Chapter Eighty
Primadonna

SYDNEY TRIED TO forget about the pain in her feet for the rest of the night. She didn't want to dwell on it. She just wanted to be with her friends. Everyone gathered in the Larusso household as the adults were making pizzas. Her parents joined as well and her father was busy scarfing down his fifth slice. Sam came and stood with her as she got a bottle of water from the fridge. "You did really great today. Those people were super impressed by you."

Sydney looked her way and scoffed. "Of course they were. I combined one of the hardest sports with another. I'd look like a fool if I messed up."

Sam grinned. "Well, I'm proud of you."

She smiled and wrapped one of her ling arms around her shoulders. "Thanks, Sammy. And I'm proud of you for smashing like six watermelons. Even if you did get it all over that man."

She groaned. "I swear, I didn't mean to!"

Amanda and Caroline took another pizza out of the oven. "Okay; how's ready for round two?" Amanda announced and sat the cut pizza down on the kitchen table. She jumped back when all the boys immediate devoured it. "Okay. Jesus Christ. . ."

"Boys. They have no manners." Said Caroline. She looked over at her daughter and smiled lovingly. "I'm so glad I have a daughter."

Sydney sarcastically curtsied, making Sam laugh.

"Wow, you guys can really take down a pizza." Said Carmen as she watched the table of boys scarf down the food.

"You should see my husband. I think he's on slice number." Sydney's mom said and went to look for Alexander.

"The honeys love a man that can eat." Chris responded and ate the rest of his pizza. "Right, Syd?" He asked the girl standing by the refrigerator. The boys around him oohed loudly.

The girl released a shocked laugh and Sam snorted. "Sure, Chris." She replied and shook her head with a smile.

Sam hit her arm and wiggled her eyebrows. Sydney shot her a look. "No. Stop that." She hissed and swatted her face. "I hate when you do that."

In the living room, Chris blinked his wide eyes. "Chris and Sydney?" He spoke, feeling shocked.

He sat on the couch with Miguel, Hawk, and Eli. Miguel scoffed. "Yeah, no way."

"Why do you say that? Are you jealous?" Eli questioned with a knowing smirk.

His eyes widened. "No!"

"Yes." Said Robby.

"I am not! I just know she's not into him." Miguel excused. "Besides, he's only doing it to be funny."

"I dunno. Maybe the ballet wooed him." Charlie joked and the other guys laughed.

He only rolled his eyes. He gripped the clear cup he was holding tightly. He peaked into the kitchen again and saw Syd standing by Chris. She laughed at something he said and she hit his arm. He then remembered when she called him mate earlier.

Johnny came and sat in front of the boys which distracted him from what was going on in the kitchen. "Alright boys, we have a choice to make and it's not gonna be easy. You're all badass fighters, but only one of you can get on the mat tomorrow." He said to them all. "Alright, Charlie's been doing karate for s long time. He's got good skills. Hawk's the current All Valley champ but it could've gone either way. Diaz is lady year's champ. That could've gone either way, too. Even though Hawk injured Robby in the semis, Hawk didn't have to fight in the semis this year. Diaz booked it to Mexico."

The boys nodded at the very detailed memories. "Jesus, we have the shittiest luck." Charlie uttered.

"You can say that again," Johnny agreed. "Point being you're all deserving. Larusso, Chozen and I are having a hard time deciding which of you should go up against Cobra Kai tomorrow. Maybe we should flip a coin."

The four boys narrowed this eyes and looked at each other. "How would that work? There's four of us." Asked Hawk.

"Alright, so we'll flip four coins."

Charlie raised his hand. "I call heads!"

Miguel chuckled. "We don't need to flip any coins. We actually already made up our minds." He told Johnny.

Charlie dropped his hand and looked at him, confused. "What? We did?" He questioned.

Robby nodded. "Yeah. We talked about it."

"I wasn't informed."

"Cause it should be you, Charlie." Said Miguel and they looked at him.

His eyes widened out of his head. "Come again?" He asked, thinking he heard wrong.

Hawk laughed. "You've got more experience then any of us, dude. We decided that you'll fight and I'll sub in if anything bad happens."

Usually, he would crack a joke, but Charlie felt honored. His goofy demeanor dimmed and he smiled at them. "Really?" They nodded. "Wow, thanks guys. This means a lot. I won't let you down."

"Glad to hear it." Johnny nodded and patted his shoulder. "We'll train tonight."

"What about Sydney and Sam? Which one of them's fighting?" Miguel asked.

"Well, uhh. . ." The man started to say and glanced into the kitchen. He saw the two girls still there, laughing away as Alexander almost wrestled Mitch for the last slice of pizza. They laughed harder at Caroline's scolding. "We haven't told them yet."

Eli's face stilled. "Oh, no."

"Yeah, I decided to let Daniel take that one."

Daniel walked into the kitchen and smiled at everyone having s good time. "Girls, can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked Sam and Sydney.

The friends glanced at each other and nodded. They followed Daniel out of the kitchen and to the outside area of the home. "What's up, dad?" Sam asked her father.

Daniel sat across from them at the table. "Well, uh, after the presentation, the members of Sekai Tekai have us their results." He began to explain. He was nervous to tell them considering everything they'd been through with Cobra Kai, especially Tory. "They said while we did a good job, Cobra Kai also did a good job."

Sydney's face fell and she looked to Sam, the girl already looking her way.

"Tomorrow, there's going to be fight between us and Cobra Kai. There'll be one girl and one boy from each team fighting." Daniel continued and braced himself for the worst. "And because you're two are the only girls, Johnny, Chozen, and myself have to between you."

Sydney suddenly started to feel hot. She sat upright in the metal chair. "Are you serious?" She asked out loud.

He nodded. "I am, Syd."

"Well, it should obviously go to Sydney. She deserves to win after what happened last time." Sam spoke up. She glanced at her friend, secretly only saying her name because she was hesitant to fight against Tory.

Daniel looked to Sydney. "Syd, what do you think?"

He was half expecting her to say yes. To say that she wouldn't let him down and that she was ready. But she instantly shook her head no. "No, I can't. Sam should do it. Let her do it." She spoke quickly.

Sam furrowed her brows. "But you deserve to win, Syd."

"So do you. Tory's put you through hell. You should be the one to end it." Her words quickened again. She gripped the handles of the chair. No, she didn't want to do it. She couldn't. "Sam's fighting."

The father and daughter watched her get up from her seat before they could say anything else. "Sydney," Daniel said her name and followed her. Caroline and Alexander paused their conversation and saw their daughter walk by like she was about to cry. Theu looked to Daniel and he only held up a hand, saying that he got it. Sydney stead up her pace until she walked outside to the backyard. "Sydney, hold on. Talk to me."

She faced him and Daniel saw the fear in her eyes. "Please don't make me, Mr. Larusso." She pleaded.

His heart felt heavy. "What are you afraid of, Syd? You're an amazing fighter. You're so strong. You have nothing to fear." He told her passionately.

She ran her shaky hands through her long brown hair. "You don't understand, Mr. Larusso. I can't." She emphasized and one of her hands pressed against her chest.

"You can do anything, Sydney." Daniel stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders, making her look at him. "I have known you since you were a child. You've never been afraid of anything. I've always known you to be so fierce and so headstrong. You've taught Sam to be strong. You've taught myself and so many others the power of overcome the difficult parts of life."

Sydney took in his words as if she was talking to her father. He was practically her second father. Daniel always knew exactly what to say. And as much as she wanted to say that he was right, she was still hesitant. She wasn't over the All Valley. She wasn't over the karate attacks she was thrown into. She wasn't over the terrible ending that was her friendship with Tory. "What if I mess up again?" She uttered shakily.

Daniel squeezed her shoulders and gave her a half smile. "Then life'll go on. And I'll still be just as proud of you as I've always been."

She slept on it, but, Sydney eventually made the decision to fight. Sam would be her back up, as Eli was Charlie's. The pain in her feet didn't vanish and she felt sharp pains everyone she walked. When it came to taking off her shoes to change into her gi, Sam's eyes widened out of her head. "Oh, my god, Syd. Your feet."

Sydney sat on the toilet in the bathroom stall. She scoffed. "Thanks."

"No, I mean. . ." Sam started and paused. She knew Sydney's feet had changed over the years from dancing so she was used to seeing them battered. But not like this. "Do they hurt?"

"A bit." She nodded. She took the gauze and tape out of her travel bag. "Not to the point of wanting to cut them off, but, they definitely hurt."

Sam frowned while watching her wrap them up. "If you're not comfortable fighting, I can step in for you. I don't care to."

Sydney paused and looked her way. "Don't worry, Sammy. I'm okay. Besides, I'd rather chew off my arms then have any of those tossers believe that I'm weak."

She smiled at that.

When she was finished wrapping her toes in tape and wrapping gauze around her heels, Sydney slipped on the shoes to walk out in. "And anyways, you'll be in my corner, don't you?"

Sam nodded firmly. "Of course I will."

Sydney smirked. "Then let's end these bloody snakes."

The girls walked out of the bathroom, dressed in their gis, and the combined dojos joined together. As soon as they walked into the main dojo, the students gasped. Sydney's eyes widened as she looked around, examining the newly designed building. "Now this is what I call an upgrade." She said out loud. She didn't miss the look that Johnny threw her. "What? I'm a fashion girl. Interior design captures my eye."

"They even got a smoothie bar. No fair!" She heard Mitch say.

That caught her eye, too. "We'll definitely have to do some lurking around." Sam whispered to her.

"Definitely." She whispered back. From the other side of dojo, she locked eyes with Tory. She immediately tensed up. She hadn't seen her since the All Valley. They stared at one another, neither of the facial expressions changing. Until Tory blinked and her lips wavered like she wanted to smile at her but she was fighting against it. Sydney blinked, feeling confused.

"Nichols." Her Sensei called her name.

Sydney looked away and tucked her hair behind her ear. She released a small sigh.

Miguel stood by her side with his hands behind his back. "You okay?" He asked, catching a glimpse of the interaction.

She looked his way and smiled shortly. "Yeah. Just want to get out of her as fast as possible."

"I agree. Although, I am itching to get my hands on one of those mango smoothies." Said Miguel, looking over his shoulder at the smoothie bar.

She laughed at that. "Oh, definitely. We might have to get one after this is over."

A smile curled on his lips. Charlie came and stood behind them. He clapped his hands on both their shoulders, making them jump. "Is anybody ready for this? Cause I'm not." He said out loud.

Sydney laughed. "What do you mean you're not? You're a great fighter."

"Yeah, you were a black belt at, like, six." Miguel reminded him.

"Twelve, actually. But thanks, bro." Said Charlie and they fist bumped.

The combined dojos gathered together. Sydney and Charlie stood at the front and she tied her hair back and out of her face. From across the mat, Kenny looked Charlie up and down with slight fear, seeing how much taller he was than him. "I'm fighting him? He's a shrimp." Charlie scoffed.

"Which is why it'll be easy. So no show boating." She warned him.

He raised his hands. "You got it."

"Keene!" Hollered Kenny and the friends watched on the side as he and Robby stood face to face.

It was clear that Robby felt guilty for going against the kid he cared about. Sydney knew how much he cared for Kenny. He saw himself in him. She knew exactly how he was feeling to see the kid turning to the dark side. When Kenny stormed off, Sydney went up and put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

Robby nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'm good." He responded.

"Don't worry, Robby. I got this." Said Charlie and he cracked his knuckles.

"Don't go too hard on him, Charlie. We were in Cobra Kai, remember? It's not Kenny talking. It's Silver."

"You're right," Sydney nodded. "And don't feel bad. He's just angry right now. He'll realize what side he should be on soon." She assured him.

Robby gave her a smile. He bumped her shoulder with his. "Hey, good luck out there."

Sydney put her hand on his shoulder again and leaned close to his ear. "Don't worry. I'll try not to go too hard on her for you."

He rolled his eyes but she saw the corner of his mouth twitch.

"Time to begin!" The Sekai Tekai man announced. "Charlie Howard and Kenny Payne, please take the mat."

"Good luck, Charlie."

"You got this, bro."

Charlie quickly kissed Sam before meeting Kenny on the mat. Sam stood close to Sydney. "Is it bad I'm nervous?" She whispered.

"Of course not. He's your boyfriend. It's cute." Sydney whispered back with a small grin.

The ref instructed the boys to bow. When they were done, they got in their fighting stances. Charlie smirked at the younger boy, making Kenny glare at him harshly.

"Fight!"

Instantly, Kenny grunted and lunged forward with a kick. Charlie swiftly moved out of the way and raised his fists. When Kenny came swinging again, he used his forearm to block his hits. Doing wax off, Charlie grabbed his arm and twisted to the side, throwing Kenny over his shoulder and he landed on the mat. He hit him on the chest.

"Point! 1-0, Howard!" Said the ref and pointed his way.

"Nice job, Charlie!" Daniel called out and clapped.

"Yes!" Sam said with a bright smile.

Charlie smirked, feeling proud of himself, and they got back in their stances. When the ref called out for them to fight, Kenny grunted again and kicked his leg. Charlie blocked it by jumping back. Using the paint the fence technique he learned from Daniel, he blocked Kenny's punches and backed him up. Ducking down, he missed the kid's swing and he leg sweeped him, making him fall to the mat again.

"Yes!" Shouted Johnny and his team clapped.

"Out of bounds! No point!" Said the ref.

Charlie's face fell. "What?"

"Are you blind?" Sydney blurted out and threw her hands up.

"Come on, ref. That's horseshit. He made contact in bounds!" Johnny said roughly.

But the ref ignored them. "No point. Back on the line." He ordered.

"What the hell?" Sam said out loud. She looked at her friend. "This is just like the All Valley."

Sydney blinked and looked at the Cobra Kai side. She saw Silver looking at the ref and the ref looked at him as well.  She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Yeah, it is." She said back.

The ref called for them to fight again. Charlie took the lead that time and kicked his long leg in Kenny's direction. Kenny blocked his kick with his fist and did a spin. His foot collided with Charlie's hand. But because Charlie was taller, he had a better reach. He blocked the kid's punches with ease. When Kenny threw another punch, Charlie trapped his fist with his arm and he reached his knee up, kicking him in the side.

Kenny broke away from his with a loud grunt and kicked his leg again. Charlie did wax on and blocked his foot. He stepped forward on his right foot and threw punch after punch. Kenny blocked them all with precision, heavy grunts leaving his mouth. Just when Charlie lifted his leg and went to spin, Kenny hooked his foot around it and dragged him down on the mat. He took the opportunity to kick him across the face.

"Point! 1-1, Payne!"

"Dammit." Charlie hissed and touched his jaw.

His team groaned. "It's alright, Charlie." Said Johnny and he clapped.

"Just stay focused. Don't lose hope yet." Daniel added as well.

He stood up again and the ref called out for them to continue. Kenny came at him and Charlie did another paint the fence to block his hits. He threw punches at the kid. When he kicked at him again, he was caught of guard with Kenny grabbed his leg and twisted it. He drove his elbow deep into his calf. Charlie yelped loudly in pain.

Sydney jumped in shock. Her hand reactively touched Eli's arm because he was standing next to her.

"Illegal strike! That's a warning!" The ref shouted while Charlie was on the mat.

"Are you serious?" Said Sam with a scoff of disbelief.

"He should be disqualified!" Her dad added in, growing increasingly frustrated.

"What the hell, you little gremlin?" Charlie said out loud and he groaned again. He stood from the mat and popped his ankle.

Eli stepped forward. "Charlie, are you okay?" He asked his friend as the back up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just bruised my ego a little."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he's fine."

Sydney chuckled.

"Are you sure, Charlie?" Asked Johnny.

He waved his hand. "I'm good. I'm grand." He replied. Him and Kenny got back on the mat. He glared at the kid with Kenny gave him a look that could kill. Charlie sucked in a deep breath and titled his neck side to side, popping it. He was caught off guard a little, not expecting it to happen, but he had to recover. His team and Senseis were counting on him.

Sydney brought her thumb to her mouth and began to chew on her nail. The way Kenny was acting and the suspicious glancing between Silver and the ref were putting her on edge. She knew exactly what was going on. And she feared for what he was going to make Tory do when it was their turn to fight.

"Fight!"

Instantly, before Charlie had the chance to throw a punch, Kenny rammed his hand directly in the middle of Charlie's chest. Everyone gasped and the wind was knocked out of him. Charlie stumbled back from the impact and he tripped over his feet. He held his chest and struggled to breath.

Sydney covered her mouth with one of her hands and grabbed onto Sam, who looked mortified.

"Point! 1-2, Payne!" Said the referee.

Her hand dropped from her mouth. "You've got to be joking." She snapped.

"Charlie." Said Sam and she went to his side. Johnny and Daniel followed suit. She touched his shoulder. "Charlie, are you okay?"

"Charlie, what's wrong?"

Charlie made a gurgling sound and he tried to catch his breath but it felt as if it was stuck on his throat. "I-I can't breath." He grasped his throat.

Sydney gripped her hair and turned away. She remembered when she had her attack during the All Valley. She watched Charlie struggle on the ground and she put her hand over her own chest, practicing feeling the air leave her lungs.

"Can you continue?" The ref asked with no remorse what so ever.

"Come on, Charlie. Don't give up." Sydney muttered.

But Charlie couldn't give an answer. He laid his forehead again the mat. "Where's the medic?" Johnny hollered and the medic that was close by came running on the mat. Sam backed away but she didn't stand up.

The ref took that as an answer. "That's a forfeit. Winner, Payne!" He lifted Kenny's arm up.

"What?" Miguel and Sydney blurted out in union. "Oh, that's a joke!"

"I'm sorry." Charlie uttered when and he closed his eyes, feeling embarrassed.

"Don't be sorry, Char. It's not your fault." Sam reassured him but a deep frown settled on her face.

The Cobra Kai's surrounded Kenny and celebrated. "That's such bullshit." Eli cursed and turned away.

"It can't be right." Sydney said to herself while shaking her head.

He looked her way and saw her watching the other team with a locked jaw. "What? Do you think they're up to something?" He questioned.

She chewed on the end of her nail again while her other hand rested on her hip. She glanced at him in thought. "I don't know." She responded quietly but she had a feeling in her gut.

The medic and Daniel helped Charlie stand up. He was fine, he just got the wind knocked out of him. His hair fell in his eyes and he didn't bother to move it. He wanted to leave. He felt embarrassed. He left them down. "I'm sorry." He muttered again and shook his head.

"Looks like you're not so big and bad after all." Kenny said his way with a cocky smirk.

The older boy glared and went to lunge at him but Sam held him back. "Hey, no. Ignore him. It's over." She said and grasped his arm. She threw the kid a dirty look. She rubbed his back and they walked off the mat.