CHAPTER 147
The break day lasted for a million years with everything there was to do, and then the morning of the round of 16 also seemed to drag on forever. After the physically exhausting 2 days of prelims, the last thing the Miyagi-Dos expected was to already be desiring to get back on the mat. But that's exactly how they felt. Everything that took place off the mat was so overwhelming, so complicated. Fighting was much more simple, and they all desperately wanted that simplicity to return.
Another massive change that they needed to get used to was the added following that the round of 16 of the tournament got. To most viewers, this was when the tournament officially began. It was like the FIFA World Cup: everybody in the world cares to watch the 32 teams that make the World Cup, but only the most avid fans care enough to watch the qualification matches. Well the prelims were over, which meant that the whole world was beginning to tune in. It was a massive change for all of them, especially those not used to social media at all. They found themselves gaining tens of thousands of followers on Instagram within the course of 24 hours, and they knew that this was only the beginning.
Nobody was spared from this. Not even Marcos, who didn't have any forms of social media going into the Taikai. He had been gifted a smartphone by Sony - one of the lead sponsors of the Taikai - in a good-will gesture to open doors for a potential sponsorship, and Marcos had used the phone to create for himself a social media presence. It had been to his great shock to see the number of followers he had absolutely skyrocket, particularly among fans from Japan, USA and his home country of Brazil. His inboxes were filled with messages of support, particularly from Brazilian fans, and a few messages of hate too, which he promptly ignored.
Sooner or later now, all of the bells and whistles faded to the background as it was time for the competitors to board the bus on the way to the fully packed, 15,000 capacity arena and begin the Round of 16 of the Sekai Taikai…
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"AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST… INTRODUCING THE MOST RECENT ADDITION TO THE SEKAI TAIKAI, RESIDING IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR MIIIIIIIYAGIIIIIIIIIII DOOOOOOOO!"
"Holy shit." Hawk murmured under his breath, echoing the thoughts of every single Miyagi-Do as they were announced and were told to take to the stage to make an appearance and wave to the crowds at the beginning of the Opening Ceremony of the tournament.
Although they were in the same arena as the prelims, it felt like they were in a whole other place now. Rather than 10 different tournament regulation mats to fight on, there was just one, spotlights shining down on it, the free space being taken up by extra seating for competitors and for the audience. The number of people there had shot up from a couple of thousand to almost exactly 15,000, as there was not a single empty seat in the entire arena. Not only that, but the fanfare of the Opening Ceremony and the presence of celebrities was enough to bring in even more fans than ever.
The first part of the opening ceremony consisted of each of the competing dojo walking onto the main stage and bowing before the massive crowd, waving for a while before taking their places off-stage to watch the rest of the opening ceremony from afar.
Because there was a lot more to come, both from a fighting perspective but even from the Opening Ceremony too. The weight and gravity that the Taikai possessed was enough to bring a celebrity artist as a guest, a rapper who was opening the Taikai with a mini-concert. They couldn't have possibly picked a better person to get the crowd and the fighters even more hyped than they already were. It was one of the most successful rappers of all time - Eminem - who opened the show for the Taikai, getting the entire 15,000 person crowd on their feet with his live performances of some of his biggest hits, all of them songs that got their blood racing, their hearts pumping.
As the Miyagi-Dos listened to Eminem finish his timeless classic Lose Yourself and then walk off the stage to the rambunctious screaming and shouting of the audience, they had been once again left stunned by the heights of this tournament. Sure they had already seen Carrie Underwood at the All-Valley, but this was something different. Eminem was a whole other league, a global icon, someone that the Valley could never bring in in a million years. And they had just gotten a free concert by simply being competitors in this great tournament. While the other dojos headed back to their respective waiting rooms to warm up and get ready for the Round of 16, the Miyagi-Dos couldn't move an inch, in awe as they watched the whole Opening Ceremony unfold.
At the end though, they headed back to their waiting room to prepare for the fights ahead. It would be a LONG evening ahead of them. There would be 24 fights in total - 8 fights in each division - and each fight was up to 8 points now, not 5. The fights would all be taking place 1 at a time, which meant that there was nothing to do but wait until their names were eventually called.
Some of the Miyagi-Dos stretched. Some of them lightly sparred with each other. But what most of them did during the waiting time was keep their eyes trained on the large flatscreen TV in the middle of their room, displaying the televised events that were taking place a few doors down in the arena, as well as the live commentary that was going along with it…
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"Hey, guys. Come here!" Daniel called them all over to him in the waiting room. The Miyagi-Do students and senseis, who had all separated to opposite sides of the waiting room to mentally and physically prepare themselves for the task at hand, all converged on Daniel, who muted the TV for a moment.
"What's going on?" Robby asked. Daniel held up a laptop in his hands for them all to see, which displayed what looked like a live video call.
"Some people wanted to say hello." Daniel said.
Some people was a bit of an understatement. On the screen were almost every single one of the Miyagi-Dos' support from back home in the Valley, all of them sitting together in the Larusso House's living room. Just at first glance, they could see Anoush, Louie, Vanessa, Amanda, Carmen, Rosa, Anthony, Devon, Chris, Nate, Bert, Yasmine, Moon, Bobby and Jimmy, all sitting together and waving at them on the screen.
"We decided to all watch the tournament together." Amanda said. "It's like 2 am right now, so we decided to have a pajama party, open to anyone who wanted to support team Miyagi-Do. We wanted to wish you guys good luck before everything starts too!"
The Miyagi-Dos all thanked their friends profusely. Although they knew that they now had thousands of people supporting them and following their progress in the tournament, there was something different about the support of family and friends. It provided extra motivation, extra drive. They wanted to win for themselves and their dojos, but also for their family and friends back home.
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And that added motivation, whatever it was, it worked spectacularly well for the Miyagi-Dos. Every single one of them, by the end of the night, had qualified for the quarter finals. Every single one. Daniel, Johnny, Miguel, Robby, Hawk, Sam and Tory… all through to the quarter finals, one step closer to reaching the summit, the top of the mountain, as Sekai Taikai champions.
Cobra Kai had had similar success, if a little bit less. Shawn had officially been eliminated, but seeded against the 2nd best fighter from the prelims, that had been almost expected. He had been thoroughly outclassed from the get-go, but he bowed out with his head held high. Especially given the fact that Silver, Kreese and Sarah had all made the quarter finals, with Marcos seemingly about to join that list too, provided he could finish off his opponent.
"Good evening or good morning, depending on where you are in the world, to everyone tuning in here on ESPN to watch the round of 16 of the Sekai Taikai. I'm Peter Drury and commentating alongside me here is Ray Hudson." From their waiting room, the Miyagi-Dos listened to the ESPN employee commentate on Marcos' fight, the final fight of the night. "Here in Tokyo, we're watching our final fight of the night. Competing in the boys' division, we've got Brazil's Marcos Oliveira fighting against Argentina's Lucas Garcia."
"Yeah, we do, Peter." Ray Hudson chimed in. "I know we've commentated on our fair share of football games between these two firey nations in the past, but that rivalry appears to be on show on the mat here tonight, doesn't it?"
"It sure does, Ray. I wouldn't want to be part of Garcia's dojo right now. Just look at how furious they look in their corner! But let's not allow the rivalry between these two competitors and their countries to distract us from the fact that Marcos Oliveira is putting on an absolute clinic right now!" Peter Drury exclaimed. "Despite not even making the top 3 in the prelims, based on what we've seen here tonight, I wouldn't put it past this boy to go all the way to the finals."
"Me neither. To come into this tournament for the first time, feel all of the pressure for the first time, and still put on a performance as good as this… the boy's special, Peter. I'm telling you." Ray Hudson stated.
The commentators definitely had a point. Marcos was putting on an absolute show right now. Fighting at the very top of his game, fueled by all of the disrespectful things said about him before the fight, Marcos hadn't even allowed his opponent a moment to breathe as soon as the first bell had rung. It had barely taken 10 minutes for Marcos to be 7-3, about to seal his place in the round of 16 by scoring one final point.
And Marcos couldn't help but score that last point in the most flamboyant way possible. He had sent a message during this fight: a message that despite his slightly underwhelming prelim performance, he was well and truly a contender for the title. Those who didn't know who he was… they did now. Today was the day that the entire world learned the name Marcos Oliveira, at least all of the hundreds of thousands, potentially millions, who were watching the Taikai at the arena or on TV. Now was the time to seal the deal, to put the nail in the Argentinian competitor's coffin.
As Marcos could see his opponent get more and more desperate as the 15 minute ticked away, Marcos allowed the boy to venture closer and closer to him, attack him wildly. It only set the Cobra up for his finishing move. As the boy aimed a kick at Marcos, one that Marcos had managed to block with his hands, Marcos pretended to stumble backwards for a moment. Sensing an opening, the boy then proceeded to charge towards him, right into Marcos' left foot. The Cobra had used all of his agility and acrobatics to do what could only be described as a flip kick, spinning through the air before landing a vicious kick to his opponent's temple.
8-3. Winner.