CHAPTER 37

The fight started off relatively slowly. Both Sam and Miguel were hesitant to throw the first punch. Neither wanted to be the one to start the fight. They circled each other like lions, but neither lunged in for the kill.

"Attack, Miguel!" Johnny bellowed, loud enough for Miguel to hear but not loud enough for the crowd. "Forget who you're fighting! Pretend you're fighting a Cobra! Tear her apart!"

Daniel, who was standing a couple of feet away as he was coaching his daughter, glared at Johnny. Miguel heard Johnny and nodded. He finally lunged, but rather than throwing a kick or punch, he grabbed her by her gi and judo flipped her, slamming her onto the mat and then throwing a light punch to her stomach to earn himself the point. He obviously didn't go further than that, as he had won the point and didn't want to injure her.

Miguel 1-0 Sam

Sam was extremely winded as Miguel helped her to her feet, but she quickly recovered as she walked back to her corner. Miguel's heart was pounding so he closed his eyes to calm himself down. He could almost hear Daniel's shout from a couple of months ago the day Miyagi-Do and Eagle-Fang split up

"YOU HIT MY DAUGHTER?!"

Daniel's words echoed through his mind. Although this time it was entirely business, Miguel was still taken back to the night of the party, when Miguel struck Sam across the face.

As Miguel stood next to Johnny and Sam stood next to Daniel, both senseis whispered instructions into their child's ear. This fight meant a lot to them, even if it wasn't going to be a dirty fight. It was the ultimate test of whose tactics were better: Miyagi-Do or Eagle-Fang. Miguel hoped from foot to foot, shaking out his limbs to loosen himself up. He knew that Sam would be quickly retaliating as soon as the fight restarted so he got his instructions from Johnny before walking back onto the mat.

"LET'S GO MIGUEL!" Johnny, Jimmy and Hawk bellowed.

"YOU GOT THIS, SAM!" All of the Miyagi-Dos in the stands cheered. Miguel and Sam nodded at each other and the fight restarted…

This time, the fight was a lot faster-paced than before. Miguel lunged at Sam but she definitely held her own, throwing her own combination of kicks that sent Miguel stumbling back as he dodged them. She used this opportunity to follow-up her attack with a side kick to Miguel's stomach.

Miguel 1-1 Sam

As Miguel walked back to his corner, Johnny could tell that he was extremely distracted. He didn't blame him. He knew that if tomorrow he was asked to fight Carmen, even if it had absolutely no hard feelings, he would struggle massively.

"Hey. Listen, Miguel." Johnny said. "You need to forget who you're fighting."

"Easier said than done." Miguel murmured.

"Come on, Miguel! You're the one who always calls me out on my shit when I'm being sexist! Don't tell me you're being a hypocrite!"
"It's not that she's a girl, and you know that." Miguel muttered. "It's who exactly I'm fighting."

Johnny sighed and nodded.

"You're thinking about that time you punched her, right?" Johnny remarked.

"Yeah." Miguel admitted. "But that's not the biggest problem. She knows exactly what I'm going to do before I even do it. She counters every technique I use."

"So flip the script." Hawk suddenly chimed in. Miguel turned to him.

"Huh?" Miguel asked, at a loss.

"You flip the script." Hawk repeated. "Don't do what first comes to mind. Do something nobody sees coming. Something completely unexpected."

"He's right." Johnny said. Miguel nodded and rubbed his hands together.

"Okay. Let's do this." He growled, before jumping back onto the mat. Sam stepped onto the mat shortly after, and the two circled each other once again. Miguel did what he was told: he did the opposite of everything that first came to mind. That started with him approaching Sam with both hands not guarding his head, but limp beside him. Daniel and Sam both saw that and were instantly cautious. Sam didn't charge at him immediately as she tried to smoke out what his move would be. She found out soon enough. She sent a hook punch to Miguel's head, which he immediately ducked under and slithered so that he was directly behind her. Rather than kicking or punching Sam to the back of the head like he would normally do, he forced himself to flip the script. He wrapped his arms around Sam's midsection in a bearhug from behind and he suplexed her, an extremely powerful wrestling move Johnny had taught him, and he threw her so she landed on the ground flat on her stomach. He could've easily made it so she landed on her neck and got severely injured, but he made the extra effort not to do that. Besides, landing flat on her face hurt just as much.

Miguel 2-1 Sam

Match Point Miguel. He was one point from a second trip to the All-Valley finals. He could practically taste it. 6 months of training and he was one final small step away. Miguel listened to the crowd cheering for him. Around half the arena was supporting him, and half were supporting Sam, so he did get a fair number of cheers.

Sam was extremely winded after being roughly thrown to the ground like that, but she forced herself to continue to fight. Miguel could tell he was closing in on a victory. He spent a full minute just sending half-assed blows at Sam, tiring her out even further as she dodged and weaved to avoid the hits. Finally, she saw an opening. As Miguel sent a punch at her, she slapped his arm upwards, and then she immobilised it with a quick pressure point punch to the bottom of his arm. She did the same thing to the other within seconds.

Daniel smiled as he saw his daughter about to strike, but his smile faded when he glanced down the line at Johnny, who was also grinning. His eyes widened. Johnny and his dojo had planned for something like this! They knew how much Miyagi-Do relied on that move, so Johnny had taught them how to reverse it!

"Sam, back up!" Daniel tried to shout to his daughter, but she couldn't hear him. She had already been lured in. Miguel's arms were pinned to his sides and she was about to score a point! However, just as she raised an arm to punch him, before she could react, Miguel slithered sideways and sent a turning back kick to Sam's kidney, sending her falling to the ground.

Miguel (WINNER) 3-1 Sam

He had done it! He had won! HE WAS GOING TO THE FINALSSSSS! Miguel started to process all of this information as he helped Sam up. The two of them bowed and then hugged, before walking off the mat and over to their respective senseis. When Miguel got to Johnny, the two of them grinned widely.

"We're back in the finals." Miguel grinned.

"BACK IN THE FINALSSSSS!" Johnny bellowed in delight, hugging Miguel tightly. Hawk, Jimmy and Bobby (who had just joined them in their corner) all congratulated Miguel, cheering and chanting his name. Sam, Julie and Daniel watched this celebration and sighed.

"He won fairly. He was better." Sam stated, glumly. Daniel nodded and smiled.

"Hey, don't be disheartened! You did good today! You took on Tory and won! You went four rounds with the reigning champion. I call that a win. I'm so proud of you, Sam." Daniel said. Sam smiled at her dad and nodded.

"Thanks, dad." She replied. "Now, can I get some ice or something? When he threw me to the ground for his second point, I hit my face pretty hard."

"Yeah, what the hell was that?!" Julie exclaimed. "You can't do that in karate!"

"It's called a suplex, and yes you can." A voice came from behind them. They turned around to see Miguel standing there.

"Miguel? What do you want?" Daniel asked.

"I wanted to say good fight today." Miguel said. "That was a really close fight. It could've easily gone either way."

"Thanks, Miguel. You deserved the win though. You fought great today." Sam replied.

"No hard feelings?" Miguel asked. Sam smiled and nodded.

"No hard feelings." She replied. Miguel then walked back to his dojo's corner of the mat.

It was time for the second semi final, another blockbuster clash that was Hawk vs. Robby. The last time they had faced off was in last year's tournament. That clash could've easily gone either way, but Hawk's antics had gotten him disqualified. This year though, Hawk had the same aggression, but he had learned how to channel it into his actual fighting, rather than into dirty tactics. THAT was what Eagle-Fang was all about. They didn't cleanse themselves of anger like Miyagi-Do did. They channeled it into their fighting making them ruthless but not merciless.

5 minutes later, Hawk and Robby were told to step onto the mat for their matchup. The two of them glared daggers at each other, as Ron stood in between them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, get ready for our second semi final matchup! Cobra Kai dojo's Robby Keene against Eagle-Fang karate's Hawk!" Ron announced to the crowd. "Now, these two have faced off before. Roby Keene came out on top last year by disqualification, but I can tell, I can see that Hawk wants to even that score. Hawk, what do you have to say to Robby?"

"You know, I'm fighting today to come and shut this man up. This little rat. The little weasel. Thinks he's a big man because of the dojo around him but when faced on his own, he cowers away." Hawk growled. Robby rolled his eyes and didn't even warrant a response.

The two of them took their sides of the mat and the ref officially began the match.

"LET'S GO HAWK!" Miguel shouted, banging his hands on the corner of the mat to drum up support. As soon as the ref stepped away from in between them, they both lunged at each other.

This fight was hands down the most entertaining fight to watch in All-Valley history. The two of them were some of the best acrobats the tournament had ever seen, and they took advantage of every single flip, throw, punch, kick and skill in their arsenals. Robby scored the first point, pummelling Hawk on the ground until the ref pulled him off. Hawk, however, was not fazed at all. If anything, he was more determined. Hawk scored the next 2 points, sending Robby stumbling backwards in shock. It was 2-1 in favour of Hawk, and Hawk was 1 point away from the first single dojo final in All-Valley history. One point away from ridding Kreese from their lives forever. So close, yet so far. Robby turned on the afterburners right there, sending Hawk flying backwards with an acrobatic backflip dodge, followed by a gorgeous dropkick.

2-2. Things were completely even. Robby stumbled back to the Cobra Kai corner, and Hawk limped back to the Eagle-Fang one. After a motivational pep talk from Johnny to Hawk, and a threatening one from Kreese to Robby. Robby was secretly extremely nervous. He had no doubt that he was fighting on the wrong side. He knew that Kreese would make him regret it if he didn't win the All-Valley, and that was NOT someone he wanted to be trained by. However, his bigger enemy, Miguel, was fighting for Eagle-Fang, and he needed to fight him.

The final point of the matchup was heart stoppingly intense. Both guys exchanged heavy blows, but the one who landed the winning hit was unfortunately, Robby. Robby managed to trip Hawk up and kick him to the side of the face, earning his 3rd point.

There it was. The final settled. It was Robby vs. Miguel…