psycho -terry silver-

s4 e6

a/n: kind of short chapter ahead
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Today was the day of the All Valley and Madeline was everything but nervous. She was ready. She's channeled all her anger so she's not one to mess with at the moment. Kyler learned that the hard way. She had snapped and almost broken his wrist when he repeatedly poked her, asking if she was ready, asking if she was nervous. She wasn't nervous, she was furious. "Madeline, let the boy go." Kreese had demanded, afraid his student wouldn't be able to fight if she went any further. "Yes, Sensei." Madeline said through gritted teeth, letting Kyler go. "Damn."

He rubs his wrist, it being sore from being held in a breaking position for so long. They're called out and Madeline holds her chin up high, following her fellow students. She stands, looking over and making eye contact with Hawk, correction, Eli. She smirks, sending him a wink. Silver notices, scowling heavily. He's angry she sent the wink, thinking the wrong reason for it. Finally, Eagle Fang is called out. Madeline keeps her smirk when she watches Eli's face scrunch up in disgust at seeing her. The announcer finishes his speech and the groups are surrounding the respective senseis.

"All right, fall in." Kreese says. "All your training has brought you to this moment. Remember, if you win, you don't just get a trophy. You get the glory. And you get to know forever that you are a champion. I have had students with all the talent in the world squander their moment. Do not let history repeat itself. Do not let your emotions cloud your judgment. And above all, do not let anything stand in the way of your victory." Kreese says almost menacingly. "Just to be clear, that's not a pep talk. That's an order. And we're all gonna follow Sensei Kreese's orders today, aren't we?" Silver asks. "Yes, Sensei."

"Aren't we?" He asks again. "Yes, Sensei!" Everyone says more powerfully. "Let's go win this! Come on!" He and everyone cheers. Madeline glances at her grandfather. She can't let him down. He's her biggest supporter and the only one who's been there for her. She has to win. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to begin our skills competition." The announcer states. Everyone shows off their skills, Madeline breaking through boards and cement blocks. Kreese watches proudly as when she finishes, she smiles widely, bowing. Everyone cheers for the girl loudly. Silver nods.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the male and female division qualifiers are about to begin. And with them, we enter a new era!" A different man announces. The crowd cheers. "That's why we need a very special guest to kick things off. Let's give a big All Valley welcome to multi-Grammy-award winning, international superstar, Carrie Underwood!" The man says as Carrie Underwood walks onto the stage. "Hello, All Valley! I am so honored to be here. I didn't see a lot of karate growing up in Oklahoma, but you guys know I love to compete, just like these wonderful young men and young women." Everyone cheers.

Madeline tunes the rest of the talking out, now completely focused on taking down Miyagi-Do. If she loses, she has no idea what she'll do... what Kreese will do. Then the singing starts and Madeline rolls her eyes. "I thought we were here for karate. Not singing." She sneers. Kreese chuckles. Soon enough, the fights start. Madeline watches her fellow cobras win. She looks into the stands, just to see the people. Her eyes lock with her mother's and suddenly her anger skyrockets. She's not in the right state of mind, her emotions cloud her judgment. Her opponent scores two points.

"Time!" Kreese calls, pulling the girl off the mat. "Madeline, you're losing, what's going on?" "Mom is here." She snaps, pointing into the crowd. "You can't let that distract you. Focus." He says, knowing how much of a soft spot her mother is. She gets back onto the mat, bouncing and shaking out. She scores a point but, in the end, she loses. She punches the mat before getting in her opponent's face, shouting crude things as Kreese pulls her away. "I lost, Sensei." She bows her head in defeat, angry tears welling up in her eyes. She can't believe she lost, she let down the entire dojo.

She let down Kreese and that weighs heavier than letting down the dojo. "It's alright, little one." Kreese assures. "I failed you." She whispers, tears dropping past her lashes as she storms out. Her first and last All Valley, and she loses. Silver follows after her after a curt nod from Kreese. "Madeline." He grabs her arm, keeping her from entering the bathroom where she would ultimately take her anger out on a cement wall. "I'm sorry, Sensei Silver." She refuses to look at him, refusing to let him see her cry. "Madeline, it's okay. Plenty of students have lost." "I failed Sensei Kreese."

"Failed? You did your best." "It wasn't good enough!" She turns on her heel, looking up at him. He cups her cheek, his usual wolfish grin gone, replaced with a sympathetic smile. "You've done just fine, doll. You let emotions take control, we'll work on that." His thumb runs across her bottom lip softly. "Now get your ass back in there and support your fellow cobras." He playfully orders. She stares up at him, slowly nodding. She didn't expect Silver or Kreese to go easy on her after losing. He sets his hand on her lower back, walking her back in just as Tory wins against Eagle Fang.

She watches Kyler up against Eli next. Eli wins and Kyler hits the mats, growling. Piper loses next. Robby has to fight Kenny, Kenny scores the first point but Robby wins, nobody cheers as Kenny runs off. Silver watches Madeline, standing underneath her grandfather's arm, watching the matches. She wishes she had won, wishes she had made it to the finals. Kreese wishes that Isabell hadn't shown, hadn't sabotaged his best student, but there's nothing he can do about it now. Silver's only hope was to prove to the girl that she hadn't failed, she had simply lost, two entirely different things.