CHAPTER 183

When Robby turned around to keep fighting, he had been reborn. The ringing in his ears from the blow he had taken from the Cobra had completely faded, overtaken by the sheer determination that was enveloping every bone in his body.

"Believe you can win - truly believe it - and you'll win. Simple as that."

That's what Mr. Larusso had told him after the 2nd intermission, and for the first time, Robby truly understood what those words meant. He realized the difference between wanting to win, and believing that he truly could. With the thought of his loved ones sitting right on Robby's heart, for the first time he felt he truly had the power to win this thing. Thinking about them was going to drive him forwards.

And it sure did. With only 1 minute left of the round, Robby came out all guns blazing. There wasn't any thought of self-preservation, despite the heavy knockdown that Robby had just taken. He surged forwards, taking Marcos a little by surprise with his intensity, and forcing the Cobra onto the back foot for the first time in nearly 2 rounds now. Although Robby attacked with great ferocity and speed, what separated him from those who hadn't made it this far in the competition was that like Marcos, Robby was able to think quickly too and plan everything that he threw. His punches were well-placed, his kicks well-timed. Marcos found himself forced to back away from his opponent as he was now on the receiving end.

As the end of the round ticked nearer, Robby didn't get more desperate. He simply stayed patient, trusting that just like Marcos had, if he kept the pressure on, his opponent would crack. And sure enough, with a mere few seconds left to spare in the round, he found the opening he had been waiting the whole fight for. As Marcos blocked a roundhouse kick to his head, the power that Robby had generated in the kick from his hips still made the kick hurt an awful lot to block. Marcos winced in pain and for a split second, just for a split second, that arm dropped slightly lower than his head. Robby's eyes widened in shock as he saw the gap unexpectedly open, but he didn't sit around waiting for it to close. He sent almost an identical punch to the one he had been rocked with earlier in the round, connecting perfectly with the side of Marcos' head.

Marcos had managed to begin to parry it as it made contact, and so it was enough to redirect at least some of the force, but he had still taken a hell of a hit at the hands of the Miyagi-Do. He dropped to his knees from the pounding blow, blessing Robby with his own opportunity to end the fight. But just like the bell had saved Robby at the end of the second fight, it had saved Marcos' ass right now at the end of the 3rd. A large RING forced the two warriors away from each other and slammed the door shut on the possibility that Robby had just been flashed with to finish the fight.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

But Robby wasn't going to let that failed opportunity deter him. If anything, as the penultimate round - Round 4 - began, it had egged him on. Encouraged him to keep up the momentum. Neither boy had said much to their corner between rounds, as by this point, what could their corners really say? The fight had so many twists, it was so unpredictable, that whatever they said was likely going to be rendered irrelevant within a minute of the next round starting. All the senseis could do was encourage their competitors to keep the effort up, to keep the mental and physical strength up. The rest was up to the boys to settle on the mat.

Once again, Robby possessed a clear advantage going into the 4th round, continuing where he left off at the end of the 3rd. Although, now Marcos was a lot more reluctant to relinquish control as he knew the damage that Robby could cause him, so he forced himself to remain in the mix by throwing some combination of his own. It quickly became equal between the two of them, the two going back and forth with neither really connecting with much more than minor hits. Fatigue was also threatening to play a role in their fight, just like it had in all of the previous fights during the tournament. Although Robby and Marcos were two of the fittest guys there, even they couldn't fight off the claws of exhaustion that were trying to drag them in.

The entire round flew by without even a moment of rest. Robby had taken Round 1. Marcos had taken Rounds 2 and 3. But now, in Round 4, for the first time in the fight, it was equal between them. There was still everything to play for, and both boys were desperate to win. They had made it this far. Neither was willing to give up now. All they needed was some kind of miracle to help break down their opponent's defense, and it was by the flip of the coin, an even 50/50, which of them would get that inevitable opportunity first.

Once again, it was only at the very end of the round that that opportunity occurred. God forbid it happened at the beginning or even the middle of the round. It was only at the very end, when they had been fighting for 5 grueling minutes and their fuel tanks were running on empty, that an opportunity finally arose.

Robby had been the last person to score a major hit in the fight, at the end of the 3rd round that was, but this time it was the Cobra who managed to clap back in his own unique way. The two boys found themselves wrestling on the ground, Marcos having taken Robby to the mat in an effort to pull Robby away from his comfort zone of striking and into one of his comfort zones of Jiu Jitsu. Robby was a very strong guy, and his low center of gravity made it pretty difficult to out wrestle him, but Marcos did. His experience grappling was just too much for Robby, and a little while after they had originally dropped down to the mat, Marcos finally managed to wrap himself around Robby's body into a submission lock that he knew Robby would struggle to make it out of: a triangle choke.

There were 30 seconds left of Round 4, so Marcos knew it would be a race against time to get Robby to tap out. His legs were wrapped around Robby's neck, constricting viciously, cutting off Robby's airflow and causing him to slowly drift to sleep.

Robby could feel himself slipping away from consciousness with every passing second. And however he tried to struggle, however he thrashed, he just couldn't seem to break free. Marcos had him in too tight, and Robby didn't possess the Jiu Jitsu expertise to be able to do anything about it. Closer and closer he trickled to unconsciousness, black spots threatening to dance over his eyes. He wouldn't tap. He knew that for sure. He was going to take this thing to the very end, even if that meant passing out. He was going to try to fight out of this until he physically couldn't fight any longer.

As Robby slipped further and further from reality, his entire body burning from the lack of Oxygen, he knew that he only had a few seconds left now.

"Robby! I'm not leaving Cobra Kai!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who put him in the hospital!"

"This whole thing was a mistake! You want to end up like him, that's up to you!"

"ROBBY, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

As some of the low points of Robby's life flashed before his eyes in the final moments before unconsciousness, he closed his eyes, ready to let blackness envelop him. But as he did, a loud, piercing voice sliced through his ears.

"Robby!"

It was just one word. Just a single word, and it changed everything for him. Despite being locked in a crushing choke by Marcos, Robby forced himself to remain conscious and not fall victim to it. It had been Tory's voice shouting to him, and he forced himself to open his eyes and look up at his corner. He looked once more at his family, at his friends, his love for them rushing through his system even in his semi-conscious state.

And the funniest thing happened… While mere seconds ago he had been forced to recollect his worst moments, right now the exact opposite occurred.

"Are they still watching? I don't care. Me neither."

"I'm sick of blaming you, dad."

"Do you want to stick around? Maybe learn a few things?"

Summoning any last iota of strength within him, Robby came up with a plan. A hail mary to try and get out of the triangle choke. There was maybe a 10% chance this actually worked, but he had no alternative. Here we go, Robby told himself, clenching his hands into fists. Now or never.

Robby had no jiu jitsu experience. He realized that if he tried to grapple his way out of this one, there was no way he'd win. So he had two options: trying to wriggle and weasel his way out; or brute strength.

The former seemed pretty impossible, especially in Robby's weakened state, as Marcos had him in a pretty unmovable position. So he forced himself to rely on the latter. He channeled almost 3 years of Karate training, any shred of strength he had gained at the time, to slowly but surely stand to his feet. Marcos was still locked tightly onto him like a koala bear to a tree, so Robby had to not only bear his own weight, but the approximate 200 pounds of his opponent as well. He stumbled a few times, coming close to breaking his knees if he had fallen, but weirdly, Robby had utter and complete faith that he wasn't going to fall. He had full confidence in himself and sure enough, a few moments later, Robby was completely on his feet, Marcos hovering in the air as he continued to squeeze Robby's neck with his legs.

Robby was on the brink of collapse by now, so just before he did, he threw all of his weight forwards, slamming Marcos to the ground onto his back as hard as he could.

RING!

The sound of the bell ringing to signal the end of round 4, perfectly contrasted the savage BANG that Robby and Marcos had gone down with. Even with the round over, both of them were not on their feet, laying on the ground, unable to find the strength to stand. Marcos was reeling from the force of the slam that had rattled his entire body, and Robby was still trying to regain his bearings after being put in the choke for so long.

It took nearly a minute for both fighters to finally find their way back to their feet, even if they did so very unsteadily. But at least they managed to do so, as the referee was debating calling a stop to the fight given the hellish condition both boys were in. They were running on fumes at this point, both having taken catastrophic damage throughout the encounter, but that didn't matter now. Because it was official… they were going to have to fight one more round. They were going to round 5!