Finally, today's the day. I wake up on this Saturday morning and stretch my arms and legs. Tournament day. I've waited all year for this. I was coming home as the All Valley champ. When I get downstairs, my parents are there waiting for me.
"There he is. Today's the big day," my dad says patting my shoulder.
"Just know that no matter how you do, your father and I will always support you," my mom says kissing my cheek.
"Thanks mom," I say.
I eat breakfast and drive to the sports arena. When I pull up, Hawk and Aisha say hello and Amelia fist pumps me. I look sadly at Miguel who furiously punches the air. This last week has been hell. He barely said anything during school and didn't wanna hang out with us last night because he wanted to train. In training this week we got into a scuffle because he illegally punched me in the mouth and gave me a bloody lip which stung like a bitch. I punched him back and we brawled until Sensei Lawrence yelled at us and made us do 50 push-ups on our knuckles and clean mats after practice.
"Hey buddy," I say, fist pumping Bert when he walks up to us.
Miguel keeps punching the air with a look of bloodlust.
"Yo Miguel calm down man. Save some for the tournament," Hawk says.
"Don't bother, he's been super agro ever since the breakup.
"Where's Sensei? The tournaments about to start," I say to Aisha.
"Who knows," Amelia says sighing.
"He'll be here," Aisha answers.
"I don't know about that," Bert says with concern.
"Why's that?" I ask.
"I saw him last night at the mini mall. I was buying a... carton of milk when I heard him in the parking lot yelling. He was pissing on his car and absolutely wasted," Bert answered.
"Why did you tell us this earlier?!" Aisha demands.
"I don't know. I guess I was so used to seeing him drunk I didn't think it was a big deal," Bert defends.
"Well we're here and he's not so it's officially a big deal! What if something happened to him?!" Hawk yells.
"Like what?" Amelia asks.
"What if he drove his car off a cliff or bought a gun and blew his brains out?" Hawk rambles.
"No Sensei would never kill himself. It's too pussy a move," Aisha says.
"Whatever, we're here. We're just gonna have to do it without him," Hawk says.
"Do what without me?" A voice asks.
We all turn our heads to see a perfectly fine Sensei Lawrence walk up to us. No evidence of any sort of hangover.
"Sensei we didn't think you were gonna show," Aisha says relieved.
"Took you long enough," I say smiling at Sensei Lawrence.
"I may not always win, but I never back out of a fight," Sensei says.
"Alright, let's sign up," Miguel says impatiently.
"Not yet. There's still one more lesson I need to teach you," Sensei Lawrence says.
"Alright? What's that?" I ask confused.
Why would he wait until now to teach us something that could be vital?
We walk inside in silence.
"Alright everybody listen up," Sensei snaps which gets our attention.
"You've all learned to strike first, to be aggressive, not be losers. I've taught you to strike hard, put every punches of your power behind everything you do!" Sensei says making eye contact with me.
"But I haven't taught you the third rule of Cobra Kai, no mercy. The older you get, the more you're gonna learn that life isn't fair. You wake up one morning feeling great, but then life throws a spinning heel kick to your balls," Sensei says which makes me wince slightly.
"And takes a steaming shit in your mouth. You get an F on a test, you get suspended," Sensei states.
This one hits home for me. Although it all worked out, getting suspended unfairly still pisses me off because colleges will see that and people don't forget easily. My own ramjet record is forever stained because life showed me no mercy.
"You fall in love with a girl and some other dude comes and steals her away,"
I glance over at Miguel who's eyes move to the ground.
"Your car gets set on fire. Just when you think things are good, everything falls apart. That's how it goes! Life shows no mercy, so neither do we. We do whatever it takes to keep our heads above water. We do whatever it takes to keep moving forward! We do whatever it takes to WIN!" Sensei hypes to us.
Hawk and I smile at each other while nodding our heads. I'm fired up now, I can just smell that big trophy.
"Remember who you are! Your badass! You don't give a shit! You kick ass! Your Cobra Kai," Sensei says nodding at us in anticipation.
"COBRA KAI!" Miguel yells on adrenaline.
"YEAH!" We all shout in response.
"Alright guys let's get down there and kick the shit out of everybody!" Sensei says.
"Yeah!" We all shout and Miguel digs into his backpack.
"No," Sensei says and Miguel looks at him confused.
"We're not wearing those," Sensei Lawrence says with a smile.
The gi's he hands us are fucking awesome. They're black with yellow on the collar and a gold stripe running down the side of our legs. One thing I like is that our gi's are sleeveless which makes it easier to move around and makes us look more intimidating because we can show off our arms. After sign up, we report to the locker room and sit there for a little bit. The loudspeaker is spouting nonsense.
I gather up the team and we all huddle around with Miguel and i in the middle. Everyone's hopping up and down and yelling in rhythm. This reminds me of football because our team did this before big games.
"Let me ask something Mr. Diaz. What kind of power you got?" I ask jabbing my finger in his chest.
"Aww man, you know I got some raw power," Miguel answers fired up.
"What kind of power you got?!" I ask again for emphasis.
"What kind of question is that? I got REAL POWER, TRUE POWER!" Miguel yells.
"Now let me ask you something Mr. Murphy. How strong are you?" Miguel asks as we circle around each other.
"I'm too strong!" I respond.
"How strong?!" Miguel asks again putting his hand to his ear.
"Too strong! I want a victory!" I yell.
"I want a victory!" Miguel yells.
"No I want a victory!" Miguel yells.
"Do y'all want a victory?!" I ask all the other cobras.
"YEAH!" They all shout.
"I can't hear y'all. Y'all want a VICTORY?!" I yell.
"YEEEAAAH!" Everyone yells.
After about five minutes, the officials put up a list of names on the wall outside the locker room. Students from all dojo's are crowding around it. I see that they split us into multiple divisions and attempted to separate us based on dojo.
I look up at division 1 and see
Diaz, Miguel (Cobra Kai Karate)
Along with a bunch of other names. I see various students from our dojo in different divisions. I land on one name that surprises me in division 7.
Keene, Robby (unaffiliated)
Wow who would fight without a dojo? Could this be the Robby? The one from the party? I was hoping he'd end up in my division, but whatever.
A few names under his, I see
Jones, Amelia (Cobra Kai Karate)
So in order to win this thing, Amelia would have to square off against Robby. Finally I find my name right in the middle of division 5.
Murphy, Blake (Cobra Kai Karate)
So they split us all into eight divisions and based on the math, we each had to win three fights in order to reach the quarterfinals.
Darryl the announcer, who has a badass announcing voice announces each dojo one by one.
"Alright bro. Your our team captain, lead us out there," Miguel says getting behind me in line.
I'm conflicted. While I'm honored, Miguel started Cobra Kai. He built the dojo from nothing with his bare hands. I joined because of him. His cafeteria fight is the reason we have a full dojo. He deserves to go first.
"Nah man. Cobra Kai started with you. You were here first so lead us out there," I say lightly pushing him in front of me.
We had come up with a plan to run out before Darryl announced our dojo because it is an alpha move.
"Finally, from Reseda, returning to the tournament, we have..." Darryl announces.
"Cobra Kai! Cobra Kai!" We all chant as we jog out, led by Miguel.
We get the loudest applause of any other dojo.
"Now that's what I call an entrance! And a badass name for a dojo! Let's hear it for COBRA KAAAAIII!" Darryl announces which follows with a thunderous applause from the audience.
I scan the crowd and see my parents along with to my surprise, my brother sitting there wearing my red Cobra Kai beanie. He got out for summer yesterday and rushed into town to see the tournament. I did not say that it was okay for him to combine his greasy locks with my badass beanie. I look a few rows down and see Moon with Mel and Demetri as they clap. Moon smiles very brightly when she sees me and I smile back.
"Finally, from North Hills, fighting unaffiliated, is Mr. Robby Keene!" Darryl announces and I see that same kid from the party run out of the locker room.
He's in a solid white gi that he probably picked up at a local costume shop. He brushes past Miguel and I scowl into the back of his head.
After the whole opening speech is done.
"Alright folks, get ready! It's karate time," Darryl says which fires up the audience.
A few minutes later we're all watching Miguel step on to the mat. The ref states the rules and Sensei whispers something into his ear. Miguel gets into a weird stance. Almost like a crane or something.
"Come on Diaz!" We all cheer.
"Fight!" The ref shouts and Miguel kicks the kid square in the face about a second into the fight.
"Stop! That's one point Diaz!" He yells.
Miguel goes on to win 3-1 as the kid got a lucky point after Miguel got cocky.
Hawk, Amelia, and Aisha get landslide victories in their matches.
"Blake Murphy to mat 3 please," an intercom announces.
"Finally," I whisper.
"Let's go Murphy! No mercy man!" Hawk yells and claps his hands together.
"Next match, we have Blake Murphy, from Cobra Kai karate. Versus Simon Gilbert, from Allstar Karate," the ref announces.
We bow and get in stances.
"Ready, and fight!"
I spring into action immediately and furiously, but calculating every move, deliver kick after kick. He dodges one, but my roundhouse catches right in the ribs. The kid goes down and the ref calls.
"Perfect!" Sensei Lawrence yells.
I get back on the line and the ref signals. This time, the kid delivers a telegraphed kick right at my head, but I catch his leg and punch him hard in the gut. He goes down clutching his gut.
"Turn, kneel," the ref ordered and I do just that.
I look over at Sensei who smiles and holds up his fist. I curl my lip into a slight smile.
"On your lines," the ref orders.
I stand and walk over as the kid limps slightly. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, but I wanted to win. If that meant showing no mercy, I was in 100%.
"Alright, Murphy 2, Gilbert nothing," the ref summarizes.
The ref signals and I jump and deliver a flying roundhouse right to the kid's temple before he can even move his arms out of his stance.
"Haaaah! Point! Winner!" The ref says and holds my arm in the air. The audience applauds even though there are a hundred matches going on around me.
"Over on mat 3, Blake Murphy pulls off a cleeeeaan 3-0 sweep! Perhaps a new star fighter has appeared," Darryl announces and I laugh giddily but slightly, while trying to hide it.
My dojo claps and cheers as I shake Gilbert's hand and pat him on the shoulder before walking off the mat.
Poor Bert gets utterly humiliated as his opponent is flipping around him like they're a no problem. He loses 3-0, but we're all supporting him.
My next match is a breeze as I get another 3-0 victory against someone from Crunch Karate. My last match before I make the quarterfinals is against Topanga.
Authors note: this is NOT Xander Stone.
I'm up 2-1 as this kid actually has admirable skill. The kid tries to spin around in mid air, but I roundhouse him right in the gut and he goes down with a grunt of pain.
"Haaaah! Point, winner!" The ref says and raises my hand.
"Blake Murphy makes the quarters!" Darryl announces.
I look at my parents who are both cheering loudly and my brother is even clapping. I'm even more excited that Miguel, Hawk, and Aisha are in as well. It's time for Amelia's next match against none other than Robby Keene. I give her tips because I've been observing Keene's fights closely. He relies mostly on defense and goes for a counterattack when he sees an opening.
The two of them square up after doing their bows and the ref signals.
Amelia's athleticism and speed has allowed her to overwhelm her opponents and come out on tip. She springs into action, but Keene is able to block and main er all her attacks with relative ease to my surprise.
"Come on Ames! No mercy," I cheer.
"Focus Jones!" Sensei yells.
"You got this!" Hawk yells.
"Let's go, no mercy Amelia!" Miguel shouts and Aisha cheers as well.
Aisha hasn't opened herself to attack so Keene can only defend. He finally finds a way to sneak a punch to her abdomen.
1-0 Robby
They square up again and Amelia decides to think outside the box. She fakes a punch which Keene goes to defend, but she sweeps his legs and punches him hard in the chest.
Tied 1-1
"Yes! Let's go Amelia finish!" Miguel yells.
"You got this Ames!" Aisha cheers.
"Cmon Amelia!" I cheer.
The next round, Robby is able to predict Amelia's attack and leaps in the air to deliver a flying hook kick to Amelia's chin.
"2-1 Keene!" The ref announces.
"Keene vs Jones has reached a fever pitch! Who will take their rightful place in the quarter finals?!" Darryl announces.
The next round is pretty much even with both locked in combat. They scrap for a bit, but Keene's superior strength and physical condition is too much for Amelia to handle as she slowly tires. She needs to finish this fast if she wants to move on. However, before I can process anymore thoughts, Keene breaks through her defense and kicks her hard in the solar plexus as she goes down.
"Haaaah! Point! 3-1 Winner," the ref announces as he raises Robby's arm into the air.
Robby gives Sensei Lawrence a smug grin as he shakes Amelia's hand and walks off the mat.
"Fucking asshole," I mutter.
"It's alright Miss Jones you'll get em next time," Sensei says to a somber Amelia.
"Thanks Sensei. I did my best," Amelia says in a sad tone as sweat drips from her head.
A few strands of dark hair stick to her sweaty face as she walks into the locker room. Aisha follows her in and I'm assuming she is gonna comfort her. She should be proud. I hate to say it, but Keene is a tough opponent. I'm not sexist, but Amelia and Aisha kicking other strong and athletic guys' asses really amazes me.
"Alright folks! With that outstanding match coming to a close, that brings us to the quarterfinals! These 8 fighters are the last of their divisions and have fought long and hard to make it here. Now, feast your eyes on this year's quarterfinal matchups!" Darryl says and gestures to the large board as two guys remove the tarp.
"No way," I whisper to myself in shock as I see my next opponent.
Right above my name is none other than Hawk. I remember glancing over at his name on the division 5 list, but thinking nothing of it.
"Murphy," Hawk says in acceptance and turns his head to slyly smirk at me.
"And Hawk," I say slyly smirking back.
The board reads
Diaz
vs
Reid
Stone
vs
Robinson
Hawk
vs
Murphy
Keene
vs
Post
"Looking forward to it. No hard feelings okay?" Hawk says confidently elbowing me in the side.
"Yeah, we'll leave it all on the field," I say proudly and we bro shake before heading in the locker room for a break.
This time I make sure to install my insulin shot and drink plenty of fluids so we don't get a repeat of last time. I've mostly gone against Miguel so I haven't really been able to tell how Hawk's fighting style has changed. If I won and Robby did also, my next opponent would be Robby Keene. No one has yet to score more than one point on Robby, Miguel, or me. However, I needed to focus on my current opponent
Third person pov
The Cobra Kais along with everyone in the audience watch Miguel win his next match rather easily. Aisha vs Stone is rather close, but he uses her weight against her and manages to sneak by with a 3-2 victory. The fact that Aisha almost beat last year's champion is an amazing feat within itself.
"I can't believe Blake is fighting Eli. Is that even allowed?" Demetri asks in confusion.
"I don't know. All I can say is my boyfriend is taking home the W," Melody says to Moon.
"Are you kidding. Blake has shown that he's more than capable of winning the whole tournament," Moon snaps back.
Finally it's time for the main event.
"Here we go folks! Two members of the same dojo here stand across each other as competitors. Let me present Hawk, from Cobra Kai Karate. Versus Blake Murphy, also from Cobra Kai Karate.
Sensei Lawrence pulls Blake aside before he steps onto the mat.
"Hey kid. We both know who the underdog in this fight is. And because of that, I'm gonna coach Hawk, alright. You'll have Aisha and Miguel in your corner," Johnny says looking Blake in the eye who nods and smiles in understanding.
Blake walks to the other side with Miguel and Aisha as Sensei Lawrence pulls Hawk aside.
"His reaction time is a bit slow. Trust me, start of quick and down to the point. Go for an attack before he can process it. He won't know what hit him," Johnny says to Hawk.
"Yes Sensei," Hawk responds and leaps on the mat confidently.
"Face me, bow! Face each other bow! Ready, and fight!" The ref calls.
"Charge him!" Sensei Lawrence calls.
"Don't let him overwhelm you!" Miguel yells.
Hawk rushes forward and leaps into the air. Blake looks up in surprise at his airborne opponent. Hawk kicks while in the air and Blake backs up which causes the kick to barely miss. Hawk flies toward Blake once again and delivers a hard Superman punch straight to his chest. Blake grunts and stumbles back clutching his chest.
"One point Hawk!" The ref shouts.
1-0 Hawk
"Front kick to flying punch, Hawk's REEAAALLY rampin it up!" Darryl announces.
The Cobra's watch the match not knowing who to cheer for. Both Melody and Moon watch anxiously hoping for their man to come out on top. Blake's family concentrates. Hawk and Blake make eye contact as Murphy shrugs off the punch and walks back to the line. Blake knows that Hawk won't go down easy and he was wrong to underestimate him. It was time to bring out the big guns.
Authors note: the All Valley is officially underway. I'm sorry that I didn't give you guys enough time to vote on matchups, but I thought about both scenarios. Having blake fight Xander Stone would've just been a dull future because he would've fought Miguel after and who knows what. Also I have big plans for the next two fights. Things are gonna be different but same this time around. Just trust me.