CHAPTER 49

"Wow, um… Sensei Silver, I really don't know what to say. You really shouldn't have. I mean, uh… this is way too generous."

That afternoon, Silver and Miguel walked out of a Suzuki dealership, Miguel wheeling out a brand-new, jet-black motorcycle. Silver had bought one of the most expensive bikes in the store for him without even batting an eye, a reparation for what Miguel had had to go through at the party for no other reason than being Cobra Kai, Silver had said. Miguel had told him that it was unnecessary. That he didn't need anything, but Silver had insisted. He had offered Miguel either to get him a car or a motorbike. Silver had also said that it was investment, that it would help Miguel get to the dojo easier and therefore more frequently, and if his fellow Cobra Kais were being attacked, he would be able to get to them faster to help save them. After a short test ride, which had Miguel flying down the surrounding streets and then returning, Silver had made the purchase right there, right then. An upfront fee that would grant Miguel his very own motorised vehicle of transport, something he couldn't have dreamed he would have a couple of weeks ago.

"Honestly, it was nothing." Silver replied, waving him off.

"No, it wasn't. This is huge. Thank you. Thank you so much, Sensei. I really appreciate it." Miguel stammered, still in shock at the incredible purchase Silver had just made for him.

"No problem at all." Silver chuckled.

"Wow, um… I can't believe it. I can't wait to ride this home!" Miguel exclaimed, staring at the matt-black stallion that he was about to tame. Silver nodded.

"Well, unfortunately we do have one stop to make along the way before you go home for the night." Silver remarked. Miguel looked at him, confused.

"We do?" Miguel asked. As far as he knew, there wasn't training this afternoon, so what did Silver want from him? Silver nodded.

"We're going to back to my place for a bit. I have an old friend of mine I want you to meet." was all the Cobra Kai sensei said, in an extremely cryptic way. Miguel was still confused, but before he could ask some follow up questions. "Come on, we don't want to be late! I'll race you there!"

Miguel was extremely eager to get to ride his new toy so he threw on the helmet that Silver had also bought for him, and got onto the bike, speeding away from the dealership in his haste to beat Silver to the location. It was a swelteringly hot day in LA that day, so when Miguel was stationary, he could feel beads of sweat dripping off his forehead, but as soon as he started moving on the bike, that heat was automatically gone. He felt the wind lightly tickling his cheeks through the helmet visor, and he felt like he was flying. Literally flying. Soaring like a bird in the air, unrestrained, free. As he rode down the street along the coast and stared at the golden flecked sky, he smiled faintly. He had been through so much in the past year, so much suffering, and he felt like God was making up for it now. Despite not dating anyone and losing pretty much all of his friends, Miguel felt almost happy. At peace. Things were simple again. There was no massive tournament, no massive stakes. It was the closest he had gotten to his old life in the past year, and he was loving the simplicity to it. A rivalry was just a rivalry. Training was just training. There was no infighting between senseis, no dreadful dojo merge, and for that reason, Miguel had to count his blessings, despite the bad things going on. He had to look at things in a glass half-full kind of way, and if he did, he would see that he had more money than ever before, more chance of a future than ever, he was stronger than ever, fitter than ever, a better fighter than ever, and he was fighting for a dojo he felt more loyalty towards than he ever had towards either Miyagi-Do or Eagle-Fang.

For a moment, Miguel even pulled his bike over to the side of the road, parked it, and merely just stared out into the horizon. He knew that his troubles were far from over. After his fights last night and going to the Larusso Auto dealership this morning, he knew that he was about to be subjected to confrontations by both Johnny and Sam, confrontations that were undoubtedly not going to be pretty. He didn't have to even see them to know that they weren't going to go well, as neither understand at all his situation, so even if they wanted to, they couldn't empathise. Sam and her family had the money for any kind of future she wanted. And Johnny, back in the day, had the same, but instead gave all that up to eventually become a sensei. Karate had become the most important part of his life, and Miguel wasn't sure he wanted his life to go the same way. He had bigger hopes, bigger aspirations than that, but he knew that Johnny and Sam wouldn't get that. They would be so wrapped up in their hatred towards Cobra Kai that it would undoubtedly just be "Miguel, what the hell are you thinking," or "how could you do this," or other unsympathetic phrases like that. Miguel knew that he had lost both of them, neither a part of his life right now and by the looks of things, neither would be in the near future, and while that was a really sad thought to wrap his mind around, he knew that he needed to accept it and look on the bright side. It would be an opportunity for him to be able to find himself and who he as on his own, without their influence. Ever since he left Mexico, as he was no longer under the influence of Manuel, Sam, Johnny or anyone else, he had found himself managing to dig deeper and deeper and find who he truly was again. A leader, not a sensei's minion. Loyal, not brainwashed. Strong, but not drunk on power. At this moment, he was the best version of himself that he had ever been, and anyone unbiased enough to see through the karate war would see that too. Shame nobody around him was truly in that situation. Shortly after, Miguel got back on his bike and rode the rest of the way to Silver's house. He made it in around 10 minutes, and as he brought the bike to a halt, he realised that Silver's car wasn't there. Miguel didn't pay much attention though. He figured the man had parked the car inside the garage or something, as there was no way he hadn't gotten home yet after Miguel's long detour. Miguel was curious. Who was he about to meet? Was this some other student that Silver wanted him to help recruit. Because Silver had said that that was part of Miguel's new role at Cobra Kai, recruitment.

After parking his bike, Miguel walked up the driveway and over to the front door, opening it and stepping inside. To his surprise, it was still pitch-black. Maybe Silver wasn't home yet, Miguel thought. He figured he would just wait for Silver to get back, so Miguel closed the door behind him and stumbled around the pitch-black entrance way, still trying to find a light switch in the still quite unfamiliar room. However, just as he reached the back wall of the room, he felt a hand suddenly sneak onto his mouth and clamp tightly on it, restricting his ability to breathe. Miguel's eyes widening, before he could stop himself, his fighter instincts kicked in. He didn't think about who the hell was grabbing him. He didn't think what the hell was going on. The only thing on his mind was getting himself out of harm's way. He grabbed the wrist of the mysterious man and after locking it in his grip, he twisted it so the man had no choice but to let go. And in the second that Miguel had been released from his grip, he took advantage. Yanking the man's arm down, he threw him over his shoulder and flipped him so that he was on his stomach with his arm pointing upwards, no different to the position he had Robby in during the school fight.

At that moment, all of a sudden, chuckling laughter filled the room, coming from not only the man beneath him but also Silver, who was audibly somewhere around. The lights clicked on and Miguel immediately had a few of both of them, the man in Miguel's lock seeming extremely relaxed and if anything, amused by what had just happened.

"Okay, I hate to admit it but you're right, Terry. He actually is pretty good." The man on the ground remarked.

"I know, right? I told you so. Best young fighter in the Valley right here." Silver replied. Miguel looked at both of them, completely confused, letting the man's arm fall out of his grip as he realised that he was in no real danger. However, that fact didn't lessen, and if anything it increased the confusion he was feeling.

"Um… what the hell is going on?" He asked, in utter bewilderment.

"Miguel, I want to introduce you to a good friend of mine, Mike Barnes." Silver said.

"How do you do?" Barnes asked, his voice extremely muffled as Miguel was still pressing him into the ground. Hearing this, Miguel quickly jumped him, and the man quickly hopped up to his feet and faced Miguel, holding out a hand for Miguel to shake. "It's really nice to finally meet you. Silver's told me a lot about you."

"Yeah, it's a pleasure." Miguel slowly replied, still slightly guarded as he shook the man's hand. "I'm sorry, I'm still really confused. If you're friends with Sensei Silver, why'd you attack me just now?"

Barnes chuckled and nodded.

"I'm really sorry about that. Silver tells me that you're a champion and I wanted to see if he was telling the truth. He clearly was. That was quite the slam, kid." Barnes remarked, clutching his neck that Miguel had thrown him onto and wincing slightly. "You ever consider joining an MMA gym?"

"Easy, Mike. He's supposed to be recruiting you, not the other way around." Silver remarked, jokingly. Miguel, though, was still in the dark as his eyes searched for answers as he glanced from Barnes to Silver.

"I'm sorry… recruit? You're a karate student?" Miguel asked, kind of shocked. The man looked closer to Johnny's age than his, so him being a student seemed to be a bit of a stretch. Barnes shook his head.

"Do I look like a student?" Barnes remarked. "I'm a… teacher. Own a small MMA gym. Your sensei here is trying to convince me to come back to Cobra Kai."

Miguel nodded, slowly gaining a full picture of the situation. But as some questions faded, others formed in his mind.

"Wait… back to Cobra Kai? You used to be part of the dojo?" Miguel asked, shocked. Barnes nodded, a far-out look on his face.

"Yeah, many, many moons ago." He responded. "I was a dumb, brash kid who was promised to be made a champion under Cobra Kai."

"Did you? Become champion I mean." Miguel asked, curious. There was a long silence before Barnes finally replied.

"No. No, I didn't." He admitted. "I lost sight of what I was fighting for and became so consumed with hatred and rivalry that I choked what would've otherwise been a really easy win. I lost everything after the tournament."

"That being said though, Barnes was, and still is to this date, one of the greatest fighters Cobra Kai has ever had the pleasure of teaching." Silver stated, jumping to his friend's defense. "Having him pass on all of the knowledge he has gained could be vital in helping us stay one step ahead of Miyagi-Do the entire time."

Barnes turned away from Miguel and turned to his friend, a torn look on his fight.

"You know, when you came to me with your first offer, I declined because I didn't want to bring myself and my students onto a sinking ship. Your dojo had no signs of firepower at all. But this kid… this kid seems pretty decent."

"Thanks." Miguel remarked, though it was clear that he wasn't involved in this part of the conversation as the two older men talked.

"But at the same time… no. I'm sorry. Cobra Kai was my past. I'm not going to let it consume my life again."

"Um… if I may…" Miguel suddenly spoke up, causing Barnes to slowly turn towards him. "You don't have to let Cobra Kai consume your life. From the sounds of things, last year, I did the same thing you did… let a feud take control of my life and let it fuel my every move. And you know how it ended? With me paralysed from the waist down and told I would never walk again."

"Damn, that sounds rough, kid." Barnes said. "But I have a feeling that my feud might be a little more deep than whatever teenage rivalry you have with whoever it is."

Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"The guy broke my back and I got him sent to juvie for it… your pissy feud bigger than that?" Miguel remarked, to which Barnes scowled at him. "Look, my point is that now, I've learned from that point, you know? I left Cobra Kai for a while, to try and get away from the fighting and the feuding. But the whole time… it was like there was something missing, you know? I had not just become less aggressive, but I had become this snivelling, passive hippie that was only interested in peace. The best decision I could've made was coming back to Cobra Kai. In just a few days back in the dojo, I already feel myself gaining these amazing things that I had lost when I left. Passion, loyalty, strength. But this time around, I didn't let it get to my head. I'm not letting it make me drunk with power and lead me to crumble again. I'm letting it guide me but not blind me. Do I still hate that guy that I have issues with? Yes. Deeply. But I'm not letting that anger towards him screw me over. Rather than wasting energy thinking about how to destroy him, I channel it into training so that IF we come to blows again, I stay a few steps ahead of him. You should do the same. Come back to Cobra Kai. Give yourself a second chance with the dojo. And if you and Mr. Larusso come to blows again, don't let the past anger you have towards him tear you apart."

Barnes nodded, deep in thought. The kid had a point, that was for sure. But a second later, he realised something and he looked at Miguel, surprised.

"Wait, how did you know about…"

"I trained with Miyagi-Do for nearly 3 months, Mr. Barnes. You really think Mr. Larusso wouldn't tell us all about you and use you as a lesson about conquering our fears?"

Barnes' face darkened at the mention of his former foe, and it made a lot of sense that Larusso had turned him into another story to brag about to his students. Barnes wanted to squeeze that smug man into a pulp, and just thinking about him made his blood boil. A long silence descended over all of them, as Barnes remained deep in thought. On one hand, a large part of him wanted revenge on Larusso for what he did to him. But on the other, he didn't know if he'd be able to take another loss against that man. As Barnes thought about the last time he had lost to him, his eyes then flickered towards Miguel. He couldn't let a whole new generation of Cobra Kais go through what he went through. By the sounds of things, Miguel had gotten revenge on his rival, but what about the others? There were surely more rivalries between the Cobra Kai students and the Miyagi-Dos. He couldn't let these students, and the students that were bound to join in the future, experience the pain of losing that he had gone through.

Eventually, Barnes stood up and faced Silver, a massive scowl on his face. At that moment, Silver knew that he had won him over. Barnes was back in the game.

"Fuck you, Terry." He growled, before turning on his heel and charging towards the door.

"Training starts at 12 pm tomorrow!" Silver called after him, smirking as the man stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Once he was gone, Silver turned towards his student. "Well done, Miguel! That was great!"

"Thanks." Miguel replied, smiling faintly.

"No, like that was incredible!" Silver exclaimed. "How'd you convince him so easily?"

"I've been told I'm a pretty convincing person. It wasn't that hard actually. You just gotta find what makes the other person tick to convince them."

"How'd you know bringing up Larusso was it?" Silver asked. "I mean you weren't even born at the time of the '85 tournament. How'd you know that he'd want a second chance against a past rival?"

Miguel shrugged, before replying.

"In case you don't remember, I rejected your offer to come back to Cobra Kai at the beginning. What do you think changed my mind?"