 ( chapter thirty nine )
NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME.

"Ladies and gentlemen... you've been waiting a long time, but we're finally here. Dojos from all across the Valley have been training for a year for their shot at glory. You ready to meet 'em? You? You? All right. This Sensei and dojo need no introduction. He took the All Valley by storm in 1984 and '85 and quickly became one of the greatest underdogs in the history of the sport. Last year, this dojo came out of nowhere and made it to the finals. They've got some new fighters, and they're ready to show the world that they're the best around. Give it up for Miyagi-Do Karate, led by two-time All Valley champion Daniel LaRusso!" Daryl, the announcer, yelled out.

Syd listened from backstage as Miyagi-Do ran out, adrenaline pumping as she prepared to take the mat. Cobra Kai had been training nonstop with their skills and one on one fights and Syd felt excited to show all that work off. Sensei Silver had continued to train her privately, telling the girl that he thought she had a real chance if she just focused on her training. And that's what Syd planned to do.

"This next dojo took last year's title. But they're under new management. Can they reign supreme once more? And last year's runner-up. He may be wearing a new gi, but one thing's for sure, Robby Keene and his team are ready to strike! Hailing from Reseda, defending champions and still the most badass name for a dojo, here comes Cobra Kai!" Daryl announced, Syd walking out behind Sensei Silver next to Tory as the team made their way to their side next to the mat.

"And finally... this dojo is making their All Valley debut, though you'll recognize a few familiar faces. Every year, a new dojo rises up the ranks. Does this newcomer have what it takes to win it all? Please welcome Eagle Fang Karate, led by Sensei Johnny Lawrence and defending champion Miguel Diaz!" Daryl spoke again, Eagle Fang coming out and taking their place.

Syd noticed a new girl on their team, smirking lightly to herself as she realized she's got another easy fight if she's put against the new girl.

"At the end of the day, only one of these dojos can be crowned Grand Champion. Welcome to the 51st annual All Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament! It's karate time." Daryl smiled, listening to the cheering applause.

Syd took a seat on the floor as she stretched her torso toward her legs and breathed out, lying down flat over herself. The dojos were given time to warm up and she was going to take it. Today was not the day to consider anyone on the other teams, not even Eli. Today was for her and for the victory she was wanting. Syd knew she needed to focus and take everything her Senseis said and apply it, making sure to keep everything else out of her mind.

"You ready?" Tory wondered, watching as her friend sat back up and stretched more. "Yeah. You?" Syd replied, pulling her leg up by her head as she stayed seated. "Yeah. I have a good feeling about today." Tory nodded. "Me too." Syd agreed, continuing to stretch.

"All right, fall in." Sensei Kreese spoke, bringing the group together. Syd stood up, facing the two Sensei's. "All your training has brought you to this moment. Remember, if you win, you don't just get a trophy. You get the glory. And you get to know forever that you are a champion. I have had students with all the talent in the world squander their moment. Do not let history repeat itself. Do not let your emotions cloud your judgement. And above all, do not let anything stand in the way of your victory." Sensei Kreese spoke.

"Just to be clear. That's not a pep talk. That's an order. And we're all gonna follow Sensei Kreese's orders today, aren't we?" Sensei Silver wondered. "Yes, Sensei." Everyone agreed. "Aren't we?" He repeated. "Yes, Sensei!" They all yelled out. "Let's go win this! Come on!" Sensei Silver clapped, hyping up the group. It was time and nothing would stand in their way.

When warmups were over, Daryl took the mat again. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to begin our skills competition. Up first, Demetri Alexopoulos from Miyagi-Do Karate, who'll be showcasing the kamas." Syd watched from the side as Demetri bowed forward, moving around as he yelled to showcase the skill he'd gained.

She was mildly impressed, shocked the boy was even willing to have something sharp that close to his face.

She continued to watch as different people took the stage to showcase their abilities. The girl from Eagle Fang, Devon Lee, broke boards while Chris broke cement blocks. Kenny also was showcasing board breaking for Cobra Kai, having Syd and Robby be two of the people to help him hold them.

Once set, Syd watched as Kenny broke each board with speed, accurately smashing them all down the middle.

Miguel was showing technical moves, same as Nate. An event Sensei Kreese had decided Syd would take for Cobra Kai.

"Next up we have Sydney McKinley showing us what technique looks like at Cobra Kai!" Daryl announced as Nate left the mat. "Focus on your moves. Show them all that no one does it like you do." Sensei Silver spoke quietly to the girl. She nodded, moving onto the mat and taking center with a bow.

Syd took a deep breath in, yelling out as she punched forward with all the technique she had. She continued her movements, making sure each move was completely accurate down to where her foot was angled. She completely tuned out everyone around her, feeling herself back in the back of the dojo as she worked on these moves.

"Technique is about more than just memorizing where your body goes." Sensei Silver had stated, walking around the girl. "It is about being one with the move. It combines the athlete with their craft and if you can find that kind of balance, you'll never miss a step."

She opened her eyes back up again as she yelled out, spinning around herself in the air and kicking, landing with her feet together as she stared forward. She continued her showcase, turning to the side and punching forward, feeling every muscle in her arm tighten as she started to understand what Sensei Silver had meant.

Syd spun around herself, facing a corner of the mat as she took in a breath. Sensei Silver had thought with the girls flexibility that they could add a showstopper to her routine and Syd was ready to show it. She ran forward, leaping forward onto her hands before pushing up, her body arching as she performed a whip-back move and landed on her feet, pulling her arms in with a yell.

The crowd cheered, Daryl moving to the mat again. "Well would you look at that! What a way to show off one's technical abilities!" Syd bowed forward, stepping off the mat and smiling as her team immediately congratulated her on the performance.

"Nice work." Sensei Kreese nodded. "Thank you, Sensei." Syd spoke, breathing heavily as she watched the competition continue.

Soon enough Eli was up with board breaking and Syd watched intently, noticing Nate on Chris's shoulders holding up the final board for the boy to break. She watched as Eli jumped as high as he could, kicking his leg up. It was like the world was moving in slow motion as she watched his foot just barely miss, landing back on the ground again.

Syd sighed, waiting for the next person to go.

As the competition continued, Mitch almost took the judges out with a bow staff, Kyler successfully used his head to destroy five boards of concrete, Piper competed by showing off her ability to break boards, and Tory even showed herself with a sword.

Sam had knives for her skills while Robby showed nunchucks, all the way until Cobra Kai took over the leaderboard. "And just like that, Miyagi-Do has been snake bit as Cobra Kai takes the lead, with our qualifier rounds up next." Daryl spoke, officially ending the skills competition.

Syd was pumped up for qualifying rounds. She'd gotten the highest score on her skill division and only wanted to take the competition to the next level.

She turned her head as someone began tapping on the mic, looking at the man in charge of the whole event, Ron. "Ladies and gentlemen, the male and female division qualifiers are about to begin. And with them, we enter a new era!" The crowd cheered as Ron spoke. "That's why we need a very special guest to kick things off. Let's give a big All Valley welcome to multi-Grammy-award winning, international superstar, Carrie Underwood!"

Syd gasped as Carrie Underwood actually walked onto the mat, grabbing onto Tory as the two girls jumped up and down in excitement. "Hello, All Valley! I am so honored to be here. I didn't see a lot of karate growing up in Oklahoma, but you guys know I love to compete, just like these wonderful young men and young women. Woo! One thing I have learned is that everyone gets their shot, their chance in the spotlight. Everyone gets their moment. This one's yours." She spoke, looking around at all the competitors.

Syd watched as Carrie Underwood performed, wrapped up with Tory and Robby as the three swayed to the music. It was insane that the All Valley competition was even able to get her to come but here she was. When she was done the room erupted in applause, everyone feeling even more pumped up to compete than before.

Syd watched as teammate after teammate qualified, starting with Robby before Kenny qualified as well. Tory qualified, then Piper, even Kyler made it to the next round against Chris before Syd went to compete.

She easily finished, scoring all three points before she even realized she'd started. Using both Cobra Kai for offense and Miyagi-Do for defense as she took out her competition. The ref held her arm up as the winner and Syd smiled, moving to stand beside her team again.

Cobra Kai kept their lead as more students qualified until it was time for the quarterfinals. Syd checked her name, seeing she was competing against some girl she'd never heard of before from a dojo she didn't even recognize. "This should be a cakewalk." Sensei Silver spoke from beside the girl. She nodded, smirking. "Yes, Sensei."

"All right, folks. We've witnessed some great fighting today. But you ain't seen nothing yet. Because we have arrived at the quarterfinals!" Daryl announced, the crowd going wild. Syd was happy to see Cobra Kai had the most qualifiers out of all the teams, knowing it made their chance of winning that much better.

"Which means things are about to get intense. Of the eight boys and eight girls on this stage, one of each will be named All Valley champion. And then we'll tally all the points to determine which dojo has earned the title of Grand Champion. And since the points get higher in each round... it's still any dojos game! So you keep your eyes on this here blue mat, because we are just getting started!" Daryl yelled out.

Syd watched as Tory competed against Devon Lee, taking the girl out. Devon had talent, that was for sure. But it was obvious she was new to karate and against Tory she stood no chance. "And with that, Eagle Fang's hopes of winning Girls All Valley Champ have gone up in smoke." Daryl announced as both girls exited the mat.

Piper went against Sam, scoring one point before Sam showed she knew much more than defense this time around, winning.

"Now facing off we have Sydney McKinley of Cobra Kai against Sasha Murphy from XMA Karate!" Daryl announced. "Focus. Use everything you feel to power you." Sensei Silver reminded as Syd took the mat.

She looked across at the blonde girl in front of her, both girls bowing as they waited for their go ahead. "Fight!" The ref shouted and Syd attacked. She kicked toward the girl hard, forcing her to back up as she tried to dodge the attacks.

Syd bent down, sweeping the other girls legs and causing her to hit the mat. She slid over, slamming her fist down into the girls stomach. "Point!" The ref yelled, Syd backing away to her side again as they reset.

"Fight!" Syd found herself on the defense this time. Obviously the girl hoped her defense wasn't up to par with her offense, but Syd just remembered everything Robby had taught them all and let muscle memory take over as she blocked every hit. She kicked the girl back, running at her before jumping in the air and spinning around to kick, landing a kick right across the girls face. "Point! 2-0."

Syd watched as the girl grew more and more pissed, just smirking lightly as she went back to her side. It was like the Sensei's had taught her, she just had to find a weakness and throw her opponent off balance.

"Fight!" The ref yelled and Syd moved forward, punching at the girl and swinging as she tried her best to block the attacks. Syd brought her knee up, hitting the girl in the stomach and as she toppled over herself, Syd took the opportunity to throw her to the floor again, slamming her foot down on the girls stomach. "Point! Winner!" The ref shouted, crowd cheering.

He held Syds arm up as she smiled, turning to the girl and bowing when he let her arm go. She moved back to Cobra Kai, immediately earning a high five from Robby as he smiled. "Nice job." Syd smiled back. "Thanks."

"And with that XMA Karate is out! Now, on to the boys division." Daryl spoke, ending the girls division as the top four continued to the semi-finals.

As the boys went on Syd watched as Demetri and Miguel both won their matches, looking at the board to see it was Eli vs. Kyler next. "By the time I'm done with him, he's gonna need a new lip again." Kyler laughed, immediately being backed up by a bunch of the guys who didn't even qualify. Syd rolled her eyes. Kyler was still underestimating people he shouldn't be. And while Eli had just come back from deciding to quit karate forever to competing today, he wasn't an easy beat down.

"Next up in the quarterfinals, it's Kyler Park of Cobra Kai versus Eli Moskowitz of Miyagi-Do." Daryl spoke. Syd noticed Eli's gaze head her way, smiling lightly as she mouthed a good luck to him. Out of anyone on the opposite team she wanted to make it far, it was him. Especially against Kyler. It wasn't exactly what was best for the team, but Syd figured it wasn't the biggest loss for Kyler to get out.

She noticed his smile sharpen, a look in the boys eye telling her he was ready. He hopped onto the mat, Syd immediately getting deja vu to the first All Valley. Kyler stepped up as well, meeting Eli in the middle.

Syd watched as once the ref shouted fight Eli was off, kicking at Kyler before tricking him to block up and smacking his arm into his stomach. "Point!" The ref announced. She held her arms down by her side, forcing herself to not show how excited she was for her boyfriend.

The two reset, Kyler immediately going at Eli after the ref yelled fight, but that was a mistake as Eli just shot his leg up, smacking into Kyler's stomach again as the boys momentum wouldn't allow him to stop. "Point!"

It was time to fight again as they reset, the ref yelling fight and Eli just jumping into the air, foot landing on Kyler's chest and knocking him to the ground. "Point! Winner!"

Syd bit down on her lip as they lifted Eli's arm in the air. He'd absolutely destroyed Kyler and would be moving on. Syd caught his eye as the ref dropped his arm, nodding slightly when no one was looking to make sure he knew how excited she was. Eli just smiled, eyes moving away from her as he went back to his team.

Syd checked the board to see Robby was against Kenny, an unlucky matchup. But, that's what happened when one dojo had more fighters competing, sometimes they went head to head.

"For our final quarterfinal match, we have a real snake fight. It's Cobra Kai versus Cobra Kai." Daryl announced, both Robby and Kenny getting onto the mat and facing each other.

Syd watched as Robby almost played with Kenny, allowing the younger boy to take as many shots as he wanted while pushing Robby back. His head wasn't in it and Kenny got a point just because of it.

"Time out." Sensei Kreese spoke. He ushered Robby over toward him while Sensei Silver brought Kenny over to the other side of the mat, both Senseis taking a few students on their side to support their choice of winner.

Syd stood beside Tory, watching as Robby walked over and looked at Sensei Kreese. "Are you fighting your friend or your opponent? I thought you wanted to be a champion." Robby nodded in response, taking in the man's words. He was right, if Robby wanted to win he couldn't let Kenny take shot after shot.

They went back into it and Syd could tell Robby had been refocused, not even giving Kenny the chance to make a move before he kicked him in the face, scoring a point. They reset again and it took a bit longer but Kenny went down again as Robby kicked him in the chest.

There was no way for Kenny to win when Robby was like this and they all knew it. She just hoped Kenny was okay in the end. She watched as the smaller boy went to attack, punching at Robby as the boy just moved away from the attack with ease. Now he was really playing with him.

Kenny went to attack a few more times before Robby shoved him away, the smaller boy just going to attack again and again as Robby hit him in places that didn't count for anything. Finally Kenny went running at Robby, who just jumped into the air, spinning around before landing a kick straight to Kenny's face, ending the fight.

He'd won, but as Kenny ran off in tears, Robby began to wonder if it was worth it.

"And now, our first semifinal match will be Miguel Diaz of Eagle Fang versus Eli Moskowitz of Miyagi-Do." Daryl announced excitedly. This would be a good match and Syd was honestly excited to see two equal competitors fight.

The two boys took the mat, doing their handshake before they bowed and the battle began. Syd watched as the two both attacked and defended, neither getting the best of the other for a bit as they both kicked up, matching in their moves. She grabbed Torys arm as Miguel kicked at Eli, but his arms got in the way and he blocked it.

Tory looked at Syd, laughing slightly. "Entertained?" Syd nodded, eyes never leaving the mat. "It's fun to watch competitors on the same level what can I say."

The match continued, Miguel suddenly spinning around and jumping into the air before a loud crack sounded out as Miguel's leg went into the air, the boy suddenly falling to the ground yelling out in pain. Syd gasped, watching the boy hold onto his lower back with his hand as Eli bent down to check on the boy. "Medic!" The ref yelled, a medic immediately running out onto the mat.

"Sensei!" Miguel screamed out in pain, Johnny kneeling right next to him. "Nasty." Tory frowned, the noise playing in her mind over and over. Syd was just concerned for the boy. Sure, they weren't friends anymore, but she remembered the school fight as much as the next person. Any back or neck injuries that Miguel could get were serious business and she didn't want him in the hospital again.

They rushed Miguel to a more private room, Daryl coming back out front. "Miguel Diaz will have 30 minutes if cleared to come back and fight Eli Moskowitz before the match is considered over. While we wait, let's see Robby Keene against Demetri Alexopoulos!"

Eli moved off the mat as Robby and Demetri both went on, their match beginning and Robby immediately scoring a point on the boy. "Robby Keene is ahead one-nothing as he and Demetri Alexopoulos battle it out for a trip to the finals." Daryl announced while the two continued to fight.

Demetri had definitely improved since the last time Syd saw him fight, but it didn't matter much because Robby was just better. The two continued back and forth until Robby spun past Demetri, punching him in the stomach and earning his second point.

Each boy was instructed to go back to their Sensei's for pep-talks before the match continued. When they both went back to the mat, Syd watched intently to see what would happen. She may not have thought Demetri could win, but she'd seen people with less experience take Robby down, so anything could happen.

They got back into their fighting positions and Demetri blocked all Robby's attacks, using his height to an advantage as he threw Robby to the ground, going for the point before Robby rolled out of the way. They continued their back and forth, Robby ending it by sweeping Demetri's leg and slamming his own down on the boys stomach.

The ref raised Robby's arm up as the winner and he came back over to Cobra Kai, Demetri moving back to Miyagi-Do. It seemed like unless Miguel came back to fight, Eli would be against Robby in the finals.

AUTHORS NOTE!
almost done with season four 😱

long ass chapter coming next so be ready