Mackenzie was pissed off after she fought with Sam in the locker room. She kept to herself in her hotel room and kept her phone across room by the TV so she wouldn't have to answer people's texts.

But when someone started to knock on her door so frantically and so hard that she was worried it was the police, Mackenzie finally moved from her bed.

It was only Demetri.

He waltzed in as if it were his own room to complain about what happened in the locker room after Mackenzie left. Apparently, Hawk yelled at him in front of everyone about MIT and apparentely, it was completely unproked.

Mackenzie didn't believe that.

But she also didn't kick him out. He stayed in Mackenzie's room with her, watching the movie neither of them cared to learn the name of play on the television before they headed downstairs for their last competition of the day.

"We have now entered the elimination phase of the Sekai Taikai. The dojos who do not win tonight will be heading home."

Mackenzie stood in between Eli and Demetri in the second row. Luckily, the boys didn't make it too uncomfortable standing between them while they were arguing. They only glared at each other a few times, but that was it.

"The previous rounds have determined your current rankings. The number one team will face number 16, two will face 15 and so on and so on."

Mackenzie's eyes moved to the scoreboard on her left. Before she could do the math and figure out who Miyagi-Do would have to compete, Devon gasped from in front of her. "That means at number 12, we're facing number five, Dublin Thunder." She said and Mackenzie's eyes moved to look at the dojo in orange, Hawk groaned.

"Oh, great. I heard they started a fight with some locals at the beach. They're always looking for a brawl." He grumbled and Mackenzie silently groaned, looking back up to the stage.

"Now, for the rules of the event. Fight will again face off on a platform." The announcer raised her hand just as a platform started to lower behind her, stopping pretty high off of the ground. "This platform."

Mackenzie looked up at the platform with wide eyes. She shut her eyes tight as her stomach started to sink. When she opened her eyes, she hoped the platform would be lower, but it stayed still.

"Oh, I hate this." She muttered to to herself, but Hawk heard her. He looked down at Mackenzie, his eyebrows furrowed. "Since when have you hated heights?" Hawk scoffed out as if this was new-found information.

Mackenzie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned to look up at him. "Since you made me climb up that tree when we went to Coyote Creek so I could have the element of surprise." She whispered passively, her words coming out meaner than they actually were.

Eli rolled his eyes back, keeping his eyes on the platform instead of looking at Mackenzie. "And you ended up winning." He shot back and out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Mackenzie look up at him with wide eyes, like he had just said the most insane thing.

"And I sprained my wrist!" She defended, her voice higher now. before Hawk could respond, the announcer spoke again, pulling the two of them out of their conversation.

"This time, two fighters from each dojo are allowed one at a time. If one of your fighters falls, they are out. But another teammate can climb up to take their place. However, the fight never stops. So get up there quick, do not leave your teammate alone two on one. When all the fighters of a dojo have been knocked off, the team is out." The woman explained before she called up the Iron Dragons and the West End Warriors.

Mackenzie kinda felt bad for how quickly the Warriors lost there round. They didn't even have to call up any new Iron Dragons up, their captains knocked down all seven by themselves.

Mackenzie's eyes stayed on Axel as the announcer declared the Iron Dragons their victory. Axel let out a victorious scream and Hawk stared up at him with wide eyes. "Was this dude made in a lab?" He muttered in shock and Demetri cringed from the other side of Mackenzie him. "He's like a mix between the Winter Soldier and Frankenstein's monster."

Mackenzie pressed her lips into a line and snapped her head to either side of her to glare up at the boys. "Don't call him a monster. You don't know him or what he deals with." She scolded. She wasn't gonna tell the boys she's talked to him a handful of times and she definitely wasn't gonna tell them what she saw happen between him and his sensei, but that doesn't mean she's not going to defend him.

"Plus, both of those character are extremely manipulated and misunderstood." She hummed, her eyes moving back up to the platform just as Axel looked to her.

Mackenzie's shoulders relaxed when her eyes met Axel's and whatever "evil persona" Axel was using to get the other teams to fear him drifted away when he saw Mackenzie in the crowd.

It was almost like he forgot where he was. He stopped waving at the audience and sponsors, he stopped circling the platform to look at everyone, all of his attention was just on Mackenzie.

Mackenzie felt her heart flip at that. She smiled up at the boy without even realizing it and just before he could smile back, Zara gently whacked the boys arm, bringing him back. Axel blinked frantically, forcing his eyes away from Mackenzie to see where he was.

"I forgot she's a nerd like us..." Demetri whispered, leaning back and behind Mackenzie so he could speak to Eli. He had his hand covering his mouth in Mackenzie's direction, hoping it'd block some of his words, but Mackenzie heard him loud and clear. Without looking away from Axel, Mackenzie raised her arm back and smacked Demetri right in the gut.

After the Iron Dragons won, a couple more teams went before Cobra Kai went up against group 13, Polarslaget. Cobra Kai had gone through most of their opponents team and when the Polarslaget's were down to their final two, Cobra Kai still had three available fighters; Tory and Yoon, who were on stage, and Kwon, who was ready to run up if either of them fell.

Just like with Axel, Mackenzie's eyes stayed glued on Tory her entire fight. Her stomach twisted in worry for her little sister. She winced at the kick Tory sent her opponent. Blood sprayed out of the girls mouth as she fell off the platform and down to the mats below.

Yoon ran to grab something off the ground and when he ran back to Tory, he raised his and Tory's conjoined hands in the air in victory. His opposite arm was also raised, holding something in the air that made Mackenzie's jaw dropped.

"Oh my god, it's a tooth." She muttered, staring up at Tory with wide eyes.

She stared up at her younger sister with wide eyes. Mackenzie wasn't blind, she could see the way Tory tried her absolute hardest to not look at Miyagi-Do. Maybe it was because of her, maybe it was because of Robby, but Tory looked everywhere it her old team.

It wasn't until the very last second—just before her and Yoon moved to walk off the platform that Tory looked to Miyagi-Do It was like her eyes were magnets and drawn to her older sister at how fast Tory locked eyes with Mackenzie.

Tory wasn't smiling before she looked at Mackenzie, but her frown deepened when she saw Mackenzie looking up at her. Neither of them did anything, no smile, no thumbs up, no wave. They just stared at each other until Yoon dragged Tory off the platform. 

After a couple more rounds, it was finally time for Miyagi-Do do fight Dublin Thunder.

"All right, let's bring it in. I got something to say." Johnny yelled and all of Miyagi-Do circled up. Johnny looked between the seven students and sighed. "It's been a tough day. Probably shouldn't have been such a dick to all of you, but I want you to know that I believe with every bone in my body that you can do this."

Mackenzie relaxed at the mans words, smiling a little at this reassurance. "You guys know a lot more about balance than me so remember everything Sensei LaRusso said and use all of your Miyagi-Do skills to stay up there." Johnny said and when everyone nodded, he smiled.

"I'm thinking we start strong with our captains." He said, turning to Sam and Robby on his right. "Robby and Sam start, Mackenzie will jump in, Devon will go next, Hawk, Demetri, then we will end it with Miguel as our anchor." Johnny explained, all of the students already standing in the order Johnny listed.

When everyone nodded in agreement with his plan, Johnny clapped and they all separated, Robby and Sam running up to the platform.

"Come on, LaRusso! Let's go, Robby!" Johnny yelled after them, the rest of the team cheering for the two of them.

Sam and Robby got on the platform before the first Dublin Thunder's did and Mackenzie cupped her hands around her mouth. "You guys got this!" She yelled, hoping they could hear her. Yeah, she was pissed off at Sam, but if this was what it took for the girl to trust her on the team, then so be it.

As soon as the Dublin Thunders were on the platform, they ran at Robby and Sam. Mackenzie watched as almost immediately, Robby kicked one of the girls and she stumbled right to the edge. Mackenzie's gasped quietly, waiting for the girl to fall, but she never did.

She started to run at Robby, but he didn't notice, his eyes glued to the audience.

The girl kicked Robby in the shoulder and then the face, , sending him flying off the platform. Mackenzie turned to see what Robby was looking at, and she sighed when she saw Tory just where Robby was looking.

Mackenzie nervously licked her lips. She was definitely going to have to talk with him about Tory later, but right now, Mackenzie was up. She bounced on her toes to control her nerves, her mind blacking out Eli and Demetri's words of encouragement on either side of her as she ran to the platform.

As Mackenzie climbed up the platform, a new boy from the other team was just ahead of her on the ladder and as soon as he was up, he ran straight for Sam since her back was to him. He kicked Sam in her side, only kicking Sam more towards the center of the platform.

"LaRusso!" Johnny yelled and surprisingly, Sam heard him from the platform. "Miyagi-Do!" Johnny screamed and Sam's face hardened at his words and without breaking a sweat, she flipped him over the edge.

She looked back to the entrance of the platform and her face fell when she saw Mackenzie climb up.

Mackenzie ignored Sam's worry and walked to her own side of the platform. It took everything in her not to roll her eyes. "You've gotta trust me, Sam." Mackenzie told her just as two Dublin Thunder team members got onto the platform.

Mackenzie's jaw clenched and she dug her heels further into the mat, raising her fists. One of the boys was on her in a second. She slipped under his first punch and jabbed him in the ribs before twisting away.

She let herself step away from him, giving the two of them some distance before she faked left and landed another punch on his right side. It wasn't enough to knock him down, but it forced him to stumble back and let her run at him again. She could hear Sam fighting behind her, but Mackenzie didn't look back. She couldn't yet.

Mackenzie jumped and raised her leg to kick the boy. Just before her foot could connect with the boys face, he raised his arm, blocking the kick.

As Mackenzie started to come down, the boy went to punch Mackenzie in the gut, but Mackenzie raised her arms and blocked every hit the boy sent her way until she caught one of his punches. She pulled on his fist, making him stumble forward toward her and Mackenzie side stepped away from the boy, kicking her leg out.

The boy stumbled right towards the edge of the platform and Mackenzie kicked him again, this time his back. The boy fell of the platform and while she waited for another person to take his place, she turned to see if Sam needed any help.

She was still fighting, but the boy in front of her was a good foot taller than her and he had her on the defensive, backing her toward the edge.

Mackenzie ran as fast as she could across the platform. "Sam!" She screamed as the boy jumped at Sam.

Sam tried to block his hit, but her foot skidded on the mat. Mackenzie's eyes widened and in the last second, instead of grabbing the boy, she grabbed Sam's arm, pulling her forward and away from the ledge and stepped in front of her.

Mackenzie felt the wind get knocked out of her when the boys foot hit her ribs. She yelped in pain, her hands shooting to her gut and wrapping around the boys leg around her injury.

She looked up fast, her hand holding onto the boys foot as tight as she could so he wouldn't break free. Instead of locking eyes with the boy in front of her, Mackenzie's eyes found Sam's. The brunettes eyes were wide as she realized Mackenzie pulled her away from the edge so she could keep fighting.

Mackenzie managed to smile at Sam before she she pivoted, using the momentum of the kick to let not only herself fall off the edge, but the boy too.

The wind whizzed past her ears as she fell and her stomach dropped like she was on a rollercoaster and she could faintly hear Sam scream her name from the platform. When she hit the bottom, her head ricocheted off the mat and came crashing back down, giving her a dull headache for a few seconds that made her stay on the floor for a few extra seconds.

She swallowed hard and pressed her hand to her ribs. Her chest felt like it was made of glass, but she didn't care. If it let Sam finally start to believe her and trust her as a teammate, Mackenzie would do it again and again.

Mackenzie didn't realize how long she was lying on the ground until a giggling body crashed down beside her.

"That was so cool!" Sam gushed, giggling through her words. Mackenzie turned to face the brunette and as her laughter died down, Sam's had rolled to the side until she was eye to eye with Mackenzie.

Her smile faltered—softening into a lopsided smile. "I'm sorry for doubting you." Sam whispered, forcing her eyes to stay locked on Mackenzie's to show she meant what she was saying.

Mackenzie smiled at Sam, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly. "I don't blame you. I guess it just hurt when you didn't hear me." She said and Sam's lopsided smile turned into a frown. Her eyes moved down, away from Mackenzie and she shook her head.

"I was just scared of losing you." Sam admitted. She looked back up at Mackenzie and shrugged. "Like I lost Tory."

Mackenzie pushed her lips together to hold back frowning. She looked away from Sam, down by their hands and reached out, grabbing Sam's hand in hers. Mackenzie looked back up to Sam and squeezed, giving her a small smile. "You're not losing me, LaRusso."

Sam let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. Her entire body relaxed at Mackenzie's words and she readjusted their hands so they were more comfortable before she squeezed back.

The two stayed like that for a few seconds before Mackenzie chuckled, looking up at the platform dangling above them before turning back to Sam.

"We should probably get up so no one ends up falling on us." Mackenzie whispered and in seconds, Sam's eyes were as wide as saucers and she was pushing herself and Mackenzie up and off the mats below the platforms.

The two girls walked slowly back to their team, Mackenzie giggling almost the entire way at Sam's sudden eagerness to get away from the platform.

"You two did great! Nice job!" Johnny whispered, patting the girls on the backs as they passed by him. His eyes were glued on the platform still, watching Devon and Eli closely, but Mackenzie appreciated his words nonetheless and stood in between Sam and Demetri.

"Yeah... I'm still afraid of heights." She whispered as she watched as Devon and Eli fight. As the girl fighting Hawk threw punches, Eli grabbed her arms and flipped her onto the ground. Without a second to waste, Eli ran to help Devon. They started to work offense on the boy, hoping he'd get tired of having to fight both of them sooner rather than later.

The girl Eli flipped started to stand and Devon let out a loud scream and ran at the girl starting to run at Eli. Mackenzie watched with wide eyes as Devon wrapped her arms around the girl and sent them both off the ledge.

"Go get them, kid." Johnny breathed out, patting Demetri on the back. As Demetri ran up to the platform, Johnny cupped his hands over his mouth and looked to Devon slowly starting to make way back toward Miyagi-Do. "Nice sacrifice. Badass, Lee!" He cheered.

As soon as Demetri was on the platform, he started to get back in to the center. He and Hawk rammed into each other and even though Mackenzie couldn't hear it from where she stood, she could see the two of them bickering before they started fighting the Dublin Thunders again.

After a couple punches to the chest and a kick in the shin, the boy Demetri was fighting laid on the ground and Demetri ran to help Eli.

Eli wrapped his arms around the boy he was fighting, planning to flip him off of the platform, but just as he turned to face the edge, Demetri kicked the boy in Eli's arms. He started to fall off of the platform, but since Eli was still holding him, Demetri's kick knocked Eli off too.

"Oh shit!" Demetri yelled, running to the edge of the platform to check on Eli.

"Oh... God." Mackenzie muttered, watching as the Dublin Thunder boy still on the platform kicked Demetri in the back, pushing him off the platform. Mackenzie's shoulders slumped and she looked to Sam beside her, shaking her head. "I don't want to be around them for the next few hours. They're gonna fight even more now." She whispered, earning an immediate nod of agreement from Sam.

There was only one person left from each team; Miguel for Miyagi-Do, and the male captain for Dublin Thunder.

Mackenzie was so nervous watching the fight, she barely even processed what was happening. Her eyes stayed mainly glued on Miguel, watching every punch he sent at the boy and every block he used to keep Miyagi-Do in the game.

When Miguel kicked the boy off the platform, Mackenzie was the first to scream for his victory. She turned around to Sam beside her and excitedly wrapped her arms around the girl. The two girls spun in their hug, barely hearing the announcer over their own cheers.

"Incredible performance from Miyagi-Do's Miguel Diaz! His triumphs sends Miyagi-Do to the neat round."

Sam was the one to pull away from their hug. Her hands moved from around Mackenzie and to the blondes hand. "Come on!" Sam yelled, running toward the platform and ultimately tugging Mackenzie with her.

Hawk somehow beat them to the platform from how fast can he run, quickly climbed up the ladder before either of the girls could.

By the time Mackenzie got onto the platform, Hawk had Miguel in his arms and he was spinning him around.

When Hawk put Miguel down, Sam took his place, running up and hugging her boyfriend. From beside them, Eli looked around at his team and when his eyes landed on Mackenzie, he ran at her, crouched down and around out to pick her up.

"Hawk! No! No!" Mackenzie yelped but it was too late, Hawk's arms were around her waist and she was thrown over his shoulder. Mackenzie's stomach twisted in excitement at the thought of them making it to the next round and fear at how high up she was.

When Hawk finally put Mackenzie down, she was somehow laughing. She started to feel more and more people around her until her entire team, minus Robby, were huddled in a group hug.

In the group hug, Mackenzie was right next to Miguel. She grabbed the boys shoulders, making him jump in surprise before he realized it was just Mackenzie. "You fucking did it!" Mackenzie yelled with a laugh.

Miguel chuckled at her excitement. He mimicked her actions, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her crazily. "We fucking did it!" Miguel screamed back before his eyes widened. "Wait, wait, sensei." He yelled frantically, completely forgetting about the group and, grabbing Sam, and pulling her to the edge of the platform.

Everyone immediately understood what Miguel meant and they all moved to the stand with the two of them at the edge so they could bow to Johnny.

Mackenzie couldn't fight the smile on her face. It was starting to hurt, but she didn't care. She couldn't believe she did it and she couldn't focus on anything else. Not her fear of heights, not Axel, not Tory, or her moms death. All she could think about was how Miyagi-Do survived their first elimination round.

emily speaks...
SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT
i've been sick and busy but HERE WE ARE🫡

next chapter is gonna be GOOOOOOOD trust me😼the maxel content will be to die for