☼unlikely allies☾

Sonny, Eli, Demetri, Sam, Miguel, and Bert all stood around the backyard of Miyagi-Do, filling Demetri in on what happened at the party the night before.

To say Demetri was shocked was an understatement. He frantically looked back and forth between the five teens. "W-w-wait. Okay, so Sensei Silver paid off the ref at the All Valley and framed Kreese for a crime he didn't commit?" Demetri asked, and when everyone nodded, his eyes somehow widened even more.

"I can't believe I missed that and Sonny losing her alcohol virginity." Demetri groaned. Sonny's face scrunched, a small grimace growing on her face as she shook her head at Demetri. "Please don't ever say that again."

Demetri ignored Sonny's words and turned to her and Eli with a pleading look. "Never let me miss a house party again." He begged.

"What are they gonna do? We saw what happened to my dad when he confronted Silver. I don't want him getting hurt again." Sam said, nervously crossing her arms over her chest. Sonny sighed, shaking her head in defeat. "If this ref and Stingray are on Silver's payroll, they'll never admit anything."

"I'm not so sure about that." Bert blurted, taking a step further into the circle. All eyes turned to him as he continued. "I know he's in Cobra Kai and I'm in Eagle Fang, but Stingray's still my friend. He wouldn't lie to me. At least, I hope he wouldn't."

Sonny's brows furrowed. Keeping her eyes on Bert, she leaned towards Hawk beside her. "Why is a grown man his friend?" She whispered. Sonny could see Hawk shrug from the corner of her eye as Miguel smirked, an idea coming into his head.

"Think you can you get him to talk?"

...

Hawk, Sonny, Demetri, Sam, Miguel, and Bert all stood at Stingray's front door. Bert stood at the door while everyone else stayed against the wall so Stingray wouldn't see them when checking the peephole.

About a minute after Bert knocked, the door finally opened.

"Bert! What's up, dude? Wanna play some D&D?" Stingray asked. Sonny and everyone else couldn't see Stingray from where they were hiding, but they could see everyone that was once in Stingray's house leave angrily.

"These, uh... Oh, there they are. These noobs were entering the light and exiting night." Stingray laughed, trying to look cool in front of Bert. Sonny furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Hawk next to her her. "Why was he in Cobra Kai?" Sonny whispered, having already been kicked out of the dojo by the time Stingray joined.

Hawk just shrugged, never really knowing how Stingray joined either. Suddenly, Sonny was elbowed in the rib. She turned to Sam beside her, who nodded her head as a cue, and slowly, they all walked out of their hiding spots to reveal themselves.

Stingray's jaw dropped at the teens standing in front of him. "Miyagi-Fangs? Oh, this is a trap." Stingray yelled, finally realizing why the teens were at his apartment. The teens turned back to Stingray as his eyes fell on Bert, a betrayed look taking over his face. "You Admiral Ackbar-ed me. Et tu, Bert-tay?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Knock it off. We know Kreese never hurt you." She snapped. Stingray turned to Sam, a big smirk on his face as he shook his head. "According to my testimony in a court of law, he did. So... read the transcript."

"You lied to the court. And you lied to my dad. But you're not going to lie to us." Sam warned, giving the man a death glare as she crossed her arms. She started to walk into the home, pushing Stingray out of the way. Stingray watched Sam walk into his home with wide eyes. He turned back around to the kids at his door with a dropped jaw.

"You're just gonna let her—" Instead of letting him finish his question, Sonny started to push her way into his home, the rest of the kids following after her. "Now you're all walking in."

...

The group had probably been at Stingray's for about an hour, trying to get any info out of him. They had nothing as of right now. Bert, Demetri, and Sonny sat at Stingray's coffee table, while the other students stood behind them as Stingray sat across from them.

"Okay, okay. All right. Let's try this one more time, okay?" Demetri asked, and all of the teens could tell that although he was trying his absolute hardest to stay calm, he was getting aggravated with Stingray. "What happened that night? Who hurt you?" Demetri asked, his voice filled with sincerity and a hint of annoyance.

Stingray ignored Demetri's question, turning to look at Bert beside Demetri instead. "Hey, Bert, how does it feel?" Stingray asked the younger boy, his voice quiet and shaky. Sonny squinted at Stingray's attempt to guilt trip Bert. Hawk clenched his jaw and leaned forward.

"Hey! Don't talk to him. Don't even look at him." Hawk threatened, pointing at Bert from over Sonny.

Stingray ignored Hawk's threats, his eyes starting to water. Demetri decided to jump in, wanting to try out the good cop/bad cop scenario.

"Look at me." Demetri said quietly and in an encouraging voice. Stingray ignored Demetri's attempts as well. "To stab a grown man in the back between his shoulder blades and stare at the blood as it trickles down his back?" Stingray asked. Bert struggled not to look at Stingray, starting to slide down his seat guiltily.

"God, enough!" Hawk yelled, slamming his hands down on the table on either side of Sonny since he was standing behind her. Stingray's eyes snapped to Hawk, who still had his hands on either side of Sonny, leaning over her to look intimidating. "No more games."

Stingray gulped. He looked down at his game as Sam started to speak. "My dad went through a lot of pain because of you and Silver. Now a lot of other people will too if you just sit back and do nothing."

Stingray shook his head, disappointed in himself. "But if I tell you what really happened, you know, he-he'll find out. I can't. It's not that easy, you guys." As everyone else's faces dropped, Stingray's started to light up; an idea popped into his head. "Actually, I've been working on this new D&D campaign-"

Miguel rolled his eyes from the back of the group. He shook his head and looked at Sam beside him. "I don't think we have time for this." He muttered.

Sonny's eyes widened as she started to catch on to what Stingray was insinuating. She leaned forward against the table and looked at the man. "Wait a minute. What happens in the campaign, Stingray?"

Stingray looked up at Sonny with wide eyes, glad she caught on. He looked back down at the board and Demetri smiled.

"You're a genius." Demetri whispered, turning to Sonny beside him. Sonny did a joking nonchalant shrug as the two of them did their handshake.

"Okay, so, once upon a time, there was a Dwarven monk," Stingray put a character piece on the board. "And he was a member of the most badass guild in all the land. Uh, he was banished for a time. You know, typical PC crap." Everyone nodded along, watching as he acted out what he was saying through the game.

"But, um, once he paid his penance, he returned. Only by then, the guild was under new leadership. And the monk was denied reentry into the guild. And quite unceremoniously, might I add."

"What did the monk do?" Demetri asked. Stingray looked at Demetri and gave him a grateful smile before turning back down to his game. "The monk, he made a pact with a silver-haired king who would usurp the leader." Stingray put another piece on the board. "And it was early one morning, before any of the warriors had arrived, that the king struck the monk down. Again, and again, and again."

Stingray paused, his breathing starting to become sporadic as he remembered his attack. Sonny felt a chill go down her spine at Stingray's words. Watching the man get emotional retelling the story made her feel sick to her stomach.

Stingray slowly tried to catch his breath and pull himself together before continuing. "It was then that they framed the leader for the assault, and the leader was put in chains, and the silver-haired king took over the guild."

The room was silent for a moment; no one dared to speak.

Finally, Demetri cleared his throat. "And you were—" Demetri stopped, realizing his wording and quickly corrected himself. "The Dwarven monk was let back into the guild?"

"Yeah. With benefits." Hawk muttered. Without turning around to face him, Sonny brought her hand up and smacked his stomach to shut him up. She leaned forward in her seat, her eyes filled with sympathy and concern. "So why can't he just tell everyone what really happened?"

"He doesn't wanna lose his benefits." Sam snapped. Stingray immediately started shaking his head. "No!" He yelled, making Sam slump, starting to feel bad for her words. Stingray gulped, still shaking his head. "No. I would—the monk would give it all back if he could, but the silver-haired king, you know, he... He almost killed the monk."

"And why?" He asked rhetorically. "To get power." Stingray blinked back tears, looking at all of the students in front of him. "So, yeah, the monk fears what that king would do to keep that power. I think the monk just... The monk just wanted reentry into the guild because he thought that he could be like a... proud and noble warrior."

This time, Stingray put all of his attention on just Hawk. "Just like you, Hawk," Stingray's eyes moved to Sam beside Hawk. "Sam, all you guys. The monk has always been a fan of you guys."

Stingray turned back to the rest of the group. His head hung low, and his shoulders slumped. "But the monk is neither proud nor noble. Definitely not a warrior. He just sits around playing with them all day. The monk's just scared. I just can't. I'm sorry."

"That's great. Thanks for nothing." Sam snapped, stomping out of the room. The other teens stayed put as Miguel ran after her. Sonny watched Sam leave the apartment with a slam of the door.

She turned back to Stingray and took a deep breath. "The monk has to be fearless." She spoke. Sonny felt all eyes on her as she abruptly got out of her seat. "I have somewhere to be."

Sonny didn't meet anyone's eyes, confusing Demetri and Eli. Both of them tried to reach out and grab her, but she was out of reach before they could.

...

Sonny thought asking Miguel or Robby where Tory lived would be a little suspicious, so instead, she called Aisha. She filled the girl in on everything while on FaceTime on the way to Tory's.

As Sonny pulled up to Tory's apartment complex and parked, she took an uneven breath. She didn't really know how Tory would react to her sudden appearance.

"You there yet?" Aisha asked, pulling Sonny out of her thoughts. Sonny turned to the phone and took it off of her phone stand in the car. "Yeah. I just parked."

Aisha sensed Sonny's nervousness through the phone and quickly shook her head. "Don't worry. If Tory reached out to you first, I'm sure she'd want to hear from you. She has her mean moments, but she really is sweet."

Sonny smiled at Aisha's words. "Thanks. I'll tell you how it goes." She watched as Aisha grabbed her phone off the desk she was leaning it against. "Okay, I miss you, Sonny. You've gotta come up and visit."

"I'll bring everyone." Sonny laughed, her nervousness washing away completely when she saw how excited Aisha got at the idea of seeing all her friends. "Perfect. Good luck! Love you." Aisha cheered into the phone. She waited until Sonny said, "I love you" back before she hung up.

Sonny didn't waste a second after ending the call with Aisha to stuff her phone in her pocket and get out of the car. She didn't want to lose this sudden burst of bravery.

She walked towards the apartment unit Aisha said Tory lived in, took a deep breath, raised her fist, and knocked on the door. Sonny bounced her leg nervously as she waited for the door to open.

When Tory opened the door and saw Sonny standing in front of her, her eyebrows scrunched together. She leaned against her door and watched Sonny with a confused look. "Sonny? What are you doing here?"

Sonny clasped her hands together in front of her, took a deep breath, and gave Tory a sympathetic smile. "I came here to apologize for what Sam said the other night and I was wanting to talk to you more about Cobra Kai if you were willing." Sonny suggested, trying to keep her eyes on Tory so Tory knew she was genuine. Out of the corner of her eye, Sonny noticed Tory's hand was wrapped up and blood was seeping through.

"Oh my God! What happened?" Sonny gasped, going to reach out to Tory's hand. Just before she could touch Tory, the blonde yanked her hand away and gave Sonny a fake laugh. "Oh, you know. Cobra Kai."

She watched as Sonny's face softened, a look that Tory couldn't tell was sadness or pity. To clear the air, Tory cleared her throat and sidestepped closer to the door so Sonny could walk in. "Do you wanna come in?"

Sonny gave Tory a quick nod and walked into the home. She watched as Tory moved to sit on the couch that faced the door, gesturing for Sonny to sit on the love seat across from it. As Sonny moved towards the love seat, she heard an all too familiar hospital beep echo from the other room. A chill went down Sonny's spine as she thought about her mom's final moments on hospice at home.

She looked down the hallway, and her heart sank when she saw the same kind of bed her mom had in her room.

Pushing the sadness down, Sonny sat in the seat across from Tory. The Nichols girl didn't notice Sonny look into her mom's room, too busy grabbing the ice pack she left on the coffee table to ice her hand. "I wanted to win the All Valley more than anything. When they handed me that trophy... that was the best moment of my life."

Tory looked up from her hand to Sonny, her face heartbroken and disappointed as she shook her head. "But then I saw Silver and that ref, and it just killed me. I felt like a fraud. I wanted to get back at Silver so bad. That's why I listened to Kreese, but then I got caught up in more lies. And now my life is a living hell." Tory sounded close to crying, dropping her head at her last sentence.

Sonny frowned at the girl. She was going through so much and had no one to go to. Sonny took a deep breath and tilted her head. "I don't blame you."

Tory's head shot up at Sonny's words, her eyes wide as if that was the one thing she'd been needing to hear. Sonny gave her an empathetic smile and readjusted in her seat. "I know what you were going through." Sonny's eyes drifted to Tory's mom's room, just enough time for Tory to notice but not enough where it would seem disrespectful. Sonny turned back to Tory and raised her eyebrows. "More than just karate stress."

She noticed Tory's eyes were wide, staring at her. Sonny knew that look all too well. It was a relieved look, that there was someone possibly going through the same as her but it was also a silent ask of what she had gone through.

"My, um... my dad died because of a drunk driver." Sonny looked down at her hands, fidgeting with her fingers, unable to meet Tory's gaze. "After that, my mom stopped caring about her health. She got sick and now..." A bittersweet smile formed on Sonny's face. "She's back with the man she loved."

It was like pieces of a puzzle clicked in Tory's head, her mouth making a small 'o' shape. "That's why you got tense when we first met." She muttered under her breath, finally understanding why Sonny got so uncomfortable when she and Aisha had alcohol.

Sonny furrowed her brows as a confused smile took over her face as she looked up from her hands to Tory. She forgot about when she first met Tory at the country club and Tory made fun of her for not wanting to drink. "I'm surprised you remember that."

Tory nodded, giving Sonny a lopsided smile. "After Aisha and I left, she told me to lay off you and drinking. Figured something happened that made you not want to try it, but I knew it wasn't my place to push." She nervously looked back and forth between Sonny and her injured hand before she gave Sonny a real smile. "Guess we're more alike than we thought."

Sonny let out a lighthearted laugh, nodding her head in agreement. "Yeah, we are."

Tory took a deep breath, all the stress that had been weighing on her shoulders finally dissipating after talking with Sonny. She confidently nodded her head and looked to Sonny eagerly. "Okay, how do we stop Silver?"

Sonny licked her lips and nodded. "Well, we talked to Stingray." Sonny started, making Tory's eyes widen as she moved to sit on the edge of her seat. "He admitted that it was Silver who assaulted him in the old dojo. He's just scared to go to the police."

Tory opened and closed her mouth in shock, her head shaking slightly. "I knew Silver was involved, but... I had no idea he did it with his own hands." She muttered, looking down at her lap, huffing, and shrugging in defeat. "Problem is we can't prove it."

Sonny frowned at Tory's words, her own shoulders slumping. As she thought back on the old Cobra Kai dojo where Stingray was attacked and her days there before she was kicked out, Sonny's eyes widened, an idea popping into her head.

After a long beat of silence, Tory lifted her head, her shoulders straightening in excitement at the look on Sonny's face. "You have a plan." Tory said, no question in her tone. She was just now starting to get to know Sonny, but she knew.

Sonny started to smile, and with every second she spoke about her plan, her smile grew. "I wasn't in Cobra Kai for long, but I was one of the first members. Back then, Hawk and I were the only computer nerds on the team so Sensei Lawrence had us set up and surveillance cameras. I'm sure after Kreese took over he kept using them." Sonny said, and immediately, Tory nodded eagerly.

"He did. Silver uses the same company now still."

Sonny's smile grew even wider. She shook her head in disbelief, shocked that her plan might actually work. "So it's all still connected to his account! We'll just have to get the video and show it to everyone. There will be no way to deny it."

"Are you saying..." Tory asked, a nervous look on her face. Sonny swallowed away her smiles and sighed, nodding her head guiltily. "I'm saying we should break into Cobra Kai and get that video."