AFTER FINDING out that only six students could go to compete in Sekai Taikai in Barcelona, the competition had began; the students were being examined and watched around the clock by their Sensei's, meaning they had to be on their best behaviour at all times.

Sensei Lawrence continued, "The Sekai Taikai is coming. It's up to us to pick out six most badass fighters."

"And there are no easy decisions." Sensei LaRusso added, "We know you all wanna go to Barcelona. It's a level playing field. Anything can happen. So, each one of you have a shot."

"So, don't puss out as we're making our evaluations." Johnny insisted.

Sensei LaRusso introduced, "Please welcome our guest for the weekend, Sensei Barnes. In order to keep things unbiased, we brought in Sensei Barnes to observe and select our top six."

Sensei Barnes raised his voice, "During my tears as the Tournament Terror, all I wanted was to be in the Sekai Taikai. But I blew my chance. I am here to ensure that you maximise yours. Everyone that I know that has participated in this tournament has horror stories. This thing is intense. Unpredictable. People have died. Who's ready for that?"

"To die?" Isabella whispered curiously to her friends around her.

"I will do to you what the Sekai Taikai will do." Sensei Barnes continued, "I will surprise you with events. I will push you to your limits. And if any of you delicate flowers feel like going to your Senseis and crying, don't." He shouted, "Get on the sparring deck. Now!"

Throughout the day, the challenges varied through speed, strength, endurance, and teamwork. Trying to catch chickens was much harder than Isabella thought, holding a heavy rock whilst wall-sitting sent an agonising ache around her body, Sensei Barnes only watched her when she was failing to break the kicking boards, and she was under too much pressure to focus in her teamwork fights.

Isabella was starting to wonder if she was really the right material for the Sekai Taikai. Everything was going wrong, and the more she tried harder to make things better... she'd just make it worse for herself. Isabella felt like a failure again; it was a familiar feeling.

"Congratulations. You didn't die." Sensei Barnes said as he stood on the sparring deck, looking around at the panting students in front of him, "Still, half of you wouldn't last one match at the Sekai Taikai. To the twelve who might, join me up here when I call your name." He paused, "Hawk. Robby. Miguel. Sam. Kenny. Tory. Demetri. Devon. Chris. Anthony. Muscles... yeah, you."

Penis Breath exclaimed, "I have a new nickname?"

"And, finally..." Sensei Barnes called out, "Isabella."

A wash of relief drowned out the anxious pit in her stomach, as she joined her friends on the sparring deck. Despite being selected, Isabella couldn't shake away that thought of being the last student to get called: maybe that meant she was last on the list. The first to be eliminated.

"Top twelve, get ready." Barnes explained, "Today's challenge is a Battle Royale. The rules are simple. Protect your flags. Steal the others. Lose all your flags, and you're out. The ones with the most flags at the end go to Barcelona. You have five minutes."

Attached to their white gi's, were five red flags, in which they had to protect from being stolen. The game started, and the twelve dispersed around the dojo; everyone running after each other to try and steal their flags.

Isabella decided to aim for students like Chris, Mitch, Demetri, and Anthony because they hadn't physically fought that much before, meaning that they didn't know her fighting style. Because of this, her victims didn't know her next move or how she was going to steal their flags.

Isabella had stolen seven, so far, and each one was stolen with speed and... violence; Barnes hadn't stated any rules about punching, so Isabella was quickly gaining purple knuckles and giving out free nosebleeds!

Miguel sprinted passed her, before snatching a flag from her back, "Sorry, Belle!"

Isabella ripped a flag off Anthony, before turning around to catch a glimpse of her brother running away. She cursed, before sprinting after him; she was left with three flags, and assumably a few minutes left of the challenge.

Isabella caught up to her brother, jumping on his back so they both collided with the floor face first; Isabella scurried to her feet, before ripping off the two flags from Miguel's arms. She panted, "Bitch."

The girl was interrupted when Demetri kicked the back of her leg, causing her to fall, before the boy snatched a flag from her leg. As Demetri attempted to run away, Isabella stuck her leg out to trip him over; she crouched down to quickly grab the one flag on his back, before...

"Times up!" Barnes shouted, "Gather round! Let me see those flags. Come on!" The students gathered in the centre of the dojo, holding up the multiple red flags in their two hands. Barnes announced, "We clearly have our top five, "Tory. Robby. Sam. Miguel. Isabella." He paused, "The rest of you are tied. I'll go back tonight and review my notes."

***

The next morning, extremely early, the students were all called to a location in the forest. Sensei Barnes explained stood on a bench, explaining the rules,

"Last night, I reviewed my notes to make sure the last four get a fair shot. I've decided that it was too close to call." Barnes explained, "Two flags wait deep in the forest. The first student to retrieve the flag and bring it back, will be selected into the top six. The student to get the second flag will come to the Sekai Taikai as a substitute, like, if any injuries occur."

Devon, Demetri, Kenny, and Hawk all prepared for capture the flag, though Isabella noticed Demetri and Hawk arguing instead. She felt bad for Eli; he was probably the most experienced and best fighter of the four, in Isabella's opinion, yet lately he had been so focused with college.

"What was that about?" She asked curiously, watching as Demetri stormed away from him.

"I haven't applied for MIT." Hawk explained, trying not to sound upset but Isabella knew he was. He added, "i just wanna keep my options open."

"Do what you wanna do. Don't just apply to MIT because you feel bad for him, okay?" Isabella reassured, placing a hand on his arm, "You've got this. I'm rooting for you out there."

Eli tried to smile, "Thanks."

The group of students gathered around the starting line, which was made up of sticks, as the they cheered for the four.

"Ready..." Barnes announced, "Go!"

The four descended into the forest, as the group cheered for them, though now they just had to wait to see who came back first. Isabella spent the time with Tory, as they both sat on a table and waited.

Tory continued, "Yeah. I'm just happy that my mom's doing better. I don't know, I kind of wasn't expecting it, but the Doctor said she could have a lower dose of her meds."

"That's great, Tory." Isabella smiled, resting her head on Tory's shoulder, "Maybe we could celebrate. I could make you, your brother, and your mom dinner... I'm a good cook, better than Miguel anyway."

Tory smiled, "I'd love that—"

"Holy shit. Hey, Kenny won." Robby interrupted, pointing to the distance to see the boy jogging back; his posture was hunched over and his hands were in his pockets. Ignoring the people cheering in front of him, Kenny barged through the crowd and rushed towards the single cubicle. The boy tried to open the door, but it was locked, as he desperately swayed on his feet.

Kenny panicked, "Please! Open up... Man, I gotta go—"

Everybody gasped, some people laughed, but Isabella felt horrible. Even though Kenny had been an asshole in the past, she didn't think anyone deserved to shit themselves in front of a crowd of teenagers and Senseis. Bert cluelessly opened the cubicle door, and Kenny rushed inside.

"Hey, guys. It's Devon." Sam exclaimed, "She won!"

Everyone cheered as the girl jogged back proudly, waving the flag in her hands. Isabella clapped, though her mind raced back to Hawk; if he didn't retrieve the flag, he wouldn't even be a substitute for the team, he wouldn't even be allowed to come to Barcelona. Isabella and Hawk, if they weren't fighting, had always been side-by-side at tournaments.

A moment later, Demetri walked towards the crowd; his face was serious, his hands in his pockets, and there was still no sign of Hawk. Everybody frowned in confusion, however Demetri quickly pulled out the flag from his pocket; everyone cheered, including Isabella, but she didn't feel like cheering. How did Demetri beat Hawk? The Hawk.

"I give you the Miyagi-Do Team Sekai Taikai." Barnes announced, "Miguel. Sam. Robby. Isabella. Tory. Devon. And, our sub, Demetri."

After celebrating for a moment, Isabella's eyes travelled to the opening of the forest; Eli wandered back, his head low and his face dirty. The twins walked up to him,

Miguel sighed, "Sorry, bro."

"How did Demetri beat you?" Isabella questioned quietly, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Eli nodded, unconvincingly, "I'm just... I'm going home." The boy walked off before Isabella could say any more. She turned, heading towards Johnny and Daniel, "Senseis?"

Sensei LaRusso glanced at her, "Can you give us a second, Is—"

"Why isn't Hawk going?" Isabella interrupted anyway, "He's a way better fighter than Demetri, no offence. If anyone gets injured, Demetri isn't a good replacement."

"I know, but there's nothing we can do, kid." Johnny replied, "Barnes set the rules."

a/n:
enjoy the happiness while it lasts.... 😈