CHAPTER 11

That night, Miguel didn't say another word to anyone. He really didn't feel like talking to anyone about it, not even Sam. He had gotten his ass kicked multiple times for what? He wasn't going to be able to compete in the All-Valley anymore! That bitch Robby had ruined his life time and time again! Miguel left the Larusso house and because they had taken Johnny's car when they had driven over there, Miguel didn't have a car to drive anywhere. Instead, he walked off into the night, not telling anyone where he was, where he was going, and what time he was going back.

It had been four, nearly 5, hours and nobody had heard from Miguel. They were all starting to get worried. Johnny had told Miguel's mom and grandma about what had happened, so they were waiting in Carmen's apartment nervously, hoping Miguel surfaced soon. Sam had also been put on alert, and her and Johnny drove around the city, looking at any place that Miguel might be. The two of them knew Miguel better than anyone in the world, better than even Carmen and Rosa, so if anyone could find him, it would be them.

Time ticked on as Carmen and Rosa waited at the apartment and Johnny and Sam scoured the city for him. Soon, the clock hit 3 and everyone was just about ready to call the cops. Johnny had gone home to wait with an extremely worried Carmen and Rosa, and Sam had one more place to check before she went home for the night.

Sam snuck into the dark, deserted school, taking a side entrance so she could evade the weekend security. She walked straight towards the cafeteria and sure enough, there was Miguel, sitting on one of the benches in the corner of the room. Sam smiled, relieved, and walked over to him. He nodded at her as she sat down and curled up beside him.

"Hey." Miguel murmured.

"Hey." Sam said, gently. "Why haven't you been answering your phone? Everyone's really worried about you?"

"My phone's dead." Miguel said, but Sam knew he was lying. He just didn't want to be found by anyone. Sam didn't press him though. She just sent a quick text to Johnny to let him know that she had found him, before putting her own phone away. "How'd you know I'd be here?" Miguel asked.

"This is where you fought Kyler and those guys when they were bullying me last year." Sam said. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, it was the first time I was finally able to stand up to my bullies." Miguel said. "My whole life, I'd been running. This was the first time I actually managed to stand up for myself."

"And for me." Sam added, leaning her head on his shoulder. "You know, I've never had a guy fight for me before."

Miguel chuckled.

"It's not like you even needed me." Miguel remarked. "You probably could have kicked the crap out of all of them by yourself. Back then, you were a lot better at Karate than I was."

"Back then?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "More like always! I'm still better than you now!"

"Woah, woah, woah, don't push your luck." Miguel remarked, smiling faintly. "You might have been better than me back then but I think you're forgetting that you're looking at the All-Valley champ."

"That's only because I didn't compete. You wanna test your luck against me, right here, right now?" Sam asked. Miguel was about to stand up, but he then remembered his left arm in the sling and he sighed. Sam then noticed and her smile faded quickly from her face. "Miguel, I'm sorry. I didn't…"

"It's fine." Miguel muttered quickly, a frown now etched on his face.

"Miguel, you just need to…"

"Look, Sam, I'm really not in the mood for a pep talk." Miguel snapped, interrupting her rather rudely. He sighed and continued a lot more quietly. "I'm sorry. It's just, I'm really pissed right now. Robby's nearly killed me three times in the past 6 months. He's ruined my life, and the lives of everyone I care about, and I'm helpless to stop him! HIS side made the bet! HIS side made the rules! But when he realised that maybe we can beat him anyways, he ends the fucking game!"

"Hey, the game isn't over!" Sam exclaimed. "You're still going to train with us and…"

"No, I'm not! I'm done with Karate! I can't fight for another 3 whole months at the minimum! There's no chance of me getting back in time! I'm done, Sam! I really am!"

"You don't mean that." Sam murmured. It was killing her to see her boyfriend, who normally was so full of joy and life, sound so… broken.

"I do, Sam! I can't do this anymore!" Miguel exclaimed. Sam sighed and put a comforting arm around him.

"Look, Miguel, why don't I drive you home? You can get some rest. If you still feel this way in the morning, then we can have this conversation." She said, offering him a hand up. Miguel took it and they walked out of the school together.

The drive back to Miguel's house was completely silent. Sam attempted to start conversations but Miguel replied with one word answers. Sam could sense his frustration, and she couldn't blame him to be honest. If she was in his position, she would be reacting a lot less calmly than he was.

They parked at Miguel's house moments later, and Miguel stepped out of the car. After quickly saying good night to Sam, Miguel took a deep breath and walked into the house. There was no telling how pissed his mom would be.

Miguel walked into his house and mostly ignored Johnny, Carmen and his yaya, who were sitting in the living room. In fact, he walked right past all of them and went straight into his room, slamming the door behind him. Johnny and Carmen looked at each other, nervous, and Johnny decided to be the one to approach Miguel. He walked into his student's familiar room and saw Miguel rummaging through some drawers in his room.

"Hey, kid." Johnny said, gently, as he stood in the doorway. Miguel briefly looked up at him, and Johnny saw the expression on Miguel's face. It wasn't anger - it was even worse than that: it was defeat.

"What do you want?" Miguel snapped.

"You gave as all quite the scare there." Johnny said. "Where were you?"

Miguel shrugged, not answering, and Johnny then looked at all of the stuff Miguel was throwing out of his drawers. It was all of his Karate stuff.

"Um… what are you doing?" Johnny asked.

"You want any of this?" Miguel asked, tossing Johnny various items, including his gi, his fitness equipment, and more.

"Miguel, why are you giving away your stuff?" Johnny asked. "Sure you might be injured now, but we're gonna get through this together, just like that bad injury. You're gonna be back in fighting shape before you even know it."

"No, I'm not. Because I'm quitting Karate." Miguel murmured, tossing his All-Valley trophy - his most prized possession - at Johnny, who caught it easily.

"What… what… what are you doing?" Johnny stammered.

"Karate has caused me nothing but pain, and I'm done!" Miguel spat. "It has rejected me like a bad organ transplant and honestly, I'm done trying to fight it!"

"No, Miguel… please." Johnny begged. "You don't mean that! You love Karate!"

"I DON'T! NOT ANYMORE!" Miguel shouted. "Karate has fucked up my life so badly so honestly, fuck it!"

With that, Miguel grabbed his All-Valley trophy and snapped it over his knee, breaking it into four or five pieces, and he threw it at the ground, shattering it further. Johnny gasped, and his eyes widened. Miguel seemed like a man possessed.

"Miguel, Miguel, stop!" Johnny shouted, trying to grab Miguel's good arm, but Miguel spun around and slapped it away.

"Get out of my room! NOW!" Miguel shouted, suddenly taken back to that day Johnny came to visit him in the hospital. He should have known then to just throw in the towel and quit Karate. Johnny slowly accepted defeat and slunk out of Miguel's room. When he walked back into the living room, Carmen walked over to him.

"So? Is he okay?" Carmen asked, concerned. Johnny sighed as she wrapped her arms around him. Little did Miguel know, little did anyone know, that Carmen and Johnny had been dating ever since the day of the All-Valley hearing. They hadn't told anyone as they didn't want to jinx it, but it had been four months now and it was going REALLY well.

"He's frustrated, as can be expected." Johnny said. "His shoulder's not going to be well enough in time for the All-Valley so he wants to quit Karate all together."

"Well, as much as I want my son out of this karate war, I also know that he needs karate." Carmen stated. "And if anyone can work healing miracles when it comes to Miguel, it's you."

Johnny nodded and thought deeply. He kissed his girlfriend, Carmen, and she sighed.

"You know we're going to have to tell Miguel about us soon." Carmen murmured. Johnny nodded, his mind still with what Carmen had said moments before about miracles.

"Yeah, sure. Soon…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The next morning, at 6 am, less than 3 hours after he had gone to sleep, Miguel felt a sharp kick on the edge of his bed.

"Get up!" He heard Johnny snap. Miguel groaned and opened his eyes.

"What? Leave me alone!" Miguel groaned, his eyes closing again.

"Shut up!" Johnny shouted, and Miguel suddenly felt a spray of frigid-cold water on his back. Miguel's eyes snapped open and he leapt to his feet. Johnny was standing over him, holding a water gun in his hands.

"What the hell, Sensei?!" Miguel shouted. Johnny practically dragged him outside. The sun was only just rising and Miguel was still half asleep.

"Miguel, when you broke your back, you and I took a permanent paralysis and cured it in 3 months. This shoulder injury is tiny! Only a pussy would use that injury as an excuse to not fight!"

"Sensei, it's a legitimate injury." Miguel murmured. Johnny shook his head and dragged him over to a carved out chalk circle that he had made earlier that morning, with what seemed like a pull up bar on top of it.

"Okay. Here. Grab onto the bar." Johnny demanded. Miguel obliged and grabbed it, his feet barely dangling off the ground. Even just this simple exercise sent waves of excruciating pain up and down his dislocated shoulder.

"Ow! Ow! Shit! Sensei! I gotta let go!" Miguel exclaimed. Johnny chuckled.

"Not so fast." He murmured. "Sometimes you just need the right… motivation to stay on."

With that, Johnny took out a small bottle of gasoline, before pouring it around the carefully marked circle and lighting it ablaze. Miguel's eyes widened as the circle of flames inches below him roared hungrily, daring him to let go of the bar and submit to them. Miguel clung onto the bar for dear life, his arm temporarily forgotten as he stared down at the flames.

"WHAT THE HELL, SENSEI?!" Miguel shouted.

"Come on! Stay on! Don't want to get burned now, do you?!" Johnny stated. Miguel groaned, ignoring his arm pain and dangling himself mere inches from the fire. His training had officially begun…