CHAPTER 131

Three hours later, the Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do students were in the air. Things were… tense, to say the least, as the students all eyed each other from opposite sides of the boarding gate. All of them were painfully aware of the situation. This was it. This was the final battle between the two sides. All of the hate, all of the animosity that had spent years building all came down to this.

Thankfully, they managed to get onto the plane though without any further conflict between the two sides. Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do split the boarding gate in half, with neither dojo even willing to come close to the middle of the gate, knowing full-well that even a gesture that small could be the match that ignited the tension into the brawl. Relations between the two sides were at an all time low, a ticking time bomb, just waiting to erupt into flames.

Cobra Kai were the first to board the aircraft, first class being granted priority and seated on the first few rows of the plane. Marcos found himself sitting in none other than Seat 1A, which meant that his face was the first face that Miyagi-Do as they eventually boarded themselves a little while later. They were all forced to walk past Marcos, Sarah, Kreese, Silver, Shawn, Kenny, Piper and Kyler on their way to the back of the plane, to the Economy class tickets where they were seated.

However, not even that could put a damper on the high spirits that the Miyagi-Dos were in. For all of the students except Sam, it was the first time they had ever been on an airplane. The first time they had ever left the country. At least, the first time that they were old enough to remember.

"This is so cool." Hawk murmured to Miguel as the two boys clambered onto the plane, in awe at the very simple fact that this large hunk of metal was somehow going to get them all the way to Japan in less than half a day. Flying for the first time was an experience that, even with all of the tension and stress of the upcoming tournament, they knew they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

Given that the Miyagi-Dos were all 18, the senseis kept a pretty loose leash on their students during the flight. They were seated in a different section of the plane, allowing the teens to be teens without having to have adults and parents around. This meant that the teenagers were all practically hopping up and down in their seats in excitement as the plane eventually sped down the runway and took off into the sky…

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"So… how are you guys doing? You guys feeling ready to fight?" Barnes turned and asked Johnny and Daniel as the four senseis reclined back into their seats and settled into what they knew would be a long journey.

"Of course. Why wouldn't we be?" Johnny responded.

"You have been very focused on students. Not actually focused much on yourselves." Chozen pointed out.

"We're senseis. It's kind of our job to focus on our students." Daniel commented.

"Sure. But you're also fighting. And you winning the sensei division means just as much in terms of the bet with Cobra Kai as the kids winning their divisions." Barnes pointed out. "You both need to be ready to fight because you can bet that they will be."

"Trust me, Barnes. We're fucking ready." Johnny replied quietly, his face flushing darker with rage at the mere thought of the Cobra Kai senseis who had caused so much harm to him and his students and loved ones for almost 4 decades. He wanted to beat the crap out of them with his own two hands, feel them ground up under his shoe.

The other senseis noticed the aggression that was bubbling inside Johnny and they were instantly on alert. Not because they thought Johnny would try to engage the Cobras in a fight before the tournament started. But because they feared if Johnny was still carrying this anger into a Taikai fight against one of the Cobra Kai senseis, it would end up costing him dearly.

"Okay, Johnny, you need to calm down." Barnes murmured.

"Calm down?" Johnny snapped. "Where have you been? Have you forgotten who we're fighting?"

"I remember damn well who you're fighting. In fact, I probably know one of them better than you." Barnes calmly shot back. "These guys… you're not going to beat them if you allow your anger and aggression to take over. Kreese, I'm not too sure about, but certainly Silver."

"Yeah? Watch me." Johnny responded.

"Barnes is right." Daniel said. "These guys - Kreese and Silver - they've been Cobra Kais even longer than you have. Kreese is the man who taught you for God's sake! We're not going to beat them by fighting their own game against them. All that'll do is get our asses kicked."

"So what do you suggest?" Johnny muttered, almost sarcastically in the way he asked.

"You can't let emotion get the better of you. I get that you hate them. But if you let your emotions show, the Cobras will just feed off of it." Barnes pointed out. "That's how they're taught to fight. You, Larusso and I all fought for them. Go ahead and tell me I'm wrong."

"You're not wrong." Daniel agreed. "If you allow anger to cloud your judgment, Cobra Kai will just use it, dig under your skin, get you off balance. We need to remain calm. Fight smartly. The big advantage we possess over them is that we know both styles. It would be stupid not to exploit that. Sure go on the attack, but you can't go so far in that direction that it knocks you off-balance."

"This is what we have spent months teaching our students. How to keep emotions in check. How to not push them down entirely, but instead use them as a tool, without letting them take over and control you." Barnes stated. "You need to show it now first-hand. Be the example for the rest of the dojo to follow."

Johnny nodded. He knew that Barnes was right. As much as he hated the fact, as much as he wanted nothing more than retaliation for everything that the Cobras had done, he knew that if he let those thoughts take over, it would cost not only him, but the entire team.

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Meanwhile, at the front of the plane, things were peacefully silent in the first-class section of the aircraft. Although the Cobra Kai students had been strictly put on a mission by Silver, they were still kids. They couldn't help but feel joy and excitement to be on the plane, to be going on this whole adventure. Some of the students devoured the gourmet food their cabin had to offer. Others watched movies and played games together. But it was the couple sitting in the front row that probably did the smartest thing. Marcos and Sarah decided to get some rest. It was officially night time in Japan, which meant that they had the opportunity to sleep and begin to set their body clocks to Tokyo time.

The couple were bundled up in blankets, wrapped up close together for warmth in the cold cabin, moving the removable armrest between their seats so they could cuddle close together. They were fast asleep, not even noticing two figures walking past them as they walked to the very front of the cabin, where a bar was situated.

"Cute kids." Silver remarked quietly as he and Kreese walked past Marcos and Sarah's row on their way to the bar. "Your boy doesn't exactly look like he has the killer instinct though."

Kreese practically shoved Silver as he moved him away from where the teenagers were resting, and over to the bar, where they promptly were handed two drinks.

"You've sparred with him yourself. You tell me whether or not he has the instinct or not." Kreese murmured.

"He's good. I'll give him that. But does he have a killer instinct? A killer instinct like you did at his age? The killer instinct all of this dojo's greatest students had? No, he doesn't. He's still a kid. He hasn't been through the struggles you went through to toughen up."

"He's been through far more than you or I ever will." Kreese quickly shot back. "And you underestimate him."

"Maybe." Silver admitted, sipping his drink. "But it's not the underrated fighters who will win us a Taikai. It's the dominant, ruthless ones that will."

"Right. Win us the tournament." Kreese muttered, staring down at his drink for a while, before looking up at his former lieutenant. "Let's make something clear right now, Terry… I don't believe for a second that you're doing all of this, putting all of this energy into the Taikai, just to be able to watch Miyagi-Do lose and watch us win. There's an end goal to all of this, isn't there?"

"Excuse me?" Silver asked, taken aback.

"What is it though? Are you trying to take over Cobra Kai again from me, is that it? Because I'll tell you, this time it's going to take a hell of a lot more than bogus charges to rip me away from this dojo."

Silver shook his head.

"There's no hidden plan this time, I can assure you." Silver replied, his poker face extraordinarily good. "I have no interest in doing that again. Doing what I did last time… it was a mistake. I never should have gone behind my captain's back like that. I swear to you, all I want is for Cobra Kai to finally claim its rightful spot as number one in the world. Nothing more than that. I want to make up for all that I did wrong with this dojo when I took over by winning the Sensei division. I want to make sure our students are in the best possible position to win both the boys and girls categories too. You forget that although you've been training the dojo for this for a year, I've been trying to get Cobra Kai into this for almost half a century now. To see it finally come to fruition first-hand… I'll be honest, I didn't think I'd get to live to see the day."

Kreese listened silently as Silver spoke, downing the rest of the drink in his hands. It was a nice speech, that was for sure. Silver said exactly what he had expected to hear, exactly what he figured the man thought would help break down his walls and make him let him back in the dojo for good. There was just one problem though… Kreese didn't believe a word of it. Not anymore. Not after what had happened. Silver's betrayal had rocked him to his core, destroyed any trust or faith he had in almost anyone. If he couldn't even trust his own lieutenant, the man who had survived the war with him, the man who had been a faithful partner for upwards of 4 decades, who could he trust then?

Finishing his drink, Kreese put it down and looked Silver right in the eye.

"Listen up, Terry. Even though you might be fighting for my dojo as a sensei, even though you might have been one of us in the past, you are not a Cobra Kai. You are not a member of this dojo, and you have no right to tell any of my students what to do and not to do. The only reason you're here is out of respect for what you did for Marcos. You will follow my orders and if I ever so much as think that you might be getting ready to disobey me, I'll personally make sure that you're banished from the Taikai, banned from fighting, and on the first flight back home to the Valley, where you can live out the rest of your days. As soon as this tournament is over, you will leave this dojo and never come within a mile of it again. Do I make myself clear?"

Silver hesitated for a moment after Kreese spoke, pure loathing in his eyes as he felt himself belittled by the man opposite him, not for the first time. In the past, Silver had always taken it without a second word, as Kreese had been his captain. He had been the man leading him into battle. But now… now Kreese was just the miserable old man who Silver had no obligation to take orders from. The only reason he was following them now was because the picture of his end goal, the picture of the grand finale he had been planning for months, had been burned into his mind. Not long now. Not long until all of this, everyone who had ever challenged him, was nothing but a memory.

Silver eventually nodded.

"Yes, captain."