Black Widow | Cobra Kai

9. All Valley

Black Widow Chapter Nine: All Valley

Sloane bounced around the kitchen like a a pinball machine while pulling a Cobra Kai t-shirt over her white long sleeve (which was exclusively worn under another shirt due to the fact that it was very see-through, even with a white or nude pink bra underneath). She poured some coffee in a to-go cup and added sugar and milk.

After Demetri brought her home, Sloane had passed out the second she made it to her bed and hadn't woken up until it was almost time for the All Valley. She'd promised Sensei Lawrence she'd be there, so she was rushing through her morning routine in the hopes of getting there on time.

She put her coffee down on the stairs while she put her shoes on. "Anyone seen my keys?!' she called to her younger siblings.

Duncan walked over from the living room and tossed her army green camouflage jacket to her. "Left pocket," he said.

Sloane caught it mid-air. "Thanks," she said and put the jacket on. "I don't know when I'm gonna be back. There's money in the oatmeal tin for pizza. Don't let Ciara order...or know that's where we keep money sometimes. I'll let you know if I'm gone past nine again," she told him. She pressed a kiss on top of his head and ruffled his curls. "Call me if you need anything."

Duncan nodded. "I know. You call me if you get stabbed again."

Sloane rolled her eyes. "Will do," she responded while walking out the door with her coffee.

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"Sorry, sorry. I overslept and almost hit a mailman on the way here," Sloane apologized while she quickly joined the rest of the Cobra Kais inside of the building the tournament would be held in.

"You're just in time for one last lesson before the tournament," Sensei told her. "Now, where was I? You've all learned to strike first, to be agressive, to not be losers. I taught you to strike hard, put every ounce of your power behind everything you do. But I haven't taught you the third rule of Cobra Kai: no mercy. The older you get, the more you're gonna learn that life isn't fair. You wake up one morning feeling great and then life throws a spinning heel kick to your balls, takes a big steaming shit in your mouth. You get an 'F' on a test. You get suspended. You get stabbed in some dark alley. You fall in love with a girl and some other dude comes and steals her away. Car gets set on fire. Just when you think things are going good, everything falls apart."

Sloane shifted her weight around a little as she nodded along. She looked around to the rest of the group and she could see them start to get pumped up. There was something unique about Sensei Lawrence's way of teaching. He always managed to speak to them on a relatable level, even if it was insulting sometimes.

"That's how it goes. Life shows no mercy, so neither do we," Johnny said. "We do whatever it takes to keep our heads above water. We do whatever it takes to keep moving forward. We do whatever it takes to win. Remember who you are. You're badass! You don't give a shit! You kick ass! You're Cobra Kai."

"Cobra Kai!" Miguel yelled like a battle cry, which it kind of was.

"Yeah!" Sloane yelled at the top of her lungs along with the other students.

"Alright guys, let's get down there and kick the shit out of everybody!"

"Yeah!"

Miguel pulled his gi out of his back, but Sensei stopped him. "No. You're not wearing those," he told them and grabbed a gi out of his own bag and held it up. It was black with yellow details and, most notably, had no sleeves. "You're wearing these."

"Damn, I'm jealous," Sloane cursed. "I would've looked fucking amazing in one of those."

Johnny chuckled. "We know you would, Pinhead. Now, I expect to hear you above everyone. You better be screaming up there."

Sloane nodded and grinned. "Yes, Sensei," she promised before splitting off from the group so they could get changed. While waiting for the tournament to begin, she decided to get some snacks so she wouldn't starve to death during the tournament.

While she got in line, Sloane was faced with someone she hadn't really seen since her brother left for college, Daniel LaRusso. "Mr. Larusso?"

The man turned around. "Sloane?" He got a smile on his face when he saw the girl. "Hey! How have you been? How's Ethan?"

Sloane returned the smile. "Good, good. He's gonna come back from his second year for the summer."

"Wow. Only two more years to go then. You tell him he's welcome at the dealership if he needs a job for the summer," Daniel said. His smile faded when he noticed her shirt. "You're with Cobra Kai?"

Sloane looked down at her shirt. "Oh, yeah. I was supposed to compete, but I got injured last week, so...now I'm just cheering on the team."

"Look, this is probably not my place to say, but I wouldn't be too upset about that. Cobra Kai isn't a good influence," Daniel argued. "I'm sorry to hear about your injury, though. Tell Ethan I said 'hi'."

Sloane watched with a frown as Daniel walked away with his food and headed for the bleachers. She didn't really understand it. Cobra Kai had helped her and the majority of those kids. She didn't have much time to think about it, though, because she was next in line.

After getting some mozzarella sticks, popcorn, pretzel bites, and a soda, Sloane headed for the bleachers. As she carried all that food, she was more than grateful for her waitress training.

"Sloane! Over here!"

She looked up to see Moon up in the stands waving at her to come sit with her. She was a little confused, but climbed up the stairs to come sit with her. She put her food down next to her and before she even got a word in, Moon started speaking.

"Hey, before you say anything, I just really wanted to tell you how sorry I am for bullying you. I mainly did it to fit in with Yasmine, but that isn't an excuse for saying those mean things and calling you 'Psycho'. If you can forgive me, I'd really like for us to be friends," Moon told her with a sincerity that took Sloane by surprise.

"Uh...Yeah, sure. I'd like that too," Sloane responded, nodding.

Moon smiled. "Yay! You know, we should hang out sometime," she said.

"For sure." Sloane smiled and offered her some popcorn, which she more than gladly took.

"Wow. That was moving," Demetri commented, suddenly having appeared behind Sloane with an ICEE.

"Sit down, it's going to begin," Moon said and Demetri quickly sat down so they could all turn their attention to the man taking center stage on the mat.

"Welcome, everyone, to the 50th annual All Valley Under 18 Karate Championship!" the man called to the crowd.

Demetri looked at the two girls while they were clapping. "This has been going on for 50 years?" he questioned. "Am I the only one that's been out of the loop?"

"You'll love the new mats," the announcer, Daryl, laughed. "All right, let's start by welcoming all the local dojos competing today. From Grenade Hills, All Star Karate!"

"Guess you don't know until you're actually involved in the karate," Sloane mused as the announcer listed the rest of the dojos.

When the announcer got to Topanga Karate, a grown woman in a blue gi with her face painted stood up and started cheering at a volume that was sure to embarrass her child.

"From Reseda, returning to the tournament, we have-"

Before Daryl could finish his sentence, there was a faint chanting of 'Cobra Kai' that became louder and louder as they got closer to the mat. Sloane and Moon stood up and cheered loudly for the dojo, Sloane making absolutely sure they could see and hear her from down there. She made eye-contact with Eli, who chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"Now that's what I call an entrance! And a badass name for a dojo! Let's hear it for Cobra Kai!" Daryl called.

"Whoo, go Hawk!" Moon cheered.

"And finally, fighting unaffiliated from North Hills, we have Mr. Robby Keene!"

Sloane sat back down as the guy she'd seen with Sam at the party took the mat. She had no clue he knew karate too, but she wasn't too worried. If anything, this would motivate Miguel even more.

"All right, folks. Get ready. It's karate time."

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The tournament began with several rounds of fights all throughout the place. The first match for Cobra Kai was with Miguel against a guy in a red gi, on whom he landed his first point with a crane kick, which clearly was a crowd favorite based on the excited reactions. He made quick work of the guy after that.

Next up was Aisha against a guy from Krunch Karate. After spending a large chunk of the beginning of the fight in defense, she quickly switched to offense at Sensei Lawrence's orders and scored her three points.

Eli landed a harsh hit on a guy from the same dojo in the last round of his match, after which he took his top off and threw it on the ground as he chanted.

"Damn, he is so hot," Moon chuckled as Eli moved his shoulders to make it look like his hawk tattoo was flapping his wins.

Demetri looked at Moon and shook his head in disbelief. "I cannot believe this actually works," he muttered.

"Shh, my son is up," Sloane said when she saw Bert was up next. She was a little worried since his opponent was more than a full head bigger than him, but he faced him with determination nonetheless. "Kick his ass, Bert! No mercy!" she yelled to the boy to give him some extra confidence.

Sloane's eyes widened when his opponent started pulling out gymnastics right off the bat and practically somersaulted his way through the rounds. Bert didn't even get the chance to hit him.

Luckily, though, Miguel took revenge for the kid in the quarter-finals. The guy didn't even get a single hit on him, which earned Miguel a spot in the semi-finals.

"Hell yeah, Miguel!" Sloane cheered.

The next matches went fast as that Robby guy placed himself in the semi-finals alongside Eli and some guy from Topanga Karate, who just barely managed to beat Aisha. She didn't seem too happy, though, and stormed off right after.

"Two of us, only one of them each," Sloane pointed out. Despite probably having less training than a bunch of these dojos, Cobra Kai still managed to end up with the best advantage for the semi-finals.

"You might actually win this," Demetri realized as if it just now had dawned on him that they were actually good.