"You played very dirty by sending those people after a literal kid. Didn't you ever think there were cameras on every corner you passed? Technology has advanced a lot; didn't you ever think about that?" Wayne looked at Kresse, who was sitting without saying a word.
Maggie, who was in the observation room, said, "He's been like that all day; he hasn't said a single word, as if we could somehow ignore the crimes he committed just because he's an old man."
"Charges will be brought against your involvement in the attack on Dash Hale. We don't want you to spend the rest of your life in prison, but enough for you to pay for your crimes." Mr. Anderson, the main lawyer for the Hale family, made it clear that since Dash had not suffered serious injuries beyond the superficial ones, they wouldn't leave an elderly man ruined.
This was very strange on the part of the Hale family; Anderson even thought that by making this choice, there were intentions behind it, such as thinking about killing him outside of prison.
The things the Hale family could do with all the money they had were incredible, giving them the power to take any action a person could think of.
"According to our observations, Mr. Kresse believes he is part of a meaningless war with dojos throughout the Valley. Reviewing his record, we deduced that it might be due to war trauma, but we cannot ignore the crimes he committed."
Anderson furrowed his brows and murmured, "I doubt the Hale family cares about this. All they care about is that this man never gets near their son again. If he's in an asylum or in jail, it's the judge's decision on the sentence."
...
Hale Mansion, one day after the attack.
While Dash was recovering from the injuries lying on a water bed, he was taking advantage of this free time to talk to Cheng and Dre because he hadn't spent much time with them lately.
"When are you coming to China?" Dre asked as he showed the changes in the Sakura Bushido Dojo that had occurred in China.
Dash scratched his chin and said, "At the end of this year, we've planned to travel with Devon. I'll have permission to travel whenever I want without the authority of an adult, so I'll be able to decide on my own."
"It's a shame you'll miss the Hidden Champions tournament. Cheng wants to seek the title again, but he'll have a hard time with my participation this year," Dre said as he recorded Cheng's training.
Dash smiled slightly; he never imagined that these two would end up being such good friends after the tournament. It wasn't known what happened to their rivalry after the tournament, but now that he had experienced it firsthand, he could say that things went much better.
Just as Dash was about to ask how Mr. Han was doing, someone knocked on the door and said, "Mr. Hale, you have a visitor."
"Who is it?" Dash asked, a little confused. Normally, Devon would come in without being announced in this way, so he felt curious.
"Johnny, he wants to talk to you, so I told him I'd see if you were awake," the man on the other side of the door said.
Dash understood what he meant and agreed to have him brought to his room. "You can let him in; he's a trusted man."
Unless something serious happened, Johnny wouldn't cause problems. He might be here to find out what really happened and why Kresse was about to go to jail.
A few minutes later, after saying goodbye to Dre, who said he would call after finishing his training, Johnny entered Dash's room, followed by a bodyguard who stayed outside in case something happened.
Johnny looked at the bruises on Dash's face and arms; this first look was shocking because he never thought it would be so bad. So, with a bit of nervousness because he didn't expect how Dash would react, he asked, "Does it look worse than it is, or the other way around?"
"It looks worse than it is," Dash said as he leaned his body a bit more.
Johnny sat in a chair and asked, "How did all this happen? It's really my fault; I thought Kresse had changed and let him into Cobra Kai."
"It doesn't matter, Mr. Lawrence. At least you realized that certain people don't change, no matter how much time passes," Dash said, cutting off the man's guilt speech.
The last thing he wanted was for him to feel guilty about what happened. Johnny wasn't to blame for what happened to him because of Kresse. Everyone was old enough to take responsibility for their own actions and mature enough to understand whose fault it was.
"Your dojo will be very hurt with the loss of Sensei Kresse. They will need it in good condition for both the tournament that is coming up and the next one from the Valley," Dash said as he took out a soda from a small fridge next to him.
Johnny nodded and said, "Still, I have to apologize. I feel like it's partly my fault."
"If you put aside the problems, maybe he'll recover. Do you want to play a game?" Dash took out a deck of cards and smiled slightly, not giving importance to Lawrence's worries.
An hour later, Lawrence left much calmer than he had come. After his friend's death, things had gotten worse, but he was reassured that the problems weren't directed at Cobra Kai.
Devon, who had returned from school, looked at Dash having fun in a video game talking to a Russian and asked, "Are you talking with a strange accent while pretending to be an old man?"
"The discussion is getting fun; I told him my hobby is to score against my wife but that now I live alone," Dash said, mimicking his voice.