─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"welcome, competitors, senseis, sponsors, and esteemed guests to barcelona, this year's home of the world's greatest karate tournament, the sekai takai." gunther bruan announced. the crowd erupted in cheers at his words, making him smile.

"the sekai taikai boasts a rich and proud history. and if you are here, it's because you embody all that the sekai taikaistands for. leadership, respect, sportsmanship. captains, step forward and tie on your headbands."

gioia and robby glanced at each other before stepping forward from their team. they brought out the white headband and carefully wrapped them around their forehead, neatly tying it at the back.

"captains, you will have the honor and privilege to compete in our televised tournament of champions." gunther explained, making gioia smile. "but that is only if your dojo does well enough in our team competitions to make it to the final four. once the tournament is over, we will then tally all the points your dojos have earned. the dojo with the most points wins the sekai taikai. team events begin tomorrow."

"did you know?" robby asked gioia, referring to his girlfriend. gioia shook her head, "i had no idea." she said, her eyes flickering between tory and wyatt.

"are you okay?" he questioned, "i know he's your friend." robby said. gioia scoffed, shaking her head at robby's accusation. "i'm gonna kick his ass." she stated. she slowly glanced up to see robby giving her a look of confusion. "on the mat... on the mat." she clarified. but there was a part of her that didn't believe even the words she was saying.

"but today, it's about enjoying our host city and making new friends. or enemies."
gunther told them. "we have a field trip arranged for our competitors. and for our senseis, a cocktail mixer with our distinguished sponsors, some of the world's finest martial arts brands. it's a beautiful day to make a first impression. and i suggest you enjoy it, because tomorrow, your lives change forever. good luck, and welcome to the sekai taikai!"

∙ ~εïз~ ∙

gioia thanked the driver as she stepped out of the car. she passed her luggage to miguel, who carefully placed it on the baggage cart. "all right. listen, go get your room keys. get everyone else settled in. all right?" daniel instructed.

"we gotta take care of the driver. go ahead." johnny added. gioia nodded at his words, taking one side of the cart and assisting miguel in pushing it into the hotel. once they left it with reception, the two made their way over to their teammates who had claimed the room cards.

"you can take the solo room." sam said, placing the key card into gioia's hands. she seemed surprised by the offer, a grateful smile on her face. "and you can even sneak hawk in whenever you like." devon teased.

gioia's face began to heat up with embarrassment as the two girl's laughed to themselves. "thanks guys... i really appreciate this." she said. sam nodded, "our captain deserves the best." she joked, making gioia chuckle.

"which room do you guys want?" robby asked demetri and hawk. gioia turned over to face them, intrigued by what they would say. on the plane, they sat as far as possible from one another, so she wondered how long their argument would last.

"uh, i'll... i'll... i'll go with you." demetri spoke quickly, reaching over and seizing the second card in robby's hands. miguel seemed surprised. "really? i figured robby and i would—" he started.

"no. i'll bunk with el serpiente." hawk said, wrapping his arm around miguel's shoulders. "besides, you fart in your sleep." he told demetri. the boy scoffed. "erroneous. and he who observed it served it, by the way."

"whoever said the rhyme did the crime." hawk shot back, making gioia roll her eyes at their immaturity. "really?" she asked, clearly unamused. hawk saw her expression and shrugged.

"you just rhymed." demetri pointed out. "you said the rhyme first." hawk shot back at him. "but you also rhymed."

"thank God we aren't boys." devon laughed to sam and gioia. she noticed the now glum look on sam's face and frowned, "are you okay?" she asked.

"how could tory go back to cobra kai?" sam questioned, her words more aimed at gioia. "i thought things had changed."

gioia nodded in agreement. "yeah, so did i." she sighed. "but maybe this is her way of coping. this is probably harder on her than it is to us." she explained.

"yeah, i guess." sam said. "and what's wyatt's deal? i mean, that was completely unexpected." she continued. gioia winced at her words, unsure of what to say. the only person she told about wyatt's lock screen was hawk, she couldn't bear to tell the others. but now they had all seen wyatt's affiliation with their rival and she didn't even know what to do.

"whoa." kwon gawked as he and his cobra kai teammates stepped over to them. "so you're the famous miyagi-do. "we have heard about you, but i do not know why. you do not look like much."

hawk was the first to retaliate, stepping closer to their opponents. "yeah?" he asked. "you'll see better when you step on the mat tomorrow." robby moved over to hawk, taking his role as captain to heart. "come on, guys. it's not worth it."

"robby's right. forget about them, okay? they're just any other dojo here." migeul said. just as the words left his mouth, a familiar blonde girl silently stepped past them, her head down as she walked. it seemed as if robby's entire world stopped momentarily, his eyes tracking her movements.

as robby chased after tory, gioia caught wyatt standing at the reception desk. her duffel bag slipped from her hold, onto the ground before she shoved her way through the cobra kai students. "gioia—" sam started, startled by her outburst. but gioia was too far away to hear her name being called.

she didn't even allow wyatt to finish his conversation with the receptionist before she grabbed him by the shoulder and slammed his back against the wall. her hands pressing into his arms to keep him pinned.

"miss?" the receptionist asked, bewildered by her sudden movements. wyatt shook his head at her, "no, it's okay. we're fine here." he reassured her. wyatt glanced back at gioia, his eyes wide - clearly not expecting her to approach him so early in the trip.

"what the hell is wrong with you?" she seethed, the pent-up anger in her beginning to diffuse out. her heart was hammering, her chest tight as she gazed into wyatt's eyes. "i... gioia..." his voice faltered, and for a moment, she could see the sorrow in his eyes— the hurt he didn't want to show. "i didn't mean to—"

"didn't mean to?!" her grip tightened on his arms, her frustration boiling over, but she was careful. if she lost her cool now, everything they had worked for would be gone. she glanced over her shoulder at her teammates, who were hovering in the background, looking nervous but not intervening. they knew the stakes. gioia had to keep it together.

"first o'malley... now this? you've really lost your freaking mind, h-haven't you?" she asked him, her tone almost taunting.

behind her, her team was watching, tense and on edge. kwon smirked, he was enjoying the show, amused by how it was playing out. she was relatively small, but there was a fierceness about her that none of them had expected. he began to chuckle to himself at the scene. "i stand corrected. she's like fire. hope she can keep that fire for the mat."

"don't talk about her," miguel warned, his tone low. all of their eyes then shifted back over to the two, and the tension was still unbearable. "you have to believe me when i say this. i didn't mean to hurt you." wyatt tried to explain. "if you could just hear me out—"

"you're hurting me now, wyatt." gioia told him, her voice dropping to a whisper as her heart ached. she released him, stepping back as she took a deep breath, not wanting to lash out, wyatt frowned before reaching over to the desk, retrieving his key card and striding off with the rest of his team.

gioia hit her lip back as she watched them leave, uncertain of how to feel. "should we be worried about them?" hawk asked, watching as his girlfriend stomped past them and over to the staircase. miguel shook his head. "no, they're gonna be fine.." miguel reassured him.

demetri shrugged, disagreeing with miguel's claim. "i wouldn't be fine." he admitted. they all looked at him, silently telling him this wasn't the time. but demetri seemed clueless at their looks of annoyance. "what?" he asked.

∙ ~εïз~ ∙

after getting set up in her room, gioia was called to the aquarium, where their 'field trip' would take place. but first, the captains were asked to gather around for a group photo. "now, everybody smile and say barcelona." the photographer instructed.

gioia's face remained monotone, evidently still in a bad mood. robby noticed her distaste and nudged her, not wanting to see her looking unhappy. he placed his arm around her shoulders and gently shook her around, making her lightly chuckle.

"one, two, three." he counted down. "barcelona." they all spoke out

"again. louder. barcelona!"

"barcelona!" they echoed.

"they're really going out of their way to let us know how special the captains are." hawk remarked. miguel nodded, clearly uninterested. "yeah, i'm getting that." he nodded.

"well... at least gioia looks pretty." hawk said, sending her a small wave. gioia caught his eye and shyly waved back to him. devon chuckled at their interaction, patting him on his back. "you two are so adorable that it's becoming gross." she said to him.

"it seems like everyone already knows each other." sam said, watching them all. devon cringed, noticing how hostile the people behind them were behaving. "it's not exactly friendly either." she added.

"maybe it's like prison." demetri spoke up, catching their attention. "you just punch the toughest guy square in the jaw on day one." he suggested. devon nodded, "yeah, there are a lot of tough guys." she said.

"okay, let's give it one more." the photographer ordered. tory rolled her eyes, stepping out of the group and walking away. "okay, never mind we're done." he said. robby removed his arms from gioia's shoulders and moved out of line, chasing after tory.

the blonde girl watched him walk away, folding her arms over her chest. she stepped over to hawk, who immediately knew what she was thinking. "you want to talk to her, don't you?" he asked. gioia glanced up at him, her lips tugging into a frown. "i just don't know what to say. i can't help but feel like this is my fault." she admitted.

hawk's eyes grew wide with surprise at her words, he peered back to see their friends were talking amongst themselves before he gently pulled her away from them. "what? how could you think that?" he asked her.

she sighed. "i don't know. i should've noticed she was going through something— she hadn't texted me back for days. i could've gone to her house or something. and if we actually fought for the captain's spot, she wouldn't have had to feel like she needed to go back to kreese." gioia explained.

hawk shook his head, "hey, no. no. you can't think like that. this isn't on you, no way. if anything, you did the best you could — you were willing to fight her when everyone else didn't want you to. you've been a great friend."

"well, if i can't blame myself then i blame sensei larusso. he had no right to tell us we couldn't fight." gioia said. hawk nodded, "yeah, that makes more sense. now come on, let's check out the fishes, and we can think about what to say to tory."

"okay." gioia said, her voice softening as she reached over to take her boyfriend's hand. she intertwined their fingers and allowed him to lead her out to another section of the aquarium. "what's your favourite fish?" he asked. the boy halted, forcing gioia to stop in her tracks too "oh, wait. aren't you like... allergic?"

"i'm allergic to eating them... not to liking or looking at them," she told him. hawk nodded, a look of relief on his face, "oh, okay. good, good. let's go then."

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
part 2 was crazy and i'm super excited to write it! she's only been absent for one chapter but i already miss mickey ...

anyways there's gonna be a fun contrast with gioia and robby's captainship and how they react to wyatt and tory switching sides... can't wait :)