─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
sam had just completed and triumphed in her fight with cobra kai's piper elswith. this meant she would be against gioia in the last quarter-final match in the girl's division.
"our next quarter final match will be with samantha larusso of miyagi-do karate and versus gioia barbusca of eagle fang."
sam knew how agile the barbusca girl was, she had been reminded by her dad multiple times since their names were up on the scoreboard together. however, sam had never fought gioia one-on-one before, not even during any training. so, she had never experienced firsthand how quickly the girl could move.
"whatever happens, are we still cool?" gioia teased the brunette girl.
"definitely." sam nodded, giving her a fist pump.
"you've got this sam, just like we practiced!" larusso yelled out.
the two girls stood on opposing sides of the match. gioia glanced over to her team, seeking reassurance. her sensei gave her a nod, miguel put two thumbs up and devon simply smiled, having full faith in her. she then unintentionally glanced over to where the cobra kai team was situated. the menacing smirk on terry silvers face didn't go unnoticed by her.
"face each other, bow." they bowed towards each other and got into their fighting stances. "ready? and fight!" gioia rushed forward, going to kick her side but sam quickly blocked her foot. she continued to attack the girl with punches and sam had managed to hit back every single one.
gioia stepped back, bringing her leg up for a double roundhouse kick and landed her foot into sam's neck.
"point! one-zero. eagle fang." the referee announced as he held up the white flag.
"yes gioia!" miguel grinned.
"you've got this girl!" devon jumped up in glee.
"ready? fight."
catching gioia off guard, sam instantly went in with a front kick, the blonde girl managing to move back just in time. gioia seemed to have forgotten that sam and the other miyagi-do students trained with johnny for a week. sam spun around, throwing her fist to gioia's face and the girl quickly ducked down.
she squatted down and went to sweep kick sam off her feet but the girl had seen it coming and hopped over her leg at the right time. with an impressed look on her face, gioia quickly got up. sam began to bounce in spot, her eyes on her opponent. gioia took a deep breath and decided if sam was going to use eagle fang offence, she would use miyagi-do defence.
sam charged forward, her leg aiming for gioia's stomach. in a circular movement, gioia redirected her kick. sam threw two punches towards her shoulder, gioia pushed her hands back, the second push being harder made sam stumble. noticing she had lost her balance, gioia twisted her body around and then spun her right leg into the girl's shoulder. sam quickly found herself on the mat at the blow.
"point! two-zero. barbusca."
"you're doing amazing, gb!"
"eli! you're rooting for the wrong team."
the boy held his hands up in defence, "but she's my girlfriend."
sam got up, groaning in aggravation. she glanced over to her dad, who smiled at her, and then to johnny, who did the same. finding a newfound confidence, sam was ready for the new round.
"ready? fight!"
without reluctance, sam had pivoted herself around and stuck gioia's cheek with her flying tornado kick. the crowd began to cry out at the remarkable move.
"point, miyagi-do! two-one. go to your senseis."
gioia strolled over to her team, cupping her aching face with her hands. "this is what happens when you and daniel swap students." she groaned.
"yes, i taught her things. but as much as i hate to say it, larusso taught you stuff too - i've seen the way you've been defending." johnny said to her. "just keep doing what you're doing."
"got it."
"you've got this." miguel placed his hands on her shoulders. "this is your prime, all right? go! go on."
"on your marks."
gioia scurried back to her position on the mat and placed herself into her fighting stance.
"ready? and fight."
gioia struck first this time, rushing forward and roundhouse kicking sam in the face. sam put her hands on her cheek, just in time to prevent the impact. she stumbled back but she stayed firm on her feet.
"no point, block. continue."
sam came forward and the two began a routine of sam punching her and gioia blocking them. sam then placed one hand on gioia's shoulder, the other on her arm and flipped her onto the ground.
in seconds, gioia pushed herself back onto her feet with a kip up. this caught sam by surprise, as she was ready to finish the round and earn her point. gioia took some steps back and rushed forward into a flying side kick but sam pushed her leg away, making her roll onto the side. she then punched the blonde in the stomach.
"point, miyagi-do! two-two." the referee called out, making gioia slam her fists onto the mat in vexation. she pulled herself onto the ground and got into her position.
"ready? and fight!"
without hesitation, gioia moved forward, sam went to throw a punch, but gioia caught her fist. she twisted the girl's arm to the side and kicked her in the stomach. the brunette's body collided back on the ground, gioia extended her leg and struck her opponent's chest with the heel of her foot.
"ais!"
"point. winner!" the referee declared while lifting her arm. gioia couldn't hide her smile. she bowed before stepping over to sam and assisting her onto her feet.
as much as sam wanted to be irritated at her loss, she knew that gioia earned the win. she had faced extreme trauma and still managed to make it out on top. "you're really good." sam breathed out. "you deserve it."
"that means a lot coming from you." gioia beamed, panting with exhaustion.
"that's gioia barbusca and eagle fang karate the first of the girls through to the finals!"
"you are a fucking machine!" devon exclaimed once the blonde had made it over to them.
"good job, sushi." johnny nodded, a smile full of satisfaction on his face. "i knew you could do it."
"i'm so proud of you." miguel embraced her. "you're going to the finals baby!"
"i'm going to the finals!" gioia squealed. devon took the girl's hands and the two began to jump up and down in excitement.
"come on, preserve that energy." johnny advised, making the two stop.
"you ready for your fight against eli? my boyfriend and my best friend, who do i chose to support?" gioia joked with her arm now around miguel's shoulder.
"he's your boyfriend?" devon raised her eyebrow and her eyes on the boy in the white gi with buzzed hair. gioia nodded. "he's cute." she teased.
the blonde girl grinned. "i know." she squealed.
"you support whoever's on your team. boyfriend or not." johnny challenged her. gioia gave him a glare and miguel noticed her sour expression.
"hey, i'm going to go fill up my water bottle, does anyone need theirs refilled?" miguel offered.
"could you do mine, please?"
she reached over to the ground and picked up her yellow water bottle.
"yeah, course." miguel took it from her. "i'll be back."
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
terry silver was talking to robby keene after his match with kenny payne, reminding him that he must show no mercy to his next opponent, no matter what. through the window, he could see miguel diaz leaving the hall. with a smirk on his face, he placed his hand on robby's shoulder.
"i know you're still emotional about everything that happened with miss barbusca." silver started, his voice louder than before.
miguel was about to turn a corner, before stopping in his tracks at the mention of his friend's name. what happened with gioia and robby? they didn't even know each other.
"i'm not emotional about it." robby shook his head.
"come on, robby. you don't have to deny it. you two were good friends." silver continued.
miguel's heart sank. his best friend, gioia marie barbusca and his nemesis, robby keene, were friends?!
"and she was such a valuable member of our team." silver dramatically sighed. "it's such a shame she withdrew herself last minute."
"gioia was never going to fight with us, you know that." robby said. "she goes wherever johnny and diaz goes. i can't even think of how you managed to convince her to train with us."
"what?!" miguel couldn't stop himself from whispering. this didn't make any sense. how could gioia have been training with cobra kai if she was training with eagle fang and going to gymnastics classes? then miguel thought for a second, she barely trained with them. and was she really at gymnastics? miguel couldn't believe this.
gioia was a traitor.
his best friend had betrayed eagle fang.
she had betrayed him.
miguel spun around on his heel and made his way back into the hall, not even bothering to refill the water bottles. silver had heard his footsteps leave and he couldn't help but smile, how was this so easy?
─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
when miguel returned, he placed the two unfilled bottles on the ground. before gioia even had a chance to question him about their lack of water, johnny had spoke up:
"all right, you can do this. you've beaten hawk before." johnny reassured the boy. "remember that killer instinct. take his ass out."
"what?!" gioia and miguel exclaimed, simultaneously.
"take his ass out? hawk is my friend." miguel gave the man a look. "he's-" gioia's boyfriend, he wanted to say. but then he remembered and he said nothing.
"he's fighting for larusso." johnny scoffed. "he picked his side. whose side are you on?"
"yours."
johnny glanced over to the blonde girl. "you?"
"yours."
"are you sure?" johnny raised his eyebrow, turning back to miguel. "hawk may be your friend, but if you wanna win this, you have to beat him."
"whose side are you on?" miguel shot back at the man.
"miguel-" gioia began.
he scoffed, not even wanting to look at her. "and i know whose side you're on."
gioia was confused, where was this animosity coming from?
johnny didn't understand either. "what do you mean?"
"gentlemen, take your positions."
"i'm on your side, diaz. always." johnny admitted. "and so is she."
miguel didn't want to say anything else, he stepped on the mat. he was unsure of how to feel about eli, not knowing if he was aware of gioia's collaboration with cobra kai.
"go, diaz!"
"finally, a worthy opponent." eli smirked, his confidence now back completely. "not gonna hold back, right?"
"no."
"good, neither am i." eli nodded, reaching over and initiating their handshake.
"on your marks. face me. bow. face each other. bow."
"i know whose side you're on."
miguel's words ran through gioia's head as she tried to decipher what he meant and why he said it with such vindictiveness. it hadn't even crossed her mind that he knew about her training with silver, because how could he have found out?
"ready? and fight!"
miguel threw the first punch, which was quickly blocked by eli. the two began to taunt and strike each other, miguel finally managing to kick his opponent, but eli intercepted it before he fell to the ground.
"no point, that's a block. continue."
as eli stood up, miguel twisted his body into what gioia assumed would be the flying tornado kick he and sam had been learning from johnny. but something went wrong, and miguel's back snapped mid-air, before he could continue to raise his leg for the kick. his back slammed onto the floor. in an instant, gioia had made her way over to the mat, right between hawk and the referee. johnny was on her tail and crouched down beside the referee.
"help! someone help him!" she hollered out, "please!" her voice was cracking and strained, her blue eyes glassed over with tears.
miguel began to shout out in pain and gioia was immediately brought back to the first day of junior year when he lay lifeless on the staircase after being mercilessly kicked off the balcony. her hands began to quiver as she repeatedly called out his name.
"medic!"
the medic came over, checking all over miguel's body to check if anything was broken.
"sensei!" miguel cried out.
⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
i just realised i completely cut out carrie underwood's performance in the last chapter?? don't know how i managed to do that so i'll have to rewrite it xx