CHAPTER 30

Miyagi-Do sat around in Applebees, winding down after an extremely tough week. They were training to the bone as Daniel had really upped the ante in training since he had made his bet with Kreese over the All-Valley, and it only got harder and harder as they saw the massive improvements that Cobra Kai were making. They hadn't yet had a physical altercation with Cobra Kai since the fight at the arcade, but they knew that a fight was definitely coming. Both sides were at their wits end with one another, animosity soaring to new levels with each passing day.

"Ugh, Sam, can you tell your dad to ease up on training? Everything hurts." Demetri whined, stretching out his sore muscles and grimacing in pain. Sam shrugged.

"Sorry guys. Cobra Kai is training every day, so we need to too." Sam replied, though she too was feeling extremely sore. Demetri sighed.

"God, what I wouldn't do to have all of these Cobras kicked out of the Valley and never allowed back." Demetri remarked.

"Come on, they're not all bad. Some of them are alright." Sam stated. "Remember what my dad said guys, there's no such thing as a bad student. Only a bad teacher."

"Bullshit." Demetri shot back. "Miguel, Hawk, Tory… they're just dicks, bad people, and there's no two ways about it."

"That right?" A voice quietly growled from behind the group. Miyagi-Do's hearts dropped, recognising the low, threatening tone from anywhere. They spun around to see Miguel and his friend, two of the fiercest Cobras in the Valley.

Shivers ran through the Miyagi-Dos' spines as they took in Miguel's massive, menacing presence before them. Every day, he seemed to look more and more unhinged, and it had rendered everyone in Miyagi-Do speechless for a moment. Well, everyone but Demetri. Demetri gathered his confidence and stood up, squaring up to Miguel.

"Yeah, that's right." He responded. Miguel chuckled, mirthlessly.

"Really? I thought if anything, you'd be thanking me." Miguel commented. Demetri raised an eyebrow.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Demetri snapped. Miguel shrugged.

"Well, if it weren't for me, you'd have had a lot more than a dislocated shoulder after the arcade. You think Hawk was going to stop beating your wimp-ass if I hadn't tackled him?" Miguel pointed out. "Your 'friends' at Miyagi-Do weren't about to help you."

"Well that's because you and your fucking gang had beaten the shit out of them first!" Demetri shot back. Miguel raised an eyebrow before turning towards Sam.

"That right, Sam? Did anyone beat you up and prevent you from helping Demetri? Because you looked perfectly fine when you and I ran over to Demetri after Hawk and the others left." Miguel took a deep breath before looking Sam straight in the eye before saying the next part. "And you looked pretty non-beaten up when I walked through the maze and saw you sitting in a corner as all of your friends got beaten up around you."

Almost as soon as the words slipped out of Miguel's mouth, he regretted saying them. Immediately, attention shifted from him and Demetri over to Sam, who had sunk deep into her seat.

"That's right, your own leader was too much of a coward to face us. You don't believe me? Ask her. Go on, ask her." Miguel egged Demetri on, looking at Sam. Her face immediately turned crimson and her mouth gaped open and shut like a fish out of water. However, before Sam could say anything, Demetri spoke up.

"Fuck off. Bunch of assholes, all of you." Demetri spat, causing Miguel's face to begin to turn red in fury. His fists balled so tightly they were practically white.

"You better watch your mouth." Miguel warned him in a low growl, anger beginning to bubble up inside him. "You don't want to be saying something you'll regret."

"What are you going to do? Beat me up?" Demetri laughed, spreading his arms wide. "Hate to break it to you but we're in a restaurant full of people! To put it in words your kind would understand… King Kong no smash today."

Miguel was just about to lunge at Demetri when George and the Miyagi-Dos finally got over their shock, George grabbing Miguel's arms and pulling him away, and the Miyagi-Dos stepping in between Demetri and the Cobras.

"Come on, walk away. Walk away. It's not worth it. Walk away." George murmured in Miguel's ear as he pulled his friend away from his rivals' table.

"No! Little bitch needs to learn a lesson in respect!" Miguel spat, incensed and practically burning in wrath.

"Yes, because I'm the one without manners." Demetri laughed as he watched Miguel get dragged away by George.

August 21st, the day of the school fight. Since that day, Miguel's mental state had been in a steady decline. And on November 30th, he finally broke. He lost it. He felt a fury he had never felt before, and it coursed through his veins, lighting his skin on fire. It was an agonising pain, and he knew that the only way this inferno inside him could be quenched was if he was able to beat the crap out of the bitch in front of him.

"You better watch your back! Te Mataré!" Miguel growled the last part in Spanish, before George finally managed to pull him to the corner of the restaurant and out of sight of the Miyagi-Dos…

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About 5 minutes after Miguel and his friend had moved to the corner of the restaurant, the Miyagi-Dos finally relaxed a little and tensions de-escalated, and Demetri then turned to Sam, who had remained oddly silent during Demetri's confrontation with Miguel. She was still reeling from the crushing blow Miguel had sent her way by exposing her whereabouts during the arcade fight. She knew that a questioning by her friends was inbound, and sure enough…

"Sam, what Miguel was saying about the arcade fight… is it true?" Demetri asked.

"Yeah, because we just figured you had been beaten up by one of the Cobras when Hawk broke Demetri's arm." Chris said. "Was Miguel telling the truth?"

Sam's heart pounded. She knew that she needed to tell her friends what had happened to her, they deserved to know. But at the same time, she was scared her friends were going to hate her for not helping to save Demetri.

"Look, Demetri, I'm so, so sorry. I wanted to help. I swear I did. I just… I couldn't." Sam whispered in a frighteningly low voice, tears rolling down her cheeks as she thought back to the night and she temporarily relived the pain she had felt.

"W… what do you mean you couldn't?" Demetri asked, more confused and concerned than angry. Sam sniffed and took a shaky breath in before continuing.

"I, um… I heard Tory come into the laser tag arena, and I froze." Sam mumbled. "I don't know what happened. My limbs just stopped working. I couldn't even breathe. I started having flashbacks to the school fight and I couldn't do anything, no matter how much I wanted to. I am so, so sorry, Demetri."

Demetri looked at her for several moments, trying to gauge from her expression whether she was telling the truth or not.

"Don't worry. It's okay." He eventually replied. Sam's head shot up and she looked at him.

"It… it is?" She stammered. Demetri laughed.

"Well… yeah! It's not like you were sitting around sipping tea while we were fighting. You were having a frickin panic attack! Just know if it happens again, we have your back."

Meanwhile, across the restaurant, Miguel and George were having a far less peaceful conversation.

"Look at that fucker." Miguel growled, pointing at Demetri across the restaurant. "Thinks he's a badass. Thinks he can fight because he wins the fights he takes part in as a group, but can't do shit on his own. I need to shut that man up. Make him shit himself in fear."

"Dude, calm down." George murmured to him.

"No, seriously, this is bullshit! That idiot thinks he's such a big, tough guy. He needs to remember where he stands. I'm gonna beat the living fuck out of him, and I'm gonna love every fucking second of it."

George sighed.

"Dude, don't you think you're being a bit over the top?" George commented. Miguel shook his head furiously.

"No! That man is a phony. A fake. And I want to expose him, and all of Miyagi-Do, for the pussies they really are. We own the Valley, not them." Miguel spat. George sighed.

"Look, this isn't you talking, Miguel. Whether you want to admit it or not, Cobra Kai has gotten into your head and you've become exactly the bully you swore you wouldn't become." George stated, causing Miguel to stare daggers at him. "Look, I've got my fake I.D on me. I'll grab us a couple of beers. Maybe it'll help you calm down a little."

With that, George stood up and walked away, leaving Miguel alone at the table with just his dark thoughts for company. He eyed Demetri at the Miyagi-Do table, his fury towards the teenager growing with each passing second. He watched Demetri acting like he was some kind of alpha. Like he had earned the respect of the Valley due to his fighting. Well he hadn't. Demetri hadn't once gone up against him or Robby, or even Sam and Tory. Miguel had beaten him up a little in the arcade fight but had let him go pretty quickly, something he now definitely regretted, but other than that, Demetri hadn't properly had his ass beaten to knock him back down to reality. He was the only person in this war who hadn't yet, and that needed to change.

Miguel watched as the Miyagi-Dos all stood up to leave, and then he turned and saw George still at the bar getting some drinks. He smirked to himself. Now was his chance. Standing up, he snuck through the back exit of the restaurant without being noticed and waited in the alley just outside, a cobra ready to strike…