CHAPTER 35

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Daniel asked for about the hundredth time after school that Monday afternoon, as all of Miyagi-Do stood outside the Cobra Kai dojo. The plan they had come up with last night wasn't a great one. It wasn't even a good one. But it was the best one that they could come up with, and one that most of them were satisfied with. They knew that they wouldn't be able to take Marcos just yet in a 1 on 1 fight. They also had no idea about where Sarah stood in comparison to Sam and Tory - whether she was better than them or worse. However, one thing that Miyagi-Do did have going for them was the sheer number of quality students they had. Cobra Kai was a 1-2 punch, and the depth Miyagi-Do had was unmatched. This meant that they needed something that allowed all of their students to fight, not just 1 or 2. But they also knew that Cobra Kai would never agree to a 5 or 6 on 2 fight. They needed to be smart in the way that they challenged their rivals to make the Cobra Kais accept it.

There was a varying degree in how eager the Miyagi-Dos were in engaging Cobra Kai in this fight. Hawk and Tory were the most excited, practically frothing at the mouth at the prospect of getting even with the people they had come to loathe. Sam wasn't too far behind them, her hatred for Sarah now stronger than ever. Miguel and Robby… they weren't so sure. On one hand, to say that they didn't seriously dislike Marcos was a lie. There was something about him that made him more loathsome than any of Cobra Kai's previous champions, despite neither of them having deeply personal rivalries with him yet. But on the other hand, they weren't sure whether engaging in this fight, when they really didn't have to, was the best idea. However, their friends were hell-bent on engaging, and that was enough to get them involved, to protect their friends if nothing else. Meanwhile, Demetri… well, Demetri wasn't quite sure why he still hung around with Miyagi-Do, and he hadn't just gotten out while he could and headed for the hills. Starting a fight with possibly the most fearsome Cobra Kai ever… there was no chance this was a good idea.

"Yeah. We are." Sam replied, glancing around at the rest of the group, all of whom were wearing looks ranging from unsure to confident. The important thing was that none of them looked to be outright disagreeing with the plan. It was in fact the best plan they had after all.

Daniel took a deep breath as his fingers lingered on the door of the dojo, and he nodded to himself. This was the right decision, right? It was too late to change their minds anyways, as the wheels of the plan were already in motion. Daniel had spent the remainder of the evening the day before, and this morning as well, on the phone with a variety of… allies of the dojo. A mixture of former senseis, former students, and other people who simply hated Cobra Kai and wanted it to go down as much as they did. Those people had all, of course, accepted the offer that Daniel had proposed to them. So now, it was only up to Cobra Kai to accept the challenge too…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Combat! Aits!"

Before the words had even fully left Kreese's mouth, action erupted in the Cobra Kai dojo. 5 opponents had encircled Marcos and were attempting to take him down, but to no success at all. Knowing the fact that more likely than not, a numerically handicapped fight against Miyagi-Do would be in Marcos' future, Kreese was determined to improve his student's ability in fighting these situations, the most evident weak spot in Marcos' game due to inexperience. However, he was making giant steps, and it didn't take him long to slither out of the center of the circle and use his new angle to take out the 5 Cobra Kai opponents, all in the blink of an eye.

When they were all down, down and properly out this time, Marcos stood over all of them, Kreese nodding at him approvingly. Impressive as always, his champion was. His unique blend of styles allowed his opponents not to get into a rhythm when fighting him, and constantly be on edge, before using his superior speed and power to take them all out. However, Kreese's eyes moved away from Marcos as he saw the door of the dojo swing open, and he couldn't hide his surprise at who had just walked in.

It was Miyagi-Do. ALL of Miyagi-Do. The entire army rode into the dojo, game faces on and fists clenched, ready for a fight. It took less than a second for Cobra Kai to match them, all of the students leaping to their feet and charging over towards the Miyagi-Do students to stand face to face with their respective rivals. None of them attacked just yet though, as they were all waiting for the nod from their senseis, which didn't come as the adults were more interested in talking to one another.

"What do we have here? This is a… pleasant surprise." Kreese remarked, a thin smile appearing on his face. Daniel and Johnny's faces didn't replicate though, their eyes stormy as they squared up to the elderly Cobra Kai sensei.

"We know what you tried to do last night." Johnny snapped at him. Kreese raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to be more specific. What exactly did I do?"

"Last night. At dinner. You sent your little minions to stir up a fight with us." Daniel said to Kreese, as well as Marcos and Sarah, who had moved forward to flank either side of their sensei, Miyagi-Do's main teenagers moving to do the same. Kreese looked at Miyagi-Do with a blank expression for a few moments, before he began to chuckle loudly.

"Ms. Gledhill. I told you to sell the fall like your life depended on it." He remarked to his female champion, confirming what Miyagi-Do already knew about the fake push. "I thought you said they believed you."

"I thought they did, sensei." Sarah replied. "Guess they figured it out somehow."

"Yeah. We did. It's called security cameras." Daniel retorted. "You really thought that you could send in your students, and we'd get so offended by them that we'd lose our temper and start a fight with you?"

"Actually… yes." Kreese remarked, not losing his relaxed composure, even though Miyagi-Do had clearly foiled their plan.

"Yeah, well… you were right." Daniel replied. Confusion echoed around the room in the minds of the Cobra Kais, all of them shocked to hear the aggression in the voice of the Miyagi-Do sensei.

"I was, was I?" Kreese asked. "You want to fight us?"

Daniel nodded.

"We do. But on our terms, not yours. We pick the rules, not you." Daniel told him. Kreese slowly nodded, curious to hear what the man had to say.

"And what are your terms?" He asked. "How would you like this to play out then?"

"This Saturday. Coyote Creek." Johnny replied. A shred of understanding appeared on the face of the Cobra Kai sensei. He knew exactly what his former champion had in mind. After all, it had been him who had shown Johnny that training exercise for the first time, all those years ago.

"Ah. I see." Kreese said, deep in thought.

"But it's Coyote Creek where we get to pick the rules." Daniel said. "And we're going to make sure it remains safe for everyone. So we are going to have referees. These referees are going to be walking through the forest the whole time, tracking the activity and the fighting, and they reserve the right to call an end to the entire game if they feel that things are becoming unsafe for either side."

"Other than that, it's the same as traditional Coyote Creek rules." Johnny added. "Everyone gets a headband. You defeat your opponent by taking their headband from them. Once you're out, you're dead and you can't fight anymore. Last team standing wins."

As Kreese looked around the room at the determined Miyagi-Dos and the blood-thirsty Cobra Kais, his mind raced at a mile a minute, weighing all of the possibilities, the ways that this activity could go for his side. He knew that it wasn't an ideal deal for his side, as he wasn't blind to the fact that Cobra Kai had less depth than Miyagi-Do amongst its top fighters, and an environment like Cobra Kai would only emphasize that fact. However, with the talent he knew that he possessed in his dojo, there was no doubt that they stood a chance. And for as long as they stood a chance, he knew that this was an offer they needed to take, as he knew that something like this wouldn't come every day.

"You have yourself a deal. Coyote Creek. This Saturday. We'll be there." Kreese said, holding out a hand for the Miyagi-Do senseis to shake, to make the deal official. Both Johnny and Daniel reluctantly shook it.

That was it. The deal had been signed. In less than a week, battle would recommence between the dojos, and judging by the looks on all of their faces, they were all very much ready for it.

"You should probably go train your students now, Larusso." Kreese said. "Coyote Creek is a pretty massive area. There's no way the two of you will be able to keep track of the entire forest, so your students are going to need all the help they can get."

A small smile crept up on Daniel's face.

"Who said it was just the two of us?"

As if on cue, the door of the dojo suddenly swung open once more, and 4 more men walked inside. Although one of them - the asian man - Kreese did not recognize, the other 3 he was extremely familiar with: two were former students and one was a hired muscle from back in the day. Barnes, Chozen, Bobby and Jimmy stood shoulder to shoulder as they joined the confrontation that was taking place at the center of the dojo, and they couldn't help but all feel immense satisfaction as they saw the look on Sensei Kreese's face. He surely hadn't been expecting that.

"These are our referees." Daniel informed him. "Johnny and I. Plus these four. There will be no rule breaking with us around. We won't let you guys win that easily. So if anyone needs to be training their students right now, it's you, Kreese. We'll see you on Saturday…"