Mercy
"You ready?" After the party, Miguel slept over at Cherry's house. The two were cuddling, trying to make the moment last as long as possible. "Yeah," Cherry sighed. "Let's get ready." Cherry walked to her bathroom to shower while Miguel used the guest bathroom. Cherry quickly showered then changed into blue jeans, a black sports bra, and she zipped on a jacket. Putting on her shoes, she grabbed her karate bag and headed downstairs to make her and Miguel breakfast.
She was upset that her parents wouldn't be there for her first tournament, something that Miguel noticed. So, he hugged her from behind and placed his head on her shoulder. "Hey." He kissed her cheek and smiled down at her. "I'm sure they're still rooting for you."
Cherry smiled at him and pecked his lips. "Thanks for making me feel better. Now come on, let's eat." After a quick and healthy breakfast, they went to her motorcycle and Cherry drove them to where the tournament is being held. By then, everyone was waiting there, only Johnny hadn't arrived yet.
"Where's sensei?" Eli asked.
"The tournament's gonna start soon."
"He'll be here," Aisha tried to reassure him.
"I don't know about that."
Everyone turned to Bert. "Why's that?" "Last night, I saw him at the mini mall. I was buying. . . a carton of milk when I heard him in the parking lot, yelling." "Well, why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Cherry asked. "I don't know. I'm guess I'm just used to seeing him drunk and it didn't seem that big of a deal." "Well we're here and he's not. So it's officially a big deal. What if something happened to him?" "Like what?" "I don't know - like he drove his car off a cliff. Or he bought a gun and blew his brains out."
"No, sensei would never kill himself."
"She's right, that's why I'm gonna kill him." Cherry made for her bike, but Miguel held her back. "We're just gonna have to do it without him." "Do what without me?" Everyone turned to see Johnny approaching them. "Sensei." "I didn't think you were gonna show up," Eli admitted.
"I may not always win but I never back out of a fight. . . That I'm pretty sure red her would've killed me," he motioned to Cherry who nodded in response. "Let's sign up," said Miguel. "Not yet. There's one more lesson I have to teach you." Johnny led the group inside and they formed a circle.
"You've all learned to strike first. Be aggressive, not be losers. I've taught you to strike hard. And put every ounce of your power behind everything you do. I haven't taught you the third rule of Cobra Kai. No mercy. The older you get, the more you're gonna learn that life isn't fair. You wake up one morning feeling great, and then life throws a spinning heel kick to your balls and takes a big steaming shit in your mouth. You get an F on a test, you get suspended, have a fall out with a close friend."
Miguel glanced down at Cherry and he squeezed her hand.
"Just when you think things are going good, everything falls apart. That's how it goes. Life shows no mercy, so neither do we. We do whatever it takes to keep our heads above water. We do whatever it takes to keep moving forward. We do whatever it takes to win! Remember who you are: you're badass! You don't give a shit. Kick ass! You're Cobra Kai."
"Cobra Kai!" Miguel and Cherry yelled.
"Yeah!"
"All right guys, let's get down there and kick the shit out of everybody!"
"Yeah!"
Miguel took out his Gi.
"No. You're not wearing those."
