TW ! : jordan lyle
"From Reseda, returning to the tournament, we have ⎯ " Daryl, the lovely announcer of the tournament, was cut off by the simultaneous voices of teenagers.
"Cobra Kai!" the teens of said dojo repeated like a chant, marching their way over to their spots. The crowd seemed to be into it, some standing from their seats to clap and cheer.
Delaney had no idea that this was such a big spectacle.
"Now, that's what I call an entrance! And a badass name for a dojo! Let's hear it for Cobra Kai!"
Delaney took a deep breath, her eyes looking for any sign of her family. That was when she spotted Demetri sitting with Moon, and she furrowed her eyebrows.
Where's mom and dad?, she mouthed.
Busy, Demetri mouthed back.
She sighed, craning her neck side to side to try and provide some relief to her shoulder. She had metaphorical itch to scratch, and that was all because of her stupid ex-boyfriend.
Speaking of her stupid ex-boyfriend, Delaney was a little bit surprised to see that Jordan hadn't shown up. Sure, it wouldn't have been ideal for him to, seeing as Johnny, Miguel, and Eli all knew of what he had done to her, and they would thrown him out of the building.
But the Jordan she knew wasn't a quitter. But at the same time, she didn't know if she ever really knew him in the first place. And that lit up an anger inside of her that she had no idea existed.
She just wanted to punch his stupid face until it caved in, and watch as he turned black and blue while she stood satisfied.
In summary, Delaney just really needed to hit something.
"And finally, fighting unaffiliated from North Hills, we have Mr. Robby Keene."
Delaney's eyes snapped up at the name, subconsciously scoffing to herself as Robby jogged by them with a knowing smirk on his face. He only added more firewood to her burning anger, and she clenched her fists.
"I'm gonna knock his teeth out," she grumbled, eyes glaring into him.
"Not if I beat you to it," Miguel grumbled back, also glaring into the boy.
She turned to him in slight surprise, and small smirk forming. She glanced from him to Hawk. "Whoever fights him and wins is the real winner."
Miguel and Hawk looked to each other, giving a firm nod. "You're on."
Delaney lightly hummed, turning back to Robby, who was already looking at her. She squinted her eyes at him, and he tilted his head challengingly.
"You're dead," she whispered under her breath.
"At least you'll be dead with me."
Her face hardened, wanting now more than ever to sock him in the balls.
"All right, folks. Get ready. It's karate time."
✸
"Let's go, Laney!" Miguel shouted out as she hopped onto the mat, holding her head up high.
In front of her, stood a boy that was much taller than her, and was in pretty good shape. She would have lied if she said she wasn't a little intimidated, but, she didn't show it. Plus, he was cute. Maybe, she could use this to her advantage.
She made it obvious as she looked him up and down, letting out a small giggle as she did so.
"Something funny?" he asked, thinking she was laughing at him.
"No," she smiled, acting innocent. "Just...Observing."
He slowly nodded. "Right."
"All right. Bow," the referee instructed them, and they immediately straightened up, bending down before standing in their fighting stances.
But, a sudden shout from the stands made Delaney glance off to the side, seeing a teenage girl holding a "WE LOVE YOU, LOGAN!," sign. She hummed. "Girlfriend?"
"Yeah," Logan answered, not bothering to look off to the side. He looked off to something behind her. "Boyfriend?"
She looked over her shoulder, seeing Hawk standing with his hands behind his back with an intense look. The two made eye contact, Delaney giving him a quick wink before turning back. She shrugged. "Not yet."
He looked at her intrigued, before the referee placed his arm in the middle of them, looking at them both before stepping back. "And fight!"
Without hesitation, Delaney kicked off her right foot, her left foot striking Logan right in the nose. He went down immediately, his hands clutching his face as the flag on her side was raised. "Point! Alexopoulos."
There was really no fun in ending matches so easily, but Delaney wanted to go up against Robby so badly.
Logan got up to his feet, wiping his nose to check for blood. When there wasn't any, he got back into his stance. "And here I thought we were just getting to know each other."
"Kick his ass!" Hawk shouted from behind her, the other Cobra's cheering in agreement.
Delaney smiled to herself, getting into her stance. "Not enough time."
"Fight!"
This time, Logan struck first, lunging forward and strongly swung his fist at her. Delaney gave an internal sigh of relief as she ducked, knowing that if that hit landed, she would've felt it for the next few days.
As she ducked, she stood up on the other side of him, looking over her shoulder and swept one of his legs from under him. She heard him hit the mat, taking a step back when she noticed his leg trying to sweep her too.
She gave a cheeky smile, letting him get up.
He glared. She was just toying with him.
"No time for games, shortstack!" Johnny yelled, giving a clap of his hands.
The two opponents circled each other, hands up in defense, as they watched each other's moves like hawks.
Funny.
"Dive in!" she heard, and figuring she was done messing with him, she started to throw a flurry of punches. Logan had to take multiple steps back in shock, arms barely coming up in time to block her hits.
With a grunt, she gave a light kick to his shin to try and distract him, and when he briefly looked down, she swung her right fist into his face, the punch landing so hard that he flipped over onto the mat, and began to burst into tears as he held his cheek.
Delaney watched with a raised eyebrow as multiple refs and staff members came to his aid, helping him to his feet and led him off the mat. Their match ref then came up to her, and held up her arm. "Winner!"
Her face lit up in surprise, laughing as she turned to her team, but she was blurred by someone scooping her into a hug. The way they avoided touching her left shoulder and the flash of blue hair was enough to tell her who it was.
She hugged him back, grinning as she turned to stands, seeing that sign for her opponent was no longer up. Delaney waved up at Logan's girlfriend, who only flipped her off in response.
✸
"Suck it, bitch!" Delaney yelled as her arm was raised up, eating up the loud cheers from the crowds.
Her opponent, a boy who was about her age, had been eyeing her from the moment she had step onto the mat. And not in a, "he thinks I'm really pretty," way, but in a, "he thinks I'm really hot," way.
And yes, those two are very different things.
"Delaney of Cobra Kai advances to the semi finals!" Daryl exclaimed into the microphone,
Right before her match, Aisha had competed against a boy named Xander, but, unfortunately, he had gotten the win over her, and was even kind to her about it, offering his hand to help her up. But feeling gutted about her loss, Aisha ignored him and everyone else when she went off to grab her bag and left.
"There can be only one true winner, and he, or she, is standing on this stage right now," the three Cobra Kai students stood smugly. "Will it be Miguel Diaz from Cobra Kai karate? Will it be Hawk...Well, I guess it's just Hawk, from Cobra Kai karate? Will it be Delaney...I'm not even going to attempt that, will it be Delaney from Cobra Kai karate? Will it be Robby Keene, unaffiliated? And last, but certainly not least, last years champion, fighting out of Topanga Karate, Xander Stone!"
Xander did a flip across the stage, and took the mic from Daryl.
"What is this boy doing?" Delaney muttered to Miguel, who shrugged, equally as confused.
"I just wanted to say that even though I love to fight, we all need to fight together against hatred. And as I look around this arena, I pray for every race, religion, and gender that we can all live together in peace. Please join me in a moment of silence as we strive to end intolerance in our time."
Delaney looked around in surprise as everyone actually listened to him and bowed their heads in silence. "Wow. That was really deep."
Hawk glanced at her weirdly.
It was hardly a minute later when noise returned back to the arena. "First up, Delaney versus Stone!"
Miguel and Hawk clapped her on the back, not hitting her bruise and she walked up to the center of the mat. Delaney had to admit, Xander seemed like a decent guy who just really liked doing karate. She respected that. But, again, she couldn't show him any mercy. So she wasn't going to. Even if she respected him.
After the two had bowed to each other, their arms and fists were up before the ref called their match to a start, Delaney immediately took notice that Xander liked to strike first and fast. With every hit she blocked, she made sure to take step forward, causing him to take a step back.
It got him in the zone that if she ever took a step forward, then he would take a step back. It made him lose his hits on her as he practically stepped away from her, and she immediately spun a kick to his face.
He whipped off to the side, his shaggy hair falling onto his face.
"Yes!" Johnny shouted, pumping his fist up into the air.
"Point! Alexopoulos."
As they got back into their fighting positions, Xander had an impressed look on his face. But Delaney only looked at him with a hard look. Early on, she had noticed that he tended to use his legs when attacking, and decided to use it to her advantage. Incapacitate him long enough to keep him off his feet.
So, she struck first, catching the boy by surprise. Like her other opponents, he could barely keep up with her hits, hands and arm at full strength as he tried his best to avoid getting hit. Even having to duck at the risk of getting a foot to the face. She then started to use his own tactics against him, throwing kick after kick, not allowing him a chance to breathe.
It worked in her favor when he started to get sluggish from getting tired, and struck him in the face with the back of her foot.
Cheers from Cobra Kai rang in her ear.
"Point! Alexopoulos. She's at two. One more to win. Ready? And fight!"
"I'll admit. You're a lot more impressive than I thought," Xander breathed out as they circled each other.
Delaney tilted her head. "Why? If it's because I'm a girl than you're really contradicting your little speech there."
He was quick to shake his head. "No, no. Of course not. Your dojo is new this year. You've learned a lot. You're good. Really good. I haven't even managed to land a hit yet."
She was little takenaback. "You're not too bad yourself. I was hoping you'd be more utterly exhausted right now."
"I'm good too," he responded, giving a light shrug.
Delaney chuckled a non bitter chuckle. "Then whoever wins, wins, right?"
"Right. Good luck."
"Won't need it."
Crouching down, she swept his legs from the mat, making him land on his side. Forcefully turning him to to be on his back with her foot, and crouched down again and slammed her fist into his chest. He coughed in response, but smiled.
She smiled back down at him, standing up and held out her hand for him. He grasped it with no hesitation, clapping for her once he was up.
"Point! Winner!" her arm was raised up into the air.
"See? Didn't need it?" she teased, and he laughed in response.
"It was an honor to fight you," the two bowed to each other, and Xander walked off without a slump in his shoulders.
When she turned around, she was immediately bombarded by praise from her team. Miguel then gathered her and Hawk, circling his arms around them. "Time to drive this thing home."
The trio did a quick three-way handshake they made the week before, and Miguel and Delaney patted Hawk on the back. "You got this. Show that man bun wearing freak."
He looked at her in amusement. "Do I dedicate this to you?"
Her eyes shined as she looked into his and placed a hand on her chest, where her heart would be. "I'd love that. Go get him."
She hit him on his shoulder before backing away to the edge of the mat with Miguel. They both took simultaneous inhales and exhales of breaths as they thought about their mutual bitterness towards the Keene boy and they hoped deep down that Hawk would destroy him.
As the fight started Delaney turned to Miguel, "What happens if he doesn't beat him?"
Miguel turned to her and simply said, "Then we give him hell ourselves."
Delaney looked at him for a moment longer before smirking. "Can I count on that?"
"Hundred percent," Miguel responded immediately. "This isn't about who beats him anymore. This is about just beating him."
She turned back to the fight, shifting her neck side to side to get that feeling of relief. She let out a sigh when she heard the crack. "Roger that."
But by the second round of the match, Robby had scored a point, making the scores even. And they all guessed that Hawk didn't take it very lightly, as he pushed past the referee, and kicked the Keene boy right in the shoulder, injuring him.
But what really stuck with them was when Sensei Lawrence sprang up from Cobra Kai's side and rushed to Robby's side.
"What the fuck is he doing?" Delaney asked in disbelief. "Why is he trying to help him?
"I don't know," Miguel responded, just as confused.
✸
Delaney was beyond pissed at herself. She was beyond pissed that she had lost to a person with an injured shoulder. Sure, she could have let the fact that Robby was wincing in pain every five seconds get to her head, but it wasn't her fault.
The scene of Johnny Lawrence rushing to Robby Keen's aid was something she had no plans on ever seeing. It was constantly playing in her mind, and she couldn't shake it off. It was the the sincerity on Sensei Lawrence's as he tried to see what was wrong with Robby that rubbed her the wrong way.
When their match was over, Robby tried to give her a handshake as form of a truce she guess, but she merely just looked down at it and made sure to harshly shove his injured shoulder when she walked past.
Sort of ironic with her own injured shoulder.
It was just now down to him and Miguel, and Delaney was just praying that Miguel was gonna win.
"Hey," she called out for him, not knowing that Johnny was watching them.
She waved her friend over, seeing him jog over. "What's up?"
Tilting her head towards Robby, who was on the other side, she said, "Go for the shoulder."
Miguel glanced over at his opponent and clenched his jaw before staring at Delaney with fiery eyes. "No mercy, right?"
She looked up at him for a moment before a grin formed on her face. "No mercy."
They lowly high-fived and Delaney pushed him towards the mat, cheering for him. "Let's go, Miguel!"
When the two boys stepped on the mat, everyone in the arena could feel that there was thick tension between the,. Like they had been waiting for this their entire lives. To go up against each other.
It was tense, and then the referee said, "Fight!"
Robby and Miguel were quick, the Diaz boy throwing sharp kicks while the Keene boy remained persistent with his blocks.
Delaney had to admit...Manbun was pretty good.
It felt like watching your favorite sports team, and you're on your toes, biting your fingernails anxiously as you couldn't take your eyes off the screen. Delaney felt her heart drop when Robby scored the first point, but she knew that it was a push that Miguel needed.
"You got this!" she shouted, Hawk clapping beside her.
"Remember the pitching machine! Don't get hit," Johnny instructed, Miguel looking back at him.
"Ready, and fight!"
The second round was just as intense, Miguel was by the edge of the mat and Delaney had to restrain herself from reaching out and pushing him back in.
He dodged all of Robby's kicks, ducking from his punch. Then, he swung his foot and landed it right on Robby's injured shoulder.
This made Robby let his guard down for a second, and Miguel punched him right in the ribs.
"Yes!" Delaney yelled, her fists clenched tightly.
The score was now even, and everyone in the arena was on the edge of their seats.
"Ready? And, fight!"
Like always, Miguel struck first, and quite literally, threw the first punch. But, Delaney knew that defense and blocking attacks was something that Robby seemed to specialize in.
But also unfortunately for the Keene boy, Miguel was relentless, and elbowed him in his hurt shoulder. Robby clutched it in pain, his eyes squeezed shut from it. Miguel then swept his legs from under him, and struck him in the chest.
Miguel earned another point, making the score 2-1 in his favor.
"Time! Time!" Daniel said from his seat and rushed up to Robby. The referee allowed it, and Miguel walked back over to his team, taking a seat on the edge of the mat.
Delaney's eyes stayed on Daniel LaRusso and Robby. For some reason, she envied that. Sensei Lawrence wasn't the kind of guy to crouch down by your side and gently place his hand on your injured shoulder to try and comfort you. He'd give your hurt shoulder a kick and tell you to suck it up and get out there.
And sometimes, a little comfort was all someone needed. She really needed someone to comfort her.
She clenched her jaw and fists. She looked to Miguel. "What you've been doing, do it twice as hard." He instantly nodded. "Alright, go."
Robby was still holding onto his shoulder when he rose from the mat, and had it positioned in a way that made it look like it was in a sling.
"Kick his ass, Mig!" Delaney encouraged, cupping her hands around her mouth.
"Fighting positions. Ready? And, fight!"
Miguel dove first, letting out a shout before thrusting his fists at Robby, who managed to block it with one arm. He then was able to drag Miguel behind him, his feet reaching out of bounds.
Delaney rubbed her forehead in stress.
They got into their fighting stances again, and like always, Miguel was the first to attack, and this time, Robby couldn't block it. Miguel shoved him to the floor, and slammed his foot into his shoulder. The Keene boy laid on the floors and rolled out of the way when Miguel's foot went to kick him again. The, both of his legs rose, and kicked Miguel in the chest, making him fly backwards.
The scores were even again.
Robby approached him, holding out his hand to help him up, but Miguel grabbed his other arm and yanked it down.
"Yeah!" Hawk and Delaney shouted, harshly high-fiving each other. The crowd booed and Miguel was given a warning.
The Diaz boy then walked up to Sensei Lawrence. "I found his weakness, Sensei. It's his shoulder."
"Look, I know we wanna win, but it's gotta be the right way. We don't have to fight dirty."
"Dirty?" Miguel said in disbelief. "There's nothing dirty about winning, Sensei. You taught me that. Don't worry. I got this. No mercy."
Delaney had heard the entire conversation and was in disbelief herself. Why was Sensei Lawrence all of a sudden telling Miguel to go easy? He was the one who gave them a whole speech about showing no mercy. Did he expect them to just ignore it?
Her eyes narrowed at his backside, before she looked off to the side, feeling suspicious.
The fight was called back on, and once again, Miguel had struck Robby in the shoulder. Then, he did a spinning kick, landing it dead center into his opponent's chest.
Delaney immediately sprung up. "Oh my god!"
She and Hawk were the first to jump up onto the mat, wrapping their arms around their best friend and jumped around. "You did it!"
✸ AUTHOR'S NOTE ! i was wayyy too lazy to write the fight between robby and laney but DW this just further's the plot for them