CHAPTER 67

3 weeks later…

BEEP!

The metal, iron fence of the State Penitentiary swung open, and an uncuffed John Kreese walked out of the gates for hopefully the final time. 10 weeks. 10 weeks of being stuck in that soul-sucking, excruciating prison and he had fully given up hope on every getting out. He had let his body run on auto-pilot, his mind float away, preparing to waste away from behind bars. The only way he would ever be getting out of this place would be eventually in a body bag. But then, a miracle had occurred. A miracle in the form of his former student Stingray…

Stingray had somehow grown a sack and had decided to grow up. He had decided to right the wrongs he had made by framing Kreese. He had explained everything to the police, absolutely everything. He finally left out no detail. The result of which had upsides and downsides. Downside was that while Kreese had been let out of jail, as far as they knew, there wouldn't be any case against Silver. Silver's multi-million dollar army of lawyers had made sure of that much. Even if Kreese was let out, the fact that Stingray had lied to the police before prevented the cops from having enough evidence to go after the new Cobra Kai sensei. That being said though, they couldn't keep holding an innocent man so Kreese was freed. It was a weird situation. The cops had said that they were 'still investigating' what had happened, but it was pretty evident that nothing was going to come of it. It was Stingray's word against the word of distinguished businessman Terrence Silver and his squad of Harvard graduated lawyers.

Stingray wasn't stupid. He knew that Silver wasn't going to be happy about Kreese being released, even if it didn't mean him going to jail himself. He knew that Silver could potentially have some very unpleasant things in store for him, and so Stingray wasn't going to stick around in Cobra Kai to find out. He decided to quit Karate and leave the Valley entirely. It was time for a new start for him. He had some friends in San Diego, and he was planning to stay with them as he tried to go back to school. Hopes of a bright future echoed through him after his conversation with Daniel.

As Kreese walked out of the jail and into the outside world for the first time in over 2 months, he breathed in the fresh air and smiled. The feeling of finally being out of that hellhole was unmatched. God had finally shown him justice and given him a leg-up after all of the shit he had been through in his lifetime. He was free to do whatever his heart desired, and right now, he only desired one thing. As he walked out to the front of the prison, he saw a familiar car parked there, a minivan with a dojo logo emblazoned across it in massive font. He chuckled as he saw it, and couldn't help but smile as he saw who got out of the vehicle.

"Guess I owe you a thank you. I'm guessing whatever plan you and Larusso had to get me out worked." Kreese remarked as he stood face to face with his student, his protege, his mentee for the first time since the All-Valley tournament.

"It's not me you have to thank. It's Chubs." Johnny replied. "He's the one that got you out."

Kreese raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" He whistled in shock and appreciation. "I underestimated him. Maybe he does have some balls after all."

"Maybe." Johnny murmured. "Look, I owe you an apology, man. When you got locked up here, I just assumed you had done it. I didn't stop to question it, even when you claimed you were innocent."

"Don't worry about it. There was nothing to make you think otherwise." Kreese said. Johnny shook his head.

"Yes. There was." He murmured. "No matter how much of an asshole, an abusive piece of shit, you were, you were always honest with me. Always straight-up with me. Well, other than when you stole my dojo. But still… you've done a lot for me and I should've trusted you."

Kreese nodded.

"I appreciate that. But what you've done for me… getting me out of here… it more than makes up for it." Kreese responded. "I mean I thought I was going to die in there. Rot in that hell until the sweet release of death finally came. See the same four walls until the day I die. You managed to change that fate. You didn't have to do that. Didn't have to give me a second chance."

Johnny shook his head.

"You're an innocent man." He stated. "No matter how much of a shitbag you are, you're an innocent man. That's all that mattered." He stated. "So what do you think you're going to do with your freedom? You going to go after the son of a bitch who put you here?"

Kreese chuckled.

"Depends what you mean by that. Do I want to kill him? Yes. Am I going to? Probably not." Kreese replied. Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"You got soft there in prison. What happened to the man who would go to any lengths, even kill, when on a mission? The military man." Johnny asked. Kreese shook his head.

"That man's still there. But his greatest weapon's his brain. And his brain is saying no way in hell I'm getting back locked up."

Johnny nodded, newfound respect for his sensei. He had been wary that as soon as Kreese got out of prison, he'd be right after Silver. But by the sounds of it, he wasn't planning on that.

"Besides…" Kreese continued. "Even if I'm free now, I'm going to be drowning in parole officers for the next year for punching a cop while being detained. And I wouldn't put it past them to be keeping a close eye on me for the next little while to make sure they let out the right person. If I even step a toe out of line, they're going to be on me immediately and I'll be thrown right back into the prison again."

"So what are you going to do?" Johnny asked. Kreese shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe leave town for a while. I've got army buddies scattered across the country. Maybe stay with some of them for a while. Meanwhile, figure out how I'm going to get back at Terry in a way that isn't going to put me behind bars."

As Johnny heard this, he fell silent for a moment. He took a deep breath.

"Look, I can't believe, after what you did last time, I'm even suggesting this but…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"He's out?! HE'S OUT?! HOW THE FUCK IS HE OUT?!"

Barnes paced around the Cobra Kai office that evening, shouting and yelling in fury about the most recent update in the Kreese case. They had just gotten the message that Kreese had been released from jail, and while Barnes was actively yelling out his outrage, the other sensei was quiet. Silver was deep in thought, reflecting on what had just happened, and what was about to happen next.

Barnes soon noticed Silver's silence and he scowled at him.

"Why the fuck aren't you upset?!" Barnes exclaimed. "You do realise this affects you too, right?"

Silver nodded, still dead calm.

"I know. But I also know that getting angry now isn't going to help at all. We need to think about this through a clear mind. Retaliate not out of anger, but instead in a calculating way." Silver replied. Upon hearing the word 'retaliate', Barnes perked up, sitting down in his chair opposite Silver.

"Retaliate? So we are getting revenge on them?" Barnes asked. Silver nodded.

"Of course. I told Larusso and Lawrence that there'd be repercussions if they went through with this, and I'm a man of a word." Silver replied.

"Oooooh, I smell a storm brewing." Barnes grinned. "So what are we doing? We going after Stingray? Fat shit going to pay for what he did? Heard he fled the Valley. Fucking pussy."

Silver shook his head.

"No. We're not. Leave him alone." Silver stated. Barnes' eyes widened.

"What?! Are you serious?!" He exclaimed. "The man betrayed us!"

Silver shook his head again.

"He's irrelevant. Our problems are not with him. They're with Larusso and Lawrence. We have bigger fish to fry."

Barnes nodded, agreeing with Silver there.

"So what's the plan?" Barnes asked. Silver took a deep breath.

"Gather up the team. We have work to do." Silver stated. Barnes nodded, pulling out his phone, ready to call up all of the Cobra Kai students so they could plan the revenge that the students had been hearing whisperings and rumblings about for a while. He texted each and every one of the Cobra Kai students to meet them at the dojo, before coming to the final name on the list and looking at Silver.

"Do I text Miguel too?"

Silver thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"No… no, we don't." Silver replied. Barnes raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty sure if you want him to stay in Cobra Kai after this, you're going to have to let him know what is going on." Barnes replied. Silver chuckled.

"There's not a chance he stays in Cobra Kai after what we're about to do." Silver remarked. "And just as well too. Now that we have Payne, all Miguel is is a weight on my bank account. The sooner we can get rid of him, the better."

Barnes nodded, before putting his phone away. Just in time too, as at that moment, the first of the Cobra Kai students arrived at the dojo, ready to hear what their mission was about to be…