the arena.

"Setsuna, what're you doing?!" Konoka called.

"You can still make it!" Negi called out, not wanting her to give up.

Setsuna called back, "I'm fine, Negi. This was a great match, and I'm glad I could have fought with you."

"Setsuna." Negi gasped in awe.

"And that's ten! Negi Springfield is the winner!" Kazumi announced, as the crowd cheered and applauded.

Setsuna swam back and got out of the water, "Congratulations, Negi. You deserved this." she smiled.

"I should thank you for giving me such a splendid match." Negi smiled. Setsuna smiled back, as the two left the arena.

Once they arrived, Setsuna toweled off and changed into dryer clothes. Negi and Dustin stood side by side, as their partners stood before them.

Mana spoke first, "This is it you two. Are you ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be." Dustin answered.

"I hope this match won't come between your friendship as your other matches haven't affected your relationships with the others." Kaede said hopefully.

Negi shook his head, "Don't worry. We promised each other no matter what the outcome nothing will change between us."

"Put it there, bud." Dustin said, as the two did their handshake. The girls smiled, as they watched their senseis head out to the arena for the final match.

When they arrived, Kazumi announced in her mic, "And here we are the folks. The match you've all been waiting for! The final match of the Mahora Festival Martial Arts tournament!" The crowds cheered, as Sayo spoke up.

"And our final two challengers are the two teachers for Mahora Academy Junior high class 3A, Negi Springfield and Dustin Bowers!"

Kazumi continued, "They've both fought long and hard to make it this far, and now only one of them can walk away the victor. Opponents, are you ready?!" she called, as both Negi and Dustin raised their fists, giving her the confirmation, "Then let the final match begin!" the bell rang.

Negi and Dustin seconds after the sound of the bell took off and exchanged blows. They both powered up their magic and spirit energies to increase the affect of their attacks. With every blow they connected they ended up releasing a surge of energy in the air, as everyone watched in amaze.

"Is this some kind of special affect?" a girl student asked.

"If it is, it's killer." a boy student said in enjoyment.

From Negi's group, Eva rolled her eyes, "Those two are letting their energies out more than during Dustin and Alistair's fight."

"They're just having fun, Eva." Kotaro said.

"Let's only hope they're not foolish enough to blow the place up." Fate said stoically.

"I'm sure they'll refrain from doing anything that brash." Rin answered.

"Go, Dustin!" Sakurako, Yuna, Haruna, Kasuga, and Madoka cheered.

"Go, Negi!" cheered Makie, Ako, Kakizaki, Theodora, and Ayaka.

Negi and Dustin using their martial arts moves they learned from both Ku and Chao were putting on quite a show for the spectators, while Ku and Chao watched with smiles adorned on their faces.

"I so proud of disciple." Ku flicked a tear from her eye.

"Me too." Chao agreed, while smiling happily.

Dustin threw a punch at Negi who blocked with his bare fist and struck at Dustin's chest with his free hand. Dustin recoiled, but shook it off, before sweep kicking Negi off his feet. Negi got back up and threw attack after attack at Dustin, while the spirit warrior was hanging in there.

Dustin thought, 'Man, Negi's sure fired up for this match, but I am as well.' he started returning the blows Negi was landing on him.

Negi thought as he was forced to defend himself, 'Looks like Dustin's also feeling hyped from this match as much as I am.'

As they two fought, Chamo and Domino were watching from a safe spot in little fold up beach chairs. Chamo spoke up, "Now this is an awesome match, huh?"

"You said it." Domino agreed.

"Say, Domino, how about a little bet? Say ten bucks for whose partner wins?" Chamo suggested.

Domino looked appalled, "Shame on you, Chamo. Betting is a bad-bad thing... Make it twenty." he whispered.

"You're on." Chamo smirked.

Back in the arena, Negi and Dustin continued throwing all they had at each other leaving bruise after bruise, and scrape after scrape. But no matter how many hits they took, they kept on fighting.

Kazumi commented, "Boy, these two kids can really land and take a blow. I wonder how much more they can both endure?"

"I don't know, but with the way they're looking it's a miracle they haven't broken anything yet." Sayo put in.

Dustin and Negi finally got close and began grappling, "The playing field is even, Dustin!" Negi strained, as and Dustin were locked in combat.

"Maybe for now, but the tides of this match will turn!" Dustin declared, as they broke their grapple, while their energies kept on increasing along with their auras getting brighter.

"Are they glowing?" a girl asked.

"Boy the festival's really gone over it's budget for these special effects." a male student said.

The boys partners were shocked to see how much higher their energies were jumping up, as they fought with all they had.

The two after knocking each other back on the arena stared each other down, while their eyes squinted, "Negi, it's time we ended this fight."

"I agree." Negi nodded.

The two shouted as their energies powered up to their fullest and they charged at each other delivering one last blow. Then their attacks collided it resulted in a huge explosion sending smoke everywhere, as the spectators shielded themselves and coughed some of the smoke up.

"Well, this is unfortunate," Kazumi spoke into her mic, "Somehow the boys attacks have triggered some kind of smoke effect. Once it clears we'll see the end result of their latest blows."

Soon enough the smoke was cleared and they saw the arena itself was piratically destroyed, and Negi and Dustin were each standing on a piece of the arena surrounded by water. Both boys looked extremely exhausted from their final attacks. But were still standing.

Kazumi spoke, "And it looks like their attacks had destroyed the arena, with each of them standing on a single piece of what's left of the arena, who will be coming out on top now?"

Negi and Dustin panted while staring at each other as if waiting to make their next attack so they could take home first place. Suddenly to Negi's surprise, Dustin collapsed from his standing point and fell into the water.

Negi's eyes widened, as the crowd was in shock. Kazumi was jaw agape, before grabbing her mic and spoke, "I don't believe it! Dustin Bowers has taken a fall. This match is over! The winner of the Mahora Festival Martial Arts Tournament is Negi Springfield!"

The whole audience roared with applause, as Negi himself stood flabbergasted, "I won? I won!" he smiled and cheered for himself, before remembering Dustin. He jumped into the water and pulled him out, "Dustin, are you ok?"

Dustin coughed up water, "Yeah. So what happened?" he saw the screen above showing Negi's face with Winner under his mug shot, "Never mind, I get it."

"Dustin, you fought wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a final opponent in this tournament."

"Not even Kotaro?" Dustin smirked.

"No, but don't tell him that."

"My lips are sealed."

Chamo smirked and turned to Domino who was scowling, "You owe me twenty." he said smugly.

"Oh, shut up." Domino grumbled.

As the audience cheered, the cloaked figure spotted by Dustin snuck away from the crowd.

Awhile later, Negi stood next to Kazumi along with his prize money of 100,000 yen. Kazumi spoke into the mic, "Negi, how does it feel to be the winner of the tournament?"

"Well, it's exciting I'll say that." he answered.

"And how did it feel when you fought Dustin?"

"Exhilarating. We've had practice spars before, but this was a match worthy of the both of us."

"Good to hear. And so what do you plan on doing with your prize money?"

Everyone was eager to hear what he had to say. Negi answered, "Well, when the festival is over, I play to take my whole class out for dinner."

Class 3A cheered with joy, as Kazumi spoke into the mic to the crowd, "Now isn't this a generous boy?"

Negi smiled, as he started getting his picture taken for school record. Eventually Negi stepped down and was swarmed by his partners embracing and kissing him on not only a job well done, but for his generous treat.

Dustin smiled, as he watched his friend enjoy his victory, until Mana and the rest of his partners approached, "You ok, Dustin?" Madoka asked.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine, girls."

"We want you to know even if you lost you're still a winner to us." Yuna noted.

Dustin smiled, "Thanks, girls. I appreciate it."

"And here's a little compensation from all of us." Mana said, as all of his partners swarmed him with kisses and hugs, which he enjoyed to his fullest.

In Ragnarok's lair, the shadow master spoke, "The tournament has come and gone. Which means it's about time to put my plan into motion. Are you tow ready?" he asked Thorn and Diabound.

"Yes, master." Thorn answered.

"I've waited long enough." Diabound added.

Ragnarok spoke, "Then let's get started."

(And there's the chapter. In the end Negi was victorious in the tournament, but now Ragnarok is set to strike. What will he do? Find out next time.)