CHAPTER 134

A/N

First off, thank you so much for all of the amazing points and opinions as to who wins the Taikai. You brought up points that I honestly hadn't even thought of, and opened my eyes to possibilities and plotlines that I didn't think possible. At this point, I've pretty much decided on the winners and I have only you guys to thank for it, as I was absolutely nowhere with the decisions before I got your feedback and advice.

Just one thing though… given the fact that people have given suggestions to have pretty much every character win (I've seen people voting for Miguel, Robby, Sam, Tory, Sarah, Kreese, Silver, Daniel, Johnny, Hawk and even Demetri!), there will inevitably be some people who don't see the character they want to win end up winning. To that, I'd say I'm sorry. I wish I could have every single character win but unfortunately, only 3 can. There's going to be a finale after the Taikai ends (the big finale Silver has been talking about), so I'd also say to bear with the story until then, as maybe if the character you wanted doesn't end up winning, they'll have a role to play in the big finale.

That's all from me. Hope you're enjoying the story. Here's the next chapter…

Fury or nerves. It was impossible to tell which one of them Miyagi-Do were feeling more of as they took their seats on one side of the stage for the press conference. Their gut instincts, their primitive emotions, filled them with anger as they laid eyes on the Cobra Kais, their bitter rivals, for the first time since the plane. With all of the elevating tension between the two sides, combined with the added stress and the gravity of the situation, it was impossible not to feel rage towards their rivals. It was also impossible not to feel nervous about the fact that despite the fact that every single student wanted nothing more than to scream in the face of their opponents, they couldn't. They were facing the press, facing the media, being exposed to a global audience for the first time. They needed to do well, provide a good first impression.

After the Miyagi-Dos sat down, they were all promptly handed microphones that they'd be able to use to answer whatever questions the press had in store. They all had name tags on a long table in front of them too. It all looked incredibly official. Of course it did. Given everything else they'd seen so far, it only made sense for it to look like something you'd see in a professional fight press conference.

It was only after the Miyagi-Dos had sat down and dragged their attention away from the Cobra Kais that they took in the scene before them. There must've been at least 30 or 40 press officials in the room, all of them donning laptops, notebooks or cameras, ready to record every word that was said. Before long, the press conference began, with the press conference mediator, a Sekai Taikai official, speaking.

"First off, good afternoon. Competitors, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us. I'm sure you're all very tired after the long flight, or even if you aren't, I'm sure there are other places you'd probably rather be. It means a lot that you're here."

The Sekai Taikai official then turned to the press.

"Good afternoon to you all. As I'm sure you're all aware, these are the two newest additions to the Sekai Taikai - Cobra Kai Karate and Miyagi-Do Karate. They're both fighting out of Los Angeles, California. You have exactly 30 minutes to ask them questions. Let's start with journalist 1… fire away."

The first interviewer, the person sitting closest to the stage, suddenly stood up to ask them the question.

"Well I'd like to first of all congratulate you all for making it to the Sekai Taikai. I've been covering this tournament for years, so I know how hard it is to get into. You must all be incredibly happy to be here." He said. "I guess my question is to both dojos… how are you all feeling about being here?"

"Uh… I guess I can answer this one for us." Daniel said. "Honored. I feel like that's the best word to describe it. I don't think any of us could've ever imagined we'd be here. This whole experience so far, even in the few hours we've been here, feels like a fairytale. It doesn't quite feel real, as it's just been so amazing. We're just really lucky and glad to be here."

"That's great. And Cobra Kai?" The interviewer asked.

"I can answer that." Silver purred, a slick grin already plastered on his face as he picked up the microphone. He was thoroughly looking forward to these press conferences. He knew that he was easily the smoothest talker of all of them. He would be able to infuriate and embarrass Miyagi-Do in front of the entire world, knock them off-balance, fill them with emotion that would cost them when the fighting starts. "We're all happy to be here, but I don't think there was anything about luck with us. It was simply an inevitability. We thoroughly deserved our spot; that was never in doubt. We're the best dojo in not only Los Angeles, but in the entire country."

"Bullshit!" A loud voice suddenly cut Silver off, but rather than looking angry, Silver smirked. Here we go. It was starting. Sure enough, that voice belonged to Johnny, who was scowling across the press conference room at Silver.

"Johnny." Daniel murmured quietly to the sensei beside him, trying to get him to quiet down, but Johnny didn't seem interested in heeding the advice.

"This man's memory must be going with old age or something." Johnny stated, glaring daggers at Silver. "Because last time I checked, sitting on our side of the table, we collectively have 7 All-Valley tournament wins. Your side of the table has 0."

"And what dojo were you and your students fighting out of when you won those tournaments?" Silver asked cooly. "If my math's right, more than half of them came with your students fighting out of the Cobra Kai dojo."

"Yeah, and we won those trophies in spite of your dojo, not because of it!" Johnny snapped. Things were continuing to heat up, until suddenly the mediator raised a hand in the air to cut them off.

"If we could please keep things civil." He firmly instructed, although he knew that every single press official was loving this. Storylines were already being written, media attention was already gathering at the feet of both dojos. The press were eating it all up. "Let's move onto the next question. Interviewer 2…"

The second interviewer stood up and turned in the direction of the Cobra Kai students.

"This question is for Cobra Kai." The interviewer said. "As is customary for any new team competing in this tournament, we try to do as much research as we can on them. Upon doing research on both of these dojos, a lot of what we discovered had to do with a school-wide brawl that occurred in a local high school almost 2 years ago. A lot of the blame for the fight seemed to be laid on the shoulders of your dojo, on Cobra Kai. What would you say about that?"

Silver chuckled. He knew very well that this interviewer was digging for beef, trying to create more drama between the two sides. Well there's something they had in common. He raised the microphone to answer.

"Well, I think you need to be careful with what you read, my friend." Silver stated. "Yes, I'll admit, students of this dojo were responsible for starting the brawl that occurred in the school. However, if you look closer, you'll see that not a single member of my dojo sitting here was a member of the dojo at the time, neither as a student nor as a sensei. In fact, if you're looking for all of those responsible, I believe you'll find them on the other side of this table. Tory Nichols started the fight. Miguel Diaz and Eli Moskowitz escalated it into a brawl."

"So you'd blame them for the fight occurring?" The interviewer asked. Silver shook his head, staring directly in the direction of Johnny as he answered.

"I don't. After all, I am a firm believer of the saying 'there's no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher.' And these students… they were all students of none other than Sensei Johnny Lawrence over there. In fact, Robby Keene, the boy who I'm sure you've read broke someone's back in that fight, was the biological son of Mr. Lawrence too. If that doesn't scream bad influence, I don't know what does."

"Now, hold on!" Daniel snapped, his own hot-headedness and frustration starting to boil over. "This man is selling you all a bad bill of goods here. Cobra Kai… that's what's to blame. It encourages aggression, encourages bloodlust. I would know. I was a member of the dojo many years ago, led by not Johnny Lawrence, but Terry Silver."

"So you believe it's Mr. Silver's fault then?" The interviewer asked, eager to stir the pot some more.

"Terry Silver and John Kreese. That's who." Daniel stated. "The kids were just kids who were taught the wrong lessons and were sent down the wrong path. They made mistakes but they learned from them. Silver and Kreese on the other hand… they're abusive, manipulative old men, who have dedicated their lives to destroying the lives of innocent kids, either brainwashing them with their brutal teachings or ordering their students to obliterate anyone who tries to stand against them."

The temperature in the room rose a few degrees as the two dojos continued to go back and forth.

"If I could say something." For the first time, a student spoke up. It was Marcos. The boy had previously been eager to stay quiet and let the press conference pass by as quickly as possible, wanting nothing more than to leave and get started on pre-fight training, but as he listened to his senseis being bashed, he decided to not remain silent any longer. "Hi. I'm Marcos. I'm fighting with Cobra Kai. I wanted to defend my senseis from some of the things that Mr. Larusso has been saying. I first moved to L.A from outside the country last August. I moved from Brazil so everything felt completely different when I arrived. I could barely speak the language. I couldn't read. I didn't have the ability to do many of the things that normal teenagers could in L.A. But Sensei Kreese's Cobra Kai… it gave me a home. It gave me a family. Nobody brainwashed me or forced me to be there. I was there because I genuinely loved the dojo, and that wouldn't have been the case if not for the incredible senseis. Then a few months ago, in the hardest time of my life, I got deported back to Brazil. When I did, Cobra Kai could've easily forgotten about me. They could've easily left me there and turned their focus on a new student to represent them in the Taikai. But they didn't. Sensei Silver… as soon as I turned 18, he paid to have me flown back from Brazil to L.A, and he's paid for my accommodation ever since. He didn't have to do any of that. He didn't have to spend money on me, who he'd never even met before. But because I was part of the Cobra Kai family, he still chose to. Because that's what this dojo means. It's a family: brothers, sisters… we have each other's backs no matter what."

"Man, what the hell are you talking about?" Hawk decided to chime in. "They only paid to bring you back because they needed a male champion and knew you could be bribed into fighting for them!"

"Maybe that was part of the reason they brought me back." Marcos admitted. "But that doesn't change the fact that they were there for me when literally no one else in the world was. I'm not fighting for them because I feel any kind of obligation to them after what they did for me. I'm fighting for them because I love every single one of them and I want to represent the dojo."

"If I could say something…" it was Robby's turn to chime in. "I was in Cobra Kai under both of these senseis. What Marcos is saying does have an element of truth to it. Cobra Kai has a unique way of making everyone feel like they're part of a family. Part of a cult. And for as long as you play by the cult's rules, you're fine. But as soon as you show even the slightest bit of doubt towards the insane, psychotic messages that they push, they turn on you. You're automatically the enemy, target number 1."

"Robby's right." Tory said. "That's exactly what happened to me. I won the All-Valley tournament for Cobra Kai. A tournament that Silver paid off to have me win! And when I did, I was treated like a champion. Until I started to realize how wrong the lessons we were being taught were. I mean come on… who teaches someone that it's okay to cheat to win? That it's okay to hurt people, as long as it ends with you winning. And when I started showing doubt, they turned on me. They trapped me in the dojo one night, forced me to punch a block of stone until my hand almost broke."

"That's not training. That's torture." Daniel stated. It indeed was a very bad look, which is why Silver was granted the opportunity to answer.

"Not all of that is true. In fact, barely any of that is true." Silver stated. "I'd like to preface this by saying that both Sensei Kreese and I served in the military. We were taught how to survive the toughest of situations by fighting out of a foxhole. And we've passed down those lessons to our students. We've taught them how to protect themselves in the most dangerous or toughest moments. That much is true. But the story Ms. Nichols is telling? Lies. We do teach our students using methods such as striking hard surfaces like stone. HOWEVER… that is strictly on a volunteer-only basis. Ms. Nichols chose to take part in the drill, and she had the opportunity to back out at any moment. She chose not to."

"BULLSHIT!" Tory had truly found her voice now, bellowing at the top of her lungs and even standing up as she stared down at the casually smirking sensei. "You forced me to do it! You had three senseis blocking the exit so I couldn't leave! Tell them! Tell them the truth!"

"The truth is… not everyone is strong enough to succeed and thrive in Cobra Kai. Ms. Nichols tried but was ultimately unsuccessful. That can often breed feelings such as jealousy and envy. Which is why I don't blame her for trying to spread these lies about us. I do refute the allegations though. Our dojo is one of the most well-respected dojos out there. That's why we managed to get the meeting with the Taikai committee to gain acceptance into the tournament in the first place. We didn't have to piggy-back off of the opportunity of someone else."

"We deserve to be here as much as anyone." Miguel stated.

"Well we'll see in a few days then, won't we?" Silver shot back. "Fraudulence will well and truly be exposed. The better dojo will win."

"We will." Johnny replied.

At that moment, the mediator interrupted once more to move onto the next question. Tensions and animosity were at an all-time high, and the press conference was still far from over…