CHAPTER 20

"Ayyyyyy! Look who's back!" Hawk exclaimed as Miguel walked into training the next morning. It was his first time in training since his incident with Demitri, and Miguel was feeling infinitely better than he was that day. For the first time in two weeks, he had slept completely through the night without any nightmares, and he was feeling extremely refreshed and ready to train. Johnny and Daniel had told everyone to meet them at the lake, so the group stood about 100 yards away and waited for the two senseis to arrive. They assumed that because they were by the lake, they would be doing Daniel's peaceful training that day.

Miguel immediately walked over to Demitri, who still had a bandage on his face after Miguel's beatdown on him, and he held out a hand in apology.

"Hey, man. Look, I'm really sorry. I wasn't in a good place, and I didn't mean to…"

"Dude, it's fine." Demitri laughed. Miguel raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect it to be this easy.

"Um… it is?" Miguel asked, confused. Demitri nodded.

"Yeah, you saved my ass so many times last year from Kyler and those guys. I owe you for that. I guess now we can call it even." Demitri said. Miguel nodded and the two shook hands.

"Thanks, man." Miguel murmured. Shortly after, Daniel and Johnny walked over to them, each carrying their own duffel bag and dumping them on the ground before turning to their students.

"Okay, guys! Listen up!" Johnny shouted. Everyone immediately snapped to attention at Johnny's commanding bark. "We've been easy on you guys so far! Let you slack off!"

"We haven't been slacking off." Demitri remarked.

"QUIET!" Johnny shouted. "But you know who isn't slacking off? COBRA KAI! So your real training begins today!"

Johnny then pulled out long pieces of rope, and the group raised an eyebrow. What was he doing this time?

"Demitri! Larusso! Get over here!" Johnny snapped. Sam and Demitri looked at each other, confused, and walked over. Normally, whenever Johnny was experimenting with a new drill, he got Miguel and Hawk to demonstrate.

As soon as they walked over, Johnny pushed them shoulder-to-shoulder, and began to tie their inside legs together.

"Oh, so we're doing a three legged race?" Sam asked. Johnny chuckled as he tied a knot.

"Of a sort." Johnny grunted.

"And why aren't Miguel and Hawk your guinea pigs for whatever weird drill this is?" Demitri asked. Johnny raised an eyebrow and laughed.

"Because they've already done this before. And, they're indispensable. I don't want them to accidentally die." Johnny murmured quietly, loud enough for only them to hear. Sam and Demitri looked at each other, terrified, and tried to spin around to face Johnny but couldn't because their legs were tied together.

"Um… WHAT?!" Sam exclaimed. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Don't get your panties in such a bunch, Larusso. You probably won't die." Johnny stated.

"PROBABLY?!" Demitri cried. Johnny suddenly stood up, having finished tying their legs together with a two meter long tail of rope trailing behind them.

"OK, guys. Here's the drill. You just have to run into the water." Johnny stated, pointing to the lake situated around 100 yards away. Everyone was confused. That seemed kind of tame.

"That's it? Thank God!" Demitri exclaimed, relieved. Johnny shook his head.

"Hold on, Big Mouth. There's more." Johnny said, grabbing his duffel bag and walking directly behind Sam and Demitri so they couldn't see him. He then pulled out a lighter and Miguel closed his eyes. He already knew what the drill was, and he knew that it didn't work. Johnny lit the lighter, and held it to the end of the tail of rope until it caught fire too.

"Okay. You have about 10-15 seconds before the fire spreads to the end of the rope and onto your legs and burns you. Better run fast." Johnny stated. Sam and Demitri looked down and almost had a heart attack. The fire was quickly running up the tail of rope like the tip of a firework, ready to explode as it hit their legs. Daniel was just as terrified, and he stood there, motionless, as the fire slowly crawled towards his daughter.

"COME ON! MOVE!" Johnny shouted, as the fire edged its way nearer, but Sam and Demitri remained on the same spot, paralysed in shock. Johnny's booming voice pulled them out of their shock, and they sprinted towards the bank, forcing themselves to work as a team, despite their desperation. It was the only way they would get there in time. At the very last moment, just as the fire licked at the back of Sam's calf and she cried out in pain, the two made it to the lake and dove straight in, extinguishing the fire. Johnny clapped his hands as Daniel helped carry the bound pair back to the rest of the group.

"Dad." Sam whispered, in pain, and Daniel looked down to see Sam rolling up her pant leg and revealing a small burn from the drill, but a burn nonetheless. Daniel's eyes blazed in fury as he saw his daughter injured, and he stormed over to Johnny, shoving him backwards.

"What the hell, Larusso?!" Johnny spat, as the rest of the group watched in shock and alarm.

"YOU INJURED MY DAUGHTER, YOU ASSHOLE!" Daniel snapped. Johnny shrugged.

"It was a tiny burn. It'll heal in a few days. Big deal. Suck it up, princess." Johnny remarked. Daniel, enraged, slapped Johnny across the face. Now it was Johnny's turn to get mad. He started to advance towards Daniel menacingly.

"You really want to fight, Larusso?! You want all of your students to watch as I kick your ass?!" Johnny shouted. Daniel chuckled mirthlessly, raising his hands.

"I'd like to see you try." He growled. Just as Johnny was about to strike, Miguel stood in between the two of them, forcing them to stop.

"STOP!" Miguel yelled. "The whole point of that drill was about working together in desperate situations, trusting one another. Isn't it a bit hypocritical of you guys to tell us to do something, and not follow through with it yourself?"

"You agreed for us to work together as partners, Larusso!" Johnny snapped. "You don't like my methods? TOUGH! My methods got a student to the All-Valley final last year, so I know they fucking work! You need to trust me when I say I'm not going to do anything that gets anyone killed, but injuries only make people stronger! Whatever injuries these kids get training with me are NOTHING compared to what they'll be on the receiving end of if we lose the All-Valley and Cobra Kai stay forever! You can't train in your dumb, pussy dojo and tuna pond forever!"

"It's a Koi fish pond." Miguel murmured to his sensei quietly.

"Whatever!" Johnny snapped. "So Larusso, you either trust me and we win the All-Valley TOGETHER, or you go back to your dumbass, lame methods and get knocked out in the first round! Which is it?"

Daniel knew that Johnny had him on the ropes here. He needed that man and his training methods if they wanted to win the All-Valley, but he was too angry to care. His hot-headed attitude was clouding his judgement.

"Fuck you, Johnny. One more injury and you're out of here!" He growled. "TRAINING IS OVER FOR TODAY! EVERYONE, GO HOME!"

With that, Daniel stormed away from the woods and drove off in his car…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

That afternoon, Sam got her leg bandaged up. It really was a small burn so it didn't even require her going to the hospital, and it would probably be fully healed in maximum one week. In the evening, she walked downstairs to find her dad in their home dojo, still seething in anger after the incident from that day.

"Hey, dad." Sam said, as she walked into the dojo. Daniel looked at her and smiled.

"Hey, sweetie. How's your leg?" Daniel asked. Sam shrugged.

"It really wasn't that bad. It's fine." Sam replied. Daniel scoffed.

"Not that bad? It shouldn't have happened in the first place, Sam!" Daniel snapped. "How that man is still allowed around kids is beyond me!"

"Dad…" Sam took a deep breath. "You need to trust him more."

Daniel glared at her.

"You too?" He snapped. Sam sighed.

"You can't keep treating him like your enemy. He's a good sensei." Sam said. Daniel once again scoffed.

"He's a maniac. A lunatic! You can't trust him! You could've died today, for God sake!" Daniel exclaimed. Sam shook her head.

"Dad, stop." Sam stated. "He knows exactly how far to push his students. Sure we might get small scrapes once in a while, but I know he would never let any of us get badly injured. He's making us stronger, dad!"

Daniel looked at his daughter, his eyes wide. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from this daughter. That's when he realised…

"This isn't you talking, is it?" Daniel stated. Sam looked at her dad, confused, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" She asked.

"I said this isn't you talking, is it? It's Miguel." Daniel stated. Sam shrugged and nodded. Daniel scowled. "I can't believe you, Sam! How can you trust him over me?"

"I never said that!" Sam snapped, starting to get pissed herself. "I'm just more likely to listen to someone who went from nerd to All-Valley champ in ONE year with Sensei Lawrence, than his petty, childhood rival!"

"He's dangerous, Sam! Miguel's LUCKY he hasn't been seriously injured by Johnny's training methods!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Yeah, instead he was gravely injured by YOUR student's methods instead." Sam shot back, biting her tongue when she realised she had taken it a step too far.

Despite everything, Daniel still really cared about Robby, and he felt extremely about everything that had happened during and after the school fight with Robby and Miguel. Therefore, Robby had kind of become a taboo topic in their house, hence why Sam realised she had overstepped. She continued in a softer tone.

"Look, dad, Miguel and I are struggling to hold this team together right now and prevent Civil War from breaking out. I need you to put aside your personal differences!" Sam begged. Daniel scowled.

"Tell him that." Daniel spat. Sam sighed, getting even more frustrated with her insanely stubborn father now. Whoever told her that she was her father's daughter was definitely wrong. Anthony was SO much more like his father than Sam was, despite their different interests.

"You don't think Miguel is having the exact same conversation with Johnny right now?!" Sam snapped. "I'm telling you, Dad, Miguel and I are trying HARD to bridge the gap between the Miyagi-Dos and the Eagle Fangs, but we can't do this alone. We need you two to trust each other! So can you do that? Please? For me?"

Daniel sighed and looked at his hopeful daughter. He then looked down and saw her bandaged calf and he scowled again.

"ONE more chance! Johnny steps out of line ONE more time and I say sayonara and dump him out of the dojo forever!" Daniel spat. Sam glared at him.

"'Steps out of line?' He's your partner, dad, not your employee! He's right! You don't treat him like your equal!"

"Hey! It's not my fault his methods are bs!" Daniel spat. Sam groaned and put her head in her hands in annoyance.

"OH, MY GOD! Look, I'm done trying to reason with you, dad." Sam spat. "Kick out Johnny if you want. But you know that if you do, Hawk and Miguel are both leaving too and staying right at their sensei's side."

Daniel shrugged.

"We can win the All-Valley without them." Daniel stated. Sam laughed mirthlessly.

"We? Dad, there is no we!" Sam spat. "If you kick Johnny out for your own selfish, petty reasons, I'm going to be the first one knocking on Sensei Lawrence's door to become his third student…"