[Video] un: QueenCobra (memshare accidental video)

[abornfighter]

[Memory #1 - Creeper Landlord]

[Tory’s Omni flicks on, showing the courtyard of an apartment complex that’s trying to disguise how run down and in disrepair it is with some scenic plants outside.

Tory emerges from one apartment, approaching the landlord, Rodney, who’s working on a repair. He appears to be in his late forties, average sized, with a build that reflects he’s no stranger to physical labour. ”Hey, you haven’t fixed the leak yet” He continues working for the moment, replying “And you haven’t paid rent. See how that works?” Tory nods, giving her assurances that she’ll pay. ”Yeah, I’ll have it to you by next week. I’m already working doubles.”

As he works, Rodney remarks, “Last month it was some excuse about your mom’s diabetes…” ”-Dialysis-” Tory replies, quickly and emphatically correcting him. He responds with shrugging indifference before finally stopping and facing Tory. “Same diff. It’s not my job to keep track of your excuses. My job is to cash rent cheques. If I can’t do my job, then you can’t live here.” Worry etches itself onto Tory’s face. “Don’t do that. My mom, she’s…”

Rodney shakes his head. “That caretaker thing is the only reason you’re not in juvie.” Tory looks surprised, and he simply nods. “Yeah, I heard about that cat fight that got you expelled.” ”You don’t know anything about that,” Tory answers irritably. Rodney shrugs again. “I know if I had some mud and an inflatable pool, I could have sold tickets. That boy you two fought over would have sat front and center.” ”Don’t talk about him.” Tory warns.

“Boys.” The landlord smiles, stepping right into Tory’s personal space, looking her up and down. “See, now if you had a man instead of a boy, maybe things would be easier. You wouldn’t have to worry about rent.” He reaches up to touch her hair and stroke her face, and in an instant, Tory seizes him, bending him backward into a submission hold. ”Bet you wouldn’t sound like a man if I broke your wrist!”

“Mm-mm. I wouldn’t do that.” The hold clearly hurts, but despite the pain, Rodney remains arrogant, smiling cockily at her. “What would your probation officer say?” Tory pauses for a moment before letting him go and shoving him away from her. “Think on what I said,” Rodney says, starting to turn to leave. “Maybe I’ll see you tonight, but if I don’t, I’d better see you with a cheque on the first.” He makes a claw gesture and a mocking cat meow before walking away laughing loudly. Tory glares, frustrated, then takes her anger out on the nearby drain pipe with a kick hard enough to dent it.]



[Memory #2 - Callous Aunt]

[Tory is out walking along the sidewalk of a strip mall wearing a tank top and leggings when a familiar voice remarks, “You’re a hard girl to find.” She finds herself facing her aunt who is giving her an accusational look. “Avoiding your Auntie Kandice now, sweetheart? Ignoring my calls?”

Tory doesn’t bother denying it. “Yeah. What do you want?” Her aunt replies with fake cheer, “To see you, of course!” only to look off to the side and add, “...and to ask if my sister’s disability payment came in yet.” Tory is visibly annoyed at the admission, but not surprised. ”What, need funding for another scam? That money’s for us.” Kandice attempts to guilt trip Tory. “Come on, my sister promised to always take care of me. She taught you better.”

“She taught me how to recognize a low class leech,” Tory retorts, her disgust for her aunt’s selfishness and greed apparent. Kandice’s expression turns to a glare as she speaks sternly to Tory. “Mind your manners! When your mom kicks the bucket–” she cuts off as Tory tosses her bag down and gets into her aunt’s face.

“Oooh, quick temper,” Kandice remarks. “Just like your old man.” She takes her breath and makes her tone a little more polite before speaking again. “When your mother passes…gracefully. Then what? You think your daddy’s going to just show up out of the blue?” Kandice points at herself. “I’m all you’ve got.”

Tory scowls, backing up. “You don’t give a shit about us. You just want her survivor benefits.” Her aunt has objections, protesting “I was at little Bobby’s fourth birthday party just last year.” Tory is quick to point out that her aunt Kandice just proved correct. ”-Brandon- is eight. And next year, I’ll be eighteen.”

Tory begins to walk away before her aunt grabs her arm. “Hey. Who do you think’s going to win a custody battle? You’re a high school dropout and a criminal.” ”So are you,” Tory replies, trying to put on a confident facade but not quite succeeding. “Yeah, but I know how to play the game. A judge is going to take one look at you and laugh you straight outta court.” Cruelly mocking, she adds, “See you at the funeral, sweetheart. Tick tock”, leaving Tory angry and worried.]



[Memory #3 - Victory]

[The final scene unfolds at a tournament. Some Trench residents watching this unintentional broadcast might recognize Terry Silver. There’s another old man standing beside him in the same black gi, John Kreese. Tory is facing both of them.

“Let her do what she wants. You’ve come this far. This is your fight now. So whatever happens, it’s up to you.” Tory nods and bows before her match resumes.

The match is a tense one - both because it’s the tournament finals, and because of her history with her opponent. She and Sam have disliked one another since the day they met, and their rivalry only escalated from there. Even a few months ago, Tory might not have cared about fighting fair. But now? She’s careful to stay within sight of the brunette’s uninjured eye. It’s Tory’s way of trying to fight fairly, since she’d accidentally elbowed Sam when grappling earlier in the match. Tory wants an honorable win.

The two girls exchange blows until Tory drops low and lands a clean hit in Sam’s midsection, knocking her to the floor. “Point! Winner,” the referee declares. Despite her past grudge, Tory is visibly concerned for the other girl. ”Hey, are you okay?”

Sam looks confused at the question, uncomprehending of why Tory of all people would ask her that. Before Tory can say anything more, the referee takes her wrist and holds her arm up, declaring her the All Valley female champion, and that Cobra Kai has won the All Valley championship. Her fellow Cobra Kai students, all in black and gold karate gis, all swoop in to hug her and lift her up.

“What a match!” the tournament’s announcer declares enthusiastically. “Whaaaat a match! Give it up for your first female champion, Tory Nichols!”]

-------

[Upon realizing that her Omni has been broadcasting, Tory makes a sound of annoyance.]

Ugh. Looks like it's my turn for this bullshit.

[Her hand reaches out and hastily shuts the Omni off.]

Comments

video; un: lady, private

[dohaeris]

[a lot of this home for sansa. perhaps not the part about winning a tourney–or fighting in school. she feels a mild flash of rage at this boy for causing girls to fight over him and risk their education, but more at the landlord and the aunt. despite the wildly different setting, it feels familiar.]

Do you want to talk about it?

private

[abornfighter]

Hey Alayne.

[The urge to just say no and shut down the conversation is there. But she knows her friend is trying to show some kindness.]

Well...at least I can say the problem with my asshole landlord was solved without me sleeping with him.

[dohaeris]

[sansa laughs!]

I'm glad to hear it.

[not that she would have blamed tory if she had–women in westeros have to resort to all sorts of things–but it seems like she very much didn't want to.she smiles ruefully.]

You don't have to talk about it. Did you get any of my strawberry smores biscuits at the bake off? I thought you might like them. I could make them for you if you didn't, and we can watch Law and Order videos where the men get thrown in gaol for being horrible.

And sometimes aunts. One of mine went mad and tried to kill me.

[abornfighter]

I didn't tell Sensei Kreese about all of that, but I think he figured it out anyway. After Sensei Kreese had a talk with Rodney, suddenly he was very polite and understanding.

[Kreese has a gift for communication.]

I didn't, but they looked delicious. I love smores and assholes getting what's coming to them.

[And suddenly that conversation went places.]

Wow, and I thought Aunt Kandice was a piece of work. Was your psychotic aunt thrown in jail?

video;

[provenforce]

[ Rey would have ignored the broadcast, but there was something in that man that Tory interacted with that struck a nerve with her. The whole thing reminds her of Unkar Plutt, growing up under his heel. ]

Men like that never amount to much in their lives. I might have been tempted to break his arm anyway.

[Video]

[abornfighter]

Oh, the temptation was there. But I had to take care of my family.

[provenforce]

He got off lucky, then.

I... worked for someone like him. Didn't care about anything except money. He actually followed me when I finally left. I stole a ship when I left, one he'd already stolen from someone else.

[ She presses her lips together, a small upturn to the corners of her mouth as she thinks back to what had happened. ]

A friend ripped his arm off and hit him with it.

[abornfighter]

[Brutal as it the act sounds, that image does bring a smile to Tory's face.]

I do love a happy ending. I hope the scumbag didn't creep on you.

Private Video; un: darkness

[survivalthroughhate]

[This is very interesting for Maul, seeing some of Tory's background. She's told him a little but this gives him a lot more insight into what makes the girl tick, why she acts the way she does.]

People always will try to knock you down in life. It's getting back up that is both the hardest and best thing you can do.

[abornfighter]

I'm a lot of things, but a quitter isn't one of them. I just hope my aunt won't ever get custody of Brandon.

[survivalthroughhate]

She is a weak-willed parasite. Any competent body of law would recognize such a woman doesn't deserve to have an animal put into her care, let alone another sentient being.

[Maul wisely decides to keep his own misgivings with how politics are run to himself. He's become quite cynical after being raised by a master politician and all that.]

[abornfighter]

[A life of poverty has made Tory plenty jaded about the political system, but she appreciates the sentiment nonetheless. Not to mention trash talking her aunt.

She offers a little smile.]

I'm not sure I'd even trust her to take care of a houseplant.

Video UN: 1stStrike

[strikefirster]

[There are a few things that Johnny picks up on watching Tory's memories of that final match. First off being the fact that he doesn't know what's going on in the slightest and yet he can see himself in the background there and not in black gi. And not in Tory's corner.

He recognizes Terry and he recognizes the guy next time him and his blood starts to boil. He thought he had seen the last of Kreese. He also... Didn't expect his former mentor to make a call like that to Tory.

He shakes it off and gives a shrug.]

Hey kid, Didn't see the whole fight but it looks like you've really made yourself into something there.

But you can find better teachers out there.

[abornfighter]

It was pretty intense. I trained hard for the tournament.

[Both things are true, but there's so much more to it all and she knows she doesn't want to discuss it all over the network.]

Do you want to meet at the dojo for a beer? I think we're from different points in time and there's some stuff I should probably fill you in on.

[strikefirster]

It shows, kid. Not just in how you fight but in how you carry yourself too.

[She seemed so much stronger than when he first met her, and she was already tough as nails back then.

He actually considers his answer before he opens up his big dumb mouth.]

...I wouldn't have believed you until I saw that shit- But yeah.

I'll get the beers and some food ready. You can stay the night here too. My old roommate bailed out so you've got a spot.

[And Johnny's true to his word. He's got old jerky and whatever he could scramble together into manwiches by the time Tory gets there.]

[abornfighter]

Sure. I'll bring some snacks over, too. Maybe we can watch some martial arts movies, depending on what we can find on the Omnis.

[There's so much to tell him, and she'd rather he heard it from her directly than find out from more memories being shared for all to see. There's a lot of messy feelings - conflict, regret, the joy of victory only to be crushed by the realization that it wasn't truly earned. But he should know about Miguel, about Robby, and about the present state of Cobra Kai back home.

With all of the time she's had away from home to truly think about it all, it's given her pause. Sensei Kreese has earned loyalty from her, for the help he gave her when she was in a desperate situation. But Sensei Silver? The way he responded when she refused to cheat has given her some doubts about her future with Cobra Kai in the Valley.]

video; un: taka

[retsuden]

[ Sasuke doesn't normally comment on these kinds of things, but wow, girl, you know so many shitty people. He feels drawn to that kind of thing, apparently. ]

... I don't know what a probation office is, but I'd think the only thing they'd have said was "he had it coming."

[abornfighter]

Probation is basically an alternative to prison, where you have to check in and show you're not getting into any additional trouble. Unfortunately, it would have been his word against mine. He'd just have to say I was violent and crazy.

[retsuden]

Hn. We have probationary periods, but no officers for it. Sounds like they're pretty useless if someone like that can get away with lying to them so easily.

Voice; un: lothrat [private]

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Quietly-]

I lived in an abandoned comms tower way outside of the city and didn't let myself trust anyone, for years.

Anyway. I'm here if you want to talk about it. Or we can do something useful. Or fun.

[abornfighter]

If I didn't have to look out for my mom and brother, I might have wound up in a similar position. It's hard to let yourself trust people when you've had to deal with a lot of untrustworthy people.

[She doesn't know exactly what to say on that front, with her memories all on display like that.]

Let's do something fun.

[ezra_of_lothal]

[But what she did say was forthright enough he doesn't think she's avoiding in some sort of unhealthy way. Redirection is legit.]

Ok. Sure!

Uh. I'm blanking. Which is probably a sign I could use a break. Suggestions?

video | un: sds | private

[fogsong]

[ It's the second memory Sharon sees and the whole thing leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. She knows all too well what it's like to have a manipulative, awful aunt in her life. Tory's aunt wasn't anything like Christabella but... bad family is a bad family. ]

Is Brandon your little brother? I can't believe she'd try to use him against you like that and that funeral jab? Ugh. I don't know if I'd have been able to keep from lashing out at her for that.

[abornfighter]

Yeah, he is. She's lucky that I put Mom and Brandon first, because kicking her ass would have been satisfying.

[fogsong]

Did your mom ever learn about what her sister was saying? [ Sharon has this feeling it's a no. Tory seems like the kind of young woman who would hold back information that could hurt the ones she loves. ]