CHAPTER 58

That day marked a new major chapter beginning in the Valley's karate battle. Robby was with Kreese, Silver, Barnes, Tory, Hawk and Kyler in Cobra Kai. Miguel was with George, Sam, Johnny and Daniel in Miyagi-Do. The stage had been set for what would undeniably be the biggest All-Valley in the history of the tournament. And it was only the beginning of February. The tournament was a good 4 and a half months away. Anything could happen before then.

And sure enough, the unexpected did happen, several times over. Cobra Kai played the first move, inviting all of Robby's allies from juvie into the dojo, ten huge, monstrous, ruthless guys who would be targeting Miyagi-Do at any cost. Then to pile onto that, Silver had also been able to flash his bank account at West Valley and get Robby and Tory reinstated effective immediately. He had apparently been offering to sponsor a "Second Chances" initiative in their school, where the school would offer those who already did their sentence and were cleared by their counsellors to go back to high school, in hopes they would have a better life. Not that Silver cared about any of that stuff though. He did all this because he knew up until that point, Miyagi-Do were using the school as their "safe space". It was a place with rules, security, and even if a fight broke out, they would still have the upper hand. However, with that gone and Cobra Kai now outnumbering them for size, numbers and skills, Miyagi-Do were forced to be on edge at all times, and this definitely had a negative moral and physical effect on them.

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"Look at them all smug. Acting like they've already won the fight." Demetri grumbled as he set down his lunch tray in the cafeteria, glancing over at Robby, Hawk, Tory, Kyler and the rest of Cobra Kai, who were smirking triumphantly at the Miyagi-Do table on the other side of the dining hall.

"Well they're in for a real disappointment because no way are we letting them win the All-Valley." Sam growled, her eyes locked on Tory. She had been in shock and horror when she had heard that her arch nemesis was being reinstated into the Valley, her parents even more so. They had tried desperately to fight against the school reinstating her, but it was no use. Silver's donation had been so much there was absolutely no changing the school's mind. It was like talking to a wall. So instead, Sam was forced to be at immediate risk of being attacked at any time. She was helpless and she absolutely despised the feeling.

"Honestly, I don't even care about the All-Valley at this point. I just want to wipe the smirks off their faces."

"Yeah? Well what are you going to do about it then, Demetri?" George asked playfully as he and Miguel slammed their trays down next to the Miyagi-Dos and sat down. "You wanna go up to Robby and challenge him to a fight? Because I would honestly pay every cent in my bank account to see that."

"I… um… I…"

"Exactly. Can't be complaining if you can't be assed to do anything about it." George commented, taking a massive bite out of his burger. Demetri raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.

"You mean you're telling me Robby doesn't annoy you?" Demetri remarked. George shook his head.

"Oh, no. Dude pisses me off to no end, don't get me wrong." George admitted. "But unlike you, I'm actually going to do something about it."

"Oh, yeah? What are you going to do?" Demetri chuckled. George smirked.

"Glad you asked. Well, what WE'RE going to do, all of us, is we're going to attack them in half an hour." George stated. Everyone looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Bro, are you okay? Is your head okay? We can't fight them, remember? If we get caught fighting in school again, you all will probably be suspended and Sam and I will probably get kicked out as it's not our first offense." Miguel stated. "And besides, even if we were allowed to fight them, would we really want to? Unfortunately, they're better than us."

"Maybe if we were fighting on land. But what if we managed to level the playing field by moving the fight away from land and onto ice instead?"

"Huh?" Chris asked, confused. George sighed.

"Oh, my God. I can't believe you guys haven't caught on yet. I'm saying let's beat them up at a game of hockey. All of us at Miyagi-Do probably have better balance than most of Cobra Kai. The advantage would be with us."

"Well that's great, but how do you expect us to have a hockey battle with them? This isn't a hockey footloose." Sam remarked. George sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Sam, what class do we have next?" He asked, annoyed. Sam looked at her timetable.

"Phys Ed." She replied. George nodded.

"Yes. Phys Ed. Where our current sport unit is…"

Everyone's eyes widened in realisation as they understood what George was explaining.

"So you're saying in Phys Ed class, we're going to play a dirty game of Hockey?" Miguel asked. George nodded.

"Yeah, it's a great plan!" George exclaimed.

"I don't know. Kinda sounds like a incoming suspension to me, I mean what with us throwing fists at them in the middle of an ice rink." Demetri remarked. George rolled his eyes.

"Well that's why we're not exactly going to do that, Einstein." He shot back. "We're going to be discreet with our attacks. Nothing that can possibly be interpreted by the teachers as anything but accidents as part of the game. You know, a slightly too hard body check. A jab in the ribs with the tip of the stick as we're shoulder to shoulder with them. 'Trying to shoot', but accidentally whacking them with your stick instead. Get it?"

Everyone looked at George, slightly uneasy. This didn't sound that great a plan to be honest. So much could go so wrong so quickly. However, as Miguel glanced across the dining hall and saw Robby sitting there, absolutely carefree, feeling like he was unstoppable, Miguel scowled and then turned back to George.

"You know what? Fuck it, I'm in. Who else?"

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"You know, I'm still kind of not onboard with this plan." Demetri remarked as he laced up his skates before class that day. They all sat in the bleachers of the school ice rink, Cobra Kai sitting on the other side, and they prepared for the upcoming fight.

"Come on, this plan is foolproof. Name one thing wrong with this plan." George said. Demetri raised an eyebrow.

"Well, first off, half of us aren't even comfortable skating normally, let alone fighting on ice and even just playing hockey in general." Demetri stated. "Also Cobra Kai are bigger than us. For all we know, they have more skill than we do. They literally have metal blades on the ends of their feet so that could just go horribly wrong. Oh, and also…"

"Okay, I get it." George snapped with gritted teeth. "Look, I know this isn't anyone's first choice of a plan as none of you but Miguel and I are proper comfortable on skates. But I also know that all of you find Cobra Kai just as insufferable as I do. We need to shut them up, even if it's just temporarily. Because if we let them walk over us until the All-Valley… well, we probably won't even make it 'till then. So come on, let's do this!"

The group nodded and together, they stood up and made their way to the ice…

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P.E class started moments later, so Cobra Kai also made their way to the ice. The warmup was relatively uneventful. As everyone had to do 3 laps of skating around the rink, there was a lot of discreet pushing and shoving between Sam, Tory, Miguel, George, Hawk and Robby, but nothing more that suggested to Cobra Kai that Miyagi-Do were planning a bigger assault.

Finally, after what felt to the Miyagi-Dos like an interminably long wait, the P.E teacher shouted to them that they would be playing a match. After a quick last-second huddle for Miyagi-Do, they spread out across the ice and prepared for the fight. As they lined up for the face-off, each Miyagi-Do locked onto their target. George prepared to go after Hawk. Sam prepared to go after Tory. Demetri prepared to go after Kyler. Chris prepared to go after Rickenberger. And of course, Miguel prepared to make a beeline for Robby. It was in fact Miguel and Robby in charge of the opening faceoff, so the two stared daggers at each other through their helmets, only a couple of feet apart, itching desperately to lunge. Then, eventually, the teacher dropped the hockey puck and the game began…

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Almost as soon as the match started, the foul play did too. Robby won the faceoff, flicking the puck sideways to Hawk, but Hawk didn't have long to react before he saw an insane George come flying towards him and connecting in a vicious body check, sending Hawk clattering onto the ice. It was a clean hit in fairness, so there was nothing the teacher could do but let play go on. The puck was then passed back to Robby, who to his credit, was a lot better than they expected. Probably balancing on his skateboard, as well as his past Miyagi-Do training helped him. But he wasn't invincible. As he skated towards the goal, Chris 'tripped' over right in front of him and landed on his face. Robby didn't have enough time to stop, so he ended up hitting into Chris and Chris, taking out Robby's legs, watched as Robby was sent flying over him and crashing down.

Robby leapt to his feet with a snarl. He could see exactly what Miyagi-Do was doing, but there was little he could do to stop it. Though Cobra Kai fought back and the dirtiness of the game increased hundredfold as time went on, as Miyagi-Do had expected, their superior balance gave them the edge over Cobra Kai. Miguel and George were two whirlwinds, smashing into any Cobra Kai who dared to come near them. Sam sneakily used her stick to wrap around the ankle of Tory multiple times, causing Tory to fall flat on her face time and time again. Things heated up even more as both sides massively increased the amounts of grabs, hits, trips and just all-round dirty play. The teacher watched on nervously, getting more and more ready to call a halt to the game as he saw tempers flaring higher and higher. All that there needed to be was a move that was in no way whatsoever in accordance to hockey regulations. And sure enough, soon he got it…

Robby was fuming. He couldn't believe this was happening. They were being defeated by fucking Miyagi-Do and there was nothing he could do. His teammates were absolutely abysmal on skates and were being torn apart by Miguel and George. He was supposed to be their leader, but he felt more like a bystander as he watched his friends get clobbered over and over again by the Miyagi-Dos. Of course they wouldn't try and fight Cobra Kai on dry land. No, they were too pussy for that. They didn't have the sack to go into the fight because they knew that half of them would be leaving with their faces rearranged. As Robby turned and saw Miguel body checking Hawk into the wall, his anger flared. He knew that he was under thin ice with the school given Silver's questionable way of reinstating him, but he honestly couldn't care less. All that ran through his mind was destroying Miguel once and for all. Robby gathered all of his strength and channelled all of his rage, before skating for Miguel as fast as he could.

Miguel's back was to Robby so he couldn't see Robby at that time, which would play to the Cobra's advantage. Robby knew exactly what he was going to do, so he dropped his hockey stick onto the ice as he charged for his enemy. That was Robby's one mistake. The distinct sound caused Miguel to turn around and when he did, his eyes widened. Robby was mere feet away from him, and was starting to lift one foot off the ground. Miguel knew exactly what Robby was about to do, and it took every ounce of reflexes he had to duck out of the way in time. Robby, who had gone for a front kick with his razor-sharp skate, wasn't able to bring his foot back in time after Miguel had dodged, so his foot ended up hitting the glass barrier that surrounded the rink. Given the force Robby had been kicking with and the sharpness of the skate, Robby's foot went right through it and the glass smashed immediately.

Seeing this, the teacher immediately stopped the game and dragged Robby away from the rink and towards the principal's office. Game over.

Cobra Kai had lost, and they knew it.

"This isn't over." Tory growled at them as she slowly slinked towards the exit of the rink.

"Yeah, you'd better watch yourselves." Hawk snarled. Miyagi-Do merely smirked at them and waved cheerfully at them as the Cobra Kai's retreated and as soon as they left, immediately erupted in celebration.

"WE DID IT!" Miguel exclaimed as him and George embraced.

"Damn right we did." George grinned. "See, who's doubting my plans now?"

"I've got to take my hat off. That was indeed a great plan, George." Demetri admitted. The group all hugged each other in celebration. Miguel hugged George, Demetri, Chris, and then finally came over to Sam. The two of them, the two Miyagi-Do leaders, hugged each other tightly but as they did, Sam lost control of one of her feet on the ice and the two of them instantly fell. As they were still embracing, Sam ended up falling directly on top of Miguel, with Miguel on his back and Sam on her stomach, their faces mere inches apart. For a moment, for a brief moment, the two of them were taken back one year ago, when they started dating. They thought back to how simple things were back then. The karate war hadn't yet started. Their senseis hadn't found out about each other. It was just them. However, as quickly as the moment came, it passed.

"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry!" Sam exclaimed as she helped Miguel up. However, as they got to their feet, Sam's right foot slid out again and she nearly fell over again. Thankfully though, this time, Miguel was quick enough to balance himself and catch her, wrapping his arms around her waist to steady her. The two of them were once again mere inches apart and had another brief moment, before the two shook themselves off and rejoined their friends. It was all massive smiles all around the rink. Well, all but one person…

Standing in the corner of the rink, frowning deeply, was Emily…