Sᴋᴇʟᴇᴛᴏɴs

______________________________________

"Are your parents gonna be here?" Sienna asks shutting the car door

"I doubt it." Jamie says grabbing her bag from her backseat. She shuts the door and meets Sienna in front of the car, "I hope not."

"Have you talked to your dad?"

"Yeah, right." Jamie scoffs as they reach the arena, "The last thing he told me was that I ruined his family. You really think he'd wanna be anywhere near me?"

"Okay, what about your mom?"

"I don't know. I haven't talked to her since Barcelona." She mutters. Sienna's steps slow as Jamie continues on to the sign in table.

"What?"

"Hey." She hears. She turns as Miguel and Robby appear beside her with small smiles.

Sienna frowns, "Did you know she hasn't talked to her mom since Barcelona?"

"What?" Miguel says

"Wait, what?" Robby says

"Hold on, she told you she hasn't spoken to her since Barcelona?"

"Yes, like two seconds before you showed up." Sienna says

Miguel frowned, "She didn't tell me that."

"Me either." Sienna scoffs, "And I don't think she meant to."

The three turn to look at Jamie as she makes her way toward the locker room.

______________________________________

"It's my honor to introduce our guest referee, local hero and former All Valley champion, Darryl Vidal!" Gunther says making the crowd erupt in cheers

"Thank you, Mr. Braun." Darryl says

"You're welcome."

"Are you ready for the world's best karate?"

The crowd cheers as Darryl smiles. Gunther nods, "The time has come. We have two more semifinals to complete. Then..."

Gunther voice seems to become muffled as Jamie stares down at the mat. They had been changed to red which seemed to make her stomach turn.

Robby looks over toward her now noticing how absent she seemed to be in the moment. He lets his elbow softly hit her arm to grab her attention. She jumps lightly as she looks over to him.

"You okay?" He asks quietly

"Yeah." She says before smiling lightly, "I'm fine."

Robby nods as she turns back toward the mat. Gunther looks around, "Of the world's 16 best dojos, it's all come down to our final three. The Iron Dragons, Miyagi-Do Karate, and Cobra Kai. The rules are simple. Each dojo will retain the points they've earned in their Barcelona competitions. Our unfinished boys' semifinal will reset to zero-zero, and the remaining girls' semifinal will be taking place tomorrow."

Jamie looks up catching Tory's eyes. Missing how Axel's eyes had been on her the whole time. The two nod to each other before placing their attention back on Gunther.

"Each match will consist of three two-minute rounds with unlimited scoring. One point for a hit, ten for a knockdown, and 20 for a knockout. The finals will determine our individual champions, and the dojo with the most cumulative points will be crowned grand champion."

The crowd cheers for a few seconds before Gunther grabs their attention again, "Now. Will everyone please stand and join me in a moment of silence for our fallen competitor, Kwon Jae-Sung."

Jamie lets out a shaky breath as the crowd stands. A silence settles over the arena as everyone bows their heads. Jamie's brows furrow at the sound of a crunch. Then another. She then hears Johnny, "Penis Breath!"

A small smile etches across her face as Gunther looks up, "Thank you. For our first match, or should I say rematch, Axel Kovačević versus Robby Keene."

Robby inhales deeply before turning toward the team, "Robby. You can do this."

"Lock in. Trust your skills." Chozen says

"It doesn't matter what happened last time, how many people are watching. It's just you and him on the mat. You trained for this. You're ready." Johnny says. Robby nods before bowing to them.

"Come on, Robby!"

"Robby!"

"Robby, you can do it!"

"Fighters, face me. Bow." Darryl says, "Each other. Bow. Fighting stance."

"Ais!" Robby yells

"Fight."

Robby blocks a kick before stepping back from another. He flips over as Axel tries to sweep his leg. Robby continues to play defense as Axel charges at him. Robby then ducks under his arm and kicks him in his stomach.

"Point!"

"Yes!" Jamie says as she hears the rest of Miyagi-Do cheering

"Robby! Robby! Robby! Robby! Robby! Robby! Robby! Robby! Robby!"

The two get into their fighting stances again. Jamie immediately notices that Axel's stance was different than before.

Robby starts to play defense again as Axel charges at him. As he blocks another punch, Axel lands a hit to Robby's chest.

"Point." Darryl yells before Axel lands another punch to Robby's chest, "Point. Two points."

The two circle each other before Robby kicks at Axel. Axel successfully blocks it and a few more kicks before punching Robby in his chest again, "Point."

Robby barely blocks another kick before Axel gets down and kicks Robby in his nose, "Point."

Robby stumbles as Axel jumps up and kicks him in his side which Robby blocks, "No point. Block."

Robby regains his footing before trying to kick Axel. Axel blocks before grabbing Robby and trying to knee him, "No point. Block."

He swings Robby around, keeping ahold of his gi. Axel blocks a few of Robby's punches before shoving his arms away and hitting him in his chest.

"Point." Darryl yells right before the horn blares

Robby breathes heavily as he walks back toward Daniel and Johnny, "He's a machine. It's like he reprogrammed himself."

"He adapted. Now you adapt." Johnny says

"I don't know if I can."

"Robby Keene not knowing how to adapt?" Daniel says, "That's a first. You've never had things easy, Robby. You've been knocked down every which way more times than anyone I've ever known. But you've also gotten back up more times too."

"You stood up to Kreese. To Silver. Whenever you knew something was wrong, you stood up. Even when you had to do it alone. You turned your rival into your best friend." He says pointing toward Miguel. Miguel and Jamie smile toward Robby, "You patched things up with your dad. No one has adapted more than you. So tell me. Can you do it again?"

Robby nods with a small smile before bowing. He looks at the rest of the team before retuning to the mat.

Johnny leans over, "Damn good speech, LaRusso."

"Yeah, let's just hope it's not too late."

Axel and Robby get into position as Darryl looks between them, "Fight!"

Axel starts off kicking at Robby which he blocks, "No point. Block."

Axel then grabs a hold of Robby and slings him around. Robby stays stable as Axel charges him. He blocks and dodges punches before ducking under a kick. He then blocks another punch and kick before Axel elbows him in his nose.

"Point."

Robby is brought back by blocking a backhand from Axel. He blocks quick jabs from Axel before landing a hit to his chest.

"Point."

"Ais!" Robby yells before swinging. Axel grabs a hold of his arm before elbowing him in his side.

"Point."

Robby pushes him back before attempting to hit him in his side, "No point. Block."

Axel grabs Robby's leg and Robby uses that as leverage to land a kick to his cheek, "Point."

"Yes!" Miguel cheers

"Oh yeah!" Johnny yells

"Come on." Robby yells. He blocks Axel's kick before being punched in his face.

"Point."

Robby blocks his arm and turns to elbow him in his face.

"Point."

Axel ducks before kneeing Robby, "No point. Block."

Robby then pushes him back before turning and kicking him in his stomach, "Point, Keene."

Axel turns twice before kicking Robby in his side, "Point."

Robby grabs at his side as the two reset. Robby blocks a few wild punches before being punched in his jaw again, "Point."

Robby blocks another knee from Axel before trying to kick him. Axel grabs his arm to kick him, but misses. Robby flips over his back before turning and kicking Axel in his face.

"Ais!" Robby yells as the crowd cheers for him

"Point, Keene." Darryl says as the horn blares again

Robby walks back over to his side as the team huddles around. Daniel nods, "That's great. You got five points."

"Yeah, but so did he." Robby pants

"Yeah. So what? Now you see he's not a machine. He's human." Johnny says, "But if you wanna catch up, you have to get a knockdown."

"Oi." Chozen says, "Knock him on his ass."

"Yeah!" Miguel says

"Here we go!" Hawk claps

Robby nods before joining Axel on the mat again. Darryl nods, "This is it, gentlemen. Final round. Fight!"

Robby blocks two kicks from Axel before trying his own. Axel backs away and blocks a punch from Robby. Robby jumps and tries a tornado kick that Axel dodges. As Robby kicks at him, Axel grabs ahold of his leg.

Axel yanks Robby's leg to swing him over and causes Robby to land on the mat beside him. Jamie's heart drops as Robby screams out in pain. Her mind immediately bringing her back to that day in Barcelona.

The crowd gasps as Johnny yells out, "Hey!"

Jamie stands frozen in shock as Johnny and Daniel run over to Robby. Robby yells out as Johnny kneels beside him, "Medic. Medic."

"Ladies and gentlemen."

Jamie barely notices Miguel run out onto the mat, "Hey! You did it on purpose!"

"Please remain calm."

Chozen grabs ahold of Miguel as medics tend to Robby. Jamie's eyes travel over toward the Iron Dragons. She immediately notices Axel looking at her. Her brows furrowing as he looks down.

"We're gonna get you on your feet. Ready? Put your weight on us." The medic says before helping Robby up. He groans as he leans on the two men.

"Robby Keene has 15 minutes to return to the mat. If Keene is unable to return, Axel Kovačević will be awarded the win."

______________________________________

As the time ticked on, Jamie became more restless. It seemed like there would be no sign of Robby coming back. Her mind began to wander to the conversation she had with Sam. Was all of this really worth it?

Someone else had gotten hurt because of this. Someone that she cared about in a way. Not just a random stranger like Kwon, but a friend. While a part deep in heart wanted to compete and to prove to herself that she could accomplish this despite everything she had been through, she didn't know if she should.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was pulling Sam aside, "Hey, is everything okay?"

"No." Jamie answers honestly as she shakes her head, "No, it's not and that's why I want you to compete for the semi-finals."

Sam's eyes widen, "What? Why?"

"Because of what I told you yesterday. Robby getting hurt and that scream he let out brought me right back to Barcelona."

"Jamie, I understand what that's like. Trust me." Sam says, "But you earned this spot. I can't take that from you. It won't feel right."

"If I go out there, we'll lose. Iron Dragons cannot win. I'm asking you to compete instead of me." Jamie says, "Please, Sam."

Sam's jaw becomes slack as Jamie stared back at her with pleading eyes. Sam knew Jamie needed this. She knew in a few years, Jamie was going to regret giving up her spot. But she couldn't tell her no.

"Okay." Sam sighs, "Let's go tell my dad."

Jamie nods, "Thank you."

Sam nods solemnly before the two walk off together.

______________________________________

"As Robby Keene cannot continue, Axel Kovačević moves on to the finals. And if Cobra Kai does not name a replacement for Kwon Jae-Sung, Axel Kovačević will be named the boys' champion following the conclusion of tomorrow's girls' semifinal round." Gunther says as the crowd applauds

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of math news, but that fight just set us way back." Demetri says, "Jamie would have to score multiple knockdowns, and the Iron Dragons would have to stop scoring altogether."

"Yeah, it's not gonna happen. They've been scoring nonstop." Hawk says, "We gotta face the facts. We lost."

As the team begins to walk away, Jamie sighs, "I'm not competing."

Her friends stop. Each of them just as confused as the next. Hawk frowns, "What?"

"Sam's gonna take over for me."

Miguel steps closer, "Jamie, what are you talking about?"

"I'm doing what's best for you guys. I know that if I go out there, I'll lose. Sam has a better shot than I do." Jamie says looking around at everyone, "I wanted to tell you guys before you heard about it tomorrow."

Before anyone could say anything else, Jamie walked off. Hawk turned toward the others, "What just happened?"

"I don't know." Miguel says

______________________________________

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top