Cobra Kai is not a hobby, it's not a club. Cobra Kai is your brothers and your sisters. You are all Cobra Kai for life, because Cobra Kai never dies.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

"Come here, Demetri!"

Demetri darted out of the computer lab and back into the hellscape hallway. Hawk chased immediately after him, and finally grabbed hold of his prey in front of the trophy case by the doors to Building C. He quickly delivered a kick to Demetri's face, followed by a swift punch. But neither knocked him down. Hawk swung in with another punch, but this time Demetri's left arm flew up to block it, leaving Hawk momentarily stunned; when the hell had his old friend learned how to do that?

He tried whaling into Demetri with a barrage of vicious hits, attacks that had no problem previously bringing other people down. The best defense was more offense, and Hawk's strategy was always to tear his opponents apart with brutal, ruthless force before they could get a hit on him. But Demetri absorbed those strikes, too, by guarding his head with his arms, and when Hawk tried kicking him again Demetri reflexively impeded that as well with a prompt downward sweep of his right arm. Even he looked shocked over his own evasive skills.

Hawk was furious. This fight should've been over by now. How was it that Demetri's defense was better than his offense? Was Demetri just toying with him, trying to humiliate him all over again? That thought pissed Hawk off to no end. He'd finish this once and for all.

Rearing back, he threw a forceful punch forward, straight at Demetri's face. But his old friend moved aside at just the right moment to avoid getting his nose broken, catching Hawk in his arms in what felt like an embrace. "No hard feelings," Demetri muttered despondently, before twisting Hawk back around. Eli stumbled on his feet, catching himself just in time to receive a roundhouse kick to the face, sending him crashing into the trophy case behind him. He had enough reflex speed to bring up his arms to his face try and act as a shield as the glass case busted into countless pieces around him by the force of the impact.

And just like that, the fight was actually over. Just not the way he'd expected it. Hawk had lost. He had lost to Demetri, of all people. He was a loser. The thought of that ate at his insides as he rolled over gingerly onto his back, trying to refocus his swimming vision. "Sorry, Eli," apologized Demetri as he walked up beside him.

Hawk tried to glare at his enemy for adding insult to injury by actually apologizing to him for his win. But first he needed his head to stop spinning. He groaned, every muscle aching, as he rolled over onto his hands and knees so he could try and stand up. That was a mistake. A hiss broke through his teeth as the glass scattered all over the floor cut into his palms, and he instinctively curled back on his side, where at least his clothes protected him.

"Here," a voice offered by his side, and a set of arms came down on him. One wrapped around his ribs, the other pulled his left arm over his helper's shoulders and hoisted him up to his feet. It was Demetri again. In his friend's hold, Hawk silently stared at him, his face swollen and unreadable. Why was it always Demetri? How could he possibly still be offering his assistance to Eli now, after everything he'd done to him? Why couldn't Demetri just make things easy and hate him already? Why did he have to give him that sad, sympathetic smile?

The sounds of clamoring among the other students drew Hawk's and Demetri's attention across the way, where Miguel and Robby were fighting it out in their epic rematch. Miguel had Robby scrambling on the floor, kneeing his gut viciously before kicking him into the rail guard. Robby managed to roll so he avoided a front kick. Words were exchanged between them, but Hawk was too far away to hear what was being said; he could hear nothing except the cheers and jeers of the kids around him, and the blood pounding in his ears. But he didn't take his eyes off Miguel.

Robby kicked Miguel back into a wall and pummeled him with punch after punch until Miguel succeeded in blocking one. Miguel gained control over the fight again when he hook-kicked Robby behind the knee, sending him back to the floor. Before the Miyagi-Do student had a chance to counter, Miguel grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind him, putting his other hand behind Robby's shoulder-blades for torque pressure. Miguel had won.

And from where he was observing all of this, Hawk smiled a little, as much as his sore face allowed him to. At least there would be one winner from Cobra Kai that day. And of course it would be Miguel. He was the champ. Just one swift movement, one little push on his part, and Robby's arm would be broken. Then the fight would be over.

He waited for it. And waited. Seconds felt like hours. But Miguel didn't do it. Hawk's brows pinched in confusion as he watched Miguel release his hold on Robby, freeing him. And it clicked: sometimes Cobra Kai showed mercy. Miguel was doing what their Sensei had instructed them to do. He'd already taken off the proverbial headband from Robby, but he wouldn't finish him off.

Hawk did hear the yell that tore out of Robby's throat, that primal scream he unleashed, before he promptly flipped back around and punched Miguel. Hawk couldn't believe it, was Robby actually going to take advantage of Miguel's mercy? What happened to that Miyagi-Do tranquility bullshit? How were they going to yell about how Cobra Kai preached bad things when they themselves would behave so dishonorably? The fucking hypocrites. If he wasn't completely wiped from his own fight, Hawk would've darted over there right at that moment and broke Robby's arm himself.

Both boys leapt back up to their feet, but Robby kicked Miguel behind his knee, sending him falling onto the other. And before Miguel could defend himself, Robby spun around and delivered a side-kick square against his chest. The force of the hit sent Miguel stumbling backwards, where he tipped back over the guard railing. And suddenly, Miguel was gone.

Hawk's heart jumped all the way into his throat when he heard a sickening *thud* land on the stairs below them. His brain stuttered for a second, trying to process what that must have meant. He looked at Demetri, whose cheeks were white as chalk, whose mouth hung agape in shock. Hawk pulled out of his hold, and his friend offered no opposition, walking instead over to the railing with the other students to peer over the side. Hawk's slow steps led him down the stairs, each footfall knocking a wisp of air out of his lungs.

"Robby, what did you do?!" a voice called out. Hawk glanced back up at the rail guard in time to see Robby make a run for it. That severe reaction could only have meant one thing.

Eli's face hardened guardedly when he saw Miguel. He was on his back, arms spread, one of his legs bent at an unnatural angle. Eyes closed. Unresponsive. Eli had to remember how to breathe as the image of his injured friend stunned him. Miguel? Hawk thought he'd called out his name, but his vocal muscles weren't working. His lips were only slightly parted as he tried calling out his friend's name again to stir him. Still, nothing came out.

He knelt down by Miguel's body, careful not to touch him. His friend's face was bruised, but his features were not of someone in pain; it almost looked like he was asleep. Right. Asleep. Right. Out of the side of his vision, Eli saw another person kneeling on the stairs beside them. Sam. Her eyes were as wide as they could possibly be, filled to the brim with tears. She hesitantly unwrapped an arm from around herself and reached it out towards Miguel. Hawk wanted to tell her to stop. They were both stopped, however, by the arrival an an EMT. The clinician pushed Hawk out of the way so he could reach over and check Miguel's pulse.

Everything next happened so fast that Hawk could barely react, and yet time seemed nonexistent anymore. It was like he was caught in a dazed unreality. He watched numbly as the emergency medical technicians gently loaded Miguel onto the gurney and wheeled him away to the waiting ambulance. Was Miguel going to be okay? Hawk needed to know.

The other EMTs, however, said nothing about Miguel as they started rounding up more students who looked injured enough to require a professional examination. Hawk found himself being grabbed by one of them and led outside into another ambulance. He was confused, but offered no resistance. He didn't even think his muscles would work properly if he'd wanted to fight them off. He might as well have been a rag doll by that point.

He couldn't even muster the energy right then to be incensed when he saw that Sam was among the couple of other students also in the truck with him as the vehicle made its way to the hospital. He caught her eyes when she stared at him, and the two of them shared a look. A mutual, nonverbal exchange happened between them. Nothing else mattered right then, they agreed. The feud between their dojos, that could wait. All that mattered then was Miguel.

The second his parents saw him, they were beside themselves with concern and disbelief. It was no small wonder why. Receiving a phone call that their son had been involved in a school brawl and was getting taken to the hospital had to be distressing enough, but actually seeing the damage with their own eyes had to be even worse. Hawk's face was banged up pretty good, the whole right side of it peppered with bruises, swelling, and a shiny black eye. His knuckles were red and blue, and the insides of his palms scratched up. The bridge of his nose had a nasty cut from the broken glass, which the nurse was busily cleaning when his parents were brought into the examination room.

Eli saw their mouths move, heard them making noises, but he didn't comprehend any of it. He was sure they must've been asking him what happened, why it happened, how it could've possibly happened, but he didn't answer any of their questions. He simply sat on the examination table, fingers fumbling absent-mindedly in his lap, eyes cast forward.

Put off by his son's lack of response, Simon Moskowitz turned to the nurse and asked, "Is he alright?"

The nurse finished applying some disinfectant to the cut on Hawk's nose and told the concerned parents, "He's got some bruising to the face and knuckles, those should go away in a few days. He did have some small bits of glass embedded in his palms and on his nose, but thankfully nothing too deep. I don't think he'll need stitches. We'll give him a good look-over and make sure there isn't anymore, but from what I can see, I think he'll be fine."

"What about Miguel?" Hawk asked the nurse for what must've been the fifth time since he was taken to the examination room. Who cared about his injuries? What about Miguel?

His fingers fidgeted more, and even when Hawk tried to will himself to stop the old comforting habit, he found that he couldn't. The more his mind raced with images of Miguel's broken body on those stairs, the more he fussed with his thumbs and fingers. All of his muscles tensed up more stiffly, like someone had wound him tight, like a violin.

"I told you, I really can't say anything," replied the nurse, tossing the gauze in his hand into the nearby trash bin. Looking up at the Moskowitzes, he explained, "Several of the kids were brought in from the school. I've told him I can't disclose the status of other patients to anyone who isn't family."

Eli finally looked at his parents. His voice caught in his throat as he told them in only the simple way he could manage at that moment, "Miguel got hurt really bad. He was pushed off the stairs, he hit his back. He wouldn't wake up. He's hurt really bad! They won't tell me anything! Make them tell me!" His mom and dad just looked at one another helplessly, unable to give him what he wanted. What good were they, if they couldn't help him with this?

God, his friend was in actual danger of dying, wasn't he? Miguel could've been dying right at that moment, just a quick walk down the hallway, and not a single damn person in that hospital would tell him anything. But Miguel couldn't die. He was the best of them. He was the champion. He was Cobra Kai, and Cobra Kai never died.

When the nurse tried reaching out to brush something on his nose, Hawk viciously smacked it out of the nurse's hand, sending the thing clattering to the floor. "What about Miguel?!" he shouted, a deep glower falling over his face. "Someone fucking tell me!"

"Eli, enough!" exclaimed his father in exasperation, his nerves completely shot over the whole situation.

The nurse didn't appear too upset by the outburst, trained as he was in dealing with all sorts of emotional responses from his patients. Keeping his cool, he pulled out another vial of the same ointment from the drawer, and looked up at Eli's parents to explain to them, "I need him to not move around, so I can put some liquid bandage on his cut."

Ruth Moskowitz moved to her son's side and, conjuring a calming tone that belied the look of complete anxiety on her face, told him, "I know you're worried about Miguel. But the nurse needs to help you first. I'm sure someone will let us know how Miguel is doing the moment they're able to. But for now, please, just let the nurse take care of you."

Hawk only half-understood what she was saying to him. All he knew was that no one was going to tell him about Miguel's status, whether he'd woken up, whether he was even still alive or not. How was it right that he and Miguel were in the same building, so close to each other, but he was completely in the dark about his friend's current state? He knew it had to be awful. No one just walked off a broken spine. His friend was hurt so bad, and Eli could do nothing to help him. Of what use were all of his badass karate skills if he couldn't even save his best friend?

Such sobering thoughts sedated him long enough for the nurse to apply the liquid bandage, sealing the cut on his nose. "There, not looking too bad now," said the nurse, standing up from his seat to go retrieve more supplies from the counter. "I'll need you to remove your shirt so we can check to see if any broken glass was embedded in your back or shoulders." Eli couldn't comprehend the words he'd been told. They were all starting to sound jumbled, like white noise. Why wouldn't this guy just tell him how Miguel was doing? Who gave a shit about confidentiality and disclosure laws?

He tensed when he felt his mother touch his arm. "Honey, the nurse said he needs you to take off your shirt," she repeated.

"What?" he asked, still not understanding. He watched his parents share a concerned look, like they were worried that maybe he'd suffered some sort of concussion, but it wasn't until his father reached under the hem of his shirt and tried pulling it up did it finally register what was going on. And Hawk panicked once he realized. His tattoos. His parents were going to see his tattoos. They were going to kill him if that happened. "No!" he shouted, reflexively shoving his father away from him.

Simon Moskowitz grunted as he was pushed into the nearby counter, barely avoiding hitting the nurse, knocking over the box of gloves and container of cotton swabs that were sitting precariously there. His wife cupped her hands to her mouth in shock.

Unaware of the severity of what he'd just done, Eli slid off the examination table and curled his arms up to shield himself, burying his face in his hands to block out the sights around him. His eyes were stinging so bad. Don't cry. Don't be a fucking pussy. Miguel needed him to be tough, he needed him to be strong and confident Hawk, not Eli the whimpering sissy. Hawk slapped his forehead to drive it home. Don't fucking cry! He kept hitting himself, hoping it would make the message stick, like it alone would relieve the pressure and stop the hot tears from pooling in his eyes. But it only made it worse, some of the sobs still escaped.

And the sight of him slapping himself over and over only raised his parents' panic. "Stop hurting yourself," his father pleaded to him, reaching out his hands to grab his wrists in an effort to get him to cease the action. "What's the matter with you?" Hawk managed to get out of his hold again, using the skills he'd learned in karate, and he pushed his father back away. Why couldn't they understand what he was trying to tell them?

Ruth, heart-wrenched at seeing her son in such distress, tried to calm him down the best way she knew how. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a comforting hug. "Calm down," she told him, rubbing his back soothingly. "I know things are scary now, but it's going to be okay."

But Hawk wrenched himself out of her hold too and he yelled back, "No!" Didn't any of them understand? Miguel's life was on the line! Nothing was ever going to be okay again until someone helped him! Why weren't any of them doing anything to help Miguel? Why were they all standing in this room doing nothing? Someone had to help Miguel!

"Calm down, Eli!" his mother shouted painfully this time, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks from distress, trying again to wrap her arms around him.

Hawk slapped her hands away. Why was everyone trying to put their hands on him? Snapping his eyes shut, Eli gripped the sides of his head and screamed. "Shut up! Leave me alone!" It was like he'd lost complete control of himself. Whereas in the past, Eli would seclude himself somewhere private to have a breakdown and cry his eyes out, Hawk erupted like a volcano. It was worse than ever. He couldn't stand it. It felt like it was the end of the world. His whole body was quivering, like it was a string someone had plucked.

The nurse walked gingerly around Hawk, hands raised out non-threateningly, keeping a safe distance. He stepped beside the Moskowitzes and asked them, "Is your son autistic?"

Ruth looked bewildered and then embarrassed by the question for a moment before answering, "Doctor Cohen told us he might have Asperger's, but he doesn't normally act like this."

Her husband added, "He's only been lashing out the last couple of months."

"Okay, well he's currently having a meltdown," explained the nurse calmly. "I advise you to just give him some space. Let's step outside and talk. Let him know that. Don't worry, we'll keep the door open, he can't hurt himself with anything in here." His parents hesitantly did as they were instructed, telling their son in small words that they were stepping out of the room, but that they would be right outside. His mother had to be practically dragged from the room, looking over her shoulder at her son, overwhelmed with grief that nothing she did seemed to be helping him.

Eli barely registered any of what they said, keeping his head covered in his hands, eyes snapped shut and teeth grinding. At least no one was talking to him now. But he still felt suffocated. He wanted to crawl out of his skin, it was so bad. Everything was so raw and exposed, and the walls were closing in around him. He was trapped in that room. He needed to get out, he needed to escape from all of this shit. He needed to get somewhere safe.

When Eli opened his eyes, he saw his parents talking with the nurse outside in the hallway. He didn't think about it. He just bolted. Hawk ran out of the room and made a sharp right turn in the hallway, sprinting away fast from the problem.

"Eli!" his parents called out. His father tried to run after him, but an ill-timed medic pulled out an empty gurney from another room, blocking him off, giving Hawk enough time to make a beeline for the door that led to the stairway. He practically leapt down whole flights, his heart racing a mile a minute. The fear was in the back of his mind, that he was being chased, and he had to escape them before they brought him back there.

He busted out the exit door into the parking garage, and ran around the cars coming and going into the hospital. His brain was in survivor mode, it scrambled to keep his reflexes sharp. It at least kept his feet moving so that he left the garage and made his way onto the street.

The sunlight momentarily blinded him, and his lungs were practically screaming as he gulped for air. He couldn't stop now, though. So Hawk ran down the sidewalk, fingers curled into fists that would swing forward with his arms to propel him faster. His lungs and heart tried to pump enough oxygen into his exhausted limbs, working with him so they could get him away and somewhere he'd be safe.

The phone in his pocket started going off. Call after call. Texts one right after the other. Hawk didn't think about them. He kept running, faster than he'd ever ran in his entire life, as quickly as his feet could carry him, worried for sure someone was still in pursuit after him. He zigzagged through streets, pushing any bystanders out of his way. He raced across a pedestrian crosswalk, heedless of the car trying to make a right turn. The driver slammed on the brakes, avoiding a last-second collision, and blared his horn. Hawk cringed at the sudden loud noise, and slammed his palms on the hood of the car in rage before taking off towards his destination again.

He ran for what must have been over half an hour straight, longer than he'd ever ran at one time, his mind on a single goal. Finally, he could see it in his line of vision: the Cobra Kai dojo. At spotting the strip mall, a wave of relief flooded through Hawk, leaving him all at once drained from head to toe. The imminent crisis had passed, because at last he was somewhere familiar now. Only then did he pull his cellphone out of his pocket.

Over fifteen calls and thirty texts from his mom and dad. His shoulders slumped, and Eli hung his head in shame. He'd really done it this time. And he had no idea why he'd acted the way he did. It was just too much to handle back there. But there was no way his parents would get it. Sooner or later he'd have to face them, and that felt like a doomsday clock hanging over his head. He was such an awful son. His parents would be well within their rights to hate him. He didn't deserve their love.

Putting the phone away, Hawk walked towards Cobra Kai. Just what he planned on doing once he managed to get to the dojo, Eli had no clue. He didn't have any endgame in mind when he took off, all he'd known was that he'd feel better once he got there. And while he didn't exactly feel better, he did at least feel safer as he saw the silhouettes of the painted karate figures on the windows as he stepped up to the place.

Maybe Sensei Lawrence was inside. Maybe Hawk could talk with him. Did his instructor know what had happened at the school, had anybody contacted him? Had he heard that Miguel was hurt? Would he know what to do? Eli was so lost, he felt so powerless, he hoped Sensei Lawrence would be able to provide him some guidance.

When he walked up towards the door, however, he spotted another figure sitting down in front of it, on the curb.

Tory.

She looked like the loneliest person on the planet right then. The girl had a small cut on the corner of her lip, and a bruise above her left eyebrow, but that wasn't why her face looked so wretched. She'd been crying, it was clear from the redness in her cheeks, the way her makeup was completely ruined. How long had she been sitting there? Had she come there, too, because it was safe?

When she looked up at him, Hawk could tell from Tory's face that she was worried he was going to blow up at her. Had the other kids at school done the same? After all, she was the one who started the fight with Sam, the one who'd escalated the tension between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do to the breaking point where both sides finally broke down and brawled. Would Hawk blame her for how things had turned out? Would he start screaming at her for doing something so reckless and brazen, for getting so many of them hurt?

A part of him thought about it as he stared down at her, his features stiff and unreadable. Hawk wanted to blame someone. But Tory looked so lonely, so absolutely abandoned. Her wet eyes practically pleaded for help on their own. And Eli found that he couldn't be furious with her. He understood Tory's anger; he, more than anyone else, could understand why she'd done what she did. Tory was an alpha, a girl who'd fought for every little thing that was hers in life. If she didn't stand up for herself against Sam, who'd tried stealing Miguel away from her, what kind of alpha would she have been then?

It wasn't Tory's fault. She loved Miguel as much as Hawk did, she never would have wanted to see the fight end with him being critically harmed.

Sitting down beside her, Eli softened his expression, which put Tory more at ease. Taking a few unsteady breaths, she brushed her hair out of her eyes, asking him softly, "Is he…?"

"I don't know," answered Hawk honestly.

Tory almost fell apart at hearing him say those words. Wrapping her hands over her arms, she curled into herself and sobbed. Her shoulders shook with her unguarded emotion, and her wails were heartbreaking to hear, moving the boy beside her. Eli wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling Tory in close. Seeking the comfort freely given, she leaned into the warmth of his side, crying into his shirt. "I'm so sorry," she confessed between her deep, shaking breaths. "I never meant…Oh God, he's gonna…please don't let him die!"

Her emotions touched Eli to tears, as much as he tried to hold them back. They were both completely helpless, utterly miserable and alone, desperate for Miguel to get better. He didn't stop her when she wrapped her arms around his chest, drawing him in closer. She needed to be held, she needed to hold someone, she needed both. Neither meant anything deeper by it. They were just two kids, angry at the world, finding a moment's solace in each other's company on behalf of their fallen friend.

A sudden clinging of bells startled them. Both Hawk and Tory turned to look over their shoulders, expecting to see Sensei Lawrence step out of the dojo.

But it wasn't him.

It was Sensei Kreese.

Clad in his black gi, the King Cobra stood there, outside the door, and stared down at the two teenagers on the curb, crossing his arms ominously. His eyes locked in on the bruises and cuts on the students' faces, assessing the situation quickly. "Was there a fight?" he asked. No starting things off with where he had been since Sensei Lawrence kicked him out, or how he was even back at Cobra Kai. There was no time for that at the moment. All of that could wait.

Nodding, Hawk stood up and addressed him. "Y-Yes, Sensei. We fought Miyagi-Do at school, all of us. They w-wo…W-We los…." He couldn't bring himself to form the words to admit that all of the students of Cobra Kai had been defeated by their counterparts from Miyagi-Do. Not a single one of them had come out the winner, the battle had been a massacre. He couldn't confess that to Sensei Kreese, not with the way he was looking at him. "Miguel's hurt, Sensei," he said instead. "He hurt's real bad."

Sensei Kreese's face pinched the slightest at hearing that news. "How did it happen?"

Eli couldn't keep from crying as he explained, "He was fighting Robby Keene. Miguel had him pinned, he had the fight in the bag. But when he let him go, Robby attacked him, he kicked Miguel off the rails, over the stairs. Miguel hit his back. He's really bad, Sensei. We don't know whether or not he's going to make it, nobody will tell us."

Processing this information, Sensei Kreese nodded solemnly. Hawk admired his ability to hold himself together, to keep so composed, because he himself was currently failing miserably at that. His instructor's brows creased tighter, however, when he asked, "Why did he let Keene go?"

Hawk looked over his shoulder down at Tory, hoping maybe she would take over. But the girl was almost mute by this point, still curled into herself, trying to control how hard her sobs wracked her chest as she wept. Having no choice, Hawk turned back to Sensei Kreese and told him the truth. "Miguel…He…He wanted to show mercy to Robby." He snapped his eyes shut at saying this, clenching his teeth at the memory, and his cheeks were so heated as tears dripped down his chin.

Sensei Kreese took a step closer to Hawk and glared down at him with his gruff features, thick eyebrows furrowed harshly at the bridge of his nose; his student could feel him, the sheer force of his presence, he could hear his steady breathing. The King Cobra studied Hawk's face for a long moment before asking in a low, hostile timbre, "Are those tears?"

Eli's cheeks heated even more, this time from shame. Opening his eyes, he raised a shaky hand and wiped the offending tears from them with the heel of his palm. "I'm sorry, Sensei," he apologized, and tried to force his bottom lip to stop trembling.

Seeing the boy struggling to pull himself together, Sensei Kreese told him, "The moment those tears leave your eyes, you lose. And you're not a loser, are you?"

Hawk sniffed hard, taking a couple deep breaths, swallowing his upset feelings back down his throat, like a snake would swallow its food whole. "No, Sensei," he answered, jutting his quivering chin out in defiance, earning him a hard smile from the King Cobra. From where she was sitting, Tory also took the opportunity to start wiping the tears from her eyes, steeling her resolve so she wouldn't disappoint their teacher, either.

Sensei Kreese reached out a calloused hand and put it on Hawk's shoulder; the boy tensed, but did not remove it. "It pains me to hear what happened to Diaz," said the old man. "His loyalty to Sensei Lawrence's teachings was admirable. It's such a shame he'd be the one hurt most by Sensei Lawrence's change of heart about what Cobra Kai stands for, what it has always stood for."

Hawk's heart thumped harder in his chest. He didn't even notice Tory standing up and walking over beside him. "Sensei?" he could only breathe out.

"Sensei Lawrence has been confused, and I've allowed him to mislead you kids for too long; out of my fondness for him, I admit," said Sensei Kreese, crossing his arms again. "But I'm sure he never meant for any of you to get seriously hurt because of his erroneous instructions. It was just…negligence on his part that he taught you weakness."

The truth of what he said weighed heavily on Hawk, turning his insides cold. An angry scowl darkened his face. Inside him, the rage churned. Sensei Kreese was right. This was Sensei Lawrence's fault. Miguel had beaten Robby at the All-Valley Tournament, when Cobra Kai had preached that its enemies did not deserve mercy. He only lost this time because Sensei Lawrence muddied things up by teaching them to be weak. He had set them up to fail. Miguel would've won the fight, he would be standing there with his friends right now, he wouldn't be strapped on an ER table possibly dying if Sensei Lawerence hadn't filled his head with that sometimes-show-mercy bullshit. Miguel had trusted Sensei Lawrence completely, it wasn't fair that he paid the most for his loyalty.

It made Eli so angry. It stirred up months of repressed resentment, bitterness he'd tried packing away because Sensei Lawrence had been the man who turned him into Hawk. But it all came spilling out now, like blood from a fresh, deep cut. Eli seethed at remembering the times Sensei had humiliated him unfairly in front of the class; he was so mad about the instances he'd put him in danger, how he'd gotten him bit by a junkyard dog just to prove a point; he was beyond frustrated with how Sensei never just explained things clearly to him, when he wasn't withholding information entirely, how he instead left Hawk to decipher his bullshit metaphors; and he hated Sensei Lawrence for mocking his facial deformity, for ever having called him Lip.

And now Sensei had gotten his best friend critically injured. He stole Miguel's future as a badass karate champion. He'd be lucky if Miguel didn't die.

Denied the outlet of releasing his grief, Eli let the fury of the Hawk swallow him whole again. It calmed him down. It was so familiar by now, like stepping into a well-worn shoe. Hate smoldered in his narrowed avian eyes when he looked back at Sensei Kreese, who gave him a solemn nod.

"Don't worry," he told his students. "I'm stepping in to get Cobra Kai back on track. And I will never let you lose again." He saw the vulnerable desperation in Hawk's and Tory's faces, their desperate need for someone to swoop in and make things better at their darkest hour. Now, more than ever before, they were truly ready for his teachings, now that they knew what was at stake. "You will get your chance to avenge your fellow soldier sooner than you think. And you will be ready, I'll make sure of it. Miyagi-Do may have won the battle, but Cobra Kai will win the war. Defeat does not exist in this dojo, does it?"

"No, Sensei," answered Hawk and Tory in unison.

Sensei Kreese's white teeth flashed behind his smile at hearing their response. Turning around, he opened the door to the Cobra Kai dojo for them. Hawk stepped in first, ready to learn whatever his instructor had to teach him. At last, he was somewhere safe.

Nobody was ever going to hurt him again.

(A/N: Thanks to everyone who supported this fic! If you enjoyed it, please shoot a comment and let me know.)