"Yo! C! C! Chill out!" Kyler called as he saw Cora sending the hardest punches, one after the other, into the punching bag. "You're gonna hurt your wrist."

"Don't tell me what to do." Cora mumbled, going back to hitting it relentlessly.

"Whatever." Kyler waved her off, walking toward the boys again, joking around with them, annoying Tory from a few feet away.

"You guys are pathetic. If you'd handled your business, we would have won." Tory glared their way, Cora gave a hard kick to the dummy.

"Okay, whatever. Hawk, he switched sides." Kyler said, making Cora give a yell, hitting the dummy over and over again, much harder. "Well, at least we know what's the matter with her."

"Yeah, and Miguel just got out of a wheelchair and he still kicked your ass." Tory stated with a glare his way.

"You know what? At least i'm still here. Half the squad quit." Kyler rolled his eyes, Cora took a break from hitting the dummy so hard. The bell rung, making her eyes look over to see Robby walk in.

"Well, look who showed up." Tory mocked.

"That fool doesn't even practice, and he gets to stay? I don't get it." Kyler spoke in annoyance, watching Cora head to her bag. "What's up with you now? You gonna leave with your boyfriend?"

Cora turned with a wave of her hands. "Whats it look like i'm doing right now, Kyler? Do you see me leaving?"

"No, of course not." Tory met her eye with a knowing nod. "You're not a traitor. Not like him."

Cora turned back to her bag, pretending to get a drink of water, but actually just trying to hold herself together.

Cora paused as she walked to her house, seeing a familiar red Mohawk sitting on her front porch, pulling at the grass. "Why are you here?"

"Core." he shot up quickly with wide eyes, hurrying down the steps to stand before her. "How are you?"

The blonde rose her eyebrows. "How am I? Are you kidding me?"

She pushed past him to walk forward, but Hawk followed. "Please, I just wanna talk to you."

"Oh, yeah?" she hummed, pulling her keys from her pocket. "About what? How you turned your back on me?"

"Can you just- just stop and listen?" he didn't wanna grab her and make her, but Cora was second away from entering her house. "Please?"

She paused, exhaling loudly as she looked at him. "What?"

"I know I turned my back on you, and i'm sorry. That whole night was horrible, and I didn't mean what I said to you." he spoke gently with a little nod. "But Cobra Kai isn't good for either of us. I realized that, in the middle of the fight. Look, Sensei Lawrence can help you. He's just as tough."

Cora looked away, exhaling. "Why do you think i'd turn my back on the team? Unlike you, they actually understand."

"I do understand. I was just like you, only in a different way." Hawk gave a begging look, his hands wanted to reach out and hold hers. "I was sick of taking everyone shit, and Cobra Kai helped me get strong, more confident. I felt like I owed it to the dojo to stay there, no matter how shitty of a person it was making me."

Cora blinked, glancing away as he practically read her thoughts. Hawk sighed slightly. "I can tell you. All of it. From the very beginning, I can explain everything to you."

Cora hated that he still had some sort of hold on her, how hard it was not to fall back into his clutches so easily. Her hand tightened on the doorknob, dark eyes staring into his brighten one's. "I don't have time."

She disappeared into the house again.

"You popping pills?" Kyler laughed as Cora followed him into the dojo, seeing her throw some aspirin into her mouth.

"Head ace." she said back, indeed having the worst headache. "You want some?"

"No, I-" Kyler began, stopping as they all saw Robby standing before the dojo, in a gi, waiting for them. "Get a load of this chump. What are you doing here?"

"Sensei Kreese isn't back yet, so i'm gonna get you guys warmed up." Robby answered calmly their way. Cora dropped her bag, kicking her shoes off.

"You've never been a part of this team and you think you're our sensei?" Kyler laughed in his direction."Get the hell outta here, man."

"Who says we even want you?" Tory asked him. Robby met Cora's eye for a moment as she watched curiously, waiting to see how this would go down.

"Okay, hit me." Robby nodded, confusing the class. "Any of you."

"Why?" Cora finally asked, stepping onto the mat.

"If you land a hit, i'll go." Robby spoke as he took a step closer to her.

"Hit him, C." Kyler pushed her slightly, making Cora stumble on the mat. Robby gave an encouraging look, stepping forward so they were face to face. She inhaled, sending a kick to his chest as Robby dodged the fist she threw his way, getting hit the the arm, shoving her arms away. Cora kicked him in the ribs, her left hand headed for his face, having it grabbed as Robby flipped her so her back was against the mat. He stared down at her. "Good?"

Cora sighed, nodding. He pulled her up, looking at the dojo. "Who's next?"

Kyler tried to kick him, failing as he joined Cora off the mat. A few more boys did the same, having Robby dodge them and toss each of them to the side easily with his own kicks and punches. Cora heard her phone go off, forgetting to turn it off. Tory was the final one, swinging around on her back leg as she tried to kick Robby, having him duck to dodge it, getting a shove away as she didn't give up.

Coras eyes darted back and forth. Tory tried to kick him again, then gave a string of punches, having each one blocked and dodged. Robby grabbed her arm, tossing her over his shoulder. "No hard feelings?"

Tory turned, kicking Robby in the face as he fell backwards. They got to their feet on sync, Robby nodded. Cora wincec. "A deals a deal. I'll go."

"No." Tory spoke up before he could move. "You should stay."

Cora heard her phone again, looking toward her bag.

It wasn't long before Robby stood before the group now, the warm up having them all fall in line with him. "I'll admit, at first, I didn't want to join Cobra Kai. But eventually, we all need to look ourselves in the mirror and realize who we really are. Now, we may have taken some losses, but it's not about how you start. It's about how you finish. And to beat the enemy, it helps to know the enemy's playbook. So i'm gonna teach you Miyagi-Do karate, so we can beat Miyago-Do Karate."

The group all yelled to show their agreement. Kreese walked in, standing at the doorway as Robby looked his way. "They're all warmed up for you, sensei."

•

kylie speaks

i think you guys are
gonna love the dynamic
between "enemies" hawk
and c.