The Serpent Queen

Mercy | Part Two

The qualifying matches began. Everyone who won this round entered the quarterfinals. Multiple qualifying matches happened around the larger mat, where the quarterfinal, semifinal and the final matches would be staged.

Miguel stood on the left side of the smaller blue mat and his opponent from another karate dojo who was dressed in a red gi stood on the right side of the mat.

The referee of the match wore a blue T-shirt with his job written in big green font on his front and back. He spoke to both boys, "All right, gentlemen, you know the rules. Three points wins. Step on the mat."

Miguel took a step forward, but Johnny stopped him.

"Wait, wait." The Sensei whispered something into his students' ear, while glancing over to Daniel, who had full view of this.

Miguel gave a quick nod and stepped into the mat, facing his opponent in red.

"Face me. Bow." The referee said. The two boys bowed to him. "Face each other. Bow." The competitors bowed to each other. "Ready?"

Johnny's student lifted his arms up in the air like a cricket would and stood on one foot, which his right knee held up in the air, with his leg angled up at a ninety degree angle. While, the boy in red held both fists up at chest height.

"And fight!"

As the boy in red bounced on the balls of his feet over to Miguel, the cobra kicked his right foot up and hit the other boy in the face and he fell down to the mat. Miguel had used Daniel's signature crane kick that made him win in 1984.

"Point!" The referee yelled.

In the audience, Carmen and Rosa clapped for him and the audience that were watching the fight cheered.

Behind the ref, a staff member held a red flag up on Miguel's side of her boy to signify he got a point. Which the referee confirmed by announcing, "That's one point, Diaz."

Sam glanced over to her father in the very front row, "I can't believe he stole your move." She said, clearly very annoyed.

The fight continued and Miguel won 3-0. He was the first cobra now in the quarterfinals.

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Next up, Robby stood on the mat opposite another opponent wearing a white gi and black belt, except he had a top knot. He had already gained a point in this match. They were about to start the second round.

"Fighting positions. And fight!" Another referee shouted.

The other boy kept aiming a series of powerful punches and quick jabs at Robby, which he expertly ducked, dodged and blocked every time.

Johnny's son retaliated back with a single punch in between his blocks, hitting him in the chest hard enough to knock the other onto one knee.

"That's two points, Keene!" The Ref announced.

Daniel smiled and clapped. He still felt mad at the teenager for lying to him, but he felt happy for him.

Robby was the second competitor to become a quarter finalist. He won the match 3-2.

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Aisha was on another mat in the middle of fighting her opponent. She blocked his attacks, which her a bunch of powerful high kicks and roundhouses.

Johnny made it his mission to oversee all his students' matches. He would offer words of encouragement and hard advice when needed, "Enough defense. Attack!" He told the girl.