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The Miyagi-fang students had just finished their training session when everything went wrong. Everyone was talking as they gathered their belongings and got ready to leave the dojo. Robby was off to the side a little because he wasn’t really sure if he was comfortable with the other kids at Miyagi-Do yet. Robby was checking his phone to see if he had any messages from his mom. He didn’t.
As he went to put his phone away, he was attacked from behind. He assumed that it was just one of the other students, probably Bert, so he used some defensive moves and went to turn around so that he could see his attacker. The other person grabbed him from behind and tried to keep him from moving. That was when Robby knew that something was wrong. This wasn’t a strategy that any Miyagi-Fang student would use. It was much more of a Cobra Kai move. Robby went to break out of the other person’s hold in order to defend himself, but he felt a circle of metal touch his head and froze.
He knew that it was a gun. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did. And when he heard the click, it confirmed his fear. Robby started trembling in terror. If this had been a one-on-one karate fight, he probably could have fought whoever this was just fine, but now that there was a gun added to the equation, Robby knew he was in danger, especially with the gun so close to him.
Robby didn’t know what to do as the panic gripped him, so he did the only thing he could think of to do. He screamed for his dad.
Johnny had been with Daniel and the rest of their students in the front of the dojo, making sure that all of the kids got taken home by their parents. It was only Sam, Anthony, Miguel, Daniel, and Johnny left out there when Johnny heard the scream.
Johnny leapt into action, no hesitation, and ran back to the dojo. He was shocked to find his son there being held by a masked Cobra Kai with a gun being held to his head. He could clearly see the Cobra logo on the kid's shirt, but he didn’t process it until later. He was too concerned for his son. He looked into his son’s eyes and saw the terror there and the tears running down his face, and the trembling in his body.
“Robby,” he said, taking a step towards his son.
“Take another step forward, and I’ll shoot,” the masked Cobra said. It was the first time that the person had spoken. It was clear from his voice that he was a boy who couldn’t be any older than Robby.
The Cobra didn’t want to actually have to shoot the gun. That was never part of the plan. The whole idea was to scare Robby so much that he would never return to karate. If Cobra Kai couldn’t have him, nobody else could either. But everything was going downhill fast and the Cobra boy had not signed up for this.
Then, Daniel came back as well, having heard the Cobra boy’s statement. Sam, Anthony, and Miguel, who had obviously been told to stay back, but, having no sense of self-preservation, came anyway, standing at the entrance of the dojo.
This was the last straw for the Cobra boy. There was no way in hell he was doing this anymore. Without another word, he dropped the gun, let go of Robby, and ran. He ran to the back fence and hopped right over it.
When the boy dropped the gun, it went off. The bullet didn’t hit anyone and, instead, lodged itself in a tree, but the sound of that gun going off took away the last bit of self-control that Robby had. He collapsed to the ground, shaking and gasping. He felt like he couldn’t get enough air. And his heart was beating so fast. And then everything went blurry, like maybe he was fading. He was sure that he was going to die. But then he felt his dad’s arms wrap around him in a comforting embrace. And felt himself gradually calm down.
As his breathing returned to normal, his heart rate and vision did as well. He glanced around to see that he was still in the dojo. Then Robby saw his father with his arms wrapped around him protectively. Then the words that Johnny was saying reached his ears. “You’re okay now, Robby. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I love you.” Those three phrases over and over on repeat, but Robby didn’t mind. The repetitiveness was honestly kind of comforting.
After a minute, Robby allowed himself to take in the rest of his surroundings. He saw his friends, Sensei, and step-brother sitting a short distance away. Miguel was on the phone and Robby caught snippets of the conversation, sometimes just words, other times whole phrases, yet others full sentences. “Mama, something went wrong… gun… Robby… no, Mama, he’s gonna be alright. Not hurt. No one’s hurt. Make you aware… love you too Mom.”
Robby wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that, but he figured it didn’t really matter. Miguel came and sat beside him. “My mom says she loves you and is glad you’re safe,” Miguel told Robby.
Robby smiled affectionately. He wanted to respond in words, but he wasn’t in the right headspace yet. He really did love Carmen though, almost as much as he loved his own mom. Almost.
That was when Robby noticed the sirens. They must have been coming for a while, but Robby had just noticed them.
Police. Why did they call the police? Did Robby do something wrong again? Robby’s brain was all messed up at the moment and he didn’t really understand what was happening. Then the horror and fear of having that gun pressed to his head came back. He knew why they were here now, to talk about the gun. But would they even listen to Robby after the whole school fight and running from the law situation of last year. Sure, having Miguel here with him gave his story some validity to these guys, but would it really help?
But he looked around at the yard. The dojo and all the people who were there sitting protectively near him and he hoped that everything would end up okay. Even if it wasn’t right now.