Strike Last
A/N: Hey there, everyone! I just finished watching Cobra Kai Season 2, and I gotta say, I really enjoyed it. I may just be a sucker for Karate Kid stuff, but I really like the direction that the show is taking. And as the name implies, I impulsively wrote a little story about my favorite recurring character in the series: Chris (I don't know his last name). For those who don't know who I'm talking about, Chris is one of the guys that joins Cobra Kai and gets picked on by Hawk with his friend Mitch. Chris then leaves Cobra Kai and joins Miyagi-Do later on, even though his friend Mitch stays in Cobra Kai. But enough intro! Let's get right into the story! Remember that I own nothing!
"I'm not gonna throw the first punch."
"Too bad."
Chris had already known then and there that Mitch wasn't his friend anymore, but still, that had hurt. That had hurt a lot. Mitch had been his friend for as long as he could remember, but Sensei Kreese had dug deep into his head, and as a result, all Mitch had seen him as was an enemy. The opportunity to talk had hit the road, and all that could've stopped Mitch was force. Chris remembered looking to his right and seeing a similar mindset as the two warring Karate Dojos brawled in the hallway.
He had looked back just in time to dodge Mitch's right haymaker. The force of the punch had left Mitch wide open, and Chris had made his decision. It was on.
That is what he remembered most about yesterday.
Today, Chris was in detention. All those who were involved in the brawl yesterday who weren't recovering in the hospital or excused by their parents were forced in an empty classroom for the entire day. In total, there were thirteen of them. Chris recognized his friends from Miyagi-Do, as well as a few familiar faces from Cobra Kai. In particular, Chris saw that both Demetri and Hawk, or Eli, as his name apparently was, were present. Hawk would not stop scowling at Demetri and had been since they had been escorted into the classroom that morning. Demetri was obviously uncomfortable with the situation and would constantly fidget and look everywhere but in the direction his mohawked adversary. Chris shook his head in disdain.
He couldn't believe that he used to idolize Hawk. When he had first joined Cobra Kai with Mitch, Chris had even opened the door for Hawk out of respect, but it all had gone to his head, and he had treated Mitch and Chris with contempt and arrogance in return. That had set the tone for the rest of the time that Chris had been involved with Cobra Kai. Hawk and the rest of the Cobras made it a point to treat Chris and Mitch with nothing but disrespect. At first, Chris let it slide. He had falsely assumed that it was because he was new. But as the summer continued, Chris quickly realized that the hostile Cobra Kai mentality extended to more than just newcomers. He had witnessed it firsthand when Hawk had threatened Demetri over his Yelp review. Hawk's own best friend was now his worst enemy.
Apparently though, Demetri had laid the smackdown on Hawk yesterday during the fight. That was no small feat, and Chris felt a twinge of satisfaction at how far his new friend had come. He had beaten his bully, and Chris was relieved to finally see that Demetri had something going for him.
Chris's smile fell when he turned yet again and saw Mitch sitting in the front row next to Hawk. He realized the same thing that happened to Demetri and Hawk had now happened him and Mitch. Two friends, now torn apart because of Cobra Kai.
Chris sighed and shook his head, thinking back to the conversation he and Mitch had before deciding to join Cobra Kai. He remembered his exact words.
"Yo Mitch, I hear Cobra Kai has training today. Maybe we should go down there and check it out."
"Yeah man. Did you see that mohawk guy kick that dude in the face at the tournament? I bet nobody messes with him after that."
"Yeah, and did you see all the girls that were looking at him? Man, I bet they'll be hanging off us if we join."
"And if we have Karate, we can do whatever we want! Nobody will mess with us, and if they do, we will beat em down."
"Hey man, we don't have to go looking for fights or anything. Like you said, nobody will want to fight us."
"But maybe we could make an example of them, remind others just who they're messing with."
Chris had worried about Mitch after that, and his worries had proven warranted as time went on. Mitch had grown colder, becoming more aggressive in his actions and taking pride in beating down others. As a result, the two grew farther apart, and it had all come to a climax after Miyagi-Do had been trashed. Chris had been fairly certain that Mitch had been one of the guys behind it and came to the decision that he didn't like what Mitch had become.
When Mr. LaRusso came into the Dojo and confronted Sensei Lawrence about it, that had been the final straw. Chris had had enough, and he was the first one to leave Cobra Kai after that, with many others following his lead. Mitch had confronted him about it, but it wasn't enough to change his mind.
After that, Chris had joined up with Miyagi-Do Karate. If he was being honest, he wasn't even sure if they would let him in after the mall incident. It took some warming up, but Chris was eventually accepted into their group, and after spending about a week with them, he learned just how much better Karate could be. In fact, he was quickly learning just how much better he could be as well. Mr. LaRusso was right when he said that Cobra Kai sold power. It was intoxicating in a way. But that was all they sold. Miyagi-Do, as an alternative, wasn't just about fighting. It was about learning to bring everything in your life into harmony, about learning balance, focus, integrity, and literally everything else that made you a better person. Chris began to wonder how he had ever lived without it. The lessons were free too, which was a major plus in Chris's mind.
As Chris continued to mull over the difference between the two Karate styles, he came to another realization. Cobra Kai's first mantra was "Strike First", a tenant that Chris could never fully accept. On one hand, he agreed with it. Sometimes people got hurt if you didn't take action first, but on the other hand, that mantra was the whole reason for the school fight in the first place. Tory had issued a challenge to Sam over the intercom and had not given Sam much of a choice but to fight against her. Robby and Miguel had joined in as well, and that had led the two Dojos into going all out against each other. So, when was it ok to strike first? Who got to decide?
Miyagi-Do was all about learning to fight so that you wouldn't have to. The idea was that no one would want to fight you since you knew Karate. But Cobra Kai was like the anti-Miyagi-Do. The philosophy of it may not have explicitly stated it, but it implied that Cobra Kai was to be seen as the apex predator, and any who threatened it needed to be knocked down a peg or two. Training to fight only made you more of a target. Chris knew that Miyagi-Do didn't exist to challenge Cobra Kai, but that hardly mattered. To people like Hawk, and now Mitch, people like Chris and Demetri were a rebellion that challenged their rule.
With two mindsets like that, Chris realized that if the superiority complex embedded in Cobra Kai didn't go away, then the two Dojos wouldn't stop fighting until only one was left standing. That was a war that Chris wanted no part of.
War. Just thinking about the word made Chris think about Sensei Kreese and his old war stories. Chris had barely listened to them during his time at Cobra Kai, but the ones he had listened to sounded shaky at best. And yet, Sensei Kreese had told his stories of war and glory with such passion, as though killing warlords in some third-world country was something to be proud of. Chris never liked hearing those stories, and he added that to the list of the reasons why he left Cobra Kai. If Sensei Lawrence had told stories like that, Chris probably would have left long before he did.
Chris had been so engrossed in his own thoughts that he had lost track of time. Eventually, the bell rang to signal the end of the day, and the students were dismissed from detention. Both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do glared at each other before going separate ways down the halls. Chris was the last one out.
As he stepped outside behind the school, Chris looked up just in time to duck under a wild haymaker that suddenly appeared in his vision. He quickly scrambled backward to regain his footing, and saw Mitch staring at him with venom in his eyes. His former friend had his fists raised, ready to throw another punch at any second.
Chris threw his hands up in surrender.
"Look, man. I don't wanna do this. It doesn't have to go down this way."
"Like hell it doesn't," Mitch spat back. Chris saw that Mitch had a fresh scrape on his chin from yesterday, among a few other bruises as well.
"One of your guys put Miguel in the hospital. He might die because of you."
Chris shook his head, "It was an accident man! Robbie didn't mean to…"
"Then why did he run away?" Mitch shouted. Chris saw that he was still enraged about what happened to Miguel yesterday, and he took a half-step back to try and calm him down.
"I don't know, man! But I know Robby would never want to hurt Miguel like that."
"Bullshit!"
Chris felt his own anger rise within him. He clenched his fists at his side.
"Yeah? And what about Tory, huh? She suddenly gets a free pass for using bladed knuckles on Sam?"
"She probably deserved it! Whatever she did!"
Chris tried to reel himself in. He didn't want to fight anymore. He didn't want another person to end up hurt because of this. He unclenched his hands and held them out in a placating gesture.
"Look, Mitch. I don't wanna fight you, man. I don't wanna to fight anyone. If we keep doing this, more people are going to get hurt. It's gonna go both ways, man."
Mitch sneered.
"The only ones that are going to get hurt is you Miyagi-Do pussies. Sensei Kreese got rid of that weakling, Lawrence, and now he's going to teach us true Karate! Nothing your bullshit Miyagi-Do could even touch."
Chris wanted to say something, but he was taken aback. Sensei Lawrence got kicked out by Kreese? What did that mean?
"You've got a choice to make, man." Mitch continued. "You can either fight me right now, or I'll beat you where you stand."
It was then that Chris saw just how much Mitch had really changed. He had turned into a monster. One fueled by rage and vengeance that would only stop when he had his fill. Chris briefly considered running away as a viable option. He had always been faster than Mitch and could probably lose him after a minute or two. But then what? Was he just supposed to run away every single day for the rest of the year, or maybe even longer? No, Chris decided that the only way to get through to Mitch was with his fists.
Chris took a deep breath, looked his friend in the eye, and raised his fists into a combat stance.
Mitch grinned vilely in response.
"No economics textbook to save you now. It's about time I showed you what you've been missing out on."
"You still talking, man?" Chris asked.
Mitch growled in response and charged at Chris, bringing his arm back for a powerful right hook. Chris parried the blow then squarely blocked Mitch's left follow-up punch before countering with a hard jab to Mitch's sternum. Mitch might have been angry, but he was still predictable.
Mitch recovered and spun around to kick Chris to the ground like he had yesterday, but Chris wasn't about to let that happen to him again. As Mitch raised his foot to kick, Chris ducked down and swept Mitch's legs out from underneath him, knocking him flat on his back.
Mitch gasped as the wind was knocked out of his lungs by the landing, and Chris was on him in a second, raining down blows as Mitch breathlessly struggled to defend himself. After landing a few solid hits, Chris jumped off Mitch and fell back into his stance, ready to counter Mitch's next move.
Mitch slowly rose to his feet, breathing heavily and staggering. His nose was bleeding, and there were a few new bruises beginning to form on his face. Chris quickly tensed up, drawing his fist back for a haymaker to Mitch's head, but he stopped himself as Mitch weakly raised an arm in an attempt to block the blow. His movements were tired and sluggish, and Chris saw that Mitch now had little to no stamina left. Chris could have beaten him to a pulp right now, and Mitch would have been powerless to stop him.
Chris looked at his former friend for a moment, then shook his head and lowered his arm.
Mitch frowned at him.
"What? We're not done yet!" he said, wincing as he sloppily fell into a stance.
"C'mon man," Chris said. "You can barely stand right up right now."
Mitch growled at him but stayed where he was. They both knew there was nothing left in the tank.
"Just look at this, man! Look what's happened to us! Can't you see that the only winning move is not to play?"
Chris then began backing away across the yard. He was done.
Mitch watched him for a second, then yelled and seemed to summon the last of his strength. Yelling the whole way, he charged once more at Chris, who easily sidestepped the rushing bull and pushed him in the direction he had been charging. The excess force toppled Mitch off his balance, and he stumbled for a second before falling down into the grass.
Mitch struggled again to his feet, but Chris had already jogged away from him. He was already almost gone around the corner of the school.
Chris knew Mitch had no energy left to give chase, but apparently, he still had enough to yell at him as he jogged away.
"This isn't over, Chris! Sensei Kreese is gonna tear your Dojo to pieces, you hear me? We aren't gonna stop! You're dead!"
That hurt far more than any punch Mitch could have thrown at Chris. His former best friend now turned his worst enemy. Chris could barely stand looking at him.
As Chris continued walking away, Mitch continued to shout threats and profanities behind him, and Chris came to the begrudging realization that there was no way he could get through to Mitch, or for that matter, anyone in Cobra Kai. Not while Kreese was running the Dojo. And that meant that there was no hope for peace, not while one Dojo still stood against the other. The Cobra Kai would never back down, and that meant war. A war Chris never wanted to be a part of, but one that he knew that he had to fight. If he quit Miyagi-Do, the Cobras would hunt him down anyway. And even if they beat him to a pulp, what then? Would they stop? Chris honestly doubted it.
No, Chris had no choice but to learn better Karate so that he could defend himself and his friends. He had to. If they got hurt because he was too weak to defend them, then that was on him. He wouldn't let that happen.
But Chris also made himself a promise: He would never strike first, no matter what the scenario. He would always give his opponent the chance to walk away. If he didn't, then he was no better than the Cobras he was fighting, and then what became the point?
Chris had finally figured it out. He finally knew the answer to if one should strike first or not. The answer was that it didn't matter. It wasn't important who struck first because they both would end up fighting anyway. No, the part that did matter was who struck last? Who had bested their opponent enough to land the blow to end all blows? The final strike that determined the victor in combat. Yes, that was what mattered. And with that, Chris added to his promise: "He would never strike first, but he would always strike last."
No matter what.
A/N: Alright! I know it's not long, but sometimes I can't help but write these little stories to add my input. I really enjoy expanding on background characters as well because the show doesn't, and I just really want to see more of them, so I make more! Haha! Anyway, as always, be sure to drop a review detailing your praise/disdain for the story. I love all forms of criticism, and hope to hear from you guys. Until next time.
-ImpulsiveWeaver