TWENTY THREE
the beginning of a new era
🥊
❪ tw: strong language and violence ❫
COBRA KAI
(season 4, ep 1)
part one
quick a/n: i changed the timeline from a couple days to a week after the fight bc it made a little more sense
LET'S JUST PICK UP RIGHT WHERE WE LEFT OFF. Literally. "Let's begin!" Johnny announced. It was dead silent. Scarlett and Sam looked at each other confused. Did they really not plan anything? Demetri raised his hand awkwardly. "Uh, begin what exactly?" Demetri asked. Johnny and Daniel turned to each other, exchanging a look before Daniel came up with something. "Begin a new era." Daniel said looking at the kids.
"Many of us used to be enemies." Mar and Scarlett looked at each other for a second before looking back at Daniel. "But rivalries don't need to last forever. The All Valley tournament is just a few months away, and this year the stakes are higher than they've ever been. We know that Cobra Kai is going to use every dirty trick in the book. There's only one way we're gonna be able to beat them—" Daniel began before Johnny cut him off. "By kicking their asses so hard they shit themselves." Johnny interrupted which made Scarlett snicker.
Johnny began pacing in front of them. "We gotta take things to the next level. Gonna teach you and aggression stronger than anything Cobra Kai can throw at us. They strike first? We'll pre-strike!" Johnny said with determination. "Okay, we're getting ahead of ourselves." Daniel stepped up. "We are gonna respond to what they do." Daniel argued. "Eagles do not respond." Johnny interpolated him once again. "They might as well be an old married couple." Scarlett whispered which made Sam laugh.
"They swoop down and take whatever they want. And that's what we're going to do. Take back the Valley." Johnny insisted. "Take it back in a measured and organized approach."
"We bite first!" Johnny exclaimed making Daniel sigh, frustrated.
"Okay, let's just warm up with some simple exercises." Daniel suggested. "All right, line up!" Johnny ordered. Scarlett and Miguel moved backward and they formed two lines, separating both groups of students. "Hey." Eli greeted, coming up next to Scarlett. "Hi." Scarlett smiled. Miguel nudged her and she rolled her eyes at him. After Eli left that night Scarlett called him and told him everything.
"Just breathe and follow me." Daniel started to do the warm up they normally did and Johnny just shook his head at him. "Fighting positions! Right leg back! Front kick, ready. Hi-yah." The Eagle fangs listened to Johnny's voice and Mitch ended up kicking Nate in the back. "Shit dude, I'm sorry." Mitch looked down and the boy groaning on the ground. "You okay, Nate?" Doni asked looking over. "No." Nate winced.
...
"READY, FIGHT!" Johnny announced. He put Scarlett up against Mitch. They started swing punches at each other and Scarlett landed a few on his upper body. "Go for the teeth!" Johnny said as Mitch tried to knee her. Scarlett quickly brought his knee down and tried to elbow him in the face but he blocked it by harshly pushing her arm away which almost made her fall down. "You're just swinging at each other!" Daniel broke them up. "Don't you teach any defense?" Daniel looked back at Johnny.
"The best defense is more offense." Mitch smiled. Since he was distracted Scarlett kicked him in the rib which made him stumbled back. She turned and side kicked him in the chest and he fell into the rock behind him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hit you that hard." Scarlett said as she watched Mitch's face scrunch up in pain. "Why do you have a rock in the middle of your dojo?" Johnny looked at Daniel as he pointed to the rock.
SCARLETT WAS STANDING NEXT TO ELI watching Sam and Demetri spar. Even though they weren't doing much of anything. "What exactly is this?" Doni asked looking over at Mar. "One of them is supposed to be provoked." Mar explained. "So how long does it take for a punch to be thrown?" Scarlett questioned. "Whenever they feel like it's the right time." She replied. "Weird." Eli squinted at the sun.
Eli looked down at Scarlett admiring how she looked. She was wearing all black but her shirt was a cropped long sleeve and her hair was up in a ponytail showing off her natural curls. He was honestly amazed how she could still look good with bruises on her skin. "What?" Scarlett looked over at him with a smile. "Nothing." Eli shook his head, getting butterflies in his stomach. They texted and FaceTimed a few times after that night but this was the first time they've seen each other's faces since then.
"That's it, keep circling." Daniel nodded."Don't anticipate." Johnny looked back at Scarlett and she immediately shook her head at him. "Sensei, don't." Scarlett scolded Johnny, noticing how annoyed he was getting. "One of you do something what the hell is this?" Johnny ignored it, looking at the pair. "Well, that's not really how this works. One of us has to be provoked." Demetri explained and Johnny took the water bottle that was in his hand and threw it at him. It hit him in the shoulder and Demetri groaned, rubbing his arm. "Hey!" Daniel exclaimed. Scarlett rubbed her forehead, it's not like she didn't expect him to act like this. He's Johnny after all.
"Provoked yet?"
...
IT HASN'T EVEN been that long and Scarlett was already exhausted. Mostly because of the activities Johnny made them do. "Fight!" Johnny put Eli up against Doni and everyone was inside watching them. Scarlett was holding the flags. Eli tried to kick him in the gut but Doni threw his leg down. Eli struck him in the chest and seconds later Doni threw a punch at his head. Eli ducked and moved behind him. Doni turned so they were facing each other again and Doni kicked Eli's side.
Eli tried to kick him again but Doni blocked it. Eli threw a punch and as he was throwing another kick his leg went through the paper screens of the room after Doni moved out of the way. "Oh, shit." Eli mumbled through his breaths before taking his foot out.
"I hope that wasn't expensive..." Doni trailed off looking at the hole. "See, this is why we don't spar in here." Daniel looked over at Johnny. "All right. Who's up next?" Johnny walked back over to the middle of the room. Daniel looked at him with an angry expression.
"SCARLETT!" Eli yelled out as he walked up to her and Sam. "Hey, what's up?" Scarlett turned her head and moved to stand in front of him. "I was wondering if you had anything going on today." He put his hands in his pockets, waiting for her answer. Scarlett slightly frowned. "Um, I'm hanging out with Sam, for a little while. We're about to go to her place." She mentioned which made his face fall. "Oh."
"But I won't be there for that long. So, what did you have in mind?" She asked which made his expression change. "Just hanging out at my house. I kind of need help with the homework we got over the break." So that was a lie.
Eli talked to Miguel and Doni before coming out here about how he wanted to hang out with her but he was just nervous every time they talked. Doni came up with the idea of him asking her that. "Of course you do." Scarlett chuckled. "But I also wanted to spend time with this girl I like." Eli scratched the back of his neck and she smiled at him. "I'll see you at 6." Scarlett said walking back over to Sam. "Okay." Eli nodded before he walked away.
"All right. What's going on with him?" Sam raised her eyebrows at her. "Shit, I forgot to tell you." Scarlett sighed. "Tell me what?" Sam questioned. "You'll know later, okay."
SCARLETT WALKED BESIDE SAM as them and Daniel walked up to the LaRusso house. "So you smashed a glass over his head?" Sam asked as they stood in front of the door. Scarlett was explaining how she got the cut on her hand. "It was my first instinct. And sorry about the glass, Mr. LaRusso." Scarlett apologized. "It's okay." Daniel reassured as he unlocked the door with his keys.
The alarm they installed blared and Daniel sighed in annoyance. "Oh, shit!" Daniel groaned, punching numbers into the pad next to the door. "I'm sorry. I-I'm still getting used to the code." Daniel looked back at Amanda who came running with a bat in her hand, with Anthony behind her.
"This new alarm system sucks." Anthony said as Sam and Scarlett made their way inside. "You should've sprung for the one with facial recognition." Anthony looked his parents in the eyes. Amanda took her ringing phone out of her pocket as Anthony's gaze went over to Scarlett. "Oh, hey Scar." He smiled. "Hey, Ant. You've grown, how are you?" She asked. "You know...the usual." He nodded. "And what exactly is the usual?" She questioned.
Sam looked at him with a look of disgust. When they were still friends Anthony used to have a crush on her but Scarlett just thought he was being a weird kid. "I'm good." He changed his response. "Good."
"Hi, this is Amanda LaRusso. Yeah, sorry, it was a false alarm. Uh, password is Outlander. Okay." Amanda spoke into the phone before she hung up. "Hi, Scarlett." Amanda sighed. "Hi, Mrs. LaRusso." Scarlett smiled at her. "Make yourself at home." "Thanks." Scarlett said before they all went their separate ways.
"You know Anthony has a crush on you?" Sam informed as they walked through the house. "What?" "Yeah since we were 13."
"Isn't he like 12?" She asked as they stood by the couch. "Almost 14." "So, tell me what's going on with Hawk." Her lips curved up in a smile.
Scarlett took a breath before she spoke. "We kissed." She confessed. "Excuse me!?" Sam exclaimed. "The night of the fight he came over to talk and he apologized and I apologized and we kissed. More than once." She explained while Sam's jaw dropped. "You can close your mouth now." Scarlett laughed.
"Have you guys talked since then?" Sam asked. "We texted and FaceTimed a few times." They walked over to sit on the couch. "It's been a week though. You haven't actually seen each other."
"Well I mean we are hanging out later." Scarlett shrugged. "You should wear the green crop top and those low-rise white cargo pants." Sam suggested and Scarlett just gave her a look. "What? You look good in that outfit." "Okay." Scarlett shook her head.
"Did he get you anything for Christmas?" They both leaned back. "Yeah, these." Scarlett moved her ponytail a little showing off the small silver hoop earrings that were diamond-encrusted. "He dropped them off."
Sam examined them. "Did he steal them?" She chuckled. "They're not real diamonds." Scarlett explained. "But I don't know if my gift is good. He didn't like say he wanted anything specific." "What did you get him?"
Scarlett pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture. Eli always talked about the equipment she had at her house so she decided to get him a punching bag. "He always thought that it was cool that I had training equipment at home so I ordered him this." She turned her phone around showing off the bright red punching bag. "I'm pretty sure he'll like it." Sam nodded. "It delivered while we were training." Scarlett looked back down at her phone before she began to text Eli.
scarlett: hey, did you get the package?
eli: yeah, it just got here i haven't opened it yet
scarlett: well, hurry up
eli: no need to be demanding
eli: you didn't
scarlett: i did (:
eli: now i feel shitty those earrings were like 90 bucks and they're not even real
scarlett: the punching bag wasn't even that expensive plus i like the earrings
eli: thank you
"Do you really think Kreese is gonna shut down Cobra Kai if he loses?" Both girls stopped their movements after they heard Amanda speaking. "Oh, he's gonna lose. We got LaRusso 2.0 fighting for us." Daniel nodded at her and Sam and Scarlett looked up. "And once he loses, it won't matter if he welches. Everyone in the Valley will see Cobra Kai doesn't work. Especially Robby." Scarlett noticed Sam's sad expression after hearing Robby's name. "Let's go up to my room." Sam said as she picked up her laptop. "Okay." Scarlett followed behind her.
SCARLETT KNOCKED ON Eli's front door and it opened after a few seconds. She looked up seeing his mom in the doorway. "Hi, Mrs. Moskowitz." Scarlett smiled at the woman. "Scarlett. It's been a while since I've seen you. How are you?" She smiled back. "I'm good thank you." Scarlett noticed Eli coming down the stairs. "Mom! I told you I wanted to get the door." Eli ran up behind her. "What, scared I'm gonna embarrass you?" His mother teased. "Yes, exactly that."
"Can you stop arguing with me and move so we can let the poor girl in?" His mother pushed him back before Scarlett walked in. "We're gonna go study." Eli gently grabbed her wrist and walked over to the stairs. "It's winter break." His mother looked at him suspiciously. "We got homework from some of our teachers."
"Okay. Have fun, kids. I'm here if you need anything."
"Did she say anything?" Eli looked over at her "No. Calm down." Scarlett gave him a reassuring smile and they walked upstairs to his room. "You look nice," Eli said as he closed the door behind him. "Thank you." She said sitting down.
"Okay, what subjects do you need? I did basically all of it so I can give you the answers." Scarlett pulled out her binder and Eli bent down and put his hand over hers. "I don't need help..." He admitted. "I did it all with Demetri like two days ago." Scarlett blinked at him. "So this was just an excuse to get me over here?" She questioned. "Kind of."
"I just feel really nervous and it's a little hard to talk to you right now." He shrugged. "It doesn't have to be. What makes it hard to talk to me?" She asked. "Have you seen yourself?" His words made her laugh. "You can tell me anything. You can say anything you want." She reassured him. "Okay." Eli breathed out.
"You can sit you don't have to be all tense in the corner." Scarlett pulled him over by his shirt. "So, if we're not doing homework then what do you want to do?" She asked as Eli plopped down next to her. "We can talk." "Okay."
"Do you think that the whole combined dojo thing is gonna work out?" He turned to face her. "I hope so. But Johnny and Mr. LaRusso are like the most stubborn people on earth." Scarlett adjusted a ring that turned the opposite way. "True." Eli nodded.
He contemplated asking her what he was about to ask her. "Did you um...like it?" He asked making Scarlett look up from her hands. "Like what?" She looked at him confused. "When we kissed. Did you like it?" He clarified. Scarlett just looked at him before she moved a little closer which made his breath hitch. "Why would I keep kissing you if I didn't like it?" Her voice was low as she stared into his eyes. Eli stared back at her and he opened his mouth the speak but he didn't know what to say. She officially left him speechless.
Eli's phone buzzed and he quickly looked down seeing a text from the group chat he made with Demetri, Mitch, Miguel, Doni, and Bert. "Give me a second." He said picking up his phone. Scarlett just let out an annoyed sigh and scooted back, giving him space.
miguel: hawk, how's it going with scarlett?
demetri: for all we know they're making out right now
doni: or doing more than making out
mitch: you guys are gross
eli: what penis breath said
doni: we need details 👏🏽
eli: she just got here, we're in my room
miguel: did we interrupt the make out session?
eli: there is NO make out session
eli: it's awkward
demetri: why? you were sucking faces like yesterday
doni: did the homework line backfire
eli: it kind of worked but i literally don't know what to do
miguel: wait, she's texting me
scarlett: mig!
miguel: heyy
scarlett: i'm at hawk's house and i thought something was going to happen but he seems off
miguel: wdym off
scarlett: nervous
scarlett: i'm trying to make him comfortable but he's a little tense so idk what to do save me
miguel: brb
scarlett: dkdjej
miguel: STOP BEING SO NERVOUS
eli: i can't help it have you looked at scarlett before
mitch: yeah, yeah we get it she's hot
doni: just fake it till you make it
eli: easier said than done. it wasn't this hard with moon
mitch: i'm not the best at girl advice but if you keep acting like that she might leave
eli: wait really?
miguel: oh my god, no. mitch stfu
miguel: scarlett isn't really like that but you do have to lay that off she told me to save her
demetri: we're not off to a good start
miguel: just breathe and talk to her like normal
eli: is it weird that i asked her about the kiss?
miguel: no that's fine what exactly did you say
eli: i asked if she liked it
doni: and what did she say
eli: she said she did but that she gave me that look and i freaked out
mitch: what look?
eli: idk how to describe it
eli: every time she looks at me like that we were either about to kiss or did kiss after
doni: are u an idiot?
doni: why are you still talking to us
eli: i'm gonna scream
demetri: SNAP OUT OF IT
mitch: listen to me...one of the hottest girls in school is in YOUR room
eli: bye
bert: i just got here and now the conversation is over 😭
miguel: we fixed him
scarlett: what?
miguel: oh nothing! ur welcome
SCARLETT PUT HER PHONE down and looked over at Eli. "Are the guys texting you?" Scarlett asked as she put her phone down. "Uh, what? No." Eli shook his head and she just gave him a look. "Yeah." He chuckled. "You never had trouble talking to me before."
"That was before we were kissing on your porch." Eli said which made the moment flash in her head. "But I'm sorry for being so awkward and nervous. I just really like you." He smiled. "I really like you too."
Scarlett scooted closer to him, their knees brushing together. Scarlett placed her hand on the side of his face and pulled him down, connecting their lips. "Still nervous?" Scarlett whispered, pulling away. Eli looked down at her lips before he placed a hand on her waist before he pressed his lips against hers. "No." He pulled back, trying to convince her. "Bullshit." She smirked and they both erupted in laughter.
"Look, I don't want to hurt you again." Eli looked back up at her. "Do you think you're gonna hurt me?" Scarlett questioned. "No, not on purpose." Eli denied. "But, it just feels like everybody else thinks that. Isn't your mom mad at me?"
"Not as much. But I know you want to change and you're trying to change and that's all that matters. I'm here for you, you know that?" She brought her hand down to his knee. "Yeah. Yeah, I know that."
"Come here." Eli pulled her into a hug.
a/n: aksjsj i love crosswitz so much in this act they're cute! i hope this chapter is good this whole act is my fav already