IT WAS loss after loss and all Rory could do was stand there. She knew how important the captains were, she knew that she was the backbone (along with the others) into getting Miyagi-Do to the finals in which the captains would spar in. But, God, she could've done something more than just stand on the sidelines while her teammates got their asses kicked. Especially in bō staff, something that she'd been teaching Sam for months, but from the looks of it, none of that mattered.

It was tragic and she didn't blame Sam nor Robby for the morning they had. Everyone had been slightly off their game from the jump and thanks to Cobra Kai being here, none of them could walk around in peace.

"Everyone listen up." Daniel called. "All right, this morning's event was tough, but let's not get discouraged just yet. We have two more events today and the eliminations don't begging till the second one."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Demetri exclaimed. "If that wasn't the elimination round, what is? Getting our heads cut off with swords?"

"We knew this wasn't gonna be easy." Jack said. "We are going up against the best dojos in the world, we're one of them too, don't forget that."

"Yeah, so start fighting like it." Johnny added.

Daniel sighed, looking over at the man. "Johnny, come on, man." He looked back over at the students. "The best thing you can do right now is just clear your minds, get some rest, you know, put this behind you. You got this, all right? I believe in you."

Rory chewed on her cheek as she followed behind the others. She glanced down at her hands, her black fingernail polish already chipping from the absolute massacre that happened back on the map.

Rory lingered at the back of the group, her steps slower than the others. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides as the weight of the morning's losses pressed heavily on her chest. She couldn't shake the feeling that she could've done more—that she should've done more. All those hours of training, all the late nights spent perfecting every move, every technique—it felt meaningless now.

She glanced up briefly, catching a glimpse of Robby walking just ahead of her. His shoulders were tense, his jaw set in frustration. Sam wasn't far from him, her head slightly bowed, her disappointment clear in the way she dragged her feet. Rory felt the sting of guilt settle deeper.

"Rory," Jack's voice called from behind her, snapping her out of her daze. She turned to find her father standing there, arms crossed, his expression serious but not unkind. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, though the defensiveness in her tone gave her away.

"You've been stuck in your head all morning," Jack said, stepping closer. "This isn't like you."

Rory sighed heavily, her eyes darting to the floor as her dad's words hung in the air. "I'm just tired." She muttered, but even she didn't believe it. The frustration bubbling beneath her words was unmistakable.

Jack crossed his arms, his expression soft but firm. "Tired doesn't explain that look on your face, Rory. Talk to me. What's going on?"

Rory exhaled through her nose and shook her head. "It just feels like I'm... invisible. Like no matter what I do, it doesn't matter."

Jack's brow furrowed. "Invisible? You think no one notices what you're doing?"

Rory shrugged, her voice growing quieter. "I'm not a captain. I'm not leading anything. I just stand there, watch, and hope for the best. And this morning? It was a disaster, and I didn't do a damn thing, Dad. What's the point of being here if I'm just another body on the mat?"

Jack stepped closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear. "You're not "just another body," Rory. Do you really think Robby or Sam could do this without you? They lean on you more than you realize."

She shook her head, biting her cheek to keep her frustration at bay. "Robby and Sam are the leaders, Dad. I get it. But that doesn't make me feel any less useless when everything goes wrong."

Jack's gaze softened, and he placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "You're not useless, kid. You don't have to be a captain to make a difference. They trust you, Rory. They believe in you. But it doesn't mean anything if you don't believe in yourself."

Rory chewed on his words for a moment, her eyes flickering back to her teammates.

"You're stronger than you think," Jack continued. "And I know it's hard when it feels like everything's falling apart. But the best thing you can do right now is stay steady. Not just for yourself, but for them too."

Rory's lips pressed together as she nodded slowly, her grip on her frustration loosening just slightly. "Okay," she said finally, her voice steadier. "I'll try."

Jack gave her shoulder a small squeeze and smiled faintly. "That's all I'm asking. Now go. They need you."

Jack ruffled Rory's hair as he walked past her, the playful gesture meant to lighten her mood. She instinctively swatted his hand away, but the motion lacked its usual vigor. Her hands fell back to her sides as she stood there, rooted in place, watching him move ahead to join Johnny.

Rory sighed, making her way over towards the others. She'd missed the elevator with Devon and Sam and now stood shoulder to shoulder with Robby.

Robby glanced at her from the corner of his eye but didn't say anything at first. His jaw was still tight, the frustration from earlier etched into his expression. Rory could feel the tension radiating off him, and for a moment, she hesitated.

"You okay?" Robby finally asked, his voice low, careful not to draw the attention of the others.

Rory nodded, though her answer felt more automatic than truthful. "Yeah," she said softly. "I'm good."

Robby didn't look entirely convinced, but he didn't press her. Instead, he shifted slightly so their shoulders touched.

The quiet felt heavier than it should've, as if the weight of the morning still clung to both of them.

"I'll do better," Rory said suddenly, breaking the silence. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but there was a quiet determination in it. "Next time... I'll step up. I won't just stand there."

Robby turned his head, studying her for a moment. His expression softened, the tension in his features easing just slightly. "You're already doing enough," he said, his voice just as quiet. "We're a team, remember?"

She sighed, letting herself relax, leaning into the small space they shared. Robby didn't move away; instead, his arm brushed against hers.

After a brief pause, Robby leaned down slightly, pressing a soft, warm kiss to Rory's temple. The gesture lingered, filling the space between them with a quiet reassurance.

Rory closed her eyes for a moment, exhaling slowly as the tension in her chest began to ease. She turned her head slightly, her eyes meeting his with a faint but genuine smile.

Without a word, Robby's hand slipped into hers, his fingers intertwining with hers in a firm but gentle hold as they entered the elevator.

"I know you're trying out there." Rory softly spoke. "But I can see that you're distracted."

Robby's fingers tightened slightly around Rory's hand, but he avoided her gaze. "I'm not distracted," he said quickly, his tone firm but unconvincing.

Rory tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing just a bit as she studied him. "Robby," she said softly, her voice tinged with quiet concern. "I know you."

He shook his head, letting out a short, frustrated breath as his jaw tightened. "I said I'm fine," he replied, his tone sharper now, his defenses going up. "I just need to focus, that's all."

Rory's lips pressed together, her eyes searching his face. She didn't want to push him. She inhaled deeply, then let it out, choosing not to say anything else. Instead, she turned her gaze forward, letting go of his hand, and crossed her arms over her chest, letting the silence settle between them.

"I'm sorry," Robby said quietly, breaking the stillness. His tone was low, almost hesitant.

Rory's arms loosened slightly, her posture softening. She let out a quiet breath, tilting her head slightly. "I know," she replied, her voice calm but steady. "Things are... intense right now. For everyone."

Robby's jaw tightened, and he nodded faintly, but his gaze stayed fixed on the elevator doors.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, studying the tension in his frame. Slowly, she let her arms drop to her sides and stepped closer, the frustration she'd been holding onto slipping away. Without a word, she leaned into him, resting her head gently against his shoulder.

For a moment, Robby didn't move. Then, almost instinctively, he shifted to accommodate her, his body relaxing just enough to let her presence ground him. His arm brushed against hers, the touch light but reassuring.

The hum of the elevator continued, but the silence between them felt less strained now. Rory closed her eyes briefly, the warmth of his shoulder against her cheek offering a quiet comfort. She didn't need him to explain, to open up right now. She just wanted to remind him that she was there.

Robby turned his head slightly, glancing down at her. He didn't speak, but his hand brushed gently against hers, his fingers grazing her skin before curling into his pocket. The gesture was small, almost hesitant.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. Rory pulled back slightly, lifting her head but staying close enough to feel his presence.

"I'll catch you later." She softly spoke and pressed a small kiss against his cheek as she stepped out of the elevator.

She was exhausted, but the day continued to drag on as Miyagi-Do found themselves back at the building that televised the Sekai Taikai, but this time, without Daniel by their side.

"In this final points round, competitors will try to knock their opponents off their platforms." The announcer spoke. "Once you have fallen, you are out. Points are determined off of wins, losses, and time. Final rankings after this event will determine placement in tonight's elimination round." She explained. "We will now call up the first group of fighters."

Jack sighed, turning back towards the students. "All right, listen up. This is where we make every move count. No hesitation. No doubt. This is about strategy as much as strength, so keep your heads clear."

Johnny nodded. "And no more waiting around like scared little bitches, waiting for them to come to you. All right? You go at them. Aggressive. Knock 'em off first."

"Those platforms are pretty narrow." Sam quipped. "My dad would want balance."

"Yeah, well, your dad's not here. All right?" Johnny said. "It's time for us to start scoring some points."

Jack sighed. "Do what you think is best for you. Aggressive or Balance. The choice is yours."

"Soro Haruto from Hirobukan in platform one. Devon Lee from Miyagi-Do on platform two."

With Devon on the platform, the round soon started. She started off pretty great... if you count being on the platform for ten seconds pretty great.

And it wasn't looking any better after that. One after the other: fall, fall, fall.

Rory stood next to Miguel, they were the final two to go and Miyagi-Do's final chance at getting points to break the top 10.

Miguel glanced down at Rory, the a 6 inches shorter than him, but still. She didn't look at him right away, her gaze locked on the narrow platforms ahead, as though already calculating her moves.

"You good?" Miguel asked, his voice low enough that only she could hear.

Rory nodded slightly, her lips pressed into a firm line. "Yeah. Just ready to get this over with."

Miguel smirked lightly, sensing the pressure she was putting on herself. "No pressure," he said, trying to lighten the mood. "But, uh, it'd be great if we didn't end this in disaster."

That earned him a small scoff from Rory, though her lips twitched at the corners. "Noted. Disaster is off the table."

Rory sighed, rolling her shoulders as she stepped onto the platform. Her opponent looked rough, stronger. Regardless of the thousand thoughts that ran through her mind, she bowed before her opponent and took her position.

And quickly enough her opponent charged at her, leading with a quick, testing strike. Rory sidestepped fluidly, maintaining her balance while analyzing their footwork. Her opponent pivoted, throwing a roundhouse kick aimed high. Rory ducked, her movements precise, letting the kick sail over her head.

Her opponent stumbled but didn't fall, regaining their footing just in time to block another punch aimed at their side. Rory pressed forward, her attacks relentless but controlled, forcing them closer to the edge of the platform.

With a final, forceful push—a simple but effective palm strike to their shoulder—her opponent toppled off the platform.

The buzzer blared and the announcer spoke over the intercom.

"Holmes out. Time, 35 seconds."

Rory let out a sigh of relief and hopped down the platform. Her father gave her a gently tap of the back and soon Miguel with hop up, taking his opponent out as well, but it would all be for nothing as Miyagi-Do would only round off their score with 25 points and in twelfth place.

"Hey!" Johnny called as he watched the other walking off. "Where the hell you think you're going?"

"Back to the hotel to wash off this disgrace." Demetri answered.

"You're not getting off that easy." Johnny barked. "Locker room. Now."

Once there, everyone sat in silence. Johnny would soon enter with Jack speaking with Layla and the others about the next steps and a possible search party for Daniel.

"What I saw from you just now, it wasn't karate." Johnny spoke. "It was weakness. You fought like little lambs waiting for slaughter. We keep going like this, we get eliminated tonight. Some of you will put this behind you. But some of you are gonna carry this for the rest of your lives. Knowing you had this chance to make something of yourselves. But instead, you crumbled under pressure. And you're gonna go on to live shit lives in shitty apartments with shit jobs. And always have to live with this failure. So, if you wanna save some humiliation, why don't we just skip the next round and catch the next flight home?"

A beat of silence passed before Johnny glanced around the room.

"What is wrong with you guys? Where's your fight? Aren't you gonna stand up for yourselves?"

Sam pushed herself off a nearby locker. "You keep blaming us like this isn't on you too." She said. "If my Dad had been there, we never would've lost like that."

"Yeah, well he didn't show up." Johnny argued.

Rory raised her brows. "Probably because of you." She muttered. "You guys have done nothing but argue since we left. It's exhausting. You're supposed to be leading us, not dragging us into whatever personal vendetta you've got going on. We're out there trying to figure this out on our own because the people who are supposed to be guiding us can't even get on the same page. You want to talk about crumbling under pressure? Maybe look in the mirror. We didn't get here just to be screamed at every time something goes wrong."

Suddenly, Devon jumped up, the locker rumbling behind her as she turned to face Rory.

"Hey! Don't talk to my sensei like that."

"He's my sensei too." Rory barked. "He's been my sensei a lot longer than he's been yours and it's shows because you were knocked off the board in ten seconds. I would be fucking embarrassed if I were you."

Rory was angry and her anger was displaced. She knew that as soon as the words slipped between her lips, but she wasn't going to take them back because at that moment, she felt like her words were right.

She watched as Devon sat back down with her eyes locked on the floor in front of her. The silence didn't last long as Demetri smacked his lips together, teetering in his seat.

"Well, I, for one, will be putting all of this behind me when I'm off to MI—"

"Shut the fuck up about MIT." Eli said suddenly. "Some of us care about winning the tournament. Be nice if you did too."

"Guys," Robby called. "can we cool it? This isn't helping. We need to focus up."

"Maybe you should listen to your own advice." Miguel muttered.

Robby furrowed his brow, turning to look at Miguel. "Got something to say?"

Miguel turned, his face stoned. "I already did."

Before things could escalate any further, Jack entered the room quietly, his presence enough to draw all eyes toward him.

He stood still for a moment, his gaze moving from one student to the next, assessing the tension that seemed to vibrate off the walls. The silence stretched, heavy and deliberate, before he finally spoke.

"This isn't who you are," he said, his voice steady and measured. "You're better than this. Better than snapping at each other, better than pointing fingers. You want to talk about failure? This is failure. Not what happened out there—this. This attitude, this division."

He crossed his arms, his expression calm but firm. "You came here to fight. To prove you belong. And right now, you're proving the opposite. You've got one chance left to turn this around."

Jack stepped closer, his tone softening but not losing its edge. "So, make a decision. You want to go down like this? Or do you want to show them what you're capable of?"

With that, he turned toward the door, pausing briefly. "Figure it out," he said simply, then walked out, leaving them to absorb his words in the heavy silence he left behind.

Silence loomed again before each of the students left the room and back to the hotel to relax and refreshen up before the next part of the competition.

Soon enough, the next competition came. The students stood next to their sensei's as the announcer stood before them.

"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 sixteen team. The number two team will face the number fifteen team, and so on and so on."

"Okay, that means at number twelve, we're facing number five, Dublin Thunder." Devon said.

"Oh, great." Eli sighed. "I heard they started a fight with some locals at the beach. They're always looking for a brawl."

"Now," The announcer spoke. "for the rules of the event. Fighters will again face off in a platform."

But instead of the platform being on the ground, this is one was in the air, a couple of feet off from it. There were mats surrounding it. It was different, exactly what it was supposed to be. This wasn't anything to take lightly.

The announcer continued. "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."

Match after match... until.

"Next on the platform, Dublin Thunder versus Miyagi-Do."

"All right, let's bring it in." Johnny called. "I got something to say. Jack is 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."

Jack gave Johnny a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder as he looked around at the students.

"We start with our captains." Jack said. "Devon next. Eli, Demetri. And Miguel and Rory will finish us off if we get to that point."

The round between Dublin Thunder and Miyagi-Do soon started and thought it started off well, Robby was kicked off the platform and Devon made her way up.

She put up a fair fight, knocking someone from Dublin Thunder down along with Sam kicking the other down with them.

But soon, Sam would be kicked off and Eli ran up next.

Devin would soon take herself and the blonde who took Sam down with her and Demetri made his way up with Eli.

That went well, with Demetri kicking off Eli and while he tried to apologize he was also kicked off.

Finally, it was Miguel and Rory's turn. The two of them making their way up with two male Dublin Thunder students already standing there, waiting for them.

The Dublin fighters wasted no time Miguel's opponent lunged forward first, throwing a flurry of punches aimed at Miguel's torso. Miguel deflected each one with sharp, practiced blocks before sidestepping to create space. He countered with a quick roundhouse kick, landing a glancing blow to his opponent's ribs that made him recoil.

Meanwhile, Rory's opponent advanced quickly, testing her balance with a feint toward her legs. Rory pivoted smoothly, dodging the attack and landing a precise jab to his shoulder. Her opponent growled in frustration, shifting tactics with a spinning kick aimed high. Rory ducked, closing the gap with a powerful elbow strike that sent him stumbling backward.

Miguel timed his move perfectly, stepping aside and using his momentum to throw a high roundhouse kick. The strike connected cleanly with his opponent's chest, and with a final cry of frustration, the Dublin fighter fell backward, landing with a resounding thud on the mats below.

Rory's opponent grew more erratic, his strikes coming faster but losing accuracy. She sidestepped a reckless punch and seized the moment, delivering a calculated sidekick to his midsection. The force of her strike sent him teetering dangerously near the platform's edge. She followed with a low spinning kick, and this time, he couldn't recover. With a final stumble, he fell off the platform, landing heavily on the mat below.

Cheers erupted crowd as they hit the mat.

"Incredible performances from Miyagi-Do's Miguel Diaz and Aurora Brewer. Their triumph sends Miyagi-Do to the next round."

Miguel was quick to scoop Rory into his arms, spinning the two of them around as she Rory laughed, holding her fist in the air as she heard the cheers from below.

The rest of the Miyagi-Do students made their way up onto the platform with the others, cheering them on for their victory, but as Rory turned, her smile slowly faded as she watched Robby standing further behind the others.

She felt a tug at her arm, Eli dragging her towards the edge of the platform for a bow.

With that, it was the end of part one of the competition.

Hell was to come and they didn't know how bad it would be.

— lucy has something to say !!

chat we're at 200k lets clap

rory is MY star and she will not flop I PROMISE

every face claim i pick is short ass hell the tallest i have is michelle (this side of paradise — wally clark) and even then she's shorter than wally (5'9 vs. 6'3) justice for my short face claims

anyway forever punching the wall that i didn't make miguel and rory closer my fault truly i hate myself for that

sam snapped this episode slay girl bark at devon like that again for me (love devon)

tory kicking the TOOTH out of that girls mouth i would've just kms

the captions when the dublin team loses is literally "what the feck was that" LMAO

bye :))))