CHAPTER 110
Just like that, Marcos was gone. He had officially left the Valley and returned to Brazil, closing the door to that entire chapter of his life, leaving the rest of the Valley to deal with the bombshell that had been his departure. Even those who hadn't been close with him at all, even his opponents and enemies, had been hit hard by what had happened.
The Miyagi-Dos were still banned from competing in the Taikai by their senseis, but right now, that was the last thing on their minds. Marcos leaving had pulled all of Miyagi-Do into deep reflection, and had immediately quelled what had seemed to be the beginning of another civil war within the dojo, as they had been split into two sides, arguing about whose fault the brawl at the canyon had been. All of that seemed like so long ago now, as they had all been shaken to their cores by the story he had told them about everything that had happened to him in the past month. It completely changed their perspectives on their own issues: they realized just how lucky they were to have each other, even in the midst of all of their arguments. They realized that you never knew what was truly going on in someone's life, so they made the extra effort to check in with each other, make sure everything was okay with every single member of Miyagi-Do, not wanting any massive issues to slip through the cracks. The fact that a family member - someone supposedly closest to you - could do such horrible things to Marcos made them all the more grateful to have each other.
With this being the massive reaction coming from people who weren't close to Marcos at all, it paled in comparison to the reaction of those close to him. Sarah had been wrecked by the sudden deportation. To have the person she loved most ripped away in what felt like the blink of an eye, for reasons out of his control, and now probably never going to see him again… for a few days, Sarah hadn't even left her room. But when she did, it was clear that she wasn't over Marcos leaving. She probably never would be. Marcos had changed her life, most certainly for the better, but now that he was gone, she could feel herself beginning to become the person she had been before his arrival. She had transferred out of West Valley and back to her old school, re-immersing himself with her old life, rebecoming the person she didn't want to be, and she felt alone more than ever.
However, as shaken as the Valley had been by his departure, time relentlessly marched on. Soon, inevitably, attention began to shift away from Marcos and back to their respective lives. School went on as normal. Training went on as normal. Everyone's lives returned to normal, just with one less person in them. At least, most people's had.
Even two weeks after Marcos' deportation, Robby was still… different. He was quieter. More serious. Before, once in a while he might exchange a joke with his friends during training, but now he hardly said a word. All he focused on was schoolwork and Karate, schoolwork and Karate. He didn't really spend any time with his friends or family, as any moment that he wasn't at school, he was training extra at the dojo. He was working himself to the bone, something that was beginning to worry the Miyagi-Dos.
One afternoon, in the first week of February, as Robby stayed later in the dojo after class to train alone, Johnny decided to stay with him. He was getting more and more worried about his son, as ever since that day when Marcos had come by the dojo, Robby just hadn't been the same. Sure enough, watching the way that Robby brutally attacked the hanging punching bag was enough to cause a lot of worry for Johnny. With Carmen's pregnancy due date just around the corner, he had probably been spending less time with his son than he should've, so he wasn't quite sure what Robby's sudden change was about. He was desperate to find out though.
"Look, if you think that just training harder is going to get you back onto the Taikai team, you're wrong and you're going about this all the wrong way." Johnny replied, hazarding his first guess as to what this was about. He was mistaken, demonstrated by the fact that Robby didn't even acknowledge him, continuing to attack the punching bag with ferocious momentum.
Johnny sighed and nodded.
"Okay. Is this about Marcos leaving?" Johnny asked. Robby slowly brought himself to a halt and glanced at his dad, beads of sweat dripping from the teenager's forehead. He looked down, unable to meet Johnny's gaze, before he eventually shook his head.
"It's not about him leaving. It's about what happened the night before he left." Robby grunted. "I lost to him again. That night at the canyon, he beat me fairly. Cleanly. No two ways about it. And I know that thinking about it is probably really selfish and self-centered given everything he was going through and everything that happened to him right after, but I just can't stop thinking about it."
"Robby, from what I heard, you gave him a proper fight. You can't be disappointed with that." Johnny said. Robby shook his head.
"I can! He was better than me. He is better than me. I know it sounds bad to care about this so much given everything, but I'm just so tired of losing!" Robby snapped.
"Robby, we all lose sometimes." Johnny tried to reassure him. Robby laughed mirthlessly and raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Because last I checked, Miguel has an All-Valley. Hawk has an All-Valley. Tory has an All-Valley. And what do I have? Nothing."
Robby knew how trivial this all probably sounds. Quite frankly, to his ears, he sounded like a child. He sounded like a whiny little kid with no sense of what was and wasn't significant in the world. But it was just something that on top of everything else, he couldn't seem to shake off, no matter how hard he tried.
"And now, if, if, I manage to somehow win the Taikai, it won't be because I was the best. It'll be because Marcos wasn't there." Robby continued. Johnny sighed.
"It's not your fault what happened, Robby. There really wasn't anything anyone could've done." Johnny replied. "And as for losing the fight, you really think I've never felt like that before?"
"You won the All-Valley. Twice." Robby shot back. Johnny nodded.
"And what happened after? I lost. And I proceeded to lose at literally everything I did for the next 35 years. You don't think I hated that? You don't think I fucking hated that? Seeing everyone around me winning at everything they tried, while I was stuck in the same place getting kicked around by the world 24/7." Johnny remarked.
"Yeah, well then you know how I feel." Robby replied. "I'm so tired of working my ass off every day, only to fall short and lose every single time. What's the point anymore? When's it finally going to be my turn to win?"
"Well… it won't ever be your turn if you keep thinking about it like that." Johnny responded. "You aren't owed a win, Robby. By anyone. Doesn't matter the fact that Diaz has won. Doesn't matter the fact that Moskowitz has won. Doesn't matter the fact that Marcos isn't fighting anymore. That still doesn't mean you're owed a win. If you want to win, it's going to have to be on your own merit."
"Yeah, well if there's anything that the past two years of Karate has shown me, it's that my merit just isn't good enough." Robby stated. Johnny shrugged.
"Cry me a river." Johnny responded. "You keep thinking like that, you're not going to get anywhere. Why do you think fighters like Miguel, fighters like Hawk, fighters like Marcos are so good?"
"Don't know. Why?" Robby asked.
"Because they believe themselves to be champions." Johnny replied. "You're all so similarly matched when it comes to physical skill level. Any kind of margin between you is going to be all about mentality. They have so much confidence going into any fight, almost feeling like they know they're going to win, they know they're good enough to win. Because if you go thinking anything but that, you're going to get your ass kicked every single time. I guarantee it."
Robby slowly nodded, understanding what Johnny was telling him.
"The way you've got to think about it, is that it doesn't matter who's going to be fighting at the Taikai. Because chances are there are going to be people there who have been training a lot longer than you. You've got to believe that you belong there, among the champions, or you might as well be kept off the Taikai team permanently and we take Devon instead because there's really no point in you coming. Is that clear?"
"Yeah." Robby murmured, looking down. Johnny sighed, softening his tone a little.
"Look, I know it's not easy. I know some days, it might feel like you just want to give up. But those days are the ones during which you need to push the hardest. I read a quote the other day by a wise person: they said 'it's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."
Robby couldn't help but laugh at this, recognizing the line instantly, just like Sam had during her conversation with her father.
"You're not fooling anyone. I know that line's from Creed." Robby responded. Johnny shrugged.
"Still a badass line. And it's true too. Whenever you get hit so hard you want to quit, those are the days that you learn the most, those are the days you need to push the hardest through. Do that, and there's no reason why it won't be you lifting the Taikai in June…"
