CHAPTER 152
"Good morning, fighters and press. We are here for the boys' Quarter Final press conference of the Sekai Taikai." The mediator of the press conference declared, almost nervously. Even he knew that he was going to be called upon today more than ever before, given the volatile, emotional situation two of the competitors were in.
Meanwhile, the interviewers and press workers in the room couldn't sit still in anticipation for the potentially fiery interview, not blind to the evident tension between Marcos and Diego. Even sitting on other sides of the room, the two boys still spent the entire first few minutes of the interview exchanging death glares.
"We recognize the fact that there are numerous stories floating around about the events that occurred last night between Mr. Oliveira, Mr. Rodriguez and his dojo. We wanted to give a direct statement right now from the Taikai Committee themselves addressing all of it so there is nothing made unclear and no lies told." The mediator said, before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a sheet of paper, and beginning to read. "At 12:05 am, Mr. Oliveira was on his way to the Medical Wing to collect some ice when he was ambushed by Mr. Rodriguez - his quarter final opponent - as well as his round of 16 opponent - Mr. Garcia - and 4 other members of the Warrior Karate dojo. Security camera footage shows these 6 people pinning, punching and kicking Mr. Oliveira repeatedly for about 10 minutes, before leaving him in the hallway and returning to their dormitory. Mr. Oliveira was found by two other members of his dojo and admitted to the hospital at 2:42 am, where he remained until he was discharged at 8:37 am. In terms of consequences for the perpetrating dojos, the possibility of disqualification from the tournament was suggested. However, given that Mr. Rodriguez is the only remaining fighter for his dojo in the tournament, he would be the only person being affected, so the decision was handed to Mr. Oliveira and Cobra Kai Karate. They were given the option to either have Mr. Rodriguez disqualified, or have them placed on probation and precautionary watch for the remainder of the tournament, and allow the Quarter Final bout between Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Oliveira to still go ahead. Mr. Oliveira chose the latter, so the fight tonight will indeed go ahead."
That was the end of the statement from the Taikai committee, detailing the events of the night before. As Marcos listened to it all, recalling the events again, more rage flooded through him, filling every inch of his bones. His desire to attack Diego grew by the second, and he gripped his microphone so hard in anger that it came close to snapping in half.
"Further consequences for Mr. Rodriguez's actions include the stripping of last year's championship title, vacating it. The decision has been made and is not subject to appeal." The mediator said. Immediately, a silent shock echoed through the room as every eye went wide as saucers. WHAT?! Diego was being stripped of his title?! It was clear that even he didn't know about this, as the cocky smirk that had previously been inhabiting his face disappeared in an instant, replaced by an expression that was a mixture of shock and fury.
"Wait… what?!" Diego stammered, interrupting the mediator. The mediator ignored him.
"That concludes the statement I was given by the Taikai committee. Press are welcome to ask Mr. Oliveira and Mr. Rodriguez questions, but the two boys retain the right to refuse to answer any question they feel uncomfortable answering. And so, without further ado, interviewer number 1…"
The first interviewer - interviewer number 1 - stood up and faced the boys, turning his attention to the fighter sitting on the far end of the table, a boy who had been hit with an absolute bombshell a couple of moments earlier.
"Mr. Rodriguez, obviously by the looks of it, you weren't aware of the decision that had been made to strip you of your title from last year. What is your take on that decision?" The interviewer asked him. It took Diego to regain his ability to speak, as he had been left reeling by the shock announcement that had been made.
"It's… it's fucking bullshit!" Diego snapped, venom seeping into his voice as he finally spoke up. "How is it fair?! A title I won last year taken away for things that happened this year! How the fuck does that make sense?!"
"If I may… it says in the Taikai rulebook that fighters who break the rules can be sanctioned by direct disqualification from the current tournament or the removal of prior championship results, depending on the infraction." One of the other interviewers spoke up.
"Doesn't change the fact that that shouldn't be allowed!" Diego shouted.
"I think I know why he's so angry." Marcos suddenly spoke up into his microphone. "My good friend over there realizes that he's not making it past me tonight in this year's tournament, so he wants to hold onto that last year's title as tightly as he can. After all, if he was confident about winning this year, I don't think he'd be so angry."
"Hey, hey, why don't you shut the fuck up right now before I get up and make you?!" Diego turned in Marcos' direction and spat, emotionally rattled, much to Marcos' delight. As Marcos chuckled, the mediator watched on nervously.
"Mr. Oliveira, Mr. Rodriguez, please only the person answering the question should speak. Mr. Rodriguez was asked the question so Mr. Oliveira, if you could just wait your turn. Now… interviewer number 2, please go ahead and ask your question."
Attention shifted back to the interviewers, the second one of them standing up. This time it was Marcos who was addressed.
"Mr. Oliveira, a question for you: why do you think Mr. Rodriguez and his dojo did what they did to you last night?" The interviewer asked. Marcos shrugged.
"You're probably better off asking him if you want to know for certain." Marcos said. "But if you ask me, it's pretty obvious what happened. Diego over there watched me knock out his friend last night, and he realized that I'm his biggest threat. You should've seen the way he was shitting himself when we did our face-off last night. He does not want to fight me at all, doesn't want me to humiliate him with the whole world watching, so he thought he'd be able to eliminate me before the fighting even starts. He's scared."
"Bullshit! I'm not scared of you!" Diego exclaimed, unable to keep quiet like the mediator had instructed. "I'm the reigning fucking champion! Why the hell would I…"
"No you're not. You just got stripped of the title, remember?" Marcos laughed, cackling loudly and watching Diego's face darken even further.
"Mr. Oliveira, Mr. Rodriguez, please." The mediator begged for order. "Next question please."
The third interviewer stood up, though not many people were actually looking at them at this point. Instead, all eyes were on Marcos and Diego, everybody silently trying to guess who would be the first to leap over the table and try to attack their opponent, because it was seemingly more and more inevitable as the press conference wore on.
"My question is to any of the three Miyagi-Do competitors remaining in the division - Mr. Keene, Mr. Moskowitz or Mr. Diaz. You three presumably have experience fighting Marcos and engaging with him in rivalry. What are your thoughts on all of this that has unfolded in the past 24 hours?"
Both Miguel and Hawk subtly glanced towards Robby, gesturing to him to answer the question on their behalf. After all, he was the one with the most history with Marcos, and the only one who had somewhat of a relationship with the Cobra.
"If I could answer that." Robby spoke up. "First of all, I fully support Marcos in all of this. We might be in opposing dojos but absolutely nobody deserves what they did to him. If I were him, I would've chosen the option of disqualification, but I guess that's up to him."
"So you've mentioned Mr. Oliveira. Do you have anything to say about Mr. Rodriguez?" The interviewer asked. Robby shrugged.
"Well, uh… not only was what he did very wrong, but it was also the stupidest thing he could've possibly done in my opinion." Robby said. "Putting aside all of the ramifications to Diego's last year's championship and all of that… I've fought Marcos before. You've all seen him fight by now too. You all know he's a very good fighter. To then give him extra fuel and fire to use as incentive to beat you… that was really stupid."
"Robby's right. It was very stupid indeed." Marcos commented. "Diego, I had been planning to go into the fight, score my 8 points and leave. But now… now, I think I'll have some fun with it. I'll make sure you feel more pain than you thought it was humanly possible to feel without passing out. By the time I'm done with you, if you're lucky, you'll be still alive as they carry you out of the arena and back home to Argentina."
The next interviewer stood up a few moments later, his question directed towards Marcos' opponent.
"Mr. Rodriguez. You've just heard what Mr. Oliveira is planning to do. What is your game plan for the fight tonight?"
"Kill him. Simple as that." Diego responded hotly. "Rule number 1 of the tournament: if an opponent is physically no longer able to compete, they automatically forfeit and are eliminated. That won't be too hard to do to the soft-ass L.A, Hollywood bitch over there. I just need to beat him badly enough that he can no longer compete."
"Ah yes, because that worked out so great for you last night, didn't it? Took 6 of you to bring me down, and look at me right now, physically fine and happy as a clam." Marcos shot back. "And need I remind you of something? I'm not from California, buddy. I'm from Brazil. From the shitty part of it - the slums - too. While you were spending thousands of dollars training with the richest dojo in Argentina, I was learning how to fight from the muggers and drug dealers in my neighborhood, getting my ass whooped and stuff stolen until I was strong enough to fight back. So I really don't think it's me who should be worried about being 'soft', do you?"
"Ooh, interacting with muggers and drug dealers… that sounds dangerous. Where were your parents in all of this?" Diego remarked, before looking Marcos dead in the eye and smirking widely before finishing his sentence. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. I read something about one of them in a Los Angeles paper. About your father."
"Hey, hey, hey, watch it." Marcos snarled. Marcos' parents - both his father and his mother - were definitely Marcos' sore spot, and Diego could see as much right now. Marcos' face had flushed dark red at the mere mention of his father, and he felt himself inches away from rising to his feet and charging at his opponent right now. All it would take now was a match to drop onto all of the gasoline bubbling inside him, and Diego was about to provide him as much.
"I guess what they say is true. Like father, like son…"
Marcos had had enough. He threw his microphone like a baseball in the direction of his opponent, before rising from his chair and charging towards his opponent, ready to finish things right then and there. Diego was just as ready too, hurling his own microphone at Marcos and balling his hands into fists.
However, before the two could make it over to each other, they felt themselves roughly yanked backwards by a flood of Taikai security guards that had converged on them from the moment they shot up to their feet. Marcos and Diego both felt themselves pinned down and then dragged out of the room in opposite directions, to be separated and closely guarded for every moment until their mammoth Quarter Final bout that event.
Their fight would still be going ahead. There was no question about it. There was no way the Taikai were going to disqualify or penalize either of them for their antics during the press conference and they knew it. With everything that had happened, given how deep and personal everything had gotten, the Taikai were definitely in for one of their biggest ever matchups, between two highly skilled fighters, filled with nothing but hatred for each other, with nothing less than the biggest prize in the world on the line…