CHAPTER 180

The two fighters retreated to their corners for some final words before the fight began. Well, that was if they could even hear their senseis speak. The crowd right now was electric. Not a single person was sitting down, a sea of crazed fans bouncing up and down, singing and chanting at the top of their lungs. Seeing the amount of support they were getting was bamboozling, especially knowing that the people in the stadium were only a miniscule fraction of the number of people watching worldwide. The two boys forced themselves to ignore it all and remained centered, but the rest of Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai found themselves simply starstruck.

Robby stood opposite Daniel, Chozen, Johnny and Barnes, all four senseis ready to coach their student to glory. Robby's biological father, Robby's surrogate father figure, Miyagi-Do's best living fighter, and a Karate National Champion, all banding together to help their student achieve the victory that he had been craving for so long. For a while after he had come back to the dojo, Robby had been reluctant to step out of the shadows and take much responsibility, mostly out of guilt for what he had done to them in the recent past. But now… now it all rested on him. He was their champion, their last hope of winning the Taikai and beating Cobra Kai.

"Look, kid, I'm sure we don't have to tell you what's at stake here." Johnny started. He was right. He really didn't. The stakes of the fight were permanently branded in Robby's mind, and had been from the moment they had set foot in Japan. "And we'd be lying to you if we said that we didn't want to win this thing. But at the end of the day, whether we win or lose is mostly out of our control. You could miss his first punch and get knocked out in the first punch."

"Thank you for your confidence in me." Robby commented drily. Johnny shrugged.

"You could also roll your ankle like Sam did and have to forfeit." Johnny continued. "My point is that in this fight, so much of it is going to be out of anyone's control. All we can control is that you're going to give him hell. You're going to give this fight everything you have and if you do that, whatever happens, today will have been a success and you can walk away from this thing with your head held high."

"Remember your fundamentals." Daniel added. "You've already put in all of the hard work to even get to this point, to learn all the skills needed to get here. Now it's time for the fun part. You have 25 minutes to have some fun, to show off everything you've learned in the past few years. You might never get this kind of an opportunity again. Hell, none of us will probably get an opportunity to do something like this again. So just enjoy every minute of it. That's the most important thing. Stay safe and enjoy it."

Robby nodded, though he could feel his mind actively drifting to listen to the sound of the crowd, the crowd who wanted nothing more to see him lose, wanted nothing more than to see him humiliated by the Cobra. They were convinced that Robby was going to lose. They were convinced that he didn't stand a chance against Marcos. All of them likely knew of the history between Robby and Marcos by now, knew about Robby's pretty dismal record against him. They counted Robby out of the fight before it had even started.

"Don't listen to them." Chozen instructed. "You against him, that's all that matters. Let go of your fear and you'll realize that he's just a teenager. And you've beaten him before. You've also won fights in a lot worse settings than this one. You can win this."

Chozen was right. Robby had won fights in a lot less favorable circumstances than this one. He had taken on 5 surfers with his dad in Mexico. He had taken on an entire gang in juvie. He had taken on the whole Cobra Kai dojo without training a day of Cobra Kai himself, both wearing a Cobra Kai gi at the dojo, and while he was in Miyagi-Do at the mall. And Robby had won every single one of these fights, because he thrived off of the serious challenge they possessed. He never backed away from a fight, but instead embraced the toughest fights even more. Why should this be any different? Marcos was just 1 guy. And so he was most definitely beatable.

On the other side of the mat, Robby's opponent was not in the best state of mind right now. The sounds and the atmosphere of the arena was creeping into Marcos' head, and the expectations and burden was mounting on his shoulders. There was so much riding on this fight, it was impossible for him to remain completely calm about it all. Not only was he fighting to help Cobra Kai win the bet, his own future in professional fighting was riding on this fight, and there was also an entire arena of people who had come here today, expecting him to win.

"Relax." Kreese told him. "You're better than him. Much better than him. Now it's time to bring home that trophy. Remember what I've taught you. Remember our philosophy. Go out and win this fight."

Marcos nodded. Use Cobra Kai. Got it.

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It was time. At long last, battle was finally about to commence between the two warriors, on behalf of their dojos that by now were family to them. Summoned to the center of the mat by the referee for some final instructions before the fight, it was clear which one of them was in better spirits as they came face to face. Robby looked extremely loose, almost eager to get the party started. Marcos on the other hand… Marcos looked like he was clearly feeling the stress and pressure of the colossal moment.

The referee gave them his final message before the fight, demanding that they listen to him at all times. The two boys then bowed, not taking their eyes off each other the entire time. They were now standing just a mere few feet away from each other, so as they stared at each other eye to eye, they could stare a hole deep into their opponent. Robby could tell Marcos was really nervous, and Marcos could tell that Robby was less so, and that only caused his uneasiness to increase.

Soon, it was finally the moment of truth. The two boys heard the words that they had been waiting for for almost an entire year now…

"Aaaaand… FIGHT!"

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Here we go! Round 1 of the final match of the grand finale of the Sekai Taikai had begun. This was the deciding match between the two boys, but also between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do. Everything was on the line right now, so 100,000 people in the arena waited with baited breath for one of the fighters to attack and get the fight underway…

As expected, it was the Cobra Kai who struck first, but it wasn't with the vehemency that everyone had been expecting. Marcos seemed almost reluctant to let his punches fly, painfully aware that a single mistake could result in him losing the fight and letting his whole life of preparation for this moment come to nothing. Marcos found himself hesitant, scared to push too hard in fear of how it could backfire, and Robby took advantage of that.

There was absolutely no fear in Robby's eyes as the fight started. His senseis' words were resonating through his head. He had been through so much in his life, gone through so much trauma and anguish, all to lead him to this moment. And with winning not at all guaranteed, the only thing he could control was making this a fight that he would never forget. He was going to give it everything, make this 25 minutes of unforgettable fun, and he most certainly couldn't do that if he feared Marcos or put him on a pedestal in any way.

He had nothing to lose now, nothing preventing him from giving the fight anything but his absolute best, so it wasn't difficult for him to gain the upper hand of the fight. As Marcos nervously shot out with his opening combination, Robby channeled all of his Miyagi-Do experience and expertise, managing to block and dodge every single strike, before landing a punch of his own right to Marcos' solar plexus.

Marcos stumbled a few steps backwards, the wind immediately knocked out of him, and it took him a few moments to regain his breath. It definitely hadn't been how he had expected to start: Robby had blocked and countered his combination without so much as even batting an eye. Steadying himself, Marcos prepared once again and attacked with another combination that Kreese had taught him himself. 'A few punches to the head to draw the opponent's hands up, and then a kick to the exposed stomach,' that's what Kreese had taught him.

But once again, Robby more than equal to it. He parried all of the punches that Marcos threw, but did not chomp on the bait and leave his stomach exposed. His defensive guard was seemingly impenetrable. In fact, after Marcos had finished throwing the combination with a missed kick, Robby plucked Marcos' leg out of the air and, holding one of Marcos' legs up to keep the Cobra off balance, Robby swept him to the ground, slamming Marcos onto the ground on his back.

Knowing that he had mere seconds before Robby followed that up with a strike, Marcos just about managed to roll away in time, throwing a few upkicks as he lay on his back to keep Robby away and then scrambling back up. Retreating a few steps further backwards, it was a sight that nobody in the audience had expected to see. Marcos was actively shying away from battle with Robby. He was being utterly dominated in the opening minutes of the fight, more vulnerable than the audience had seen him all tournament. If this was a boxing rope, Marcos would have probably found himself pinned against the ropes, trapped and having the stuffing beaten out of him until the ref called for a stoppage. He felt like a gazelle at the end of a hunt, resigned to its fate of being eaten by the pursuing lion.

Every Cobra Kai technique Marcos threw during the first round of the fight, Robby managed to block with ease. It didn't matter what. While many people had come to see Marcos obliterate his opponent, it was seeming increasingly likely that the exact opposite was about to occur, and the Brazilian wouldn't even make it past the first round. He found himself thrown to the ground, defenseless, several times in the mere 5 minute period, and took a plethora of vicious punches and kicks that miraculously didn't knock him out either.

As Round 1 wore on to its final stages, Robby found himself filled with more and more confidence. With Marcos backing off and trying to keep distance from him, Robby could tell that he had the Cobra right where he wanted him. This wasn't the impossible fight that Robby had thought it could be based on their previous encounters. Either Marcos was a shell of his former self, or Robby had improved drastically since they had fought in the past 6 months. It was a combination of both, and that's what allowed Robby to dominate so easily in the first round. When simply defending with Miyagi-Do wasn't enough, Robby even found himself relying on his Cobra Kai and Eagle-Fang training to press Marcos with offense of his own, not managing to land a knockout blow, but managing to sweep or take the Cobra down enough times for that knockout to be so close he could taste it.

It was only the bell that thankfully managed to save Marcos at the end of the round. A loud RING allowed him to stumble back to his corner and receive some much needed advice before the second round commenced…