Chapter One Hundred Nine
Primadonna

SYDNEY WAS ALWAYS certain of one thing: that winning was the most important thing to her. It was screwed into her brain. She won every dance competition she ever competed in. She was a star. She had all the qualities of a winner. Now her biggest rival was out of the tournament, making it 10x easier for her to win it all. But Sydney was far from happy like she wanted to be. She was confused. Her heart was unsettled and she knew why.

Cobra Kai was out, a shock to everyone who grew to know how impressive the team was, but it was a huge relief to the Miyagi-Dos. Sydney watched Tory sit by herself on top of her suitcase, her teammates bitter in the lobby. Her jaw was shifted and her arms were crossed, the body language indicated that she was in deep thought.

"You've been quiet all morning," said Miguel. He leaned against the wall she was leaned on. "What's wrong?"

"I should be ecstatic right now but all I feel is confused," she admitted, tearing her eyes away from Tory.

"You should be thrilled that we're going to be on live tv," he told her with his usual giddy smile. It dropped slightly when she didn't budge. "But I understand why you're not. Just go talk to her."

"We did talk. It didn't go well," Sydney mumbled, her arms still crossed.

"Well then try again," he encouraged. "You pushed me into talking to Robby and look what happened. He pulled through. Now I'm going to push you into talk to Tory because I care about your wellbeing."

The girl narrowed her eyes. "What are you now, my therapist?"

Miguel grinned. "Therapist, boyfriend, and best friend all wrapped into one," he responded, making a ball with his hands.

His dorky grin made her chuckle. "You're insane, Miguel Diaz."

"Insane for you, Sydney Benoist."

Sydney laughed and finally uncrossed her arms, folding them around his neck.

Charlie was talking to Sam when he felt eyes on him. He turned his head slightly, still listening to her when he saw Axel staring at him from the other side of the lobby. Well, glaring. He furrowed his brows and looked away. After a couple of seconds, Charlie looked over again and he was still glaring. "Uhh, Sam, am I being crazy or is the terminator guy staring at me right now?"

Sam followed his gaze. "Um," she paused. "No, he is."

"First he almost knocks me over with his freakishly strong shoulder and now he's eyeing me like a lion. What the hell's up with him?"

"I don't know," she muttered, glancing back at Axel to see he was now looking at her. "He's probably just ready to fight on the mat."

"Yeah, that'll be fun," Charlie said sarcastically. He smiled at her. "Can't believe we actually made it this far. We're going to be on live tv. I get to be on live tv with my girlfriend. That's fucking awesome. Way more awesome than the first time I ever got to feed a zebra at the zoo."

Sam chuckled. "Was that before or after you fell in the aquarium tank?"

"Before, actually. But he bit me so I had to get a shot afterwards," he said with a frown and held up the finger that was bitten. "Given there was a sign that said warning, this animal is known to bite but I was only ten."

She giggled. Sam slightly glanced over again and saw that Axel was still watching them, only this time he wasn't paring, he was frowning.

Sydney took Miguel's advice after a third time of him pleading for her to listen to him. He gave the puppy eyes. She could never resist those. She slowly walked up to her, twiddling her fingers. "Hi,"

Tory looked up, startled. "Hi."

The Brit looked around them awkwardly. "I that I knew what I was going to say, but, now I don't." She looked back at Tory, the girl's eyes trailing to her lap. "I'm sorry you got eliminated."

"Doesn't matter now. Maybe it never did," Tory muttered, avoiding eye contact.

"Of course it matters."

"No, Syd, it doesn't," she spoke more firmly and met her gaze. "Because it was a mistake. A mistake hurt you, that hurt Robby, that hurt all of you. It wasn't worth it. Okay, I tried to make the best of a terrible situation and it back fired on me. It's my karma."

Sydney frowned. She inhaled air through her nose, looking around at everybody in the lobby interacting with each other. You don't have to be brave right now. You can let your guard down for a second. You need each other. Sydney slowly crouched down so Tory could see her at eye level. The two girls stared at each other for a few seconds. "You're not a terrible person for doing what you think it's right for you and your wellbeing," she spoke at a slow pace. "And I didn't understand that before but I'm starting to, and I'm sorry too."

Tory's eyes softened.

"And I can't tell you exactly what happened between Robby and Zara because it should be him that tells you, and I wouldn't want to take that from him, but Tory. . ." She tried to choose her words carefully. "Zara took advantage of him."

She watched the girl pinch her eyebrows together. "What?"

"I think you understand what I mean by that," she said quietly. Sydney raised herself up, Tory's eyes following her. "I really wanted it to be you and I on the mat in the end."

The other girl didn't respond, mostly because she didn't know how to.

She walked away just as Robby made his way over to where they were at. Sydney returned to Miguel. "How did it go?" He asked.

She hugged him, her arms circling tightly around his neck.

Miguel blinked a few times, startled by the sudden action. But he slowly hugged her back, knowing it was better for them to just be silent.

"Do you guys know why they called us down here?" Charlie asked the couple.

Sydney released Miguel's neck but her head still rested on his shoulder. "Uhh, no clue," he answered, his arm wrapped around her waist.

Robby walked over and joined their group. "Hey bro, how'd it go?" Miguel asked him.

"Uhh, pretty much how you'd expect it to go," he answered with a sigh.

"She'll come around, I promise," Sydney told him gently, lifting her head from Miguel's shoulder.

"Yeah, once all the craziness dies down, you guys are gonna figure it out," Sam assured him.

Robby nodded slightly. "Maybe. Not much I can do until then but give her space so. . ."

"That's a good way of thinking," said Charlie and he patted him on the back.

"In the meantime, we got a tournament to win."

"Yeah we do," said Miguel and they smiled. "And look, I-I gotta say, all things being equal, it's pretty sweet knowing that Cobra Kai's not a threat anymore."

Please don't jinx us, love, Sydney said to herself but instead she rubbed his chest with her hand.

Soon, Gunther and the Sekai Taikai committed walked into the lobby and the multiple international teams gathered around. "My apologies for summoning you all like this," Gunther announced to them all.

Charlie laughed to himself. "Summoning," he repeated.

"But under the circumstances, it was necessary. The Sekai Takai has a long and honorable tradition. We fight hard, but we fight fair. That's why I'm saddened to announce that one of the dojos here has tarnished the tradition by cheating."

Sydney gasped and she and Miguel looked at each other, their eyes going wide.

"Scandalous," Charlie muttered and looked down at Sam, the girl in shock.

The room went silent but everyone looked nervous, anxious glanced being exchanged. Sydney eyed them all suspicious, first looking at Cobra Kai because why wouldn't she? then she glanced at the Iron Dragons. They weren't stupid enough to cheat, she thought.

"Sensei Ivanov," said Gunther, his sharp voice cutting through the silence.

Sydney's mouth formed an o shape, her eyebrows raising in shock. All attention was now turned to Udar Tigra.

"What is this about?" Sensei Ivanov demanded angrily.

"Four of your students have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs."

"That makes so much sense," Charlie said out loud, Robby accidentally laughing.

There was a collect reaction of gasps from all of the dojos. The shock kept slapping Sydney in the face and she put her hand on Miguel's arm, covering her mouth to keep from releasing a laugh.

"You are here by eliminated," said Gunther.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sensei Ivanov's voice boomed.

"You are hereby removed from our finalists."

"Bullshit!" The Sensei spoke aggressively and stepped toward Gunther. "Why don't you come over here and remove me yourself?"

Charlie and Sydney seemed to be the only two interested in the drama happening. "Where's the popcorn when you need it?" He said to her.

"This is fascinating," she said with an intrigued expression on her face.

"Sensei Ivanov!" Gunther barked, his face turning red. He stood a step forward on the Sensei's face. "Consider yourself fortunate that your dojo wasn't banned forever. Continue this behavior and that can be arranged easily!"

"Stop enjoying this so much," Miguel whispered to her.

Her gaze was fixed on the highly intense situation. "I can't help it," Sydney said back, her jaw still slacked.

Ivanov glared at Gunther, smoke practically coming out of his ears. He spun around and stormed off, motioning for his team to follow him and the Russian dojo walked away in shame.

As entertained as Charlie was, he slowly came to a realization what the whole situation meant. "Wait, but this means. . ." He trailed.

Gunther turned back to the crowd, taking a calm breath and regaining his composure. Replacing Udar Tigra will be the dojo with the next highest point total: Cobra Kai."

Suddenly, Sydney felt the noise dun-dun-dun go off in her head. Her face stilled as well as her body. She looked at the cheering team across from her but Tory stood there frozen, unsure of what to think. The girls locked eyes.

"On a more positive note," Gunther continued, not knowing that it wasn't positive at all. "We'll now announce the draws for our semifinals." One of the board members gave him a stick of cards with names on them. "In our boy's bracket, our first semifinal match will be Charlie Howard versus Kwan Jae-Sung and our second semifinal match will pit Axel Kovačević against Robby Keene."

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Charlie muttered sarcastically when he caught Kwan's obnoxious smirk being sent in his direction.

"And in our girl's bracket, the first semifinal will be Maria Alvarez versus Zara Malik. And in the second match, Sydney Benoist versus Tory Nichols. . ."

Sydney felt like she could throw up. She felt dizzy and she grabbed Miguel's arm so she wouldn't fall over. Everything came back to her in a flash. The story was repeating itself. Their rivalry, the All Valley, her panic attack, her loss. She'd seen how this ended before and Sydney wouldn't lie that she was afraid it was going to happen again.

The team sat together on the stairs. Sydney's hands were in her hair, elbows rested on her thighs, and she felt nauseous. "Syd, how do you feel?" Eli asked from where he sat behind her.

"I feel like I need an anxiety pill."

"If it makes you feel better, we're tired of seeing the same thing happen too," Demetri chimed. All of them, including Sydney, turned their attention to him. He shrugged. "What?"

"How do you think I feel? I have to fight the miniature version of Bruce Lee," said Charlie with an exaggerated sigh.

"Screw this horseshit, man! How many times do we have to kill that son of a bitch before he stays dead?" Johnny raged.

"Kreese is like a cockroach. But he is not one fighting on mat." Chozen spoke logically.

"Sensei Chozen's right. We have the rest of the day to tune up for tomorrow," Robby took the lead. "What's the plan?"

"I could go for punching some things right about now," Sydney spoke her hands dropped from her face but she stared off into space.

"As long as not involve a tree," Chozen pointed at her.

"Knock Kreese's head off his neck, that's for starters,"

"Sounds good to me," Charlie agreed with Johnny, resulting in Miguel's hitting his arm.

The rest were silent, nobody knowing what to do or say. "Dad," Sam spoke, looking at her father.

Daniel was stared off into space as well.

"Dad?" She repeated and he broke out of his trance. "Training? For our final fights?"

"Are you okay, Mr. L?" Charlie asked him.

"I'm fine, Charlie," Daniel dismissed, looking out of it. "We'll run there usual stuff."

Sydney furrowed her brows. She looked at Sam, the girl looking over her shoulder as well, no understanding.

"Senseis need time to discuss," said Chozen. "Go get changed. Uh, meet me at gym, hmm."

Silently, the group of teens stood up and walked down the stairs. Sydney tucked her hair behind her ear and exhaled hair through her nose. She grabbed Sam's arm and looped hers through. "We can literally never catch a break," she spoke.

Sam responded with a sad sigh. "Nope."

After changing into their workout clothes, the team went to the gym to meet Chozen like he asked of them. Sydney stood alone, picturing three opponents around her. She brought and threw two punches forward, then she brought her elbow back and then her fist. Sydney side kicked then she brought the same foot forward and kicked as if it was somebody's chest. She then leaned forward all the way and pressed her hands to the mat, bringing her legs forward and she kicked with both feet, then bringing them back again and she twisted herself around, swinging her leg around with one final kick.

Blood pounded in her ears. Adrenaline rattled her blood. She needed to get out of her own head. There wasn't time for that. She was so close to the finish line and she couldn't let anything or anybody get in her way. Sydney wouldn't let that happen.

She tightened her muscles and slowly leaned forward into a penche, flexing her foot. She then swung that leg around like it was somebody's face and she twisted her body, going into a spin and she brought her leg all the way up. Sydney felt herself having dance withdraws, wanting nothing more than to be back in the studio with the girls.

She was so locked into what she was doing that she didn't notice Johnny approach her. "Hey, Frenchy. You doing okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied dismissively and tightened her ponytail.

"Right," he muttered, not believing her. "Come on, Larusso and I are gonna whip you captains into shape."

Sydney narrowed her eyes. "You aren't going to make me jump off the roof of a building are you? Sam still tells me about that."

Johnny scoffed. "No, no dangerous shit. Well, under your dad's rules, that is. Just come on," he said and motioned to the door.

Sam, Charlie, and Robby were already with Daniel, along with Miguel, who was still their anchor. "What do you know about this?" She whispered and the lot of them started walking down the hallway.

"I might have sparked the idea some," Miguel whispered back, unsure of himself.

"Oh great. So if I die I can tell my father to blame you?"

His eyes went wide. "Please don't."

Sydney was no longer phased by Johnny and Daniel's strange methods of training. She just learned to adapt to them. Luckily for her, she was good at tuning out the crazy and focusing on what she needed to be focusing on: getting stronger and faster.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Johnny shouted at them and started yelling in Spanish.

"Come on! Come on!" Yelled Daniel and the two of them chased them on a motorcycle like vehicle.

"Move those long legs, Howard!" Johnny yelled and threw something at him.

Charlie ran and looked over his shoulder, a crazed look on his face.

They ran through a crowd of people passing through Barcelona, all of them also looking at the adult men like they were insane. Sydney tried to hide her annoyance by keeping her breathing steady as she ran.

"Good job, Sydie! Keep your pace!" Daniel encouraged her while Johnny threw a crushed up beer can at her head.

She stopped abruptly and turned around, glaring furiously at him.

The blonde man's face fell. "My bad, Frenchy!"

Charlie swung his bow staff at Robby, grunting loudly. He twirled it around his shoulder and back and quickly held it in front of him when Robby swung his. The staffs clashed together and Charlie remembered the last time he watched Star Wars. He spun around and swung his staff again, Robby swinging his side to side and around his body. The boy back up and spun around as Charlie continued to step forward with his staff in hand. Then, Robby sun around with his staff again and Charlie swung his staff forward, blocking the top part of his and he brought the end of his staff forward, hitting Robby in the side. "It's over Anakin. I have the high ground." He recited.

Robby laughed. "You underestimate my powers." He recited as well.

Miguel laughed and Sydney and Sam looked at each other, rolling their eyes.

"Alright, alright, nice work Anakin and Obi-Wan," Daniel said with a slight laugh. "Sammy, Sydie, you're next."

The girls stepped forward, taking the bow staffs and the stood where the boys stood before. "How do we compete with Star Wars nerds?" Asked Sam.

Sydney shrugged a little. "Look better while doing it."

Sam laughed at that. The two girls began fighting. Sydney grunted loudly and swung her bow staff around her head, the around her body, and then she twirled it in front of her, spinning around and her staff clashed with Sam's. Sam twirled her own staff around her shoulder and she held it in front of her, her friend bringing hers forward so that they clashed again. The girls went back and forth on their feet, now staffs clashing together left and right. Sam then twirled her staff around her head. At the same time, Sydney swung her staff around her body again and collided the front end of her staff with the end of Sam's. The curly haired brunette waved her staff at her feet, Sydney jumped so that the bow missed her legs and then she aimed for Sam's ribs, the other girl blocking it by holding her staff vertically so that the wood clashed together. Then, Sam hooked the end of her staff around Sydney's, pushing her back and she spun around, grunting, and she stuck Sydney in the side with her staff.

Sydney rubbed her side and smiled. "Nice job, Sammy." She praised and raised her hand.

The girls high fived, smiling at each other.

omg guys, only one more chapter to go. I'm shaking