As the Sekai Taikai approached, the Cobra Kai students bothered their opponents from the Karate Kids less, Piper, Kyler and even Yoon and Min just avoided their enemies, just like all the Cobra Kai students... Well, all but one, Kenny Payne.
As we all know, Kenny was bullied by Anthony for a whole year, in every way possible, and now that he knew karate, all he wanted was revenge, the difference being, unlike Kyler, Kenny wasn't stupid, so he only bullied Anthony when none of the other Karate Kids students were around, so Anthony had no one to stand up for him.
One day, Kenny put nutella on Anthony's chair before he sat down, so when he got up Kenny yelled:
Kenny: Hey guys, looks like somebody shit their pants!
Everyone in the class burst out laughing, including Anthony's former "friends", and that was just the beginning, sometimes he would do things like steal Anthony's backpack just to destroy his homework causing him get in trouble with the teachers, plus the classics like knocking over his tray and pushing him down the stairs, and of course, at least once a week, Kenny insisted on giving Anthony one hell of a beating.
Even though Anthony was learning karate, he didn't want to get into a fight with Kenny, not only because he didn't have confidence that he could win, but also because he still felt guilty for what he did to Kenny the year before, he already tried to apologize several times, but Kenny never accepted.
One day, after gym class, they were in the locker room, when Kenny walked up to Anthony.
Kenny: Hey Lapusso, guess what day it is?
Anthony knew exactly what Kenny meant by that, every time he asked that question, regardless of what Anthony answered, he ended up getting his ass kicked, so he tried one last time, to make peace with his rival.
Anthony: Dude, please, this has to stop one day, I did stupid things, you did stupid things, can't we call ourselves even and settle this at the tournament?
Kenny: Good point, I guess we could but... I'm having so much fun, I promised you a world of pain and I won't break my promise.
It was then that Anthony saw that any attempt to make peace with Kenny would be futile, so he had only one alternative, to use what he learned.
Anthony: Okay fine, you're not the only one who knows karate around here, I've learned a few things since the fight at the dojo.
Kenny (laughing mockingly): Okay, let's see how much you've learned.
Kenny tried to hit Anthony with a punch, but Anthony blocked the attack, he then pushed Kenny away and attacked him with a kick, Kenny got up and tried to hit Anthony with some punches, but Anthony blocked his attacks, he then tried to hit Kenny with a punch, but Kenny blocked the attack and knocked Anthony to the ground, Kenny then tried to hit Anthony with a kick, but Anthony grabbed his leg, and hit him with a kick, Kenny was on the ground, Anthony couldn't believe it, he had won!
Anthony was leaving the locker room, however, before that he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned to see who it was, then Kenny hit him with the Silver Bullet, which knocked Anthony out immediately.
Seeing that his enemy was on the ground, Kenny took Anthony to his locker and locked him there, Anthony tried to call for help, but it seemed that there was no one around, fortunately, after a few hours, he heard a familiar voice in the hallway.
Anthony: Robby? Robby, is that you? I'm locked here, help me!
Robby heard Anthony's voice, and immediately realized that he was trapped in the locker.
Robby: Anthony? Don't worry, I'll get you out of there.
Luckily for Anthony, Robby knew how to pick locks, after all before they met, Robby had done it several times before, otherwise he would have been locked there all night, Robby then took Anthony home and he ended up having dinner with the Larusso, and that night, Anthony told them what had happened.
Anthony: That guy has been attacking me since the summer, I tried apologizing to him but it just made him angrier.
Robby: Anthony, once again I'm so sorry.
Anthony: Don't worry, I'm not mad at you.
Robby: Well, you should, I trained that kid, it was thanks to me that he came to Cobra Kai.
Anthony: Yeah, but I also know you did what you could to get him out, but he chose to stay at Cobra Kai, with his brother, plus you got me out of that locker so...
Samantha: But Anthony, you know karate too, why didn't you defend yourself?
Anthony: I tried, actually I was getting the upper hand on him, but then he punched me in the chest, and suddenly I couldn't breathe, when I opened my eyes I was locked in his locker.
Tory: It's the Silver Bullet, I heard Kenny and Silver talking about it at the dojo.
Robby: I know, he used that technique against me too, but I don't know if there's a way to defend.
Chozen: Well, you know what Miyagi-San always said, sometimes the best defense is "no be there".
Samantha: Anthony, you're suffering too much with this guy, you need to let me help you.
Anthony: Look, I know your intentions are the best, but I think asking my sister to defend me from a bully is not the best idea...
Amanda: No, no fighting, you will settle things with Cobra Kai at the tournament, let me take care of this kid, I'll talk to the principal.
Robby: Mrs. Larusso, I think this is not a good idea.
Tory: I agree with Robby, we've both been at Cobra Kai long enough to understand that talking to the principal would only make things worse, I think Samantha is right, they have to settle this in a fight.
Despite what his friends said, Anthony wasn't willing to get in another fight with Kenny, even though he knew that if he didn't do anything the bullying would continue, Samantha on the other hand, wanted to do something for her brother, but she also knew that if she went behind his back it would only make things worse, so later that night she went to his room.
Samantha: Can we talk?
Anthony: Look, if you want to talk about what happened today, don't waste your time, this is something I have to solve myself.
Samantha: Anthony, I'm your sister, I just want what's best for you, but I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on, I guarantee if you tell me you'll feel a lot better.
Anthony: Okay... You know what happened between me and Kenny before I joined the dojo, I thought that with Silver's defeat it would all end, but I was wrong, since school started he's been bullying me every day, and at least once a week he beats me up, I never told anyone because, he said that if I did it would be worse, not to mention that... I think I'm getting what I deserve, I made his life hell last year, for no reason at all... Deep down, him and I are not so different.
Samantha: Anthony, you made mistakes, but that's normal, everyone makes mistakes, when I was younger I did so many stupid things that you can't even imagine.
Anthony: Like, dating Kyler?
Samantha: Yeah, like that, but I also ditched my best friend just to become popular, I saw her being bullied and I didn't do anything, but I own up to my mistake, and apologized for what I did, just like you, that is the difference between us and them, if you want this to stop, first you have to stop blaming yourself for what happened.
Upon hearing what Samantha said, Anthony realized that she was right, he wasn't like Kenny, no matter how many stupid things he did, he regretted it and apologized, Kenny just insisted on his mistakes even more, he couldn't keep blaming yourself for the things he did, the mistakes made in the past stay in the past.
Anthony: You're right, thanks.
He then got up from the bed and hugged his sister, but without them noticing, Daniel was watching, he was very happy to see that.
Samantha: Don't worry, tomorrow we'll settle this, together.
The next day, Samantha and Anthony were at school, and soon they saw Kenny talking to Kyler and other Cobra Kai guys, Samantha wasn't afraid, she knew they wouldn't be dumb enough to attack her at that moment, and even if they did... It was nothing she couldn't handle.
Kenny: Yeah you should have seen it, I locked him in the closet and he screamed like a baby, it was hilarious.
Suddenly, Kenny felt a tap on his shoulder, he looked back and saw that it was Samantha.
Samantha: I heard you've been bullying my brother, stop that right now.
Kyler: Oh come on man, Are you really gonna take this, from HER?
Kenny (to Samantha): That's none of your business.
Samantha: Oh, now it is my business, I will not tolerate this.
Kenny: Oh, get the hell out of here.
He tries to hit her with a punch, but she blocks it like it's nothing, Kenny tries to attack again, but Samantha keeps blocking his attacks effortlessly, he then tries to hit her with a kick, but she dodges and he ends up hitting the locker.
Samantha: I think you get the message, stay the hell away from Anthony.
Before Kenny could respond, someone else appeared, it was his brother, Shawn Payne.
Shawn: What's up? You think you can talk to my brother like that? You better watch out, a fragile little girl like you could end up getting hurt.
Kenny: Ha, it's my brother, now you're in trouble.
Samantha: I'm not afraid of you, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Shawn: Oh, she's full of herself, bring it on then, I'll give you a free shot before I destroy you two.
Samantha: You really want to fight here so the four of us are expelled and you go back to juvie? This fight is between the two of them, they have to settle this.
Anthony: Exactly, Kenny, you and me, at Balboa Park tomorrow at 6 pm, just the two of us.
Kenny (shaking Anthony's hand): I accept, let's end this thing once and for all.
That afternoon, during training, Samantha was giving her brother a lot of attention, helping him prepare for the impending fight, she would tell him the name of a move, and he would demonstrate that move, and he was doing great, from simple front kicks, to complicated moves like the Flying tornado kick.
Samantha: Great, now let's test what you've learned in a real fight...
They go to the sparring deck, and face each other.
Samantha: Okay, are you ready? Let's go then, bow, and... FIGHT!
Samantha attacks Anthony, but he blocks the attack, she tries to attack a few more times, but Anthony dodged, after that he tried to hit her with a kick, but Samantha grabbed his leg, she threw Anthony on the ground, but when she was about to hit him he rolled to the side, Anthony then tripped her, and hit her with a punch while she was on the ground.
Samantha: Excellent, you've improved a lot in such a short time.
Anthony: Well what can I say? I'm a Larusso.
Samantha: But don't overdo it, you have to be ready for tomorrow.
Anthony: Yeah, I know, but you think Kenny will respect our deal and show up alone?
Samantha: I don't know, just in case, we better have a plan B.
Anthony: Wait a minute, so you're thinking about... No, Samantha, this isn't your fight.
Samantha: I told you we'd solve this together, and that's exactly what we're gonna do.
Anthony: Thanks...
The other day, just as agreed, Anthony showed up at Balboa Park at 6 pm, and at that exact moment, Kenny showed up too, however, a few seconds later, Shawn came out from behind a tree.
Anthony: Hey, we agreed that it would be just the two of us.
Kenny: Haha, you fell for my trap!
Kenny was laughing in the way that made a fool out of his rival, but suddenly they heard another voice.
Samantha (coming out from behind another tree): Did he?
Shawn: You won round one, but let's see how you handle round two!
Kenny runs towards Anthony to attack him, but Samantha grabs his arm and throws him away, Anthony then goes to Kenny and tries to hit him with some punches, but Kenny blocked the attacks, meanwhile, Shawn tried to grab Samantha, but she was too fast and managed to dodge it, she then tripped Shawn, knocking him down.
Anthony was in trouble, Kenny attacked fiercely, so Samantha went there to help her brother, but as soon as she got close to them, Anthony dodged Kenny's attack and hit him with a kick, at this moment, Shawn gets up and tries to hit Samantha, he knew she was the better fighter between the two, so they had to take her out as soon as possible, so he went towards her and tried to hit her with a kick, but Samantha dodged the attack and hit him with a kick, Shawn was still standing, and went towards the girl again, trying to hit her with several punches, but Samantha blocked all his attacks, and while he was busy, Anthony attacked Shawn from behind, Kenny then attacked him, but Anthony dodged the attack and caused him to hit a tree.
Kenny didn't give up, and hit Anthony with a kick, but then, Samantha did the same thing to him, however, as she had her back turned, Shawn tried to hit her with a kick, luckily she noticed, and dodged the attack by inches, but then she saw that Kenny had gotten up, and hit Anthony with the Silver Bullet.
Seeing that things were complicated, Samantha went to see her brother to see how he was doing, and Kenny also went to help his brother.
Samantha: Anthony, Anthony are you okay?
Anthony (after taking a breath): I'm fine, I just lost my breath, but I don't think I can take another move like that.
Samantha: There's gotta be some way to defend, THERE'S GOTTA BE...
It was then that Chozen's words came back to Anthony, and he had an idea.
Chozen (in Anthony's head): Sometimes, the best defense is "no be there".
Anthony: That's it, that's what he meant, I finally understand what Chozen was trying to tell us, Samantha, I have a plan.
He whispers something in her ear, and some time later, Anthony, Kenny and Shawn are back in the fight, but... Where's Samantha?
Shawn: Looks like your tough sister ran away.
Kenny: Now we'll finish him off.
Anthony: You'll have to catch me first.
Anthony tries to dodge the attacks of his opponents, but after a few seconds dodging, Kenny and Shawn cornered him, Shawn grabbed him from behind, and Kenny was about to hit him with another Silver Bullet, but then, Anthony stomped on Shawn's foot with all his strength, causing Shawn to let go of him, and at the exact moment that Kenny was going to hit him, he dodged, causing Kenny to hit Shawn.
Shawn fell to the ground, as big and strong as he was, the power of the Silver Bullet was too much even for him, before Kenny could process what happened, Samantha came out of hiding and hit him with a kick in the face.
After winning the fight, they were returning home, and halfway through they were talking.
Samantha: Are you okay?
Anthony: I've been through worse, what about you?
Samantha: Not even a scratch.
Anthony: That's good, You think our parents are worried about us?
Samantha: Don't worry about it, I've got you covered.
Samantha and Anthony returned home, both were happy, not only for the victory, but also because despite everything, this dojo war is strengthening their bond, I mean, before that they just ignored each other, or sometimes Anthony teased Samantha, but now they are training together, and they even won a fight together.
The other day, at the Cobra Kai dojo, Shawn, and especially Kenny were angry for yesterday's defeat against the Larusso, even sensei Kim was surprised, she had never seen Kenny so angry.
Kim: Mr. Payne, what happened? And what are these bruises?
Kenny: It was a fight, we lost.
Kim: And what do you do when you are defeated? You strike back, stronger than before, defeat does not exist in this dojo, just use that as fuel to come back stronger than before, understand?
Kenny: Yes sensei.
After training, Kyler and the others also heard of Kenny and Shawn's defeat, and they weren't happy.
Kyler: They can't get away with this.
Yoon: And they won't, they'll get what they deserve, just before the tournament.
Min: We have a plan, but first, we'll have to attack them at a time when all the students are together.
Piper: I think I know when...
We can see that the defeat in the sibling showdown served only to make the students of Cobra Kai even angrier, they sure are planning something big for before the Sekai Taikai, what could it be? How do you think Robby will react upon hearing about the fight between Kenny and Anthony? Is there still hope for Kenny? What do you think will happen? Find out IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.