Serendipity & the Serpent

Preparing For Battle

It was the first of December.

A new month meant new opportunities. It was a fresh start. A new beginning for you to evolve. There was a journey ahead to embark on.

You started it with a punching bag.

You found yourself at Mr. Miyagi's quite early in the morning. After waking up in a fit of rage, you needed a place to take your anger out properly.

Johnny had been crashing at your place again. But after the few times that he had, his step father had begun to catch on. In attempts to know his whereabouts, he followed Johnny out. He had to take multiple sharp turns and circles to get Sid off of his tail. Johnny feared that it was only a matter of time before Sid found his new hideout.

Just the mention of Sid made your blood boil. For starters, he treated everyone as if they were below him. Especially his own step son.

When you showed up at his door a few weeks back, you weren't expecting him to push you to the ground. You wanted so desperately to fight back, but you couldn't.

After all, he was still Johnny's father.

Johnny would have argued with you about their relationship. He would've said he's not my father or that dirtbag means nothing to me. But even then, you still found it hard to face him. You weren't scared of Sid, not in the slightest.

But you didn't fight back. You wouldn't.

It took a special amount of control in your bones to not lash out on him that day. Johnny had saved you, interfering with the interaction before anything else could happen. But you didn't want Johnny to protect you.

You had every capability of protecting yourself.

And in the case that Sid did find your apartment, you would be ready.

But Sid was not the only thing on your mind. You woke up thinking about Kreese. How sick and disgusting he was. But more importantly, you found it hard to understand the car situation in its entirety. It still bothered you that the boys didn't recognize the car.

So was it really Kreese driving?

The same questions made constant loops in your brain. You wished so badly that you could just shut them out for awhile, bask in the peace and quiet. But that was hard considering your life had been on the line.

With the All Valley approaching, you had to prepare. Although you weren't participating in the event, you knew Kreese was up to something. You had to prepare for war. Train like it was really you on that mat.

You punched the bag harder and harder until you swore it was going to fly off the hinges. You were truly disappointed in yourself. Every time a threat came your way recently, you had let them in. You let the taunts get into your head, you let the anger bubble up inside.

But you never acted upon it.

"What issue?"

You turned to find an inquiring Mr. Miyagi. You sighed, throwing your head back. "I'm sorry if I woke you, Mr. Miyagi."

"No wake. I've been wake."

You nodded your head.