Like A Phoenix ➳ Cobra Kai

Shedding The Snake Skin Once And For All (23)

Sensei Kreese called out to the students, "Everyone take a seat beside the mats. We have a show to watch." Surely enough, one by one, kids began sitting on the ground, avidly anticipating the soap opera-like fight.

Hawk was the first to strike, aiming toward Kat's face. In a swift motion, she blocked his tight fist with an open hand and pushed his arm away. Standing close together, Kat could feel Hawk's hot breath against her skin, and with each move he made, she counteracted.

"Don't be afraid of what it takes to become a winner! Start fighting like your life depends on it because someday, it might." Johnny bellowed, earning a nod from Sensei Kreese.

In the heat of the moment, Hawk swung his leg high towards Kat's head, but Kat's forearm again blocked his offense. Instead of being the offender, Kat took on the role of defending herself.

Before taking a heavy breath, Kat ducked the hard swing of Hawk's flying fist, initially aiming for her neck but reaching nothing but air. She quickly sprung upright, only to be met with several back-to-back punches from Hawk, all of which she managed to block successfully.

The duo paced around the mat for seconds, never breaking eye contact. Again, Hawk made his first move, swinging his arm towards Kat's neck in an attempt to hook her into his fist. Left, then right, she moved backward and dodged each blow. This time, she swung a right hook towards Hawk, which he ducked beneath, taking her arm in the process and forcing it behind her back. He lifted his knee to kick Kat in the gut but was quickly met with her arm, blocking the potential blow.

Without hesitation, Kat pulled her arm away. Before allowing Hawk the upper hand to swing at her, she grabbed his wrist and forced it down, along with his limp arm. Within seconds, Hawk jumped at the first opportunity to wrangle free of her grip and place a tight lock underneath her armpit, stretching out to her neck as he squeezed tightly.

Caught in a trap, Kat elbowed the side of Hawk's face, leaving a slightly red mark. Then proceeded to yank on his arm, sending him tumbling down...But, not too fast, Hawk did a backward cartwheel that left him unharmed, aside from the red hash on his face.

Again, Kat sent a flying spin kick towards Hawk, but in the last second, he managed to dodge the attack and counteracted by ducking with a leg sweep, which didn't land against Kat's position. As Hawk sprung back to his feet, Kat backed away, allowing him to seize the opportunity by doing a 360 tornado kick toward Kat, to which she dodged his movement.

Kat leapt into the air and swung a blow at Hawk, but it was quickly blocked. Then, she drew a kick towards his chest, but again, he dodged the attack. Without further notice, the two began struggling for dominance; with both wrangling their hands around the other's neck, Kat thrust her leg into Hawk's torso.

"Bitch," Hawk mumbled with a grunt. Before Kat could kick him again, he swept underneath her leg and sent them flying down to the ground. Still fighting, they kept the other hooked between their legs as they lay stretched out on the floor, sprawled out like a scout's knot. "You know, Mills." Hawk croaked. "I've been in this position with you before...." He dryly admitted before gasping for air.

"Tap out," Kat demanded, also gasping for air. Each second that passed felt like an eternity, as both were stubborn enough to admit their opponent's win, and neither loosened their grip on the other's windpipe.

Upon seeing the color drain from Kat's face, Hawk bawled his hand into a fist and smacked the ground twice, indicating that he had tapped out. Both laid defeated on the mat, only to glare at the other before regaining their breath slightly.

"I don't know about you guys, but did that feel like a sexually frustrated fight?" Aisha asked with a slight grin.

Without waiting much longer, Hawk jumped back to his feet and walked over to Kat, offering her a hand. "Need help?"

Kat watched as Hawk's hand extended to help her, but she smacked it away and sprung back up with little to no struggle. She glared daggers into his sterling blue eyes before croaking out, "As long as you continue to be the self-righteous and arrogant prick, I will never ask for your help or affection."

In response, Hawk's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. He wasn't sure if she was serious about it. Instead, he scoffed at her remark, "Yeah, whatever. See if I care!"

"Alright, alright. Everyone take a seat. We need to respond to LaPusso and his dojo with an advertisement of our own! Stop looking like a bunch of pussies, and start acting like the badasses you are!" Sensei Johnny screamed, tying the black headband tighter around his forehead. "Aisha, film me. We're hitting them where it hurts!"

"Damn straight!" Aisha exclaimed, taking the phone to record. "Stand over there by the Cobra Kai logo, next to the motto."

"What's a motto?" Johnny asked with a blank expression.

Aisha sighed, "The words on the wall...." She gestured over to the wall. Johnny stood where she instructed as she promptly pressed record on the camera.

"You want free karate? You're going to get what you pay for!" Johnny began with a smug look. "Why learn karate defense when you can learn karate offense?" He said, pointing at the camera. "Join Cobra Kai!"

Aisha nodded. "Okay! I think we're good." She smiled, "I'll post this to our youtube account."

Before Aisha could do anything, she discovered an advertisement for Miyagi-Do. "Oh my god. It's worse than I thought...."

Johnny looked at the young girl in confusion. "I thought you said it was good?"

"No, not that. Miyagi-Do is doing a demonstration seminar at Valley Fest! If they do their little show for all of those people, we won't stand a chance as a dojo." Aisha cried, exasperated.

Sensei Kreese emerged from the shadows with a mischievous grin. "Don't worry. We'll be there with our show, but we'll do it better. I want smoke, our new gis with the black and gold lining. I see sparks being shot into mid-air as we bombard the stage with our demonstration. We will upstage every bullshit show there and come out as the most badass dojo this town has ever seen!" He exclaimed, looking down at all of the students.

"Now, I don't want any of you to post about what we're planning. It's a surprise, a welcome gift if you will...." Johnny boasted.

Hawk raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Are you sure we should be talking about this with the Cobra Kai traitor in the room?"

Kat turned to Hawk with a stern warning, "Say that shit one more fucking time, and I'll go in the backroom, get the thickest slab of wood I can find, and I will smack your bare ass until you beg and plead for my mercy. Understood?"

Without another word, Hawk turned away from Kat and remained silent for the rest of the session. Still, during the entirety of the day, neither ex looked at the other.

At the end of the session, Kat went to the mini office where Sensei Lawrence and Sensei Kreese regularly were. She lingered in the doorway but quickly mustered the courage to talk with either Sensei, albeit not being comfortable around Sensei Kreese.

"Sensei Lawrence, I wanted to talk to you about something...." Kat mentioned with a subtle wince of her eyes.

Johnny remained slacked back in his office chair and gestured for Kat to continue while Kreese stood with his arms crossed at his side.

Before continuing, she breathed a heavy sigh and looked down at her hands. "Look, I don't think I can be at the demonstration tomorrow. I'd like to stay in the crowd and observe."

"Kat, you're one of our best fighters. If anyone is worthy of convincing a bunch of stuck-up bitches to bring their kids to Cobra Kai, it's you." Johnny admitted with a reassuring smile. "Are you upset at Hawk? Is that it?" He asked.

She cleared her throat. "I feel like if I participate in this demonstration, I'm telling Miyagi-Do which side I'm on. As of right now, I don't want to devote myself to a single dojo or friend group."

"Miss Mills, have you ever heard of the expression, you can't have your cake and eat it too?" Sensei Kreese asked, uncrossing his arms and pursing his lips. Kat shook her head. "It means you can't have the best of both worlds. You will inevitably choose a side, and for your sake, I hope it's Cobra Kai." He advised. "I will allow you to skip this public appearance just once, and after that, you're either with us, or you're against us. Got it?"

Kat inhaled sharply. "Yes, Sensei."