CHAPTER 158
That night, Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do both returned to the facility and retreated to their respective dormitories for the night. There was no more to it than that. No ambushes in the hallway. No brawls starting between Taikai competitors. They were all so worn, so exhausted, by all of the fighting that all they could do was shower and then go straight to bed.
That was the students at least. The senseis were up a while longer, and it was going to be a very long night for a few of them. It all started when Silver was walking back to his dormitory, alone, a massive grin across his face. Things couldn't be more perfect for him. Tomorrow, he was going to eliminate Johnny Lawrence from the Sekai Takai, and he was going to watch either Daniel Larusso or John Kreese get eliminated. Then, whichever of them made it to the final, he was going to wipe the floor with them in the UFC style fight. Things couldn't have been better from his perspective.
"How do you sleep at night?"
A familiar voice from behind him caused the smile on Silver's face to grow even larger, as he slowly turned around to find him face to face with none other than the 1984 and 85 All-Valley champion. Daniel and Silver were standing face to face, and anger was already written all over the Miyagi-Do's face.
Silver smirked at Daniel and shrugged.
"Quite soundly actually. Why? Pressure of the tournament starting to get to you?" Silver asked. Daniel scowled daggers at him and shook his head.
"I know what you're doing to Marcos." Daniel snapped. Silver raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't think it was a secret. I am a sensei at a global karate tournament. He is my student. Doesn't take a genius to work out what we're doing." Silver remarked casually. Daniel shook his head once more.
"No. You're not a sensei! You're a monster, who is infecting an innocent kid in the same way you infected me all those years ago." Daniel stated. "I remember what it was like. You playing the angel, giving me advice, slowly dragging me into your web, until I was in too deep to get out. Well I'm not going to let you do the same thing to him!"
That didn't faze Silver in the slightest. Instead, the sensei's grin spread even wider, and he started chuckling and guffawing loudly in Daniel's face.
"You're not going to let me do the same thing to him? Is that right, Danny boy? Well it's funny… because it doesn't look like you're going to have much of a choice. You see, it was even easier to get into his head than it was yours. It might've taken me a while to get to you, but with him… it only took a night. It only took a night to convert him to my ways, trap him in my 'web' as you call it, and now there's nothing you can do."
"It's not too late. Not for him. Not for any of the other kids in your dojo." Daniel stated. "I don't care how much it takes, Silver. I will not stop until I've managed to get every single student safe and away from you."
"Is that right?" Silver laughed. "Just one thing though… how are you going to do that without a dojo? How are you going to do that if we're the world champions? When we win the Taikai and force you to shut down, it'll be the seal in the coffin for your precious Miyagi-Do. Your dojo will be buried down there with the man himself, and everything you hold dear will be nothing but ashes. You… your dojo… your students… your family… there will be nothing left by the time I'm done with all of it."
"You're not going to get away with this, Silver. You're not going to get away with any of it." Daniel growled at him. Silver shrugged.
"I think I already have actually." He grinned. "Now… right now, you should probably focus more on your own dojo then on me. Those are some tough matchups you and your students have ahead of you. Sweet dreams, Danny boy."
With that, Silver turned around and walked away from Daniel, leaving the Miyagi-Do sensei all alone in the hallway. Well, mostly alone. There was actually one other person who was standing in the hallway. Someone who had overheard everything Silver had just said. Someone who knew he had a massive decision to make. One that could potentially cost his dojo the Taikai, but not making it would risk his students' lives.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"Ah! There he is!" Silver exclaimed cheerfully as the door to the Cobra Kai senseis' living quarters swung open and Kreese stepped into the common room. Silver was sitting in the living room armchair, pouring two glasses of extremely expensive scotch that he had brought for the Taikai, and he placed a cup beside the armchair opposite him, gesturing for Kreese to sit down.
As Kreese walked into the room, Silver could immediately see that Kreese was slightly uneasy about something. Well, maybe uneasy was the wrong word, as Kreese did not feel any fear about what he had just done. He was simply still uncertain about whether or not what he did was right or not.
"You okay?" Silver asked. Kreese didn't say anything, as he moved to sit in the armchair opposite Silver. "Well whatever's wrong, tell me about it in a moment. Right now, I'm enjoying this scotch! Oh, my God, it's like nothing you've ever had!"
"I don't like what you've been teaching my students." Kreese suddenly spoke up, interrupting Silver with the blunt statement. Over a year ago, Kreese had been the one on the receiving end, when Johnny had walked into his office and told him those exact words. Now, things had come full circle, and it was instead Kreese who was concerned.
"Excuse me?" Silver said, taken aback.
"I heard about what you've been saying to Marcos. I don't like what you've been telling him, what you've been urging him to do." Kreese stated. He wasn't going to hold anything back now. "I don't think you have any of our students' best interests at heart at all. I think it's the opposite. I think you came here to the Taikai to screw with us."
Silver scoffed.
"And why would I have any reason to do that? Miyagi-Do are the enemy, not you, remember?" Silver remarked. Kreese shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe the same reason you had me thrown in prison last year." Kreese snapped. "And honestly, I don't care at all about your reasons. I don't care about what you have to say. These are my students, not yours. I decide what's best for them, not you. And I've dealt with your bullshit excuses up until now because of the deal we made, but enough is enough. I just finished speaking to a member of the Taikai committee and told them that you're dropping out of the tournament and going home."
This was it. Kreese was making his stand now. Seeing what Silver had done to Marcos during the quarter finals, how easily he had removed any humanity from inside Marcos, had secretly terrified Kreese. Then hearing Silver admit it to Daniel in the hallway, not giving an absolute shit about the impact of what he was doing on the teenager… that was the last straw. Kreese wasn't going to allow him to keep doing that. No chance. He was going to protect the students that he cared about so much, no matter what.
Silver shot out of his chair, his eyes wide as saucers in shock.
"You did WHAT?!" Silver shouted. Kreese slowly rose from his chair too and stood face to face with his former lieutenant. Although Silver had always been the taller of the two and was even more so now, the aura of power that Kreese always possessed whenever he stood face to face with the man made it feel the exact opposite.
"You heard me." Kreese quietly but firmly stated. "You're being removed from the semifinals as we speak. You're expected to leave the facility by tomorrow morning."
"Johnny… Johnny… Johnny… you can't be serious?!" Silver exclaimed incredulously. "What the hell are you doing?! We've got them in the palm of our hand! We're so close! So close to getting everything we've ever wanted! Gledhill and Oliveira both somehow drew the easiest possible opponents for their semi final fight, and I'm easily going to win the Senseis' division. We can end Miyagi-Do once and for all! We can win!"
"We're still going to win the tournament." Kreese said. "But we're going to do it without you."
Silver shook his head vehemently.
"Why are you doing this? Without me you stand no chance and you know that! You're sacrificing winning a whole division!" Silver spat.
"Because I'd rather lose than have you infecting my students with your bullshit for a minute longer!" Kreese exploded at the top of his lungs. Silver's face flashed with anger for a moment, before he chuckled mirthlessly.
"Bullshit? Why don't you go and ask Oliveira again what I taught him? Because last time I checked, I was only enforcing the core principles that we came up with together: strike first; strike hard; no mercy."
"Yeah well maybe… maybe Cobra Kai needs to rethink a thing or two."
There it was. For the first time in over half a century, Kreese had begun to question Cobra Kai's philosophy slightly. A few years ago, Kreese would have never even considered this to be the case. But to see what Cobra Kai did to Johnny Lawrence. Then see what it did to Tory Nichols. And now seeing what it did to Kreese's latest surrogate child, it was starting to become a very unfortunate pattern, one that might not be a coincidence.
"Really? John Kreese is questioning Cobra Kai?" Silver scoffed. "Guess if you live long enough, you really do see everything."
"What you're doing to Marcos, what I saw on the mat tonight… it wasn't right! And I'm not going to allow you to continue doing that shit to him or anyone else! Now… you will pack up your back and you will leave immediately! You will not return here or to the Cobra Kai dojo in the Valley! If I hear that at any point, you come within a mile of any of my students, I guarantee you that that aneurysm in your head is going to become the least of your problems. Do I make myself clear, Lieutenant?"
Kreese's authoritative tone when he was addressing his former Lieutenant kicked in. It was made abundantly clear who was the boss, and who was expected to follow his orders. For a moment, it looked like Silver was about to respond, either verbally or physically. However, in the last moment, he held himself back, a look of pure loathing being shot at Kreese, but no more than that.
"Fine." Silver muttered. "I'll get my stuff and I'll leave. But I'm warning you… we're in the endgame now, John. Everything is about to change. You really don't want me for an enemy."
"Get. Out." Kreese growled at him. Just before he did, Silver took half a step closer to the other man, their faces now inches apart as they stared down at each other.
"You're going to regret this…"
That was the last thing Kreese said before retreating into his room, grabbing his suitcase and storming out of the accommodation. As soon as he was gone, Kreese collapsed into the armchair and put his head in his hands. He had done it. But now that he had… was that the right decision? Or was it only going to make things worse? They would have to find out soon enough.
Well from a Taikai perspective, it definitely had made things worse. Cobra Kai had lost their best fighter, their only somewhat sure thing when it came to winning a division. Now it all looked a lot more murky and a lot less clear, their road to victory suddenly being delayed by a massive roadblock. But was it worth it, not having that monster around to poison kids any longer? That answer was a resounding yes.