Chapter 45: Loss of Confidence
James's POV:
I was lying in bed, not wanting to get out. However, a knock on my bedroom door makes me sit up. Miguel and Robby enter the room.
"Hey James, how are you doing?" Robby asks.
"Please leave." I ask. Robby is confused by my bluntness.
"James, we're here to help." Miguel says.
"Don't waste your time. You can't help me." I say.
"James, don't talk like that." Robby says.
"It's over, okay? I quit karate." I say.
"What are you talking about?" Miguel asks.
"Ever since I joined Miyagi-Do, my life has been going downhill. No matter how many times I beat Steve, he comes back and bullies me harder than ever. I beat him during the house fight, and he ruined my reputation. I beat him during the All Valley, and he broke my arm. Now he wants me to suffer because he got arrested. I got stripped naked at the mall and people believe I tried to sexually assault him. He also….he also…" I say.
"What else did he do?" Miguel asks.
"He…he…he forced dog shit into my mouth." I say. The two look absolutely disgusted.
"Jame…I'm so sorry." Miguel says.
"The point is, fighting back against Steve just leads to me suffering more. I'm done trying to fight back. Screw karate. Steve can bully me however he wants." I say.
"James, please don't give up." Robby says.
"Just get out. I don't want to talk anymore." I say.
"We should give him some space." Miguel says as he begins walking out of the room. Robby stays for a bit before reluctantly walking out as well.
Third Person POV:
Emma ran like hell all the way to Chase's house. She frantically knocks on the door. Chase's dad answers.
"What do you want?" Chase's dad asks.
"Do you know where Chase is?" Emma asks.
"I don't really care what he's doing." Chase's dad says.
"Please! It's urgent!" Emma pleads.
"Why the hell are you so worked up? I think he went over to some guy named James's place." Chase's dad says.
"Thank you so much." Emma says before Chase's dad slams the door in her face.
James's POV:
There was another knock on my bedroom door.
"I said go away!" I shout. The door opens and it's Chase.
"Hey, man." Chase says.
"I'm not getting involved in karate again." I say.
"I'm not here to talk about karate. I heard what you're going through so I decided to come and help. I rode my bike here." Chase says.
"Are you saying you want to go on a bike ride?" I ask.
"Yeah." Chase says. I think about it for a second.
"Sure, why not." I say. That's when I realize something. "Wait, you're not using your crutches!" I shout.
"Took you that long to notice?" Chase asks.
"Your leg's all better now?" I ask.
"Not exactly, but it's getting easier to walk." Chase says.
"Let me guess, you want to go on this bike ride to get some exercise?" I ask.
"How did you guess?" Chase asks while smiling.
Later…
I get my bike out of the garage. It still looked beat up.
"Jeez, what happened to your bike?" Chase asks.
"I haven't used it since the day Cobra Kai beat me up. I never got around to fixing it." I say.
"Well, I'm sure you'll want to use it a lot more after today." Chase says.
Later…
Chase and I spend a lot of time riding throughout the valley. It honestly felt nice. Chase's leg seemed to be doing a lot better.
"Damm, Chase. You're peddling faster than me!" I shout.
"Ha! I can't believe I'm using both my legs again!" Chase shouts back. We were now heading back into the neighborhood. As we're riding, I notice a familiar kid standing in the street. It was Aaron, holding a basketball.
"Holy shit! Look out!" I shout. However, it's too late. Aaron chucks the basketball at Chase and it hits him in the head. Chase loses control of his bike and crashes. He gets a giant gash in his leg and bruises everywhere.
"Oops, you should really watch where you're going." Aaron says while laughing. I stop my bike and run over to Chase.
"Dude, are you okay?" I ask.
"No." Chase says as I help him up. However, a huge guy pushes me and I fall to the ground. This guy was at least 6'5. Aaron wasn't alone. He had seven guys with him. However, I don't think these guys were in Cobra Kai. Next to the big guy was a guy holding a pocket knife. He wasn't the only one with a weapon. There was also a guy with a spiked bracelet around his right knuckle and a guy with a metal baseball bat. The final three guys were unarmed. The big guys picks up Chase.
"Hey! Let him go!" I shout.
"What are you gonna do about it, shit eater?" Aaron asks. The other gang members begin laughing. I clench my fists.
"I'll fight you guys." I say.
"Oh really? You're gonna fight us?" Aaron asks.
"Yeah." I say while getting in a fighting stance. However, I notice that I'm a little scared.
"I hope you're ready to regret your decision." Aaron says before the guy with the baseball bat runs at me. He swings the bat a few times and I step back to avoid his swings. I eventually manage to catch the bat mid swing. I kick him in the face and he stumbles back. The three unarmed guys run at me. This was gonna be easy. I throw a punch to one of the guys but he puts up both his arms to block it. The second unarmed guy gets behind me and puts me in a headlock. Usually, when I'm put in a headlock, it's incredibly weak. However, this guy has clearly done this before. This headlock feels like I'm being strangled. The first guy runs up to me and begins punching me in the chest. I kick him away and elbow the guy behind me. I escape the headlock, but the second guy quickly punches me in the face. These punches were powerful. The third unarmed guy runs at me and tackles me to the ground. He then grabs my head and bashes it into the ground. I wasn't going to go down easily this time. I elbow the third guy in the face and push him off of me. I'm able to stand up just in time for the guy with the spiked bracelet to run at me. I'm terrified as I try to dodge all of these guy's punches. I'm scared to block his punches in fear of getting cut. I eventually manage to kick this guy in the chest but that's when the tall guy kicks me in the back of the legs. He elbows me in the back of the head and I hit the ground. I quickly get back up and kick this guy in the chest. He doesn't even step back when the kick connects. I punch this guy in the face and chest and he just laughs. I try to punch him in the face again but he catches my punch. He bends my hand backwards and he has the opportunity to break my wrist. However, he instead headbutts me and punches me in the chest. He grabs my head and bashes it into his knee. He then pushes me to the ground. I get up as the guy with the pocket knife approaches me. To my surprise, he tries to jab the knife into my chest with no hesitation. I move to the left and the guy manages to slash my right arm with the knife. I yelp in pain as I cover the wound with my left hand. Knife Man then elbows me in the face. Baseball Bat Man hits me in the back with his bat and I collapse to my knees. The big guy punches me in the face and it feels like I was hit with a ton of bricks. One of the unarmed guys runs up and knocks me to the ground. That's when the big guy picks me up.
"Wow, that was pathetic. I didn't even have to get involved." Aaron says.
"Please, let us go." I beg.
"Hard pass." Aaron says before getting ready to punch me. However, before he can do so, someone kicks him in the side and he collapses to the ground. It was Miguel.
"Get him!" Knife Man shouts. One of the unarmed guys runs at Miguel and tries to punch him. Miguel catches his punch and uses his free hand to punch his arm. The second unarmed guy tries to punch Miguel in the back of the head, but he notices and dodges. The second guy accidentally punches the first guy in the face. Miguel then sweeps the second guy's legs and punches the first guy in the chest before knocking him down. The second guy tries to get up but Miguel stomps on his back. However, Miguel doesn't notice Baseball Bat Man sneak up behind him and try to swing at him. However, that's when Robby appears and kicks the bat out of his hand. Baseball Bat Man is shocked and Robby takes the opportunity to deliver a roundhouse kick to his face. Bracelet Guy tries to swing at Robby but he dodges. Robby kicks him in the chest, sending him into Baseball Bat Man. They both fall over. The big guy charges at Robby and tackles into him. The force of this man sends Robby to the ground. The guy is on top of Robby, ready to punch. However, Miguel runs over and kicks the guy in the face. Miguel picks the guy up and punches him. The guy is unaffected. That's when Robby kicks the guy in the left knee as Miguel punches him in the face. The guy falls to his knees and Robby delivers a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. The guy falls onto Miguel who punches him in the face one more time for good measure. That's when Robby notices Knife Man charging at Miguel.
"Duck!" Robby shouts. Miguel does so as Knife Man swings his knife where Miguel's head just was. The third unarmed guy then charges into Miguel knocking him over. Robby runs up to Knife Man and does a flying double kick into his chest. As Knife Man falls over, Miguel is able to throw the third unarmed guy off of him and get up. Miguel tries to stomp on his chest but the guy rolls out of the way. The guy gets up and tries to punch Miguel, but he dodges it. Miguel knees the guy in the chest and throws him to Robby. Robby sweeps the guy's legs and he falls over. Aaron gets up and pushes Robby to the ground. That's when Robby gets on one hand and performs the two legged kick. Aaron stumbles back before falling to the ground. However, he still manages to get back up. Miguel runs up to him and jumps in the air while spinning. Miguel performs the flying tornado kick and hits Aaron in the face. He falls to the ground unconscious. Miguel and Robby stand tall and look at the eight guys they just took out.
"Holy shit." I say while I stare at everyone on the ground.
"Come on, let's go." Miguel says while helping me up. Robby does the same for Chase. Chase and I pick up our bikes and we begin walking away.
Later…
The four of us arrive at my house and we enter to see Emma and my parents sitting in the living room.
"Oh my god! You're back!" Emma says before hugging Chase.
"Jesus, James! What happened to you?" My mom asks after seeing me all beat up.
"I got beat up by a gang." I say.
"You mean Cobra Kai?" My mom asks.
"No, like an actual street gang." I say. That's when my mom notices the wound on my arm.
"Oh my god, we need to get that checked out!" My mom says.
"Can't wait to go to the hospital for the fourth time." I say.
Third Person POV:
Terry Silver's private jet finally lands back in Los Angles. Tristan and his mom step out.
"I can't thank you enough for your generous offer." Tristan's mom says.
"No need to thank me, it was my pleasure." Terry says.
"You deserve all the thanks you can get. You're the first person who didn't immediately view me as a monster because of what I did. Thank you for agreeing to help my mom." Tristan says.
"Like I said, it's my pleasure. Come on, I'll show you your new apartment." Terry says.
Author's Note: Was that the last we'll see of Aaron's gang? How will James regain his confidence? Sorry this chapter took a while to come out. Long fight scenes are the hardest to write.