Cobra Kai: A Family Affair

4

Over the next two weeks as the local news broke the story of the head Sensei of Cobra Kai being arrested for beating up a former student along with a picture of Kreese. Tory's landlord, Rodney had returned to pressuring her for the rent money as he realised the scary old man couldn't hurt him anymore. This meant that Tory had skipped some practices to work extra shifts and missed some of Robby's calls due to her unsociable working hours. One night after coming home from work late and shaken from a creepy run in with Rodney, Tory actually ignored Robby's call as she still hadn't let him in on that particular aspect of her financial issues and knew that he would know something was wrong from just her voice.

When she returned to the dojo Silver pulled her aside to question her whereabouts. Tory didn't entirely feel as comfortable sharing her personal life with Sensei Silver but he was quite demanding and she also thought of it as a way to get closer to him to find out more about Kreese and what happened at the tournament, so she reluctantly explained how Kreese helped her out by threatening her perverted landlord and now that he was gone Rodney had returned to pressuring her for money or sex instead.
"I can help." Silver said. "You know I have the money. And to be honest, having my star pupil and All Valley Champion skipping practice looks kind of bad for business - I'm trying to build an empire here."
"Sorry." Tory muttered. Silver sighed regretting what he had said "It's not your fault. I shouldn't have said that." He didn't want to push her away. "I mean it, Tory. I want to help. No one your age should have to go through that."
"I'll think about it. I don't exactly like being in debt to people - Sensei Kreese only found out because he tracked me down to my apartment when I didn't show up to practice." Silver laughed thinking that that was definitely something his former friend would do. "Why don't you go out and get them warmed up. I'll just be 5 minutes."

After practice Tory approached Silver having been considering his offered. "You really meant it when you said you wanted to help?" She asked.
"Yes, of course. I'll write you a cheque right now, how much do you need for this month?"
"I don't want a hand out. I can handle the rent myself. But I was thinking you could help me with something else... my mom's not going to get better. Ever. It's just a matter of time before she... Anyway, my aunt wants to claim custody of my little brother and me if my mom dies before I turn 18, only so she can claim my mom's survivor benefits. But if she makes it until after my 18th birthday I want to ask for custody of my brother but..."
"But that's a very expensive process." Silver finished.
"And Aunt Kandace thinks she'll still win anyway because of my record. She's got one too but she says she know how to play the system."
"Well I know a lot of very good lawyers, I'm sure between us all we can work something out and I'll cover all the legal expenses." Silver promised.
"Thank you." Tory said sincerely almost feeling like hugging the man.

/ /

Mike had been trying to forget that Silver paid him a visit but the unopened email in his inbox was a glaring reminder. He kept telling himself that he didn't want to know what the modern day Cobra Kai was like but he couldn't bring himself to delete the email either.

One night after a karate infused workout in his home gym curiosity finally got the better of him. Mike watched as the Cobra Kai students incorporated gymnastics and weapons into their skills routines, and broke boards and cinder blocks with their hands and head(?). In the actual fights, he was impressed with the small team member's speed, another's strength and skill along with his opponent's as they competed in the sudden death overtime for the first time since him and LaRusso in 1985, and he couldn't help but notice one of the girls did fight similarly to him - that must have been who Silver had told him Kreese had taken under his wing and obviously their training methods hadn't changed that much since the 80s as Mike recognised the similarities.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, Mike hadn't decided yet, but he had been asked to consult on a case at the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram & Hart.

However, it turns out it wasn't a coincidence which Mike didn't find out until a day after he'd arrived in LA and already been read in on the case. Well, it looked like he was going to pay the Valley a little visit then.

/ /

"Seriously?" He called entering the familiar building.
Thankfully for Silver, it was empty with class having finished just under half an hour ago so he didn't have to explain who the man dressed in an expensive three-piece suit was. Silver laughed directing Mike further into the dojo. "It's not that I didn't trust you to come to your own senses soon enough but I didn't see any harm in giving you an extra push."
"Get this through your thick skull - I'm retired."
"I have something you want."
"Oh yeah, what's that?" Mike chuckled.
"Your daughter." Terry said causing Mike to freeze. In an instant he had spun around and backed Terry against the wall pressing against his windpipe. "There he is. Karate's Bad Boy. The Tournament Terror." Silver gritted out with his limited breath. Mike let go not wanting to be that person anymore "I haven't seen my daughter since she was 4. How could you possibly even know who she is?"
"Well, technically it is just a theory I suppose, but god, she does remind me of you. Didn't you feel any paternal instincts when watching that video?" Silver questioned and Mike looked confused. "Huh, maybe I was wrong."
"She was on that video? My daughter's a Cobra Kai?"
"In theory, yes. It's funny how these things work out, she's dating the son of another Cobra Kai legend, Robby Keene."
"Keene? I don't remember anyone with that name."
"It's his mother's name - pretty lady. His father is Johnny Lawerence." Mike recognised the name from the stories Silver and Kreese told him about Mr. Miyagi and Daniel LaRusso. "I presume Nichols must be Tory's mother's name as well."
"Nichols?" Mike questioned remembering an old girlfriend with that surname "Oh god." He gulped "Wait, you said her name was Torrie(?), as in short for Victoria?"
"Yes Tory, spelt T-O-R-Y and I have no idea."
"I want to see her. If I see her I'll know. Paternal instincts or whatever, I mean she can't have changed that much, right?" Mike said rambling on to himself.
"There's a practice tomorrow at 2. Of course it's not a guarantee that she'll show up."
"Why not?" Mike questioned disappointedly.
"Ah, she just likes to keep me on my toes." Silver lied not wanting to drop the bombshell that Mike's ex could be dying after telling him that his daughter could potentially be Cobra Kai's top student.