A Tale of Two Snakes

Disclaimer: I do not own any Riverdale and Cobra kai characters. This story is purely written for fun, not for any kind of profit.

Hello everybody. I am back with another chapter. Please read and review.

Chapter 6: Verisimilitude

"What do you think about that new boy?" Betty asked Archie.

After school, Betty, Jughead and Archie were walking on the road. Archie was talking with Jughead about his songs when Betty asked that question.

"Umm...he seemed nice at first meeting. But ...no, let me say it clearly, he is still nice. But today, he seemed like a total new person. ", Archie started scratching his red hair.

"Have you seen his eyes after that arm wrestling match? Have you heard what he had said? That was a total killer look in his eyes. One who can beat Chuck Clayton in arm-wrestling has some power in his hands. ", Betty said.

"That boy is a coin. A coin has two sides. Miguel Diaz is only showing us the light side of him. But sometimes, his dark side is coming out. Today, Chuck picked the wrong guy to mess with." Jughead said.

"Fear does not exist, pain does not exist, and defeat does not exist." Betty said," Have you ever heard something like this? Have you felt the passion when Miguel said those lines?"

Everyone was silent. They really did not see or hear anything like this. An eerie silence clouded on them..

"Do you know, Mr. Lawrence is now working in my dad's company?" Archie said.

"Ohh..that's nice.", Betty said. Jughead did not say anything, but Archie thought he saw a scowl in his best friend's face. He did not think much about it. In his mind, a large thing was growing. That thing was crushing his conscience day by day.

Archie was present at the riverbank on the morning of 4th July. But he was not alone. From sometimes, he had an affair with the music teacher, Ms Grundy. She was with him on that day, when both of them heard a gunshot. Archie wanted to talk to the Sheriff but Ms Grundy was against it. She was afraid that if their relationship became public, then she would lose her job. So, Archie did not say anything to anyone, but deep down he was hurting.

Carmen Diaz really started to like this hospital. It was small but beautiful. Her colleagues were nice and friendly. Today, she had her duty in the evening shift. She was in a very good mood today.

When she entered the hospital, she saw some staff members were gathering in front of the reception desk. They were watching something on a tab. Carmen was passing them when she heard something.

"...fear does not exist, pain does not exist, defeat does not exist...."

Carmen felt a cold shudder running through her spine. She knew that voice very well. She went to that crowd.

"Excuse me guys, what are you watching?"

One of them gave the tab to her. It was a video titled 'No Mercy'. In that video, she saw her son, speaking in a cold hard tone. Her hands started shaking. She somehow controlled herself and returned the tab. While leaving, she heard someone said,

"This video is going viral. That kid will be a star."

Carmen somehow reached her desk and sat down. She was getting angrier and angrier. All her anger was focused on only one man. That man who was responsible for every bad thing happened to her son.

But her son could not see any fault in that man. He was obsessed with that man. So much obsessed that he forced her to take him with them. She remembered that day, when she saw a complete different side of her son.

It took all of her will power to control herself enough to do her work, but in her mind there was a typhoon of emotions coiling up .

"That man is still corrupting my boy. I have to do something about that.", She thought to herself.

Her duty time passed like a blur. After her shift ended, she drove her car straight to her home. After reaching home, the first thing she noticed was the absence of Johnny's car. Then she remembered something.

Johnny had pawned his car yesterday. He used half of the money for Miguel's new wheelchair and the other half he sent to his brat, who was living with a pastor friend of him.

She entered the house and saw her mom and son. Johnny was not there.

"Hey mom, do you know where sensei is?" Miguel asked her.

"I don't know. Probably getting drunk in some gutter." Carmen replied in an angry tone.

Miguel rolled his eyes but he did not say anything. An hour passed, but there was still no sign of him. Now, even Carmen was getting worried.

Then the doorbell rang. Carmen opened the door.

There was a deputy sheriff standing outside. But he was not alone. He was holding a severely beaten and bleeding Johnny Lawrence.

"Sensei!!" Miguel shrieked, "What happened to you?"

Johnny mumbled something which was barely audible.

"I was on my way from my patrolling duty, when I saw him. It looked like a mugging incident. I saw two of them were beating him badly. He has a gash in his head. I tried to take him to the hospital but he kept insisting me to take him home. Please, he needs first aid immediately." the officer said.

Carmen turned her head and saw Rosa already got that. She asked her mother to make some hot water. Then she looked at the officer.

"Please sir, can you put him on that couch?" she requested him. The deputy somehow adjusted him on that couch. Then he heaved a sad sigh.

"These gang members are transgressing way too much. Poor fellow, he could not defend himself from those goons. When I found him, they were beating him mercilessly. But the most astonishing thing is he had his wallet in his closed fist. One of the goons was repeatedly kicking on his hand but could not open his fist. Here is that wallet."

He handed the wallet to Miguel and bid goodbye. Before leaving, he reminded them to take Johnny to the hospital. He also told them to come to the police station next day to lodge an official complaint.

Carmen was cleaning Johnny's wounds and muttering something in an angry tone. Miguel looked at her once. Then he drove his wheelchair to his room and closed the door.

After closing the door, Miguel opened the wallet. The first thing he saw was a small white envelope. He opened that envelope and saw pictures. With trembling hands, he took out the pictures.

The pictures were passport sized. One picture was of Johnny with little Robbie. The other picture was of Johnny with him, both in black karate gi.

Miguel could not control himself. He felt warm tears were flowing from his eyes. Fresh drop of tears were falling on the photographs.

"Are you happy, mom?" He shouted.

He was now breathing heavily. With another shout, he punched the wall with all his energy, making a small red crack in the wall. He did not look at his knuckle which was now bleeding. Droplets of blood now dripping on the floor, making a small red spot on it.

A/N: So here is another chapter. I hope you will like it. Please, read and review.