Concerned could not encompass how Johnny felt. It was like Kreese was a ghost who had returned after years of not haunting just to remind him that he was inescapable.

"It's my dojo now." Johnny told him.

Kreese looked neither happy nor hurt, but he did have an annoyingly confident smile. "You're the one who reopened it, Johnny. I just want to be part of it again." When the other man still looked doubtful, he continued. "You're so new at this. I thought I could do it alone too at first. It doesn't take long to see the trainees need to learn from more than one sensei, but it's just a matter of doing what's best for them." He walked to the back room and put a small piece of paper on the desk before turning to leave. "When you realize what all's needed to run a successful dojo, you can find me through that number."

Kreese strode out of the building, disappearing into the night. Three students were still there and they were beside Johnny.

"Who was that?" Robby asked him.

Johnny did not answer at first. "Cobra Kai's old sensei." He said after the hesitation.

"Is he going to be an issue?" Kaldur inquired.

Johnny looked concerned and he was. He had no clue if Kreese was going to be a major problem or a manageable one, but he knew he would be one. The sensei just nodded and moved to a new subject, though his forced change of demeanor did not conceal the fact that he was looking around them as they went to the car. On the way to the homes, Johnny steered the conversation possibly with more skill than he did the vehicle. He kept the topics where he liked them (far from Kreese). The next day, Johnny went to the dojo early to make sure no unwanted visitors had tried to commandeer anything. Kreese was not getting the dojo without a fight. This is why he clenched his fists, readying himself for a fight when he heard the door open. Johnny left the back room and expected to tell the ex-sensei off, but he was not the person who stood in front of him.

"I heard what you did for Kaldur." The father said, a smile on his face.

Johnny eyed him. "Yeah well, he was about to get jumped by some punks."

"Thank you."

The sensei's surprise was visible on his face at the sincerity he heard. The other man extended a hand.

"We have not been properly introduced. I am David Hyde."

Johnny shook his hand. "Johnny Lawrence. Kaldur's been doing well. He's one of my star pupils."

David beamed at the information. "He has always picked up on things easily. In his earlier youth, he showed an interest in the martial arts that I taught."

"You taught at a dojo?"

"I owned it." David corrected. He had not stopped radiating with pride.

"That'd explain why Kaldur was able to do what he could already." Johnny mentioned, looking pensive.

"Unfortunately, Kaldur also likes to do things himself." David said. "Instead of just telling me what was going on with the group, he decided to handle it himself." The man glanced at the door. "I will not keep you from your work but thank you again for helping protect my son."

Johnny told him not to mention it and the other father left. The sensei could not be sure of how he felt. Part of him wanted to be suspicious, yet David had seemed so proud of Kaldur and they had already fought the attackers. He could not shake the feeling something was wrong, but so many things seemed true as well that it was becoming hard to tell where paranoia ended and reality started. As Johnny considered this visitor and the one from the evening, the talk of the high school was quickly becoming Cobra Kai. Even Kyler's minions seemed to want to join, but their egos prevented them from admitting that. Hardly anyone spoke of the competing dojo. So few in fact that it scarcely seemed to even be competition anymore. Apart from Sam, it looked like Miyagi-Do was where all the rejects from Cobra Kai went. If someone was afraid of going there or had been partially kicked out via one of Johnny's verbally abrasive speeches, that was where they ended up attending. This brought some rude glances here and there from some of the Cobra Kai trainees. What sealed the deal was when Hawk saw Demetri sitting over by the Miyagi-Dos. Hawk looked hurt and their eyes met for a moment, but he looked away. As quickly as the expression had come, it changed into one of mischief. The teenager went over to one of the newer members of Cobra Kai. The other student jumped slightly when he sat down.

"Hey, want to prove you really deserve to be with the rest of us?" he asked, eyes drifting back to his rivals. The younger boy enthusiastically nodded and Hawk slyly pointed to them. "Then we're going to mess with them after school."

Though the other boy was not so certain of the plan, he was even less certain of the wisdom of declining. Hawk knew which people to ask, targeting the new ones and avoiding the first members like the plague. They would not understand. He spent the rest of his lunch with the idea for how it would all go being his true sustenance. When school ended, Kaldur left for work, Miguel went home to take care of homework, and Aisha was about to do the same as Miguel. Hawk stopped her before she did, waiting until the others had left.

"What's going on, Hawk?" she asked, seeing him look like he was up to something.

"What do you think of the Miyagi-Dos?"

Aisha shrugged. "Not much of anything, I guess. It's not really shocking Mr. LaRusso would open a dojo given his history with Sensei, but I don't see why we have to be involved in that."

Hawk looked shocked. "You don't? What about your friend Sam? She's betraying you by being there instead."

Aisha chuckled. "I would have been pretty shocked if she went against her own dad. They might not agree on much, but I don't think she has it in her to join forces with his supposed mortal enemy. It's probably more in support of him than to go against our friendship."

"Maybe I'd buy that if she hadn't already shown that she didn't care about your friendship. What about all the turning a blind eye to you being picked on?" Hawk reminded.

The girl's demeanor changed. She had almost forgotten about that. She had so many new friends now that those days seemed insignificant in comparison, but Aisha had to admit that Sam did nothing to make that happen. If it had been up to her, she still would have been that girl at the Halloween party getting laughed at and feeling alone.

"What they do is their business." She said, less surely than before. "We're the better dojo by far, so they're really not even competition."

Hawk nodded and dropped the matter. It was simple to see that Aisha was not about to agree with his next question, so it was not asked. They said their goodbyes and he met up with the group he had gotten to commit. He had enough confidence for them all. Together, they followed the Miyagi-Dos just beyond the school grounds before they made their presences known.

"What's even the point of training?" Hawk asked, surprising the students who turned to face him. "You'll never get to be like us."

"We aren't trying to." Sam told him.

"That's your problem." he retorted. "You're all there doing your pathetic training and pretending like you're actually learning something."

"It's not pathetic." Sam said, feeling angrier.

"We're not the ones who have to try to psyche out anybody." Demetri countered. "Guess that stupid hair is messing with your brain, Eli."

Hawk lunged forward, but the other Cobra Kai trainees managed to keep him back. He sneered at his former friend and his new allies.

"If I wanted to hit something that couldn't do anything back, I'd just break a board. Consider yourselves lucky."

With that, Hawk led the others from the scene. He had made his point, but he still felt unsatisfied. He decided it was because he had shown mercy. Their rule was to never show that. He should have struck first. It was a learning experience and next time, he would. At the dojo later that day, Hawk's friends could not help but notice his demeanor seemed more aggressive. Every time he hit the punching bag, it looked like he wanted to punch someone's head off instead. Nothing was said this time and he left, feeling proud of his work for the day. The others left after him and Robby took another ride with Johnny and Miguel. He had expected to hate these rides, but they were really growing on him. More often than not, the three would just talk and joke about stupid things, but those stupid things were extremely fun.

"I'm just saying," Johnny continued, unable to suppress a chuckle, "Coors deserves more respect than it gets. You'll agree when you try it. Of course, boy scout Diaz here probably will go to his grave without ever knowing the taste of booze."

Miguel's jaw dropped and he laughed. "I'm not that bad. I just won't drink all the time or anything."

"See, Robby? He's too good to be an alcoholic." Johnny responded, fully laughing now.

Robby began to laugh too. They were forming a tradition he hoped would continue. The boy felt a bit disappointed when they arrived at his home. Home. It hardly felt like that. Reluctantly, he said bye to his dad and Miguel and watched as they drove away, silently wishing he could still accompany. When he got inside, none of his mother's 'friends' were there, but she was enjoying the company of several recreational drugs. She was too high to notice him enter, so he just went to his room like he normally did. He wondered if anything would make her change. If Johnny could start altering for the better, surely, she could. He supposed the difference was that Johnny wanted to, and it was clear she did not. The next day, Robby went to work as usual. There were the same types of customers as usual and the same types of problems as usual. The only unusual thing was how Robby felt. He had a bad feeling ever since that morning and nothing he did seemed to change that. When Kaldur came that afternoon, he quickly noticed something was wrong.

"What is the matter?" he asked.

Robby shrugged. "I really don't know. Something's just seemed off all day. I might head back home before the dojo today."

"Hopefully, everything is fine."

Robby gave a quiet "yeah" in agreement, but he could not help doubting that. After their shifts had ended, the teenager parted ways with his friend and began going home. Each step was as if it brought him closer to doom. Finally, he reached the destination and entered. It did not take long to see Robby's concerns had been warranted. Taking out his phone, he called for an ambulance. At Cobra Kai, Johnny was going through a list of exercises and new moves in his mind that he would teach the students. His shock was immeasurable when he answered his ringing phone and heard the news. The man drove even faster than his common speed and arrived at the hospital before much time had passed. He went to the waiting room and found Robby sitting, fingers interlocked and head down. Johnny sat beside him and the young man looked up at him.

"You came." he said, surprised.

The astonishment hurt Johnny, but he did not blame Robby for not thinking he was reliable.

"Did they say how she was doing?" the father asked. He wanted to ask how Robby was, but at the same time, he knew a question like that would be foolish. Johnny knew how Robby felt and how he would have responded at a time like that with his own mother.

Robby's head went back down. "They were trying to flush the drugs out of her system, but I haven't heard anything since then." He paused, recalling. "I'd never seen her like that. She looked like she was already dead. I wasn't even sure if calling would help anything."

Johnny took a breath and wished he knew exactly what to say-what to do-to fix everything.

"She's going to be alright." He said, with convincing certainty. "Your mom's got more fight in her than you know. She's going to come out of this and that's going to be because of you. You saved her life."

Something like a small, hopeful smile flashed across Robby's face.

"I actually was able to help her." He thought. "Now, I just need proof that she'll be fine."

His dad sounded so sure, though, and it was actually starting to convince him. He had been unsure about calling Johnny, but it was his second bit of advice from his instincts that day and they had not steered him wrong either time. He was glad he had reached out to tell him. Robby did not want to bother Kaldur. He was dealing with things of his own with that group going after him, and he did not have Miguel's number yet. At times like these, Robby realized how few people he knew. So many of his supposed friends had not wanted what was best for him and for a while, he did not view his blood relatives as anyone with whom he could share issues. It seemed like things were changing and this was not a change that he minded at all. There was not much speaking, but Johnny's presence was enough comfort for Robby. After some time had gone by, the sensei realized that the classes were still scheduled for that night.

"I can't just leave Robby here." He thought, frowning. "But I can't be a no-show for the others either."

Suddenly, Johnny had an idea. It was a long stretch, but it was the best thing he could think of.

Turning to Robby, he said, "I'll be right back."

Johnny left the waiting room to go outside.

"Guess it was nice while it lasted. I'll see him again tomorrow." Robby mused.

To his surprise again, Johnny came back after a few minutes. For the first time in longer than he could remember, Robby knew his dad was there for him. When the students arrived at the dojo, no one was there initially. Kaldur went over to Miguel.

"Something was going on earlier with Robby, so Sensei Lawrence is probably helping with that." he told him.

"That makes sense." Miguel said. "I guess that means we don't have class tonight. I say we wait a bit to see if they come back."

Kaldur agreed and they told Aisha and Hawk, then they told the others they would wait. Their wait would not have to be long. A mere two minutes after the scheduled starting time, the door opened. The man who entered walked with purpose and removed his shoes before going to the front of the class. All but one student watched him with curiosity. The one watched him with dread. Once, their eyes locked and a hardly noticeable grin appeared on the man's face.

"Good evening, recruits. I am Sensei Hyde, and I will be teaching your lesson tonight."