CHAPTER 30

Terry Silver sat in the office of the Cobra Kai dojo, plotting. That was the only word to use to describe what he was doing. Sitting back and reclining in his chair as the students outside warmed up, Silver let his mind drift away. Now that he had won the tournament and seized full control of Cobra Kai, the future of the Valley lay in the palm of his hand. He had large plans for the future. Large plans indeed…

A few days earlier…

Silver was sitting in the exact same office that night, staring at the phone in front of him. He was going to do this. Cobra Kai had won the tournament, and they had claimed temporary dominance over the Valley. And being the businessman that he was, Silver knew when to pounce at an opportunity, and this was a massive one. He had the opportunity to make Cobra Kai bigger and better than ever. To expand beyond the confines of one, dingy dojo in Reseda. However, he knew that he couldn't do it alone. He was just one man, one sensei, and for his vision of an expansion to come to fruition, he knew that he needed another one. He wanted to start with just opening one more dojo in the Valley, and then expanding from there. Already having bought the property (the exact location of the original Cobra Kai dojo from the 80s), he knew that there was just one more thing left to do before he could begin to recruit and welcome in new students to help put an end to Miyagi-Do once and for all: hire another sensei.

But this couldn't just be any sensei. It needed to be someone he knew and trusted, someone who knew exactly what it meant to be a Cobra Kai. And there were only three men in California who knew that: one was him, one was locked in a jail cell, and the other…

Silver slowly lifted the phone and dialled it, placing it to his ear and listening to it ring several times.

"Come on. Pick up." He urged. Sure enough, a gruff voice greeted him moments later.

"Hello?" A middle-aged man answered. Silver smiled widely at the voice.

"Hello, Mike. Long time…"

3 days. 3 days since he had called his old friend. Mike Barnes had done okay for himself since the 80s. The loss to Larusso had hit him really HARD, to the point where he needed to leave the Valley and get some space from the whole thing. So for the next 10 years, Barnes had travelled all over the country, fighting in various underground fight clubs in almost 20 different states. Silver had been constantly in touch with him at this point, so he knew that the man had become an absolute machine after this point. In 10 years and hundreds of fights, Barnes had lost exactly 0 of them. That feeling of coming up short to Larusso had left such a bitter taste in his mouth that he had vowed to never feel that way again. And after winning fight after fight after fight, after he had finished his peak at the top and age's cruel grasp had begun to weigh him down, at age 37, he had decided to retire from fighting and instead start his own underground fighting ring in Vegas. And he had done pretty well for himself too, and that was why Silver was beginning to question whether his friend would respond to his call for help or not.

However, all of a sudden, Silver was dragged from his train of thoughts when the bell attached to the dojo door ran, indicating that someone had just walked in. Knowing that all of his students had already arrived for class, assuming that it was a new student, Silver slowly got up and walked out of his office to greet them. However, as he emerged and walked into the main dojo, a smile crept onto his lips when he found himself face to face with his old friend again.

"Michael Barnes." Silver grinned, walking over to him and embracing his friend.

"Silver. You old dog. You know, part of me can't believe you're still alive."

Silver laughed.

"It's the fight, my friend. This war… it's keeping me alive." Silver remarked.

"Sensei, who's that?" Kyler suddenly asked his sensei. Hearing the words from one of the students caused both men to turn around and Barnes' eyes sweep around the dojo for the first time. He shuddered at the sight of it, not liking what he saw at all.

"These are your students. Jesus Christ." He remarked, thoroughly unimpressed. "I'm seriously interested to hear whatever sales pitch you have for me."

Silver nodded.

"Yeah, let's talk in my office." He said, leading Barnes through the main dojo, instructing the students to continue their warm up, before taking his friend into his office and shutting the door behind him.

"I'm driven a long way to be here, Terry. I hope whatever you have to say that you couldn't say over the phone is worth my while" Barnes remarked.

"I want you to come back to Cobra Kai." Silver told him. Barnes raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Me? Back in Cobra Kai? Now you remember how that story ended 35 years ago right?" He commented. Silver nodded.

"I know. But this time, we won't lose. In fact, we've already won. We beat Miyagi-Do in the tournament, so now I can expand Cobra Kai to as many dojos as I want and they can't do anything to stop me."

It was Barnes's turn to be surprised.

"Miyagi-Do is still a thing? That old bastard isn't dead yet? What is he, a vampire?" Barnes stated. Silver laughed and shook his head.

"Nope. He's long gone. But you'll never guess who has taken his place as sensei."

As Barnes realised that it was the source of his only loss in his fighting career, his eyes widened.

"You're joking." Barnes murmured.

"Nope!" Silver exclaimed.

"Danny boy's a sensei now?!" Barnes exclaimed, a hint of passion seeping into his voice at the mention of his old nemesis. It was enough to show Silver that despite how long it had been since 1985, Barnes was still licking the wounds inflicted on him by Daniel Larusso. And maybe just enough for Silver to be able to rope him back to the Valley and get his revenge once and for all.

"Yup. Not a very good one though, given that we managed to beat his dojo in the All-Valley tournament." Silver replied. Barnes smiled widely and nodded.

"That's really great, man. Worth the drive just to hear the fact that the smug son of a bitch lost." Barnes stated. "But I'm still unclear why you need me."

"Well it's like I said, Mike. I'm planning a whole expansion for Cobra Kai, let it dominate the Valley in the way it deserves. And to do that, to start, I plan on opening another Cobra Kai dojo. There's no sensei in the whole world who I trust to do that other than you. So what do you say? One last ride against Daniel Larusso?"

The two men locked eyes for a long moment, before Barnes eventually shook his head.

"Sorry, man. My answer's no." He murmured. Silver's eyes widened.

"No?" He stammered. Barnes sighed.

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but it took me long enough to get over it the last time I faced Larusso and lost. I don't want…"

"But that's just it, Mike! We can't lose this time! We've already won! We own those pieces of shit at Miyagi-Do!"

Barnes raised an eyebrow.

"Really, because based on the students I saw out there, the only fight your guys are winning is the fight to the front of the line at a concession stand at the movies!"

Silver nodded.

"Yeah, we did have our two leaders, our two champions, poached from us." Silver admitted. "Which is why I was hoping that you could use a few of the connections you've made over the years to bring in some people you know as new Cobra Kai students as well. You know, actual fighters. Not like these asswipes outside. Come on, it'll be like how I brought you in!"

Barnes chuckled as he stared at his former sensei, all of the feelings of humiliation he had felt that night at the All-Valley being dredged back up.

"See that's the difference between you and me, Silver… I would never bring my people aboard a sinking ship like you did."

"Mike…" Silver murmured.

"Look, here's my offer. Plain and simple." Barnes remarked. "Show me that Cobra Kai still packs the same punch it used to and I'll CONSIDER it. Show me that it has at least some direction to it. I'm not asking you to build a whole new army tomorrow, but at the very least it needs to have a champion."

"It's not as easy as it looks. Miyagi-Do have poached all of our old champions." Silver commented. Barnes smirked and nodded.

"Yeah, so you strike back! What did you teach me all those years ago? They strike you once, you strike back so hard they don't dare to strike again! They pinch your champion from you? Well you go down to Miyagi-Do and you do the same damn thing! How do you think they'll react when they see their old champion fighting for you?!"

Silver took in these words and his mind whirred. An endless plethora of options for a new champion filled his head, but he was trying to think of the one who would be most effective. He needed a fighter, sure, but he also needed someone who would cause the most sting to Miyagi-Do before even throwing a punch. That's when it came to him…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Miyagi-Do stood in the backyard and faced Daniel and Chozen, who were standing up on the sparring deck, staring down at their students.

"So… today's lesson." Daniel began. "I know that these past few weeks, we've done a lot of training. A lot of drills. We've learned a lot of new techniques thanks to Chozen, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're a little more prepared now for what Cobra Kai is going to throw at us next."

A collection of nods and smiles went around all of the Miyagi-Do students. He was right. They had learned an awful lot from Chozen, not only physical techniques, but also mental strategies when facing a serious fight. He had taught them aggression, but it was smart aggression. When training with Johnny, his idea of aggression was very much lunatic-like, but this aggression that Chozen taught them was a lot more controlled, a lot more composed. Miyagi-Do might have been all about defence in the eye of Daniel Larusso, but Chozen had shown them that sometimes, it was important to get in the front foot, to use offence to control the pace of the fight. But not mindless, needless aggression like Johnny had tried to instil in them. No, it needed to be calculated.

"But it's all great and dandy to just execute the new techniques in drills. What we need to do now is practice integrating them into our actual fighting styles!" Daniel announced. "Which is why today's training is going to be a simple one. It's something that a few months ago, I never would have condoned, but with Chozen's new teachings I think we can pull it off. We're just doing one exercise today… sparring!"

A flurry of smiles flashed around the group. Sparring was one thing some of them missed from Eagle-Fang training. While doing Miyagi-Do drills was fun, there was nothing to get the blood racing and the heart pumping like being in a good, old-fashioned spar, but a controlled one so they didn't need to fear getting hurt.

"So I mean I don't know what else to say. It's basic, 3 points wins sparring. But don't just try and score points on your opponents. This isn't a competition. Try and experiment with some of the new moves in your fighting. Everyone understand?"

"Yes, sensei!" They all barked.

"Good!" Daniel smiled. "Now… let's start with Sam and… Demetri. Guys, come on up here!"

Sam and Demetri nodded and walked up onto the sparring deck. The two faced each other and bowed, before Daniel started the fight moments later…

There was a pretty obvious gulf in class between the two of them from the moment the fight began. It wasn't expected, and it was pretty routine for when Sam fought anyone in the dojo other than Hawk. And the two of them could only spar with each other so many times.

Sam and Demetri circled each other for a while, neither having the urge to wade in first, and instead both just dipping a toe in, testing the water. A half-assed strike here. A half-assed strike there. That was it. Until however, the storm clouds rolled in…

Sam looked up and stared at Demetri and suddenly, Demetri's words from earlier floated through her head.

"I went to the diner he's working at in Reseda."

"Yeah, he came back two weeks ago."

"He didn't come to see you when he arrived?"

Before she knew it, rage had began to erupt inside her. She wasn't mad at Demetri. He hadn't even done anything. She was just furious, enraged at her situation. 99/100 lifetimes, she and Miguel would end up together and stay together. They would be happy. It was just her bloody awful luck that she had to live in the one lifetime where that wasn't the case!

The fury soon overcame her and almost subconsciously, Sam lunged at Demetri. The boy was taken aback by the sudden charge and there was little he could do to defend before Sam had taken him down to the mat and laid a strike on him.

"Point! Larusso!" Chozen barked, holding up his flag.

The two senseis then expected the fighters to get up and retake to their corners. However, the exact opposite happened. Sam remained on top of Demetri and began to unleash a flurry of punches at his defenceless body.

"I went to the diner he's working at in Reseda."

THUD! THUD! THUD!

"Yeah, he came back two weeks ago."

THUD! THUD! THUD!

"He didn't come to see you when he arrived?"

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The Miyagi-Dos were rooted to the spot, in utter shock at what they were witnessing, and because of this, Demetri was at Sam's mercy as she continued to unleash blows, unload her frustrations on him. Thankfully though, a few moments later, Daniel and Chozen snapped into action, Daniel practically tackling his daughter away from Demetri. As Chozen quickly attended to the fallen boy, Daniel turned to Sam, his eyes wide in shock and horror.

"What the hell was that, Samantha?!" He shouted. As quickly as her rage spell had appeared, it had dissipated, leaving Sam just as horrified about what had happened as everyone else. She quickly stumbled to her feet.

"I'm… I'm… I'm so sorry." She managed to splutter out between deep, heaving breaths, before turning on her heel and sprinting out of the dojo as fast as her legs would carry her…