❝ you were pretty badass out there. ❞

―

THE DAY OF THE ALL VALLEY TOURNAMENT HAD FINALLY ARRIVED.

Emery wouldn't stop talking about it all morning. Dash was sure that their mom was going to have a panic attack. She still hadn't warmed up to the idea of Emery being in karate, but she had stopped trying to get her to quit. She was even going to be going to the tournament to support her. Despite how much she hated that Emery was in Cobra Kai and the violence of it all, Eleanora still wanted to show Emery that she could be supportive of what she was passionate about. If that just so happened to be karate, then she was going to have to deal with it.

Emery had gotten a ride to the sports arena from Hawk's mom. Ever since that night at the party, the two of them had been inseparable. They were practically attached at the hip, and it annoyed Dash. Hangouts with the two of them and Demetri were never the same. It also didn't help that Dash spent the majority of his trying to bring himself to tell Demetri how he felt. As much as he wanted to, he just couldn't bring himself to tell him. Every time he tried, he chickened out at the last minute or stumbled over his words. He knew that he was making it harder than it needed to be, but the thought that Demetri would never feel the same way always seemed to take over his thoughts. No matter how hard he tried not to let those thoughts win, they always did, and Dash was stuck at square one.

The tournament was close to starting. Emery stood outside with the rest of the Cobra Kai members. Her hand was intertwined with Hawk's. Miguel stood off to the side, aggressively punching the air. Ever since the party and the breakup with Sam, he'd been extra moody, and everyone had started to take notice.

"Yo, Miguel, calm down, man," Hawk said to him. "Save some for the tournament."

"Hey, don't even bother," Aisha shook her head at him. "He's been super aggro ever since the breakup."

"Clearly," Emery nodded. "I tried talking to him the other day, and he told me to leave him alone."

Hawk gave her hand a small squeeze. "Well, where's Sensei?" he asked. "The tournament's gonna start soon."

Emery shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know."

"He'll be here," Aisha responded.

"I don't know about that," Bert spoke up, causing the three of them to look at him with confused expressions.

"What are you talking about?" Aisha asked.

"I saw him last night at the mini-mall. I was buying... a carton of milk when I heard him in the parking lot yelling," Bert replied. "He was pissing on a car, and I tried asking him if he was okay, but he kept yelling something about how we're all gonna die."

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Aisha asked.

"I don't know," Bert shrugged. "I guess I'm just used to seeing him drunk, so it didn't seem like that big of a deal."

"Well, we're here, and he's not. So it's officially a big deal," Hawk replied harshly. "What if something happened to him?"

"Like what?" Bert questioned, fear in her voice.

Hawk shrugged. "Like he drove his car off a cliff or bought a gun and blew his brains out."

Emery made a face at him. "Nah, Sensei wouldn't do that." She turned to look at Bert. "Don't worry, okay? I'm sure he's fine."

"Emery's right," Aisha added. "Sensei would never kill himself. That's too pussy a move."

Hawk sighed. "Whatever. "I mean, we're here. We're gonna have to do it without him."

"Do what without me?"

Emery turned around to see Johnny walking up to them.

"We didn't think you were gonna show up," Hawk said to him.

"I may not always win, but I never back out of a fight," Johnny replied.

"All right," Miguel chimed in. "Let's sign up."

"Not yet," Johnny told him. "There's one more lesson I have to teach you."

They all followed him inside and now stood in a circle around him as he started giving a speech. Emery made sure to stand up straight, hands behind her back.

"You've all learned to strike first, to be aggressive, not be losers. I taught you to strike hard; put every ounce of your power behind everything you do," Johnny told them as he looked around the circle. "But I haven't taught you the third rule of Cobra Kai. No mercy."

Emery and Hawk glanced at each other before directing their focus back to their sensei.

"The older you get, the more you're gonna learn that life isn't fair," he continued. "You wake up one morning feeling great, and then life throws a spinning heel kick to your balls, takes a big steaming shit in your mouth."

Emery couldn't help the disgusted look that appeared on her face, and she had to try her hardest not to start laughing as he continued.

"You get an 'F' on a test; you get suspended. You fall in love with a girl, and some other dude comes and steals her away. Car gets set on fire. Just when you think things are going good, everything falls apart. That's how it goes. Life shows no mercy, so neither do we. We do whatever it takes to keep our heads above water. We do whatever it takes to keep moving forward. We do whatever it takes to win!"

Emery nodded, trying to take every word he was saying in. Even though half of what he was saying didn't apply to her, the speech-in a weird way-was actually motivating her to want to win and show everyone how tough she could be.

"Remember who you are," Johnny said. "You're badass! You don't give a shit. You kick ass! You're Cobra Kai."

"Cobra Kai!" Miguel shouted.

"Yeah!" Emery and the rest of the students shouted.

"All right, guys. Let's get down there and kick the shit out of everybody!" Johnny said.

Miguel went to pull his gi out of his backpack, but Sensei stopped him before he could. "No. You're not wearing those."

Emery gave him a confused look as he started pulling brand new gi's out of the black duffel bag he had been carrying. He started handing one to everybody. As she held the black gi in her hands, Emery stared down at it and couldn't help but smile when she saw her name printed on it.

While Emery went to the locker room to get changed, Dash and their parents walked into the sports arena. Dash took a seat next to Demetri and Moon as his parents sat down in the row in front of him. Dash sat in silence. He couldn't bring himself to say anything to Demetri. Dash stared at him as Demetri stared obliviously ahead. Moon glanced at Dash, raising an eyebrow.

"You okay?" Moon mouthed to him.

Dash nodded his head and turned away, staring at the announcer-who had introduced himself as Daryl-as he began to speak into a microphone.

"Welcome, everyone, to the 50th annual All Valley Under 18 Karate Championship!"

The audience started clapping as they cheered.

"This has been going on for fifty years?" Demetri asked. "Am I the only one that's been out the loop?"

Dash shrugged his shoulders. "I guess karate taking over the valley is nothing new."

"You'll love the new mats," Daryl laughed. "All right, let's start by welcoming all the local dojos competing today. From Granada Hills, All-Star Karate."

Dash watched as the karate dojos ran out onto the mat, taking their places. He clapped for each of the dojos as he waited for Cobra Kai's turn.

"From Reseda, returning to the tournament, we have-"

Daryl was cut off by the sound of the Cobra Kai students chanting, "Cobra Kai!" as they ran out from the hall and onto the mat. Dash started clapping and cheering for Emery and Hawk.

The tournament started. Eleanora wouldn't stop freaking out every time someone got punched or kicked. Damian had to place his hand on her shoulder several times to get her to calm down a bit.

Dash and his parents watched closely as Emery competed in her first match. It was against a boy from Topanga Karate. He was much taller than she was, towering over her. Emery didn't appear to be the slightest bit nervous, however. She got into fighting position and used her height to her advantage, ducking underneath his fist and then using her leg to sweep him to the ground.

"Point, Campbell!"

Dash cheered loudly for her. "Yeah, Emery!"

During round two of the fight, the Topanga boy managed to land a kick to her abdomen, earning a point. Eleanora gasped at seeing Emery stumble to the mat.

She got back up on her feet and stood on her mark, waiting for the referee to announce that they could fight. Emery wasted no time launching her fists at the boy. He blocked her hits, and while he was distracted doing that, Emery swung her leg around and kicked him in the side of his ribcage. When he stumbled to the side, Emery kicked him again in the chest, causing him to fall.

"Point, Campbell! 2-1."

When they were back on their sides, the referee gave them the all-clear to fight once again. Determined to score the final point, Emery struck immediately. The boy threw a series of punches and kicks at her, but Emery blocked and dodged every attempt. As his fist came soaring through the air, Emery ducked as his fist flew above her head. She raised her fist and landed a jab at his abdomen. The boy groaned as he grabbed his stomach. Emery stood up and kicked him in the chest, landing the final blow.

"Point!" the referee shouted as he raised Emery's arm in the air. "Winner!"

Dash rose to his feet as he cupped his hands around his mouth and cheered. Eleanora and Damian did the same, cheering and clapping for their daughter.

The quarterfinals match proved to be more of a challenge. Emery was paired up against a boy who was doing flips left and right, but she didn't let that stop her from trying her best. The score was tied 2-2. Emery narrowed her eyes at her opponent. When the referee told them to fight, the boy immediately launched a kick toward her. Emery quickly stepped out of the way. The boy turned on his heels to try to land a punch. Emery tried to block it, but he hit her in the shoulder and then landed a kick to her chest.

Emery punched the mat when the referee announced that her opponent was the winner. Now, it was time for the semi-finals match. Miguel, Hawk, Robby, and Xander Stone from Topanga Karate stood on the stage.

Dash cheered for Hawk and Miguel. He even wanted to cheer for Robby. He didn't care who won as long as it wasn't Xander. He thought the guy was a huge show-off, and it was time for someone else to win for a change. Even though he was making a speech about diversity and how he hopes that society can become one and live together in peace, Dash couldn't help but cringe. He didn't think there was any reason for a speech, but the announcer just let him keep going.

After what felt like the most awkward moment of silence known to man, the announcer finally snatched the microphone back, and the tournament continued.

Dash was definitely rooting for Miguel to beat Xander, and he felt like he could breathe a sigh of relief when he finally did. Up next was Hawk versus Robby. Hawk started off winning, but then Robby scored a point, and then Hawk was disqualified for illegal contact. Robby had earned a spot in the finals against Miguel.

When the announcer said they were having a break Eleanora immediately ran over to Emery, who was in the middle of a fight with Hawk. Dash followed along.

"Why'd you do that?" Emery questioned, her arms crossed against her chest. "I can't believe you got yourself disqualified!"

"Emery, I'm sorry," Hawk apologized. "My anger just took ahold of me, and I-"

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Emery responded, shaking her head.

Emery turned when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Eleanora stood next to her. Hawk turned and walked away as Eleanora started asking Emery if she was okay and began checking for any sign of injury.

"Mom...mom...stop," Emery told her. "I'm fine, okay? Stop babying me."

Eleanora nodded her head and then wrapped her in a hug. "You did so good! I'm so proud of you, baby!"

"Thanks, mom," Emery responded as she hugged her back.

They pulled back from the hug. Emery turned to look at Dash, who was rocking back and forth on his heels with his hands in his pockets.

"You were pretty badass out there," Dash told her.

"Dashiell Campbell, Language!" Eleanora scolded him.

Emery laughed. "Thank, Dash."

When Daryl announced that it was time for the finals to begin, Dash and Eleanora returned to their seats. Emery stood with the other Cobra Kai students, holding her hands behind her back as she watched Miguel and Robby get into fighting position. With the revelation that Daniel LaRusso was going to coach Robby Keene, the tension in the arena rose even more, and the pressure was on.

Robby got the first point. It was clear that Miguel was distracted. Dash figured that it was likely due to the conversation he saw him having with Sam before the match began. Miguel scored the next point, landing a kick to Robby's injured shoulder-courtesy of Hawk in the semi-finals-before punching him in the abdomen. He scored another point soon after, making the score 2-1 in Miguel's favor.

Robby scored the next point with an impressive two-legged kick. They were now tied. As Miguel started to stand up, Robby extended his hand forward to help him up. Miguel pulled on his other arm, yanking him to the ground. He received a warning from the referee.

In the end, just like Dash and Emery had expected, Miguel had won, but he had used Robby's hurt shoulder against him to do it. It didn't seem to matter though, as Miguel was presented with the trophy. He was the new champion, and if Dash was being honest, he didn't know if that was necessarily a good thing or not. Emery sure seemed to be happy about it though, and it made Dash smile seeing her look so happy about it.

Dash and Demetri walked up to Miguel after the tournament was over. Demetri patted Miguel on the back. "Hey, man. There he is!"

"How's it feel to be the new champ?" Dash asked him.

Miguel smiled at him. "Great."

"Listen," Demetri said. "I'm reconsidering joining Cobra Kai."

Dash turned to look at him. "You are?"

This was news to him. He thought that Demetri had to be out of his mind to want to join Cobra Kai again. He found himself wondering how long he had been thinking about it.

"Yes," Demetri responded, nodding his head. "I'm still not into the idea of getting hit in the face and all, but I respect the safety-in-numbers aspect of joining a gang."

"Okay, uh, have you seen Sam?" Miguel asked.

"Oh, yeah," Demetri responded. "Pretty sure she left a while ago."

Miguel sighed.

"Well, good job not sucking," Demetri said to him. "Come on, Dash."

Demetri started walking away. Dash stayed back for a second before jogging to catch up to him. He still couldn't believe that Demetri was actually considering rejoining Cobra Kai. It was crazy, and Dash didn't even want to imagine Demetri getting into fights or trying to become someone he wasn't.

Cobra Kai had a way of changing people, and Dash didn't want that to happen to Demetri. He wanted Demetri to stay exactly the way he was. Rejoining Cobra Kai was an extremely bad idea. Dash had a feeling that there were going to be a series of bad ideas in the future. Especially when Cobra Kai was involved.

- EMILIA'S NOTES

not much changed except for more in depth descriptions and details than the original chapter.

i'm going to try and start editing chapters quicker so that i can get them out for you guys.