THE TOURNAMENT took place in the new Cobra Kai dojo, which seemed almost too advanced for a karate dojo: there were cool lights, multiple practice rooms, a food bar, trophy walls, smoothie bars. It was hard not to get distracted by the thought of how much money was spent on the dojo— probably more than Eagle Fang Miyagi-Do combined and then tripled.

Isabella wore her red karate gi, which she hadn't worn since the All Valley. As soon as she walked inside, she knew that Tory was her opponent again; she was already starting to regret her decision of representing her unnamed dojo.

Sam said, "Looks like you're fighting Tory."

"Yeah," Isabella nodded, keeping her eyes on Tory on the opposite side of the room to her. However, the girl didn't wear her usual evil smirk, and Isabella noticed that she almost looked doubtful, like she was scared to fight too.

Isabella and Hawk gestured their handshake, which they made up years ago; the girl asked curiously, "Who are you fighting?"

"Kenny," Hawk rolled his eyes, "Don't worry, I'll shut him up."

"You've got this." Isabella encouraged, as the boy walked onto the karate mat.

"Face me. Bow." The referee insisted, "Face each other. Bow." He paused, "Fight!"

Suddenly, Kenny jumped in the air and attempted to kick Hawk in the face. The older boy dodged every punch; Kenny was fighting dirty, that was no surprise, she expected that from Tory too... wait. Isabella's eyes darted around the room: where did Tory go?

"Point!" The referee's voice snapped her back into reality, "1-0, Payne."

Kenny striked first again; grunting and shouting with anger. Though this time, Hawk leaped into the air and kicked the younger boy in the chest. Hawk's team cheered for him, Isabella clapping loudly, before...

"No point!" The referee said, "Out of bounds."

"What?" Hawk complained, as his dojo erupted with shouts of disagreements, "What? Are you serious?"

"What the hell." Isabella folded her arms across her chest, glancing at Robby who looked just as confused as she did.

"Ref, that's horseshit." Johnny defended, "He made contact in bounds!"

"Back on the line." The ref ignored them, "Fight!"

Hawk attempted to punch first this time, though suddenly Kenny punched him directly in the chest. Hawk stumbled back, as the crowd gasped, struggling on the floor as his breath hitched.

"2-0, Payne!" The referee announced.

Miguel frowned in frustration, "What?"

"Shit. Hawk!" Isabella attempted to walk onto the mat, though Daniel LaRusso stopped her. She frowned, "What are you doing? He's hurt."

The referee asked curiously, "Can he continue?"

Johnny walked onto the mat instead, crouching down beside Hawk. The boy spluttered, gasping, "I-I... can't breathe."

"That's a forfeit." The referee announced quickly, "Winner, Payne!"

"What?" Miguel scoffed in disbelief, as the Cobra Kai's cheered.

Kenny remarked, "Looks like you got a new name... Faux-Hawk!"

Isabella stormed onto the mat quickly; Daniel LaRusso was too busy focused on Hawk to stop her. She walked over to the boy, "What'd you say?"

Miguel followed behind her, reassuring her, "He's not worth it, Belle. Leave it."

Isabella's mind brought her back to the waterpark; her and Tory. "Hey, he had no right to call you that. He's not worth it," Tory said, "Where's your brother?" She stopped arguing with Kenny when she thought of Tory.

"Onto our girls' fight." The judge from the Sekai Taikai announced, "Tory Nichols and Isabella Diaz."

Isabella remained on the mat, though Tory hadn't arrived opposite her; she watched as the Cobra Kai's looked around in confusion. Isabella looked back at her team in confusion, before meeting eyes with Robby, who placed his hand on his chest and took a deep breath, motioning for the girl to do the same— she did. In and out.

"Replacing Tory Nichols," The judge announced, "Devon Lee, please take the mat."

Isabella looked at the brunette girl in confusion; Devon Lee was once apart of Eagle Fang, and they had fought together at the All Valley. She turned around to look at Johnny, who shared the same disappointed expression.

"Face me. Bow." The referee said, "Face each other. Bow." He paused, "Ready? Fight!"

Devon attempted to punch her first, though she blocked it and offended back. The girl tried to punch her again, however Isabella had already turned around and performed a back kick, hitting Devon in the ribs. 

The ref announced quickly, "No point. That's shoulder. No point."

An eruption of disagreements came from her team behind her, as Isabella scoffed in disbelief, "What? I didn't hit her shoulder!"

"No point." The referee repeated, "Keep fighting!"

"Use your fucking eyes." Isabella muttered, as she prepared herself in her fighting position.

Isabella striked first this time, attempting to punch Devon though she quickly blocked it. Isabella grunted with every kick and punch, before blocking Devon's kick...

"Point!" The referee announced quickly, "1-0, Lee."

"What?" Daniel LaRusso disagreed, "There was no contact."

Johnny added, "Bullshit!"

"What the fuck?" Isabella raised her voice, before storming over to her corner. She panted in frustration, "I blocked her kick! This ref is blind."

"Look, not every point is gonna go our way," Daniel LaRusso replied.

"I didn't even kick her shoulder," Isabella continued angrily, "I kicked her ribs. I know what I did! Now, I'm down a point when I should be up one."

"Belle," Miguel reassured, "You're the better fighter. Everyone knows it."

"He's right," Robby nodded, "Just take a breath and get back out there."

Sensei LaRusso agreed, "This fight isn't about the anger you feel, Isabella. It's about how you find balance within you."

She hadn't heard advice from the Miyagi-Do style of karate before; Isabella didn't really understand how she was meant to find balance when all she was thinking about was winning. Isabella took a long breath, before she walked back onto the mat; Johnny patting her shoulder to give her good luck.

The ref announced, "Fight!"

Isabella offended first, performing a flying-tornado kick which sent the girl to the floor; Isabella bent down to punch the girl in the stomach, as she let out a wince of pain.

The referee hesitated, "Point, Diaz. 1-1."

Isabella returned to fighting stance; she blocked the many punches from Devon, before kicking her in the chest. She heard her brother's cheers from behind her— maybe, she could win.

The referee paused, "Point, Diaz. 2-1."

Devon managed to kick the girl in the leg, causing Isabella to stumble back in pain. Impulsively, Isabel bent down and swept Devon's feet, causing the girl to crash down onto the mat with a thud. That would've been a point already, though Isabella couldn't help herself from stamping on Devon's chest.

"Point." The Referee said hesitantly, "Winner, Diaz."

Her mind flashed to the All Valley: Tory blocked Isabella's offence, before bending down and sweeping her legs, causing Isabella to fall onto the floor. She grunted as she hit the mat, almost as though the oxygen had left her body for a moment. Tory punched her in the stomach to earn another point.

Isabella bent down, grabbing ahold of Devon's gi and raising a fist. She felt hand pull her away, though Isabella was in another fit of rage; the referee guided her back, standing in front of her to block her from Devon.

"Don't touch me!" Isabella pulled away from the Referee's hand which was placed lightly on her chest.

She didn't mean to hurt Devon, Isabella thought she was a cool girl, which was rare because she usually found people annoying. Isabella just couldn't get the All Valley out of her head and how badly it humiliated her; she needed to just fight all of that anger out of her system.

The Referee shouted in her face, trying to block her way to Devon, as Miguel quickly sprinted onto the mat. Her brother stood in front of Isabella, guiding her back protectively.

Miguel shouted to the Referee, "Keep your hands off her, man!"

Robby rushed towards Isabella, placing his hands on her shoulders, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop! Stop, it's over. You won."

Isabella finally stopped, her breathing heavy from tiredness. Miguel, Robby, and Isabella walked off the mat to meet with the cheers from her classmates, while the judges discussed their decision on which dojo would make it to the Sekai Taikai.

"Good job, kid." Johnny fist-bumped her, "You alright?"

Daniel asked curiously, though a look of disappointment wrinkled on his face, "What was that? You don't keep fighting after you've got given a point."

Isabella retorted, as Miguel passed her a water bottle, "Well, I got the point, didn't I?"

"You could've gotten disqualified." Sensei LaRusso explained softly, despite the disappointment he felt, "Fighting with anger isn't the Miyagi-Do way."

Isabella shot back, "It's a good job I'm in Eagle Fang, then—"

"She won, LaRusso," Johnny agreed, "Fair and square. It doesn't matter what style she used."

"Her style was like Cobra Kai," Daniel LaRusso disagreed, "You let your anger get the better of you. You striked first. We don't do that here, Isabella. I'm not trying to be the bad guy here, trust me, I'm just saying that you fought dirty."

"Dirty?" Isabella scoffed, throwing her water bottle down on the floor, "The Ref wasn't giving me any points. What was I supposed to do? Be a pussy?"

Sensei LaRusso sighed, "Sensei Lawrence, can I talk to you?" The two men walked to the other side of the room; Isabella watching as they argued over what had just happened.

"Well done, Belle," Hawk limped over to her, "You were badass out ther— are you alright, dude?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna go outside." Isabella muttered, as she stormed out of the room, kicking the trash cans on her way out as she noticed Johnny shouting at Daniel.

a/n:
writing "this isn't the miyagi-do way" was a struggle.

TORY AND BELLE SCENES COMING I PROMISE!!