CHAPTER 171
Here we go. Almost a year of hard work, followed by the most physically and emotionally draining 2 weeks of their lives, and they all boiled down to this. They had worked themselves to the bone, poured blood, sweat and tears into their training, all for the miniscule chance that they'd be fighting in the Sekai Taikai final, and sure enough, here they were.
It was the big day, the biggest day of all of their lives, and it started off surprisingly quiet. It was the calm before the storm. None of them had gotten a particularly restful sleep, all of them kept up by the thought of what was coming up, so by the time morning finally arrived, all of them were fighting off tiredness. They couldn't fall asleep though. Not now. Not when in 12 hours time, they would be fighting for the championship, under the eyes of millions of people.
Breakfast in the dining hall was a pretty modest affair. The finalists ate with their teammates and their family and friends, but none of them did much actual eating. Nerves had overtaken any other feeling in their bodies, ruining their appetites and rendering them all quiet, fidgeting messes. The vast dining hall, which just over a week ago had been packed to the brim with around 500 people during the opening night banquet, was now almost completely empty. Everyone else had been eliminated from contention and had been sent home. Everyone but 6 very competent fighters.
After breakfast, the 6 competing finalists were taken to the same lecture theater as they had sat in on the afternoon they arrived. Today, they would be going over the exact rules of the final matchups, as they differed quite a bit from the rules of the previous rounds. They would be much more brutal, much more ruthless, definitely more entertaining from a fan perspective.
"Welcome." A staff member greeted them as the 4 Miyagi-Dos and 2 Cobra Kais took their seats in the lecture theater. "Thank you all for coming. I promise, this won't take too long."
He was right. They wouldn't take too long at all, as there was only 1 thing to talk about: the rules for tonight. The Taikai organization member wasted no time getting started.
"As I'm sure you already know as you consented to this upon registering for the tournament, the ruleset of the finals are different to any of the previous rounds. It is a tradition that dates back to the 1st Sekai Taikai that occurred 49 years ago. Rather than traditional point sparring for the final fights, these fights will be continuous, full-contact spars. There will be no headgear, gloves or footgear worn either. It will be 5 rounds, each lasting 5 minutes. And you can win in the following ways…"
Upon hearing the word 'win', instinctively all 6 of the finalists sat forward a little in their seats.
"The first is by knockout." The Taikai staff member said. "This one wholly relies on the referee. The top priority in this fight still is, and always will be, your safety. If the referee notices a strike from your opponent knocking you out, or dazing you enough to render you unable to fight and therefore vulnerable, the referee will call the fight there and it will end then and there."
Much easier said than done, especially for the Cobra Kais. They would be facing Miyagi-Dos who were incredibly adept at defense, who trying to land a blow on was as difficult as trying to swat a fly out of the air. All of them needed inch-perfect offense if they wanted any chance at knocking their opponents out.
"The second way of winning is by submission." The Taikai staff member continued. "This is probably the biggest difference to what you're used to. You also have the opportunity to win your fight if you manage to make your opponent tap out through a submission hold, or if the referee believes that your opponent is going to be severely harmed if they don't tap out. Once again, even if you're not completely out or you haven't tapped out, the referee is still able to call the fight if they believe that one of you is going to be permanently harmed or injured."
Miyagi-Do had initially been outraged when they had heard about these rules all those months ago. They knew that rules such as these would definitely play into the hands of the Cobra Kais, and in particular Marcos, who wasn't the most adept at karate point sparring, but was seriously well-trained in MMA fighting. He was used to fights like these, and therefore had a small leg up on his opponent even before the fight started. The fact that he had less karate experience than all of the others meant very little now.
"The last 3 ways to achieve a win in this fight is by judges' decision, forfeit or disqualification. In terms of judges' decision, if neither of you have managed to win by the time the 5 rounds are over, the decision then goes into the hands of the 3 expert judges. You are judged based on strikes and takedowns landed, and overall how dominant each fighter was during the fight. The fighter with the most votes from the 3 judges wins. Then winning by forfeit and disqualification are pretty self explanatory. Both fighters and their teams will always have the right to throw in the towel and forfeit if they feel it's in their best interest. And then for disqualification, once again pretty obvious… if a fighter breaks several rules, doesn't listen to the referee, or commits any other serious infraction, they can be disqualified from the fight. There is no point deduction rule for misdemeanors in this fight. Fighters will initially be given warnings, but if bad behavior persists, they will simply be disqualified. Is that clear?"
The Taikai staff member made sure to stress this extra clearly. Although the relationships between the two sides didn't actually seem too bad at the press conference the night before, everyone who worked for the Taikai was all too aware of the history between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do by now, so they wanted to make sure that no matter what, when the fighting started, nothing got out of control.
"Any question?" The Taikai staff member asked. Marcos raised his hand.
"So what exactly is considered a legal and illegal strike in this fight?" He asked. "Because for example, I know that in previous fights, you couldn't kick your opponent anywhere from the waist down. But then in MMA, leg kicks are legal. So which is it here?"
"Good question." The Taikai staff member nodded. "About the location of where you can strike, it remains illegal to kick or punch your opponent anywhere below the waist. However, when doing submission maneuvers and takedowns, you are allowed to do them on the opponent's legs. Here's a full list of the illegal strikes on the screen right now."
The staff member displayed on the projector screen the list of things they weren't allowed to do during their fights. It was all pretty standard stuff. No biting, no spitting, no gouging or fishhooking, no headbutting, and some other things that the Miyagi-Dos and Cobra Kais found pretty self explanatory not to do.
This wasn't entirely new for any of them, as all of them had been in street fights before, and by this point, they all also had experience in tournaments. The rules for their fights tonight lay somewhere between the two of them. It persisted of similar rules of striking as in tournament fighting, but consisted of all of the brutality of a street fight. It was made abundantly clear as they learned of all of the things they'd be able to do to their opponent on the mat tonight that their mental and physical limits were truly going to be tested tonight. They were going to get pushed to their breaking points, and only those with strong enough willpower and a strong enough jaw would survive these barbaric encounters…
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"FINALLY… THE SEKAI TAIKAI FINAL HAS ARRIVED!" The Rock - that's right, Dwayne Johnson - stood in the middle of the fully packed arena, preparing to hype up the ground with an electrifying introduction. And this wasn't just the crowd of 15,000 that had been there in previous rounds either. The finals took place in the largest stadium in Tokyo, the former Olympic stadium called Japan National Stadium, which seated almost 100,000 people. And by the looks of it, there was not a single empty seat in the house. All 100,000 of the people in the stadium, as well as the millions of fans watching from home, wanted a piece of the action.
The stars had also come out that evening in Tokyo. There were celebrities dotted all over the arena, not just people who lived in the region, but stars from all over the world who had heard about the tournament and wanted to see what it was about. This year was by far and away the biggest Taikai of all time. It rivaled the amount of attention and hype of a UFC pay per view, all of the different unique storylines and fighters making it an unmissable experience for whoever heard about it. In the crowd, there seemed to be many American and Brazilian celebrities in particular (the only 2 nationalities remaining in the tournament), there to support the fighters who were waving their country's respective flag. Names as big as Neymar and Ronaldinho had made the trip to support Marcos, while figures as iconic as Sylvester Stallone and Brad Pitt had arrived to support the Americans competing, as well as many other legendary world-wide figures. Because this was a combat sport tournament, there were also naturally going to be many professional fighters there. It wasn't just McGregor, but there were plenty of UFC fighters, boxers and other Martial Arts who were intrigued to see what the next generation of fighters were going to produce.
The millions of eyes watching the final worldwide were all on Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as he stood on the mat, a spotlight beaming down on him, as he hyped up the already frenzied, crazed crowd.
"It's time!" The Rock shouted. "Time for a team to unleash a soul crushing, unrelenting defense! Time for a team to unleash a head-spinning onslaught of an offense! Both sides are looking to take care of some unfinished business between them. Right here! RIGHT NOW! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN… GIVE IT UP FOR JOHNNY LAWRENCE, DANIEL LARUSSO, SARAH GLEDHILL, TORY NICHOLS, ROBBY KEENE, AND MARCOOOOOOS OLIVEIRAAAAAA! THE STUDENTS AND SENSEIS OF MIYAGI-DO KARATE AND COOOOOBRA KAIIIIIIIIII!"
That was the competitors' cue. They had originally been standing in the tunnel that led to their locker rooms, watching this spectacle unfolded, all of them dumbfounded and speechless in awe. But upon hearing their names and their dojos announced, the 6 finalists were gestured to walk onto the mat and into the eyeline of the audience.
As they did, they felt a small earthquake rattle through the fully packed stadium, the 100,000 people jumping up and down, stomping and clapping with joy and anticipation upon seeing their heroes take to the stage.
It was clear who the most loved competitor was - the love for the Brazilian Cobra Kai teenager had not changed, despite the increase in number of people in the arena. However, with so many people present, and so few fighters remaining, there were now a lot more fans of the rest of the fighters too. Chants supporting Robby, Tory, Johnny, Daniel and Sarah all rang around the stadium, along with the deafening Oliveira chant.
The Miyagi-Dos and Cobra Kais were still stunned into silence as they took in the unbelievable, awe-inspiring scene before them. They were in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans, all of whom were screaming their names at the tops of their lungs. Although the entire Taikai had been surreal, this was another level. It felt like a fever dream, like they were about to wake up and find themselves back home in bed. They needed to punch themselves to realize that no, this wasn't some dream. It was reality. The reality they were fortunate enough to be living in.
"WHOOOO WILL IT BE?!" The Rock shouted, his words amplified through speakers all over the arena. "Will it be Miyagi-Do, the team that have taken the world by storm and have claimed 4 of the 6 finals spots, including an all-Miyagi-Do senseis' final?!"
The Miyagi-Do supporters in the room, quite a few of them at that, erupted into cheers and screams of support for Daniel, Johnny, Tory and Robby.
"Or will it be the underdogs, rising from the ashes to take home both the boys and girls titles and therefore the overall title?! They have the boy that you all know and love, one of the most feared, dominant, absolutely ELECTRIFYING athletes in this tournament's history?! Is it time for him and his teammate to give their dojo their first Taikai win in their history. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, COOOOOBRA KAIIIIIIIII!"
The explosion of frenzying activity at the sound of Cobra Kai was even more ear-shatteringly loud than the cheer for Miyagi-Do. With the love that Marcos had garnered from almost all of them, they were all desperate to see him win it all.
"It is time for all of us here, and millions around the world, to bear witness to these incredible fighters, who will leave every ounce of sweat, guts, pride and legacy on this mat! Because that is what fighters do! That is what CHAMPIONS do! Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to say, FINALLY… IT IS TIME FOR THE FINAL OF THE SEKAI TAIKAI!"