Chapter 15: The Damage
Third Person POV:
The fight between Johnny and Daniel had concluded with an unclear winner. However, that would be the least of everyone's problems. Demetri suddenly gets an alert on his phone and his eyes go wide. He frantically begins scrolling down on his phone.
"Demetri? What's wrong?" Miguel asks.
"It's James. He was jumped and taken to the hospital." Demetri says. Everyone is in shock.
"How bad is it?" Sam asks.
"I don't know." Demetri responds.
"I thought that Cobra Kai wasn't gonna fight until the tournament." Daniel says. That's when a defeated Hawk approaches the sparring deck.
"Hawk?" Miguel asks.
"Shit Eli, what happened?" Demetri asks. Hawk removes his hood to reveal that his mohawk was cut off.
"Who did this?" Johnny asks.
"Cobra Kai." Hawk responds weakly.
"Kreese and Silver did this. They need to pay." Johnny says.
"Jesus, Johnny. Please. Kreese tried to kill you last time. What do you want? You wanna fight them both?" Daniel asks.
"Damn right I do. Look what they did." Johnny exclaims.
"Dousing the fire with gasoline, that's your answer? Why am I not surprised?" Daniel says.
"Sensei, stop." Miguel pleads.
"You still think your way is the only way. You were so proud when they pulled their little sprinkler prank the other day. But if they stood their ground and kicked some ass like I taught them, this never would've happened." Johnny says.
"If they fight every time they're provoked, where does that lead? Back to the hospital? Or to jail? Come on, just 'cause you spent time in both-"
"Enough, Dad." Sam interrupts.
"What?" Daniel asks.
"Johnny's right. It doesn't matter how many times we stand up to Cobra Kai, if we don't strike back, they're gonna keep coming at us." Sam says.
"And you were worried about my influence on your kids? Is this what you want, Johnny? To have my daughter and the rest of my students acting like you?" Daniel asks.
"You know, you don't have to worry about it anymore. 'Cause we're done." Johnny says.
"Works for me." Daniel says.
"Eagle Fangs, let's go." Johnny says. Miguel, and the rest of Eagle Fang reluctantly leave with Johnny.
James's POV:
I wake up in a hospital bed. Confused, I look around until a nurse comes in.
"How bad is it?" I ask
"You have two broken ribs. You'll have to stay here for a few weeks." The nurse responds. I look down sadly.
"Can…can you let my friends know?" I ask. The nurse seems to ignore me.
"Your parents are here to see you." The nurse says before leaving. Soon, my mom and dad enter.
"James! How did this happen?" My mom asks.
"Four guys in masks jumped me. One of them had a baseball bat." I say.
"Do you know who did it?" My dad asks.
"The guy with the bat, he said his name was Chase. I don't remember his last name though." I say.
"Don't worry, we're gonna find the guys who did this. We'll have justice." My dad reassures me. I nod, wishing the same thing. Eventually, my parents say goodbye and leave my room. As I'm sitting, I start thinking about Chase. Who exactly was he? The name sounds kinda familiar. Eventually, I'm taken out of my thoughts when two familiar faces appear in my room.
"Demetri! Sam!" I say happily.
"Hey." Demetri says sadly. I can tell something is up.
"I'm sorry I got myself in this mess." I say, trying to lighten the mood.
"No, I'm sorry that Cobra Kai jumped you." Sam says. I tense up.
"Can you guys come closer? I need to tell you guys something." I say. Demetri and Sam lean in so I can talk to them quietly.
"It wasn't Cobra Kai. One of them was a guy named Chase." I say. Demetri and Sam are both shocked yet confused.
"Chase? As in, the basketball team captain?" Demetri asks. My eyes widen, it was Chase Carver! I remember that time when he confronted me in the hallway.
"That asshole, when I tell the police…" I mutter to myself. That's when Demetri gives me another sad look.
"Chase's family is one of the richest in the valley. They donate a lot of their money to the police and fire departments. I also heard that his parents once bought off a few cops so that he wouldn't get in trouble." Demetri says.
"God dammit. The police wouldn't want their money flow to stop, would they?" I ask. Demetri nods his head. It looks like the police won't help in this matter.
"James…there's something we need to tell you." Demetri says. I get nervous.
"What is it?" I ask. Demetri pauses before speaking.
"Eli was ambushed by Cobra Kai and got his mohawk shaved off." Demetri says. I'm in shock.
"You're kidding right?" I ask. Demetri and Sam just look down and I know that they're being serious.
"Oh, god." I say. It all makes sense. The text I got from Hawk was actually from Cobra Kai. They must've gotten Chase to attack me so that they didn't get their hands dirty themselves. It makes me sick to my stomach.
"Don't worry. We're gonna do something about this." Sam says.
Third Person POV:
James's parents were sitting in their home, a police detective was talking with them.
"We looked into Chase Carver, and it turns out, he's innocent. He was at his house all night with both his parents and three of his basketball teammates." The detective says. James's parents look disappointed.
"However, we finished looking though your son's phone, per your request." The detective says.
"Yes. We believe that James is involved with a karate gang." James's mom says. The detective nods.
"We have gone through his messages and we can confirm that he is in contact with members of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang." The detective says.
"We told him to stay away from them. Don't worry, we won't let him go near those guys again." James's dad says.
"That's not all. We also found that one Eagle Fang member, Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, told James to go to the skatepark on the night he was attacked." The detective says.
"Well, what's gonna happen?" James's dad asks.
"We're gonna look into Eli, see if he was involved in the attack." The detective says.