Chapter One Hundred
Primadonna

SYDNEY LECTURE THE boys like a mother lecturing her children the whole way back to the hotel. They gathered in the girl's room with their luggage. Sydney flopped on her bed with an annoyed sigh. "Not a very smart gamble, boys." Sam commented.

"Yeah, Syd's already gave us the lecture." Miguel said and sat on the edge of one of the beds.

"Yeah. Somebody said it wasn't gonna be a gamble," Demetri said angrily, giving Robby a look from over his shoulder.

"I didn't wanna get involved, remember? I told you guys to stay away from Cobra Kai," Robby twisted the narrative. "It's so simple."

Sydney raised herself up and shot him a look. "No, you let Kwan get in your head when I specifically told you not to. You should've listened to me." She lectured him again.

Charlie leaned against the wall and pointed to her. "She's right."

Robby scoffed lightly and looked her way. "Then why didn't you go? You can kick higher than all of us."

Sydney stood up with her eyes narrowed. "Because I don't have to prove anything. None of us do." She snapped and sat on the other bed by Eli's legs.

"Yeah, and if it's so simple, why don't you follow your own advice?" Hawk chimed in.

Robby sighed. "What are you talking about?"

"We all saw you talking to Tory."

There was a moment of silence. Sydney ran a hand the her hair and sighed. "Come on. I mean, she's his girlfriend," Devon gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Yeah, he's dealing with her reaction. Same as the rest of us," said Miguel with a bitter undertone.

"I would t eat that exactly," Sam spoke.

Sydney twisted her head over her shoulder. "What are you talking about, Sam?"

Instead of directly answering her, Sam looked at Robby. "You knew Kreese came to Tory."

She quickly looked back at Robby, the information shocking her.

"Wait, what?" Charlie spoke that time and he leaned off the wall.

Robby looked backed into a corner. "Yeah. I. . .I mean, I knew Kreese that went to Tory, yeah, but it was before her mom died. And he was trashing Miyagi-Fo, saying she wasn't gonna have a fair shot. She told him to get lost. I didn't know she was gonna do this." He explained himself.

"You knew he went to her and you didn't tell any of us?" Charlie inquired, looking mad. "Rob, this is exactly what Cobra Kai does. It finds you at your most vulnerable position and sucks you back in. He manipulated her!"

"I didn't know, Charlie!" Robby raised his voice.

"Okay, okay!" Sam said and reached forward, grabbing Charlie's arm and pulling him back into her.

"Look, it doesn't matter now." Sydney voiced, gaining their attention. "Tory made her decision. I highly believe she would have made it even without Kreese's influence. There's no sense in arguing about it now. Let's just get over it and focus on what's coming tomorrow."

Her reaction caused them to go silent. Charlie scoffed and shook his head, still angry. Sydney and Robby looked at each other and he smiled slightly, to which she just nodded.

Later that night, whatever time it was, Sam was woken up by a knock at their door. Immediately, she froze. She hadn't been sleeping anyway, there was too much on her mind, but who would be knocking on their door this late at night? Sam raised up. "Sydney," she whispered to the girl in the bed next to hers.

Sydney was fast asleep, her eyes covered by a pink sleep mask.

"Sydney!" She said louder while still keeping quiet.

There was a groan and a shift on the bed. "What is it, Sammy?" Sydney asked tiredly.

"There's someone knocking on the door."

Indeed hearing a knock on the door, Sydney lifted the mask from her eyes and sat up. She felt suspicious and looked to Sam. "Is Devon asleep?"

Sam looked across the room where Devon's bed was. She was curled under the covers with the pillow almost covering her head. "Yeah, she's asleep." She whispered back.

"Okay, come on." She said quietly and threw the covers off her body.

Sam followed her movements and they grabbed hands while walking to the door. "Be careful," she said in the lowest voice she could.

"It's okay. Don't worry," Sydney matched her tone and made sure to keep her behind her. She choked back the fight of a possible stranger being on the other side of door until she peered through the peep hole. She exhaled a breath after seeing what was on the other side. "It's Charlie and Miguel."

Sam's nerves deflated. "Jesus Christ."

Sydney let go of her hand and opened the door. Miguel and Charlie stood there, half asleep. "Hey babe," he waved at Sam when he saw her standing in the back.

"Shh, Devon's asleep," Sydney quicker hushed him. She looked at Miguel. "Why are you guys here?"

"I can't sleep in that room anymore. Demetri snores and Eli kicks in this sleep."

"And farts, but he won't ever admit that." Charlie added and rubbed his eyes.

Sydney's face twisted with disgust. Boys.

"Can we please stay here with you guys?" Miguel almost pleaded.

The girls looked at each other. The only issue they were both thinking of was their fathers, one being in the same hotel and the other being thousands of miles away but would surely find out somehow. "Our fathers will you kill you if they find out, you know?" Sydney warned then.

"I'd rather be killed by the hands of them than the smell of Eli's farts," Charlie proclaimed.

Sam grimaced. She looked at Sydney and shrugged, saying she was okay with it. The Brit sighed. "Okay yeah, sure. Just be quiet." She warned again and let them in the room.

"Yes!" Miguel hurrahed in a whisper and quickly entered room.

"Thanks girls. We owe you." Charlie whispered as well.

"Why do we do these things for them?" Sam asked her.

"Out of love, Samantha. Out of love." Sydney answered and went back to her bed. She crawled under the covers. "Just letting you know, if I hear one snore in my ear or feel a kick to any part of my body, I'm throwing you on the floor." She said to Miguel.

The boy grinned. "Yes ma'sm."

She hummed pleasingly and lowered the mask back over her eyes. She lays back down and smiled when she felt his arm lay across her waist.

Sydney woke up earlier than anybody the next morning. It was the day the tournament activities would begin and she was nervous as hell. She wasn't worried about being good enough, Sydney was most worried about her team and how they would do. She stood alone in the hotel's training gym, getting in extra training time before they had to leave.

"Hai!" Sydney grunted and did a clean side kick to the pretend person in front of her. She twisted herself around and did a high and low punch with both fists. Sydney ducked as if to block a punch and she spun back around, doing a double side kick. She then leaned forward and put both of her hands on the mat, behind her back leg up and kicking, and then she went into a front flip, landing clean on her feet.

She was anxious. Probably the most anxious she'd ever been, which made her want to work harder.

Sydney released another loud grunt and did an another side kick, adding in a single spin and then kicking her leg higher in the air.

"Thinking of hitting anybody in particular?"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder, seeing Daniel standing in the doorway, smiling. Sydney huffed and pushed her hair out of her face. "Maybe one person. Or a couple," she answered honestly.

He walked into the room. "I'm almost afraid to ask," he said and raised his fists.

Sydney smiled slightly. "You don't want to know. Trust me." She told him and threw a punch to which he blocked.

"Is it Tory?" He asked anyway, doing wax on, wax off to block her punches.

Her smile fell. "Like I said, you don't want to know," she repeated and spun around, kicking at him to which he did another wax on movement.

"Losing friends is hard, Syd. I know." Daniel said and lifted his palms, letting her practice her punches. "It's the ones that you trust completely that you should hold onto. Like me and your dad."

The corner of her mouth curled up. "Like me and Sam," she said and threw a light punch to his left palm.

Daniel smiled. "Exactly. . .you know, every time I see you train and fight, all I see is that eight year old girl trying to learn how to do a back flip in my backyard. Now look at you." He looked as if he could start to cry. "You're all grown up on me."

Sydney continued to smile and she dropped her fists down to her sides. "I'm the same old Sydney. Just taller."

He chuckled. "I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of you."

A warm feeling filled her heart. Sydney stepped forward and hugged him, resting her head on his chest. Daniel had been in her life for years, since she was a little girl, and he treated her like another one of his children. Sydney believed that it was easy for her to love Miguel because she was so loved by Daniel and her father. There was a time where she thought she wasn't capable of love. How glad she was that those times were behind her.

Sydney returned to her room after a while to shower. Sam and Devon had went to get breakfast. Sydney felt too nervous to eat. She showered in scolding hot water to calm her nerves and took two of her anxiety meds afterwards. Her hands trembled with every move she made.

There was a knock at her door.

Sydney laid her clothes on Sam's bed and walked over to the door. She peered through the peep hole and saw Miguel standing in the hallway. She opened the door and immediately smiled. "Good morning,"

"Good morning, gorgeous," he said back with a smile on his face. He was holding two plates piled high with breakfast food. "You were in bed this morning or downstairs so I figured you'd be hungry."

She eyed the food, not having the heart to tell him that her chest and stomach felt like they could explode. "Aww, that's so kind of you." Sydney moved so he could walk inside. "Sorry, I woke up really early to do some training."

Miguel raised his eyebrows. He put the plates of food on the table. "Really?"

She nodded with a light hum.

"Are you alright?" He asked, scanning her with his eyes.

Sydney sat down at the table. "Why would I be?" She replied, trying to hide her hands on her lab so he wouldn't see them shaking.

"I don't know. I just have a feeling that something's wrong," Miguel said with a simple shrug. He pushed her plate close to her. "Wasn't sure what you wanted so I got pretty much everything."

She half smiled, her heart warming. Sydney stared at the plate, eyeing the eggs, bacon, waffles, muffin, fruit, and she felt so guilty that she couldn't stomach any of it. She raised her head and sighed. "I'm nervous." She admitted.

Miguel paused mid fork in mouth. He blinked a couple of times. "For what? Today?" He asked with a mouthful of eggs.

Sydney nodded. "Yeah." She showed him one of her trembling hands.

The boy frowned. "Babe, have you take your meds?" He asked and grabbed her palm.

Again, she nodded. "When I got out of the shower. I don't know exactly what I'm nervous for, but, just thinking about today gives me the tremors."

"Hey, you're going to do great today. You're captain for a reason, Syd. You're one of the best. I'm proud of you, seriously."

His words made her smile softly. "Thank you." She said quietly, staring at her hand that was still wrapping in his. It was still shaky but not as bad as it was before. Miguel calmed her. He soothed her nerves simply by being around her. "I have some things for you."

At the mention, his eyebrows shot up. "Like what?"

Sydney smiled and took back her hand. She stood from the chair and went to retrieve the bags of stuff she got from the aquarium. "Just some small things," she answered sheepishly and returned to her seat. "Just before we got sucked into a stupid bet, I was buying gifts."

Miguel chuckled. "Sounds like you."

She hummed delightfully. "Firsttt," she trailed and pulled out his first gift. Sydney showed him a red and black threaded bracelet with a silver S in the middle.

The boy's eyes softened and he chuckled again. "What?" He said and took it from her. "Wow, Sydie. I love it. Thank you." Miguel smiled and kissed her.

Sydney smiled back. "Thought since we have matching why not have y bracelets? Only mine has an M. . .and it's pink."

"Of course," Miguel laughed. He slid the bracelet on his wrist like it was made to fit him.

"Ooh, and. . ." She quickly said and took out his next gift. Sydney held up a card stuffed clownfish and smiled, the gesture reaching ear to ear.

Miguel looked at the stuffed animal and laughed. "Wowww," he said and took it from her.

She giggled. "Fired your stuffed dog could use a friend."

He looked at her with another loving smile. "I love it. Gracias, cariño."

"De nana, mi amor."

They ate breakfast together before they had to go downstairs and meet the others.

Sydney stood in the arena crowded with all of the international teams. Her anxiety had died down and now she was left with anticipation. The stakes were right. There was a lot at risk. She had a lot to prove. All of these things motivated her to do exactly what she came here to do: win.

"The time has come. Welcome to our first event. I hope you're all well rested and ready for a new and unique competition," Gunther started his announcement. "We call it Captain's War."

The name sent chills down Charlie's spine. "Badass," he uttered and casted Robby an excited grin.

"As we told you, your captains are crucial to your success. So, let's see how well you protect them."

Sydney smirked. "I've been wait for this moment," she voiced.

"Four dojos will take the mat. Only one will be get standing. If you hit the mat, you're out. If your captains hit the mat, your entire team will be eliminated from this round. Check the boards to see your group, which was decided by random draw. Group A, you're up.

She looked over with everybody else at the large board. She read the matchups and a pit formed her stomach. She focused on nothing but Cobra Kai's name next to hers. Anxiety turned to anticipation and anticipation turned to determination. Determination now became vengeance. Sydney's eyes narrowed to slits as she eyed Cobra Kai across the mat, Kwan looking smug. Her jaw twitched as she thought about how much she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

"Syd," Sam whispered and tugged on her arm, bringing her back to focus.

Sydney looked away from Cobra Kai and huddled up with her team. "Game plan?" Charlie questioned, resting his hands on his knees.

"Remember Anthony's strategy? Protect the egg?" Miguel recalled, looking between all of them. "It's our best shot at winning. Let them come to us. Protect the egg. Make sure the four of them are safe." He strategies, looking at the captains.

"And if all else fails, let me deck them all myself," Sydney added in.

Charlie side eyed her.

"I can be on the front line," Robby volunteered.

"No," Miguel immediately denied. "You just stay back and stay focused. Charlie can be on the front line."

He looked confused by the statement. "Why would I stay focused?"

Ummm, Sydney said inside her brain.

"You did leave the hotel room last night." Miguel accused.

"So did you and Charlie," Robby remarked, seemingly getting mad.

"Yeah, to get away from those two," Charlie said, jerking his head between Hawk and Demetri.

"Oh, thanks buddy," Eli said sarcastically.

"Okay, we don't have time for this," Sydney cut into the banter, giving all of them a stern look, "what did we come here for? We came here to win. Do everything in your power so we can win. Got it?"

"I like the sound of that," Demetri agreed with her, nodding along.

"We got this guys," Devin encouraged them.

Daniel and Johnny came over and they straightened themselves up. "I know it hadn't always been pretty lately but no one could ever count us out. You hear me? Do it for each other."

Sydney nodded firmly at his words. "We got this guys. I believe in us." Charlie declared, also nodding.

"And wipe the smirks off their ugly faces," said Johnny.

She smirked at that. Gladly.

"Ready?" Gunther got ready to announce.

Sydney faced the team across for her, putting her game face on. When she saw Tory charging towards them, every emotion she was feeling towards her came back.

"Protect the egg!" Yelled Demetri.

Tory landed a butterfly kick and Sydney yelled out, immediately going in with a hard side kick to her chest. Tory stumbled and Sydney ran forward, not missing a beat. The two girls went back and forth, heat coming off their faces. Tory came in with a punches and Sydney swiftly blocked them using Daniel's methods while backing up, trying to keep her feet planted on the mat.

"Syd, watch out!" She heard Devon yell her name.

Not having time to look behind her, Sydney grunted loudly and leaned backwards when Tory swung at her. She brought her legs up and kicked her in the stomach, then falling into a backflip and when she came back up, she was faced with a girl from another team, Falchi Della Notte. Wasting no time, Sydney did a side kick and then a spin, kicking the girl across the face, sending her to the mat.

"Guys, protect the egg!" Demetri shouted at his team.

"Watch Sydney's back!" Miguel yelled to nobody in particular but he saw her open, fighting one of the boys from Cobra Kai.

Grunting, Sydney remembered what she practiced this morning and she did a harsh side kick to the boy's chest, knocking him backwards and she quickly stepped forward again, swinging her arm at him and he ducked down, taking the opportunity to come back up and swing his arm as well. Sydney twisted her upper body so that the hit was avoided and she bright her back leg up, sending another kick to his chest and to finish him off, she jumped in the air and spin around, kicking him clean across the face.

"Get the girl!" Kwan yelled to his teammates after watching her fight.

Blowing her hair out of her face, the other female captain from Cobra Kai came swinging at her. Sydney jumped back and ducked down up her swinging arm. She swiftly moved behind her and kicked her in the back. The two girls threw punches high and low at each other then, Sydney brought her knee up, kneeling her in the cut. When she doubled over, she spun around and kicked her across the face.

"Sydney, are you good?" Eli yelled at her.

She didn't bother to answer. Her blood rattled and her hands shook vigorously. In fact, she could barely focus on her team. Every noise around her was muted, the lights seemed to dim, and it was like she was trapped in a dream. Her heart pounded hardly causing an ache to her throat. She could barely breathe but she wouldn't give up. She couldn't.

The second male Cobra Kai captain, his name being Yoon as Sydney figured out, came charging at her. Sydney's game face returned and she raised her fists, preparing herself. The two captains went back and forth, his technique and form amazing, something she didn't like to admit. Sydney grunted and kicked at him to which he blocked with his hands. She did a single spin and when she faced him again, Yoon swung his long arm in her direct. She was quickly to duck down and she pressed her hands to the mat, bringing her legs up and kicking him in the jaw. He stumbled slightly and Sydney quickly came back up, getting back in her stance. When Yoon came at her again, Sydney did another spin in the air but this time, she extended her legs like she was doing a split. Her front extended foot swiped his across the face and she came back down, dropping to her feet and doing another spin, leg sweeping him and he fell to the mat.

"That's my girl! Let's go Frenchy!" She heard Johnny shout joyously.

She took a quick glance to see who was still on the mag. The majority of her team was out, only the captains remaining along with Miguel. Sydney locked back in when another girl, the last girl from Falchi Della Notte, nearly screeched at her like a an angry bird. Tightening her jaw, Sydney let her make the doesn't move, which was a sharp side kick. The British girl did wax on to block it and then she did the same thing, kicking her in the shoulder. The girl threw two more punches and Sydney blocking each one of them and then she stepped back on her foot, sending three kicks, low, middle, and high, to her knee, chest, and face. The adrenaline she felt caused her to let out a loud cry, her blood still rattling.

But just when she thought she had it all, she heard the horn. Sydney quickly looked over and saw Robby on the mat. "What?" She almost yelled.

"Damn it!" Sam cursed.

"Miyagi-Do is out!"

Charlie angrily slapped his hand on the mat, his face beet red and his hair messy. He stood back up and sat his hands on his hips. "Fuck." He cursed under his breath.

Sydney found Tory's eyes on the other side of the mat. The deep glare on her face was startling, making the blonde quickly blink and look away. The Brit glared at whoever was still on the mat, passing by a very smug Kwan.

"Too easy man, come on," she heard him say.

"Yeah, you'll think that later." Charlie took the liberty of smarting back off.

Sam watched her walk off the mat, looking visibly angry. "Hey, you did awesome out there. Don't worry about it." She tried assuring her.

Sydney didn't answer immediately. She walked straight to Johnny. "I need my inhaler," she spat out.

"Shit. Okay." He stammered and reached into his hi for the device.

"Sydney, are you alright?" Daniel asked her, concerned that she needed it.

"No, my chest feels like it's going to explode." She answered, maybe a little harsher than she intended, and she grabbed the inhaler from Johnny when he handed it out to her. Sydney inhaled a quick, deep amount of air. She quickly took another one and felt the air invade her lungs. She breathed in and out deeply.

Demetri came over and put his hand on her back. "Hey, you good?" He asked, leaning down a little.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Sydney replied with a sharp nod. She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince more. She gave the inhaler back to Johnny and went to stand with her team. She squeezed between Robby and Miguel.

"Syd, are you alright?" He asked her.

Sydney gazed at him intensely. "What happened? I thought we had it?"

Robby blinked, his lips parting as if to answer, but all there was was silence.

She shook her head and looked away from him. Feeling a nudge to her arm, Sydney looked up and saw Miguel staring down at her, asking with his eyes if she was okay. She only nodded.

y'all I cannot believe primadonna's on her 100th chapter 😭😭😭 19 year old me would be so proud of herself for how far this story has come.