always you || eli moskowitz

20

I look my opponent in the eye, and bow, ready to fight. This is my second fight of the day, so if I win this, I will be in the semifinals.

"Ready? Fight!" The guy yells at us. The guy I'm fighting runs up to me and tries to kick me over but I duck and sweep his legs out from under him, earning an applause.

"One point Lawrence!" The referee yells. The guy stands up and goes in front of me once again, waiting for the referee to say go.

When he does, the guy runs up and kicks me in the chest, making me stumble but not fall. Before I have time to completely gain my balance back, he sweeps my legs out from under me. I groan and stand back up, not wanting to loose.

"Come on Cass, you can do it." I hear Hawk yelling at me. I smile and wait for the referee to say we can fight.

"Go!" He yells at us, and this time when he tries to kick me, I block it and send a hard roundhouse kick to his head, making him fall over.

"That's three points Lawrence!  Cassie Lawrence hs made the semi's!" The announcer yells, and everyone breaks into applause. I go and stand near Hawk and he congratulates me.

The next people to fight is Robby and someone I don't know. When they fight, Robby wins the first round but looses the second. On the third and final round Robby dodges all of his punches and kicks him in the gut, making him win.

"That's three points Keene!" The announcer yells, and I start to get nervous about the fact that I might have to fight Robby.

Next up is Aisha who is fighting last year's champion.

Just as Aisha was about to win the fight, he kicked her legs out from under her, making her fall over and loose. She comes over to us, grabs her stuff then walks away.

~~~

"There can only be one true winner. And he, or she, is standing on this stage right now. Will it be Miguel Diaz from Cobra Kai Karate? Will it be Cassie Lawrence from Cobra Kai Karate? Will it be Robby Keene, unaffiliated? And last but not least, last year's champion, fighting out of Topanga Karate, Xander Stone!" The announcer announces everyone, and we each bow after our name is called. I look over at Hawk, he looks happy that I made it to the semi-finals even though he didn't.

Xander does a flip and lands next to the announcer and grabs the microphone.

"I just wanted to say, even though I love to fight, we all need to fight together against hatred.." He begins. I stop listening though.

"... 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." He says and everyone puts their heads down.

"Kick that pansy bitch in the face." My dad says to me during the silence, making me laugh and mutter 'okay'.

"All right," The announcer takes his microphone back, "First up, Stone versus Lawrence!"

Everyone besides the referee, Stone, and I leave the mat.

The fight goes by pretty quickly even though Xander is actually a pretty good fighter, but I end up winning by kicking him in the side.

"Cassie Lawrence is headed to the finals." The announcer says, making everyone cheer for me. I walk back to the sidelines.

"Next up, Diaz versus Keene." The announcer says, and I hope nothing bad happens.

Miguel and Robby both go onto the mat and face each other and bow.

"Fighting positions." The referee says, and they do.