When the final bell rang, Hawk strolled down the hallway, passing his soccer ball between his hands until he got to his locker. Setting it down at his feet, he did the quick right-left-right of his combination. As soon as he opened it, reaching in to grab the books he'd need for that night's homework assignments, his peripheral vision made him do a double-take when his eyes spotted something that definitely hadn't been there last period.

Someone had taped a yellow piece of paper on the back of his locker door. On it was a drawing of a cobra, coiled around its prey, mouth open and fangs bared. On closer inspection, he realized the prey was a hawk, his hawk, with its red crest and everything. And if the intent behind that wasn't obvious enough, the crude words written below it broadcasted the message loud and clear:

bye bye birdie

Hawk's head darted up, scanning around him to see if the culprit was still nearby. And he was.

Kyler and his crew were congregated further down the hall, laughing with each other. His old teammates must've been waiting for him to find this, to see his reaction, because when Kyler caught him looking in their direction, he reacted with a smile and a wink, shooting him a finger-gun.

Scowling, Hawk ripped the paper from his locker and crumbled it into a ball, stuffing it in his backpack, along with the books he'd been there for.

"Hey, Hawk!"

"Sup," greeted Hawk, shutting his locker door as Miguel walked up to him. Pushing the menacing message he'd received to the back of his mind, he bent down to grab his soccer ball and asked, "Hey, after practice did you wanna head over to the park and maybe kick the ball around?"

"Sounds fun, but I was actually gonna ask about after practice," said Miguel, shifting his backpack's weight over one of his shoulders. "Once the lesson's done, can you and me do some one-on-one at the dojo?"

Hawk grinned. "Sure!" He and Miguel hadn't sparred together since they were both still at Cobra Kai. The thought of getting to practice with him again made Hawk feel lighter than air. His giddiness, however, was tempered by the seriousness in Miguel's voice when he asked him that. "The others aren't giving you much of a challenge, huh?" he asked. "That's why you're coming to the Hawk."

Miguel huffed, stuffing his hands into his track pants. Judging by his frown and the way his eyebrows were practically knitted together, he looked like he was at his limits. "You saw what happened on Friday in the fighting circle. And didn't you think it was weird Sensei never picked you to come at me?"

Hawk twirled the ball in his hands. It hadn't escaped his notice that the others, especially from Miyagi-Do, were going easy on Miguel, but he hadn't thought it was significant at the time that Sensei Lawrence hadn't ever selected him to attack Miguel in the circle. "Do you think it was on purpose? Why though?"

"Because you're the only one who won't hold back, especially if I ask you not to," declared Miguel, squaring his shoulders back. "And that's what I'm asking you right now. I wanna fight you. And I mean a real fight."

Hawk's mouth dried, his previous enthusiasm starting to wane even as he forced the smile to stay on his face. "Wait, you mean like a street fight?"

"I mean like a Cobra Kai fight. It's the only way to find out if I'm ready to face them yet." Miguel's determination couldn't be ignored. He was serious.

Before either of them could say anything else, a voice shouted, "Get the hell out of our way, nerd!"

Miguel and Hawk glanced down the hallway in time to see Kyler smack Nathaniel's stack of books out of his hands as he passed by him, sending them flying to the floor. Miguel's fists clenched in his pockets. He knew the Cobras wouldn't keep to the truce. And they were only more likely to get bolder the closer they got to the All-Valley Tournament.

Trudging over to the Cobras, Hawk right behind him, Miguel stepped between Kyler and Nate, giving the younger boy a chance to kneel to the ground and pick up his books. "Just can't keep your hands to yourself until the All-Valley, can you?" Miguel remarked, narrowing his eyes.

Kyler snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Get your eyes checked, Rhea. The little nerd walked right into us. Not our fault he's a klutz."

"Shut your lying face, dickhead!" Nate called out from where he was squatting.

"What'd you say to me?" challenged Kyler, taking a threatening step towards the Miyagi-Do student, making Nate flinch. But Miguel cut him off again. Kyler looked about ready to check him for that, so Hawk, dropping his soccer ball without hesitation, shoved Kyler back. The other Cobras stood up straight, suddenly alert and ready to back up their teammate at the first signal things were about to get serious.

But Kyler held up a hand to quell them. "Remember what Sensei said," he reminded.

Miguel scoffed at that. For good measure, he closed the gap and got up in Kyler's face as close as he could, short of actually touching him, sending the message that nothing he did could intimidate him. "This is your warning now: back off."

"Why don't you strike first and make me?" Kyler taunted back, harsh grin spreading over his mouth. "Oh, that's right, you pussies at Chickenshit Karate don't do that anymore, do you?" There was no way things wouldn't erupt between their dojos before the Tournament. Miguel was sure of that now, and it only strengthened his resolve that he needed to see if he was ready to handle their style of ruthlessness.

For the moment, though, he tried to keep Sensei Lawrence's wishes in mind, to keep as much distance between Eagle Fang and Cobra Kai as possible. One day Kyler would get what was coming to him again. But now wasn't the time.

So, letting out a harsh breath, Miguel turned around and asked Nate, "You okay?" He did his best to ignore the hoots and jeers of Kyler and the other Cobras as they mocked him for being the bigger man, trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible. It wasn't easy. He hated the sound of Kyler's contemptuous laughter so much.

"I'm fine," muttered Nate, sticking his last book in his backpack and zipping it up.

"Let's just get out of here," Miguel suggested to Nate and Hawk, who reached down to pick up his soccer ball.

But when the three of them headed towards the stairs, Hawk stopped. He still had one more thing to take care of. "I forgot something in my locker," he told Miguel. "Go on, I'll see you guys at the dojo."

While Miguel and Nate continued walking downstairs, Hawk flipped his backpack from over his shoulder. Stuffing his soccer ball on top of his books, he reached his arm down and pulled out the paper he'd crammed at the bottom of the bag earlier. Zipping it, he sauntered back to Kyler and his crew again.

"What?" challenged Kyler. "You got something you wanna say, too?"

Hawk uncrumpled the paper in his hands, presenting it to the Cobras. "You think this is supposed to scare me?" he asked Kyler, his expression hardening like stone.

Looking at the picture of the cobra and hawk, Kyler chuckled. "Don't know what you're talking about, wasn't me," he chortled. Raising his eyebrows, he turned to the Cobra nearest to him and asked, "Yo, Mikey, did you do this? You're in art class, right? Damn, that's pretty good, bro."

The Cobras all joined in laughing at that, making Hawk's muscles tense. But as much as he wanted to wipe that smug smile off Kyler's face, he remembered he couldn't go around starting the fights anymore, much less at school. So instead, an uncanny grin of his own curled up the side of his mouth. He joined in with their little chuckle at his expense.

When that caught Kyler off guard, making his enemy's smile fall, Hawk grinned even harder. "You're right, it is pretty good," he said. Then, looking Kyler straight in the eyes, he asked, "By the way, how's Brucks doing?"

All humor dropped from the Cobras. Hawk watched as Kyler's face hardened now, obviously trying to mask how that comment had hit. But Kyler said nothing, clenching his jaw instead. After all, what could he say? Hawk knew he wouldn't defend a loser in front of his new crew. Because he'd done the same thing to Mitch after he lost to Kyler. Cobra Kai made you turn on your friends under Sensei Kreese's rule. A true Cobra didn't feel sympathy for its meals.

"They took the wire out of his jaw by now, right?" Hawk continued, twisting the knife further. Kyler's face tightened even more. Hawk recognized that look. He knew Kyler would have loved nothing more than to strangle him for that. It was clear some part of him wanted to get him back for wrecking Brucks's face in the first place.

In a different universe, Hawk might have felt some sympathy for Kyler for that lingering bit of loyalty he had for his friend.

But for now, he kept going, relishing in the way Kyler's eyes finally dropped, unable to hold his glare. "Why don't you ask him what it was like drinking his meals through a straw? Because if you threaten me or my teammates again…." Hawk paused, shoving the paper hard against Kyler's chest. "Fuck around and find out."

Sensei Lawrence and Mr. LaRusso were in the front lot after practice, sharing a drink and talking about cars. Miguel was glad. He didn't want the teachers there right now, even Sensei Lawrence. Friday with the fighting circle had felt like a betrayal. And Miguel figured if Sensei wasn't going to give the others the okay to treat him like he wouldn't easily break, it was time he went all-in on his own. Eagles could strike as hard as Cobras.

"How many points?" asked Hawk, taking his place.

"No points," Miguel answered, getting in position, too. "This isn't a tournament. We keep going until the fight's over."

Hawk furrowed his brows at that order. His previous misgivings that cropped up when Miguel suggested this at school rose in his chest again. It sounded more like something Sensei Kreese would say. Hadn't he left Cobra Kai to get away from that? And hadn't he been looking to Miguel, even more than Sensei Lawrence, to help him understand what it meant to be an Eagle Fang? Still, if this was what Miguel wanted…. "You got it."

"This is so stupid," commented Sam from the sidelines, anger clear in her tone and in the way she stood there crossing her arms. She'd made it clear she wasn't thrilled with Miguel's plan after he told her what he was planning on doing.

Beside her, Demetri nodded in agreement. "Definitely a prime example of toxic masculinity," he noted dryly.

Miguel ignored both their inputs. It was time to find out what he was made of now. Hawk was currently the toughest fighter in the dojo. If he could take him, he could take anyone.

"Wait, you and Hawk are having a match?" asked Mitch after he'd retrieved his bag and saw his teammates getting into fighting stances. When Chris walked past him, he grabbed his arm to stop him, saying, "Wait, Chris, let's stay and watch! This is gonna be badass!"

Chris shook his head. "No way, man, you said you were covering me on my shift tonight and buying me pizza. And I can't be late, so let's get going."

Mitch let out a frustrated sigh. Before he followed Chris out the gate, he told Bert, "Record it for me."

"You bet," promised Bert, pulling out his phone.

Miguel and Hawk faced each other and did their bows. Then, without hesitation, Miguel attacked, leading with a kick aimed at Hawk's shin. Hawk lunged forward, dodging it before twirling around and delivering a round kick of his own towards Miguel's upper body. Miguel had to drop down fast to avoid it; he had a split-second to appreciate how far his reflex speed had come in the past couple of months.

The two boys stood up and put some distance between each other, raising their fists in defense. Hawk then came at Miguel with a fast forward punch. As quick as a flash, Miguel's left hand shot out to push the arm out of its path, and then he drove his right elbow into Hawk's collarbone. Before his opponent could recover, Miguel wrapped his foot around Hawk's extended leg and swept it back, sending Hawk falling to the ground.

"Awesome! Kick his ass, Miguel!" cheered on Nate from beside Bert.

Hawk didn't stay down long. Climbing to his feet, he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Miguel's torso and attempted to slam him down. But Miguel grabbed his wrists and twisted them hard, slithering out of his hold with a dip of his body.

He grunted when Hawk's next kick landed on his shoulder, but countered, blocking his friend's following punch. His own fist flew forward, smashing against Hawk's ribs. Hawk responded by slamming an elbow into his chin, sending Miguel stumbling backward on his heels.

Hawk stepped forward with a straight punch, which Miguel leaned back to dodge. It was a fake-out, however, as Hawk lunged his other leg forward, striking the backs of Miguel's thighs, this time sending him falling down. As soon as he hit the ground, Hawk dropped to his knees and punched him in the gut once, twice, three times.

"That's enough!" called out Sam, wrapping her hands around her arms tighter. "You landed the point, cut it out!"

Miguel wanted to yell out that he'd said there were no points. Sensei Kreese's Cobra Kai didn't give a damn about points, Sam knew that as well as the rest of them. They had to meet their enemies on their level, he wanted her to understand that. But when Hawk hit him in the stomach again, Miguel drove his knee up, delivering a blow to his friend's gut in return. When that made Hawk double-over, he grabbed him by fistfuls of his shirt and rolled them over on the grass.

He landed one punch on Hawk's jaw, just to give him enough time to get back on his feet and put distance between them again. Watching as Hawk rose up, too, the two of them stood there for a moment, catching their breaths and staring at each other, arms raised in case the other attacked next.

Which Hawk did this round. He closed the gap, running forward and spinning his leg around to kick high. Miguel leaped back, almost tripping over his feet. Hawk spun around again with another kick, and this time Miguel's back hit the stone monument and he had only a split-second to duck and run before Hawk's foot would have connected to the side of his head.

Miguel turned around, only to meet Hawk's fist as it struck his face, sending him reeling backward. Blinking the stars from his watering eyes rapidly, Miguel felt something wet drip from his nose down to his lip. He wiped the blood away with the back of his hand, getting back into a defensive stance. His heart was thundering in his ribcage by this point, lungs gasping for air.

Sam took a step forward, practically having chewed her bottom lip raw with concern. "Miguel, stop it!" she shouted. "What do you think you have to prove to us?" When he ignored her, Sam shook her head in disbelief and ran off towards the house.

Nate had lost his previous enthusiasm, looking like he didn't know what to do. Even Bert hesitantly lowered his phone, stopping the recording at the sight of Miguel's bloody face. The two of them glanced at each other, wondering if they should interfere, wondering if they even could.

Now Demetri tried stepping in, grabbing Hawk's arm. When Hawk reared his other fist to attack on reflex, Demetri flinched, jumping a few steps back and raising his hands, which brought Hawk crashing back to reality. Demetri hollered at him in exasperation, "Earth to Eli! Don't you think the fight's over?"

Shoulders rising and falling rapidly, Hawk looked down at his hands. Miguel's blood was smeared over his right knuckles. Hawk's breath caught in his throat at the sight of it, thinking back to his fight with Brucks again, to that time he lost himself to his rage.

Hawk turned to look at Miguel, and his sweaty brow softened as he watched more blood pour from his friend's nose. He remembered that night at the LaRussos. Kyler had beaten Miguel to a pulp and had looked to him for props for it. Seeing Miguel's blood on his hands now? It made Hawk sick to his stomach. This wasn't what he was hoping for when Miguel asked him to spar.

Hawk stood up straight, lowering his defenses. Maybe the fight was finished. This wasn't Cobra Kai, right? "Miguel…."

"No." Miguel shook his head at seeing Hawk drop his guard, wiping more blood on his sleeve. There was that look again. The same one everyone else always had. That open pity. No, not Hawk, too. Not Hawk, the one who thought he was good enough for them to take on all of Cobra Kai together. "Kreese's Cobra Kai wouldn't end this fight now, you know that. So neither will we!"

Miguel lunged forward, shifting his waist to deliver a kick to Hawk's side. His friend recovered in time to pivot on his feet and avoid it, slipping right back into fighting-mode. All Miguel could think of as he moved his arm to block one, two, three of Hawk's punches was the fight that night in December. Of Cobra Kai attacking his teammates. Of Kyler beating the shit out of him. He should have been able to defeat him so much sooner. He should have been able to take control of the fight. He should've been able to protect his friends. He was the champ….

Hawk came at him with a forward kick. Miguel blocked it with his hand and rotated around on his heels, ramming his elbow into Hawk's back. He grabbed the back of Hawk's shirt before he could fall and punched him in the back again before letting him drop.

On the grass, Hawk lifted himself up on his elbows. He locked his left ankle around Miguel's and twisted hard, sending his friend tumbling down to the ground, too. Miguel rolled over, snaking his arms around Hawk, trying to keep him immobilized, even as Hawk jerked around, gripping fistfuls of his shirt and attempting to push him off.

All of a sudden, arms wrapped themselves around Miguel's torso, pulling him up to his feet. Miguel twisted around to see it was Mr. LaRusso. "Miguel, that's enough!" he said. But Miguel had already gone slack in his hold, providing no resistance, the fight drained out of him the second he'd been pulled away from it. And it took only a few more seconds for embarrassment and shame to wash over him, especially when he looked over to see Sensei Lawrence jerk Hawk up off the ground.

"What the hell's the matter with you two?!" demanded Sensei Lawrence.

Even Mr. LaRusso looked surprised by the intensity of Sensei Lawrence's response; it was a far cry from the flippant reaction he'd shown that day when Mitch had kicked Nate into the koi pond. Mr. LaRusso tried interceding. "Johnny…."

"I got this, LaRusso," said Sensei Lawrence, holding up a hand to silence him, glaring between Miguel and Hawk. "These two meatheads are my students, I'll handle them."

Mr. LaRusso released him, and Miguel stared at Sam, who stood behind her father, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. The sting of betrayal punctured Miguel as he realized she'd run off to grab her father and Sensei so they would stop the match.

For the next few minutes, Miguel's head might as well have been submerged underwater, it was so numb to everything around him. Someone - Bert? - handed him a rag, which he absent-mindedly wiped across his face, cleaning as much of the blood away as he could manage, as well as the sweat dripping from his hair. He barely registered Mr. LaRusso gathering Sam, Demetri, Nate, and Bert, leading them away. He didn't hear Demetri trying to explain to his teacher why this had happened. Because Sensei Lawrence was in front of him, demanding answers.

His Sensei's words sounded garbled to his ears as Miguel tried deciphering them through the fog in his head, but his anger was unmistakable. That came through just fine. "What were you even thinking?" bellowed Sensei, deep creases around the corners of his frowning mouth.

Miguel's brain went blank. How could he explain himself? How could he explain that he'd had enough? That his frustrations surrounding his lack of progress, along with the looming threat of Cobra Kai, had unnerved him to the point he decided the only way he felt he could face his discontent was trial by fire? Could Sensei Lawrence understand that? "I-I don't know, Sensei."

Sensei Lawrence wore his disappointment, twinged with concern, openly on his face. And Miguel looked down, shoulders slumping to be on the receiving end of a look like that. Even worse when Sensei told him, "Well, figure it out!"

Hawk stared at Miguel throughout his chew-out, but then Sensei Lawrence was up in his face next, raising his index finger at him. Hawk met his stern gaze, bracing himself. "And you," Sensei said. "Do you know what I had to do to get LaRusso to even let you in this dojo after the shit you pulled at his house last Christmas?"

Miguel's head darted up again and he looked at him. "Sensei, actually it was—"

"Quiet!" barked Sensei Lawrence, making both Miguel and Hawk tense. "You're not in Cobra Kai anymore! As far as you're concerned, Cobra Kai is dead! You left that 'no mercy' bullshit back with Kreese, do you understand me?" Sensei Lawrence snapped, getting closer and closer to jabbing that finger on Hawk's chest as he wagged it for emphasis with each word.

Unable to hold his gaze any longer, Hawk's eyes fell. His jaw was clenched so tight, he thought he might break it, but he managed to mutter in reply, "Yes, Sensei."