CHAPTER 165

With Robby sealing his spot in the boys' division of the Sekai Taikai final, all of Miyagi-Do were over the moon for him. Tory was the first person to make it over to him after the fight, practically diving on top of him in celebration. Daniel was close behind her, pulling Robby into a crushing hug, probably not the best decision after the beating Robby's ribs had just taken during the fight. Johnny was delighted for his son. Chozen and Barnes were really happy for their student. Hawk, Sam and Demetri were ecstatic for their friend. Even Miguel, underneath all of his sadness about losing, was happy for Robby. If he wasn't going to win, he had hoped that it would be his step-brother, and would definitely be one of the people in Robby's corner during the final. There was no bad blood between them anymore, that was for sure.

Nothing could wipe the smiles off of Miyagi-Do's faces for the next little while, as the boy they all loved so much had made it to the Taikai final. Not even when they watched the next fight commence - Sarah's semi final against her French opponent - did they begin to frown, despite Cobra Kai putting on another dominant showing to seal their student's place in the girls' division's Taikai final.

With Marcos and Kreese coaching her from her corner, and Sarah being a few steps ahead of her opponent the entire time, there was only ever going to be one winner to that fight. Sarah was fighting at full confidence right now, hitting her peak at just the right moment. Extra motivated to keep her dojo alive in the tournament, she was finding each fight easier and easier, despite the fact that it should've probably been the opposite. Cobra Kai lived to fight another day. With both Marcos and Sarah through to their respective finals, Cobra Kai could still clinch victory in the bet if they won both divisions. Marcos and Robby's matchup was already confirmed, but Sarah wasn't sure which of Sam or Tory she was going to fight in the final. But whoever it was, she was certainly ready for them.

Well Sarah was about to find out who her opponent was right now, as the final semi final matchup of the night was about to start…

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Samantha Larusso vs. Tory Nichols. Just like Miguel and Robby's rivalry, this was a feud for the ages. The daughter and next generation of Miyagi-Do against the girl who for so long had embodied the very essence of Cobra Kai. Their hatred for each other had gone far past the standard amount for a rivalry. For a while, Tory's thoughts had been consumed with the idea of maiming Sam, and Sam's thoughts had been consumed by how she could keep defending herself from Tory. Until eventually, last summer, everything had changed. There was a moment, just a moment, where the two of them were on the same side for once. And it might have taken them nearly 6 months after that point to finally become willing teammates and allies, but the fact that they had actually made it to that point at all was a miracle after all the pair had done to each other.

Whether it be making out with Tory's boyfriend at Moon's party; or attacking Sam with a spiked bracelet at the school; or breaking into Sam's house with Cobra Kai; or harassing Tory at work; or attacking Tory at the prom, amongst many other encounters… nobody had ever expected that after all of these things and more, the girls would have been able to eventually work things out. They weren't friends. Not even now. Too much had happened between them for that to possibly ever be on the table. But they were able to peacefully coexist in harmony, and that was more than good enough.

From a fighting perspective though, things were just as jumbled as with Miguel and Robby. Nothing came without its controversy. The first fight had pretty clearly gone to Sam, with Sam managing to defeat Tory at the school, despite Tory holding dominance for most of the fight. Their second fight had occurred at the Larusso house, and in that one, neither one of them could really be considered the winner as the fight was interrupted before it could conclude. One might argue that Sam was in a better spot than Tory as she had managed to disarm her of her nunchucks, but that didn't mean much as Tory was definitely capable of disarming her opponent of her bow staff. Then the rivalry had come to their climax at the All-Valley, where Tory had won but her win had been ruined by the rigged referee. Then, their latest encounter had come during the Miyagi-Do Fight Night that occurred in December, which Tory had managed to win.

All in all, the score was 1-1 if anyone was counting, though that figure could definitely be debated otherwise. It didn't really matter though, as past wins had no impact on how badly either of them wanted to win this thing. Sam hadn't yet won a tournament. Tory hadn't won one legitimately either. That was all that mattered. Both of them were more motivated than ever to make the Sekai Taikai final…

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"Sam, I really don't know what more there is to tell you at this point." Daniel said as he stood in her corner before the fight. "You already know whatever I have to stay. All I'm going to say is that I love you so much. No matter the outcome of this fight, know that you've made me, our family, our dojo and most importantly yourself proud. The fact that you're even here, able to stand face to face with Tory after your history with her… you're definitely a lot stronger than me, that's for sure. I don't know if I'd have the strength to do that in your position."

"Thanks, dad." Sam smiled at him. "I'm going to win this fight. For you. One of your original students has already made the final, but when your other one does too… it won't even come close to showing how much you've done for us. As a Karate teacher and as a dad. None of us would be here without you. We all owe everything to you."

"You don't owe me anything, Sam. This was all you. And it was a pleasure to have been able to watch you grow into such an incredible young woman."

Meanwhile, across the mat, Chozen was the one who gave Tory her pre-fight talk. Since her defection to Miyagi-Do, of all of the senseis, Chozen was the one she had spent the most time with. He was the one most similar to her in many ways, and he was one of few people in the dojo who genuinely understood her, her temperament and the reasoning behind it. Not to mention that his fighting style was the perfect blend of offense and defense, something that she hadn't gotten in Cobra Kai, where it had been all about offense.

"Are you ready?" Chozen asked her. As Tory took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves, she nodded and allowed determination to win to overtake any other emotion in her body. It killed any fear inside her. Deadened any stress or nervousness that was threatening to creep in. Tory could see her goal clearly in her mind, and nothing was going to stop her from achieving it.

"I am." Tory nodded, hopping from foot to foot. Chozen nodded.

"Good. Remember your training. You are already very good at attacking, but it's defense that is going to win you this fight. A strong defense beats a strong attack, but a strong defense AND attack beats anything. That is what you must aim for."

"I will." Tory said confidently, ready to make this fight her own, ready to stamp her authority on it, score 8 points and find herself in the finals.

At that moment, the referee called the two equally matched fighters into the middle of the mat and shortly after, the fight began…

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First impressions were everything. In all aspects of life. Including fighting. Whoever managed to get a better start to a fight possessed a vital advantage, both from a points perspective and more importantly, from a mentality point of view. Whoever scored first normally had more confidence, and the person who conceded was often taken over by hesitancy and fear. So it was a reasonable assumption that that would be the case here in this matchup between the two girls. It wasn't. Instead, it was the exact opposite.

Sam managed to score the first point of the fight. She absorbed Tory's initial wave of offense, using a variety of the many Miyagi-Do blocks and defensive techniques, before countering with a few punches of her own, one of them landing right on Tory's stomach.

Sam 1 - 0 Tory

"Point! Larusso! Score's 1-0!" The referee barked.

1 point down, and pretty earlier into the fight too. Most fighters would've then approached the fight with a bit more cautiousness, a bit more hesitancy. Not Tory. The former Cobra flew at Sam with another few unorthodox combinations. Maybe if Sam and Tory had fought more times in the recent past, they could've known a bit better what the other person was going to throw at them. But the fact of the matter was that both of their fighting styles had changed so drastically over the past few years that they were practically unrecognizable from their previous encounters.

This meant that Sam was left slightly unsure as to when exactly to counter Tory's attack without being caught by a punch from the blonde girl. Miyagi-Do defense needed to be timed to perfection, as trying to counter too early or too late would almost certainly result in being hit. Normally, they were able to time this based on the rhythm of the fight. However, given how unorthodox and manic Tory fought, it was simply impossible for Sam to gauge any kind of rhythm of the fight at all, and that led to Tory scoring her own point, a roundhouse that caught Sam just below the ribs.

Sam 1 - 1 Tory

"Point! Nichols! Score's 1-1!" The referee informed everyone.

Just like the fight before between the two boys, things were incredibly even between Sam and Tory. All of the storylines and prior history between them didn't change the fact that as soon as the bell rang and the fight began, these two were equals. There was not much doubt about that at all. It didn't matter who had won the last fight. Or who had won the fight before. Or the fight before that. Or the fight before that. All that mattered was that right here, right now, things were completely and totally even between the two competitors.

This meant that as the fight wore on, they began to see something that had become pretty common between two fighters of this high caliber, during rounds this late in the competition: a stalemate. Everyone was so closely matched that it was incredibly difficult for one of them to gain the upper hand for long enough to even score a point.

With the score level at 1 point each, Tory and Sam went onto a stalemate that seemed to last forever. Tory threw a few strikes. Sam threw a few of her own. Neither girl seemed to be able to land on the other, and with every passing moment that they didn't, it seemed increasingly likely that they wouldn't for the next little while. One of them needed to flip the script. And fast too.

Both of them knew that. Both of them were thinking it. Which is why what happened next, happened in such a blur that after the fight, the two had a hard time even recollecting it. Throughout the fight thus far, it had always been one of them attacking and the other defending, with exactly who that was differing constantly. Now though, both of them decided to take their chances and go on offense, the two lunging at each other. They both leapt into the air with soaring, flying side kicks, both of which connected with their opponents.

It all happened so fast that nobody knew who scored first, least of all the referee who was at a bad angle to see the kicks. All he saw was both of them take to the air, land clean hits on their opponent, before they both fell to the ground in a heap. Because he wasn't sure which of them landed first, as it seemed to be mere split seconds at most between the kicks, there was only one thing he could do.

"Points scored at the same time, so they're invalid! Continue fighting!" The referee instructed.

Obeying the referee's command, Tory leapt to her feet, preparing to keep going. However, her opponent did not do likewise. Sam hadn't stood up just yet, still on the ground after landing after the kick, her face etched with pain as she clutched her ankle. She wasn't getting up! Something wasn't right at all!