@vipersunion & ethan are approached by a group of random, dangerous strangers
here’s the thing: ethan’s been angry lately. he’s been angry at the universe, angry at his creators for everything they’ve done to him, angry at silver, angry ever since he got out of the hospital. it’s a rotten kind of anger, one that ebbs away at his mental state. he’s changed a fair bit since getting together with—& then breaking up with—auryn, since leaving the hospital, since he died twice & was resurrected. gone is the boy who had a chaotic glint in his eye, the version of him who didn’t think such dark thoughts constantly, who didn’t have the silver voice in his head. the former glint has been replaced by… very little in the way of warmth. his emotional fluctuations have been a little bit extreme, but it’s a goddamn miracle he hasn’t blown up on anyone yet. he knows that his friends are worried about him lately. how could they not be, with everything that’s happened to him?
despite his current state of anger, ethan had been itching to hang out with talia lately, just him & her, desperate to get a sense of normalcy back into his life. desperate to quell the silver voice for a least a little while. …or maybe because of that anger, he’d sought her out so he could attempt to push that anger away. ethan’s not quite sure himself. whatever the case may be, the warring dojos have been pushed to the back of ethan’s mind for today—miyagi do hasn’t had a run-in with cobra kai at all. no karate fights have broken out.
small victories. he thinks.
it’s why he basically annoyed talia until she finally agreed to hang out with him. he literally threatened to show up at the nichols’ apartment—because where else would talia walker be on a saturday evening, if not right next to nova nichols?—to drag her out into the valley for dinner. he’d paid for everything, too. he let talia order whatever she wanted & didn’t even blink at the price of the bill afterwards. the leftover containers are securely wrapped around his arm in a takeout bag, & there’s a notable pep in his step—he’s currently chatting about robby to her, & what they did earlier that day. he basically made robby breakfast in bed, & then they lounged around the apartment for basically the whole day, at least until karate practice rolled around. afterwards, they went back to hanging out together at their his their apartment, preferring to just be with his boyfriend in lieu of responding to his friends’ texts, or thinking about the karate drama. it was very nice. admittedly, ethan still gets butterflies because of his & robby’s new relationship. it’s all very exciting. not to mention healing, because of his past relationship.
he’s with his sister. he just had some great food, rambling about his boyfriend on their casual stroll down the street, enjoying the night air, why wouldn’t he be in a good mood because of that? after all the shit they’ve been through, he thinks they both deserve some relaxation. it’s certainly past due. he almost feels like his old self.
❝ —so then i looked at him, & i went- ❞ he’s cut off by the sound of his phone chirping, & he slows his current pace, then stops entirely on the sidewalk to pull his phone out of his pocket. ❝ oh, hang on a minute. ❞ it’s a text from shadow, quickly followed by a reply from light, his phone making another ping noise as light’s text comes through. he’s quick to respond to shadow’s text, hitting send. he slips his phone into his pocket, smiling over at talia. ❝ sorry. shadow just wanted to know if we were done eating our food. so, anyway, i said to robby that— ❞
all joy is instantly wiped clean from his face when he smells fresh blood nearby & hears a groan of pain. his shoulders tense, & he doesn’t realize that he’s grabbing talia’s hand & moving towards the source until he’s standing a few feet from where he’d been originally standing, staring down a semi-dark expanse of an alleyway.
ethan’s eyes widen in alarm when he sees a group of four middle-aged men surrounding another passed out, heavily bleeding man about his age. they’re all holding knives of various sizes, the metal glinting in the crappy side light above the side door of a restaurant. most, if not all, of the standing men have symbols tattooed on the sides of their necks—an ouroboros underneath a large black tattooed c.
ethan frowns. he carefully places the food containers on the ground. an alarm bell rings in his brain. ali said that lindell, saran & naima have those tattoos. cosima also has those symbols on her wrist… none of them have said anything about what the tattoos mean, though.
—& then the group, sensing a newcomer, turn straight towards him.
don’t run. fight. you’re angry because of what i did to you. use it. prove to me that you’re not as weak as the valley assumes you are, as you’ve portrayed. the silver voice hisses. his shoulders tense, eyes narrowing slightly.
ethan doesn’t keep his eyes off the men fanning out & moving towards him, even as his body instinctually shifts to better shield talia from their gazes. he knows he can take them, & he certainly knows that talia can take care of herself. she isn’t made of glass, but he’s still worried, naturally. that’s what a good big brother does. worry, & do whatever he can to make sure that his sister doesn’t get hurt. if she gets hurt, he might not be able to keep a lid on his powers—& if that happens...
❝ i’ll be fine. go. ❞ he doesn’t like this, but if he can help someone who is in pain... besides, the silver voice is right. he’s angry, he’s in danger, so use your anger to your advantage. ethan says nothing more to talia, both human & eldritch halves buzzing with adrenaline.
one of the advancing men sneers suddenly, jabbing his switchblade towards ethan. ❝ hey, this kid looks a little familiar, doesn’t he? ❞ ethan scowls, his mind racing as he tries to recall if he met these people somewhere, in this lifetime or in another. he comes up frustratingly blank. shit.
❝ pretty sure he’s the one boss was talking about. ❞ grumbles another, his green eyes lingering uncomfortably long on ethan’s face. who the hell is ‘boss’, & how the fuck do these random fucking people know who ethan is?
ethan doesn’t have time to mull over the thoughts racing through his mind before a balled-up fist is flying up towards his face. he’s quick to block the punch by throwing his arm up, so instead of the punch hitting his face, it collides with his forearm. he pivots, grabbing the man’s wrist quickly, using his eldritch strength to twist his wrist violently until he hears a bone in his arm snap like a twig. a cry of agony erupts from his lips. he keeps a firm hold on his wrist while kicking out his knee. the man goes tumbling to the ground, crashing down, the pocket knife falling away from his other hand, skating across the alleyway. ethan doesn’t let go. he uses his grip to keep him in place on the ground, then punches him in the throat with his free hand. he brings his knee down onto his face as hard as he can without killing him, & the man is out cold.
❝ talia, go. now! ❞ ethan snaps to his sister-figure, & barely has time to pull back when he senses a blade coming his way, the switchblade aimed to slice at ethan’s neck. he doesn’t even have to look. he drops low to the ground, dropping underneath the swiping arc trajectory of the blade. he sticks his leg out & sweeps his leg violently. he crashes to the ground next to his friends, landing on his side. ethan lets go of the first man, his body snapping forward, then down, drive by pure instinct. he lands a direct punch to the second man’s face while he’s still stunned. his nose breaks with a violent-sounding crack, blood spurting from his nose, pouring down his face. the three other men take a step back, a little alarmed, clearly a little nervous. slowly, ethan rises from the ground, eerily way too calm despite having a third brush with death in a few months’ time. the look that’s on ethan’s face is downright nightmare fuel. he’s furious. the veins around his eyes are glowing red, his irises stained inky black. one of the men gasp in fear, horror, whatever. ethan simply stares at the three of them, not blinking.
kill them, ethan. another voice murmurs to him in his head. it’s first’s voice. they want to hurt you & talia. their boss clearly knows who you are. they were harming another human. humans like that don’t deserve to live.
kill them before they kill you.
what if they go after robby next?
no! ethan can’t let that happen. he won’t.
❝ fetid scumbags who hurt innocent people don’t deserve to live. ❞ ethan echoes first’s words flatly, his voice devoid of emotion. he barely even sounds like himself. ❝ i’m not going to kill you. if i manage to hospitalize all five of you, though, i’ll be doing the world a favor. it’d send a message to your boss, too. whoever the fuck he is. ❞ he mutters that last part.
don’t do it! ethan’s younger self screams back at him in his head. current-ethan pauses, blinks once. his other self’s voice is much quieter than silver’s voice had been, than first’s voice had been. what would robby think if he saw you/me/us?!
robby isn’t here. the silver voice chimes in straight after.
that fact is enough for ethan.
next to the group, the dim lightbulb flickers momentarily, the glass cracking with the next beat of ethan’s heart. the three standing men flinch, taking another step back, towards the other end of the exposed alleyway. they’re running.
well, at least they have self-preservation instincts.
ethan’s vessel flickers violently, his true eldritch form flashing violently into view a little like he’s glitching into the universe. every single eye on his true form turns & glares at the men, irises turning blood red. the slit that acts as a mouth snarls demonically, sounding like a bomb going off in their heads. the transformation is only visible to the men, not to talia. as far as she’s concerned, she’s staring at his regular human back.
❝ if i were you, ❞ ethan begins calmly, ( IF I WERE YOU, his eldritch voice echoes, howls, screams directly into their minds, ) ❝ i’d stay away from the valley from now on. ❞ ( I’D STAY AWAY FROM THE VALLEY FROM NOW ON. ) ❝ pick up your little friends & get the fuck out of my sight, before all five of you end up drinking your meals through a straw for the rest of your pathetic, unimportant little lives. ❞ ( IF I DON’T OUTRIGHT SLAUGHTER YOU IF YOU EVEN LOOK AT ME WRONG. CHOOSE WISELY, & CHOOSE NOW. I WON’T ASK AGAIN. )
two of the men scramble to pick up their downed friends, & then they’re gone, tearing down the alleyway & disappearing around the corner. ethan watches them go, his face devoid of emotion. the teen on the ground is dying, a long slash mark from a knife slashed over his torso, his eyes full of agony, blood pooling everywhere, staining his clothes. ethan grimaces, walking over towards the boy, bending down next to him to apply pressure to the wound. the boy screams, & ethan feels… well, nothing.
❝ talia, ❞ ethan begins calmly, not looking over at his sister, instead bunching up the fabric of the young man’s shirt to try & slow the bleeding where his hands can’t reach, ❝ call 911. get an ambulance. then have them call the valley gen hospital. have them tell the hospital to have an OR & a surgeon standing by. there’s a single victim of a gang assault in the second alleyway in between saticoy street & darby ave, in between the coffee spoon coffee shop & the bodega. slash wound across the torso, a couple of broken ribs, in shock, concussion, other minor injuries.
if they ask how much blood he’s lost, tell them you don’t know because we weren’t around to see the assault happen, we only got here at the end at of it. he’s roughly 18-20 years of age. do it now. ❞ he takes a deep breath. ❝ after you’re done there, call wade & vanessa… or robby. let them know i’ll either be on my way to the hospital or to the police precinct. the police are probably going to want to talk to us. ❞
great. ethan thinks to himself.
