Dedicated to AbbyWatson4

"Are you alright?" Robby asked Miguel as he helped him up to his feet.

He wasn't really sure what to say to Miguel considering they'd never been in a room together without fighting each other, but he had to say something.

"Yeah, thanks," blinked Miguel, already feeling the bruise forming around his left eye.

Robby nodded as they heard loud stomping closing in on their position.

"There's at least six or seven of them heading in our direction," commented Robby as they quickly slammed the old doors to the living room and pushed the tattered couch up against its surface.

Miguel looked at Robby in disbelief.

"Takes a criminal to know one," answered Robby, shrugging.

He wasn't proud of his time working with his old "friends" Trey and Cruz, but the skills he picked up were sometimes helpful.

Especially, when I'm on "vacation" with my dad.

Robby turned his attention back to Miguel.

How are we going to beat them if there's only two of us and we're barely even able to work together?

"Look, the only way this is going to work is if we put our history behind us and fight together," reasoned Miguel, facing Robby for the first time since he'd arrived.

He didn't look angry or even discouraged, he lpoked determined.

How can he stand to be near me when I'm the one who almost paralyzed him?

Robby nodded in agreement.

Thud! Sounded a loud banging as the thugs kicked at the door.

Robby and Miguel both closed their eyes and took a deep breath, sending all thoughts except, the incoming threat out of their minds.

You're not fighting for the sake of fighting, you're fighting as defense.

They opened their eyes and stepped backwards, holding their arms in a defensive fighting position.

As the door burst open, eight bulky men stormed in. They wore baggy sweatpants and tank tops which seemed like an impractical choice considering they were mostly fugitives on the run.

"So what, we were hired to catch two little kids?" smirked one of the men, laughing.

I swear if one more person calls me a little kid...

There might have only been two of them and they were about half most of the men's size and strength, but they seemed to always be moving one step ahead of their enemies. One of the men threw a punch at Robby, but he used a side block to stop the attack before kicking him in the ribs. Another one ran at him from behind, but Miguel quickly swept his legs and knocked him to the ground with a thud.

"Let's see how you like this," said the leader, whipping out two knives from pockets on the sides of his pants before running at Robby.

He ducked just in time to avoid the knife's slash, though it grazed his shoulder blade. Miguel, seeing that Robby was struggling, blocked his attacker's next blow and then, reverse punched the leader in the back, making him stumble.

"Are you okay?" asked Miguel to which Robby once again nodded.

I'm going to actually have to talk to him at some point, but now's not the time.

They both swiftly duck as another one of the men lunged at them. As Robby was trying to catch his breath, he suddenly felt two muscular arms grab him from behind and throw him into a rickety cabinet.

He slowly stood up, a familiar pounding sound consuming his thoughts as his vision got blurry.

"Don't do this again!" he told himself as he tried to regain his balance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Miguel had knocked unconscious one more of the men and was locked in combat with the leader. He seemed to be dodging expertly left and right as he avoided being cut by his twin blades.

"You really are your father's son," remarked the leader, panting.

Even from a distance, Robby could see Miguel tensing up.

Maybe we're more similar than I thought.

The leader exploited this opportunity of weakness and kicked Miguel hard in the chest, knocking him off his feet before punching him in the ribs roughly.

This snapped Robby back to the fight as he forced himself to ignore the pounding.

Remember what your senseis taught you!

And using all his strength to will himself upright, Robby spin kicked the leader and two of his men off their feet, saving Miguel. Another guy tried charging him from behind, but this time he was ready with a forward block to the face. Robby quickly turned his attention to Miguel and pulled him to his feet.

Did he get hurt? He rebounded much quicker during our last fight.

Neither of them could explain it but somehow, their movements were in perfect sync as Robby and Miguel stood back to back, blocking and counter-blocking their enemies' attacks until there only stood the leader. Before he could even register what was happening, Robby back-flip kicked him across the face, knocking him to the ground.

"C'mon, let's go help Sensei," smiled Miguel, hurriedly.

Author's Note:

Sorry if the photo doesn't quite match the chapter, but it was practically impossible to find a photo of these together without one of them being beaten up. Lol