Chapter Text
"Hello?" Daniel called out to an empty house, looking around with uneasy eyes.
The silence was deafening here, and the grandeur of this place only made that silence more foreboding.
A deep pit was burrowing into his stomach as he swallowed hard, holding the handle of the PlayStation's box in an uncharacteristic, vice-like grip.
Quiet footsteps trecked down towards the dining area of this half-open plan, half-over-embellished bachelor's haven... when a familiar voice spoke from behind.
"You thought you could turn him against me?"
A shudder ran through Daniel like a shot of ice.
He turned around to face an absolute pillar of a man; hackles raised, paired with a smug, hungry grin.
"Actions have consequences, Mr LaRusso."
Fuck.
'Fuck' indeed, Daniel. You think you can talk your way out of this one?
He sighed, looking down at the ground as he thought about his next choice of words carefully.
Promptly, he brought himself back up to face the ghoul, a genuine want for negotiation evident in his expression.
"Look," the air whistled out his nose as he exhaled once more, "I'm not here for trouble, okay? I'm out of the war. I surrender, if that's what you want to hear."
The karate champ silently congratulated himself for not wibbling the much-needed composure out of his voice.
"The Valley is yours."
Silver changed, his face souring.
"The Valley?" He was almost insulted, scoffing, "It never ceases to amaze me how small your mind is."
Daniel did not like how he was taking steps towards him.
"I don't give a shit about your Valley. I've got much bigger plans."
Don't lose it, LaRusso took a few breaths, keep calm.
"Well, leave me out of it." He was ready to slink past the man, not caring his tail was between his legs.
Terry blocked his path.
"How's that beautiful wife of yours?" He smiled, fiddling with his ring.
Every muscle in Daniel's body was itching to get out of here.
"It was remarkable how easy it was to disrupt your marriage. You opened the door and just let me waltz right in."
He chuckled, watching Daniel use all he could to not tackle him to the ground.
However, that wasn't enough for Terry Silver, he wanted to push him further.
"Imagine..." He grew closer to his former student, "How easy it's gonna be..."
Daniel ground his teeth as he got a whiff of whatever obnoxious cologne Terry had on.
"...To wrap Cobra Kai gis around both your kids."
Fuck it.
Terry was shoved backwards with more power than he had expected from the little twig.
Before he could fully recover, Silver was met with a fist which he quickly blocked. Then, a kick. Then, a fist once more. Followed by another fist... and another fist.
Block. Deflect. Block. Counter.
This was like clockwork.
However, Terry hadn't anticipated Daniel would go full throttle so quickly as he spun, redirecting Silver's swipe at him and thwacking the man round the face.
It hurt. Like a whip to his jaw.
He couldn't help but laugh, a wave of nostalgia sweeping over the man as he shook off the the shock.
"That's it, LaRusso." Terry smirked, nursing his lip, "That's the Cobra Kai student I remember."
Daniel saw red. He threw a haymaker at Silver. Only for it to be caught, and for the sensei to pull his best work to him, letting him slam roughly into his chest. Daniel wasn't giving up though, the disgust of being this close to the man driving him to rake his face... but Silver caught that too, letting Daniel get tangled in his arms.
"But you never really had the strength, did you?"
Silver headbutted him. Hard. LaRusso let out a surprised yelp as he tasted blood in his mouth. Clutching his nose, he desperately prayed for his vision to clear up quickly.
Defence! Defence! Come on, Daniel!
He tried to time his breaths, adjusting his stance. It was like he was that boy again in Silver's eyes. Terry now realised how moldable he was, even now.
No one ever got so close to being Cobra Kai elite like LaRusso did. He had taken on the aggression like it had been there all along. He would just see an obstacle and bam! Down it went! Two legacies in one. He would have been the perfect champion. Silver's champion. Kim Sun-Yung would have loved to watch Terry shape this block of karate marble.
There was a brief pause.
Before Silver struck out like a spitting snake. Daniel just managed to catch it, recover and face another bombardment of fists.
It was then LaRusso would find that Silver was carrying something sharp.
Another blocked punch led to a nick to his forearm. It took him out of it long enough for the ponytailed pit viper to turn and land a back kick to Daniel's chest. He went down, landing on the wooden floor with a thud, blood slowly seeping into his blue hoodie.
"I was ready to let this go," Terry's voice shook, "But you just kept getting in my way!"
LaRusso clocked the little bit of red dripping off of his left hand. It was his. Daniel knew it was his.
His forearm stung, the pain acute and much harder to ignore than the dull aches from the blunt force of plain old punches and kicks.
Silver wouldn't be crazy enough to carry a knife?, Danny was breathless, He doesn’t want to kill me, right? We’re not there yet.
Brown eyes scanned the man, only to find fists. It didn't matter, though, Daniel had a plan.
Catch his hands at every opportunity.
He launched forward with a kick, which was unfortunately dodged by Silver.
Fine. No biggie. Adjust the plan.
He got low and tried to sweep Silver's leg.
That did piss all.
So, Daniel, now running almost entirely on adrenaline and whatever was in the stubby Lawrence gave to him earlier that day, decided to just go for the wrists.
Get his wrist!
Terry countered.
Try again!
Terry caught his hand.
Go for the other wrist!
Terry seized his arm.
Shit.
Daniel tried to kick at him but it was no use.
Silver grabbed his face with his free hand, sending the All Valley champ hurtling into the side of a sofa, knocking the wind out of him.
Terry was doing what he had always wanted to do since the tail-end of the eighties.
This was amazing!
As Daniel clumsily tried to regain his footing, Terry Silver could only grin.
"You bit off more than you can chew."
The little, pained groan from him really was adding to the absolute power trip this man was on.
"And now that the writing's on the wall, you want to surrender?! No, no, no... We are way past white flags, Danny-boy!"
Mustering all the anger and courage he had, Daniel leapt up and jabbed his ribs.
He was damn fast when he wanted to be, and ol' Terry had forgotten.
It was a little sobering, having Daniel strike at him right where his tattoo had been, and then proceed to grab him.
The bastard landed a good punch to the stomach, pairing it with a kick. Silver gasped, feeling his lungs whistle out their contents.
Then, Daniel went for his face.
He ducked, a flash of fear making itself known as Silver saw the dent Daniel left in the plaster.
Followed by another one to Terry's other side. He shoved off the wall, returning to open space.
Daniel did his best to repress the shudder.
A familiar sight lay before him, a broken boy with bloody knuckles. Daniel raised his fists once more, only to clock the rawness. These weren't his hands anymore, these belonged to the kid in '85 who was arrogant enough to think he was special, arrogant enough to think he could forsake his teacher, who had been nothing but a kind, loving man. He had never really made up to Miyagi for that... despite all the times he would brush off LaRusso's apologies and sob-filled diatribes.
"It's blood," the voice echoed in the back of his mind, "So what? Make believe it's his."
He had nightmares about this moment.
"This guy wants to break you! Humiliate you! Stomp you into the ground! And what are you gonna do about it?!"
He made for another strike, only for a powerful kick to land just where the wound was. Daniel cried out, faltering. However, he wasn't going to let this monster win! He recovered, coming back with another punch.
But in his growing fatigue, he was too slow. Terry had time to catch it, spin him, and press on the open wound with all his weight.
You had never heard a more painful scream from Daniel LaRusso.
Terry let him have his moment, before bringing his knee to Danny's sternum and knocking him to the ground.
"Asa!" Silver shouted as he whipped his leg across Daniel's face, satisfied with how pathetically he collapsed, going down like a ton of bricks.
He pressed his foot on Daniel's neck, savouring the sounds of struggle.
This man was going to bring him to the point of no return.
"Don't look at this as an act of mercy. On the contrary, I want you alive and well for what's about to happen." He pressed down harder, "Well, alive at least."
He kicked Daniel right in the kisser, watching the blood spurt out of his mouth, along with a tooth. He brought his beaten and swollen face close to his.
"Admit that there's always been a little Cobra Kai in you. Even now."
He chucked him back onto the floor, watching his consciousness fade. In Daniel's eyes, the world was just becoming one big, ever-darkening blur, with the vague silhouette of a man standing above him, shaking a little.
Terry revealed his hidden weapon, his own hand. He raked his nails across his other palm to draw blood.
Gleefully, he watched it drip into Daniel's open mouth as he brought his crimsoned fist down and over his face. For good measure, Terry also rubbed his wound onto the cut he gave LaRusso on his forearm.
"You and I are not that different."
He was going to live, no, thrive. Terry had granted him that much.
Now, LaRusso, like he did back in '85, would come crawling to him for help and guidance.
Cut to a few minutes later and Chozen was skidding down the living area of Raymond’s pristine prison cell.
“Daniel-san!” He yelled, “Daniel-san! I called and called and you didn’t-”
He came across Daniel’s unconscious body, the colour drained from his face, welts and bruises dotted all over the place.
“Oh my God.”
Toguchi was... well, he was beyond speechless.