CHAPTER 67

Here we go again. Another fight. Another brawl. Another fight to the death. These were becoming all too common in the Valley, but this was the first one that Marcos himself had been a part of. This wasn't Coyote Creek where there were refs lying at every corner. This wasn't a point spar on the sparring deck in the middle of the dojo. This was real life, a real life, one with real risks and consequences. And Marcos wasn't going to allow himself to lose.

This was what he was built for. This was what he was born to do. He wasn't designed to be a point spar fighter, only tag his opponent 3 times and still win the fight. He wanted to fight in the UFC one day. He had trained day and night to be dragged through the trenches by his opponent, take a scary number of hits and still remain standing. Show absolutely 0 control over the power of his own strikes, hoping that one of the killer blows would find their mark and knock his opponent's soul out of their body. Training to compete in these types of fights for his entire childhood, Marcos had no glaring weak spot, not even stamina or durability, as was the case for some of the people who had only trained to point spar. The boy could strike, he could grapple, he had speed, he had stamina, he had power, he had knowledge… with all of this, Marcos was quietly confident that he had what it took to win this fight.

Meanwhile, standing opposite him as the two guys faced each other, Hawk was equally confident too. He wasn't an idiot. He knew that Marcos had the physical attributes in his favor. However, Hawk also knew that once a fight actually started, physical attributes meant much less than your mental state. And Hawk's mental state was the best it could've possibly been, at least in his opinion at that moment. He was feeling all of his hatred, all of his anger towards his opponent and his dojo roaring through his body, ready to be channeled into his strikes when the fight began. He was fighting with true purpose, with true emotion. This wasn't just about winning the fight for him. This was about so much more, and for that Hawk knew that he would be able to give this fight an extra step that Marcos wouldn't, that he would push to his limits that he knew Marcos wouldn't reach himself.

But what Hawk didn't realize as their fight finally started and the two boys began to circle each other like lions, is that Marcos' head was in the same place Hawk's was. As although Marcos didn't have the same personal hatred towards Hawk and Miyagi-Do as Hawk did to him, at this moment, it wasn't Hawk that Marcos was fighting. The Cobra Kai looked opposite him and all he saw staring back at him was his father. All he saw was the abusive son of a bitch who had put him through such misery in such a short amount of time. He saw the feelings of being so helpless and powerless in the face of the abuse, being unable to use his decade of Martial Arts training at all not even to help him win the fights, but just to survive them. Well he wasn't helpless now. He wasn't fighting his much larger father now and he knew it. This was his opportunity to release all of his pent-up anger, on a boy who in his mind was his father. He could practically feel the man's presence there, whispering in his ear.

"Come on, son? What are you doing? You just going to lay there with your legs spread open, waiting for him to come to you? ATTACK HIM!"

Hearing his father bellowing in his ear, Marcos let out a loud, anguished cry before charging at his opponent. The fact that Marcos struck first was something that Hawk should've expected from the Cobra Kai champion, but it surprised him all the same. The All-Valley champion had expected to attack first and gain control over the fight in that manner, but the fact that the exact opposite had happened took him aback and put him on the back foot right at the beginning. All he could do is defend as Marcos threw a combination of ruthless punches and kicks, the Cobra taking full advantage of his extensive boxing and capoeira training, and eventually managing to break through the wall of defense, landing an uppercut to the jaw. Hawk went stumbling backwards, almost falling into the sand of the beach himself, but he managed to right himself in time. He rubbed the pain from his jaw and stared daggers at Marcos. First blood went to Marcos and Cobra Kai. However, inside his head, it didn't seem like the Brazilian was all too happy with that.

"Pathetic." Marcos' father growled at him. "You're supposed to be fighting, not caressing each other! Harder!"

Marcos roared once more and lunged at Hawk, but this time the Miyagi-Do was ready. He managed to block Marcos' current wave of assault, even managing to counter one of the over-extended punches that Marcos had thrown, a rare mistake from the Cobra Kai due to his overwhelming emotions, and Hawk sent a sidekick of his own, connecting with Marcos' solar plexus.

It was Marcos' turn to be sent backwards. The kick was full of intense power, a snippet of Hawk's overall fighting ability. However, he wasn't given much time to recover as although he had given Hawk time to regain his bearings, Hawk hadn't provided him with the same luxury. Eager to finish the fight, Hawk lunged at him, and Marcos moved out of the way just in time. Darting out of the way, Marcos managed to slip through Hawk's strikes and bring himself within a few inches of his opponent, wrapping his arms around him and throwing him to the ground in a powerful Jiu Jitsu takedown.

This time though, Marcos didn't give Hawk time to recover once he was down. He didn't hesitate to lunge at Hawk, managing to get into a mount position, where Marcos was sitting on Hawk's chest and had his limbs pinned, the mohawked teenager now completely at his mercy. He raised a hand, ready to strike down his opponent once and for all, but before he could, he hesitated. What was he doing? About to cause serious damage to a teenager? This wasn't him. He was about to stand up and stop fighting when all of a sudden, his father's voice entered his ear once more.

"Just like I thought. You're soft. Soft like her." His father told him. "This is why you can't beat me. Why you'll never beat me. Why you'll have to take my hits for the rest of your sorry life and there's nothing you can do about it."

Listening to these words, Marcos' mind changed. The words buried deep inside his brain. This weakness of his, his humanity… it was indeed the reason that his father was able to keep hurting him and there was nothing he could do about it. He needed to shed that humanity if he ever wanted a chance of surviving the next little while. And that started right here, right now, with Hawk. Not for the first time, Marcos channeled all of his emotions towards his father and let them conquer his entire body, filling him with an inextinguishable rage that lit up every bone, every muscle, every fiber of his being. He prepared to unleash a hailstorm of lethal blows at Hawk's body but unfortunately, he took one second too long. Hawk had recovered from the takedown and had managed to wriggle his way out of the position, bringing his legs to his chest and kicking out at Marcos, sending the boy crashing away from him, and the two boys leaping to their feet, both equally furiously eager to begin this next phase of the fight. It was bound to be brutal, as neither were holding back in any way shape or form anymore. This fight would only end when there was one man standing and the other laying face-down in the sand…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Moon broke about every speeding law known to man as she took off towards Miguel's apartment complex at a supersonic speed. She NEEDED to make it there now, and she just prayed that Miguel was there. He had to be, if they wanted any chance of getting to Hawk before anything bad happened to him.

She made it to the complex in record time, but as she quickly brought her car to a halt and jumped out, disaster struck. Miguel wasn't home! She knocked on his door several times but to her devastation, it seemed that he was out somewhere, and his family wasn't home either. In an extremely panicked state, Moon knew that she had one more option and she ran to the apartment opposite, banging on that door as hard as she could. Luckily, there was someone in that house. An extremely disgruntled Robby opened the door after she continued to roughly bang on the door for a few moments longer, and he stared at her, confused.

"Moon? What are you doing here?" Robby asked. Moon almost threw her phone at him in her hurry and desperation, opening her messages app and showing Robby her chat with Hawk.

"Look at what Hawk sent me." Moon told him. Picking up the phone, Robby read through the latest message that Hawk had sent to his girlfriend.

Hey moon, i'm sorry for not telling you sooner but i decided to fight cobra kai after all. By the time you'll have gotten this message, I'll already be fighting and i dont know what's gonna happen so i wanted to let you know that if i don't come back tonight, look for me at the canyon. - Hawk

It was a short message. Concise. To the point. It told them exactly what Hawk was doing at this time, and exactly where he was for them to find him, or his body at least.

"It's a scheduled text message." Moon explained. "It means that he could've sent the message hours ago and I'm only just getting it now. I don't know how long he's been…"

Before Moon could even finish her sentence, Robby was already racing for his skateboard, ready to rush to the canyon to stop the fight, the fight that Marcos lied about and swore he was going to put a stop to. Robby was completely blindsided by the news but he couldn't allow it to make him hesitate. They needed to get to the canyon. FAST!

But before Robby could make it to his skateboard, Moon caught his arm.

"Come on. We'll take my car!" She told him. Robby nodded and the two of them dived into the vehicle, driving to the canyon as fast as they possibly could.

On the way, they couldn't help but let their minds wander about what state they'd be finding their friend/boyfriend in. Moon might not have known much about Marcos other than the rants with his name that she got from Hawk and the other Miyagi-Dos. But Robby knew him better, even better now after the conversation they had had that morning. He knew how lethal this guy truly was. He knew how mentally scarred he was from his past and how, if provoked, those mental scars could release demons powerful enough to smite almost anyone in his path.

Their minds raced faster than Moon's speeding car, both of them unable to sit still in their seats as they silently prayed and anticipated what was going to happen next. However, their minds were brought crashing back down to reality when they finally arrived at the canyon and Moon parked the car. Their hearts dropped. By the looks of the scene before them, it looked like they were almost too late…