CHAPTER 55

Miguel walked out of the booth moments later, his mind still spinning, and he once again took to the cobblestone path. The sky was completely dark at this point. Streetlights and floodlights, as well as all of the LEDs on the various attractions, were the only sources of light left, but they provided plenty. Enough for Miguel to spy Kenny a little bit away. When he noticed where Kenny was sitting, he couldn't help but smile faintly. Of course he was sitting on that same bench where Miguel and Sam had sat on their date all those months ago. He didn't still seem to be with the girl, so Miguel walked over to him.

"Hey." Miguel murmured. Kenny looked up at him and smiled widely.

"Hi!" Kenny exclaimed.

"How's the date going?" Miguel asked.

"Great! Thank you so much for telling me about this place! It's awesome! You were right… it is the best place to take a girl on a first date."

"I know. Now all you need is a girl and you're golden." Miguel remarked. "What happened to um… Lia, right?"

"Yeah, um… she just went to the bathroom. She's going to be back in a second."

Miguel nodded.

"Well just call me and let me know whenever you're done and I'll drive you home." Miguel told him, before turning around and preparing to walk away. However, he hesitated for a moment as he once again saw that shadow, that flash of brown hair that seemed to be following him wherever he went. I really need some fucking sleep, Miguel remarked to himself, before walking away. Little did he know that a short distance away, that shadow now had a large scowl on his face…

Miguel had literally nothing to do now, so he decided to do something different. He decided to go on the Ferris wheel. It had unfortunately been closed when Sam and Miguel had gone on their date, so they didn't get to experience it together, but Miguel still decided to get on alone. He let the wheel slowly bring him into the air, closing his eyes and relishing as the voices in the park diminished as his height increased. Higher and higher and higher they went, gracefully making their ascent. Feeling the cool breeze softly kiss his skin, Miguel looked down below him. Everything was so peaceful up here. Miguel's mind slowed from his thinking about Sam, about the karate war, about everything and he just… lived. He was in his last summer of high school after all. This is what it was supposed to be about. Just being a kid for one final summer before he became an adult. He let his heart rate slow and every muscle in his body relax, sitting back deeper in his seat on the ride and admiring how incredible the park looked at night.

However, the relaxation only lasted so long. A few seconds later, Miguel shot up in his seat, his eyes fixated on a figure on the ground. He had been watching all of the kids, families and couples making their way around the part and one person had caught his eye. It was for the millionth time that night, the same crop of hair he was seeing everywhere. But this time, the person wasn't hidden so Miguel was able to see their whole body, and he realised in that moment that he wasn't imagining things. Robby was there! What the hell was he doing here?! Miguel felt like he knew why he had come, but the more pressing question was how?! How did he know Miguel would be here?! Was he stalking Miguel now?!

Miguel didn't know, and frankly he didn't care. All he cared about was getting himself out of this situation. So as soon as Miguel got off the ride, he briskly began to walk away. He knew that Robby was following him. Now that he had seen him, he could no longer unsee him, so Miguel made sure to pick up the pace a little, knowing Robby couldn't chase him without getting too close. He couldn't physically see Robby anymore since he had gotten off the ride, but he could sense the boy was still there. Pacing after him. Not yet making a move but not backing down. He was a leopard, preparing to pounce on the helpless gazelle. But this particular gazelle was far from helpless.

Robby stalked Miguel all the way to the secluded bathrooms, one of the less used bathrooms in one of the more empty areas of the park. Miguel casually walked in, and when he did, Robby stopped for a moment. Was this really worth it what him and Hawk were about to do? Was it right? Well the answer to whether it was right was no it fucking wasn't. Robby knew that. But was it necessary? Thinking about what had happened that night at the party, Robby knew that it was. Miguel was dangerous. Very dangerous. And when he wasn't in Cobra Kai, he was calm enough to stay the fuck away from him and the people he cared about. But now, with him under the influence of a man Robby knew was a manipulative maniac… for now Miguel's sights were fixated on him, but what happened when he moved from Robby to someone else? What happened when Miguel turned his attention to Tory? Or Johnny? Robby couldn't bear to even think about the damage Miguel, let alone the rest of Cobra Kai, could cause to the people he loved most, and he knew that he needed to do something to put a stop to it. Hawk knew it too. He cared about Miyagi-Do, or at least the students in Miyagi-Do, just as much as Robby cared about Eagle-Fang. They were leaders. That was who they were. And being a leader meant that they would have to do things that were not right, in the interest of protecting their people. As much as Robby hated Miguel, he knew that what they were doing was wrong. But if they left Miguel alone, and then tomorrow Miguel went after someone like Tory… Robby wouldn't be able to forgive himself. Tory wasn't safe from Miguel. In fact, it was probably closer to the opposite. An ex-girlfriend that had done so much harm to Miguel's girlfriend… Robby knew that after Miguel was through with him, she would be the next target for him to lock his sights on. Which is why they needed to do this. To an outsider he might seem horrible, but he didn't care. They didn't understand. They didn't realise how dangerous it was for Miyagi-Dos and Eagle-Fangs to even set foot outside their houses now with this new threat from Cobra Kai. And for the sake of Tory, Sam, Demetri, Chris, Nate, Bert, Mitch and every other person in the Valley who Miguel could target next, they needed to eliminate that threat.

After sending Hawk a message to inform him exactly where Miguel was, Robby took a deep breath and walked into the bathroom. It was silent. And empty. No sign that Miguel was there at all. But he had to be in there! Robby had seen him walk in! But that's when Robby realised… the sinks were all on! Someone had turned all of the taps, effectively preventing Robby from hearing if Miguel was inside. But it told Robby all that he needed to know. Miguel was in here. Somewhere. But where? Robby slowly walked through the bathroom, going through every inch looking for Miguel. He wasn't by the sinks. He wasn't by the urinals. As expected. But he then approached the place Miguel was most likely to be: the bathroom stalls. Of course. It was the smartest place to hide. Robby kneeled down on the bathroom stall looking to see if Miguel's feet were exposing his whereabouts. He felt like an absolute creep, but at the same time, he knew in his mind that he was just fulfilling a mission, doing what needs to be done. But to his shock, nobody's feet peaked out from underneath the stall doors. Huh? Miguel wasn't there?

How was that possible? Robby had SEEN him walk in! Seen him with his own two eyes. Miguel had to be somewhere inside. It was impossible that he had managed to sneak out somehow. So Robby slowly paced down the line of stalls, trying to see any signs of one of them being occupied. He couldn't hear in over the sound of the gushing sinks, so Robby was forced to put his ear up against each door, trying to hear any sign of movement, or even breathing coming from within. He went door to door, eventually coming to the penultimate one and stepping forward. However, this time, as he put his ear up against the door, all of a sudden the door swung open violently, smacking him square in the face and sending him tumbling over. Miguel, who had been crouching on top of the toilet to avoid his feet being seen, leapt from cover, taking advantage of his moment of opportunity. Robby had been sent stumbling backwards, clutching his nose, which was burning in pain. Miguel grabbed him by the scruff of his sweatshirt and threw him like a rag doll across the bathroom. Robby was sent crashing into the line of sinks, banging his back against one of the marble hand-washing stations, and Miguel converging on him instantly. Robby had dropped to his knees, and Miguel grabbed him by his hair, roughly pulling it as he stood over Robby.

"So this is what it's come to, eh? Stalking? Trying to fucking ambush me?!" Miguel growled.

"You don't understand." Robby stammered, groaning in pain as Miguel pulled his hair harder.

"No, I think I do." Miguel remarked, his voice deathly calm. "You're feeling salty about losing to me so easily at the party, despite you trying to injure my back. You're so embarrassed and humiliated about it that you wanted to get revenge so, despite being an absolutely awful fighter compared to me, you come after me anyways."

Miguel had had enough. He was well and truly done with all of this. He had snapped. Reached his breaking point and had been pushed right over the edge. He was done. Robby had crossed the line. Them confronting each other when they happened to be in the same place was fine, but stalking him? Following him? Miguel had no clue how long this had been going on, but he indeed it to no longer happen again. Ever. He wasn't going to be in fear every time he left his house, looking over his shoulder in case someone was after him. That wasn't how he wanted his life to be. So that wasn't how his life was going to be. He needed to send a message. To Robby and all of the other Eagle-Fangs and Miyagi-Dos. He had told them to fuck off in an infinite amount of ways but they hadn't listened. So it was now no longer fuck off. It was going to be fuck off, OR ELSE.

"Robby, this is how it's going to be, okay?" Miguel whispered into his ear, pulling Robby upright so the two were standing, but pinning Robby against the sink so he couldn't move. Once again, for the second time in 72 hours, Miguel's arm snaked around Robby's neck in a rear naked choke. "I'm going to put you to sleep, okay? Maybe kick you a couple of times once you're down because well… I just don't like you. And when you wake up and tell this story to Johnny and Eagle-Fang and Miyagi-Do, I know you're somehow going to twist it against me. Make me the bad guy for you deciding to stalk me. But you know what… you know what's different? I don't care anymore. I don't care about proving my innocence to Johnny, to Miyagi-Do, to Eagle-Fang. I don't care enough about them to care anymore. So if you want to make me the villain, make me the villain. Make me the Joker to your weak-ass Batman. Because for as long as I get my way in the end, that's all that matters to me."

With that, Miguel's forearms slowly constricted, tightening around Robby's neck and slowly squeezing the life out of him…