The Serpent Queen

Mercy, Part II | Part One

Johnny stood speechless for a few moments, however the shock never wore off at seeing his old Sensei alive and well. Stepping onto the red part of the main mat, he said, "I thought you were dead."

John Kreese stepped forward onto the same red part of the mat opposite him. The older man didn't seem surprised by Johnny's statement. He was a man in his early seventies after all. "You ain't the only one, kid. I've been away a long, long time. It's good to see you." He held out a hand to Johnny.

Instead of shaking it, the current Cobra Kai Sensei just scoffed at the previous one and smacked his hand away to the side.

Kreese chuckled, "Still got that hot temper, huh? But I like that. I like that. I bet that's why your student is now the champion. You trained him well. Just like I trained you."

Johnny glared at the man and threw a hard punch at his old Sensei. Kreese blocked it by holding up his right hand. The younger man threw another punch with his other hand, which got blocked again. John had Johnny in an arm lock and flung him off to the side. Johnny lay on his back on the mat, groaning a little.

"You forgot. I taught you everything you know." Kreese chuckled and then put his cigar back into his mouth and smoked it.

"Not everything." Johnny pushed himself off the mat with his hands and one foot and used the other to kick Kreese in the face. "Hyah!" The cigar flew from his mouth and landed in a nearby rubbish bin. It hissed as it made contact with the contents in it.

The old man grunted, stumbling back. He held his jaw and chuckled, "Not bad, Mr. Lawrence. Not bad."

Now fully standing up to his full height, Johnny ran at him. Kreese grabbed him and kept him on course. He pushed Johnny roughly into the trophy stand at the front window by the door. All of his own trophies from the eighties stood proudly on it, except the broken second place one. Johnny didn't have the chance yet to put Miguel's or Phoebe's onto it.

Sensei Lawrence pushed off the wall and aimed another punch which the elder man dodged by leaning out of the way. Johnny swung his arm at back at Kreese, however he caught it in his hands. Kreese quickly let go and aimed a powerful right jab at Johnny, which the blond man ducked under.

Having the smaller height advantage at that time and the way he was positioned, Johnny elbowed the man in the side.

Kreese grunted staggering back, "Oh!"

Johnny took the opportunity to kick him, however Kreese swept his foot away. The younger man stepped closer and kneed him twice. John Kreese got close to him and delivered a series of quick but powerful jabs to Johnny, making him back up. Johnny attempted to punch him again, but Kreese caught his arm and brought the side of his hand down inside the crook of his elbow, then backhanded him in the face. The old man then performed a high kick to Johnny's face. The current Sensei got turned around by the vicious attack. Finally, John Kreese delivered a hard kick to Johnny's back.

Johnny crashed into one of the mirror wall panels and the shards of glass fell to the floor along with him. He groaned as he got into one knee. Though, unbeknownst to the two men, the cigar in the bin began to spark.

"Look, I don't want to fight. I just want to talk."

"About what? How you taught me to fight dirty?" Johnny countered. He thought of the tournament in 1984, more specifically what happened after. "How you broke my second-place trophy? How you tried to kill me...?"

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The Cobra Kai students all loaded into Kreese's black van parked along with many other cars and vehicles outside the tournament arena. It had a large Cobra Kai emblem painted boldly on its side.