CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
second place, second place

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    when devon was asked to join eagle fang, she didn't know what she was getting into. her only knowledge of karate was from the fall debate she participated in, and won, alongside diane. diane had only ever mentioned cobra kai and miyagi-do so this dojo was new. different, at least.

but the kicker? diane was in eagle fang. she was in eagle fang from it's beginning. turns out, she was one of the first members; right before winter break. after that she left and joined cobra kai which was odd because cobra kai were the ones who were targeting miyagi-do members at the school fight.

and it also turns out diane only revealed to devon what she wanted and left a lot out. it did hurt, learning more about diane through bert than diane herself. devon ended up wondering what else she didn't know about her.

then one day after practice miguel explained to devon that she lived with johnny for a while until robby came back. johnny was robby's dad but not diane's. she began to understand what happened with diane. she wished diane would've just told her.

so, devon trained under eagle fang for six weeks. it filled the hole that debate had left. after that shitshow she pulled there was no way she was going to walk into the library the next day.

karate worked so well because she could always improve. everyday was a new lesson learned, not only for the sport but for life.

johnny was an interesting teacher she grew to like, miguel was cool, and bert was enough to hold her over. sometime around the fourth week mark, after thirty minutes of johnny shit talking cobra kai, devon asked miguel: "why do you think diane is over there?"

he sighed, shrugging before answering. "robby's over there? i tried to talk to her once but she left before i could get anywhere."

"so she's just doing it because robby's over there?" devon repeated, trying to make sense of it.

"maybe. you were debate partners, right? you probably know her better than i do."

"i heard she helped you with your...physical therapy journey. were you guys friends?"

"yeah. but it's hard, these rivalries." he looked at his sensei, then back at devon. "especially when the girl you love are on opposite sides," he said, but quieter and more to himself.

the flowers on her desk became dry and wilted. every day she'd spend at least five minutes staring at them. right after she told johnny and bert "she'd think about it," mr.alpine handed them to her. he said there was no name except devon's.

she refused to throw them away. she refused to accept that they were from diane. two things she knew she needed to do.

fast forward to the all valley, devon knew it was likely she and diane would have to fight. the pool of girls was so small that the only way they'd avoid it is if they both got out before the quarterfinals.

keene vs lee projected on the big screen after the first round of eliminations passed. devon crossed her arms, trying to figure out how she was going to be able to beat someone with triple the experience who's been in triple the dojos.

"you have to strike first. that's cobra kai's big motif so if you strike before she can strike, you'll keep her on her feet," miguel instructed. "and i know sensei always says to never underestimate the opponent, but don't overestimate so much that you think you don't have a chance."

devon nodded, taking a deep breath. "anything else i should know?"

"she could pull anything. cobra kai, miyagi-do, even a little bit of eagle fang. just try your best."

"lee!" the eagle fang sensei appeared beside miguel. "you ready for this?"

devon nodded again. before johnny could get another word in, a referee shouted out the names for the next match.

"keene and lee to the mat!"

miguel gave her a reassuring nod and she headed to the mat. the rest of eagle fang followed shortly, standing along the sidelines to watch their only chance at taking the female champion.

"face me," the referee said. "bow. face each other, bow."

devon took a deep breath, keeping a neutral expression. she was worried if she looked at diane for too long, she'd forget how to throw a punch.

the referee raised her hand saying "fight!"

devon didn't waste any time, starting with punches. diane blocked them, which devon anticipated. but she accidentally overstepped just the tiniest bit and suddenly diane pushed devon's fist up and scored the first point by hitting her in the chest.

devon was hit with a train of emotions. shock, not expecting the hit. anger, at herself for not protecting her chest. shame, for letting down eagle fang. and weirdly, enlightened, now understanding diane's combat style—or what she thought it was.

"point! reset."

this time, devon went more aggressive. she used a hook that was meant to distract from some kicks. the first one worked but didn't hit an effective area. the second was blocked and devon did the final, a roundhouse kick to diane's kidney.

"point! reset."

devon was exhilarated. two more points and she could actually win this. but the initial feeling faded quickly when diane scored a quick point with a crescent kick.

it was so good devon even found herself admiring it. she got another point in with a reverse punch, hearing a cheer from her sensei behind her.

the final round. whoever scores this point would move onto the quarter finals. this was big for eagle fang. even bigger for devon. what was the purpose of winning against diane? there was more to it than just ascending in the tournament. she couldn't find the answer to that question in the moment.

devon swung her elbow and pushed with punches. the elbow swing was an eagle fang signature, johnny had said once. diane got ahold of devon's arm and threw her to the side of the mat.

the pressure was on now, even more than before. diane was the one on offense and devon was so focused on trying to defend diane's punches that she forgot to watch her lower body.

it happened so quickly. diane's eyes darted to devon's open spot, her abdomen, and devon knew she wasn't moving forward in the tournament. but instead of scoring the point, diane prepared for another punch.

devon suddenly remembered another move sensei lawrence had taught. she grabbed her wrist, the one about to punch, kicked the side of diane's chest, let diane duck and swung her leg over. she brought her foot up again and got diane right in the face.

diane fell on the ground and the referee lifted her arm towards devon.

"point, winner!"

devon was thrilled. her nerves were all jumpy. she was filled with an intoxicating feeling of triumph and pride. she thought about saying something. maybe lending her a hand?

"good game."

devon looked down, diane looking up. good game.

it caught her by surprise. she didn't say it back, quickly bowing and turning to eagle fang.

"that's what i'm talking about!" johnny howled, tapping his elbow with devon's, doing a little victory handshake.

"that was awesome," miguel cheered.

devon snuck a look at diane who was off to the side from the rest of her dojo. she couldn't help but wonder how she won that. she thought that if she won against diane, it would be this great big moment that answered her confusing feelings towards her.

it only made them more complicated. her high from winning slowly faded as she played back every moment in her head. she looked over at her sensei, johnny. he watched the match. he had a different point of view. maybe he could tell her, or confirm, something she didn't know.

"sensei?"

"lee. how're you doing? ready for the quarterfinals?" he asked.

"uh. do you think—" she cleared her throat, "—that diane let me win on purpose?"

"no," he replied, as trying to sound as reassuring as he possibly could. "what, what makes you think that?"

"on the mat, she...she could've easily scored the final point but instead gave into my kick. she saw it coming and just let me do it."

"that's not what cobra kai does. listen to me, they're whole goal is to win and take us down. if she saw that opening, she would've taken it without a second thought. you did great out there. all by yourself. do even better in the quarterfinals and make me proud!"

devon nodded, a smile creeping up on her face. her sensei was right. she did it all by herself. she beat the odds. she beat diane. she proved herself a fighter. but it didn't make whatever was going on between them any better.

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"i'm okay now," kenny announced, but he kept a tissue at his nose.

"have you stopped bleeding?" diane asked, lying down on the skinny wooden bench. it was just enough to support her back and one of her legs dangled off. laying there for any longer would make her spine sore.

"yeah. mostly. it's just a bloody nose."

diane scoffed. "he's been such an douchebag."

"who, robby?"

"yeah, robby. he didn't have to kick you like that, right in the face. and he's always trying to be in control. karate this, karate that."

"he showed no mercy like he's supposed to."

"it's way of the fist not way of the feet," diane said. "...or foot."

"he was going to win anyway."

"exactly. he didn't have to go crazy hard on you."

"well, he did what he had to. it's no big deal. we're going to smash everyone at the next all valley anyway."

kenny's use of we're made diane frown. i don't like to fight, she wanted to say. i don't want to fight. but would he understand?

"all participants in the girls' semifinals, please report to the center mat. matches begin in five minutes." the announcement boomed over the loudspeaker, leaking into the locker room.

"i think i'm going to go watch. see what's up," diane said, sitting up.

kenny nodded. "i'll be back in time for the boy's final."

diane got up and left, walking down the hallway. it was empty, of course, everybody in the gymnasium, except for a boy who wasn't in a gi. he walked down the hallway, brushing past diane. bathroom, probably.

back in the colorfully lit gym, diane found cobra kai. the girls were still sitting on the bleachers. the remaining players stood with the senseis. robby had just won against demetri. diane walked over there.

"how's he doing?" robby asked at her arrival.

"i was about to ask you the same thing."

"about who?"

"miguel."

"oh. i don't know. he hasn't come back. he has twenty minutes left."

"you should go and apologize to him," diane cut in.

"miguel?" robby said, eyebrows furrowed. "it was himself, an accident. he-he fell from his own kick."

"no. kenny," diane corrected. "go apologize to him."

"is he upset?"

"no. but you should. or at least check on him. he's your creation," diane said. "why have you been such an asshole?"

robby narrowed his eyes. "i'll be right back," he said grimly. diane rolled her eyes.

the girl's semis were predictable. tory won hers. sam won hers. the final was settled. nichols versus larusso. diane congratulated tory on her win but she wasn't satisfied.

"not until i win," tory said.

"if cobra kai wins," kyler began, "i'm gonna throw a huge party tonight."

"should i start posting about it now?" piper asked, "because we all know cobra kai's going to win."

"cobra kai and miyagi-do are neck-and-neck on the leaderboard," daryl said into his microphone. "but there's a dark horse... or should i say a dark bird that still has a chance. will eagle fang karate stay alive in our dojo race? we're about to find out."

"miguel diaz has one minute to return to the mat!"

a countdown clock appeared on the big screen. every second that passed seemed slower than usual. maybe he'd come out at the last second, win his fight against hawk, and duke it out with robby just like last year.

but as the crowd chanted the numbers going down to zero, there was no trace of miguel and hawk, eli, became the winner by default.

for the final, all cobra kai members stood around the center match in a line again to observe.

"since cobra kai scored the most points, they only need to win one match to be crowned grand champion. but if miyagi-do wins both matches, the title is theirs! up first, the boys fight! good luck to all of our fighters." daryl ran off the mat, the referees preparing to begin.

eli and robby hopped on the mat, bowing and starting the fight. it was intense, but robby scored the first point in seconds. the cobras clapped, then eli called time out.

the next point went to eli. the more rowdy the fight got, robby's gi began to unravel. and right when eli was about to get another hit, a buzzer rang through the gymnasium.

"unbelievable!" daryl shouted, running onto the mat. "these two amazing competitors have reached their three-minute time limit in a one-one tie!"

"which means their championship match will be decided, for the first time since 1985, by sudden-death overtime!"

the crowd roared with cheers. diane crossed her arms. she didn't expect it to be this close. maybe she was overestimating robby's ability. hawk was a killer cobra before he went on his spiritual journey after all.

robby then, which made diane groan, shoved the top half of his gi off. he threw it to tory, heading to the center of the mat. what the hell was wrong with him. and then eli takes his off, throwing it to demetri, and showing off his hawk back tattoo. yuck was all diane could think. if they wanted to do skin to skin contact they should've went into wrestling.

and when the match begun, robby jumped and kicked and managed to get eli on the ground, ready to score the winning point. this is what he wanted. all he wanted was to win.

but instead of getting it, eli kicks robby off and they're at it again. eli kicks and punches and finally gets robby down, using his foot to hit robby in the chest.

"point! winner!"

miyagi-do poured onto the mat, cheering for eli. diane saw the cobra kai senseis' pissed expressions and wanted to laugh. she had formed less than an ounce of respect for either of them. authority figures were always the last to earn hers.

"your boys' champion, eli moskowitz! it all comes down to the girls' final coming up next."

robby ran out of the gymnasium. tory followed him quick. they were a thing now. officially after prom. maybe even more official now that he threw his gi to her.

the girls' match began, daryl announcing that sam was coached by not only sensei larusso but sensei lawrence. tory and robby returned, tory preparing for the fight. this was it, cobra kai versus miyagi-do and eagle fang.

sam scored the first point, then tory, then tory again. sam hit an out of bounds shot before getting a real one. two to two. then sam got an elbow to the face. the girls retreated to their senseis.

the cobra kai senseis talked to her but the music and crowd were enough to drown out their voices. diane thought about sam winning. if sam took the trophy, miyagi-do would win. the agreement back from christmas would cause cobra kai to be over with. what would happen then? leaving cobra kai would be a lot easier but the idea of returning to miyagi-do was out of the picture. they'd never take the keene kids back in. not after their betrayal.

"since when do you disobey an order?" silver said to nichols. kreese then murmured a couple words and the match continued.

in a couple swift moments, tory kicked sam in the abdomen. the referee raised the white flag. cobra kai won. no need to worry about miyagi-do.

but like miyagi-do did, they poured onto the mat to celebrate. kyler and piper picked tory up, holding the up champion. the crowd was even louder than before, clapping and shouts of joy.

"give it up for your first female champion, tory nichols!" daryl handed the trophy to tory. "and the winner of the grand champion trophy and still the baddest dojo in the valley, cobra kai!"

sensei kreese accepted that trophy while silver took the microphone out of daryl's hands. "thank you, thank you." he waved to the crowd.

"we couldn't be prouder of our hard-won victory. and we're just as proud to announce well soon be opening cobra kai franchises throughout the entire valley, so every one of you young men and women here can be part of our championship dojo and learn cobra kai's way of the fist!"

"cobra kai! cobra kai!" the cobras chanted, their fists in the air. diane was reluctant to do the same. instinctively, she looked for her brother. she expected him to be doing the same as the others, but he was still and silent. then she thought maybe he understood too.

the all valley came to a close just like that. this day, this event, had been nonstop talked about since the day robby came back. and it was done now. over. what was next?

diane spotted robby down the hall separated from the rest of the cobras. "hey."

"hey," her brother replied. he was changed into his regular clothes, like diane, but visibly stressed. she could always tell by the look in his eyes.

"are you going to kyler's party?"

"no." he shook his head. they didn't say anything for a bit. robby broke the silence. "diane, i think i made a mistake."

diane let go of a breath. "what?"

"we shouldn't have done this. i shouldn't have let you follow me into this. cobra kai got into my head and i—i failed."

"robby we won," diane said. "i still don't really know why you wanted to do any of this but we got all the way here."

"i didn't win. i got second place."

"you didn't lose."

"second place haunted him forever," he murmured.

diane's tone softened. "robby. you're not your dad."

he looked at the floor, then at the doors. "i need to... find him. talk to him."

"yeah," diane sniffled. "and, while we're, um, here, i'm sorry for calling you an asshole—and a lot of other things behind your back."

robby shook his head. "it's ok. i deserved it." and then he pulled diane into a hug. she let him, sinking into it. "i'm sorry. i should've protected you."

"cobra kai didn't hurt me."

"you've gotten tough," he said as he pulled away. "you should've left when you said you wanted to all those months ago."

"i might leave right now."

robby nodded. in agreement? diane couldn't tell. "i'm gonna go find my dad's van or something. see if i can catch up to him."

"bye." she waved with a smile as he exited the hallway. for the first time since robby came back, she felt normal again. the same sense of security that was there before the school fight. she lost him to cobra kai and in doing so, she lost herself.

it was inevitable, their reconciliation, either in ten months or ten years. luckily it only took one all valley tournament. the perpetual ache in diane's ribs from that very christmas night had now faded, replaced with a new sense of relief and hope.

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a/n
we made it...season 5 is incoming...thanks for sticking around...i'll see you again very, very soon!

let me know your thoughts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! on everything. okay bye ^_^!!!!