Chapter 4: Teens in an SUV

The headlights of the SUV blared brightly as the car carried the emotionally heightened teens across the town. Aisha, the most stable of the bunch was of course behind the wheel of her car. Next to her gripping the above door handle, breathing heavily, and scowling as the teen traveled for Encino was their leader Miguel. Bert and Hawk were in the back arguing about which song correctly set the tone for the travel.

"Dude! We need to get livid!" Hawk spouted as he grabbed phone from the tiny cobra's hands. "We can't listen to some chick music!" Bert huffed and snagged the phone quickly back from Hawk before he could put on a song.

"Evanescence is not chick music! It may not be a slaughterhouse recording but trust me, it's what we need right now!" Hawk was not about to relinquish control of the stereo so easily. He bopped Bert on the head, knocking his glasses loose and grabbed the phone back again.

"Evanescence ain't got nothing on the real mood we need right now. That chick can't get us pumped like a little Gun's N Roses!" Before Hawk could hit select on the phone Bert had undone his seatbelt and was all atop his comrade cobra. The two began wrestle fighting in the back, much to the dislike of Aisha.

"Bitch! You don't know music!" the tiny cobra was not about to concede.

"Get off me you little dwarf!" The two became a bit more hostile with each. Moment. Miguel remained focused, it was as if the commotion in the back was unknown to him, as if he was in his own world away from the problems on hand. Aisha was gripping the steering wheel super tough, he grip strengthened harder with each second the two continued to fight in the back seat. Their ability to fight over something so trivial as a song to listen to while their mentor was fighting for his life in a hospital hit her deep and truly disturbed her. Tears began rolling down her cheek as the two boys still tumbled about in the back seat of her SUV. She kept looking over toward Miguel, expecting their leader to finally put a stop to their bickering and remind them about what was truly important in this moment with Sensei severely wounded.

More time passed and Miguel remained in his own world. Aisha cleared the tears from her eyes and decided she was done with the bologna afoot. If Miguel was not going to do anything, she sure was going to get everyone back on the same page.

"SKKKKIIIIRRRRR!" Aisha slammed on the breaks forcing Bert and Hawk to both slam themselves into the backs of the front seats. Miguel also surged forward and smacked his head against the dashboard. The knock shook him loose from his mindless state and he quickly grabbed his head and began grinding his teeth in confusion and light pain.

"What was that for Aisha?" Hawk asked for the guys in the car that were all caught off guard by her hard braking. Aisha Immediately put the car into park with a strong motion. She then turned back her head in a quick fiery snap.

"What was that for!" Aisha spoke with a strong authority, one that caught the two in the back by surprise. The tone of her voice even seemed to jostle Miguel loose a bit from his channeled state of mind. "Our Sensei, the man who basically taught us how to be more than just a bunch of reject losers, who gave us worth, and who brought us together. That man is in the hospital right now fighting for his life. I know we had a come together moment in the back of the Dojo, and you guys being there really seemed to help me get through the magnitude of that awful realization that he could very well die, but now we're out driving to Encino, rather than going to the hospital, Miguel won't talk at all about what we're doing or why we're going to this address, and you two are in the back bickering like a couple of toddlers, about WHAT SONG TO PLAY!" Aisha after finishing that sentence took a brief second to catch her breath before continuing. She could tell her words held some weight to the guys in the car, but she was not about to let them off that easy for acting inappropriate to the occasion. "I mean seriously guys! Do you even realize that Sensei could die?"

The statement shook everyone in the SUV, Miguel found himself looking down at his hands pondering what to think or say as he felt he should have some statement about the whole thing, but he was just without words at this point, he was not sure what needed to be said just then. Bert and Hawk, frowned as they got back in their seats with a somber reminder, of what was before them. They were truly trying to remove the possible thought of their leader dying from their minds. "We're sorry Aisha." Hawk finally broke the silence as he rubbed the back of his head whilst fighting back teary eyes. "We….we….we just…you know…weren't trying to think about that."

"…..sigh…..I know Hawk. To be honest with you….Neither was I." Aisha turned back around just kept her hands on the steering wheel. She needed a moment to collect herself. After a few moments she felt her composure return and reached to grab the clutch so that she could put the vehicle once more into drive. She Began to apply force to the shifter when she felt a strong grip upon her wrist. She looked over to notice Miguel had grabbed hold to stop her from putting the car back into drive.

"Aisha what you doing?" Miguel spoke seeming to have found words to say again. He seemed a little less assertive than he was back at the dojo, but he still had a fire in his voice.

"What do you mean what am I doing?" Aisha asked back, confused by Miguel's actions. She shook her hand loose from his grip and rested her arm in the center rest as she waited for an explanation.

Miguel turned his gaze to a large house a few homes down on the street. He pointed toward the building, "We're here." Aisha and the others all followed their eyes to where their leader was pointing. Aisha quickly recognized the home even though it was night and quite dark out.

"WAIT! That's Sam's house!" Aisha proclaimed aloud. "What are we doing here Miguel!" The group all instantly snapped their heads over to the lead cobra looking for direction in this confusing moment. Miguel put his hands together and began cracking his knuckles furiously, he then tilted his neck until it popped loudly.

"That punk father of Sam's is the one who must have sent that guy to the dojo to harm our master. I think we need to give them a bit of an attitude adjustment." Miguel quickly got out of the car after he finished his statement. He felt slightly conflicted about going to this house in part because of Sam being there, and also because of her dad being Johnny's rival. However Miguel knew he needed to make something happen. He could not allow the people he believed to have been responsible for his master's pain to go on living life as if nothing happened.

The others back in the car took a sense of shock, but quickly decided to back the enraged but focused cobra up on his mission, of which they were still unsure as to what the plan was. "Hey Miguel wait for us!" Hawk called as he and the others rapidly opened their doors to join Miguel for the march down the street.

"Hey Hawk…What exactly is the plan?" Bert quietly whispered as they tried to catch up.

"I don't know!" Hawk shrugged as he gave his response to his pip-squeak comrade. "But this should be interesting."

Author's note:

First off it has been so long since I have added a chapter. I know I know. Life has been weird and odd and well….odd. I am sorry for the delay.

I hope you don't mind me cutting the scene as they begin the walk up. I feel like this next scene would be more fun from a different point of focus than the cobras.

Also hope you guys don't mind that for this story in comparison to most of my writing I have been using shorter chapter's, mainly as im having a bit of fun rather than blunder bussing an epic