CHAPTER 100

A/N

Wow. 100 chapters. I really can't believe it. It's been so much fun! Thank you so much to everyone who's been constantly supporting the story! It really means a lot to me! There's definitely big things to come for the rest of this story, so keep reading!

Gladiators. That's what Robby and Marcos were right now. As they circled one another like lions, they could feel the loud, impenetrable buzz and hum coming from everyone forming the ring around them. They weren't in the canyon: they were instead in the colosseum, about to rip each other apart for the entertainment of a live audience. The two boys didn't pay attention to anyone though. Their surroundings diminished to nothingness as they locked onto one another, gearing up for the biggest fight of their lives.

As probably every single person in the Valley could've predicted, it was Marcos who struck first. The Cobra made use of his height and reach advantage to lunge at Robby with a combination of kicks. After all of his years in Brazil doing Capoeira, as well as now half a year in the Valley doing Karate, striking had overtaken grappling as his specialty, something Sarah had been sure to tell Robby. She informed Robby that Marcos was now more comfortable keeping distance and using longer-range attacks than he was grappling, which is why Robby didn't allow him to get far enough to exercise that advantage. As Marcos' leg was in the air, Robby ducked the kick before moving in so the two were in much closer range, and he then roughly shoulder checked Marcos to the ground.

First blood went to Robby, as Marcos went tumbling to the ground in a heap, landing relatively harmlessly on his back but still stunning him for a moment. However, the Cobra managed to slither away from Robby before his opponent could lay upon him another strike, rolling to his feet and staring at Robby, taken aback. That was good, very good, from the Miyagi-Do student. Lightning fast-reflexes from the boy. Well, either that or he already knew what Marcos was going to do before he even did it. Marcos assumed it was the former, and the Miyagi-Do had simply upped his game since the last time they had come to blows.

However, Marcos wasn't going to let that deter him. The next combination, Robby had less luck defending. Partially because Marcos' next combination was erratic and unorthodox, fueled by his emotions, not fighting in the way he normally fought, the way Sarah had taught Robby. Though Robby managed to block the initial roundhouse attempt at his head, Marcos then twisted his hip sideways and extended his already raised leg, landing a side kick right to Robby's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him for a moment and causing him to stumble backwards.

It wasn't the type of blow that could knock down an opponent, but it was strong enough to render Robby distracted for a few moments. In that time, Marcos managed to charge at him with a big left hand, an uppercut that knocked Robby to the ground. Round 2 of the fight went to Marcos, as Robby lay on the ground for a moment, catching his breath and looking up at him.

But Marcos wasn't done yet. He cautiously approached Robby as the teenager remained on the ground, ready to capitalize on this opportunity and strike his knocked down opponent. However, this was the moment where Robby decided to bust out his first major Miyagi-Do move that Chozen had taught him. Laying on the ground with Marcos standing directly over him, Robby was hardly in the most ideal position. He didn't let that affect him though. Chozen had taught him how to get out of this very position.

Rather than using his two arms to defend his head and chest from attacks, Robby moved them aside to wrap around both of Marcos' ankles, gripping them like a vice. Marcos' legs were on either side of Robby, so what Robby did next was send one kick directly upwards at Marcos, not fully connecting but still distracting Marcos for a moment, before sliding directly between Marcos' legs and pulling with his arms, causing Marcos to get tripped over and fall flat on his face.

Marcos hadn't seen the move coming at all. How could he have? It wasn't anything he'd learned before in Cobra Kai, and he hadn't learned it during his 2 weeks in Miyagi-Do either. As it turned out, whatever he had learned in two weeks in Okinawa was only the tip of the iceberg. There were dozens of other techniques and tricks Chozen had taught his students that Marcos didn't know.

Marcos wasn't going to let that fact scare him though. He knew that as many tricks as Robby had up his sleeve, Marcos had up his own. So as he scrambled to his feet, he faced Robby once more, spitting out dirt that had gotten into his mouth when he had hit the ground, clenching his jaw and readying himself for another round. It was time to stop fighting like a Cobra, but instead like Marcos Oliviera. His own style. There was no way Robby would be able to predict those moves, right?

That was yet another thing Marcos was found to be mistaken about. For when he threw a unique combination of punches and kicks at Robby, the Miyagi-Do somehow managed to block every single one of them.

"He favors his left." Sarah told Robby as they stood face to face in the Miyagi-Do dojo. "He's left handed and broke his right arm a couple of times as a kid, so he isn't as comfortable using that hand. If you can prevent him from using his left as much as you can, you'll prevent him from truly being able to do damage."

Channeling these words, Robby braced himself for another onslaught of strikes, purposefully positioning himself ever-so-slightly to Marcos' right, so the Cobra was limited with the number of left-handed strikes he could use. This meant that Marcos was forced onto his weaker side as he threw right-handed punches and kicks, and sure enough, Robby was able to capitalize on his opponent's disadvantage.

"He's going to approach you with as many kicks as he can. You're a lot shorter than him and he knows that, so he's going to be looking to exploit his reach advantage." Sarah stated. Robby nodded.

"I know. So, what, you want me to stay close to him? Avoid being too far from him?" Robby asked. Sarah shook his head.

"Marcos is a smart guy. He'll know that's what you're going to try to do and I guarantee he'll have already planned ways of countering. You need to be unexpected, do the opposite. Play with the distance. Lull him into thinking he's got you right where he wants you, and then this is what you're going to do next…"

Taking half a step back, Robby moved himself so that Marcos was just out his range, but he was still very much in Marcos' own range, the Cobra possessing longer arms and legs. It was a weird move, especially from Marcos' perspective, knowing the reach advantage he had over Robby, so he suspected that Robby was tiring and had stepped back to get a bit of a break. It was a blessing in disguise for the Cobra, so he lunged to take advantage, trying to reach Robby with a powerful combination of roundhouse kicks and front kicks. Little did he realize that Robby was more than ready for any of his kicks, managing to catch the third kick Marcos threw - a roundhouse to the head - and then moving in to sweep Marcos.

This landing was even more rough than the last one for Marcos. He hit the ground with an echoing thud, the back of his head clattering against the sand. For a moment, Marcos was seriously dazed, rolling on his stomach and spitting out blood that had appeared in his mouth. He could feel his head throbbing in pain but he forced himself to ignore it for now.

Now back on his feet, Robby could tell that he had his opponent on the ropes. Marcos seemingly unsteady on his feet, clearly landing on his head hurting more than he was letting on, and so Robby was eager to finish the fight. Victory was so close, he could almost taste it. The seemingly insurmountable obstacle of Marcos Oliveira had been rendered a barely standing, bleeding heap, and it would only take one more strike to knock him out now.

Robby had his final move in mind, another one of Chozen's Miyagi-Do moves that he had taught him, and he prepared to do it, prepared to finish this fight once and for all. As Marcos threw a sloppy right hand punch, his sense of balance still a little off after the hit he had taken, Robby caught the punch out of the air, preparing to use it to flip Marcos to the ground. Unfortunately, Marcos had other ideas.

As Robby went for the move, Marcos recognized it instantly. It was one of the most basic and standard Miyagi-Do takedowns, one of the first things Sato had taught them. For this reason, Marcos knew exactly how to defend it, launching himself into the air, using the fact that Robby was grabbing him and had him in close contact to scissor sweep him to the ground.

It was Robby's turn to go down hard, smacking not his head but his ribs against the ground, almost feeling a crack as they broke. For a moment, a blinding pain seared through his side, but it was only the thought of what Marcos had planned if he beat him that dragged Robby to his feet. He couldn't stop. He couldn't let Marcos win, or who knew which Miyagi-Do the boy would go after next.

"Shit. He's hurt." Tory murmured to Miguel beside her, who nodded, spotting the grimacing and wincing Robby was doing, one hand clutching his side as he forced himself upright.

As both boys took to their feet once more, it was clear that some serious damage had been done to both of them. They were both on the brink of collapse, only their minds pushing them on as their bodies screamed in protest. Blood trickled from a cut on Marcos' cheek, and more of the crimson liquid dripped from a gash under Robby's eyes. Battle scars were beginning to appear on both warriors' bodies, even more so as the next phase of the fight began.

What occurred next, you could only call an all-out slug-fest. It was all too reminiscent of scrapping Silverbacks at the zoo, rather than two highly trained Martial Artists. THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! The pair exchanged punch after punch, each one brutally connecting to the other boy's face, and after each one they staggered backwards or fell to their knees. Physically inferior to the Cobra, this definitely wasn't where Robby wanted to be right now, as each exchange of punches did more damage to him than Marcos, even if both of them had been dropped to their knees a few times. However, there weren't many other places for Robby to go, as he was so exhausted and in pain that he could barely think. He was stuck eating blow after blow at the hands of the Cobra, until a vicious hook punch knocked him to the ground.

Robby was down once more, but Marcos hadn't the energy to limp over to him and finish the fight. It allowed Robby a few moments to channel any iota of energy he had left in the tank to drag himself back up. He knew he couldn't take much more of this before the Cobra Kai eventually exhausted his defenses and defeated him, so Robby knew that it was time for a hail mary.

One final blow. That's all Robby had left in the tank. He had scrambled enough energy together for a final attack on the Cobra, and that's probably all he had left. So Robby knew that he needed to be perfect. He needed a move that Marcos couldn't have possibly seen coming, but knew that he didn't have the energy for anything too elaborate. Which is why Robby decided to stick to his Miyagi-Do fundamentals, the moves that he knew back to front, as he knew that they'd provide him with the opening he desperately needed to finish the fight.

When Marcos attacked him once more, barely on his feet himself either, this time Robby was ready. He used the most basic of Miyagi-Do blocks to deflect Marcos' attacks, and after each one, threw a counter punch of his own. There was nothing Marcos could do. Even with the 2 weeks of Miyagi-Do knowledge he had, even with the 10 years of Martial Arts experience as a whole, when it came to trying to break through the very fundamental blocks of Miyagi-Do, the bread and butter of the style, it was nearly impossible.

It wasn't like Robby was using something flashy or prone to error. He used the easiest blocks, his arms remaining close to his body the entire time, as he blocked and counter-striked. Blocked and counter-striked. Blocked and counter-striked. With each one, he could tell Marcos was getting weaker and weaker, closer and closer to the end. The Cobra was well and truly on the ropes, and it would probably only take one more blow to take him out. Victory was Robby's. There was no doubt about it.

But that's where everything went horribly wrong, horribly quickly. In his state of exhaustion, Robby allowed his mind to flit for just a split second to the end of the fight, rather than concentrating on the matter at hand, and it cost him dearly. Robby made a rare, rare error, especially by his standards. When Marcos came to throw a punch, as Robby blocked it, the punching arm slipped out of Robby's grasp. He missed the block and allowed a brutally powerful jab to hammer him square in the fast, and a trailing reverse punch was enough to knock Robby down and out.

Game over. The fight was Marcos'. Robby lay on a heap on the ground, barely breathing and only semi-conscious as blood dripped from various cuts and gashes on his face. Marcos fell to his knees for a moment, the adrenaline starting to fade ever so slightly and increasing the excruciating pain at the back of his head a hundred fold. However, he didn't allow himself to collapse onto the sand beside Robby. In his eyes, despite the fact that Robby hadn't moved a muscle from his spot laying flat on the ground, the fight wasn't over yet…

Murmurs of concern for Robby began to rise amongst the Miyagi-Dos, all of them forced to hold position in the ring-shape, knowing that as soon as one of them stepped out of line, all of Cobra Kai would be on them in a flash and this 1 on 1 fight would escalate to an all-out brawl. This meant that there was nothing they could do but listen to the sickening THUD echo through the air as Robby fell to the ground, and then watch as Marcos initially dropped to his knees, but then slowly rose once more, beginning to approach Robby again.

Their hearts stopped. They knew whatever Marcos was about to do, it wasn't good. He was going to seriously harm Robby or worse, even more than he already had. As Tory was forced to look on, her heart pounding and her mouth shouting to Robby in alarm to get up, she had to push down any instinct that told her to break formation in the circle and charge at Marcos right now. Get between him and Robby at all costs.

Cobra Kai watched her carefully, knowing that of all people she was probably the one most likely to step in and attack, though every single Miyagi-Do wore expressions of horror. They were torn, not knowing what to do. Every fiber of their being wanted to lunge at Marcos and stop him, but they were all painfully aware that doing that would only escalate things into an all-out brawl, during which even more of them could be rendered injured or worse.

However, there came a moment when Tory could no longer stand still. She watched as Marcos slowly reached down and grabbed Robby by the scruff of his now bloody t-shirt, and pulled him upright. Expecting the worst, painfully aware of the threats that Marcos had made to Robby's life that morning at school, Tory finally broke formation and ran towards them, not seeing what actually happened next.

Rather than punching Robby or harming him in some way, all Marcos did was hold out a hand for Robby to shake. A simple gesture of respect to the worthy opponent, who had just given him by far and away the hardest fight of his life. Being beaten up by Robby throughout the fight had knocked some sense back into Marcos, oddly knocking some humanity back into him in the process. He no longer wanted to harm Robby again, no longer wanted to harm a single member of the Miyagi-Do dojo. He regretted all of it with a remorse that stung almost as bad as his physical injuries.

However, before Robby could shake Marcos' outstretched hand, new-found respect for one another in the eyes of both fighters, a clobbering blow smacked against the back of Marcos' head, a hammer fist coming from someone unknown behind him, knocking him face-first onto the ground…