Serendipity & the Serpent

Checkmate

You felt all of the eyes in the room locking onto you. Your heart began racing, the sound of it's heavy beating drowning out the extra noise. When your eyes shifted to Johnny's, all you saw was betrayal. His voice called out to you, cracking as your name escaped his tongue.

"Is it true?"

You didn't know how to respond. You were frozen in place, your face crumpling into worry and sadness. You noticed the other cobras' faces falling into shock alongside Johnny's.

"I can explain-"

"No." He shook his head in awe, "no... it can't be true. Tell me it's not true."

"Johnny..."

"Why would you keep this from me?"

He stepped closer to you, ignoring the lingering eyes. You let the tears rising in your throat, cascade down your cheeks gracefully. Your silent cries were enough to suffocate Johnny's pleading. The realization washed over him, and his features etched to stone.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I couldn't!"

"Listen to her, Johnny," Kreese said from behind him, "she couldn't even tell the boy that she loves. She kept it a secret from you because she never cared about you. She just wanted to get back at me."

"That's not true!" You declared.

"Is it not?" Kreese pouted over-dramatically, "tell me then, why didn't you tell them the truth about who you are?"

Of course Kreese would put you in this position. He planned this from the start. And now, you were painted in a bad light. He was making you look like the bad guy by withholding the truth, but you wouldn't let him get away with it.

"Because you threatened me!" You hissed.

"I would never do such a thing."

"Liar! Johnny, don't listen to him!"

"Johnny, if she really cared about you, she would've told you the truth. No matter how badly it would hurt."

"Johnny, I didn't tell you the truth because I cared about you! Kreese was going to do something horrible to one of us if the truth ever slipped!"

"She's bluffing, Mr. Lawrence. Of course she would place the blame on me, that's only the natural thing for a guilty person to do, right?"

"Because you're a wicked, vile, evil little-"

"That's enough!" Johnny shouted.

Silence fell over the room as he looked between you and his sensei. He seemed disgusted, absolutely revolted at the display of deception in front of him.

"Both of you, stop talking! I can't believe either one of you. I mean... how could you?"

"I'm sorry, Johnny," Kreese rambled off a fake apology, "I didn't tell you because I didn't want there to be any bad blood between us if things went south with her."

"He's lying!" You shouted, "can't you see it, Johnny?"

"I've lied about many things in my lifetime," Kreese said confidently, "but I would never lie to you, my boy."

"You can't be serious!" Your voice roared throughout the space between, "do you even understand how ridiculous you sound?" You turned back to Johnny, your eyes wild, "Johnny, please don't fall for his tricks! He's using this as leverage to secure the All Valley trophy! He didn't want you to know because he didn't want it to become a distraction."

"If I didn't want this information to become a distraction to my best student, then why would I tell him a week before the tournament?" Kreese paced around the room.

Your eyes narrowed into slits.

The intention was never to keep your identity a secret so Johnny wouldn't falter into distraction. His plan from the very beginning was to use it as a stepping stool to victory. He knew that if he told Johnny the truth this close to the tournament, it would infuriate him. His anger would propel Cobra Kai toward success, and you would be out of the picture completely. It was a double win for Kreese, and you felt stupid for not realizing his plan sooner.

"Johnny please-"

"I can't believe you."

As he shook his head, your blood ran cold. His whisper sent chills down your spine. Angrily, you stepped forward and shoved him backward, desperation filling your lungs. "Wake up! Don't you see what he's trying to do?! He tried to kill me the other night! You were there Johnny! All of you were there!"

But as your eyes scanned the crowd, all you saw staring back at you were the looks of fear and sadness.

"That wasn't Sensei's car." Johnny frowned. It hurt to know he was defending him, but you supposed that perhaps he didn't know any better. Kreese was all he ever knew.

"You can't prove anything to them, dear." Kreese spoke softly, "your lies are starting to pile up. Your stories aren't even straight."

"You planned this. All of this!" You hissed.

"Planned what?" He laughed in amusement, "planned that my students would be able to spot a liar from a mile away? Oh I prepared them for much more than that. But you just can't seem to wrap your mind around the fact that they've known me longer. My students have built a foundation of trust around me, not you. And meanwhile, you seem to be building quite the reputation for yourself. Look around, sweetheart. You're outnumbered. No matter how much these boys love you, they know the truth. They know that I would never do anything to harm them, because I love them like my own. They've been with me for half of their lives. You on the other hand, are easily manipulating them. Bending them to your will, molding them into your own personal vendetta against me. But I see right through your personal affections. You want them to lose the tournament so that I lose. You want to watch me fail. Well I hate to break it to you, but we don't accept defeat in this dojo. So if that was your motive, you can take it elsewhere."

You hated the image that was portrayed in front of you. The cobras stood behind Kreese like his own personal army. Their gaze was to the floor, refusing to meet your eyes. They knew what they were doing was hurtful to you, but they were too scared of Kreese to say otherwise. You've seen Johnny stand up to Kreese to an extent before, but never enough to actually defeat him. He knew that there was no fighting back in this situation. It was a you or Kreese dilemma, and he found it better to choose Kreese.

You had to admit, Kreese was a poet with words. He found ways to twist your speech and make you the villain. It didn't matter what you said, his vision of you was final. He certainly showed you no mercy.

With one astounding burst of confidence, you stepped toward Kreese and bore your teeth. "You disgust me."

You didn't even let him get in another word before you turned on your heel and marched toward the door. Your anger blinded you, the rage filling up your senses. As you ripped open the door, Kreese commanded his students to continue practicing.

You didn't turn around until the door had completely shut behind you. What you saw through the window made your stomach turn in a knot.

Johnny and the cobras punched and kicked forward with unmatched ferocity that you had never seen before. You scoffed with disgust.

Kreese was clever. He knew that forcing you to keep such a secret would make you look like the villain when the truth was finally revealed. He played you like a game of checkers.

But for your next move, you planned to play chess.