Chapter Sixteen: They Want it All
…
Cobra Kai OST: I want it All - Queen
…
The 2019 USA Karate National Champions looked like it was going to be the stuff of legend.
Just from the setup of the tournament alone, it made the All Valley somehow look puny by comparison. The referees numbered well over a hundred, aided by dozens of staff members.
They didn't put on shirts labeled 'referees' they wore black suits and ties.
They pinned badges to their blazers, with the colors of the olympics on them arranged in a floral circular pattern. Their badges also had green and blue karatekas as outlines throwing a round kick labeled 'USA karate'.
The last common badge was the flag of the united states with a single star completely arranged in a triangle.
It all was set up in a massive arena right in the heart of Chicago Illinois right after winter break had begun, to ensure maximum sign up and participation.
The very best and most hopeful karate athletes of all ages from across the entire United States were there on December 19th, 2019, ready to compete.
Ten rings, fully staffed with four judges in each chair, two scorekeepers, and one judge sitting in the chair by each judge's table as well as one judge officiating the actual match were set up.
A banner was placed upon each table, labeled 'USA Karate' and the ring number labeled upon it.
The snack stands, merchandise tables, mats, television screens next to each ring to show the score, and everything the tournament would need took hours to prepare.
Finally, all the medals were placed upon a table.
There were no trophies, instead specially unique medals, of bronze, silver, and gold, labeled:
2019 USA Karate National Championships
Chicago, IL
There were no brackets, no karatekas getting ready to spar without gloves, mouthguards and footguards.
This was the largest and most professionally run martial arts tournament in the entire country, with a rich history running back decades.
Competitors from Roseville California, Houston Texas, Tallahassee Florida, and all over the entire United States, the best from each part of the country, began to warm up in specially designated rooms all over the arena.
The arena was so large the stands started to fill for thousands and thousands of people, more than anyone from the Valley had ever seen spectate a karate tournament.
Each ring was ready by the time the tournament had to officially begin at 10 AM sharp, and the athletes were all signed in and ready.
All mats were red and blue, as would be the sparring gear except for white in some cases for footguards of some athletes.
Karate still had life in the United States, no one could deny the majesty and prestige the air of the tournament had.
There were tournaments all over the United States here and there. In California, in Florida, Texas, Virginia, New Jersey, preparing and testing each athlete to compete amongst the best everywhere.
To even be considered for the USA karate national team was an honor reserved for the best and most honorable of karatekas. And this tournament would let the team personally see them.
Members of the USA karate national team were there near the mats, getting ready to commentate on the matches, and see who would possibly one day replace them to represent karate internationally.
With matches of legend about to take place, the stage was set and the tournament began.
…
Lankershim's Cobra Kai dojo numbered well over twenty four boys between the ages of sixteen and seventeen.
Only Kenny Payne was the outlier, the only non black belt, and the only fourteen year old.
It was clear even as a Sensei, Lucas would not be the man completely in charge, that honor belonged to the veteran Sensei John Kreese.
The entire team including Kreese and Lucas wore matching black jackets with the Cobra Kai logo labeled in gold, their names written upon each of them.
"Gather round." Kreese said.
The boys stopped stretching, approaching Kreese in a circle.
Kreese rubbed his jacket, 'Sensei J. Kreese' labeled proudly.
Edwin had his hand on Dieter's shoulder, both boys listening quietly.
"I've been competing in karate for decades before any of you were born. The legacy of my karate stretches a long way back."
He looked around, at Big Red, and Doug Rickenberger.
"The All Valley was supposed to put a nail in the coffin of Cobra Kai. In a grave, I dug for it. I don't often say this." Kreese raised an eyebrow, looking aside before he looked at his team. "Because you don't often deserve it. But I'm proud of every single one of you."
Lucas nodded as Hawk smiled, leaning on his shoulder.
"The best of the very best are out there. This is Cobra Kai karate's debut into professional American karate. I can assure you I am looking for you to try your very best."
Kreese blinked, gulping.
"And to act in a manner that would me proud."
Dieter and Big Red looked at each other for a moment.
"I've focused purely on the competitive aspect of karate for a while. But you all reminded me that I'm not just building fighters here." Kreese muttered.
He looked up, rubbing his face as Lucas tilted his head. "I'm building young men, the future of karate tomorrow."
"Good luck, and Sensei Lucas and I will make sure to coach every single one of you where we can."
Kreese barely nodded his head and all twenty four boys from Lankershim's Cobra Kai dojo bowed deeply.
…
"You all flew in on a private jet, stayed in the nicest hotel, and trained in the nicest facility anyone could ever hope for."
Silver was giving his speech in his own warm up and staging room with Kim alongside him, there were thirty girls from the Flagship Encino dojo wearing identical jackets to the ones the boys had, with their first names shortened to a letter and their last names upon them, but the Cobra Kai logo and names were all in red instead of gold.
Silver smirked, putting his hands upon his hips, towering over his entire team. "You've become the best. You are the best, now go and prove it."
Kim crossed her arms. "Failure does not exist. My grandfather did not struggle every day of his life, committing himself to be a hermit upon a mountain to let his legacy pass on into ruin."
Kim glanced over at Piper and Devon. "Losing, will have severe consequences."
Silver raised his voice. "Are we clear?"
The girls chanted together. "Yes Sensei!"
"Go get them." Silver bowed and his team bowed back.
As they all left and broke out to start chatting together, Silver spoke. "Nichols, a word."
She was wearing a long sleek gold ponytail as she walked over to Silver.
"Your ex boyfriend brought his own team here today."
Tory didn't react.
"Pretend he's not here. They're not the real Cobra Kai, you are, is that understood?"
Tory nodded slowly. "Yes, Sensei."
"Robinson beat you last time. She meets you on the mat, don't just beat her." Silver spoke quietly and calmly to Tory. "I want you to destroy her." Silver barely shook his head. "No mercy."
Tory nodded again. "Yes, Sensei."
"Go warm up." Silver nodded off in the direction he wanted Tory to go in.
…
Daniel LaRusso looked around his own warm up room.
There were more parents and Senseis than there were competitors.
Only Robby Keene and Aisha Robinson, with both of their parents there, were warming up and stretching.
Johnny Lawrence and Chozen Toguchi were chatting.
Robby and Aisha were just wearing simple sweatshirts and jeans, not in uniform yet. They didn't have specially marked team jackets, they weren't numerous or known.
In fact, they were so insignificant, they had to share their warm up and staging room with two other very small dojos who were competing with less than three people at Nationals that year.
Daniel cleared his throat. "Over here please."
Sandra Robinson and her football legend husband, Aisha, Robby, Johnny, Shannon Keene, and Chozen Toguchi all listened in on Daniel.
"We haven't ever been to a tournament like this in our lives." Daniel admitted. "Everyone came in fancy cars and fancy outfits. Huge teams, legacies of first place trophies."
Robby was confused.
"But that doesn't mean they'll win."
Aisha nodded.
"This new name uh, Team Lightning. Is a sign that karate is heading in the right direction. Miyagi-Do is part of both of you." said Daniel. "And I know our dojo has seen some tough times."
"You think?" Robby asked.
Even the parents chuckled quietly at this.
Daniel sighed. "You both need to remember that it's not just about Mr. Miyagi and his legacy, it's not just about Miyagi-Do. It's about Steel Eagle, and what it means that our dojo is both."
Johnny's eyes lit up and Daniel kept explaining.
"Mr. Miyagi always said that I had to do karate my own way at some point. I now realize that that meant letting you all decide for yourselves how to build your own legacies. How to make your own marks on karate."
Daniel turned to Aisha. "Aisha you had girls at your school bully you for a while, and now look at them. Where are they?"
She fixed her glasses, nodding.
"Johnny gave you strength, power, confidence. But he also made you a better person. You might have all the right moves but." Daniel smiled at both Johnny and Robby. "You've both come a very long way."
"Karate is about growth, not strength," Daniel said quietly. "This tournament is about both of you growing. It's not about the medal."
Daniel glanced at Robby. "And I say this because I know you're facing your old friends out there."
Johnny patted his son's shoulder as he registered this.
"It's about showing your growth."
Chozen spoke up. "Yuuuussss!" he growled loudly.
"Rei!" said Daniel.
Robby and Aisha bowed to Daniel.
And then they hugged him.
…
Kobudo, or weapons were up first.
People of all ages did forms with bo staffs and boat paddles of sorts.
No one from Cobra Kai's two dojos or Robby or Aisha competed, but several of them competed in forms.
Robby competed in forms, as did Piper, Devon, and Aisha.
Robby's kata was perfected by Chozen and Daniel, who were probably the most experienced kata practitioners in the entire arena, despite the arena containing karatekas with multiple decades of experience from across the entire United States.
Chozen didn't coach Robby at all, he merely sat in his coach's seat next to each ring, and watched silently.
Robby won the first round, proudly presenting Heian Godan, a purple belt kata he'd practiced for months.
In the second round he went with Empi, a brown belt kata primarily used for black belt tests.
He went with Empi twice, and Robby won first place in forms.
Johnny was proud of his son despite never liking kata, and Robby had presented the most refined and perfect forms possible.
Devon Lee competed in the Advanced division for 14-15 year old girls kata.
Devon lost in the early rounds against girls who were far more experienced than her. It wasn't even close, all five judges judging the kata match gave their decision to her opponent.
Kim ironically wasn't mad, Devon strongly suspected it was because even though she wanted the team to start competing in forms, like Silver, she respected sparring far more.
Piper and Aisha however ended up flying through 16-17 year old advanced kata with flying colors.
They both used Shotokan karate katas, katas much stiffer and rigid than the flowing prettier katas that girls with Goju-Ryu and Shito-Ryu Senseis had.
However, the judges were constantly giving the wins to both Aisha and Piper.
In the finals, Aisha and Piper faced each other.
Aisha and Piper bowed at the edge of the mat, bowed when entering the mat, and presented their kata on either side of the judge.
Piper had a blue belt on, on the judge's left as Ao, Aisha the right, wearing a red belt, as Aka.
When the girls were done presenting their forms, the were in ready stance awaiting the judges decision.
"Hantei!" a judge called out.
A judge blew a whistle once, then twice.
Three judges raised a blue flag into the air for Piper, and two a red flag for Aisha.
"Ao. Kach!" a judge announced.
The crowd applauded, Piper was the first place national champion in her division for forms.
All four girls who placed stood on a podium and took a picture together.
…
Kata had taken the entire day.
Kobudo, or weapons forms, and kata, or regular forms, took all of Friday.
Saturday, was sparring day.
Devon was in the 14-15 year old girls Advanced division, Kenny the same but for boys.
Every single other person from Cobra Kai or Miyagi-Do was in 16-17 advanced.
Devon was up first, and her first match was wearing Aka, or red gear against a girl with blue handguards and white footguards.
They fought well, and very evenly, but Devon got the win with two points to one.
In the quarter final round, Devon was trounced seven points to zero by a girl who belonged to the most advanced team of the entire National tournament, a dojo called 'Nobu-Kai Karate' a very prestigious Shito Ryu karate organization out of the northeast coast with a team considered by many to sweep every division they were in.
Devon was reprimanded to the point of tears by Kim Da-Eun, and she stormed off to the bathroom.
Doug Rickenberger chuckled from the stands. "And the girls thought they could reach their best without sparring with us."
Edwin smacked him on the shoulder for this while Lucas kept focusing on the fights, it was clear to him that a few dojos were ridiculously good, even in the earlier rounds.
…
Kenny Payne's parents, who worked year round and sometimes had to travel to other country's as his father was in the Army, had managed to come watch him compete in sparring.
Kenny was wearing blue Hayashi WKF approved karate footguards and gloves, a mouthguard placed in his mouth.
His uniform was white, the black stitching of Cobra Kai's logo a small circle on his arm.
Kenny was so nervous he could barely breathe for a moment. He wanted to win so badly he couldn't focus.
By the time he reached the ring, somehow, it all went away.
"Otakai-ni. Rei! Shome-nei. Rei!"
The boys bowed in. All four judges bowed to the center judge, and took their seats.
Kenny's opponent was a boy a bit taller than him, blonde, and part of a large Colorado Shotokan dojo with schools from Denver to almost Nevada.
His opponent wore red hand guards for Aka, and white USA karate footguards.
Both boys bowed quickly to each other and the center judge.
The center judge was a portly man with dark hair and a thick moustache. Kenny and his opponent were two one meter by one meter squares away from each other in 'Yoi' or ready stance, about to spar.
"Shobu hachime!"
Kenny spent the first ten seconds of the match measuring his opponent, watching him.
Aka had good footwork, and seemed to have a near perfect fighting stance.
However, Kenny much to his Cobra Kai nature, struck first.
Aka's counter attack, a hook kick, was far too late.
Kenny had already punched him twice in the head and the body with a reverse punch by the time Aka realized what happened.
"Yame!"
"Ao. Chudan zuki, yuko! Senshu!"
Kenny led the match one nothing.
"Tsugite, hai!"
Kenny and Aka bounded off the line in their stance, constantly switching angles and from southpaw to orthodox.
Kenny made his move in the blink of an eye.
He used his rear leg to fake a leg tap, stayed in range, and leaped forward, dragging his left foot across the mat still supporting his entire body and tapped Aka on the side of his head with his footguard.
….
You're the Best - Joe Esposito
…
John Kreese was applauding out of his seat.
Kenny was ahead four points to nothing in his first sparring match at an official USA karate event.
Both boys scored a kick to the body, and the final score was six points to two.
Kenny stepped off the mat and the much taller John Kreese rubbed Kenny's head, his parents off their feet applauding.
Lucas watched Hawk fight a Nobu Kai fighter.
Hawk faked a jab, spinning into round kicks his opponent barely had to dodge to make miss.
"Stop doing that! Stop doing that!" said Lucas from his coach's box. "Hands up, just focus on your fundamentals!"
Hawk missed a round kick again and was forced out of bounds. All his opponent had to do was start combo-ing and Hawk had to go off the mat.
Lucas tutted and Hawk was given a warning.
Hawk realized he had to stop kicking so much and start using his hands.
When the Nobu Kai boy wearing blue gear started to jab, Hawk was already there.
He dropped onto his right knee and at full power, delivered a reverse punch directly to the kidneys.
Hawk roared at the top of his lungs and the crowd cheered.
Lucas applauded. "That's right. Good, keep it simple just like that!"
Hawk fought very conservatively and eventually shut out his opponent completely with superior footwork and timing, winning the fight one nothing.
Robby Keene had a rocky start.
He wasn't used to the kind of speed and precision top tier fighters the entire country had thrown at him.
Johnny spoke as Robby was down three to two. "You've got two legs kid! Two legs, use 'em!"
"Hai!"
The fight continued as Robby bounced around the mat in blue Arawaza trademarked gear.
Robby dodged a punch, bouncing around the ring to his left to avoid being struck.
Robby threw a jab, moving off angle to nail his opponent right in the chest with his left leg, throwing a round kick very hard.
The crowd watching cheered and Robby roared, kiai'ing before moving back to his line.
"Ao, chudan geri wazari!"
At four to three, Robby was more comfortable. He eventually scored a jab punch and a reverse punch both to the face and ended the match six points to three.
He won his first fight shaking hands with his opponent and immediately waved to the crowd.
Aisha's parents as well as Robby's mom, Daniel, and Chozen all waved back.
Robby looked over to a different part of the stands. Cobra Kai's boys couldn't look at him at all.
He shook his head, woken up when his father congratulated him.
Aisha Robinson moved with a controlled fury and power that made several girls in her division fear her in her first round.
She had a round kick and a side kick and even a hook kick from the bowels of hell.
Her opponent in her second round thought she had Aisha figured out thinking she could only kick, but then Aisha started to punch.
Hard.
Aisha could knock the wind out of her opponent from one well placed reverse punch that landed right in the liver.
"Well done Ms. Robinson good job!" cheered Johnny, applauding from the judge's box from an easy three to nothing win for Aisha.
Tory bumped gloves with the girl Aisha just beat and Kim Da Eun watched Tory win her next fight six to nothing.
Aisha was wide eyed for a moment at the degree of precision, speed, and technique, Tory had gained from years in karate.
Tory fixed her blue gloves while being awarded an easy jab punch to the face and the match continued.
Aka tried round kicking Tory in the back for an easy two points but Tory barely had to evade to dodge.
Tory had footwork on a completely different level, score linearly or even off any angle.
Her opponent would start striking and Tory had already evaded moving left or right around the ring, dodged, or already hit her opponent with a kick.
Tory wasn't that much faster than any of the girls in her division, she just moved differently, and she saw the ring differently.
A member of the USA national team noticed right away that veterans had only scored two points on Tory in the two rounds she'd won. And she had scored well over eleven.
Robby Keene found his footing quickly, he moved like his father Johnny Lawrence and his Sensei Daniel LaRusso combined.
He could kick like his father, counter and punch like Daniel.
The matches weren't like the All Valley as there were no knife hands strikes or chops allowed, but other than that the rules were very similar, the points were just different.
Robby began to pull off the front sweep perfectly, and he kept sticking to the reverse punch. Before long, entering the third round, the last before the semi finals, Robby was defeating his opponent by four points or more.
Nobu Kai's top boy fighter was on the backfoot for almost the entire fight.
Robby was ready for him.
He could hook kick or just dodge anything he was attacked with, and could measure his distance perfectly.
Hawk was silently impressed, nodding as he watched from a nearby ring as Lucas and Kreese went over strategy with his team. Lucas struck his palm repeatedly to accentuate his words, Doug Rickenberger and several other Cobra Kai boys listened attentively.
All of them lost in the quarter finals however, all of them but Hawk.
Aisha in the semi finals had a match an entire section of the stands began to watch.
She was matched against the champion from the prior year who was wearing Ao gear. By now, Aisha had found her rhythm so much that she was barely nervous when Johnny told her it would be the toughest match so far.
Aisha didn't sweat her, but her opponent was more than ready for her.
They earned a warning for not truly committing to an attack against each other, and then the fight really began.
Aisha threw a pair of punches over the top towards Ao's face, and before Ao could counter, Aisha hit her so hard the entire stands winced and 'Oooh'd' for a moment.
Aisha's round kick had struck Ao on the back, right above the belt as hard as Aisha could muster.
After that point, Aisha and Ao both kept their nerve. And they left it all on the mat.
Aisha ended up winning that fight seven points to five, and walked away with a second place finish or higher as Ao had placed third.
Tory's own semi finals mirrored Hawk's and Robby's. Their opponents had gotten mostly lucky with their matchups, and while they possessed some skill, it wasn't much compared to theirs.
Robby, Hawk, Tory, and Aisha had all beaten the very best karatekas in the country in sparring.
Now they'd decide who were the champions.
…
Derek Custis was the current USA National team member for the 84+ kg division. He was sitting next to a retired Sensei live streaming the matches ringside as they spoke.
"These fights today have been something else. These young men and women have really made me freaking proud. Freaking, proud." Derek chuckled. "Even a few of the semi finalists have really shown their stuff today. Good stuff everywhere." he shrugged.
"I'm honestly expecting Moskowitz to win this next match. He's got the one and only Lucas Schwarber in his corner, he's been on fire all of these rounds. I'm expecting a very decent win for him here."
Derek spoke calmly into his microphone. "This is actually one of the only times in my career I've seen two finalists be from the same city, let alone the same state."
"I even heard they were part of the same dojo at one point." the retired Sensei said.
"Wow. Talk about a final match."
Derek waited for a second, sipping from a water bottle while the crowd cheered.
"Alright. There they are."
Robby and Hawk were bowing onto the mat. Hawk was red side, judge's right, Aka, and Robby on the judge's left wearing blue gear, Ao.
Daniel was coaching Aisha so Johnny insisted he coach his own son for the final.
Robby and Hawk bowed in, touched gloves and the referee started the match.
"Hachime!" he called out as loudly as he could.
Hawk and Robby were in orthodox, left hand and foot forward, only on the balls of their feet, measuring the distance between them.
Derek tilted his head slightly. "When you get to the really advanced competition, this tends to happen. The dance."
Robby faked a jab, Hawk didn't even flinch.
They kept bouncing around the ring, faking a few kicks, a few punches, nothing was being committed too.
The referee was a tall African American man with a strong booming voice.
"Yameeee!"
Robby and Hawk stopped bouncing in their stances, and returned to their lines.
The center judge rolled his hands in a circle, indicating a passivity penalty. Robby and Hawk had used the first twenty seconds of their three minute match to not try to score a single point on each other.
The clock was stopped, a Category 2 penalty counted for both of them and the fight continued.
"Hai!"
Robby tried pressuring Hawk more, trying to push him near the edge of the ring.
Hawk faked a round kick, and the moment his foot touched the ground again, Robby attacked.
He rushed forward with a reverse punch to the face. Hawk tried standing his ground, dodging or blocking but Robby had closed the distance quickly enough and with good enough technique to score.
In a split second, Robby connected his palm to Hawk's wrist just beneath his glove and shifted it aside, punching Hawk in the jaw in one movement.
The blow was strong, Hawk's head shook for a moment, but not hard enough to violate contact. It was a perfect score.
"Aiiiiiiii!" Robby kiai'd at the top of his lungs.
"Yame!"
Blue flags were shown at waist level by three judges.
Shannon cheered and Johnny applauded. "Good good good. Perfect!"
"Ao, jodan zuki yuko! Ao, Senshu!"
Lucas spoke loudly from the side lines. "If that reverse punch is there you gotta be ready to start using those counters! You know what to do when he comes in like that!"
"Oss." Hawk whispered beneath his breath, his Sensei was a world champ, he couldn't let him down.
"Hachime!"
Robby tried pressuring Hawk again but he started to move around the ring now, keeping his hands up.
Robby saw an opportunity to try to score on Hawk as he transitioned between parts of the ring, but was completely out of range.
Lucas called out calmly. "Yes, perfect, find that opening. Take your time Hawk, you got two and a half minutes here."
Hawk planted his feet, Robby drew a little bit closer.
Hawk faked an attack loudly, hitting the mat so strongly there was a pop and kiai.
It was enough to make Robby back off with his hands up for a second and the boys started the circle game of dancing around each other for a little bit.
Hawk eventually got Robby antsy enough wondering when he'd make his move to try his own. Robby committed completely to a reverse punch to the ribs, leaping forward across the mat and hitting the mat loudly.
He kiai'd, dropped onto one knee and drove his hips forward in a circular motion.
Hawk bounced away bouncing around the mat to his left, barely blocking, frustrating Robby slightly that he couldn't connect at all.
Hawk's strategy became clear, but it wasn't to Johnny.
Robby knew Hawk was down and should attack soon. However, Hawk was letting Robby plant himself and try to attack first, but he was always one step ahead. Sneaking in a counter with his front leg to try to move Robby off his position and then use his footwork to move away.
Finally after thirty second of baiting Robby in different parts of the ring, Hawk made his move.
Robby was hit so hard in the chest that he flew back for a moment. Robby attempted to rush Hawk throwing punches to his face and Hawk spun, using his right foot to unload everything he had into a back kick.
Robby blocked just in time but Hawk's foot still made contact with his chest and had connected well enough to clearly do damage.
It was enough for the judges, red flags were raised at half level by almost every judge, and the sound of the blow echoed throughout the arena.
"Yeahhhh!" roared Mikey.
The Cobra Kai team was off their feet, cheering.
"Let's gooo!" Doug Rickenberger rubbed Kenny's head, whose final match had been delayed due to software and personnel issues in his ring.
Lucas applauded calmly. "Yes. Now hands, hands, hands. Kicks later."
Johnny shook his head. "He clearly blocked." he muttered. "It's alright Robby!"
"Aka. Chuuudan geri. Wazari!"
Hawk was ahead by one point, but Robby held the advantage from scoring first that if they tied he'd win.
"Tsugite! Hachime!"
Robby and Hawk resumed the fight, faking a little bit, and it was clear both of them wanted to score the next point.
Derek squinted at the boys. "So when's it coming? Who will make the first move-"
The fight had barely been back for five seconds when Hawk attempted to jab Robby in the face as he moved around the edge of the ring.
Robby dodged and managed to catch Hawk's GI by his shoulder with one hand, and before Hawk could slip away, Robby threw a round kick at full power to Hawk's back. However, Hawk had landed again on the ground and tried dodging while block.
With a gigantic 'SMACK' Robby's foot connected directly on Hawk's lower forearm close to his elbow.
It actually ended up hurting Robby more than it hurt Hawk, but the blow was close enough to pause the match.
"Yame!"
Only one judge raised a blue flag to indicate wazari, or two points for a kick to the torso for Robby.
Johnny could tell a point wouldn't be given. "Uh. Challenge!" he said awkwardly.
An official walked over from the judges table. "Are you using your review card?"
"Um. Sure?" Johnny said.
The judges used cameras that were set up around the ring to see if Robby's kick had scored or if it missed.
It took about a minute and eventually a red card was raised labeled 'No.'
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief and Johnny's knee almost began to bounce.
"Tsugite, hachime!"
Hawk kept his distance after that blow, Robby's right foot felt like it had a dent directly in the bone, but he fought through it.
Hawk clearly was on the backfoot for a bit, and Robby found his opening.
Even with an injured foot, Robby hit Hawk with a perfect combo.
As Hawk was backing up and dancing around the ring yet again. Robby made him back up further and block as he went for another reverse punch to the body with his right, and shifted into the same strike.
He popped his right leg forward, and twisted his entire body into a punch to the chest with his left.
It landed flush on Hawk's stomach, right above the belt line.
"Yame!"
"Yesss!" hissed Johnny.
"Ao chudan zuki yuko! Hachime!"
Lucas shook his head, sighing.
It quickly became clear to both him and Derek that neither Hawk nor Robby was quicker than each other. Neither possessed a clear edge in speed or physical strength or endurance, and they were of similar height.
Hawk was slightly taller, but not enough to have a significant reach advantage.
In the few occasions they grappled when one missed a punch and they were at close range, neither could sweep each other to the floor.
It got to the point where Hawk was given a second warning 'Keikoku' for accidentally grabbing Robby with two hands during a clinch.
After the equivalent of a karate stalemate for nearly forty five seconds, Hawk broke the monotony with an attack he'd practiced to the point he could do it in his sleep.
With Robby in orthodox, Hawk switched instantly into southpaw and threw a round kick to the chest.
Hawk knew Robby would back up, but the round kick wasn't meant to score as a round kick. It was a hook kick in disguise.
As Robby dodged, Hawk had the flexibility, leg strength, and timing to switch his left leg into a hook kick, and he wrapped his foot around Robby's guard and leapt across the mat on one leg.
His foot nearly touched Robby's temple, but he backed away quickly enough in time.
"Whoo!" Rickenberger applauded.
Kenny smiled, cheering and nodding too. "That's it. That's it!"
The movement of Robby's head backing away as quickly as he could from a very sharp hook kick was enough to make one judge raise a red flag as high as they could to indicate a three point score.
The match wasn't stopped until Lucas had a yellow card in his judge's box he raised to hand to an official.
A referee blew a whistle and the center judge spoke. "Yame!"
Both boys returned to their lines to await the decision.
The judges spent two full minutes discussing the footage of Hawk's hook kick.
In tournaments across America, that was a full score, or ippon. However, the rules clearly had defined contact limits for any advanced division.
Hawk however, had shown perfect control, timing, and awareness, as well as technique during his attack.
After much debate, a judge raised a green card labeled 'Yes' and he raised a hand from the table to indicate Ippon.
Johnny covered his face with a sigh as the Cobra Kai side of the stands erupted into cheers shaking the walls of the arena.
"Aka. Joooodan geri. Ippon!" Hawk bowed to his left to accept three points from the judges for his kick to the head.
The entire match had changed after one scored.
Robby had scored first and was tied with Hawk two points to two. And it was basically over. He was down five to two with a minute and fifteen seconds left on the clock.
He had time, but Hawk was still ready for him. What would he do? Things were looking pretty grim.
Robby's heart sank when he turned back and saw his father sink his head into his hands as if it was already over.
Lucas was talking to Hawk, the referee wanted the match to continue but the boys were talking.
"Forget the scoreboard. Pretend you're still tied, stay focused!"
"Oss!" Hawk said proudly, balling his fists beneath his gloves for a moment.
After a warning was given to Lucas for interrupting the match, as the center judge walked forward slightly and tapped a finger to his lips, Lucas nodded and raised an apologetic hand, staying quiet.
Robby could hear nothing but his breathing for a moment. How could the match be only halfway through but already be over?
If Hawk scored three more points the match would be ended automatically!
"Hachime!"
Robby then shot off his line as if he was a man possessed.
Hawk took Lucas' advice to heart and instead of running around the ring to try to preserve his lead for the next minute and a half, stepped forward off his mark to try to pressure Robby little by little again.
It proved to be a mistake.
While Hawk blocked the kick in time, Robby had swung with two much energy.
He had literally flown across the ring as hard as he could, swinging his entire body into the round kick.
Robby's left leg wrapped past Hawk's front hand, his left, and struck Hawk so hard in the solar plexus he doubled over.
"Kiaiiiiiiiiiii-"
"YAME!"
Lucas looked away, shaking his head for a moment.
All four judges had more than enough information to declare wazari.
Robby was given two points for his kick, and by the time Hawk had recovered from having the wind knocked all the way back to California, the score was five to four, with Hawk ahead by just one point.
Lucas then bought time for himself to strategize, giving a signal to Hawk to start running, to stay close enough to not get a warning, but far away enough to not let Robby score. At worst he'd be given Hansoku Chui if he was foolish enough to run out of the ring, or the third warning, but it wouldn't matter since Hawk didn't have the Senshu advantage to lose.
For the next twenty seconds, Hawk and Robby traded fakes and returned to the circling footwork game. The only reason the judge didn't give them another warning was because Hawk threw a strong and committed round kick to Robby's back that he blocked completely and clearly.
Lucas then revealed his strategy. "You gotta forget about kicks Hawk! You're only three points away! Little by little, work that yuko in there!"
Johnny was yelling loudly. "Pressure pressure pressure!"
Again, the judge warned Johnny to quiet down.
Hawk was confused with his coach's strategy.
Kicks were worth two or three points, punches only one. One clean front sweep and strike or head kick and Hawk wouldn't have to worry about the fight anymore.
"Hai!"
Robby and Hawk kept fighting and the cheers continued.
Cobra Kai's boys started to cheer, yelling cheers, praise, and suggestions.
Robby circled Hawk for a bit, planted his feet, and tried a back kick.
Hawk parried, moving aside, then planting his feet as well.
Bouncing only slightly, Hawk and Robby inched towards each other slightly.
Hawk then struck first, going for a reverse punch to the body, Robby moved just barely out of range for it to miss and dove right back in returning the same strikes.
Hawk began to move back but was caught with the same left hand reverse punch directly to the body.
It practically made a hole in Hawk's chest and the match was paused.
"Yame!"
Hawk shook his head, the match was now tied. How!? How was Lucas' strategy not working?
"Ao. Chudan zuki. Yuko! Tsugeteeee! Hachime!"
Hawk stayed focused, keeping his hands up, and kept putting on pressure on Robby.
He flicked his front leg into a round kick that Robby blocked, but used the closed distance as his left foot dropped back down again to dash forward across the mat snap a reverse punch with his right directly to Robby's ribcage before he could block.
Robby tied it up too, he circled Hawk for a little bit as well and then managed to score a jab directly on Hawk's nose, again with perfect control and timing.
The match was six points to six, and there were only twenty seven seconds left on the clock.
Neither of the two boys were tired at all.
They tried a few sweeps, hoping to secure a nine to six victory in their favor, however it just wasn't working for either of them.
Lucas kept giving advice, so did Johnny, the stands were full of cheers almost every second and then a buzzer rang loudly.
A bean bag was tossed between Robby and Hawk as they were still sparring.
"Yame!"
Hawk barely panted, looking over at the scoreboard.
It was still six points to six, Robby had won by the tie breaker.
They had tied, Hawk knew Robby had outfought him and silently agreed with the judges.
"Ao, nokachi!"
The crowd was off their feet as Hawk and Robby shook hands and tapped each other on the shoulder.
…
After Shannon took the picture of Robby with his first place gold medal, Hawk with his silver medal, and the Nobu-Kai and Colorado fighters with bronze both in third place, Hawk was in the locker room area for all male competitors by himself.
Kreese found him there and walked up to him.
"Not bad at all kid." Kreese looked around the empty locker room and then at him.
"Yeah. Right." Hawk shook his head, rubbing his thumb over the silver medal.
Kreese sat down next to him. "You made me proud."
"I let a guy who abandoned our friend group beat us."
Kreese shrugged. "I actually thought you did fine, it was your coach that needed work."
"Really?"
Kreese nodded. "I was watching the whole thing. Luke messed up the majority of his calls."
"But he challenged a score and got me three points."
Kreese scoffed. "No, I'm talking about everything else. Anyone in their right mind would've told you to keep your distance from Robby and to let him come to you. Luke just made a call that bad because he's pretty new at coaching. He's one hell of a fighter, but brand new at coaching."
"My sweeps weren't there. I was so close-"
"It's the hardest technique to pull off in karate." said Kreese as he put a hand on Hawk's shoulder. "Hey. You fought incredibly well, you gotta move on. Go to the next."
"What about. Defeat, does not exist, in this dojo? Isn't Robby supposed to be some sort of traitor?"
Kreese shook his head. "You're becoming a young man soon. If you make the same mistake I did and let karate ruin your life. You'll end up in jail. Or worse. Teaching karate for a living."
Hawk laughed at this while Kreese merely gave a wrinkled grin.
Hawk smiled. "Thanks Sensei."
Kreese looked around the locker room again and then back at Hawk. "Now Custis and almost every USA karate team member watching had their eyes on you for that match. Robby did great but, it's clear the two of you are cut from a cloth different than anyone else."
"Never forget that. You understand me?"
"Yes Sensei," Hawk said.
They stood up off the locker room bench and bowed to one another.
When they hugged there wasn't pride in Hawk's eyes.
There was anger.
…
Hawk was not around for Kenny's final match.
Lucas watched Kenny beat his opponent eight points to nothing. Everyone realized very fast that the only tough opponent Kenny had in his division he already beat in the earlier rounds.
Kenny and Robby had taken first place, Hawk second. And now Aisha and Tory were about to spar.
The girls bowed in, and mostly the entire arena was watching.
The other fights had pretty much already been finished, and there was an unspoken word within the arena: the girls fought harder than the boys.
They weren't necessarily stronger or faster, but they certainly fought like they had more to prove instead of just treating it like a sporting match.
Tory was on Ao, coached by Silver, and Aisha Aka, coached by Johnny Lawrence.
He was looking at a very solid three gold medals for all of his competitors if Aisha could repeat her victory from the All Valley.
"Okay ladies on your lines." a short balding Latino American man with wide glasses and a black beard, and a gold USA karate pin on his blue-ish black sports jacket spoke.
Tory and Aisha bowed onto the mat, bowed to each other and the ref.
Tory ignored Aisha's offer to bump gloves when she reached across the mat with her left hand.
Silver barely nodded at this while the middle referee didn't blink an eye.
"Shobu Hachime!"
As the girls began to circle each other, Tory's blonde ponytail danced in the air a little bit.
Aisha wasn't wearing glasses, instead she had contact lenses and her hair was cut short. It was clear the weight she had cut had allowed her to maintain better stamina for the three entire minute fights she had leading up to the match.
The dozens of girls from Cobra Kai cheered from the sidelines.
"Come on Tory!"
"Go Tory!"
"Let's go Tory!"
"Come on Tory!"
Neither girl made a move at first, but Tory absolutely refused to fall into the same trap the boys did earlier.
She sprung off her front leg into a strong round kick to the body that smacked loudly off Aisha's hand.
Screeching loudly, Tory kept rushing Aisha and scored a punch right on her face throwing multiple punches.
"Counter that Robinson, counter that!" Aisha nodded at Johnny's advice.
"Ao, jodan zuki. Yuko!" Tory bowed to accept the referee's point. "Ao, Senshu. Hachime!"
Aisha began to pressure Tory more, trying to force her to move laterally around the ring.
The moment she did Tory was smacked directly in the arm with a very powerful round kick.
Aisha roared, but Tory didn't so much as wince.
Only one corner judge considered it a score, but both Johnny and the judges didn't blink an eye.
As the red flag at half level for Aisha was tucked away, Tory pressured Aisha back.
Then Aisha used the exact same head kick attack Hawk used on Robby, to equal effect.
Aisha started by moving forward a little, and dragging her rear leg, her right, as if she was throwing a round kick to the body.
It missed as Tory evaded merely moving backward, but as she tried to move forward and try to score on Aisha again with her punches, Aisha had dragged her whole body forward across the mat off her left foot with Yoro-ashi, or the forward dash on one foot, and a hook kick struck Tory right in the face.
Aisha's parents cheered loudly, as did Chozen and Daniel from the stands, Robby cheered the loudest, still wearing his gold medal around his shoulders.
Unlike Hawk's score, Tory was hit with contact, so hard that her head whipped back for a moment and her ponytail flicked in the air to indicate contact had been made.
Two flags fluttered upwards for a moment, both red, and high in the air.
Contact was not violated as Tory wasn't injured in the slightest.
"Aka. Jodan geri, ippon!"
Aisha had to bow a little lower, she was even taller than the small man who was judging the match.
"Hachime!"
Tory was started to get heated, but still made it clear she had no desire to return the favor because her face was still completely devoid of any emotion.
She faked an attack, easily evaded an attempt from Aisha to start rushing an attack.
And suddenly, Tory hit the mat so loudly a pop was heard from her mat striking the floor.
She jumped over an entire meter long mat puzzle square and twisted her body into her reverse punch to the body with her right fist.
Aisha parried, but a split second later Tory had hit her with a jab square in the jaw.
Aisha's head shook powerfully as Tory kiai'd at the top of her lungs. Tory shrieked so loudly the entire arena's light cheers were almost drown out.
Aisha walked back to her line as Johnny spoke. "It's okay Robinson, just shake it off. Shake it off."
The judge turned and walked in front of Aisha.
"You alright?" he indicated Aisha could take her mouth guard out to talk.
Aisha did so and nodded. "Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Mhm."
The referee nodded and returned to his spot.
"Yuko!" the judge gave Tory a point since it was clear Tory had just barely controlled her strike and Aisha wasn't injured in the slightest.
"Hachime!"
Aisha was starting to fight so close to Tory now she was being inched backward and backward.
"Angle angle angle. Move laterally Nichols." Silver said quietly from his judge's box as the crowd kept cheering.
Tory could hear her teammates roar in the stands for her, she was only behind by one point.
Aisha faked an attack from mid range and successfully drew a counter.
Tory kiai'd as she threw a side kick but Aisha just had to block lazily to draw herself closer and grab her leg.
Aisha's sweep was successful, but more on the aggressive and powerful side than technical.
Tory was lifted into the air by one hand for a moment, and hung by the shirt of her white GI momentarily.
The crowd gasped quietly from how hard Tory hit the mat with a resounding 'POP.'
Aisha's first punch missed as Tory was rolling slightly across the mat, but had to avoid striking again as Tory's foot flew around and almost struck Aisha in the eye.
Lucas winced, frowning.
"The girls are fighting fuckin' hard." Rickenberger said to himself as Mikey nodded.
"Mhm!"
Lucas was silent, watching quietly.
"Yame!"
No flags were raised for Aisha.
She could've nearly scored two ippons in a row and led the match six points to two, but her technique had been sloppy due to Aisha's fear of Tory slipping away when grabbed from how quick she was.
Johnny knew enough about this newer modern style of karate to not challenge the judge's decision. Aisha just didn't follow up her sweep with a clean strike of any kind.
Aisha walked back to her line as the referee could see Tory wasn't getting up.
He spoke to Tory quietly and then signaled to stop the match and get a medic over.
The crowd couldn't tell, but Tory had clearly hurt her foot or her leg. Not likely from Aisha hitting her, but from how she had landed.
A medic helped Tory to her feet, and then the crowd applauded as Tory was walked off to the locker room.
…
Silver and Kim were talking to a nurse who was lightly rubbing Tory's ankle as she sat on a doctor's table.
"Is she alright?" asked Silver.
The medic shook her head. "It's a very strong ankle sprain. I think she rolled over it when she fell."
"So can she keep fighting?"
"I don't know if this counts as a foul or not." the medic said. "But I don't think she's in any state to walk properly for a day or two. Let alone fight."
Silver took a deep breath. "Give us the room."
Tory hissed, rubbing the ice where the medic had helped wrap her ankle slightly.
"It doesn't hurt that bad. They gave me twenty minutes, maybe I can still go out before then."
Kim spoke, arms crossed. "What do we do?"
Silver shrugged. "It hurts terribly."
Tory was surprised. "What?"
"Robinson fouled you," said Silver. "Whether or not the judges thought it was a contact violation is irrelevant. If she attacked, and you can't continue. I can make a challenge for Hansoku, and Robinson will be eliminated. That's an automatic gold medal for you Nichols, good enough for me."
"Me too." Kim shrugged. "The greatest victories never required a fight."
"But I think I can still fight. Isn't that cheating?" asked Tory.
Silver shook his head. "No. It's called adaptive strategy."
"I agree with him."
Everyone turned, Lucas was leaning on the doorway.
"A win is a win." Lucas said. "Listen to your Senseis."
"You're not her Sensei Schwarber." Silver said. "And you shouldn't be back here."
Lucas showed his badge. "I'm a coach."
"But not her coach," said Silver. "Do I need to get security?"
"Do you?" Lucas responded quietly.
Tory spoke out. "Stop."
Everyone in the medic's room turned to her.
"It's fine. Give us a moment."
Kim glared at Tory silently before she and Silver closed the door behind her.
Tory and Lucas shared an awkward silence, it would be the first words they'd be sharing in the months since they broke up.
"How are Yas and Moon doing?" asked Tory bitterly, her ankle still laying in a small brace.
"I haven't talked to them since the summer so. I wouldn't know."
"But during that summer you were-"
"Yup." Lucas nodded. "I was. But that's over. And so were we before that happened, you were free to date whoever you wanted this whole semester."
Tory nodded back. "But I didn't."
Lucas frowned. "You didn't."
Tory sniffed. "Why are you here?"
"To tell you not to fight. Your Sensei can make the decision for you, but don't fight it. A win is a win." Lucas repeated.
"Is it?" Tory squinted.
Lucas stayed quiet.
"Not this one. You can push for a penalty but if the challenge is denied. You'll look terrible. And have to fight on pretty bad ground. On the other hand, if you refuse to fight and Aisha isn't penalized, you can also be given Nikkei for being unable to continue. Aisha would win automatically."
Tory nodded. "So what should I do? You're a world champ. You should make the call."
"I've already told you-"
"You just told me something more important." Tory interrupted calmly. "Now again. What should I do?"
Lucas sighed. "I can help you. Don't know how much it will work, but I can help you."
"Help me what?"
"I can use an old Miyagi-Do technique. I've only ever seen it happen, Mr. LaRusso technically never taught it to me. There's a chance it might not even work."
"What is it?"
"Reiki. Now, can I try it?"
"Sure."
Loudly, Lucas held his hands out and then smacked them loudly together.
He began to rub his hands.
…
Tory was almost limping out of the locker room. It was clear her ankle was a little bit stronger after the rest she was given.
Silver merely shook his head disappointedly and shrugged when Tory walked back to her line.
There was pain whenever Tory put weight on her left foot, but not nearly as much as there was when she got injured.
The judge made sure Tory was ready to continue fighting, and then placed his hands together to indicate a contact penalty.
Every judge seated crossed their flags together.
"Chukoku!"
Because Tory could still clearly continue but was still injured, Aisha was given a warning, but nothing else.
The crowd roared in appreciation for Tory and then the fight continued.
Immediately it became evident how much her ankle affected her fighting.
Tory's footwork was more shifty, she'd lean back and forth to create bounce of up and down at all.
Tory would lean back and forth, instead of hopping.
She also fought more in southpaw, putting more weight on her right leg instead of her left to fight.
And despite Aisha still trying her best and not going easy at all even though she hurt Tory, it worked. Tory scored with a jab punch right on Aisha's mouth with perfect control.
"Yame!"
"Ao. Jodan zuki! Yuko!"
Tory was tied with Aisha, three points to three, but with a minute and forty five seconds left, she'd win by Senshu.
"Hachime!"
Aisha threw a round kick off the line, it popped off Tory's glove. She kept ignoring all the pain in her left foot, and she had a brilliant idea.
Her right foot could support all her weight, but only her left ankle was hurt. The blade of her foot could still take a hit right.
Her round kick was blocked but it still put some pressure on Aisha.
Aisha was figuring what Tory was doing, but had no response.
Her side kick and round kick wasn't working, and she wasn't fast enough to move laterally around the ring to evade strikes in time.
Tory threw a jab punch and reverse punch combination, scoring with her left hand to Aisha's chest.
"Yeaaaaah!" roared Piper.
The Cobra Kai girls yelled in support of Tory, all of them cheering.
At four to three with Tory leading, Johnny yelled advice. "Start punching Robinson! Use your hands!"
Aisha started to throw punches but Tory had thrown a back kick, again using her left to have her body be supported by her right foot.
Aisha blocked and kept rushing, but before both girls could do anything else, they were tangled up in the clinch.
Both made sure to not grab with more than one hand to not be penalized and then the referee spoke. "Yame!"
He then continued the match afterward, and neither Tory nor Aisha could connect with anything.
After only a minute of fighting, the pain in Tory's foot started to creep back.
But because of the adrenaline and the brace the medic had put, she didn't care. The only way they were going to take Tory off the mat was if they physically stopped her.
If Aisha stopped her.
Tory missed a hook kick and Aisha danced around the edge of the ring, shuffling calmly.
Tory then began to draw herself closer to Aisha, and she fell into a trap the boys had fallen into during their match.
Aisha started to jab but all Tory had to do was drop onto a knee and reverse punch at full speed, Aisha's jab would fly nowhere close to Tory's head and Tory's punch would score.
It hurt terribly as it included putting more weight on her front leg, her left, but she was given another point.
In the last twenty seconds, Aisha's parents watched desperately as their daughter tried clawing back for the lead.
Aisha did find a great jab to the head to counter a kick Tory began to throw, but at five points to four with Tory leading with the Senshu advantage and one point, it was soon over.
"Yame!"
"Ao. Kach!"
…
I was walking back to my room when I heard a voice.
"The fuck man?"
I turned. "Hawk? Dude you missed Tory's fight she won-"
"How could you coach me like that? I had that win in the bag."
"First off. Now you didn't."
Hawk scoffed. "Oh the great Lucas Schwarber could've done so much better! You should've fought him."
"Hawk what's wrong man? What's up?"
"I wanted to win. I wanted to beat Robby so badly dude."
I sighed. "Who put this pressure on you dude? I didn't. I wanted you to win and so did Sensei Kreese but-"
"I put it on myself." Hawk said. "You can coach someone else for a change. Because I'll never be on your team."
He handed me his silver medal.
I spoke slowly and shocked. "Eli-"
"Don't, call me that. I'm taking a break from Cobra Kai man. Gotta think some things through."
I sighed. "Dude-"
"We lost Luke. We lost our first ever tournament, how could you fucking let me down like this."
I shook my head. "Hawk I swear I coached you the best I could. If it meant that much to you, you were so close maybe Sensei Kreese could've coached you and you could've eeked out a win."
"I don't care." Hawk shook his head. "I don't care we only had one more semester before we all go our separate ways. But I think I'm done with this karate bullshit."
"The Hawk I know doesn't throw in the towel after one loss. Defeat does not exist."
Hawk leaned forward a little, nodding to the medal in my hand. "Pretty sure it does. And since Cobra Kai doesn't seem to understand that does, I'm finished with it."
"My guy, no one's mad at you over this loss."
"I'm mad at myself. For once can someone from our dojo win a tournament who's not you or Aisha?"
"Tory won."
Hawk sighed. "I meant a guy."
Hawk began to walk away. "Where are you going man?"
"Just leave me alone dog."
"Dude!"
Hawk ignored me.
"Dude come on!"
I sighed, going back into my hotel room.
A few hours and he'd forget about all this shit.
…
Turns out. He just didn't.
He wasn't answering my Snapchats. Even my texts.
My team was not in a good mood at least not with me. I highly suspected Cobra Kai was celebrating, having a night on the town here in Chicago, just without me.
And I didn't blame them.
Shawn and his parents were in really high spirits, and everyone was happy for them as Kenny literally just beat the highest division for his age in the entire country at just purple belt. But the loss to Robby was crushing.
Sensei Kreese coached Kenny the entire time, and I coached Hawk. The results spoke for themselves in this case.
I passed my hand over the silver medal Hawk had earned.
He should've been proud of this. Me and the boys should all be out there with Kenny and his family, celebrating.
But Hawk just had to fight Robby.
If he had lost to anyone else, fighting that well, no one would trip.
I sighed. "Fuck." I put the silver medal away and heard a knock at the door.
Hopefully, it was Hawk coming to his senses.
Oddly, it was Tory.
She looked up from the ground, her hair was out of her ponytail for the night.
"We should talk." she said.
I nodded. "Yeah."
I closed the door behind her and she sat in a chair by a small desk my hotel room had. I sat on the edge of my bed.
"That a neat little trick you did," Tory said. "You made me believe my ankle was actually healed."
"Did it work?"
She showed me her first place medal. "You tell me."
"Aisha had a good chance today. You really toughed out that injury."
Tory nodded. "Yeah."
There was silence between us. This is what happens when you don't talk to someone for almost five months.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"No. This was supposed to be Cobra Kai's debut as a team. And I fucked up."
"I honestly think we fucked up when we split the dojo up." Tory said.
I agreed completely.
"Tory I'm so, so sorry for making out with Yas back then. And I-"
"Luke it's okay. I um, I was being petty and jealous. It's just hard when every single girl you meet seems to like your boyfriend."
I chuckled embarrassedly.
"Are you sharing a room with Piper and Devon or something?"
Tory smirked. "Why, you want to get back together properly?"
I would've loved that. But it wasn't what I had in mind.
"No. I want to talk to you, I want to catch up over all of these weeks with you. What you've been up to, what you're thinking of doing after we all graduate. Everything."
Tory nodded. "Okay."
She then stood up and sat in my lap. "I think I might go to community college. But wherever I go, I want to go with you."
"Tory we're discussing something serious here-"
Tory cut me off with a kiss on the lips.
I missed this girl so much it had actually hurt at one point.
I gulped, Tory smiled. "I missed you Lu. This karate shit got between us and it honestly wasn't worth it."
"Yeah." I admitted.
"I love you," she whispered.
I spoke back as we started to kiss without a gasp of air between us.
"I love you." I exasperated.
We proceeded to make love like it was our last day on earth.
…
Afterward, I traced my hand along the smoothness of Tory's long back.
She was looking into my eyes, smiling softly, both of us in the afterglow cuddled up naked together.
Now this, this was somehow better than being with Yasmine and Moon.
Because those girls might've been attached to me at one point, but I knew for a fact Tory was in love with me, and I with her.
She was so strong and beautiful, and earlier tonight, she had taken home a national karate championship.
John Kreese was right.
Even though they were the same age as Tory, Moon and Yas, Charlotte for that matter too, were all girls I had dated.
Tory was a young woman.
Tory wasn't more emotionally mature as Moon sure, but I felt more in tune with Tory. Not just because of the karate aspect, but because Tory felt like she had a stronger more loyal heart.
Sure Moon might wait around a few years after highschool, but knowing who she was, was she going to go through all of college just to date me?
I wasn't going to be equally as famous or desired on a college campus as much as I was on a high school campus. This issue was equally magnified with Yasmine, who had the potential to be a gigantic entrepreneur as she was incredibly wealthy, ambitious, and above all, intelligent.
Tory was a simpler girl sure, but I felt like deep down I think she wanted to figure out who I'd grow to be. She was that patient.
Tory brushed a thumb by my chin. "I know you were upset your team didn't win today but-"
I sighed. "Understatement. My entire team lost, only Kenny won. And guess who was coaching him?"
Tory chuckled. "Sensei Kreese was a Sensei since your mom was in highschool okay? Cut yourself some slack."
"Wish I could. Hawk cut myself so little he quit the damn dojo."
"His loss." Tory smiled. "You know what I think is, sooo sexy?"
"What?"
"A guy feeling incredibly sorry for himself."
I chuckled nervously.
"No, I'm serious. Everyone knows who you are, tonight's been the only night where your boys stopped the whole frat boy vibe around you. It brings you down to earth."
I smiled, I missed this side of Tory.
She genuinely enjoyed sharing insecurities. She wasn't as brash or strong as she was made out to be.
Of course I had known her very well for years by now, and we were currently in bed alone together.
"Does it bother you I sought you know. Comfort with Moon and Yas the weeks after we broke up?"
She nodded. "Totally. You hooked up with your exes the minute I was gone but um. I knew you did it cause you were hurting."
"Why didn't you find anyone?"
Tory shrugged. "I wanted to. I wanted to just, leave us behind forget we ever happened. But I knew I wouldn't be able to."
"Same. I wanted to feel better after what happened, to heal, but I don't think I ever would."
Tory yawned. "Well. That sex was amazing."
I chuckled calmly at this.
I had gotten a whole summer's worth of practice and Tory was sleepy.
She smiled at me, resting her head on my shoulder. "I'll try to sneak back to my room with Piper in the morning before she figures out where I was."
"Aren't the girls gonna want to celebrate your first place finish?"
"They're pretty distracted by Piper's first place in kata." said Tory. "Plus, I gave them some bullshit excuse. It'll be fine."
"Will it?"
"No but. I don't care what they think." Tory shook her head. "I don't care what anyone thinks of us. Your parents, our friends. Anybody. Fuck 'em, I love you Luke."
I kissed her. "Love ya too Tory."
I think that was the moment I realized I probably would never love anyone again as much as I loved Tory Nichols.
Because the sentiment was returned for sure.
"Sensei Silver wanted me to actually hurt Aisha during our match. Actually hurt her."
"That's bothering you…now?" I asked in surprise.
"Actually. It is." Tory muttered. "I feel bad for her."
She had quite a heart.
Tory had the breasts and hips already to grow into such a good mother, and the warm heart and strength to protect my kids.
I know at seventeen it was a little early to think about such things, but as I passed my hands over such incredible said curves, I don't think I'd ever find someone like her who could ever become such a great partner.
In life or otherwise.
I kissed her deeply and Tory sighed. "Can we figure this all out in the morning? I'm so tired."
"Sure. We'll do it, we'll do it all. Together Tory."
She smiled at this and nuzzled into me.
…
Twenty years later, Tory and Lucas weren't teenagers sleeping naked in the same bed anymore.
They had full time jobs now.
And woke up mostly clothed.
Near Long Beach, California, Lucas found that starting a life together off the back of selling a karate franchise wasn't enough to support three people for decades.
Cobra Kai simply wasn't worth millions of dollars in the state Lucas sold it for.
It was however more than enough to pay his way through medical school.
Lucas Gregory Mills Schwarber M.D. had found connections through doctors his parents knew to start an Oncology practice.
He worked almost fifty hours a week, but still had enough time to see his family every single day.
Tory Nichols worked from home mainly, helping develop IT projects for municipal and school district sectors.
At the age of thirty eight, Tory became pregnant with their first child.
Their first born son, John Schwarber, was about one year old when Lucas had all but forgotten what karate was like.
It had completely faded into obscurity again.
Instagram barely had any trendy karate or taekwondo posts, in the year 2040, traditional martial arts were few and far between, even in southern California.
Karate schools were around, but no one had started a serious rivalry the likes of Lucas' youth ever.
Lucas had even packed up and stored all of his old medals, pictures, and trophies from his highschool years away.
John Kreese had left behind a legacy, and all that remained of it were some dusty old trophies.
…
Lucas was leaving the hospital after a particularly long shift, and he was starting to show signs of middle age.
He no longer had time to work out and prepare for national and international karate competitions like when he was a young man.
He was a family man, no one from his highschool years but his wife still talked to him.
Lucas rubbed his five o'clock shadow that had practically imprinted itself into his skin and began to walk to his car.
Tory was calling and it was ten thirty PM.
Lucas could hear John cooing quietly over the phone.
Tory spoke, carrying baby John on her arm and her phone in the other. "Hey honey. We just ran out of baby formula."
Lucas rubbed his eyes. "What?"
"Baby formula. Can you go get some more please?"
"Tor we just got some."
Tory sighed putting the empty box of it down. "Well that some wasn't enough. Go get more."
Lucas spoke. "Fine honey. See you in a moment."
…
Lucas was in a convenience store squinting.
Which baby formula did he need?
He texted Tory but she didn't answer. John was fussy sometimes maybe her sleep was off.
Lucas sighed trying to pick the right bottle when five college boys walked into the convenience store.
"My guy I told you I was gonna pipe tonight."
"Duuude you know what to bring!"
The boys fussed over which condoms to buy and Lucas glanced at them.
"What's up gramps?" one of them asked jokingly.
"Nothing," Lucas muttered, with a shrug.
Lucas sighed, walking to the counter and pulling his wallet out.
He paid for the baby formula he hoped was the one he needed and outside he sighed, looking around the crappy run down strip mall and its long cement walkways.
It wasn't in Reseda, still somewhere in Palo Alto, but it reminded him of older times.
The college boys had started an argument, Lucas fixed his jacket as the boys kept speaking.
"What did I say?" one of them barked. "What did I keep saying!?"
"Tyler it's not a big deal!"
"Bruh it is a big deal! You promised me you'd have it ready."
Lucas listened in quietly, apparently the larger of the college boys was coercing their friends into writing some sort of essay or lab report for them.
He kept leaning on a nearby support beam for the roof nearby and Tyler kept his hat pointed backward, pointing at Lucas.
"You got somewhere to be?"
The truth was he should be back with his family, enjoying a nice meal, but he didn't.
"No."
"Cool then find one man." Tyler said. "The fuck outta here."
One of his friends chimed in. "Ain't none of your business gramps."
Lucas squinted. "Okay then. Then back off your buddy."
"Excuse me?"
Tyler sized up. "I'm a karate blue belt dog. You want none of this."
"Oh a blue belt. Impressive." Lucas nodded. "Way to lord that over your friend."
Lucas could tell these boys between eighteen and twenty still had no idea who he was. He was dressed the way most doctors would, very professionally, with a fine suit tucked beneath a long dark overcoat to protect him from the cold.
They were probably from some UC, either Irvine or Riverside, and Lucas was starting to run out of patience.
"Well whatever man. This is still none of your business, get the fuck outta here. Now!"
Lucas tutted. "Not until you agree to back off your friend."
One of the college boys hit his vape. "Dude," he slightly coughed. "Why do you even care?"
"Yeah!"
"Let's just say it strikes a nerve with me to make someone else do your work for you."
"You've gone to college?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah. I'm a licensed Oncologist, learn how to do your own work. Or don't bother your professors."
Tyler waved a hand. "Tsk! Unless you want my dad to buy your hospital tomorrow and leave you without a job you better take a hike pal."
The skinnier college student he was harassing spoke up. "Man he's got a point I don't think I should keep-"
"No one was talking to you Dukie!"
Lucas' eyes widened when he was shoved down to the ground.
"Dukie. Forgot we called Douggie that!"
"Whoa now!"
Lucas raised his voice just enough to get their attention.
"You need to bring it down my friend."
"Oh yeah? Or what? Gonna knock me over with your walker?"
Tyler was half a head taller than Lucas, and clearly was packing some serious muscle beneath his sweatshirt. Lucas on the other hand still was a fully grown adult male starting his middle age, but likely wouldn't last a second against Tyler and his friends.
Lucas smirked. "Let's see some of that karate!"
"Right." Tyler scratched his chin.
He chuckled, exchanging laughs with his friends before turning around.
Lucas was surprised, instead of a random hook punch cheap shot he threw a round kick to the head.
Lucas dodged easily, nodding.
"Not bad. Nice kick. Come on."
Everyone was surprised by what happened.
Lucas started circling Tyler, joking with him. "Come on come on!" he said calmly.
Tyler seemed to take a fighting stance and Lucas had to admit, he wasn't good, but he was clearly trained.
He threw a jab punch, or kizami zuki just like he was sparring for points.
He leaped off his right leg onto his left, trying to pop Lucas in the jaw.
Again, Lucas just moved laterally, barely needing to move his head to dodge.
"Man get him!"
Lucas weaved his head, and the second Tyler started to strike again he walked directly into a back kick right to the chest.
…
Cobra Kai OST: Strike First
…
"Oh man what the fuck?"
Tyler grunted, clearly abandoning any semblance of karate training.
He yelled at the top of his lungs starting to throw a hook punch and Lucas merely tripped him right onto his chin.
His friends had had enough and attacked him.
Two college students, half his age and far stronger, were attacking him at the same time, Lucas still could destroy them.
He threw a reverse punch leaping style just like Tyler did, and while this exposed his back it simultaneously dodged a hook punch from an opponent behind him while disabling a different opponent.
Lucas raised his leg as the college boy again rushed into a back kick, and the fourth frat boy raised his hands, backing away.
"Sorry man, picked the wrong guy to fuck with!"
Lucas shrugged. "Damn right."
He turned his back and obviously knew he would try to attack him from behind.
Lucas turned back around in the blink of an eye and hit the frat boy with a knife hand to the temple.
"Who's the grandpa now?"
Tyler rubbed his chin, standing up to try to hit Lucas with a round kick to the ribs.
Lucas caught it beneath his arm, not caring if it would be a point in a tournament, this was a street fight!
Lucas hit Tyler with an elbow to both the knee and then the chin, he was out like a light.
His friends tried to get revenge, and all three of them ganged up on him.
One tried to pin Lucas' arms behind his head as another attacked him from the front.
Lucas dodged laterally, running up the supporting barrier of the strip mall roof to make the attack miss.
When he landed, a backfist knocked away one frat boy, and a front kick to the knee dropped another right onto his rear.
The last one threw a desperate hook punch but was blocked and elbowed in the nose for his troubles.
Lucas looked around the college boys nodding as they were all down and out.
"Yeah. What's up!? What's up bro!? Cobra Kai!"
Lucas shook his head with a sigh.
…
Doug was still sitting on the ground, terrified this entire time.
Lucas spoke. "You alright?"
He shook his head in silent shock.
"Do you have a place to stay?"
Doug pointed to Tyler and the others. "Those are my roommates. Or. Were."
Lucas sighed again. "I know a place you can stay."
…
…
…