CHAPTER 12

Daniel stared hard at Kreese for a few moments, before shaking his head.

"No." He eventually replied. Kreese was temporarily taken aback.

"No?" Kreese echoed in surprise.

"You might be back, Kreese, but that doesn't mean history is going to repeat. I'm not going to allow history to repeat. And the way to do that is that we're not going to stoop to your level." Daniel insisted, before turning to address all of Cobra Kai. "Look, I don't know what he's offered you to go back to Cobra Kai. But I want you to all know that if any of you ever have second thoughts about that decision, if you want to get out of Cobra Kai before it's too late, you have a place here."

As Daniel began to turn away from him and walk back to his students, Kreese chuckled, not at all offended but the not so subtle insults, or the blatant attempt to poach his students. The mission had been successful: he had definitely rattled Daniel and Johnny. He just needed to push them a little further, make them even more desperate, so they'd play right into his hands.

"Okay, you want some more incentive? That's fine." Kreese said. "Same challenge. One of your students against one of ours, first to 3 points. But if you win, I assure you that my students will not lay a finger on any of yours between now and the Taikai."

That certainly got Daniel, and all of Miyagi-Do's attention. He slowly turned back to face Kreese.

"W-w-what?" Daniel stammered.

"You heard me." Kreese replied simply.

"And if we lose?" Johnny snapped gruffly. Kreese shrugged.

"If you lose… well then it's open season, on all of you." Kreese responded. Daniel and Johnny slowly turned back towards their students, contemplating the deal, and upon seeing the nods that were being shown by the Miyagi-Dos, they turned back to Kreese.

"Deal." They replied, both of them shaking Kreese's hands, and then turning to walk back to their students.

"Are you guys okay?" was the first thing Daniel asked, as he approached all of them. They all nodded, determination etched on their faces.

"Yeah, we've got this in the bag." Demetri stated, confidently. Daniel stared at them, unsure.

"Okay guys, let's not get too overconfident." Daniel murmured.

"No. Demetri's right. This is gonna be a cake walk." Hawk remarked. "Their best fighter is Kenny Payne. They don't stand a chance anymore!"

"Didn't you already lose to him once?" Bert pointed out, and Hawk's face darkened as he sent him a death glare.

"Yeah. I did. I went easy on him and I lost. This time, I'm not gonna make the same mistake. Little shit needs to be humbled." Hawk growled. "I want to compete, Sensei."

"No, let me." Robby chimed in. "I know all of you hate him. But believe me, deep down is a good person. It's just Cobra Kai that's making him act this way. And one of you beating the shit out of him is only going to push him further into their arms. I know I can beat him without hurting him."

There was a short silence that overtook the group, before Daniel spoke up.

"I think Miguel should fight." He stated. "If he wants to, that is?"

Both Robby and Hawk opened their mouths to protest, but Daniel held up a hand to shut them up.

"Look, this isn't about one of you being better than another." Daniel told them. "But both of you are way too close to this. Robby, going too easy on him risks you getting hurt. And Hawk, going too hard on him risks making everything worse too."

"Mr. Larusso, please, let me do it." Robby said. "I know I can get him to listen if it's me up there. It's Cobra Kai, it's in his head."

Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"If this had happened before the summer, while you were in Cobra Kai, would you have listened to me?" Daniel asked him bluntly. Robby's response got caught in his throat as he realized that Daniel had a point. Daniel then turned to Miguel.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to. I'm sure someone else would be willing to step up if you're not feeling up to it. It's no pressure." Daniel said, but Miguel quickly shook his head, clenching his jaw.

"No. I want to do it." He quickly responded. He knew well the torment and bullying that Cobra Kai's students were at fault for. If he had the opportunity to prevent himself and all of his friends from having to be subjected to another year of that, he was always going to take it in a second.

No fear at all on his face, Miguel stepped up and onto the sparring deck, hopping from foot to foot, shaking off any tiredness or lethargy from his limbs as he through a couple of punches and kicks in the air. He was ready for this. He hadn't conceded 3 points in a fight ever, his only ever official loss coming when he had walked out of the tournament, and he had no interest in that streak ending now.

Meanwhile, Kreese walked up and down the line of Cobra Kai students, enjoying the anticipation as they waited to see which Cobra Kai student he selected. He walked past Kyler, past Piper, past Mitch, and for a moment, he stopped on Kenny, before finally reaching a student at the very back of the line, and nodding at him. The newest Cobra of the nest, Daniel and Johnny were floored in shock as they saw who Kreese had chosen. None of them had ever seen him before, not at any of the Cobra Kai vs. Miyagi-Do brawls, nor competing for any dojo at the previous two All-Valleys.

"No mercy." was all Kreese said to Marcos, as he tapped him on the shoulder, selecting him for the fight. Marcos didn't respond, still slightly confused about why he was here and what was going on with this karate dojo, but he still nodded and stepped onto the sparring deck himself.

The two groups of students and senseis took their respective places on opposite sides of the sparring deck, standing around their dojo's respective fighter. While Johnny and Kreese remained as their students' coaches for the fight, Kim and Daniel were forced to step away and instead act as referees to hold flags and score points.

Similarly to Miguel, Marcos shook off the weariness and ache from his body, even doing a couple of flips and cartwheels to warm his legs up, and as a way to try and get his opponent off-guard.

"Ignore him. People who do that gymnastics shit can never back it up in a fight." Johnny murmured to his student. "Remember that pansy you beat in the All-Valley semis your first year? Mark my words… this is gonna be the exact same shit."

Miguel nodded as he eyed his opponent up and down, Marcos completely ignoring him as he quickly stretched out his muscles, that were still slightly feeling the effects from his previous 2 fights of the past 2 days. He dumped those memories completely out of his mind, re-focussed his brain so that the only thing inside was the fight ahead. He didn't know anything about the guy he was fighting, and in some way, that was a good thing. He didn't have to know his name, or anything about his life. All that mattered was that he was the next person to be conquered. There was just one problem though…

"Sensei, what are the rules? I don't even know the rules to this kind of fight yet." Marcos said to Kreese as he walked back over to his corner after his quick stretch. Unfortunately, because the dojo had gone deathly silent, everyone had heard the comment. Johnny and Hawk both audibly laughed, both supremely confident of their friend winning the fight. And on the Cobra Kai side, all of their faces knitted into tight scowls, severely insulted that Kreese had picked this random new guy to represent them over someone else, when he didn't even know the rules yet.

"It's not too complicated." Kreese murmured back, quiet enough so that nobody else could hear them anymore. "All you need to do is strike him anywhere from the waist up to score a point. Three points win."

"Wait… that's it? I just need to land three hits and I win? That's so easy." Marcos remarked. Kreese nodded.

"Exactly. Which is why that's not what we're going to do…"

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"Annnnnd… fight!"

Marcos and Miguel circled one another for a while, trying to size each other up, feel each other out. They both threw a couple of feints and jabs to try and get the fight in the rhythm they wanted, but still wary of how little they knew about the other's fighting style.

Although Miguel was a very skilled fighter, at the end of the day he had only trained for around 2 years, so he didn't have the same intelligence as Marcos did. For every half-cocked strike Miguel threw at him, Marcos learned so much about his opponent. The boy was clearly cautious with his style, holding his cards close to his chest and not going all-out too quickly. With the way Miguel's stance was, Marcos could tell he was very much a striker, and not so adept at grappling and takedowns. Not to mention the fact that Miguel clearly heavily favored his right hand and leg. That was all Marcos needed to know to become filled with confidence that he had this fight in the bag.

"Come on, Diaz! Attack!" Johnny barked, roaring his student on, unsatisfied with the stalemate the two boys seemed to be in. Kreese was just as impatient, though he didn't say anything to his student, not just yet anyways. If anything, he was more curious than anything to catch another glimpse of how exactly his new champion fought, and how he fared against an opponent his age. A small part of him was worried that he had wagered too much on this student, despite not having ever seen him actually practice karate before.

It turned out Kreese had absolutely nothing to worry about. Although it was Miguel who struck first, it didn't give him the upper hand at all. If anything, it was the opposite. As Miguel threw a vicious combination of three punches and a spinning heel kick, Marcos batted the strikes out of the air with ease, before taking the split second opportunity while Miguel was regrouping to snake his arms around the former All-Valley champion's waist. At that point, it was all muscle memory for Marcos. Grabbing him in a vice-like grip as if he was a boa constrictor, Marcos threw his hips backwards in almost a suplex-like motion, tossing Miguel behind him and causing the teenager to land head-first on the wooden sparring deck with a CRASH!

With Miguel down, Marcos raised a hand to strike Miguel once more, to gain a point as the rules dictated. But at that moment, he remembered exactly what Kreese had told him, and so he slowly lowered his hand, getting to his feet and walking back to his corner without a second glance, leaving Miguel a semi-conscious heap behind him. They weren't here to score points, Kreese had said. They were here to send a message. And there was only one way they were going to do that…

"Um… no… no point." Daniel stammered, just as perplexed as the rest of Miyagi-Do, as Johnny ran over to Miguel and tended to him.

"Hey. You okay?" Johnny asked, slowly helping Miguel to his feet. Clutching the back of his head in pain, still pretty dizzy, Miguel shook his head.

"Sensei, I don't feel so good." Miguel murmured, dragging his tongue around his mouth to make sure he hadn't knocked out any teeth in the process of the hard fall he had taken. He could already feel a lump beginning to form.

"Do you want us to call the fight?" Johnny asked, genuinely concerned. They had all heard the nasty whack Miguel had taken as he had hit the ground, and all of Miyagi-Do were looking on, terrified. Who the hell was this new student of Cobra Kai's, and what the hell kind of move was that?! Meanwhile, as all of this unfolded, Marcos had retreated back to his corner and sat down on his knees, facing away from his opponent. It was a sign of respect, one of the first things he had learned when training. So he didn't know what was going on, until Miguel struggled to his feet, at which point Marcos stood up and turned back around.

"No. I'm fine." Miguel replied. "Let's keep going. I'm okay."

Still slightly unsure, Johnny nodded to Daniel, who was one of the make-shift referees.

"Okay. Score's still 0-0." He declared. "And… fight!"

Battle recommenced, this time Marcos having the unassailable advantage. Miguel was still clearly wearing the effects of the previous slam, a lot more sluggish on his feet now, and his combinations possessing a lot less power. Marcos probably could've scored 3 points with ease right then and there, and he relayed that to Kreese with his eyes. Kreese though shook his head, and silently shot back the reiteration of his message, what he wanted Marcos to do.

This time, Miguel wasn't as eager to strike first, as he was a lot more wary of his foe. For Marcos, this turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, with Miguel retreating and clearly on the back foot, Marcos effectively had full control of the fight. But on the other, that was opposite of what Marcos needed to enact Kreese's plan. He needed Miguel to attack first, and if he wasn't willing to do that while they were in the center of the sparring deck, then Marcos knew that he needed to push Miguel into a corner so the boy was forced to fight his way out.

He did exactly that, using a ruthless combination of capoeira kicks that were not actually aiming to land on Miguel, to push Miguel back towards the corner of the mat. Miguel realized exactly where he was, and knew that he was only a couple of feet away from stepping out of bounds, so he knew he needed to do something. Needed to attack somehow.

What happened next was a blur to everyone. They saw Miguel through a roundhouse to try and gain some distance between him and Marcos, but the next thing they knew, Miguel was back on the ground with a SLAM harder than the first time. Marcos had caught the kick in mid air, and then had maneuvered his body so he was in between Miguel's two legs, before using Miguel's leg to throw the All-Valley champion over the top of his head. For a second, Miguel was suspended in midair, his legs higher than his head, before gravity kicked in and he got smashed to the ground.

As Marcos once again opted not to finish his opponent, the murmurs that echoed around the dojo grew louder. It took a lot longer for Johnny to coax his champion to his feet, as Miguel was very nearly out-cold. Miguel insisted that he wanted to continue, but he was very clearly on the ropes at this point, and they all knew it. Robby, Hawk, Sam, and pretty much all of Miyagi-Do implored him to stop, but Miguel refused to. He wasn't blind. He knew that whoever this new Cobra was, he was far more skilled than him. However, Miguel knew for a fact that he would be able to outlast him. His durability was one of his strengths, and he knew that if he lasted long enough in the fight, that could help him plenty later.

Unfortunately, that wasn't how the rest of the fight played out. Miguel was barely standing when Daniel reluctantly restarted the fight, and it didn't take long for Miguel to be slammed to the ground for the third time. This time, he was well and truly out. Not even able to regain his feet, Johnny was forced to throw in the towel for his student and forfeit…