CHAPTER 58

It was time. An entire night leading up to this moment, leading up to the main event. It was always going to end with them. It was almost poetic. Over a year ago, they first came to blows at the tournament, Robby being trained by Daniel and Miguel being trained by Johnny. Well the roles were reversed now. Everything had evolved so much in such a short time, to the point that today, it was Robby who was going to be coached by his estranged father, and Miguel being coached by the man, the father of his girlfriend, who he hadn't had the courage to meet back then.

In the time between their first fight and now, Miguel had trained with 4 senseis and Robby had trained with 5: Daniel, Johnny, Chozen, Kreese and Silver - inarguably the best senseis in the entire Valley, some of them potentially up there as some of the best in the world at what they they do. They had learned a variety of styles, a plethora of strategies, all to help build their respective arsenals into severely powerful weapons. They were both physically and mentally stronger than ever for this reason, so while nobody in Miyagi-Do could predict who was going to win, all they knew was that this was going to be too close to call.

As Miguel stepped out of the dojo and walked back out into the evening air, the voices of all of the other Miyagi-Dos raised in volume immediately. Someone was even playing music in anticipation. He walked out of the dojo and walked over to the sparring deck and along the way, he felt like he was a UFC fighter, walking towards the ring for a fight. Going into this fight, he had full confidence in himself. He had beaten Robby before, most recently being when they fought over the summer at the complex. He wasn't afraid of reaggravating his back injury anymore, so he was both physically and mentally confident that he had what it took to win.

There was just one thing though, and that was Johnny's words from inside the dojo earlier. He tried to heed them, but mostly kept them out of his mind, as he knew that he and Robby were so evenly matched that if he lost focus even a little, it would only take Robby a few seconds to score 3 points and win the fight. He needed to remain concentrated, but it was hard. It was really hard. Miguel's sympathetic mind could not help but drift to what Robby was going through right now. He could not help but think about how tough it must be for him right now, having to face the fact that his mom was moving across the country for an indefinite amount of time. That he was going to go for months without seeing her. Miguel had gone just a week without seeing his family when he went to Mexico, and he remembered how hard that short amount of time was, so he couldn't imagine how difficult this was going to be.

For this reason, as Miguel stepped onto the sparring deck and took his place across from Robby, neither boy was necessarily in the best emotional state. However, that didn't change the fact that they both had a large task ahead of them that they needed full concentration on. The entire dojo, who were all seated on the grass opposite, had gone silent with anticipation as the fighters stood in their respective corners for some last minute advice. Not that that really mattered, as in their mental states, neither fighter really listened to what their senseis had to say. So it wasn't long before they stepped into the center of the deck and the fight began…

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Much to Miguel's surprise, it had been Robby who had hurtled his way out the gate at a supersonic speed. He hadn't hesitated, waited for Miguel to strike first, rely on the Miyagi-Do defense to help him. Miguel had fully expected him to do this, as he knew, they all knew, that Robby bled Miyagi-Do. Of everyone in the dojo, he was probably the one for whom Miyagi-Do was most of who he was. The first student in the dojo (apart from Sam during her childhood of course), Miyagi-Do had saved Robby's life when he had begun, and so he reflected Miyagi-Do in all aspects of life, including in his fighting style.

Not right now though. Robby embraced every single teaching not only from Cobra Kai, but also all of the offensive training sessions with Chozen, and he went on the attack right from the first attack. He knew full-well that Miguel's weakness would be similar to Tory's. The boy's loyalty to Johnny and his Cobra Kai/Eagle Fang meant that he hadn't trained in a defense-centric dojo for nearly as long as an offensive one, so Robby knew that this was something he could capitalize on. It worked too, as eventually Miguel, overwhelmed by the immense pressure that Robby was putting on him, slipped up and made an error. As he reached out to block a punch, he exposed his side, and Robby didn't hesitate to bury a powerful roundhouse right to the kidney…

Miguel 0 - 1 Robby

Point Robby. The first blow in this gargantuan clash, and even though a few select members of the dojo (Robby's friends and girlfriend) cheered for him, he didn't even crack a smile. He was channeling all of the hurt, all of the pain he was feeling, into this fight, allowing the emotion to flow through him and provide him with extra incentive to win.

Meanwhile, Miguel inwardly groaned at the stab of pain he felt to the kidney where Robby had connected, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to return to the center of the deck for the fight to resume. He knew that Robby wasn't going easy. It didn't matter that their rivalry had been put to bed. It didn't matter that this was just friendly. It didn't matter about everything else that was going on with Robby. Robby was going to stop at nothing to win this fight, so Miguel knew that he needed to level up his game to match him.

So when the fight restarted, Miguel simply did not allow Robby to get on the offensive and hold him there like he did last round. One thing he had to credit Robby with was that the boy was quite a bit physically stronger than Miguel. Although Miguel was fully recovered from his injury, missing out on that time to improve physically while he was in recovery meant that Robby was now ahead of him in that regard. Every punch and kick Robby threw, even if it was blocked, sent ripples and shockwaves through Miguel. Chozen's training, hard as it was, had only made Robby stronger, so Miguel knew that he couldn't just stand around and eat up punches and kicks from his rival, as that was definitely not a sustainable strategy.

Instead, it was Miguel's turn to go on offensive. This was his specialty. This was his comfort zone. This was what he had spent so long with Johnny doing. Although that meant that he was putting Robby on defense, which was the brunette's specialty, Miguel was still able to break through with a combination, this time at least. A combination of ferocious head kicks were blocked by Robby, but they distracted him for long enough for Miguel to be able to sweep the back of his leg and send Robby crashing to the ground, a punch following up to Robby's chest to secure his equalizing point.

Miguel 1 - 1 Robby

1-1. Scores level once more, just like they had been for Sam and Tory. The grace period was over. The warming up was over. Both boys had spent a round getting accustomed to the other's fighting style once more, and now there were no excuses for either of them. Miguel decided to resort to the same strategy again, but this time, Robby was wise to it. As Miguel tried to sweep Robby, Robby almost punted Miguel's leg out the way in return, causing Miguel to be in quite possibly the worst position he could've been in: on one leg crouched downwards. A heel kick to the side of Miguel's head was all that was needed on the part of the two time All-Valley runner up, the only active student in the Valley who had been to more than 1 All-Valley final, to secure his point.

Miguel 1 - 2 Robby

Robby had not only sealed his point. He had absolutely obliterated it. There was nothing reserved or hesitated in that clobbering heel kick that connected with Miguel's jaw, and Miguel even ran his tongue around his teeth to make sure nothing was chipped. Although the kick had definitely dazed him, it hadn't done anything more than that. It hadn't seriously angered him, caused him to want retaliation in a similar fashion. After all, this was karate and not ballet. They weren't here to play games. These were the two best students in the dojo battling for bragging rights in what could be their final official fight against each other.

Tension was building like a crescendo, as the two fighters begin to circle one another for the fourth round of this fight. The ball was now completely in Robby's court, and they both knew it. He was on a match point, which meant that it was entirely up to Miguel to attack him, which meant that Miguel was forced to walk right into his Miyagi-Do speciality. However, Miguel forced himself to clench his jaw and charge right into those shark infested waters. He knew the risks of completely diving into his next attacks with Robby, as all it would take was a single blow for Robby to officially win the fight, but he also knew that he didn't have another option. It was now or never, and Miguel knew that he had to give it everything.

And it worked. Miguel relentlessly sending waves of assault Robby's way caused the boy's defense to slowly and methodically begin to break down. With every punch, Miguel could sense himself closer and closer to that elusive point, and sure enough, it wasn't long before he got it. It was Miguel's turn to unleash a brutal kick to Robby's face, this one a roundhouse that connected with Robby's cheek with a loud SLAP!

Miguel 2 - 2 Robby

Robby stumbled back from the sheer force of the kick, even dropping to one knee. The kick felt like a sledgehammer had clobbered him across the face, and he had to blink back the stars that he had begun seeing. Miguel, initially triumphant to have scored that point, felt his smile fade completely as he saw Robby rise to his feet, and Miguel noticed the facial expression on Robby's face.

Robby was in pain. Not physically, mind you, despite how powerful the kick might've been. In the heat of the moment of the fight, Robby did not have the energy to maintain the facade that he was emotionally okay, which meant that his facial expression betrayed the words that had previously been coming out of his mouth. Nobody noticed it though. Nobody but Miguel, who was the person standing closest to him.

And as the fight recommenced, this time for the final round in an epic winner-takes-all, try as he might, Miguel couldn't get that mental image of Robby's face out of his head. It had been only him who had noticed, and as they fought, as they stood face to face, it was like Miguel could stare right into his opponent's soul. It was like with every attack Robby ferociously threw at him and Miguel blocked, Miguel could feel the pain, the hurt, the heartbreak radiating from his opponent.

For this reason, Miguel couldn't concentrate. He just couldn't. He couldn't physically give this fight everything, involuntarily holding back. It just didn't feel right fighting anymore. And as soon as his mind flipped the switch in this way, he knew exactly what was going to happen before it even happened. He knew the caliber of his opponent, and how Robby would punish him if he hesitated and stopped fighting for even a second. In the blink of an eye, Miguel found himself on his back and his side aching from a powerful punch at the hands of his opponent, the final strike of the fight…

Miguel 2 - 3 Robby

As soon as Robby scored the point, a whirlwind of emotions ran through his head. He had done it! He had won! He had finally won the final of a tournament style fight! He felt Mr. Larusso and his dad raise his arm in victory, and he listened to the entire dojo chanting and cheering his name.

But despite all of this, Robby still didn't crack a smile. If anything, his frown had only gotten deeper. Because something wasn't right. He knew that from the second the final round of his fight with Miguel had started. This wasn't the same Miguel he had been fighting in the past 4 rounds. Something was different. He didn't know what, he didn't know why. But he instantly knew this for certain. Something wasn't right at all…