Lee was at the zoo, wearing a polo shirt with the zoo logo and tan cargo shorts. Her dad's new girlfriend, Constance was working there and got her in to be a volunteer. She prayed that things worked with this one because she was having the time of her life. She was following Constance who was rolling a cart full of greens for the animals.
Lee stopped in front of the red Mohawk when they crossed paths. "Woah." He had to stop abruptly. It took him a second to recognize her. He didn't expect her to be here. "What are you doing here?"
"Volunteering." She grabs the lanyard that has her name and title on it. "The question is what are you doing here?"
"We're here to see some animals." Tory glares at their obstacle.
"Bullshit." She sneers.
"Looking good in the cargo shorts." Kyler winks.
"What girl falls for that?" She scoffs.
"Many." He held his head high.
"Only ones desperate for popularity." She rolled her eyes.
Hawk looks at his watch and realizes time is running out of them. "I didn't think volunteers are supposed to bother visitors."
"Oh yeah, if you're a visitor where are your tickets?" She looks at the less fortunate in the group. Tory had to hold herself back from slapping her.
"Presley." She looks at her supervisor. "Come on, we got to get a move on. If you keep talking to your friends you're gonna miss out on feeding the sloths."
Her breath hitched as she was left with a tough choice. "Oh sloths, you love those." Hawk smirks, knowing she wouldn't miss that.
"Ah…" She looks between the food cart and him before letting out a sigh. "I don't know what you're going to do but if you get caught, you don't know me, you've never met me. Right now you are asking me for directions."
She ran over to Constance. "You know them?"
"Oh no, they were asking questions." She walks alongside the cart.
"Oh well, it's nice to see teens interested in animals. You don't see them coming unless they are forced by their family." She smiled.
"Yeah, it's great." She grits her teeth.
Lee walked into the enemy's dojo to look at the tank. "I can't believe you kidnapped Li Shang." She looked at the Chinese Cobra.
"Like the prince from Mulan." Tory scoffs at the predictable name.
"You have no proof that it was us." Hawk had located the blind spots.
"I don't have proof that you stole it but he is here in your dojo and I don't think you got the proper paperwork for him." She circles the tank.
"How can you even tell that's him?" Robby wonders.
"I don't know, maybe because he is following me. I have been feeding him for a month now." The snake did move along the tank as she did. "So unless you want to be arrested I'd return him by morning."
"You know you got a lot of nerve coming here, you didn't even bring any backup." She looks to see no Eagle Fang members in her car.
"What are you going to do, hit me?" She let out a bitter laugh. "Are you forgetting that I had this security system set up? Right now it is recording on my laptop, so even if you were to erase all the evidence of whatever you're going to do to me I would have a copy. Do you want to leave sick mommy and little brother all alone?" She tilts her head as she makes a baby voice.
"Damn, you're cold blood." Kyler was impressed.
"Very much so." Kreese came out of the office. "When I saw Cobra Kai in the newspaper, I was shocked that Johnny made it that far. He has the talent but not the brains. But, then I meet you. While everyone else is thinking a few steps ahead…." He looks over his students in disappointment that they left a witness. "You not only have planned out the next hundred steps but are preparing for bumps in the road."
"It's easy considering who I'm up against." She kept her eyes on the older man, not trusting him. She knew on his signal they would attack. He let out a laugh. "Besides letting Robby train with LaRusso. I thought you were Johnny's next biggest mistake. The fact that he didn't train you was wrong. You could be an unstoppable force, knowing how to end an opposite in the least moves possible. You can still be that with me." He put his arms out to showcase the dojo she helped rebuild.
"There is nothing you could do that would make me betray Johnny." She was offended that he even offered.
"Loyalty is a good thing but when you give to the wrong person it's dangerous. A sensei who doesn't use you to your full potential is a waste. You won't always have film will you?" He put a hand on his black belt.
"Nope, but I do have a snake." She grabbed the bag from the floor to open the tank and grab it. Tory moved to try and take it but she held it out too. He hissed, displaying his fangs.
"Shit, what does it matter if he traps here or there?" She jumped back.
"At the zoo, he is being used to make antidotes for venom. He's saving lives." She put him in the sack to tie it up. "Here, he's just a trophy for teens with egos too big for them to carry." She walks out of the dojo.
"I can't wait for the keg party." Bert got out of the Porsche with his friends.
"Where are all the cars?" Lee asked.
"The host made everyone take an uber or carpool. Didn't want anyone drinking and driving." Miguel lied.
"Why are you wearing that?" She looks at Mitch's ugly Christmas sweater.
"Because it's a Christmas party. The fact you guys are dressed regularly is going to be the odd part." He proudly wore the reindeer with antlers decorated in Christmas lights.
Miguel rang the doorbell and Sam opened it for them. They walk through the door to see only Miyagi-do. "Oh hell no," They jump off the couch to meet them at the door.
"You gotta be kidding me?" Chris glares at his ex-best friend.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Mitch returns the glare before looking at Miguel. "This isn't a keg party. I bought this hat for nothing." He throws it down.
"The hat is not the embarrassing thing about that outfit." Lee rolled her eyes. "What's going on, Miguel?"
"Why are you parents trapping us?" Demetri asks.
"Because they're back together and now they want everyone to get along." She crosses her arms.
"Lee, you're getting along with everyone." Miguel points out.
"I know I was answering the question." She didn't have a problem with it, but she was feeling awkward.
"Then uncross your arms." He pushed them down.
"Sorry, a nervous habit. Not a sign of aggression." She apologies.
"Look I know we haven't always gotten along but Cobra Kai is the bigger threat right now to all of us." She looks from her dojo to theirs.
"We think we stand a better chance against them if we join forces. Two dojos are stronger than one." Miguel told them. There was a lot of protesting going around. "I know we all did shitty things."
"Like breaking Demetri's arm." Chris pointed out.
"Hey, you started that." Mitch reminds him.
"After you almost got me fired." He didn't attack them for no reason.
"God, I hate your stupid face so much." Bert glares at Nate.
"If you died I wouldn't attend your funeral." He shot back.
"This isn't going to work." Miguel looks at Sam and Lee.
"It has to be because we only have one last chance to make things right. Alone we're nothing, but if we work together we have a shot. If we can't get over the past then the fighting will never end. We have to confront our enemy. This rivalry has to stop one way or another." Sam tries to get them to see that they all needed this.
"I don't want to be here for this, but I do want to help so everyone sits down for what I'm going to tell you." She made them all sit down except Sam and Miguel. "Today at the zoo, I saw Cobra Kai and Robby was with them."
"What?" Sam gasps.
"You know what that means right, they are going to know all your moves. You guys are going to have to make a new style. And what better way to do that than joining forces… Now, I'm going to be playing video games." She pushed Bert down when he tried to join her. "You can come up when you can all get along."
Sam yelled at her which door was Anthony. She knocked on the door. "Leave alone Sam or I'll show your karate buddy embarrassing pictures of you."
"Oh, I want to see those." She cheers.
He got up to open the door. "Lee…. I have to do something quickly before you can come in… not pick up dirty underwear or anything." He slammed the door in her face before shoveling things under the bed and into the closet. He opened the door to let her in. She steps in to see his gamer setup. It was similar to hers with the game consoles and computer setup.
"Do you have surround sound?" She noticed one difference. She had been begging her dad for it, but he said there was no way he wanted to hear Luffy's voice from his room.
"Yup, you're going to feel like you're on the battlefield." He put in Call of Duty.
After playing a few rounds, she decided to go out to get a drink. "Bring up a Cola." He yelled.
"Yeah, I got it." She opens the door to hear yelling and things breaking.
"What the hell?" He got up. They go to the top of the banister to see teens fighting. "Oh Sam, is going to be in trouble." His voice was filled with glee like his house wasn't being destroyed.
"Go into your room and call the police." She told him.
"What are you going to do?" He asks.
"I don't know." She looks around to see that her friends were losing the fight.
"Come on, you don't need to be out here." He grabbed her wrist.
"Just go make the call. I have to check on some people." She went down the stairs. "Go!" She waves to him when she looks back to see him at the top of the stairs. He nods before running into his room.
She had to dodge a lot of bodies to get to the kitchen. She saw Miguel on the ground. "Miguel, Miguel." She shakes his unconscious body.
"Hey Hawk, free shot." Hawk was standing a few feet away from Rickenberger who had Demetri over his knee with his arms bent back.
"Eli, no." She screamed when he took off running. "Oh god," She watched through her fingers. She put her hands down when Hawk kicked a guy away before slamming Rickenburger into the glass table.
Demetri backed away when he started walking toward him. "Look man, I'm sorry. For all of it. Do you want to help me win this thing?"
Lee pinches herself as she watches them fight back to back, kicking every Cobra Kai member they come across. "Hey, what are you protecting a loser for?" She looks up to see Kyler towering over them.
"Hey, leave him alone." She cried when he ripped Miguel from her lap. He threw him against the wall to hit him in the ribs. "Kyler, stop."
"Lee, move back." She barely had time to do what he told her when Miguel swung his elbow back to hit Kyler in the face.
"Woah," Lee watches Miguel flip Kyler over, throw him to the ground, and punch his face.
"Alright, anyone who is not invited here better gets out because the police are on their way," Anthony yelled from the top of the banister. Cobra Kai groaned as they crawled and limped out of there.
"How long does it take you to make a call?" She looks up at him.
"I yelled it before but no one heard me. I figure now with almost everyone on the ground they would hear." He looks at the unconscious bodies.
"Where's Sam?" Miguel looks around.
"I saw her and Tory run that away." Bert pointed to the door.
They ran into a pool house that was converted into a small dojo. "Stop Guys," Miguel yelled.
"Tory, the police are on their way. You should get out of here." Lee advises.
"Let it go, Tory, it's over," Hawk told her.
"It's not over. This will never be over, LaRusso." She glares at Sam.
"You know where to find me." Sam matches her rage.
"All this over a guy." Lee found it to be ridiculous. "No offense, Miguel." She apologized to her friend who was already bleeding from his face.
"None take, kind of agree." He nods out of breath.
"Traitor. You better watch your back." She kept her glare on Hawk as she made her way to the door.
Demetri steps in front of her. "He won't have to. He got real friends now to do that for him." Tory scoffed as she walked out.
After setting things straight with the police and Sam's parents, Demetri and Lee end up in her living room. "So, you're going to forgive Eli just like that?" She found that hard to believe. "I mean he broke your arm."
"That was when he was under Kreese's control. You said he came to you that night crying." He was excited to have his friend back.
"The next day he was back on his bullshit." She remembers waking up alone.
"The only reason I joined Miyagi-do was to get Eli back. I promised myself that I was going to get him back even if I had to kick some sense into him." If his best friends weren't involved then he would lay low and pretend he didn't know anyone in the dojos. "You can't ice him out. You know how much you affect him. If he feels alone, he might go back to Cobra Kai."
"They wouldn't take him." She shook her head.
"Then worst he'll be all alone. Trust me I've been there. I don't want that for him" He wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy. "I want Eli back and so do you. Here is our chance. I'm not saying you have to pretend like nothing happened but be open to him changing for the better."
"I can do that for you." She felt like she owed him that much.
"Don't do it for me. Do it for all of us. I know we can get back the friendship we all had." Demetri was determined. "Years from now we'll look back on this year and a half as being nothing but a foggy memory."
