─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

without a second thought, the larusso house quickly became a battleground. the cobra laid against the eagle fangs and miyagi-dos. despite his nerves, theo tried to steady his breathing, recalling the lessons daniel had drilled into him.

a tall, pale boy lunged at theo, throwing a series of rapid punches. theo managed to dodge the first few, his movements were precise, but his opponent's speed was overwhelming for him. a sharp jab struck theo in the ribs, and theo staggered back, gasping for breath.

the boy chuckled at theo's suffering, treating the situation like a game, or a tournament where he would've won a point. as he came at him again, theo blocked a punch with his forearm and countered with a swift kick to the lanky boy's knee. he grunted in pain but barely flinched, swinging his other leg around in a brutal roundhouse kick. theo ducked just in time, the air from the kick whistling past his ear.

after standing up straight, theo pushed himself forward into a double side kick. one in the boy's side and the other right on his jaw. he fell back into the wall, landing on one of the larussos family photos, pulling it down to the ground with him.

"i'm so sorry, mr larusso." theo mumbled, rushing away. he hadn't been paying enough attention as he didn't notice big red's leg sticking out. theo tripped over, landing right on his face. big red laughed, surprised the move worked. he pulled theo by his shirt and twisted him around so he would be facing him.

theo barely had time to react before the first punch connected with his jaw. pain exploded through his face, radiating down his neck. the second punch came just as quickly, landing on his cheekbone, and then another to his nose, making him dizzy.

"you miyagi-dos are a bunch of pussies!" he seethed.

blood began to trickle from his nose, and his vision dimmed with each hit, the room spinning. theo's mind raced as he tried to think of daniel's teachings, but the pain was overwhelming. another punch landed, splitting his lip and filling his mouth with the metallic taste of blood.

the cobra kai boy's fists continued to rain down, each punch feeling like a hammer.  and theo's gracious opening for escape came when the lights randomly switched off and big red's concentration was reduced.

theo raised his leg and slammed his foot into big red's groin. he shouted out in agony, his body dropping backwards as he clutched onto the injured area. theo scrambled to his feet, spitting out the blood that was produced in his mouth.

he used the back of his hand to wipe his nose before lifting big red by the hem of his cobra kai shirt and giving him a taste of his own medicine. theo kept his punches short but powerful before pulling big red to his feet and throwing him aside onto a coffee table.

as his opponent groaned with pain, theo wished one more apology to amanda larusso and left the room, hoping to find someone on his team.

∙ ~εïз~ ∙

the front door slammed open, but no one took any notice of it as they were seemingly fighting for their lives. tabitha silver stormed into the home, with aims of locating her boyfriend. when tory first told her of the plan, she was sceptical as it would be a huge legal risk for her to go to the larussos. but kreese's words lingered in her mind and her anger was stronger than her fear.

"you just can't get enough of her, can you?" tabitha questioned, walking towards a bloodied and bruised miguel. "i saw mitch's story, you guys were all close and happy. sensei was right. now you're working together... probably going to get back together?"

miguel shook his head at her accusation. it genuinely hurt him that the girl he liked couldn't see how much he adored her. "no, tabitha." he started, his breathing laboured as he was in clear agony. "that's not how this is... not at all. we just thought it would be better—"

"you guys are already a we?" she scoffed. "i told you, one more chance. and you blew it." tabitha shook her head. she wasn't going to hit him, she couldn't. he had just gotten out of a wheelchair, it would be wrong. and it seemed like he was already beaten pretty badly.

"get out of my way." she pushed past him but miguel seized her wrist. he took a deep breath. "tabitha. i don't know how i can make it any clearer. i love you. i love you."

tabitha hesitated. she thought for a second, was he telling the truth? or was he just trying to stall her from getting to sam? but her rage had already consumed her, blinding her from the truth. tabby ripped her hand out of his hold, "you don't love me, miguel. stop being delusional."

miguel's heart dropped at the harshness of her words. he didn't know what to do or what to say, so he just stood and allowed her to make her way to the mini dojo in the larusso's garden. "i am not afraid of you!" tabitha heard sam exclaim, she had tory pinned against the wall with a bo staff.

tory glanced over sam's shoulder and saw tabitha. a smirk grew on her face. "yeah? what about her? because she seems angry."

sam quickly spun around to see tabitha walking over to the wooden stand and grasp her own bo staff. she effortlessly twirled it around in her hands before moving into a fighting stance. "you've tried to take my boyfriend... let's see if you can try to take me in a fight." tabitha taunted.

tory stepped out of the way as sam shook her head. "no, i don't want miguel." sam tried to tell her. tabitha let out a battle cry, charging forward with her bo staff. she leapt up and slammed it onto sam's shoulder.

but sam stood her ground. "bitha... i don't want to fight you." she said, grunting with pain.

"don't call me that!" tabitha yelled. "it worked last time, but it's not going to work now." she swung the staff around, aiming for sam's face, but sam used her own staff to prevent the attack.

the two began a skilful routine of attacking and defending. sam meant what she said about not wanting to fight tabitha, so she would use defence moves against her and take the hits she couldn't block. but tabitha was growing tired of this, she slammed her foot against sam's staff, front-kicking it across the room.

tabitha tossed her bo staff to the side and charged forward, tackling sam onto the ground. the two collided to the floor, sam's body taking most of the impact. with her hands in front of her face, she began to speak. "tabitha. i swear to you, i don't want to take miguel. and he doesn't want to be with me. he likes you so much."

tabitha didn't want to hear it, she pushed sam's hands away and threw her fist into her face. "yes, tabitha!" she heard tory cheer from the sidelines as she continued to strike samantha's body.

miguel, demetri, theo and hawk raced into the room together. seeing the two girls on the floor, miguel rushed over to them before she could get another hit in, "tabitha, stop!" he pulled her body off of sam's.

"get the hell off of me!" she exclaimed as he dragged her to her feet. "guys, the fight's over." hawk told them.

"it's not over." tory shook her head, stepping over to them. "this will never be over, larusso. you hear me?"

"you know where to find me." sam seethed, getting to her feet.

"you watch your mouth." tabitha started, walking over, but miguel pulled her back. "you're protecting her, really?"

"i'm protecting you." miguel corrected her, "you're not even supposed to be here."

tory finally put two and two together, seeing hawk with the other boys. "traitors!" she yelled in his face. "you better watch your back." she threatened.

"he won't have to. he's got friends watching it for him." demetri stepped over to her. she gave him a look of disgust and as she was about to exit the hut, the sound of police sirens caught everyone's attention.

tory grabbed tabitha's hand and pulled her out of the dojo. they were all prepared to scramble in attempts to evade the authorities. but it was too late, they were already situated around the exterior of the larusso house. tabitha turned around to see two police officers standing in the larusso's back garden.

"tabitha silver, you are under arrest for breaching the conditions of your electronic tag." the police officer spoke out, all eyes went straight onto the girl, but her eyes darted to the fence and then back to the officers. "don't try to run away." she warned.

"hey. no, it's fine. she hasn't done anything." sam started, walking forward. but the police officer disregarded her, and focused on the criminal.

miguel's face dropped, he didn't take his eyes off tabitha, scared that she would do something reckless. "why not?" she questioned, putting her hands up and behind her head.

"we have officers waiting for you out front." the police officer explained, "now walk slowly towards me."

"okay, okay. i'm turning myself in." tabitha spoke, stepping over to her. the police officer looked confused, "no, this isn't you turning yourself in."

"it is. i could easily run away." tabitha said to her. the woman shook her head. "no, you couldn't. we quite literally have you trapped."

"oh okay." tabitha nodded as her arms were pulled down from her head. while the woman quickly attached handcuffs, tabby's eyes landed on sam. "this isn't over."

"yes, it is." the police officer stated. "you have the right to remain silent. anything you say—"

"i know my rights." tabitha reassured her as she was escorted out of the backyard. "tabitha—" miguel began. she just rolled her eyes, "oh shut the hell up, miguel. we're over." miguel's face fell at her declaration, he didn't want to believe this was true.

"what?" he asked with confusion laced in his voice.

"yeah, you heard me."

theo stepped forward, "wait. can i—can i come with?"

"young man, we're taking her into a police car, not an ambulance." the officer shook her head, looking at him up and down. she wondered why half of them looked so beaten, but she was here for one thing and one thing only. "you can visit her at the station."

they went around the house and reached the front yard. once they opened the back door of the car, she was pushed into the seat. "relax. this isn't my first rodeo."

"please, stop talking." the police officer's partner groaned. "our job is hard enough."

"yes, sir." she smiled.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"well, i just wanted to say hi to my brother, pick him up from their house." tabitha explained herself, tapping the metal table in the interrogation room. the police officer gave her a look of disbelief. "pick him up in what? we've taken your licence."

tabitha leaned back in her seat. "yeah, about that... when am i getting that back?"

"seems like it's been prolonged for another three months." the police officer said, flicking through her file. tabitha sighed, "why? i haven't committed any vehicular crimes!"

"you violated your parole." he pointed out. "you're not getting it back any time soon."

"this isn't fair." tabitha shook her head.

"guess what, life isn't fair." the police officer told her. she gave him a look. "okay? no need to get philosophical." she scoffed.

"i really i don't know what the judge sees in you. but he thinks you have potential to be better." the officer explained. tabitha placed her hand over her heart and smiled, "that's so kind of him."

"so he's ordered juvenile detention for seven days, an extra six months of group therapy and one day a week of therapy with a trained psychiatrist—"

tabitha groaned, putting her arms in front of her. "just lock me up." the police officer laughed at how ridiculous she was being. "trust me, if it as up to me i would. back to the list... and an extra 30 days with your electronic tag."

"this is torture." she sighed.

"you didn't think your actions would have consequences?" the officer questioned. "do you know how lucky you are? people like you are usually thrown right into juvenile detention and they don't leave. i don't know how you have so many good people looking out for you. says here a counsellor blatt wrote a statement for you and the school has agreed to allow you to come back after your week. as long as you don't violate your parole."

"lucky me." tabitha sighed.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
the fact that miguel can LOVE tabitha after everything she's done just shows how much he likes her...
she's been controlling, jealous, angry, and violent and he still wants to be with her because he knows deep down that she's a good person and she can change

post-juvie tabitha is finally her redemption arc