Tommy's Tale III.

So the day continued. The announcer confirmed the matches and they prepared for the action.

First up was Johnny vs Daryl Vidal. The two fighters were well matched but had totally different styles. Vidal had all the moves whereas Johnny's was comparatively straight forward. After some loud encouragement to both fighters and a reminder that Johnny had been victorious the previous year the fight was on.

The first point went to Johnny in an exchange of basic moves culminating in a pulled punch whilst Vidal was down.

The second exchange started in a very different way. Vidal went airborne from the start signal, throwing aerial kicks and forcing Johnny to the edge of the mat. Tommy wondered why Kreese had never taught any of these techniques and almost missed the outcome of the point. It went to Johnny after Vidal had telegraphed a fourth flying wheel kick and Johnny had caught him with a simple but vicious kick to the chest as he'd landed.

The third point had gone back to basics but Vidal didn't manage to land a telling blow on Johnny in this flurry either. Tommy had half expected this as he'd been there the year before. He'd also sniggered when he saw the look on La Russo's face at this result. Clearly he'd hoped Vidal would do him a favour by beating Johnny but all of Vidal's sizzle had produced no steak.

Now for the La Russo burial thought Tommy. He knew how good Bobby was and that he needed no extra incentive to win. The only chink in his armour was his tendency to break the 3rd Cobra Commandment as he'd seen at the Halloween fight. It was therefore a shock to hear his Sensei's pre match pep talk. Bobby had been confident of winning but Kreese completely squashed his idea of an all Kai final despite Bobby claiming he could beat La Russo.

"I don't want him beaten, out of commission."

"But I'll be disqualified!"

"Out of commission!"

So a deflated Bobby had walked sullenly to the mat. Tommy had questioned his allegiance after hearing the earlier exchange. Why was Kreese protecting Johnny at the expense of Bobby? Was he that worried about La Russo winning? Was there something wrong with their training? Tommy forced his doubts down into the gnawing pit of his stomach (that corn dog) and shouted his encouragement along with another Cobra who yelled. "Do what you gotta do Bobby!"

Both fighters took up their fighting stance. The referee warned them to watch the control and the match was on.

Tommy was still blown away by what happened next.