 ( chapter fifty eight )
FIGHTING TO STAY ALIVE.

"We have now entered the elimination phase of the Sekai Taikai. The dojos who do not win tonight will be headed home. The previous rounds have determined your current rankings. The number one team will face the number 16 team. The number two team will face the number 15 team, and so on and so on." One of the judges explained, standing before all the competitors.

This moment was make it or break it, determining if the team would be fighting another day or going home with their tails between their legs. Syd couldn't lose, she couldn't have gotten this far to just let it all disappear so quickly. They had to fight and fight well.

"Okay, that means at number 12, we're facing number five, Dublin Thunder." Devon made note, clueing the rest of the team in on who they needed to look out for. "Oh, great. I heard they started a fight with some locals at the beach. They're always looking for a brawl." Eli explained, frowning.

"Then we just need to use that against them." Syd replied, not turning around. If they wanted to win they had to use their opponents traits against them, find a weakness.

"Now, for the rules of the event. Fighters will again face off on a platform." The judge continued, moving her hand to show the platform that stayed high in the air behind her. It seemed they wouldn't be fighting so close to the ground this time around.

"But this time, two fighters from each dojo are allowed at one time. If one of your fighters falls... they are out. But another teammate can climb up to take their place. However, the fight never stops. So get up there quick to not leave your teammate alone two-on-one. When all the fighters of a dojo have been knocked off, the team is out." The judge finished explaining, the fighting beginning.

Syd watched closely as The Iron Dragons fought the West End Warriors, the fight not even close as the two top Iron Dragon fighters never fell off, taking out the entire 16th team themselves. Syd just watched closely, figuring she could pick up on some of their tactics and moves by watching them.

The two were good, and with a Sensei like they did, Syd just hoped for the best. They may have been the enemy, but she didn't think they deserved to suffer like that off the mat.

"Advancing to the next round, the Iron Dragons!" The announcer spoke, the boy yelling out in victory from the platform. "What was this dude, made in a lab?" Eli wondered, staring up freaked out. Syd just frowned, very aware of what was happening in the background now.

Sam just squeezed her hand, almost like she was trying to stop herself from getting upset. "He's like a mix between the Winter Soldier and Frankenstein's monster." Demetri added, looking up in fear.

"Don't call him a monster. You don't know him or what he deals with." Sam spoke in response, giving both boys a small look before facing forward again.

Eli just looked at her confused, not understanding why she'd defend the boy or why the two girls were holding onto each other in some form of agreement.

"Next up, Korea's Cobra Kai versus Sweden's Polarslaget." The announcer spoke, this fight ending a similar way to The Iron Dragons as Tory stood beside one of her teammates against the final two on the other team, her teammate kicking one off before she kicked another across the face, causing a tooth to shoot out of the girls mouth.

"Wow. Impressive performance by Tory Nichols of Cobra Kai. They advance to the next round." The announcer spoke, Tory's teammate excitedly picking up the tooth before grabbing Tory's hand with his other one, lifting it in the air in victory.

The other teams clapped as people began chanting Tory's name, the girl quickly building a name for herself in this competition. Syd smiled lightly, making eye contact with the girl before Tory's eyes moved away.

A few more teams battled, lower ranking ones being eliminated left and right. And then suddenly, it was time. "Next on the platform, Dublin Thunder versus Miyagi-Do." The announcer spoke, the team moving to stand where they could wait while their members fought.

"All right, let's bring it in." Sensei Lawrence spoke, walking up to the group with Sam on his side. "I got something to say. All right, it's been a tough day. Probably shouldn't have been such a dick to all of you, but I want you to know that I believe with every bone in my body that you can do this. You guys know a lot more about balance than me, so remember everything Sensei LaRusso said and use all your Miyagi-Do skills to stay up there." He continued, looking between the group.

"Yeah, let's go." Miguel smiled. "All right, I'm thinking we should start strong with one of our captains. Robby. Sam, you'll go with him. Devon, you'll go next. Hawk, Demetri. Syd, I want you going in after them and showing everyone the power behind those kicks. And Miguel's our anchor. Let's do this." Sensei Lawrence finished, bowing to everyone.

They all bowed back, though Syd was just confused. She didn't understand why he'd put one captain in the front of the group, yet not the other one at the very end. Or at least put them together. She felt like she wasn't being seen the way she should have been with the headband around her head, eyes quickly darting to Kreese as the man already looked her way.

She looked away again, trying to remind herself that she was only seeing these patterns because she'd been told they existed. She had to remember that her Sensei believed in her. He just wasn't making that idea any easier.

Sam and Robby headed up first as the other team's members did the same, Syd watching closely with her arms crossed. "Come on, LaRusso. Let's go, Robby. You guys got this." Sensei Lawrence yelled, Robby and Sam nodding to each other as they defended when the other teams people immediately came at them.

Miguel moved beside Syd, smiling lightly. "You ready to end this thing together? We can finally show everyone what happens when we aren't fighting each other." Syd smirked lightly, nodding. "It'll be fun to kick someone else on their ass for once, I was getting a bit bored honestly only ever doing it to you."

"Oh, okay." Miguel replied, shaking his head slightly. "But in all seriousness, I'm glad to end this thing with you. Gotta make the back just as strong as the front, right?" Miguel continued, eyes watching the fight.

"Definitely." Syd nodded, thankful for the boy for changing how she saw everything that was playing out.

Syd looked back up as people gasped, watching one of the Irish fighters kick Robby across the face, and straight off the platform. She frowned, at this point not understanding how he was letting even the sight of Tory mess him up this badly.

"It's okay, Robby." Sensei Lawrence yelled, speaking quietly to Devon for a moment before the girl ran toward the platform to help Sam fight.

Syd watched Devon immediately move to offense, something she thought to be smart. They all needed to play off their own individual strengths along with what was best in the moment, and Devon on offense was a lot better of a fighter than Devon on defense.

Devon kicked her opponent, knocking them off the platform before turning around, kicking the other opponent to help Sam fight them off. A new Irish fighter got up and attacked Sam, almost knocking the girl off. "LaRusso, Miyagi-Do!" Sensei Lawrence yelled, reminding the girl of her strength.

Sam nodded, dodging and defending against her opponent before throwing them off the platform. "Hell yeah. More of that." Sensei Lawrence spoke to Eli and Demetri, Syd sending the man a quick glance before looking back at the fight again.

Whoever the new fighter that got on the platform was, they were good, kicking Sam off the platform easily, Sensei Lawrence sending Eli up. He immediately threw his competitor down, helping Devon with the other one before Devon noticed the girl who'd knocked Sam down running at the three, throwing herself at the Irish fighter and going down with her.

"All right, go get 'em, kid." Sensei Lawrence spoke to Demetri, sending him to help Eli.

"You ready, McKinley?" Sensei Lawrence wondered next, looking toward the girl by his side. "Yeah." Syd nodded, watching Demetri walk backward into Eli as the two argued lightly. She frowned, this was not the time.

"Nice sacrifice. Badass, Lee!" Sensei Lawrence yelled to Devon, continuing to show just how much he valued her on the team. "McKinley, just... do what you think is right." Sensei Lawrence spoke after a moment, clearly not really knowing what to say to the girl.

"Sure..." Syd replied, frown deepening. She didn't understand how after everything, he still didn't know what to say to her or how to be her Sensei. Even when he was the one who taught her to fight, he somehow couldn't muster up the words to actually coach her in one of the biggest fights of her life.

Syd just looked up again, watching Demetri send a kick into the competitor Eli was fighting, obviously not caring much as he sent Eli right over the edge with him. "You've got to be kidding me." Syd snapped, everything only getting worse as Demetri was sent over the edge right after them.

"Shit." Sensei Lawrence sighed. "Hey. Watch how it's done." Miguel spoke to Robby, looking at Syd after. "You ready?"

"Of course." The girl replied, smirking lightly as the two fist bumped and ran to the platform.

Syd nodded to Miguel as they looked at each other from the platform, getting into their positions as the other two against them did the same. One of them went for Miguel as the other went toward Syd, the girl swiftly moving out of the way of his kick, causing the boy to stumble a bit from the momentum.

She swung her leg around, kicking him across the face and sending him onto the platform. He stood back up, angrily punching at the girl. She just dodged, grabbing his arm and spinning it around his back before kicking him forward from behind.

The boy stumbled toward Miguel, Miguel taking that as a moment to get rid of one competitor, kicking him across the face hard and sending him off the platform.

Syd looked down, making eye contact with Kreese for a moment and watching the man nod, almost like he was impressed with her. It only fueled her fire even more, even if she knew it shouldn't have.

Eli looked around confused, not knowing who the girl was looking at till his eyes landed on Kreese, nerves only increasing throughout his body.

Miguel stood, moving toward Syd and grabbing her hands before swinging her up, the girl throwing her legs up and using the momentum to kick the boy across from them in the face twice, sending him to the ground of the platform.

He stood back up slowly, Miguel taking the moment to jump up and send both his legs into the boys chest, kicking him straight off the platform.

"Holy shit!" Syd gasped, smiling wide as Miguel stood up, running over and almost spinning the girl around in excitement. They'd done it, they'd actually won.

"Incredible performance from Miyagi-Do's Sydney McKinley and Miguel Diaz. This triumph sends Miyagi-Do to the next round." The announcer spoke, the rest of the team excitedly running up to the platform to join the two.

Miguel jumped into Eli's arms excitedly as Syd laughed when Devon basically tackled her to the ground, the two landing on the platform smiling. Her smile only grew as Eli helped her up, immediately wrapping his arms around her and spinning her around twice as fast as Miguel had.

"I'm so proud of you." Eli spoke into the girls ear, only squeezing her tighter. Syd smiled, not caring what any other team thought as she pulled the boys face into her own and kissed him.

"You two go get a room!" Sam laughed, Miguel and Devon pulling the two toward the group as they all hugged excitedly.

Syd noticed Robby standing slightly away, walking over and wrapping her arms around him as well. "We're still in this thing." Robby smiled, realizing how hard it was not to just because Syd had made sure to include him as he hugged back. "Yeah, we are."

She pulled away, smiling wide before forcing the boy to join as the team all stood in a line, bowing to Sensei Lawrence as he stood below them.

Syd felt someone grab her hand, smiling as Eli pulled her into him again and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, smiling wide. "You did great, babe."

"Thanks. Though, a lot of that just felt like Miguel." Syd smiled, looking toward the other boy. "Nah, dynamic duo. I think we caught them off guard when I threw you around and you kicked the guys face." Miguel laughed in reply, only happy to take credit around Robby. He was more than happy to share in the glory with anyone else.

"You know, I also wasn't ready for it so I think that helped us." Syd laughed in reply, carefully getting off the platform and landing right back on the main arena floor again.

"Nice work, everyone. Go rest up, you did great." Sensei Lawrence spoke, smiling as all the teens hurried off to spend whatever free time they had.

Eli looked at Syd, mind going back to the moment he'd noticed with Kreese. "Hey, can we talk?" She just nodded, a bit confused. For once she actually felt normal for a moment, so she wasn't fully sure why it still seemed she was off.

"I just... I just wanted to know what was happening between you and Kreese while you were up on that platform." Eli spoke honestly, only speaking once he knew they were alone.

Syd felt her heart-rate increase, staring at the boy. "I don't know what you're talking about." A frown fell on the boys face, confusion only increasing. "I saw you look past us all at one point and turned around to see him smirking and nodding before your attacks almost sharpened. I just don't understand."

Syd bit the inside of her cheek, thinking. She didn't know if she should tell the boy or not, feeling for a moment like things were getting better. But with him now watching her far more closely, she felt like things could only get worse the longer she held it all in.

He had half the mind to think she was about to break up with him, feeling his heart rate increase at the idea as the joy on her face just dropped further and further. He had no idea what had been going on with her, and she knew he wasn't ready for the answer.

"Okay, uh... I don't know if I'm gonna be able to find the right words but just know that I've been thinking a lot and this feels like the only way to really figure out what I want. Or at least what I think I want." Syd spoke cryptically, anxiously watching Eli's face change almost in horror. "What?" She wondered worriedly.

"Are you breaking up with me? Cause I don't know what I did but I'm sorry already." Eli spoke fast, stepping toward the girl. "What? No. I— I'm not breaking up with you." Syd replied, watching the anxiety leave the boy. "Oh, great. Then, what's up?" Eli wondered, feeling like nothing could be as bad.

He wasn't exactly right.

Syd took in a breath. "I— uh, that night I went out to sit on the balcony and just take in the fresh air I ended up not being alone. Um... Sensei— I mean, Kreese found me and uh, kind of talked at me for a bit before telling me that our Senseis would never truly work for my victory against their kids and that there'd always be a spot on Cobra Kai for me. So, after these past few rounds I've been feeling more and more like maybe he's right, and I guess I just happened to catch his gaze when I was on the platform and he just reminded me of my focus. I don't know."

"What?" Eli gasped, hoping she was messing with him. "What did you say?" He questioned further, not understanding how she'd even consider the offer. Not after everything. "I— I told him I made my choice and that I needed to go. But... I don't know I think I've been having a much harder time with this than I've even let myself realize. I mean... things were so good back then and then everything went to shit once Silver arrived. I had a Sensei I trusted who looked out for me and my best interest, who made me strong. And— and I know I wouldn't have been afraid of going home today if I had switched sides." Syd admitted.

Now she was honestly the one afraid he'd end it.

Eli just shook his head, pacing slightly. "Why didn't you tell me?" He looked her way, wanting some type of explanation. He was almost hurt, he thought she trusted him. "I had to sort it out in my head before I could come to you with it. Besides, with everything going on I was just feeling really trapped and the way you all spoke made it clear that even talking to Tory was a betrayal to the team, much less Kreese. I couldn't let anyone know I was having doubts about the team." Syd replied, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Have you spoken to Tory?" Eli asked, wanting the whole story. But all Syd had to do was meet his eyes for him to know the answer. "Jesus. I— I don't know what you want me to say, Syd. I mean this is bad. This is really, really bad. Were you just going to pull a Tory and switch sides without telling anyone? Telling me? I just— I wish you'd have said something sooner."

"Well I'm saying something now. I mean, I wasn't going to say anything but I would have before I made any decision on the matter. I wouldn't blindside you like that." Syd replied, regret slowly creeping into her chest. She felt like running away, like leaving this conversation and just disappearing.

"I mean this is a pretty big blindside itself, Syd." Eli snapped, eyes softening as he watched the look in her eyes grow increasingly more anxious. He sighed, trying to calm himself. He knew it wouldn't help anything to scare her off, slowly moving closer to the girl and wrapping her up in his arms. She shut her eyes tight, hugging him back immediately.

"We'll figure this out, okay? I get it. I mean... when I first left Cobra Kai all I thought about was how much I wanted to go back, especially with how everyone was treating me. But then things got better. You just have to let yourself be open to this way of thinking." Eli spoke.

"Don't you think I've tried that? Ever since we took down Cobra Kai I have been trying and trying, ignoring every bad feeling about the situation. I have been as open as I could be to this change and yet it still doesn't feel right." Syd frowned, biting down hard on her lip as she pulled away from the boy and wrapped her arms around herself protectively. "I've been trying every day and nothing is getting better." She continued.

"Then what does feel right? Cobra Kai?" Eli wondered, at this point just trying to understand. "I don't— I don't know! I thought it could get better with more time and then we saw him and I just felt so guilty. Like... like I betrayed him or something. I don't know why I feel this way." Syd spoke, shaking her head lightly before wiping her eyes.

She truly didn't understand why being against Kreese felt so wrong, or why it made her feel like she was betraying him, even like she was betraying herself.

Syd couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this conflicted over a choice. She knew that Miyagi-Do was her chosen home, but Cobra Kai had been the ones to rescue her when she needed it most. Everything Syd had wanted fell under the original Cobra Kai, John Kreese's Cobra Kai.

But then Silver happened and the place she thought was hers was ripped away. And then Miyagi-Do opened their doors to her, trusting the girl with a second chance she'd been horrified to let slip away.

And now she was presented with the same opportunity, just one that would bring her back to a time when she'd truly felt like nothing could hurt her. A time when she could trust her Sensei to look out for her, not just her teammates.

"All I know is that when I needed him, Kreese was there. He helped me use everything with my dad in a way that helped me and was there to help me grow and make me stronger. I just don't know how to deal with feeling like I betrayed him and need to make up for it." Syd continued, looking toward Eli and almost begging for him to have an answer, or at least understand.

Eli sighed, thinking. He'd known Kreese's relationship with Syd was weird, that it was something he truly hated to see. He just didn't know how she didn't see the way he'd been manipulating her, or that he was still doing it.

"I wish I had the answers for you, Syd. I really wish I did, but... this is something you have to make a choice with. I love you no matter what you decide, but I do know the choice that I think you should make. Kreese knows how to trick you, babe. And he's doing it again. He doesn't actually care about you, he never cared about any of us. Only himself and winning. We were all just pawns, but while Mr. LaRusso and Sensei Lawrence may have their flaws, they want to see us win. They want to see you win, Syd. That's the difference." Eli explained.

"Do they? Or do they just want to slowly push me out so their own kids can share the captaincy? Because when Sensei Lawrence's advice to me is just "do what you think is right," it doesn't really feel like he wants to see me win. Everyone else is shown that their strengths and assets to the team are seen, and I just don't feel like mine are." Syd exposed, biting down hard on her cheek to stop herself from crying.

"I don't feel like my own Senseis understand me or my strengths, like I'm just in the way of their perfect team." She continued.

Eli frowned, not knowing how to show the girl what he saw. "They see you, Syd. They know how talented you are and they know what kind of talent you bring to the table. I... I think with what happened with Tory they're nervous to set you off the same way, which seems like it's doing the opposite. But... I think they've been made aware of everything in your situation you've shared with their kids and they get that you're going through it."

"And more than anyone I know you're dealing with a lot back home that you haven't really unpacked, but Syd, Kreese and Cobra Kai aren't the answers. Your friends are all over here, Syd. Everyone who truly cares about you and wants to see you win is already on the same side as you. Sure, Tory's dealing with her shit right now, but outside of this tournament she's still over here with us wanting to help you. Just let us help you." Eli finished, grabbing the girls hands in his.

Syd let out a shaky breath, mind spinning. She trusted Eli more than anyone else, and if he truly saw Kreese as someone against her then there had to be some truth in that, even if she didn't want to believe it. She knew he wouldn't lie to her the way others would.

"I... I wish I didn't let the thoughts cross my mind." Syd spoke, glossy eyes meeting Eli's. "It's okay, seriously. You didn't get closure with that situation, it's easy to mistake Kreese's tricks for the truth." Eli smiled lightly, placing a hand on the girls cheek. He really hoped he was getting to her, hoping she'd stay on his side.

She leaned into his touch, swiftly wrapping her arms around him. Eli hugged back, holding onto Syd tight. He didn't want anyone else to know about this, figuring it could be their little secret, especially until she'd fully decided.

They'd kept secrets together before, ones still only Demetri knew about. It wouldn't be hard to protect her again.

"You have to make this choice for you, Syd. Not for someone you think you owe." Eli spoke after a moment, looking at the girl seriously. "You choose your team based on who shows you they care, not on who once helped you out. Kreese's Cobra Kai is in the past, it's done now. Even whatever he has now isn't the same as what we once had. He's teamed up with Kim too, don't forget that." Eli reminded.

Syd moved to hold her hand in her other one, new memories of the dummy made of stone flashing through her mind. In all of her spiraling she'd forgotten about Sensei Kim, forgetting that the woman stood beside Kreese.

Eli had given her a lot more to think about, making the decision even more complicated than it was. And especially after the most recent victory Miyagi-Do had, Syd didn't know if her team was worth fighting for.

She didn't have any of the answers, and she really wished she did.

AUTHORS NOTE!
was gonna wait to post this but here it is early just for you!!

big big moments happening, I'm very excited to continue with this season!!

I hope you're excited for more angst and to see what side syd chooses!