"we rot, thinking lots about nothing
yeah, i could spend a lifetime
sitting here talking
and even if i cry all over your body
you don't really mind
say you like your shirt soggy."

••••••••

MACKENZIE NICHOLS didn't know what she expected when she moved to the Valley the summer right before her second attempt at junior year, but it wasn't joining a karate dojo with her sister, Tory, and getting thrown into an insane rivalry that's been going on since the 80s.

Mackenzie was a year older than Tory, but when her and her family moved to the valley, she had to repeat junior year after ditching sixth period almost everyday to make it to work on time.

Honestly, Mackenzie didn't think geometry was that important.

When Tory joined Cobra Kai, she dragged Mackenzie with her. Immediately, Mackenzie became friends with Miguel and Hawk, who she sometimes thought was a little over his head, but Mackenzie thought it'd be fun to be the one to knock him down a couple pegs every now and then.

She didn't really understand the rivalry between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, even after Miguel, Hawk, and Aisha tried to explain it to her. It didn't matter if she understood or not because right away, Mackenzie had to throw herself into the rivalry to protect her sister, who instantly made enemies with Miguel's ex, Sam LaRusso.

No matter what, Mackenzie never left Tory's side, even if she started to hate the team she was on and who she was becoming. Maybe it was because she was Tory's older sister and wanted to protect her or maybe it was because she was worried if she left Cobra Kai like she wanted to, she'd lose the only friends she made in town.

But then, Hawk left Cobra Kai, and Mackenzie realized everything she's ever done was for Tory, and her mom, and Brandon. Mackenzie realized she had to be her own person too.

And when Sensei Kreese introduced her and her team to Terry Silver, Mackenzie Nichols knew she had to get the fuck out.

But Mackenzie wanted to go out with a bang. So she got close with Silver, became his star student and had him teach her all of his best moves. He ended up overworking Mackenzie so hard, she broke her hand and dislocated her foot, but Mackenzie kept going and right when she was supposed to take her team to victory at the 2019 All Valley competition, she walked out in a bright red gi, side by side with Johnny Lawrence and Miguel Diaz. Mackenzie thought it was an amazing idea—a fool proof plan.

Until her eyes locked with Tory's across the mat.

Tory was giving Mackenzie the same look she'd always given Sam; a look of pure hatred. If you were sitting in the audience and saw it, you'd think Tory and Mackenzie were enemies, not sisters.

Mackenzie's plan wasn't as fool proof as she thought because in the end, she lost her final fight against Tory and then lost her sister completely.

The two of them didn't talk. Mackenzie ended up moving out and staying with Eli. Every two weeks, she would leave an envelope of all the cash she made at work so they could pay for rent but that was it. Mackenzie thought she lost her sister and with her, her entire family.

But then, Sam pulled her back to her house and forced her to talk to her sister after Tory admitted to working with Kreese to take Silver down.

All working together (as cheesy as it sounds), Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang were able to take down Cobra Kai and Terry Silver once and for all! Now, they had to work hard and train even harder for the Sekai Taikai.

Mackenzie thought everything was perfect. Her and her sister were talking again, she was back home, she was on a karate team she actually liked, she had all of her friends and made even more, and now, she was one of the seven about to compete in a world tournament!

Two days before her fight for the captain spot, Hawk, who didn't have a spot in the competition but wanted to make sure she got all the training she needed, worked with Mackenzie for hours and when she got dropped off at home, she didn't even have to walk into her apartment to hear Tory scream for their mom.

Mackenzie didn't care about becoming captain. She didn't care about her senior year and all the homework she would have to do. All Mackenzie cared about was her mom, but now she was gone.

Tory locked herself in her room as soon as they got home from the hospital so Mackenzie just did the same as her. She didn't get up from her bed and she ditched the captains fight. Mackenzie guessed that Tory must've gone because everyone in Miyagi-Do was calling her and texting her asking if she was alright.

The only person she responded to was Miguel, telling him that she'd still go to Barcelona, but she didn't want to be captain. All of her team told Mackenzie Tory wasn't going to Barcelona and for the hours leading up to her flight, Mackenzie would knock and knock on Tory's door, but got no answer.

So Mackenzie left. She wanted to get away. Mackenzie needed to get away. She made sure Brandon was gonna be fine at his friends house and then hopped on the plane and slept the whole flight to make up the hours she hadn't slept since finding out her mom passed.

When they landed in Barcelona, Mackenzie felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She couldn't stop smiling and it made Miyagi-Do happy to see Mackenzie actually letting herself be happy and proud of herself for this moment.

Walking into the arena, Mackenzie felt the air leave her lungs. The place was huge and her eyes sparkled looking at all of the other teams around her.

From beside her, Hawk was tempted to cover Mackenzie's eyes when he saw Cobra Kai walk into the arena, but it was too late, Mackenzie's eyes had already locked on the black gis and Kreese walking up to the mat with Sensei Kim right beside him.

Mackenzie didn't think what she was seeing could get any worse but then, Tory came out from behind the shadows wearing the same Cobra Kai gi she did at the All Valley not even a year ago. Instead of glaring at Mackenzie like she did last time, Tory wouldn't even look at her.

Mackenzie wished Tory would just glare at her.

She thought being in Barcelona would distract her from her family problems. As horrible as it sounded, Mackenzie wanted that to be California's problem, not Barcelona's. But seeing Tory with the same people who her hurt and manipulated her time and time again, broke something in Mackenzie.

All she wanted was somewhere to rest her head on while she let everything that had been bothering her out without any fear of pity.

Who knew that that "something" she'd rest her head on was the shoulder of the Iron Dragons male captain looking for the exact same thing.

~MACKENZIE NICHOLS~
(meg donnelly)

••••••••

~MACKENZIE AND AXEL~
(maxel)

~PLAYLIST~
comfort crowd conan gray
bed chem sabrina carpenter
packing it up   gracie abrams
daylight   taylor swift
nothings gonna hurt you baby   cigarettes after sex
fireproof   one direction
beaches   beabadoobee
until i found you   stephen sanchez
guitar romantic search adventure wallows

"Do you flirt with everyone you spar with?"

"You call this sparring? We're on your bed."

"i just needed company now
yeah, i just needed someone around
yeah, i don't care what song that we play
or mess that we make
just company now
comfort crowd."

DEDICATED TO...
janiabeans carollingdxnvers andromqda maiareficcos
graciesfilm cobrakais twsired l0tus-Incorporated
junebluesfever outer_hsmtmts crownsmist hellfiresoulss
sweetvinyls sparkcs marlieszn reidsluvwp selkiesans
moonysfilms bvtterswyt_ kanejscorner argentswrld
cobr4_k4i BigEnergy777 KyaaaBooo lambites cainsong
crimsonharts prngslvr Bluest___ Knives118 rocklcnds
bylershosie nugget34565 florflorflorestella milf__lover69
authorishq Rudpankow junyipet siiyahboo
HULESFOREVER2017 lunalilyxo marsnaser4 stqrfirq sweetbli5s poodlelover2023
and anyone else who loves axel🫶🫶(im honestly shocked this many people wanted a tag, no hate)

WARNING
this fic will include underage drinking,
use of marijuana, violence, language,
character death, blood and sexual
content (nothing yall haven't seen in my
fics before), and anything else mentioned
in cobra kai!!

I do not own a majority of the gifs
used at the beginning of every chapters
so all rights go to their creators<3

WELCOME TO...

emily speaks...
IM ACTUALLY SO EXCITED FOR THIS FIC

as soon as i saw axel i NEEDED to make a fic for him but i could think of a plot i liked until i came up with mackenzie🫶

THE FIRST CHAPTER IS ALREADY OUT!! GO READ