A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Just having fun.

A/U: Johnny and Shannon have two children. Robby and Laura.

A/N: I know the fight is probably unrealistic, forgive me, I'm trying to learn. Also, I figured that if one Cobra was getting a raw deal, all the Cobras would be there to support them.

******************Trigger Warning: Violence Described****************

Laura couldn't believe this was happening. She stared at the board with her mouth half open in shock. Yeah, she could fight boys. Bert, Virgin, Terrence, Kev, Ryan that one time, but not Xander Stone. Stone was the current All Valley champ. That would be like taking on Miguel and Hawk at the same time. She couldn't do that. She looked across the arena to the 'girls' competition'. She thought about the girl she'd faced in the first round. The girl whose dad had pulled her out at the first sign of struggle. Her dad didn't do that. He taught her how to handle herself, how to read her opponent, how to win. He never told her that she couldn't do something and every one of those girls was being told that they couldn't compete on the main floor.

Johnny wasn't any happier. This was clearly LaRusso's way of testing his resolve that his girls could fight anyone. This was so not right. Laura was tiny compared to Stone. She was five foot tall and he doubted that she weighed a hundred pounds anymore. Stone was at least a foot taller and fifty pounds heavier than her. There was no way this was fair. It would be one thing if she had managed to meet him in the semi-finals or even the quarterfinals when it was based on demonstrated skills but this was just cruel. This was punishment for him upsetting their status quo.

He was about to go find LaRusso and forfeit. It wasn't about Laura being a girl. He wouldn't let Little Dude or Virgin face off with Stone in the qualification rounds either.

"I didn't tell them to do that."

He turned to see Daniel behind him pointing to the board.

"Yeah?" Johnny looked doubtful.

"Oh, come on, Johnny," Daniel said, holding his hands out. After everything that had gone down the night before, he knew Johnny would think that he was responsible. He would have in Johnny's position. "We may have our problems but I wouldn't risk getting your daughter, or any kid, hurt just to satisfy some stupid rivalry. This is bullshit."

"Then change it."

"I can't. Committee members don't decide the rounds," Daniel said. "Supposedly it's all done by random draw, but Laura is only fourteen, right? She shouldn't be fighting a sixteen-year-old in the qualifying rounds."

"Then why is she?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out," Daniel said, already planning to call a committee meeting to find out how not only this happened but how a kid with no Sensei was able to register.

"That really helps her right now," Johnny shot back.

"I want to do it, Daddy." Laura turned to him.

"What? This isn't right, Laura," Daniel said kindly. "They're trying to make an example of you."

"Yeah by making me quit or forcing Daddy to pull me," she said. "They want to tell all those girls over there that they can't stand here. Daddy, that girl I was fighting, her Sensei pulled her at the first sign that she might lose. You would have never pulled me because I was losing. You would never tell Aisha or I that we can't stand here."

Johnny was still unconvinced. Putting his student who had only trained for six months up against the current champion who was bigger than her, taller than her, stronger than her, and probably more skilled than her couldn't be a good idea.

"Come on, Sensei," she said, standing up straighter. "You've never told me that I couldn't handle myself before. Don't start now. They want an example? I'll be their example."

"Are you sure?" Johnny asked. "You know they're just trying to use you to send a message."

"By quitting and telling everyone that girls can't be as good as boys at karate. Well, let's see if they like the message I send for them by staying in," she smirked. "I know I won't win, and you can pull me if you think I'm in danger, but I won't forfeit without trying either."

"Okay," Johnny agreed, reluctantly. "Get ready."

Even Daniel was impressed. Apparently, Laura had her brother's gumption. "I still think you should pull her," he told Johnny, then looked at Laura, "but I'll be cheering for you."

"Thanks, Mr. LaRusso," she replied sincerely.

"Sensei, this isn't right," Xander said. "I don't want to hit her. It won't be a fair fight."

"Her Sensei says she can fight anyone," he replied. "Go out there and show them she can't."

"No," Xander said. "I'm not going to go beat up some girl because you have a beef with her and her Sensei because she was beating Emily. There is no way she's in my age group."

"Don't worry about that. You go out there and put her down, or you turn in your gi and forfeit your senior year and all those nice recommendations to West Point I've lined up for you," he said. "We both know you won't be going anywhere without those."

Xander hung his head. His Sensei literally had his whole future in his hands. He had wanted to go to West Point for as long as he could remember. There was no way he could get those recommendations without Sensei. His parents were just ordinary blue collar people who struggled to stay afloat working for all the rich artist in the canyon. They didn't know the kind of people that could get him into West Point. His grades were good, but not impress Senators and Congressmen good. Karate was the only thing he had to get him there and that meant sucking up to his Sensei for one more year. Being the good student, doing what he was told, spouting all the anti-violence propaganda to attract the crunchy granola moms in Topanga, and never losing a match.

"Yes, Sensei," he muttered, walking to the line, hoping that he could find a way to get his points without having to go full force against Lawrence.

Robby couldn't believe this was happening. Johnny was going to let Laura compete against Xander Stone? The guy made two of Laura. This was ridiculous. Dad and Uncle Bobby were actually talking to her about how to fight that guy and all those idiotic Cobra Kai kids were cheering for her. Had everyone gone stupid? He had thought it was bad when his dad had let that little kid fight one of those acrobatic All-Star kids, but really, that was 'fair'. The poor kid just had the bad luck to be a small twelve-year-old paired with a big fourteen-year-old. He didn't know what his dad and those two morons that followed Johnny around like adoring fanboys told the kid when they helped him up, but the little twerp smiled up at them like he was the luckiest kid in the world, despite having just been donkey kicked in the chest.

But this was worse. This was Laura. Well, it was only worse to Robby. The one thing Robby had always known was that Johnny wouldn't let Laura get hurt and here he was encouraging her to fight freaking Goliath.

He looked at the other side of the mat where the Topanga team was gathered. He saw Stone talking to his sensei. He was shaking his head and motioning towards Laura. Looked like he wasn't too happy with the match up either. Well, at least someone hadn't completely lost their minds. It would suck for him, but maybe he would do the right thing and forfeit. He was winding a trail through the crowds, trying to reach their mat, but Laura was already lined up when he got there.

"Are you stupid?" he growled at Johnny, not caring who heard him. "How can you let her do this? How did this matchup even happen?"

"Give her some credit," Johnny shot back. "And go ask your Sensei how it happened." He still wasn't convinced that LaRusso didn't have a hand in this or at the very least could have demanded they reassign the match to the right age groups.

Robby glared at him and pushed past him to stand in front of the scrawny dweeb and that idiot with the Mohawk to stand between them and the mat. He dared them to say something or try to touch him. He even glared at Ryan and Uncle Bobby. How was it that neither of them had stopped this? He was tensed, ready to jump on the mat if it looked like Lou was in trouble, his hands in fists at his side, ready for a fight. He didn't care who with anymore. The Topanga kid, the scrawny dweeb or his idiot friend, or Johnny. If Laura got hurt, someone was going to get it.

Despite her earlier convictions, once she actually bowed to Stone, her anxiety got the better of her and she practically jumped out of bounds the first time he came at her. She backed up until she felt Johnny's hand on her back.

"Lou, you can still forfeit, but if you're going to fight, you have to stay on the mat," he said, gently. "Take a deep breath. You can do this. Don't get distracted. Keep it simple and you can hit him."

She nodded and lined up again. Stone was looking back at his Sensei so Laura dared to look behind her. Robby was standing at the edge of the mat looking ready to murder but managed to smile at her. All her Cobras were cheering for her, even Hawk who yelled, "Go, Lou! You got this! Watch his feet!"

That was her weakness and Eli knew it.

She nodded and turned back to the mat, bowing to the referee and her opponent. This time when Stone came at her, she caught his arm, using his own weight and momentum against him to flip him on his back. She spun back and kicked him in the chest.

"Point, Lawrence, Cobra Kai," the referee yelled as her teammates when crazy screaming.

"Way to go, Lou," Johnny yelled. "You can do this. Good job!"

She stepped back and let him get up. She could have sworn he smiled at her as he took his line again.

The next point was his, catching her in the back with a jab punch when she tried to hit him with a hook kick.

He lunged at her, causing her to stumble back, nearly falling, but she did a backflip and landed in a crouch, his round kick going over her head. Maybe being a foot shorter than him was useful after all. She quickly recovered, coming up with a front kick that caught him in the jaw, sending Xander sprawling to the mat and gaining her next point.

Robby's jaw dropped. "I didn't know she could do that," he said, his eyes wide in shock.

"Neither did I," Johnny said a smile spreading across his face.

Laura stepped back, amazed. She hadn't meant to do that. She'd only been trying to not fall and push him back so she could regain her balance. This time he definitely smiled at her as he got to his feet but it didn't feel patronizing, instead almost admiring.

"Quit screwing the bitch and take her out, Xander!" One of the Topanga boys yelled.

"Shut the hell up!" Hawk yelled back, bowing up at the boy. "Before I come over there and kick your ass!"

"Bring it on," he yelled back.

Hawk took a step towards him, but Miguel grabbed his arm and jerked him back. "Get him on the mat."

"Cool it, Hawk," Johnny said, glaring at them before turning back to the match.

Laura managed to avoid another advance before Xander was able to catch her with a hook kick and fell to his knee, striking her in the chest, getting the final two points and winning the match. He stood up, pulling her to her feet with him.

He bowed deeply. "Good match," he said, before turning to the referee to be declared the winner.

Laura didn't even care that she lost. She had managed to get two points on the reigning champ. Sure she could tell he hadn't hit her as hard as he could have, but it was still something to last that long. Take that, sexist jerks! She practically threw herself in Johnny's arms. "Did you see what I did?!"

"Great job," he replied, hugging her hard. "Great job!"

Robby couldn't even get close to her as the rest of her teammates surrounded her patting her on the back. He caught her eye and gave her a thumbs up before running back to the other side of the arena to get back to his mat before he was disqualified. He would talk to her tonight.

"You showed those pussies," Aisha cried, hugging her tightly.

"I didn't win," Laura said.

"Doesn't matter," Miguel said, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Anyone could see they set you up, but you held your own."

"That's all that matters," Johnny added.

"Good job," Bobby said, pulling her in for a hug.

Even Bert was looking at her with awe. Laura couldn't imagine that winning would have felt better. She was left facing Hawk when the team moved to the next mat for Kev's next fight.

"Um.., good job," he said awkwardly.

"Thanks," she smiled. "I'm out now."

"But that flip and kick thing was awesome," he twisted his feet as he looked at her.

"Thanks," she said again, feeling that ache again. Three days before she would have confided in Eli that it had been a complete accident that she was pretty sure she couldn't repeat if she tried, but now she wasn't sure what she could tell Hawk. "Good luck."

"Thanks." He looked at her for a minute more like he wanted to say something else, but then walked over to join the team. Laura went around the other side of the Cobras to watch.

Laura was sitting against the wall texting Robby.

"Still in?"

"Yep. Fighting

someone named

Post from Krunch

in Quarterfinals"

"Cool. He's on the

mat next to ours.

He shifts to his

back leg before

attacking."

"Good to know.

Thanks, Sis.

Not sure you

were supposed

to tell me that

though."

"He's not Cobra Kai.

I can give you

all the tips I want."

"Meet me during the break?"

"Sure."

And really she meant to but as soon as the last match was done, she looked up to see Xander Stone walking towards her. He stopped and politely bowed first to Johnny then to Bobby and pointed at Laura. Whatever he had said made Bobby grin and Johnny shrug and nod.

Xander smiled as he walked up and sat down beside her. "Hi, I'm Xander Stone." He held out his hand.

"Laura Lawrence," she replied shaking his hand. "Haven't we already met?"

"Well, I wanted to meet you again when your feet weren't flying at my head," he smiled. He had a really nice smile and his manner put her at ease. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," she replied.

"Yeah, well, it was a dick move what my sensei and Krunch's sensei did to you," he said. "I've been competing here since I was twelve and coming since I was six. Qualifiers are always done in age brackets. 12-14 and 15-17. You're what? 13?"

"Fourteen," she replied.

"See? You should have never been up against me in qualifiers. I'm sixteen," he said. "Only in finals do you fight outside your bracket. You were supposed to fight my little brother and I was supposed to fight a kid from Krunch. I don't know how they did it, but they got the matches swapped. I think they wanted to force your Sensei to pull you or embarrass Cobra Kai."

Laura nodded. So Mr. LaRusso really wasn't behind it. "Why?" she asked. "Why do they care?"

"Are you kidding me?" Xander laughed, putting his hand on her arm. "Cobra Kai is the talk of the tournament. No one has ever seen anyone who fights like you all do. You all don't stay down. You fight hard until the last point. It's new and a lot of the kids in our dojos don't know how to defend against someone who won't stop coming at them. It's crazy. It's crazy awesome but still crazy! I'm not sure I'm even going to make it to the finals and I'm last year's winner. It's probably going to be the top two Cobra Kai students or one of them and that unaffiliated kid in the finals."

"We just fight," Laura shrugged.

"That's the best part, you all don't even realize how badass you are," he grinned.

"Excuse me?" she said, lifting her head up and smirking at him. "We are Cobra Kai. We know exactly how badass we are."

"Half the guys here are wanting to leave their dojos and join Cobra Kai right now," he replied, smiling back at her, brushing her hand with his. "I'm tempted to join them."

"We're very selective," she laughed. "So, Xander Stone, do you go around checking on everyone you fight with at these tournaments?"

"Oh yeah," he joked, tilting his head towards her. "I started with you so I can get to the A-1 guys last." He put his hand to the side of his mouth like he was revealing a secret, leaned towards her and loudly whispered, "They're huggers."

She laughed, covering her mouth. "I won't tell." She was about to ask him another question when her phone buzzed.

"I see how it is.

And I bought

you a red Powerade

and everything."

Laura looked around and saw Robby standing a few feet away, talking to Ryan and a guy from A-1. He nodded his head and smirked at her.

"Sorry. One minute."

"Don't worry about it.

I'm having fun watching

Dad watch you. Bet if that guy

touches you again, Dad's

head'll explode."

She snickered and put her phone in her pocket, she looked up at Robby again and shook her head.

"Just one question, because I kinda feel like I'm going to get my ass kicked for just being over here talking to you," Xander said, looking at the Cobra Kai kids who were looking at them, some subtle, some not so smoothly and Hawk who was glaring at them over Miguel's shoulder. "But you're not dating one of these guys are you?"

"Nope," she answered. "But in the interest of fairness, Sensei Lawrence is my dad."

"I kind of figured that," he replied.

"And Sensei Brown is my godfather, and Brown that you beat last round is my cousin/godbrother/friend,.., hybrid, I guess," she giggled.

"And the dude with a Mohawk who looks like he's plotting my death?"

"He's my ex," she admitted.

"By how long?" Xander asked.

"Days. But he already has another girlfriend, so don't pay him any attention," she admitted again.

"His loss," Xander said, reaching out to hold her hand. He saw the bruise on the underside of her arm. "Oh, I didn't do that, did I?" He looked genuinely concerned.

She shook her head. "Skateboarding," she answered honestly for once. "I tried to jump a bench and I did, but I swung my arm back when I landed and hit the edge of it."

"You skate?" he asked.

She nodded.

"So, you skate, you do karate, if you say you play video games, I think I might be in love," Xander teased.

"I play Grand Theft Auto with my brother sometimes, but I'm against using the hookers then beating them up and taking their money," she teased back. "One or the other."

"Okay," he laughed, leaning towards her. "I can play that way. What movies do you like?"

"Um..., funny, romance, action, scary, if they aren't just blood and gore and jump scares, not too into blood and gore at all," she answered.

He nodded thoughtfully as though she was giving the answers to life. "What do you eat on your pizza?"

"Gotta be pepperoni," she said with a tilt of her head.

He nodded again. "One more question then."

"Lay it on me," she giggled.

"Can I take you to a funny, not gory, action, romance, horror movie, then out for pepperoni pizza next weekend?" He smiled.

"Well, if you can find a movie that meets all those criteria, I would love to see it," she giggled again. "And if it only meets one or two of those, I'd still love to go see it with you."

"Great," he beamed, looking relieved. "Can I have your number to work out the details later this week?"

"Sure," she nodded, taking his phone and putting her number in it.

"I have to get back," he said, getting to his feet. "But I'll definitely call you tomorrow."

"Don't kill him, Johnny," Bobby laughed, watching Xander go back to the Topanga team. "You got to admit it took balls to walk into your little snake pit here and ask one of the queen cobras out."

"Yeah, yeah," Johnny grumbled.

"Could you imagine if girls had been allowed to compete when we were young?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah," Johnny scoffed, beginning to smile. "We'd have never gotten Dutch or Tommy out of the locker rooms."

After Xander left, Laura stood up and started to go talk to Robby when Hawk stopped her.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"Making friends," she replied. "Isn't that what we're supposed to do at these things?"

"Whatever," he snapped. "You're flirting with every guy you talk to."

"That's a whopping total of one," she replied.

"And the guy you were hugging during the last break?" he shot back.

"Oh. You saw that?" A smile spreading across her face. "You know what, if you are so worried about who I talk to, then you should have come skating with me yesterday. And what do you care what I do? I think Moon is looking for you." She looked over his shoulder to where Moon and Demetri were sitting in the stands. "She doesn't look too happy. Excuse me."

In the end, Xander did lose to Miguel in the semifinals, but took the loss well, bowing then shaking hands with Miguel.

The next fight was Robby against Hawk.

Laura's breath caught in her throat as she watched them face off on the mat. She'd only seen Robby's quarterfinal match and while he was good, she didn't know if he was good enough to beat Hawk. Not to mention she was torn. If she cheered for her teammate, she was cheering against Robby and if she cheered for Robby she was being a traitor to her team. She gasped and covered her eyes as Hawk slammed Robby to the mat. It didn't feel any better when Robby managed to land a round kick to Hawk's face sending him sprawling to the floor. They circled around each other, going back to their marks. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious they were trash talking each other when suddenly Hawk pushed past the referee and kicked Robby in the back, sending him crashing to the floor and curling in pain. Her dad rushed to Robby's side and Uncle Bobby had to grab her and pull her away from the mat to keep her from doing the same thing.

"Wait til he's off the mat," Bobby said.

Johnny yelled at Hawk and Miguel jerked him off the mat and shoved him.

"You idiot," Miguel snapped, shoving him again. "You could have had him! Stupid!"

"Yeah, whatever," Hawk snapped.

Laura pulled away from Bobby and shoved Hawk as hard as she could.

"You stupid jerk!" She hit his chest with both hands. "You're such an asshole. You should have just stayed a nerd with a scar on his face. I liked Eli a lot better than I like Hawk." She shoved him again before running to the boys' locker room.

"You can't go in there," a woman at the ticket booth called out.

"Watch me," she shot back. Robby was sitting on a bench, struggling to pull his gi off. She ran over to him and hugged him. "Are you okay?"

"My shoulder really hurts," he said.

"I'll get Daddy," she said. "He'll know what to do."

"No, I don't want him here," Robby said. "It'll be fine."

"Robby?" Mr. LaRusso joined them before she could argue.

Laura stood behind Robby, listening to the two of them talk. She could feel herself getting madder and madder and knew that if she didn't calm down she was going to explode like she did with Mrs. Mills and Ryan. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on Robby and not what Mr. LaRusso was saying. She almost made it until he told Robby that he didn't have to be like Johnny as if Johnny was a bad person and being like him would be the worse thing imaginable.

"What's wrong with being like my daddy?" She snapped, unable to hold in the words. "Of course he's not a monster, Mr. LaRusso. He's just our dad and he's trying but you never give him a chance, Robby. I know he isn't perfect and he drinks too much and he says stupid shit and he does things he shouldn't, but he's not a bad person. Mom does bad things too, Robby. She's still doing bad things and she doesn't care. At least Daddy does try to fix things when he screws up and you need to get over whatever it is that you think he did so badly because..., because...," she managed to stop what she was saying. She hastily wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. "You know what, it doesn't matter anymore. I'll see you at home."

"Lou, wait," Robby stood up and tried to grab her, but she evaded his reach.

"Don't touch me," she said, blocking him. "I'll see you at home. Good luck in the finals."

She ran out of the locker rooms and found Bobby.

"Hey, Uncle Bobby, I'm going home now. Can you tell Daddy when the finals are over?" She said.

"Why are you leaving?" Bobby asked.

"I just..., I just can't watch this," she said. "I never thought Robby would be here and would end up fighting one of my friends in the final match. I mean..., no matter who wins, someone I love is going to get hurt. I just can't."

Bobby looked sympathetic. "You are in a pretty tough spot, aren't you, Lou-lou?" He hugged her. "You want me to give you a ride?"

She shook her head. "Mom gave me some cash for an Uber so she wouldn't have to come to get me."

He nodded. That sounded like something Shannon would do. "Why don't you call Aunt B while you wait? I know she wants to talk to you."

"I will," she said. "I think I'd like to talk to her too."

"Let us know you got home safe," he said, hugging her.

"I will," she promised again before leaving the arena.

Laura let herself into the apartment and immediately noticed the mess. There were beer and whiskey bottles everywhere. She didn't think anything about it. Her mom and Gerald must have had some friends over while both she and Robby were out. She dropped her bag by the door and started dumping out the beer bottles and dropping them in the trash.

"Mom!" She called out. "Mom! I'm home!"

"She's not here," Gerald said, coming out of the bedroom. It was apparent that he'd been drinking heavily.

"Oh, sorry," she said. She dropped the bottle she was holding and backed up. She remembered what Robby had said about not being alone with Gerald. She made a break for the door, but he beat her there, sliding between her and the door and blocking it.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"I just..., I need to go," she said.

"You just got home," he said, stepping closer to her.

"I know. It's just...," she kept backing up until her back hit the counter. "Just let me leave." She sensed this wasn't going to be good. When her dad drank as much as it appeared Gerald had, he would pass out but Gerald didn't show any signs of passing out.

He pinned her between the counter and himself. "You're not going anywhere."

"Back up," she said, trying to push him away.

"I just wanted to be a family," he said, grabbing her jaw and slapping her painfully. "But you just couldn't behave. You just couldn't be good, Annie!"

"I'm not Annie," she cried, panicked. "Let me go!" She managed to push him back enough to bring her leg up and kick him backward. She rushed for the door but he caught her and slammed her against the door before slinging her across the room. She lost her balance and hit her head on the corner of the island. Pain bloomed white in front of her eyes before she hit the floor and everything went black.

Please R and R.