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Robby was walking down the street with some of his friends, Miguel, Sam, Eli, Tory, and Demetri. They were on their way to “Golf and Stuff” to play around in the arcade. Robby was honestly feeling good and had felt an odd sense of relief since he quit Cobra Kai, especially since Tory and Kenny had quit too. They were now all members of the joined dojo, which was yet to be named, but was lovingly referred to as “Miyagi-Fang”.
As they walked down the street, they spotted two kids in Cobra Kai tee-shirts. Even the sight of that snake logo made Robby's heart race. Robby took a deep breath, a self-soothing tool that he had learned from his therapist. It wasn’t working and Robby could feel his panic surging. He tried harder to contain it. He really didn’t want to have a panic attack in front of his friends. Only Miguel had ever witnessed one before and Robby would honestly rather keep it that way.
But the Cobras kept coming. The Miyagi-Fang group tried to walk past the Cobras, but the boys stood in their way. The two of them looked at Tory and Robby. “Traitors,” the tall one with reddish-blonde hair said.
“Yeah, running off to another dojo,” the shorter one, who Robby through his fear recognized as Kyler, said.
The boys stared at the two of them. Tory glared back, pissed off that the boys had the guts to insult her and Robby for not wanting to participate in something that had made them into monsters. Robby could barely breathe, and his hands and feet were growing numb. His friends were beginning to take notice, but only Miguel understood what was wrong. The Miyagi-Fangs wanted to intercede, but they knew that Tory would not appreciate the gesture.
Then, the tall one, Levi, said, “You just weren’t strong enough to handle the consistently taxing workouts. You were too weak.”
Kyler looked Robby straight in the eye and said, “You were too weak, so you ran to Daddy.”
Everybody waited for Robby’s response, but he couldn’t even breathe anymore, let alone think straight enough to give a good comeback. Kyler was right about him anyway. He was too weak and he did run away and he did run straight to his dad. Nothing Kyler said about him was a lie.
Robby was so lost in his own mind that he startled when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders, but he calmed some as soon as he had heard Miguel’s voice whisper in his ear, “Come on, we're going to walk right past them.”
“But you never turn your back on a Cobra,” Robby barely manages to whisper back. He was remembering all of the times in 'extra training sessions' where he learned that lesson the hard way. When you turn away, you make yourself more vulnerable to attack.
“We won’t let them hurt you,” Miguel said in response, knowing exactly what his brother was thinking.
Robby barely nods. He walks with Miguel past the Cobras, with Miguel putting himself between the boys and Robby. Robby could sense his friends following behind. Protecting him.
They walk for two blocks before Robby allows himself to glance back. The Cobras are gone, probably to whatever workout they had been heading to when they had stopped to pick on Robby and Tory.
Miguel glanced back too, and saw that they were gone. “Do you want to sit down for a minute so you can calm down?”
Robby nodded and plopped on the curb. Miguel stands right beside him, like a protective guard dog, but he doesn’t do anything to intentionally comfort Robby any more than he already has. Miguel also keeps the others from doing so. Robby has been working on calming himself after panic attacks, after all, his friends won’t always be there when they happen, so Miguel was enabling that. Besides, the worst of Robby’s panic had dissipated after they left the Cobras behind. Robby could manage this.
Robby took a couple of really deep breaths. Then he sat quietly on the curb for a minute, calming his mind, as well as his body. He stood up and looked at his friends, embarrassed. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault that your brain chemicals aren’t balanced differently. And it sure as hell isn’t your fault that Cobra Kai is full of nasty and abusive people,” Demetri said. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you got out of there. I’m glad all of you got out of there.”
“Abusive. You’re right there. So abusive,” Robby said, he was staring a little as he said it, lost in the memories.
“Come on. Silver was a creep, but he wasn’t that bad,” Tory said.
“Maybe not to you,” Robby said, angerly. Then he took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. All I meant is that Silver may have a fucked up moral compass, but he avoids abusing girls. The same is not true for his champion male fighter though.”
There was quiet for a moment as they waited for Robby to continue. “What did he do to you?” Eli asked, anger seething in his voice.
“I’d rather not talk about it. I’m not ready yet,” Robby told them. His gaze was fixed down and away, his embarrassment evident.
Eli looked at him as if he were about to argue, but Sam spoke first. “And that’s okay, Robby. You don’t have to be ready now. Just know that, when you are, we’ll be right here for you. No hesitation.”
The others all nodded in agreement.
“Thank you for not being … too weird about this.”
There was a chorus of people accepting his thanks and telling him it was no problem. Robby started walking.
“Where are you going?” Miguel called after him.
“‘Golf and Stuff’ duh,” Robby said.
“You still want to go?” Miguel asked.
“I’m not letting those Cobras keep me from doing the things I want to with the people who care about me and who I care about. I’m not just going to let them ruin my life. And this is step one.”
“Okay then. Let’s go.”
So, the group walked down the street towards “Golf and Stuff”, talking and joking around. And Robby decided that he was going to fight for this. He was going to fight hard for this. Because his happiness was worth the battle.