Chapter Twenty-Two: Collision

"I'm the Bonnie to your Clyde. You're the moon and I'm the tide. I, I want this for all of my life, since the night that we got away."

~Love Will Tell Us Where To Go by Bridgit Mendler~

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Revised: July 11, 2022

Warnings: abuse, domestic violence, sexual harassment/assault, language, violence, and other mature themes

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Zion's POV

Flashback begin.

"Zion, wake up," I hear a voice say.

I open my eyes to see nurses rushing around in a panic. I hear voices talking over each other accompanied by electronic beeping. The person who woke me up was my mom, who is now on the other side of the hospital room. It's no surprise I fell asleep in the hospital chair again; I haven't been home in a week because I haven't wanted to leave my dad's side. 

"He's flatlining," I hear a nurse say through the commotion and it's then that the fear sets in. My worst nightmare is coming true. Please don't let what I think is happening be happening.

"Is the oxygen coming through?" another says as I stand up and walk towards the bed to see my dad for what is hopefully not the last time.

"She shouldn't be in here!" the doctor says when she sees me and a nurse grabs my arm, pushing me towards the door.

"No, he's my dad. I need to see him and be here with him," I say with a weak voice and the nurse shakes her head.

"You're too young; it isn't safe," she tells me. She doesn't know what's best for me. I'm sixteen years old, but everybody still insists on treating me like a child.

"You have to let me stay," I plead a little stronger this time, tears threatening as I try to push past for a glimpse of my dad.

"Trust us. We're doing what we can," she says and another nurse helps her push me through the doorway. "Just stay out here, honey." They're trying to help, but all they're doing is making this worse for me. 

I anxiously pace the hallway, tears streaming down my hot face in a panic. I can't lose him. He has to pull through. I don't know what I would do if I lost him; he's always been there for me. He's the only person who truly cares about me in this family ever since my grandparents passed. I can't lose him, too. He said I should plan for this day to come, especially because recently he's been in even more of a decline, but I never wanted to believe him. I never wanted it to be true.

"Zion?" I turn and see my mom come out of the room.

"How is he? Is he okay?" I rush over to her.

"It's not looking good. You should go home," she tells me.

"No. I didn't even want to leave his side. I'm not leaving the hospital," I protest.

"Drive yourself home and get some food on the way," she says. She looks back at the door to the room, not even focusing on me. She's worried about my dad and I get it, but she's also my mom and I need her to be strong and care about my feelings for just once.

"No. I want to be here. Mom, you have to let me stay," I tell her. My hands are shaking as I look at the woman who only seems to care about herself or my dad and it terrifies me. She never even seemed to want a child, but I know my dad did. He always wanted to do fun things with me and he was always, always there for me. It's cruel and unfair that he's the one in that room that I could lose.

"Zion," she says strictly and I stiffen. She never is authoritative with me unless she's pissed. I look at her face and see I'm absolutely right. "Go home. Now."

"But why?" my voice cracks.

"I have a lot to handle right now and I just don't need the extra stress of you being here," she snaps at me. I hesitate a moment before I see she's truly not kidding. I don't want to leave, but what choice do I have if even my own mom doesn't want me?

"I'm sorry I'm such a fucking burden," I say and walk to the exit door.

I hate my mom. Dad wouldn't have wanted me to leave, but he can't do anything about it now. I don't even know if he's still alive. Everyone insists on treating me like a child and I hate it. They're probably going to break the news to me gently and say something like, "He's in a better place now." That's bullshit and they know it. 

I'm so sick and tired of the world pushing me around. Everybody underestimates me. I'm growing up and I know my own mind. They can't handle it? Fine, who needs them? All I need in life are people who support me, like my dad and Jess. They will always be there for me and I'll be there for them. 

Flashback end.

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"Are you ready to see it?" asks Val, my tattoo artist.

I didn't want to look at my tattoo the whole time she made it because I wanted to be surprised. Getting a tattoo on your wrist, though, hurts like hell.

I glance down at my inner wrist now sporting a tattoo of a hawk. It looks stunning.

"Wow, Val. This is awesome."

"I'm glad you like it."

I look over to the other side of the tattoo parlor to see Hawk's tattoo getting fixed up. No matter what happens, I have a feeling he'll be there for me and I think this will be a cute surprise for him. I stand up and walk over to where he is.

We've redyed each other's hair; mine is platinum blonde now and his is red. I see that the hawk on his back also has red hair to match now. It's awesome.

"There you go, brother," Rico, Hawk's tattoo artist, says.

"Thanks Rico."

"See you soon, man."

Hawk turns to me and I notice something on his chest now. He got a tattoo of a beautiful "Z" on his chest.

I smile happily, "Wait, did you get that for me?"

He smirks, "Maybe."

He's not giving me a straightforward answer, but I know that it was for me. I flip over my left wrist and show him the ink there now. 

"I may have gotten one for you, too," I say.

He stares in shock as I lean in for a kiss and wrap my arms around his neck, his hands snaking around my waist. I can feel the heat between us. When we pull away, he wraps his arm around my shoulders.

He turns to Assface and Douchebag and says, "Hey, asshole twins, grab my bag. We're out."

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Later that day, I'm at Cobra Kai waiting for class to start.

"Z! Your hair looks so good," Aisha says, the first to notice.

"Thank you!"

Tory walks over with Miguel. "You look amazing," she says.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to look good when you told me you were going platinum blonde, but I like it," Miguel says and I smile proudly.

"Both of you look amazing," Aisha says, looking at Hawk, too.

He smirks and snakes his arm around my waist, pulling me closer. Then, he kisses my cheek and I blush.

"All right. Sit down while we teach you a new lesson today," Sensei Lawrence comes in with Sensei Kreese.

I sit over by Hawk and Miguel, ready.

"Nice hair, you two."

I smirk at Sensei Lawrence's comment and then remember I need to put it up for class. I do so quickly, a messy ponytail having to do. The hickeys are - thankfully - gone by now. 

My senseis begin demonstrating todays technique and fight each other.

"You're a little rusty, Sensei," Sensei Lawrence says.

He grabs Sensei Kreese's arm, but then Sensei Kreese puts him into a choke hold.

"Okay, pay attention. He's got my neck; I've got his elbow. If I try to break out..."

"I dig in and I put him to sleep," Sensei Kreese finishes.

"If I go for his ribs..."

"He completely exposes his chest," Sensei Kreese demonstrates.

"Two difficult choices. What do you do?" Sensei Lawrence asks us. We all look around in confusion until Sensei Lawrence takes his right foot back and trips himself and Sensei Kreese onto the ground. "You damn the consequences and you power forward."

"You may get hurt, but nobody wins by doing nothing," Sensei Kreese says and I nod. Winning is everything, even if no mercy means taking a little fall for yourself to ensure you end up on top.

"You make a choice, you make a move. You go all in." I see Sensei Lawrence looking at Miguel and I wonder what Miguel could be thinking. I know he's still not over Sam, but I'm hoping he's not thinking about going back to her. It's then that I catch Tory staring at Miguel. They could be a cute couple...

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After Cobra Kai today, everyone decides to go out to Applebee's. Everyone from the dojo is here, plus Moon. I don't know why she's here or who invited her, but I'm a little bit more comfortable with her around now, I suppose. Even so, they go in to order and I pull Hawk aside.

"What's up?" he asks me.

"I just wanted to say your tattoo means everything to me," I say.

"You mean everything to me, babe," he says. It's a bit corny, but I have to admit it's sweet.

We're on the back side of the building now and I take that opportunity to push him against the brick wall and kiss him. His hands grip my waist as I rest my hand on the back of his neck; his tongue fights with mine for dominance.

When I win, he gives in only a second before taking advantage of my long hair and yanking it. I gasp, caught off-guard, as he then pushes me to where he was and takes dominance.

I take a deep breath of air, conserving it through possibly the longest make out session we've ever had. He doesn't stop gripping me tightly and even biting my lip. He brings his mouth to my neck and I feel his smirk every time I groan. He's practically picking me up in his arms when he goes to kiss me again.

After a few minutes, we pull away from each other and I smile, licking my lips and trying to catch my breath. My lips are raw now and I don't even really care.

"You are so gorgeous," Hawk says, trying to catch his breath, as well.

"Thank you," I blush, always happy to hear a compliment; my mom lacked those for sure. "You have some lipstick on your face," I take my thumb and wipe around his lips.

"Thanks. Do you want to go in now? I want onion rings," he asks.

"Sure, hold on a second," I grab my lipstick out of my tiny purse and reapply it. "Does it look good?"

"You always look good," he says and I smile, pulling out a tissue to blot and then set my lipstick back.

"All right. Now I'm ready," I tell him with a smile. He wraps his arm around me and presses another kiss to my cheek. As we walk by a trashcan, I toss the tissue in.

We make it inside Applebee's and walk over to the table with Assface and Douchebag; I have to admit it's fun to pick on these guys. They're still pretty intimidated by me and I appreciate it. Hawk grabs something off their plate and shoves it into his mouth. 

"That was my last mozzarella stick," Douchebag says.

"Gotta pay the vig, pledge," Hawk smirks.

"I wanted some, too, so we'll just order more," I assure him. I then turn to look at Assface staring at his phone with an upset look. "What?" I ask him.

"What's the matter with you?" Hawk asks and Assface looks up at us unsurely.

"There's something you should see," Assface turns his phone screen to us to read.

Hawk takes the phone; it's a Yelp review. Hawk scrolls through a bit faster than I can read.

"'Very unprofessional sensei. Doesn't take into account safety or personal boundaries. Facility in need of a major face-lift.' Who the hell does this guy think he is?" Hawk asks. I look at the writing a bit more before Hawk clicks to the profile. I have a feeling it's the same guy who has been doubting and upset with Cobra Kai ever since Miguel first brought it up: Demetri.

Sure enough, DMan2002 is Demetri's profile picture.

"What is wrong with him?" I ask.

"I don't know, but he's bashing Cobra Kai on the internet like a pussy," Hawk says.

"We need to do something about this," I whisper, wondering if I'll have to give him another black eye.

"What do you think we should do?" Assface overheard me and I look over to see the three boys looking to me.

So, now Hawk knows I want to take revenge on Demetri; he has a pissed look on his face, but I can't tell if it's for Demetri or me. I hope it's not the latter.

"I'm not sure, but he can't get away with that," I say and Hawk nods.

"She's right. Is today Wednesday?" Douchebag nods. "Good. Demetri will be at the comic book store to get the latest issue like a nerd." I think about how not even a year ago Hawk was a nerd like that and it didn't bother me, but now that it's Demetri it pisses me off. "I say we surprise him there." He shocks me when he says this, but I'm kind of proud of him for not taking any shit anymore.

"Are you sure about this?" Douchebag asks.

"Don't question us," I say to him and feel powerful when he actually listens to me.

Hawk and I start to walk out with the two behind us, when I see Tory staring longingly at Miguel.

"I'll be there in a sec," I assure Hawk as he goes to grab some other Cobra Kais.

I stand by Tory and she looks up at me, "What do you want?" She doesn't sound mean... maybe unhappy is a good way to describe it. 

"I see how you look at him."

"Look at who?" she plays dumb and I smile at her.

"I don't know you very well, Tory, but you're amazing. If you go for it, I'm sure Miguel will like you back," I say. 

"I don't like Miguel," she denies.

"Okay, then why are you staring at him like that?" I ask.

"Fine," she sighs. "What do you care?"

"He's my best friend and you're my new friend," I explain. "Plus, you're much better than the girl he wants to get back with. If you ask me, he's been unable to move on. You should try to strike first. I was the one who asked Hawk out first and look how that is." 

"Okay, maybe you're right," she smiles. "You're really great, Z."

"That's because I like you," I tease. "You better watch your back if you ever do anything to wrong me."

"Noted," she laughs. "I should warn you that I'm the same way. I'm pretty good at revenge."

"Let's hope it never comes to that," I say, glad to have a new girl friend in Cobra Kai. Of course Aisha is great, but I'm usually surrounded by boys. That reminds me, "Okay, I'm going to go meet up with Hawk at the mall. Good luck here." She nods with a smile as I walk towards the mall.

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"I'll go over here with them. You three confront him first," I say and Hawk nods.

Assface and Douchebag go around the isle in the comic book store and meet up with Demetri while I hide back with some other Cobras.

"Still can't wait to read that new issue, huh?" Hawk asks.

"Nice hair," Demetri says."What is this? Your Red Hulk phase?"

I clench my hands into fists. The boys around me wait for a cue to move. Not yet.

"I saw your Yelp review. Take it down," Hawk says.

"And ruin my journalistic integrity?" Demetri asks. "Look, I'm sorry, but someone had to say something. And besides, taking it down could hurt my Yelp Elite Status."

I peek around to see Hawk push Demetri and he backs up into a comic book stand, knocking it over. "I said take it down," Hawk says angrily.

"You think I'm afraid of you? I know who you really are... Eli," Demetri says and I want to move out now. "So, why don't you, Rocksteady, and Bebop, just leave me alone, okay?"

"You wish," I come out of hiding and the others join me.

Demetri's eyes widen in fear when he sees me, but he quickly turns back to Hawk, "Great. So this is what it's come to. Gang assault."

"Take it down or we take you down," Hawk says and I nod with a smirk. I'm proud of him for standing up for himself; he can finally put the things he learns in karate to use.

"You'd actually hurt me?" Demetri asks. I wait for Hawk to confirm this, but instead I see doubt on his face for just an instant before he glances over at me and then glares at Demetri again.

Doubt is a weakness and I hope Demetri didn't see it.

"Well, guess what? You're not the only one that knows karate. I just joined Miyagi-Do," he takes a fighting stance and I roll my eyes. I'm not surprised he'd take the route of a coward and join them instead of us.

"Like that bullshit will do you any good," I say.

Demetri glances back at me with a tiny smirk that says he's ready to fight somebody, but his eyes show he's nervous. His base isn't formed well at all and he has no muscle to do any harm. I wait for Hawk to make the first move.

"All right. Let's see what you got," Hawk says and I smirk, ready for this. Hawk kicks him and then sweeps under his legs. Demetri falls on his back and I can't help laughing a little.

"Hey, what's going on back there?" a voice says - presumably the owner. I panic a moment before I see Demetri shove Mikey and run.

"Get him!" I say and Hawk runs with me at the front of everyone.

We make it out of the store and run through the mall after Demetri. Nobody insults Cobra Kai and gets away with it. My legs carry me pretty quickly, but I can't see where Demetri went when we make it to a fork in the road.

"Where'd he go?" Hawk asks.

"Come on, man. We don't have to do this. I think he learned his lesson," Douchebag says and I raise my eyebrows.

"Who told you to think?" Hawk snaps before I can.

"We might need to teach you one, too," I say, despite him being bigger than I am.

"Fan out," Hawk grabs my arm, pulling me away from Douchebag. I'm so heated right now and I need to channel it into running and beating Demetri to a pulp. He's gotten on my nerves for the last time.

We meet up with him in the food court. I smile as he anxiously looks for a way out when we surround him.

"It didn't have to be this way. You could've joined Cobra Kai if you weren't such a pussy," Hawk says.

"At least I'm not an asshole," Demetri backs away from me when I approach him closer and closer. He hits Assface's chest as he holds him back. 

"You're dead meat," Hawk says and I'm about to strike, when-

 Someone comes in with a big kick, sending Assface back and making all of us back up. I get into a fighting stance and then see it's Samantha LaRusso.

"Get back," she tells Demetri. "You guys need to back off." 

"You need to mind your damn business," I get into position.

"I don't wanna have to hit a girl," Hawk says.

"You wouldn't stand a chance," a familiar voice says. I look over and see Robby. Shit.

"Six against three? More like two and a half," Hawk scoffs when he looks at Demetri.

Hawk looks at the guys and then they all look at me for the cue. I look at Robby and don't want to fight him, but I glance back at Demetri and forget mercy. "Let's do it," I say.

The guys move as I try to get past Sam to Demetri; I don't want to fight Robby. She gives me a kick and I catch her foot, throttling her back. She groans and takes down Assface, then turns back to me. We exchange punches and she slides her foot without me noticing until I'm on my back on the ground in pain. 

I regain my footing and see Sam kick Hawk. I go to hit her, but Robby stands in my way.

"Zion! Stop!" he says and I glare at him.

"Move, Robby."

"This isn't you," he says and Douchebag comes at him, Robby easily kicking him back. "You aren't a bully. Stop this."

I look at Demetri behind him and remember why we're here in the first place. My loyalty is to Cobra Kai and Hawk and not to Miyagi-Do. I'm not a bully, but I do believe in karma. Demetri has a lot of bad karma coming his way and I won't let even Robby stop me. You go all in.

"Maybe this is exactly what I am," I say and give him a reverse crescent kick, causing him to fall back and Samantha realizes, going to help him. I get even more pissed when she helps him up. I run over and throw a front kick her way. She stumbles back and Robby promptly shoves me to the ground. I land on my side and see Robby glaring at me,

"Stay down."

I debate what to do when I see only three of the six of us still in the running. Hawk gets a good hit on Robby and shoves him into a table, the food and trash on it flying everywhere.

I stand up when I see Hawk running towards Robby for a final hit. Robby reacts with a kick and sends Hawk back through the air, flying. Then he lands roughly on the floor. Oh my god. I hope he's okay.

I look towards Demetri and Sam; I'm pissed about what just happened to my boyfriend. As I approach them, she pushes Demetri back and gives me a combination of punches from both sides.

I do my best to block and counterpunch until we both end up in the middle of the food court circling each other. I remember my strength: my kicks. I rush over and roundhouse kick her face, but she dodges my leg and kicks my hip. I take her leg and pull her towards me. She gasps as I grab her hair and bring my fist back to do some damage.

It's then that a hand grabs my shoulder and yanks me away from the fight. I whip my head to the side and see Robby staring at me like he's about to say something. Sam gets to me first, though, and kicks my face when I'm not ready. I fall to the ground and let out a soft groan in pain.

I don't know how, but all of us are down. Something warm is on my face and it takes only a second for me to realize my nose is bleeding. The world spins from the harsh hit to my head and I pant on the ground.

I won't get back up. Between my injury and being the only one left, I can't win this fight. I'll admit I'm not ready to take both Robby and Sam on at once and I won't attempt to; I'm not stupid. I'll get back at Sam and Demetri in the future when I'm stronger. That's a promise.

I hear the crowd cheering around us in amazement. Embarrassment fills my body. I see a blurry Robby walk over to me with an angry look.

"What the hell was that?"

"Demetri is a bitch," I clutch my nose.

"Zion, you can't just beat people up for no reason," he looks at me in disappointment.

"He left a bad Yelp review about Cobra Kai. We had to do something."

"This is all about a Yelp review?" he asks and I nod. "You're not the girl I knew last summer. She was good and wouldn't pull a stunt like this."

My heart sinks into my stomach at that, but then I realize he's trying to guilt trip me. I still am good; he has a skewed version of the truth.

"But I guess this all happened for a reason. People grow apart and find new relationships," he glares at Hawk who's on the ground, "and take things way too far," my eyes drift over to Demetri. How is that he's not injured at all? "And you realize who truly cares about you. I guess I didn't know your ego was so fragile, Zion."

"I didn't take you for a liar. Why did you not tell me about Johnny being your dad?" I ask him.

His eyes widen, "You know about that?" I nod. "It's not a lie. I just didn't say anything about it because, as far as I'm concerned, he's not my dad. You know how he abandoned me."

"I-"

"I didn't have a dad to raise me, so don't give me grief about my father. Look at your life, Zion. Is this what your dad wanted for you?" Robby asks and promptly storms away with Sam and Demetri, leaving me on the floor with my nose dripping.

I see Douchebag get up and walk over to me. "Are you okay?" he extends a hand to me.

I nod and get up without his help, trying to forget that conversation and fight even happened. "I'm fine. Let's get out of here," I say, looking at my boyfriend as he slowly gets up. I hope he was unconscious during that conversation.

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A/N: Hi, thank you for reading and voting again. This is one of my favorite chapters I've written. Season 2 episode 5 is one of my favorites in the whole series, I'd say. 

What did you think of Zion in this chapter? Do you hate her? Or do you sympathize with her story? Maybe a mix of both? I'm curious.

Also, I don't know if it read well, but the flashback in the beginning of this chapter was to mirror Eli's flashback with his mom at the beginning of the episode. I just thought that was something cool to add in and give you guys backstory. I'm thinking of adding more and more flashbacks in the future and I hope you're down for that.