CHAPTER 135

A few more questions passed with further back and forth between the two sides. Every single press official there was eagerly lapping up the heatedness of the rivalry. Never before had the Taikai seen such animosity between two competing dojos. There had been rivalries sure, but this was a whole other level. There was most certainly no love lost between them, with most of the competitors on both sides drooling at the possibility of finally being able to come to blows in a few days.

However, things in the press conference were forced to die down as the competitors were starting to be asked individual questions, rather than questions addressed to the entire group. The senseis of both dojos were asked a few, and then attention shifted to the students.

"Interviewer number 10." The mediator called, most certainly earning his salary today with the amount of work he had to do to attempt to keep things somewhat civil between the two sides, even if he was failing miserably at doing so.

Interviewer number 10 stood up and addressed the Miyagi-Do side of the room.

"Hi. Um… this question is to Miguel Diaz from Miyagi-Do dojo." The man said. "Hi Mr. Diaz. I work for the Deportes Magazine, one of the largest Latin American centered sporting magazines in the world. I'm doing a piece on the Sekai Taikai and so going into the tournament, when doing research about all of the competitors, I saw that you were partly from Ecuador."

"I am yeah." Miguel replied.

"However, in the official competition guide that we were given before entering this conference, it says that you will be representing America in the tournament. So I guess I was curious as to why you chose to represent America over Ecuador in the tournament, as I know there are plenty of Ecuadorians out there, including myself, who would have loved to see you fight under our flag. After all, there hasn't been anyone representing Ecuador in this competition in the 50 years of its existence."

Miguel sighed and nodded.

"Right. Uh… well first off, I might be fighting under the American flag, but I am still Ecuadorian. My parents were both from there and I am too. I'm proud to be from there." Miguel said. "As for why I'm representing the States? It was honestly mainly that when submitting all of the registration forms, it said that I could only represent one country. I couldn't pick both, otherwise I definitely would've."

"If you don't mind my asking, what made you choose Ecuador in the end?" The man asked him. Miguel shrugged.

"Well I'm Ecuadorian-American, but I'm still partly American. I was born there. I've lived there my whole life, and am planning to continue to do so for the rest of my life. My family also lives there. It's nothing against Ecuador, but America's my home. That's why I decided to represent them."

"Thank you, Mr. Diaz. Wishing you the very best of luck in the tournament, from one Ecuadorian to another." The man told him sincerely. "Now if I could ask Marcos Oliveira from Cobra Kai a similar question. Mr. Oliveira, it says that you did decide to fight under the flag of Brazil rather than America. How come you made that decision?"

"Oh, uh… well to be honest, kind of along the same lines of what Miguel said, except America isn't my home." Marcos replied. "I love the country. I love the opportunities I've been provided there. I love the people I've met there. But that doesn't change the fact that Brazil is my home. I lived there for almost all of my life. I went back for a few months earlier this year, and that just reminded me of that fact. I'm from Rio de Janeiro, born and raised, and that isn't going to ever change."

"Thank you, Mr. Oliveira." The interviewer nodded. "If I could just inform you of a quick statistic. After Japan, Brazilian competitors have the best record at this tournament. Across all divisions, Japanese fighters have 59 wins. Brazil has 27 wins. However, they haven't actually won it since 2001, which I believe is before you were even born. What are your thoughts on that?"

"Not much to say about that." Marcos responded. "I didn't know the stat but it's sad we haven't won in a while. Hopefully I can help make it 10 wins after this year, win it for them."

The interviewer sat down shortly after. He had done a successful job in calming things down a little by picking only certain individuals to speak, and especially given that he had asked them to speak about something that had nothing to do with the rivalry. The boiling kettle had cooled a little bit.

Not for long though. The next interviewer stood up and faced the entire group, a small eager smirk on his face that told everyone that he was definitely about to stir the pot with whatever he had to say.

"This question is once again for anyone from both dojos to answer." The man said. "I was wondering if one of you would be able to give some verification or clarification on something. We received some information from the Valley, stating that there was some kind of bet between your two dojos. That the losing side between the two dojos has to permanently close down. Is that true?"

Immediately, the tone in the room changed. The faces of every competitor in the room, bar Terry Silver, blanched in shock. What the hell?! They couldn't believe it! How in the world had anyone found out about that?! Nobody outside the two dojos knew that fact, there was undeniably a leak who had revealed the bet to the press, but who? As their heads whipped around the room, it didn't take long for them to realize who it was. The only man sitting back in his chair, completely and utterly relaxed, was the pony-tailed Cobra Kai sensei. He was the only one not stunned motionless in shock, and so was able to pick up his microphone to answer.

"Yes. That's true." He replied, a small grin creeping onto his face. Every single press official in the room scrawled wildly, desperate to capture every word of this latest development in the war that was seemingly occurring between the two sides.

"If you don't mind, Mr. Silver, would you be able to inform us as to why this bet is taking place?" The interviewer asked.

"Well, if it wasn't inherently obvious from the moment we sat down for this press conference, our two sides, our two dojos are incompatible. The teachings, the styles, the students… they just don't fit together at all. And the Valley is only big enough for one dojo, which is why we decided to settle it this way."

"Another question to the entire group… how does this bet affect the way that you're preparing for this tournament?" The interviewer asked.

"I'll answer that." Sensei Kreese spoke up for one of the first times in the entire conference. "The bet only adds to the fire burning in the stomachs of all of our students. It only adds to the motivation we have to win for this dojo at all costs. It's them or us. Simple as that. It couldn't matter less who they are or what's come before. It doesn't matter what their dojo is or what they stand for. The important thing is that after the Taikai, one of these dojos is going to be gone forever, and we're not going to let it be us, that's for sure…"

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"You must be pleased with yourselves!" Daniel spat at Silver, the moment the two dojos were finally led away from the press room. As soon as they were out of the public eye, the two dojos turned on one another and blame for the events that had just occurred began to shoot out of all of their mouths in a vicious yelling match.

"I don't know what you mean." Silver said, though his casual smirk gave him away.

"Cut the crap, Silver!" Johnny snapped. "We know it was you who told them all about the bet! What was the point in that?! You wanted to try and challenge us?! Embarrass us?! Piss us off?!"

"Well first of all, I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't say anything about the bet." Silver lied, fooling absolutely no one. "However, I can only assume that whoever it was who leaked the bet to them, it was in the interest of honesty. Ensuring that all cards were on the table going into the tournament."

"Don't give us that crap!" Daniel snapped, his pupils dilating in fury. "I doubt you even know the meaning of the word honesty! Don't even try and pretend that you did any of this for any other reason than to try and make us look bad!"

"Like I said… nonsense. I felt a moral responsibility to be honest and tell them about the bet. I don't see what you're so worked up about anyways. This doesn't change the task at hand. That is provided your students are strong enough to not choke from the added pressure." Silver remarked, looking away from Daniel and instead at all of the Miyagi-Do students behind him. "Because that would just be horrible, wouldn't it? To lose the Taikai in front of the entire world, with everyone knowing about the bet, everyone knowing that you were the ones responsible for your dojo shutting down… that would be absolutely awful."

Silver's words, despite all of the effort to ignore him, managed to bury themselves into the Miyagi-Dos. Not for long though as Johnny looked just about ready to slap Silver across the face. The only thing that stopped him was the arrival of a Taikai staff member. They arrived on the scene and immediately, the bickering of the Cobra Kais and Miyagi-Dos came to a halt.

For a moment, the staff member wasn't quite sure what to say. After all, after how deep and dark that press conference had gone, what exactly were they supposed to say? Eventually, they came to the decision to just ignore everything that had just occurred and move onto the next thing on their busy schedule for their first day: the full and complete rules briefing and orientation...