CHAPTER 20

"Welcome, everyone, to a new era in the long, fabled history of Miyagi-Do Karate!"

Daniel and Chozen stood on the steps of the dojo, staring at all of his students who were all standing in the back garden before him. There was an aura of sadness and defeat emanating from all of them as they had walked into the dojo that morning, coming from everyone but Daniel, whose eyes were filled with hope.

"Look, I have two things to say to all of you. First… I know that you guys are feeling bad about what happened at the tournament." Daniel remarked. "Don't! I know that each and every single one of you put in everything you had and I can't express how proud I am of you guys for doing so! None of you gave up till the very end, and so no matter the result, you should all be very proud of yourselves!"

"He realises we lost, right?" Demetri murmured quietly to Hawk beside him. Demetri, like everyone else, was heartbroken about the tournament. It was supposed to be their chance to finally beat those bullies at Cobra Kai. All of the shit they had taken from Robby and Tory and Kyler and all the other Cobras and this was supposed to be the time where Miyagi-Do stood over them and said 'we won.' That wasn't the case though. Cobra Kai had beaten them. They had been the ones to stand tall, and God only knows what that dojo had in store for them in the future.

"The second thing I want to say…" Daniel paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I want to apologise, from the bottom of my heart, to each and every single one of you. I am really, really sorry."

The Miyagi-Do students looked at one another, confused. What was he apologising about?

"I realise that during the time where we worked with Johnny and his dojo, I was very stubborn. Unwilling to work with him and incorporate his teachings. Too blind to realise that maybe working with a sensei with a different philosophy would be in the best interests of all of you. Well I'm not going to make that mistake again."

Daniel glanced sideways at the man standing beside him, decked in his black Miyagi-Do gi.

"It's no secret that this isn't the end of our feud with Cobra Kai. It's far from over, and we'd be kidding ourselves if we thought that Cobra Kai wouldn't come after us again. They might have lost some key members, but they will be back stronger and more ruthless than ever and because of that, we need to be prepared. Students, I'd like to introduce you to one of the most skilled Miyagi-Do students and senseis on the face of this earth, who has kindly agreed to help training us to prepare us for this next generation of Cobra Kai. This… is Chozen."

"AITS!" Chozen barked, bowing deeply at the students standing opposite him, a gesture that all of them replicated.

"I like this dude. He seems badass." Hawk smirked, whispering to Demetri. He was glad Sensei Larusso had brought in this guy rather than bringing back Johnny. Training under the two of them had been absolute chaos, and it wasn't an experiment Hawk wanted repeated at any cost. Eagle-Fang karate was a joke - it was basically Cobra Kai but without any of the training equipment.

"I don't know. That black gi definitely gives me Cobra Kai vibes." Demetri whispered back. "And he doesn't exactly seem very cheerful. I'm getting the feeling that this is going to be another sensei who doesn't mind beating the crap out of us."

"Chozen, can you please lead the group into a warmup?" Daniel asked, before turning towards Hawk. "Hawk, can we talk inside for a sec?"

Hawk furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but nodded and followed his sensei into the dojo, where Daniel then turned to him.

"So… how was your weekend? Celebrate that tournament win? I must say… I'm surprised not to see you hungover. I know I was from partying after my All-Valley win all those years ago."

Hawk laughed and shook his head.

"No, I, uh… didn't feel like celebrating that night. You know, it's not like we won in the end."

Daniel shook his head.

"No. Miyagi-Do lost the tournament. You won. The overall result of the dojo should not affect the fact that you're a champion. Nobody can take that away from you."

"Thanks." Hawk nodded, internally chuffed with pride. Sensei Larusso was right. He was an All-Valley champion, up there with the likes of Miguel. He was not a number 2 to anyone, like he had been treated when training alongside Miguel, Robby, Tory and even in Miyagi-Do with Sam sometimes. He had proved his mettle and shown his skill in the tournament and now he was a champion.

"No, thank you for giving me the pleasure of training you." Daniel murmured. "Look, what I wanted to talk to you about… From one All-Valley champ to another, I'm going to have to ask for your help."

"Sure. With what?" Hawk asked, eager to help out in any way he could. He felt more a part of Miyagi-Do than he ever had Cobra Kai or Eagle-Fang. Daniel took a deep breath.

"I know I mentioned it outside but I'm sure you know this too… Cobra Kai are in no way going to slow down now after winning the tournament. What they did to you and your hair was only the beginning. We can train as much as we can, but there's honestly no predicting what's going to happen. What I need from you is… well, you're a leader now, Hawk. The other students look up to you. So if something happens and Cobra Kai do manage to beat us in a fight, I know that the natural instinct there might be to storm out on your own and look for Cobra Kai for vengeance. Please don't. I need you with the other students, helping them. Whether it be trying to rebuild low morale, or help any injured students… just please do what's best for the group as a whole. Miyagi-Do needs a leader, and I need you to be that leader for them. Can you do that?"

Hawk nodded.

"Yes, sensei." He replied. There was a tangible change in how Sensei Larusso was treating him since he had won the tournament. Before, a lot of Sensei's focus had been on Sam, but Hawk had definitely risen in status since the tournament and he loved it. Daniel smiled at him.

"Good." He looked at his student, smiling fading as he continued. "Oh, yeah. There's one more thing we need to talk about."

"What is it?" Hawk asked.

"I, um… as your sensei, I feel the need to warn you about something." Daniel said. "You're an All-Valley champion now. That means that whether you like it or not, you're going to have a target on your back. You won't even need a personal feud with any of them like me and Johnny for you to be their number 1 target. So just… be careful, okay? Don't go looking to make any more enemies that you have to."

"I won't." Hawk assured him. "But if they come at me, you can't expect me to shy away. They go after me and I'm not holding anything back."

"If and when they come after you, you have every right to do whatever you need to to protect yourself and your friends." Daniel responded. "Alright, let's get going back to the rest of the group."

Hawk nodded and prepared to follow Daniel out the door but just before he did, Hawk called to him.

"Hey, um… Mr. Larusso?"

Daniel turned around and faced him again.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you so much for letting me join Miyagi-Do. I know you didn't have to after everything I've done to your dojo in the past but… I really appreciate it."

Daniel beamed at him and put a hand on Hawk's shoulder.

"It's a pleasure, Eli…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… let me get this straight… Johnny is having another kid?"

Robby sat in Tory's living room with her that afternoon, still reeling from a bombshell that his father had laid on him an hour earlier. Johnny was having a baby! And with Carmen Diaz, Miguel's mom, of all people! Robby didn't know how he felt about it when Johnny had told him. Hell, he still didn't. He was shocked, to say the least. Shocked was an understatement. He was stupefied, thunderstruck, shaken to his very core. And he had decided to go over to Tory's place to work through it. She was just as shocked as Robby, and her jaw was practically hitting the ground it was gaping so wide in shock.

"Yup." Robby replied.

"And… and with Carmen Diaz?" Tory stammered. Robby nodded again, and Tory's face then changed from shock to great entertainment, collapsing in peels of laughter that didn't stem for an eternity. She was practically rolling around on the couch in her fits of hysterical laughter and Robby had to glare at her in confusion.

"What?" He snapped.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm just imagining those future Thanksgiving dinners! I almost feel bad for the poor kid who has to sit between you and Miguel!"

"Huh?" Robby grunted, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Well if Johnny's having a baby with Miguel's mom, that means that the baby's both of your brothers. Hell, you and him might even become stepbrothers!"

Robby shook his head furiously, refusing to think about that.

"No! No, no, no! Nope! Not gonna happen!" Robby responded vehemently. Tory laughed.

"Don't know if that's up to you! I mean, if him and Miguel's mom are going to be raising a baby together, getting married is only the natural next step." She argued. "Awwww, imagine the group Christmas card photo!"

"That's it! I'm leaving! I'm moving!" Robby exclaimed.

"Where?" Tory giggled, deeply amused by Robby's horrified reaction. It was like he had been dumped in Afghanistan or something.

"I, um… I… uh…" Robby spluttered, speechlessly, a deer in headlights. "Mexico! I'll flee to the border!"

"Awww, you'll get to be with your stepbrother!" Tory responded, thoroughly entertained by all of this. Robby's eyes widened when he remembered who exactly was in Mexico right now, and he shook his head wildly, desperately trying to backpedal.

"That is NOT what I meant! I, um…"

"Hey, maybe this could be a good thing, you know?" Tory pointed out, in a much more serious tone. Robby looked at her, confused.

"How's that?"

"Maybe this could be the thing that ends your rivalry with Miguel for good. I mean, it's kind of hard to be feuding with someone when you literally have a same sibling."

Robby chuckled mirthlessly.

"Hmmm… sibling or not, I don't see our issues being resolved any time soon." Robby remarked. Tory shook her head.

"Of course it can be! All you need to do is man up and face your issues, rather than holding grudges like little bitches and refusing to deal with them."

Robby laughed.

"Ah, yes. Holding grudges. Remind me again… how's that feud with Sam going? You two patch things up yet? Because I would hate to think the two of you are holding grudges like littl…"

"Hey!" Tory snapped. "Mine and Sam's is different! You see me having a baby with her brother?"

Robby looked at her, completely confused.

"Um… what?" Robby asked, perplexed. Tory, realising what she had said, shrugged.

"I don't even know what I'm saying, to be honest." She replied. "All I'm saying though is that this isn't all bad. You know, the two of you aren't in warring dojos anymore. You aren't fighting over a girl either. For the first time since the two of you met, you have the opportunity to put your rivalry to bed forever. One of you just has to be a big enough man to take the first step…"