What if someone with complete knowledge of the Cobra Kai and Karate Kid universe (up until the end of Season 4) was reincarnated in the Cobra Kai world? They affect. Well, just about everything in the Cobra Kai world. No character arc or dynamic is the same mostly. Slow paced generally and starts 1 year prior to Season 1 of Cobra Kai. Endgame Ship: Miguel/Sam. Note: This character has both the memories of their past selves and the new body in which they inhabit.
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Defeat Does Not Exist (Cobra Kai SI)
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fanfiction
MiyazakiFan18
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This fanfic was written over two years ago on an old account I have on fanfic.net. There were two series I wrote stemming from this one fanfic as it became one of the most popular (in terms of followers) on that site. One where the main character chooses Cobra Kai (the first) and the other where the main character chooses Miyagi-Do, the newer one.
I regret the way the first series turned out. The main character was honestly not the best person, and the conflict was contrived and also lacked tension and grit in some areas as a result. Therefore, the rewrite stemmed from wanting to fix flaws in the story, I will also be trying to add in smaller details here and there that explained Lucas (the main character) better in this version. Enjoy.
I regret the way the first series turned out. The main character was honestly not the best person, and the conflict was contrived and also lacked tension and grit in some areas as a result. Therefore, the rewrite stemmed from wanting to fix flaws in the story, I will also be trying to add in smaller details here and there that explained Lucas (the main character) better in this version. Enjoy.
Chapter One
MiyazakiFan18
Know what you're doing yet?
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Chapter One: LA Not Denver
...
The first thing I realized was that this wasn't my room. Nor my house. Nor my body.
At first, I thought hey, this seems pretty cool. I wasn't poor by any means but I look really rich now. My room was huge, and probably gave a good indication of how wealthy the household was.
I started taking a quick walk around the room and quickly realized that my name. Was not my real name.
Apparently, there were a bunch of trophies around the room of all types. Should help me understand what in the world was going on here.
According to these trophies, someone named "Lucas G. Schwarber" had won medals and trophies in various soccer and writing competitions of all kinds.
Neat. Could I wake up from this very odd, very very weird dream now!? Please.
Why was that name familiar?
I pinched myself. No result.
I punched my arm a bit. No result either.
I walked over to the bathroom connected to my bedroom.
Cool. I didn't recognize my own face. I wasn't as pale in my past life, but I was still pretty pale though. Luckily, I wasn't blonde, just had dark enough brown hair that it was almost black. What a save, because I got a pretty strong "rich blonde" vibe from the entire room and the feeling my name gave me about where I was.
This was the part where I went through enough derealization and freaked out enough to wake up right?
After about two minutes of failing to wake up back in the body of my old self, my real self. I decided that the best course of action would be to test this world to its truest potential.
In a dream, meeting strange people, seeing strange things. That wasn't uncommon. But things like names, tangible immovable locations, and several other things that made it clear what was and wasn't a dream was clear.
So it was then when I decided to start looking at whatever I could for where the hell I was.
My room was completely bare for any pictures. I didn't even have any sort of school ID I could find.
I began to walk around the house until I found a very interesting picture framed in easily one of the richest looking living rooms I could find.
Below the picture was the label "The Mills Schwarbers."
There was me, or, this very strange version of myself I didn't recognize with this odd family in front of a giant lake. And a very small blonde girl, and a man with curly hair and a beard standing next to.
I squinted at the picture.
A strange version of Elisabeth Shue? It looked like her. But I got the very odd feeling it just wasn't her.
Was that supposed to be Ali Mills!?
Hold on a second.
I walked back upstairs to the bedroom and was able to find my phone.
Sure enough, the time zone was Denver, Colorado's local time.
I had been transported somehow into an off screen world in the Cobra Kai universe most likely.
...Why!? And how?
"Luuuke!? Luuke!?" I heard someone call downstairs.
I opened the door to my bedroom and walked downstairs.
The same little girl from the picture was standing there, wearing pigtails. She looked no older than ten.
"Have you seen my ballet slippers? I think mom said they'd come in a package or something by this afternoon."
Think man. Think. What was her name?
As a fan of the Cobra Kai series I had seen the show. Specifically the second season twice mostly, but I had to specifically remember what Ali said her daughter's name was.
A-Annie? Amy!? It started with an A!
"I. Don't know. A?"
"Why are you calling me A?" she asked strangely.
"Short for the rest of your name."
She shook her head. "That's just. Weird."
I heard a door slam from what must've been this house's garage. "Ah! Ms. Ava!" A housekeeper appeared with an extremely thick Belarussian or Lithuanian accent something of the type.
She handed 'Ava' a brown box. "Your dance shoes just arrived in mail."
"Thank you!" Ava got them and ran off.
"And Mr. Lucas," she said in the same incredibly thick accent. "Both Doctor Gregory and Doctor Ali are vurking in hospital until tomorrow six AM. They wanted to give you this. Come come."
The housekeeper led me over to a big refrigerator where a very elegant cake had a big 14 candle sticks and blue frosting.
"They promised to buy you big car for sixteenth birthday hm? Only two more years and you von't have to worry about riding bicycle."
I rode a bicycle? Parents this rich and they couldn't buy me an electric scooter or something?
"Your accent. Is it Russian or-"
"Silly boy. Always forget." she chuckled. "Latvian."
"O-Okay."
A part of me genuinely wanted to just run away and hide from how strange this all was. But even if it was just a very surreal and odd dream, I didn't want to wake up.
I was rich.
...
But I wasn't happy.
While I remembered what my old life was like, I remembered my new ones, ish.
Lucas, or, me. Was a kid who had everything, except for friends, and family. Ali wasn't a bad mother by any means, just very very busy, she ran an important pediatric wing with her husband, my father Gregory Schwarber.
Ava, my younger sister was into ballet. None of them were in the house.
I lived on my own basically, I had pretty much my entire life.
My family were also over-acheivers, and by over, I mean wow.
It led me to believe only one thing in this world would give me acclaim of any sort in this life. To build friends beyond this cold city of Denver:
Karate. And it just so happened I already did it for about two years right before I was dropped into this new life.
...
I enjoyed every amenity the house offered. I lost myself.
It was the 17th of May 2016 now. I didn't care, I was richer than I had ever been. According to my schedule I was already done with school, probably had finished a bit early.
I went swimming in a very large indoor lap pool. Ordered my housekeeper around for whatever I damn well pleased.
I could get used to this.
I didn't care about the implications of this world. About anything. I just wanted to forget. It wasn't really my fourteenth birthday, but you know what? Sure it was. Why not?
I found some old mixtapes and CD's in my parent's bedroom in an old box labeled 'Ali's 80s stuff' and blasted 80s music in the backyard on an old boombox I found.
It was summer already, it had come a bit early this year. It was great. I was a fourteen year old kid again in a very rich home now.
Whoo. This was fun.
I sipped a specially prepared vanilla milkshake, played video games in a huge special digital media room.
All summer just like this. This was awesome. I forgot how awful and strange this all felt.
Someone cut the music.
"How many times did I tell you to not go through my things honey?"
I turned around pausing my game of the Last of Us. Supposedly, this was my mother. Ali Mills from the original Karate Kid film.
"Hi." I said.
She frowned. "Hi." she crossed her arms.
I just realized what I was blasting the music on. The boombox that started it all.
"It's a um." I cleared my throat. "A great machine."
"It's. From before your time. Just please don't get it out again. It was stored for a reason." she said as if it gave her bad memories.
I looked at her. "Right. Uh, why are you here I thought you were still working?" She was a doctor, very nice catch man. Way to pay attention.
"I just had to get a few things before I was needed back in the clinic." she muttered. "Um. Luke. I get that you like your video games and your privacy. But I think it'd be best if you tried to make some friends this summer. Socializing is not really your thing. I get that. But spending a whole summer indoors or messing around out by the pool house. It's not best for you."
I looked at Ali again. I get she meant well, but this was literally not my life nor my body technically. I could do whatever I damn well wanted.
Yeah. Very mature dude.
I cleared my throat. "Look. I'm on a soccer team right. And some sort of writing club?"
"Of course but. Honey, you don't spend much time at all with your friends from there or really seem to have any. High school starts in just a few months for you. Take it from me, friends make everything better.
I had an idea. Mostly because there was only one real person I could interact with in any meaningful or interesting manner in all of Denver and I was currently talking to her.
"What if I went to LA to make more friends. And spent all of high school over there? Maybe I could have way better luck with friends?"
Ali was surprised. "What. What wi-. Why?"
I spoke much how this kid would instead of well, myself, not to draw suspicion. "Don't I have grandparents over there? What if I stayed with them?"
"I haven't talked to Mom or Dad in a few months. I don't know how they'd feel about me sending you over there to live with them out of the blue."
"We're rich. They're rich I'm sure. Think they could handle it."
"Luke they haven't talked to you since you were about. Eleven. Twelve? Where is this LA idea coming from?"
"Well you're from there right? What's so bad about LA?"
Ali sighed, placing her hand on the boombox. "Did I ever tell you the story about this radio?"
"No."
I'm pretty sure I knew the entire story. But I was still interested.
"An old boyfriend of mine from high school named Johnny broke another one I had. One night. As an apology. He bought another one for me."
"That sounds really sweet of him."
Bet dating Daniel at the time instead of Johnny probably hurt his chances of getting back into her good graces.
"There is a lot. A lot of really old, really messy history in Los Angeles honey. Just, talk to your friends more. Set something up."
The friends I'd make in LA are one million times more interesting I swear Ali. I mean. Mom? Weird to say.
"Let's make a deal alright? I spend one year in LA. From this summer to next. I come back with no friends or as many good friends as I have now. I stay here."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm your mother and I'm deciding for you."
I sighed. "Look. All you got me for my fourteenth birthday was a cake. And look at our house."
"Well what do you want?"
"The one thing money can't buy. Real, cool, fun, friends."
"Denver's fun honey. No different than LA."
"No. Plenty different. I promise. Just give me this one chance."
Ali pursed her lips. "I'm not saying it couldn't be healthy for you to give a new city a chance. But there's nothing in LA left for me but bad memories. And really old, stupid, history."
"There's family there."
"Mom and Dad are great people. They were great parents to me, and to you, good grandparents in the time you've known them. But I'm not sending you halfway across the country just to make some friends."
"I'll keep perfect grades. I'll make sure I'm ready for any med school or college or whatever. Just one. Single year. One year. I promise you won't regret it."
"No Luke. I. I have to go." Ali turned around. "My shift at the clinic starts in thirty minutes."
I spoke out, not knowing what else to say. "I know about Johnny Lawrence. And Daniel! And the tournament, and everything about them."
She stopped.
Should I have not said that? Probably.
Ali turned around and looked at me. "How do you know about all that? I never told you a thing."
"Um. A-Ava told me?"
"I never told Ava either. Start talking. Luke." she said coldly. "Do not. Lie to your mother. Again."
Shit. The box. Yes, the box of 80s junk, I think I saw a photo album or something. A yearbook!
"I pieced it together. Johnny was your boyfriend, then Daniel your next right? There's a picture of you and some old guy, and Dan at this tournament. You can see Johnny competing in the background in one of the pictures. Made too much sense."
"Pieced it together? That's an awful lot to piece together. I never even told Dan's name."
"You're a beautiful woman and you lived in the Hills. Plus, think he signed your old yearbook and his picture and name were there too. I'm sure back in the 80s guys probably started fistfights over you every three minutes."
Ali frowned. "You know what. Fine. Spend one summer. No. One month over there and you'll see it's no different than here at home at all. Or worse, you'll see how immature, nonsensical, and crazy everyone is. You'll be begging to come back home. Then we'll see what exactly you pieced together."
"So. That's it. I'm. Moving to LA?"
"I'll call Dad in a few hours. If he agrees, I'll have Elena pack your bags and you can say your goodbyes to Ava and I in the morning."
"Really?"
Ali did not look happy at all despite her giving me exactly what I asked for. "Greg and I spoil you far too much. It's time you learned that getting what you ask for might not be what you really wanted. I shouldn't allow a boy of fourteen to live hundreds of miles away from me. But you want to learn what LA's like so badly? What the people are like? I promise you, they are no different than here at all. Remember Luke. This is what you asked for."
...
Sure enough, Ali handed me the ticket for the plane to LAX the following morning.
Greg apparently was such a shitty father he couldn't be bothered to say goodbye to his own son despite probably not seeing him for months. Neat, probably why Ali divorced him.
My blonde little sister spoke up at the front door of our whole mansion. "When you're gone. Can I have your room? I need the space to practice."
"Ava, you already have a personal dance studio," Ali said crossly before turning to me. "I'll miss you sweetie."
We hugged, and still in her arms, Ali sighed. "I just want you to know that because you want this so badly I'll allow you to go. I'll write, text, email. Anything. I'll miss you so much, honey. This is an important lesson. I just sometimes spoil you too much."
I smiled, despite her not being my real mother, I appreciated this a great deal. "Thanks mom."
She kissed me on the forehead and I was off.
...
The flight from Denver to LAX wasn't too long. I was flown first class of course. I watched Road House, good film to get in the mood besides things like Iron Eagle, Rocky, or Bloodsport maybe.
I got off the plane, and a man in a blue suit and had as part of a uniform was waiting for me holding a sign with my new name on it.
"Ah. Mr. Schwarber. Right this way of course."
He helped me get my bag and drove me to yet another mansion.
Damn, it was nice to be this rich.
"Luke!"
My grandparents looked just how I expected them to. They were Ali's parents from the original Karate Kid film, just much older.
They showed me around for a bit, generally very nice and calm people. They were really old though, so they completely left me to myself as a house servant unpacked my clothes for me from my bags.
I flopped on the bed for my new bedroom.
Nice.
Now I was home. Finally, I was where I was meant to be.
Far away from that useless and boring city of Denver, to the best place to be right now.
It was no coincidence I was reborn into a character with basically no impact at all on the Cobra Kai series outside of a name drop. The universe was trying to tell me to do something. So I went for it.
I liked pretty much every character in the Cobra Kai series. Even really annoying characters like Anthony or Stingray were redeemed to some extent or at least written competently.
I could save Miguel from a decent bit of bullying by probably walking a few blocks around Encino and finding Kyler to punch him in the jaw or something at some point. Save him from a potential coma, that through the butterfly effect could be fatal.
The butterfly effect. Wow. For all I knew Miguel wasn't even born in this world nor ever moved from Riverside to Reseda. I think he was, but just this one flight from LA to Denver could change who knows how many things.
I had an entire year until Johnny Lawrence reopened Cobra Kai, which I did ultimately see as inevitable. Even if Miguel never got bullied, Johnny would need a source of income. And broke, alcoholic, and with no other marketable skills besides karate, a dojo of any kind would be his only way to make a living.
Eli Moskowitz, Demetri, Sam LaRusso. I by no means had to save them from any bullying. A decent bit they brought on themselves, only after Kyler though, all three of them to an extent made enemies by their own accord after getting involved karate.
My plan was simple. I had one year more or less, until Johnny reopened Cobra Kai or at least started looking for any sort of employment outside of being well, unemployed.
I had no desire to open Cobra Kai up early. That was both foolish of me as well as pretty dangerous considering both Johnny and Daniel were in town and would wonder what in the world was going on.
Besides, the only two people who could help me in that regard weren't. The best of people.
John Kreese and Terry Silver. I liked their characters, despite how psychotic they both were. But no one could use them, they used people. And to an extent at least, I wanted what they offered. Strength. Glory. Power.
They were cruel and very damaged men whose only therapy for them was turning teenagers into karate soldiers.
But they had a very fun 'old man' charm that I think the show nailed for me. I actually really wanted to meet them.
I started to write down a list on some paper I found in my room of where everyone was and what I wanted to do.
Johnny Lawrence. Deadbeat dad most likely or a drunk. Works as a handyman for a year and then probably gets fired. Mostly incompetent man, able to win a tournament. Good for much else? Don't know.
Daniel LaRusso. Possibly exploit to learn Miyagi-Do? Would make my karate pretty strong to do what Robby did by combining both for a year. Need time to consider.
Terry Silver. Let him rest dude. Let him enjoy his tofu parties and ad campaigns for mindfulness.
Kreese. Who knows!? Maybe a homeless shelter or an alleyway somewhere? Nowhere too different than where he was in canon.
Out of all of the 'Senseis' I could've had, Kreese was by far the most useful. He was far, far more broke than Johnny not to mention he was right about a decent portion of what he taught. He could be used most easily by me.
Why? Because sure I was rich now, but hell, I had no family. My new grandparents were the ones who raised Ali, the mother who had given me a life driven purely by merit and success, not really love I suppose even if she wasn't the worst mother.
If I was smart enough about it. I could really walk away unstoppable here, with friends I could earn of all sorts, and almost universal acclaim in karate.
Chozen Toguchi was probably the next Mr. Miyagi from all I knew. But Okinawa made him damn near unreachable. Plus he'd have no reason to train me unless I doused him with my family's really fat stacks of cash.
What I wanted was to spend the next three All Valley tournaments winning it. I'd be a legend. I'd hold an All Valley record for most personal championship wins. No one, not even Johnny won more than two.
At fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen, I'd basically be on par in the karate world above Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso. Having myself on the posters and banners down at the All Valley sports arena. Man. That was the most I could get from being placed in this world.
And man did I want it, I didn't see very many reasons not to do so right now.
As Robby Keene said, and he was right. It didn't matter how someone fought as long as it worked. And, it was clean.
I leaned off my bed and got onto the massive amount of space I had around my room, I had to try something.
In my previous life I spent a year and a half doing boxing, and a year and a half doing both sport and traditional Shotokan styles of Karate-do. I had to see if my memories translated over to my new body.
First form, Heian Shodan.
I did a low block with my fore arm and did a reverse punch to the body. Huh. At least I still remembered some of the basics.
I didn't remember any of the next. But that reflex, how to strike, my karate fighting stance. It was still there.
Let's go then.
Had to find a Sensei. The Sensei.
...
"Hi. Is there a uh. John Kreese here?"
The short lady at the front desk gave me a look.
"Hello?"
"Is he family or something? This is a homeless shelter honey."
"Please. Is he here?"
She gave a sigh and checked a clipboard, she turned a page over.
"No."
"Thanks."
I crossed the first off my list.
LA had about fifteen homeless shelters on the outskirts of Reseda, Sylmar, and Pacoima.
I was about to give up actually. On my ninth try, I finally struck gold. Or so I thought.
"Hm. John Kreese? Yeah."
I smiled. "Really? He's here?"
"No. He hasn't been seen in over a week."
"Well where can I find him?"
She gave me a 'Really' look.
"Boy, this look like the kinda place you can reliably find anybody? Go back home. This place. This place ain't for you."
I sighed. "What room is he assigned?"
"He was assigned room 5C. Second floor, left side corridor. Someone might already be in there. He usually kicks them out flat on they asses when he catches them. Take this."
She handed me a visitor sticker.
"Thank you." I said putting it on my shirt.
I walked upstairs.
Everyone gave me weird looks. Guess I really was too well dressed to be walking around homeless shelters.
I looked at Kreese's room from the outside. Yup. This was his alright. The proud and large American flag on the wall, the small little picture of who I knew to be Kim Sun Yung. Luckily no one was already there.
"You lost kid?"
I turned around. A grubby looking man with a thick beard was looking at me, eating an apple.
"No. No I'm just looking for someone." I said, inspecting the picture he kept of the 70s green beret from the original Cobra Kai dojo I know Martin Kove probably kept in real life.
"You look awful young to be shaking down po' men like John for cash."
I sighed. "Do you know him?"
He chuckled. "He's pricklier than a porcupine. Everyone knows him. No one likes him. What the hell could you want with him?"
I laughed. "None of your business."
"I see a kid snooping around a man's room. It's my business. Next thing I know you could be snooping around my stuff."
I sighed. Had to use one of the many, many perks of being rich.
"Here's ten bucks. Go get yourself some cigarettes or. Whatever. I was never here."
"Dang. A'ight son. For sure." he took it and walked away.
I spent an hour waiting for him. Then another one.
I started to do pushups in his room I started to get so bored. On my knuckles, my knuckles, yeah.
Then I started to do the first kata. Heian Shodan.
I decided to go back out into the hall.
...
"How are you- Oh. I forgot, they said I might have a visitor still here. Didn't mention it was a kid."
He must've noticed I probably looked like I turned fourteen yesterday.
"Well son." John Kreese said quietly. "You've got about four seconds before I slam the door in your face. Not in the mood at all for a conversation right now."
Just like Ali. He looked exactly like Martin Kove. But he just wasn't him. I couldn't explain it, it was so so surreal.
"I'm sorry. I um. I've been looking for you and I wanted to talk to you?"
"For the thirtieth time. I don't want to join the Jehovah's witnesses! Now get out of here!" he roared. Kreese raised a finger. "This may be a homeless shelter. But I don't like people who don't belong here at all. I won't repeat myself."
Why were all my clothes were like designer or so neat and rich looking? Had to get some different clothes now that I was in LA.
"Look um," I said. "Does the name Ali Mills ring any bells for you?"
"Of course it does. But I haven't heard that name in over thirty years. You might be wearing a visitor's pass. But right now you're not making yourself clear." Kreese approached me. He wasn't incredibly intimidating but still was a bit. "You better explain who you are. And what you want. Really fast son."
"I figured out my mom's past here in this city." A technical lie. Ali was my biological mother, but until yesterday I had never met her. "I know what you used to be. I figured it out."
"Figured what out?" asked Kreese.
"I know the Cobra Kai dojo was basically the coolest thing in this entire Valley. I know you made it what it was. And you lost what you deserved most in the world. What you built."
Kreese chuckled quietly, looking down at his feet for a second and then back at me. "Alright then. You should've led with that. Come in I guess." he said leading me in the room I already made sure to identify was his and not taken up by some other homeless person.
"Your mother. Is Ali Mills. And she told you all this?" he asked, in complete disbelief.
"She never did. I figured it out. I asked to come here. Kept a box full of 80s stuff in her room."
"Her family was always very wealthy. Maybe she's not. But I'm sure she has a nice living to some extent. Why in the world would you come to a place like this? Just to talk to some old man?"
"Because I think that old man can still be useful to the world. Turn regular teenagers into legendary karatekas. Cooler than anything anyone could think of." I said honestly.
"First of all," Kreese said. "Cobra Kai. Is not exactly cool," he said in a very disgusted but calm tone. "It is a way of life. It is an art. In the same way you don't consider biology, or science, or any other field of study strictly cool. And you must speak of it. With respect, always."
Wow, this man. Had. Presence. Despite the fact that he looked ancient, dressed, and looked like a homeless person still.
"Definitely."
"Second of all. I haven't taught a karate class in around. I don't know. Thirty, thirty one years? I don't know how much use I could be."
I had an idea. A special idea. A great idea.
"Aren't Cobras supposed to be strong and unyielding? Cobra Kai takes on a Cobra as its mascot right?"
"Somewhat." Kreese shrugged, surprisingly he indulged my conversation now. "The point of Cobra Kai is to assume the behavior of a King Cobra in the jungles of Vietnam. Striking enemies down mercilessly. Always keeping your guard up. Knowing when and how to attack and proceed in combat or anywhere else. It teaches more than just karate. It teaches-"
He remembered who he was talking to. A fourteen year old stranger.
"Who on earth are you kid?"
"Lucas Gregory Mills Schwarber." I still remembered my full name from my flight ticket and the papers Ali had given me to sign up at West Valley High this fall.
"Well. Lucas. Cobra Kai is dead. You're wasting your time son. But thanks for visiting me."
I smiled, walking towards the pictures next to Kreese's bed. "Who's this guy?" I asked, despite knowing who it was already.
"Grandmaster Kim Sun Yung. From well before your time. Founded the martial art that evolved into Cobra Kai. Trained an old Captain of mine from 'Nam in Tang Soo Do. After the war. I sought him out with another friend of mine. And he became our Sensei."
"So. His picture is next to your bed. You know his teachings. And you're still alive aren't you? And that other picture of you. You sure look like a Cobra Kai with that green beret and that rifle."
Kreese sighed. "I suppose."
"Then that means Cobra Kai is very alive."
"Its students all regret having studied under it. The dojo died twice in failure and the most bitter of defeats. A picture and a flag. I'm an old has been son. I have nothing that I could teach you."
"On the contrary. I think you can teach the entire world. I think you want to."
Kreese balled his fists for a moment, I could see the anger flare in his eyes. As if I was some ant that had crawled on his plate of food.
"Let's say for a moment I can teach you something," Kreese said calmly, hiding the annoyance I had given him. "Then let's say you somehow could go through my training. Why would I ever do that?"
I took out four one hundred dollar bills in cash from my wallet and threw them on his bed. "You need money. I need someone to help turn me into a karate champion. There is no better man in this world who can help me do that. But you."
I lied right to his face. Kreese could possibly never talk to me again if he learned how I was planning on combining both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai into the most balanced style of tournament sweeping karate. Chozen or Silver were easily better candidates than Kreese, I had no qualms about dropping Kreese like a rock the moment it suited me.
Kreese picked up the cash. It was probably more money than he had ever held in his hands in years.
Kreese decided to pocket it. "You have my attention, we'll see if you can keep it. But let me make one thing clear. You may have paid for my lessons, but that doesn't mean they'll be any fun for you. Cobra Kai Karate. Is not for the weak of mind nor body. You fail four straight lessons in a row, and I'll make it clear you are not cut out for Cobra Kai."
"I didn't expect it to."
"There's an old diner three blocks towards Seventh Street. Behind it is an abandoned parking lot they used to use to offload crates and boxes from when it was a supermarket. It's where I go whenever I need a workout every once in a while. Meet me there in thirty minutes."
...
For the past fifteen minutes, I ran through my head what exactly Kreese would do first.
The obvious. What Johnny did to Miguel too. He struck first.
Maybe a jab punch or a hip throw onto the hard concrete of the parking lot. He would just attack me to teach me a lesson about not letting people attack me first.
How to counter each. If he tried to grab me, the smartest thing to do would be to move away as quickly as I could. Worked in an old karate tournament of mine the few times I competed before.
"First and foremost. You will address me as Sensei. Or Sensei Kreese. Or sir on occasion. Is that clear?"
"Yes Sensei."
Finally, Kreese appeared, walking towards me.
He unzipped a jacket that looked like he'd been wearing it since 1995 and stretched his wrists with loud cracks after throwing it aside on the old loading dock of the abandoned supermarket. His arms were weathered and his skin clearly old, but I respected the fact that he still looked admittedly strong a bit.
Moreover, his arm tattoo of a snake being choked out looked like it hadn't aged a day.
Kreese approached me again, as if he was waiting for something.
I knew what it was. Just how I was taught in karate before a match or class, you never took your eyes off where you were meant to look.
I looked into Kreese's eyes the entire time as I bowed to him.
He smiled, surprised. "Good. Now. Lesson one."
I immediately used what I had practiced in the few minutes prior to Kreese's arrival.
He moved faster than any old man reasonably should be expected to, but I punched him directly in the floating ribs by his kidneys with a straight right hand as he tried to jab.
The perks of having watched the series and done a bit of karate and boxing too.
Kreese was surprised but satisfied, completely unfazed as if my blow had missed him. "Not bad. Do you know what the lesson is?"
"Don't wait to attack?" I again pretended I didn't know what it was.
"Close. The first lesson is strike first. The common belief is that karate is for self defense. But that's foolish, because for actual personal safety it's the opposite really."
I smiled, liking this.
"In an actual fight. Your opponent could have a knife or who knows what else. Or could actually be ready to fight you. Why wait and see what he can do? You always engage combat first. For all you know having broken someone's arm or nose on the street when he confronted you might've saved someone's life if he had a gun. Now, lesson two. Strike hard."
Kreese looked at me. "Make a strong stance. Time to teach you how exactly to strike."
I remembered my old karate stance. Feet shoulder width apart, move your right leg a bit back, turn your whole body sideways, and raised your left hand forward in a fist with your right by your chest pointed upwards too.
Of course someone who taught karate for decades spotted this. "Just move your back leg forward a little and crouch a bit more. How did you know all this so far?"
"Um. Just made sense to me."
Kreese just shrugged. "Alright. So, the first strike. Is the reverse punch. Go to any karate school on earth, it's the first strike they teach you. You threw yours pretty well. You lower yourself and twist your whole body into the blow, throwing it as much as you can forward, and you instantly snap your hand back to your chest to keep your guard tight and prevent further strikes from reaching you."
"Ready! Aits!"
The kiai was simple. It didn't have to special or a word, you just yelled deeply from the bottom of your stomach and roared the moment before the blow made contact, not before to announce you were attacking. Gave away the game.
"Not bad. Now throw it to the face instead of the body."
"Aits!"
We kept going for a few minutes. The second he got too close to me I turned to face him.
"Yes." he started chuckling. "Yes. You're getting it. Always keep your guard up, very nice." Kreese patted the side of my face with the back of his hand, making it clear he could've punched me in the jaw hard if he wanted to. "Applies to your actual guard too."
Wow. The term guard usually applied to boxing or kickboxing, it was how you held your hands up by your head to throw, block, and avoid punches. This was karate and he knew it well.
"Continue! Aits!"
We went on for a bit and eventually, he stopped me. I had started to sweat a bit.
"A reverse punch to the face is always a good strike in a fight. But it's better if you set it up with a jab punch. Throw your left out as far as you can, the moment it comes back snap that right punch forward." he moved on instantly. "Aits!"
"Aiii!" I roared as I struck the air.
Again. Kreese didn't care about the actual sound I made when striking. He just corrected and inspected my form.
"Okay. Now the front kick. You raise your knee up, and snap your foot out to hit your opponent with the bottom of your foot."
He roared loudly. "Ais!"
...
Turns out those were the four basic moves we worked on. And there was a lot to brush up on really. My karate and boxing fundamentals were solid, they had even translated from my old mind into a basically completely untrained body.
The trick was, just like in boxing, not to lean into your punches nor overextend or move your head off where it was when striking. Cobra Kai Karate might've been the best first choice for me to ever train in having been given a strange, but familiar new life.
The cardio I must've gotten from so much soccer helped. The class lasted a solid hour and a half and it was mostly me striking in place, striking while moving in a line. Knuckles pushups on hard concrete with Kreese balancing a few empty wooden crates he found on my back for a bit of added weight.
Kreese wasn't always rushing forward to attack me and test if I was paying attention to where he was or not. He turned out to be a very effective and simple, yet skilled karate teacher.
He was very stern, direct, and loud still. I forgot to keep my knee lowered when throwing the right hand to the body and he almost hit me in the nose with a backfist.
"Okay." he said quietly. "That concludes class."
We bowed to each other, again, he noted how I never took my eyes away from him.
Kreese sat down on the old loading dock. "I need to talk to you kid."
"Sure thing Sensei."
Kreese took a long sigh, scratching the stubble on his chin while chuckling quietly. "You were right. I did miss teaching. Why didn't you tell me you were already trained?"
"I just watched some Youtube videos on karate and boxing fundamentals."
"Youtube videos?" Kreese just gave a shrug at this. "Huh. I'll have to see what you're talking about sometime. Anyway. I have to ask you. Why would you ever want to train with an old man from a homeless shelter in a parking lot? Instead of just going to the dozens of dojos around this Valley. You have plenty of money, it's not like you can't afford it."
I shrugged back. "I don't know. Even if the training is a lot more low key. It's the teacher that matters. Not the environment."
Kreese seemed to absolutely love this. But he hid it behind a stern frown. "Your instincts and your striking form are strong. Your reflexes are good. I can tell you have good stamina from some sport of some kind you might've done. You already moderately understand strike first, and you can probably strike hard. All you're lacking is the third rule."
"Which is?"
"It's not one I teach so quickly to newcomers. Because it takes a lot of time to perfect. This." Kreese flicked his nose towards the abandoned supermarket loading dock we just used to train in. "Is no dojo. What Cobra Kai used to be. That's a dojo."
"What if it came back?"
"I don't think it will. The reason why. Is because of one thing."
I looked at him. "Which is?"
"There is no such thing as mercy in this entire world. People you love and trust with your life will vanish from this world in one way or another. Or betray you. Or leave you for dead. You can't rely on anyone, especially your enemies. To show mercy to you, even if it suits them."
Kreese shrugged again, putting his hands on the loading dock. "Until this evening. I thought Cobra Kai was dead. Then you showed up, convinced me I can still build fighters. But what in the world made you think Cobra Kai can come back?"
"Because. The world needs it."
Kreese nodded. "Explain."
"The entire Valley isn't filled with the kind of karate fighters my mom told me about. The Vidals. Most of the old dojos have either closed down or their old school Senseis have all retired. And the entire world has wiped plenty of important history in martial arts from existence. It's become weak, superficial, and all shiny and pretty. Like a snowflake. You get trophies just for showing up now. Making real champions less so."
Kreese chuckled loudly now. "You know kid. As true as all that is. You haven't made one thing clear to me."
"Which is?"
"Why would someone as rich as you. Don't deny it you show up wearing clothes this nice and walking around in parts of town you shouldn't be with hundreds of dollars in cash. Ever. Ever see the world as anything but merciful?"
I smiled. "Because when I found that box of 80s junk in my mom's room." Again, not technically my mom but still. "It felt more real than any other valuable or trophy I had already had. I knew you were at the center of all that."
Kreese looked thoughtful for a moment and then spoke.
"This drive. This passion to push your limits. You'll be somebody kid. You'll be somebody someday. I know it doesn't mean much coming from a senior citizen who's homeless. But you see the world for what it is. Handouts, don't exist or are loans in disguise. You make your own path. And that is more than something extremely meaningful today."
Kreese pointed at me. "That is Cobra Kai incarnate. We've only just met. But from what I saw so far, I wish you were my student back in the day. I know someone who would've gotten along really well with you."
"Who is he?"
"Johnny Lawrence. But all that about Vidal and the tournaments. And karate and the world now. You um. You found out all that on your own. You went beyond just what your mother told you. Son, that takes the kind of drive and initiative Cobra Kai needs."
I smiled with a small shrug. "What do we do now?"
"Now. Well. As rich as you are, you probably can't fund an entire karate dojo from the ground up. Only another very wealthy friend of mine could've done that. There are something snakes and cold blooded animals do in the winter. They stay awake, hiding in the snow. Waiting for the right time to emerge."
I remembered. "Brumation."
"Yes. You and I. Are going to be like Cobras in brumation. The right time to emerge will be made clear soon."
"How long should it take?"
"As long as it needs," Kreese said simply. "I'd say. Maybe a year or so? Maybe more? Either way. I want you here every single day at five o'clock ready to train except for Sundays and Saturdays. Bring better clothes next time. We'll emerge from our, brumation of sorts, absolutely unstoppable. When that happens, Cobra Kai will be back."
What I asked next was crucial.
"I always wanted to ask. Who exactly did beat Cobra Kai twice in a row?"
Kreese sighed. "That's a long story kid."
"Sensei, I'd really appreciate it."
"Well. The short version is a weakling by the name of Daniel LaRusso. And an old man by the name of Miyagi were able to beat Cobra Kai at its best two years in a row in competition." Kreese said with scorn. "Looking back on it. It was my fault for having challenged them. The ruin of Cobra Kai, was my own, my fault. But I've been given a second chance it seems. To strike back at Miyagi-Do."
"What's so wrong with Miyagi-Do?" I wondered, still knowing the answer.
"Their style of karate is very simplistic. You wait, someone attacks you. You counter them."
"So their way is wrong?" I asked.
Kreese shrugged. "Essentially. Waiting for a problem to arrive on your doorstep. A challenge. A war. Anything. That's the same thing as allowing yourself to get shot in a war. Waving your hands up and down out of cover begging to get attacked."
Huh. Combining Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai might be trickier than I thought. Robby pulled it off, but he never was able to train under both styles at the same time, not even in secret.
"You. Have a lot left to learn. For now Mr. Schwarber, you are Cobra Kai's first student since 1985." Kreese said calmly.
"Thank you Sensei." I sat up off the loading bay and bowed to him.
He merely nodded in acknowledgment as he sat up. "The old rate back in the day was. Fifty bucks a month? Accounting for inflation. That's."
"One hundred and twenty five dollars I think. I can get my phone out and get you the actual number."
Kreese looked at me funny. "Your phone?"
I showed my iPhone taking it out from my pocket. "Yeah. It tells you everything."
Kreese squinted. "Huh. Alright, that seems, very useful."
Guess this made sense. The moment Kreese heard Cobra Kai returned to the All Valley tournament under Johnny he probably started doing everything he could, including learning how to use the internet to figure out what was going on exactly.
I just realized one of the first visitors to the Cobra Kai webpage Miguel Diaz had set up in the show could've very well been Kreese thinking he was seeing things.
"Well. Let's just say it's a hundred dollars a month for now. Until tomorrow Schwarber," he said before walking away.
"Until tomorrow Sensei."
Now to pay Daniel LaRusso a visit too and also be trained possibly in secret.
How long could I keep this up? Would it work? I guess technically I could walk away from this betraying both. I'd need more time to think about this before seeking out Daniel.
I had time. I had so much time.
...
...
...
A/N: So. For the very first official Self insert in Cobra Kai/Karate Kid history (yes, I know there have been OCs, but an SI is something else technically) I have chosen Kreese to be the Sensei, at least the first Sensei.
Also very important, this story starts and takes place one year before Johnny meets Miguel in the first season of Cobra Kai.
Some will wonder the obvious "but what're the pairings!?"
Uh...for Luke? I have no clue. Besides the pairings I have listed in the summary it can go any number of different ways. Luke/Moon or Luke/Yasmine, although for a long long time at least, I don't see him being paired with anyone. Mostly because at a stage this early in the story, the only people not superficial enough for Lucas would probably be either Aisha or Sam, neither of which I can see staying with him at all in the long run.
Also, if the mc seems manipulative, immature, and stupid, yes, he's supposed to be. He's young, also he's supposed to go through an arc.
That being said. I do plan on having Aisha stick around for a long time. I don't plan on just dropping her when this story gets to around Season 3 in canon. Speaking of which, canonically speaking this story takes place in a Cobra Kai Season 0 or Season One Half? It's an entire year before Johnny and Miguel meet, so there's plenty to build.
However, big however. In order for a few key plot points to work, either Sam and Robby or probably Sam and Eli will be a thing. They of course, are not the endgame pairing by any means so I don't mean to off put anyone. I mean come on, Sam and Kyler were a thing in canon and Kyler is just.
Okay, so, Lucas, as the story has stated until this point, is by no means a completely good person nor a bad person. So him being a complete goody two shoes or utter bully is boring, I'd expect something inbetween moving forward. I prefer gray characters over completely light or dark, that's how the Cobra Kai series tends to be written and that's awesome of it.
I'm sure some are wondering the obvious as well. Where is Miguel? Will he show up?
Answering those questions are technically spoilers, but as a pretty decent Miguel fan myself here it is.
He's currently in Riverside and about to start his freshman year of highschool. And yes, he will show up when he does in canon, I don't know about the same manner. To get to where I need his character to start, I need to set up. A shitton of character arcs and development.
Another thing I'm sure some are wondering is why I didn't have Luke or the main character just seek out Daniel or Johnny first? That's kinda obvious and boring, I didn't want to go with such an easy one.
Still, thank you all for reading. And I'll see you all around.
...
The first thing I realized was that this wasn't my room. Nor my house. Nor my body.
At first, I thought hey, this seems pretty cool. I wasn't poor by any means but I look really rich now. My room was huge, and probably gave a good indication of how wealthy the household was.
I started taking a quick walk around the room and quickly realized that my name. Was not my real name.
Apparently, there were a bunch of trophies around the room of all types. Should help me understand what in the world was going on here.
According to these trophies, someone named "Lucas G. Schwarber" had won medals and trophies in various soccer and writing competitions of all kinds.
Neat. Could I wake up from this very odd, very very weird dream now!? Please.
Why was that name familiar?
I pinched myself. No result.
I punched my arm a bit. No result either.
I walked over to the bathroom connected to my bedroom.
Cool. I didn't recognize my own face. I wasn't as pale in my past life, but I was still pretty pale though. Luckily, I wasn't blonde, just had dark enough brown hair that it was almost black. What a save, because I got a pretty strong "rich blonde" vibe from the entire room and the feeling my name gave me about where I was.
This was the part where I went through enough derealization and freaked out enough to wake up right?
After about two minutes of failing to wake up back in the body of my old self, my real self. I decided that the best course of action would be to test this world to its truest potential.
In a dream, meeting strange people, seeing strange things. That wasn't uncommon. But things like names, tangible immovable locations, and several other things that made it clear what was and wasn't a dream was clear.
So it was then when I decided to start looking at whatever I could for where the hell I was.
My room was completely bare for any pictures. I didn't even have any sort of school ID I could find.
I began to walk around the house until I found a very interesting picture framed in easily one of the richest looking living rooms I could find.
Below the picture was the label "The Mills Schwarbers."
There was me, or, this very strange version of myself I didn't recognize with this odd family in front of a giant lake. And a very small blonde girl, and a man with curly hair and a beard standing next to.
I squinted at the picture.
A strange version of Elisabeth Shue? It looked like her. But I got the very odd feeling it just wasn't her.
Was that supposed to be Ali Mills!?
Hold on a second.
I walked back upstairs to the bedroom and was able to find my phone.
Sure enough, the time zone was Denver, Colorado's local time.
I had been transported somehow into an off screen world in the Cobra Kai universe most likely.
...Why!? And how?
"Luuuke!? Luuke!?" I heard someone call downstairs.
I opened the door to my bedroom and walked downstairs.
The same little girl from the picture was standing there, wearing pigtails. She looked no older than ten.
"Have you seen my ballet slippers? I think mom said they'd come in a package or something by this afternoon."
Think man. Think. What was her name?
As a fan of the Cobra Kai series I had seen the show. Specifically the second season twice mostly, but I had to specifically remember what Ali said her daughter's name was.
A-Annie? Amy!? It started with an A!
"I. Don't know. A?"
"Why are you calling me A?" she asked strangely.
"Short for the rest of your name."
She shook her head. "That's just. Weird."
I heard a door slam from what must've been this house's garage. "Ah! Ms. Ava!" A housekeeper appeared with an extremely thick Belarussian or Lithuanian accent something of the type.
She handed 'Ava' a brown box. "Your dance shoes just arrived in mail."
"Thank you!" Ava got them and ran off.
"And Mr. Lucas," she said in the same incredibly thick accent. "Both Doctor Gregory and Doctor Ali are vurking in hospital until tomorrow six AM. They wanted to give you this. Come come."
The housekeeper led me over to a big refrigerator where a very elegant cake had a big 14 candle sticks and blue frosting.
"They promised to buy you big car for sixteenth birthday hm? Only two more years and you von't have to worry about riding bicycle."
I rode a bicycle? Parents this rich and they couldn't buy me an electric scooter or something?
"Your accent. Is it Russian or-"
"Silly boy. Always forget." she chuckled. "Latvian."
"O-Okay."
A part of me genuinely wanted to just run away and hide from how strange this all was. But even if it was just a very surreal and odd dream, I didn't want to wake up.
I was rich.
...
But I wasn't happy.
While I remembered what my old life was like, I remembered my new ones, ish.
Lucas, or, me. Was a kid who had everything, except for friends, and family. Ali wasn't a bad mother by any means, just very very busy, she ran an important pediatric wing with her husband, my father Gregory Schwarber.
Ava, my younger sister was into ballet. None of them were in the house.
I lived on my own basically, I had pretty much my entire life.
My family were also over-acheivers, and by over, I mean wow.
It led me to believe only one thing in this world would give me acclaim of any sort in this life. To build friends beyond this cold city of Denver:
Karate. And it just so happened I already did it for about two years right before I was dropped into this new life.
...
I enjoyed every amenity the house offered. I lost myself.
It was the 17th of May 2016 now. I didn't care, I was richer than I had ever been. According to my schedule I was already done with school, probably had finished a bit early.
I went swimming in a very large indoor lap pool. Ordered my housekeeper around for whatever I damn well pleased.
I could get used to this.
I didn't care about the implications of this world. About anything. I just wanted to forget. It wasn't really my fourteenth birthday, but you know what? Sure it was. Why not?
I found some old mixtapes and CD's in my parent's bedroom in an old box labeled 'Ali's 80s stuff' and blasted 80s music in the backyard on an old boombox I found.
It was summer already, it had come a bit early this year. It was great. I was a fourteen year old kid again in a very rich home now.
Whoo. This was fun.
I sipped a specially prepared vanilla milkshake, played video games in a huge special digital media room.
All summer just like this. This was awesome. I forgot how awful and strange this all felt.
Someone cut the music.
"How many times did I tell you to not go through my things honey?"
I turned around pausing my game of the Last of Us. Supposedly, this was my mother. Ali Mills from the original Karate Kid film.
"Hi." I said.
She frowned. "Hi." she crossed her arms.
I just realized what I was blasting the music on. The boombox that started it all.
"It's a um." I cleared my throat. "A great machine."
"It's. From before your time. Just please don't get it out again. It was stored for a reason." she said as if it gave her bad memories.
I looked at her. "Right. Uh, why are you here I thought you were still working?" She was a doctor, very nice catch man. Way to pay attention.
"I just had to get a few things before I was needed back in the clinic." she muttered. "Um. Luke. I get that you like your video games and your privacy. But I think it'd be best if you tried to make some friends this summer. Socializing is not really your thing. I get that. But spending a whole summer indoors or messing around out by the pool house. It's not best for you."
I looked at Ali again. I get she meant well, but this was literally not my life nor my body technically. I could do whatever I damn well wanted.
Yeah. Very mature dude.
I cleared my throat. "Look. I'm on a soccer team right. And some sort of writing club?"
"Of course but. Honey, you don't spend much time at all with your friends from there or really seem to have any. High school starts in just a few months for you. Take it from me, friends make everything better.
I had an idea. Mostly because there was only one real person I could interact with in any meaningful or interesting manner in all of Denver and I was currently talking to her.
"What if I went to LA to make more friends. And spent all of high school over there? Maybe I could have way better luck with friends?"
Ali was surprised. "What. What wi-. Why?"
I spoke much how this kid would instead of well, myself, not to draw suspicion. "Don't I have grandparents over there? What if I stayed with them?"
"I haven't talked to Mom or Dad in a few months. I don't know how they'd feel about me sending you over there to live with them out of the blue."
"We're rich. They're rich I'm sure. Think they could handle it."
"Luke they haven't talked to you since you were about. Eleven. Twelve? Where is this LA idea coming from?"
"Well you're from there right? What's so bad about LA?"
Ali sighed, placing her hand on the boombox. "Did I ever tell you the story about this radio?"
"No."
I'm pretty sure I knew the entire story. But I was still interested.
"An old boyfriend of mine from high school named Johnny broke another one I had. One night. As an apology. He bought another one for me."
"That sounds really sweet of him."
Bet dating Daniel at the time instead of Johnny probably hurt his chances of getting back into her good graces.
"There is a lot. A lot of really old, really messy history in Los Angeles honey. Just, talk to your friends more. Set something up."
The friends I'd make in LA are one million times more interesting I swear Ali. I mean. Mom? Weird to say.
"Let's make a deal alright? I spend one year in LA. From this summer to next. I come back with no friends or as many good friends as I have now. I stay here."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm your mother and I'm deciding for you."
I sighed. "Look. All you got me for my fourteenth birthday was a cake. And look at our house."
"Well what do you want?"
"The one thing money can't buy. Real, cool, fun, friends."
"Denver's fun honey. No different than LA."
"No. Plenty different. I promise. Just give me this one chance."
Ali pursed her lips. "I'm not saying it couldn't be healthy for you to give a new city a chance. But there's nothing in LA left for me but bad memories. And really old, stupid, history."
"There's family there."
"Mom and Dad are great people. They were great parents to me, and to you, good grandparents in the time you've known them. But I'm not sending you halfway across the country just to make some friends."
"I'll keep perfect grades. I'll make sure I'm ready for any med school or college or whatever. Just one. Single year. One year. I promise you won't regret it."
"No Luke. I. I have to go." Ali turned around. "My shift at the clinic starts in thirty minutes."
I spoke out, not knowing what else to say. "I know about Johnny Lawrence. And Daniel! And the tournament, and everything about them."
She stopped.
Should I have not said that? Probably.
Ali turned around and looked at me. "How do you know about all that? I never told you a thing."
"Um. A-Ava told me?"
"I never told Ava either. Start talking. Luke." she said coldly. "Do not. Lie to your mother. Again."
Shit. The box. Yes, the box of 80s junk, I think I saw a photo album or something. A yearbook!
"I pieced it together. Johnny was your boyfriend, then Daniel your next right? There's a picture of you and some old guy, and Dan at this tournament. You can see Johnny competing in the background in one of the pictures. Made too much sense."
"Pieced it together? That's an awful lot to piece together. I never even told Dan's name."
"You're a beautiful woman and you lived in the Hills. Plus, think he signed your old yearbook and his picture and name were there too. I'm sure back in the 80s guys probably started fistfights over you every three minutes."
Ali frowned. "You know what. Fine. Spend one summer. No. One month over there and you'll see it's no different than here at home at all. Or worse, you'll see how immature, nonsensical, and crazy everyone is. You'll be begging to come back home. Then we'll see what exactly you pieced together."
"So. That's it. I'm. Moving to LA?"
"I'll call Dad in a few hours. If he agrees, I'll have Elena pack your bags and you can say your goodbyes to Ava and I in the morning."
"Really?"
Ali did not look happy at all despite her giving me exactly what I asked for. "Greg and I spoil you far too much. It's time you learned that getting what you ask for might not be what you really wanted. I shouldn't allow a boy of fourteen to live hundreds of miles away from me. But you want to learn what LA's like so badly? What the people are like? I promise you, they are no different than here at all. Remember Luke. This is what you asked for."
...
Sure enough, Ali handed me the ticket for the plane to LAX the following morning.
Greg apparently was such a shitty father he couldn't be bothered to say goodbye to his own son despite probably not seeing him for months. Neat, probably why Ali divorced him.
My blonde little sister spoke up at the front door of our whole mansion. "When you're gone. Can I have your room? I need the space to practice."
"Ava, you already have a personal dance studio," Ali said crossly before turning to me. "I'll miss you sweetie."
We hugged, and still in her arms, Ali sighed. "I just want you to know that because you want this so badly I'll allow you to go. I'll write, text, email. Anything. I'll miss you so much, honey. This is an important lesson. I just sometimes spoil you too much."
I smiled, despite her not being my real mother, I appreciated this a great deal. "Thanks mom."
She kissed me on the forehead and I was off.
...
The flight from Denver to LAX wasn't too long. I was flown first class of course. I watched Road House, good film to get in the mood besides things like Iron Eagle, Rocky, or Bloodsport maybe.
I got off the plane, and a man in a blue suit and had as part of a uniform was waiting for me holding a sign with my new name on it.
"Ah. Mr. Schwarber. Right this way of course."
He helped me get my bag and drove me to yet another mansion.
Damn, it was nice to be this rich.
"Luke!"
My grandparents looked just how I expected them to. They were Ali's parents from the original Karate Kid film, just much older.
They showed me around for a bit, generally very nice and calm people. They were really old though, so they completely left me to myself as a house servant unpacked my clothes for me from my bags.
I flopped on the bed for my new bedroom.
Nice.
Now I was home. Finally, I was where I was meant to be.
Far away from that useless and boring city of Denver, to the best place to be right now.
It was no coincidence I was reborn into a character with basically no impact at all on the Cobra Kai series outside of a name drop. The universe was trying to tell me to do something. So I went for it.
I liked pretty much every character in the Cobra Kai series. Even really annoying characters like Anthony or Stingray were redeemed to some extent or at least written competently.
I could save Miguel from a decent bit of bullying by probably walking a few blocks around Encino and finding Kyler to punch him in the jaw or something at some point. Save him from a potential coma, that through the butterfly effect could be fatal.
The butterfly effect. Wow. For all I knew Miguel wasn't even born in this world nor ever moved from Riverside to Reseda. I think he was, but just this one flight from LA to Denver could change who knows how many things.
I had an entire year until Johnny Lawrence reopened Cobra Kai, which I did ultimately see as inevitable. Even if Miguel never got bullied, Johnny would need a source of income. And broke, alcoholic, and with no other marketable skills besides karate, a dojo of any kind would be his only way to make a living.
Eli Moskowitz, Demetri, Sam LaRusso. I by no means had to save them from any bullying. A decent bit they brought on themselves, only after Kyler though, all three of them to an extent made enemies by their own accord after getting involved karate.
My plan was simple. I had one year more or less, until Johnny reopened Cobra Kai or at least started looking for any sort of employment outside of being well, unemployed.
I had no desire to open Cobra Kai up early. That was both foolish of me as well as pretty dangerous considering both Johnny and Daniel were in town and would wonder what in the world was going on.
Besides, the only two people who could help me in that regard weren't. The best of people.
John Kreese and Terry Silver. I liked their characters, despite how psychotic they both were. But no one could use them, they used people. And to an extent at least, I wanted what they offered. Strength. Glory. Power.
They were cruel and very damaged men whose only therapy for them was turning teenagers into karate soldiers.
But they had a very fun 'old man' charm that I think the show nailed for me. I actually really wanted to meet them.
I started to write down a list on some paper I found in my room of where everyone was and what I wanted to do.
Johnny Lawrence. Deadbeat dad most likely or a drunk. Works as a handyman for a year and then probably gets fired. Mostly incompetent man, able to win a tournament. Good for much else? Don't know.
Daniel LaRusso. Possibly exploit to learn Miyagi-Do? Would make my karate pretty strong to do what Robby did by combining both for a year. Need time to consider.
Terry Silver. Let him rest dude. Let him enjoy his tofu parties and ad campaigns for mindfulness.
Kreese. Who knows!? Maybe a homeless shelter or an alleyway somewhere? Nowhere too different than where he was in canon.
Out of all of the 'Senseis' I could've had, Kreese was by far the most useful. He was far, far more broke than Johnny not to mention he was right about a decent portion of what he taught. He could be used most easily by me.
Why? Because sure I was rich now, but hell, I had no family. My new grandparents were the ones who raised Ali, the mother who had given me a life driven purely by merit and success, not really love I suppose even if she wasn't the worst mother.
If I was smart enough about it. I could really walk away unstoppable here, with friends I could earn of all sorts, and almost universal acclaim in karate.
Chozen Toguchi was probably the next Mr. Miyagi from all I knew. But Okinawa made him damn near unreachable. Plus he'd have no reason to train me unless I doused him with my family's really fat stacks of cash.
What I wanted was to spend the next three All Valley tournaments winning it. I'd be a legend. I'd hold an All Valley record for most personal championship wins. No one, not even Johnny won more than two.
At fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen, I'd basically be on par in the karate world above Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso. Having myself on the posters and banners down at the All Valley sports arena. Man. That was the most I could get from being placed in this world.
And man did I want it, I didn't see very many reasons not to do so right now.
As Robby Keene said, and he was right. It didn't matter how someone fought as long as it worked. And, it was clean.
I leaned off my bed and got onto the massive amount of space I had around my room, I had to try something.
In my previous life I spent a year and a half doing boxing, and a year and a half doing both sport and traditional Shotokan styles of Karate-do. I had to see if my memories translated over to my new body.
First form, Heian Shodan.
I did a low block with my fore arm and did a reverse punch to the body. Huh. At least I still remembered some of the basics.
I didn't remember any of the next. But that reflex, how to strike, my karate fighting stance. It was still there.
Let's go then.
Had to find a Sensei. The Sensei.
...
"Hi. Is there a uh. John Kreese here?"
The short lady at the front desk gave me a look.
"Hello?"
"Is he family or something? This is a homeless shelter honey."
"Please. Is he here?"
She gave a sigh and checked a clipboard, she turned a page over.
"No."
"Thanks."
I crossed the first off my list.
LA had about fifteen homeless shelters on the outskirts of Reseda, Sylmar, and Pacoima.
I was about to give up actually. On my ninth try, I finally struck gold. Or so I thought.
"Hm. John Kreese? Yeah."
I smiled. "Really? He's here?"
"No. He hasn't been seen in over a week."
"Well where can I find him?"
She gave me a 'Really' look.
"Boy, this look like the kinda place you can reliably find anybody? Go back home. This place. This place ain't for you."
I sighed. "What room is he assigned?"
"He was assigned room 5C. Second floor, left side corridor. Someone might already be in there. He usually kicks them out flat on they asses when he catches them. Take this."
She handed me a visitor sticker.
"Thank you." I said putting it on my shirt.
I walked upstairs.
Everyone gave me weird looks. Guess I really was too well dressed to be walking around homeless shelters.
I looked at Kreese's room from the outside. Yup. This was his alright. The proud and large American flag on the wall, the small little picture of who I knew to be Kim Sun Yung. Luckily no one was already there.
"You lost kid?"
I turned around. A grubby looking man with a thick beard was looking at me, eating an apple.
"No. No I'm just looking for someone." I said, inspecting the picture he kept of the 70s green beret from the original Cobra Kai dojo I know Martin Kove probably kept in real life.
"You look awful young to be shaking down po' men like John for cash."
I sighed. "Do you know him?"
He chuckled. "He's pricklier than a porcupine. Everyone knows him. No one likes him. What the hell could you want with him?"
I laughed. "None of your business."
"I see a kid snooping around a man's room. It's my business. Next thing I know you could be snooping around my stuff."
I sighed. Had to use one of the many, many perks of being rich.
"Here's ten bucks. Go get yourself some cigarettes or. Whatever. I was never here."
"Dang. A'ight son. For sure." he took it and walked away.
I spent an hour waiting for him. Then another one.
I started to do pushups in his room I started to get so bored. On my knuckles, my knuckles, yeah.
Then I started to do the first kata. Heian Shodan.
I decided to go back out into the hall.
...
"How are you- Oh. I forgot, they said I might have a visitor still here. Didn't mention it was a kid."
He must've noticed I probably looked like I turned fourteen yesterday.
"Well son." John Kreese said quietly. "You've got about four seconds before I slam the door in your face. Not in the mood at all for a conversation right now."
Just like Ali. He looked exactly like Martin Kove. But he just wasn't him. I couldn't explain it, it was so so surreal.
"I'm sorry. I um. I've been looking for you and I wanted to talk to you?"
"For the thirtieth time. I don't want to join the Jehovah's witnesses! Now get out of here!" he roared. Kreese raised a finger. "This may be a homeless shelter. But I don't like people who don't belong here at all. I won't repeat myself."
Why were all my clothes were like designer or so neat and rich looking? Had to get some different clothes now that I was in LA.
"Look um," I said. "Does the name Ali Mills ring any bells for you?"
"Of course it does. But I haven't heard that name in over thirty years. You might be wearing a visitor's pass. But right now you're not making yourself clear." Kreese approached me. He wasn't incredibly intimidating but still was a bit. "You better explain who you are. And what you want. Really fast son."
"I figured out my mom's past here in this city." A technical lie. Ali was my biological mother, but until yesterday I had never met her. "I know what you used to be. I figured it out."
"Figured what out?" asked Kreese.
"I know the Cobra Kai dojo was basically the coolest thing in this entire Valley. I know you made it what it was. And you lost what you deserved most in the world. What you built."
Kreese chuckled quietly, looking down at his feet for a second and then back at me. "Alright then. You should've led with that. Come in I guess." he said leading me in the room I already made sure to identify was his and not taken up by some other homeless person.
"Your mother. Is Ali Mills. And she told you all this?" he asked, in complete disbelief.
"She never did. I figured it out. I asked to come here. Kept a box full of 80s stuff in her room."
"Her family was always very wealthy. Maybe she's not. But I'm sure she has a nice living to some extent. Why in the world would you come to a place like this? Just to talk to some old man?"
"Because I think that old man can still be useful to the world. Turn regular teenagers into legendary karatekas. Cooler than anything anyone could think of." I said honestly.
"First of all," Kreese said. "Cobra Kai. Is not exactly cool," he said in a very disgusted but calm tone. "It is a way of life. It is an art. In the same way you don't consider biology, or science, or any other field of study strictly cool. And you must speak of it. With respect, always."
Wow, this man. Had. Presence. Despite the fact that he looked ancient, dressed, and looked like a homeless person still.
"Definitely."
"Second of all. I haven't taught a karate class in around. I don't know. Thirty, thirty one years? I don't know how much use I could be."
I had an idea. A special idea. A great idea.
"Aren't Cobras supposed to be strong and unyielding? Cobra Kai takes on a Cobra as its mascot right?"
"Somewhat." Kreese shrugged, surprisingly he indulged my conversation now. "The point of Cobra Kai is to assume the behavior of a King Cobra in the jungles of Vietnam. Striking enemies down mercilessly. Always keeping your guard up. Knowing when and how to attack and proceed in combat or anywhere else. It teaches more than just karate. It teaches-"
He remembered who he was talking to. A fourteen year old stranger.
"Who on earth are you kid?"
"Lucas Gregory Mills Schwarber." I still remembered my full name from my flight ticket and the papers Ali had given me to sign up at West Valley High this fall.
"Well. Lucas. Cobra Kai is dead. You're wasting your time son. But thanks for visiting me."
I smiled, walking towards the pictures next to Kreese's bed. "Who's this guy?" I asked, despite knowing who it was already.
"Grandmaster Kim Sun Yung. From well before your time. Founded the martial art that evolved into Cobra Kai. Trained an old Captain of mine from 'Nam in Tang Soo Do. After the war. I sought him out with another friend of mine. And he became our Sensei."
"So. His picture is next to your bed. You know his teachings. And you're still alive aren't you? And that other picture of you. You sure look like a Cobra Kai with that green beret and that rifle."
Kreese sighed. "I suppose."
"Then that means Cobra Kai is very alive."
"Its students all regret having studied under it. The dojo died twice in failure and the most bitter of defeats. A picture and a flag. I'm an old has been son. I have nothing that I could teach you."
"On the contrary. I think you can teach the entire world. I think you want to."
Kreese balled his fists for a moment, I could see the anger flare in his eyes. As if I was some ant that had crawled on his plate of food.
"Let's say for a moment I can teach you something," Kreese said calmly, hiding the annoyance I had given him. "Then let's say you somehow could go through my training. Why would I ever do that?"
I took out four one hundred dollar bills in cash from my wallet and threw them on his bed. "You need money. I need someone to help turn me into a karate champion. There is no better man in this world who can help me do that. But you."
I lied right to his face. Kreese could possibly never talk to me again if he learned how I was planning on combining both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai into the most balanced style of tournament sweeping karate. Chozen or Silver were easily better candidates than Kreese, I had no qualms about dropping Kreese like a rock the moment it suited me.
Kreese picked up the cash. It was probably more money than he had ever held in his hands in years.
Kreese decided to pocket it. "You have my attention, we'll see if you can keep it. But let me make one thing clear. You may have paid for my lessons, but that doesn't mean they'll be any fun for you. Cobra Kai Karate. Is not for the weak of mind nor body. You fail four straight lessons in a row, and I'll make it clear you are not cut out for Cobra Kai."
"I didn't expect it to."
"There's an old diner three blocks towards Seventh Street. Behind it is an abandoned parking lot they used to use to offload crates and boxes from when it was a supermarket. It's where I go whenever I need a workout every once in a while. Meet me there in thirty minutes."
...
For the past fifteen minutes, I ran through my head what exactly Kreese would do first.
The obvious. What Johnny did to Miguel too. He struck first.
Maybe a jab punch or a hip throw onto the hard concrete of the parking lot. He would just attack me to teach me a lesson about not letting people attack me first.
How to counter each. If he tried to grab me, the smartest thing to do would be to move away as quickly as I could. Worked in an old karate tournament of mine the few times I competed before.
"First and foremost. You will address me as Sensei. Or Sensei Kreese. Or sir on occasion. Is that clear?"
"Yes Sensei."
Finally, Kreese appeared, walking towards me.
He unzipped a jacket that looked like he'd been wearing it since 1995 and stretched his wrists with loud cracks after throwing it aside on the old loading dock of the abandoned supermarket. His arms were weathered and his skin clearly old, but I respected the fact that he still looked admittedly strong a bit.
Moreover, his arm tattoo of a snake being choked out looked like it hadn't aged a day.
Kreese approached me again, as if he was waiting for something.
I knew what it was. Just how I was taught in karate before a match or class, you never took your eyes off where you were meant to look.
I looked into Kreese's eyes the entire time as I bowed to him.
He smiled, surprised. "Good. Now. Lesson one."
I immediately used what I had practiced in the few minutes prior to Kreese's arrival.
He moved faster than any old man reasonably should be expected to, but I punched him directly in the floating ribs by his kidneys with a straight right hand as he tried to jab.
The perks of having watched the series and done a bit of karate and boxing too.
Kreese was surprised but satisfied, completely unfazed as if my blow had missed him. "Not bad. Do you know what the lesson is?"
"Don't wait to attack?" I again pretended I didn't know what it was.
"Close. The first lesson is strike first. The common belief is that karate is for self defense. But that's foolish, because for actual personal safety it's the opposite really."
I smiled, liking this.
"In an actual fight. Your opponent could have a knife or who knows what else. Or could actually be ready to fight you. Why wait and see what he can do? You always engage combat first. For all you know having broken someone's arm or nose on the street when he confronted you might've saved someone's life if he had a gun. Now, lesson two. Strike hard."
Kreese looked at me. "Make a strong stance. Time to teach you how exactly to strike."
I remembered my old karate stance. Feet shoulder width apart, move your right leg a bit back, turn your whole body sideways, and raised your left hand forward in a fist with your right by your chest pointed upwards too.
Of course someone who taught karate for decades spotted this. "Just move your back leg forward a little and crouch a bit more. How did you know all this so far?"
"Um. Just made sense to me."
Kreese just shrugged. "Alright. So, the first strike. Is the reverse punch. Go to any karate school on earth, it's the first strike they teach you. You threw yours pretty well. You lower yourself and twist your whole body into the blow, throwing it as much as you can forward, and you instantly snap your hand back to your chest to keep your guard tight and prevent further strikes from reaching you."
"Ready! Aits!"
The kiai was simple. It didn't have to special or a word, you just yelled deeply from the bottom of your stomach and roared the moment before the blow made contact, not before to announce you were attacking. Gave away the game.
"Not bad. Now throw it to the face instead of the body."
"Aits!"
We kept going for a few minutes. The second he got too close to me I turned to face him.
"Yes." he started chuckling. "Yes. You're getting it. Always keep your guard up, very nice." Kreese patted the side of my face with the back of his hand, making it clear he could've punched me in the jaw hard if he wanted to. "Applies to your actual guard too."
Wow. The term guard usually applied to boxing or kickboxing, it was how you held your hands up by your head to throw, block, and avoid punches. This was karate and he knew it well.
"Continue! Aits!"
We went on for a bit and eventually, he stopped me. I had started to sweat a bit.
"A reverse punch to the face is always a good strike in a fight. But it's better if you set it up with a jab punch. Throw your left out as far as you can, the moment it comes back snap that right punch forward." he moved on instantly. "Aits!"
"Aiii!" I roared as I struck the air.
Again. Kreese didn't care about the actual sound I made when striking. He just corrected and inspected my form.
"Okay. Now the front kick. You raise your knee up, and snap your foot out to hit your opponent with the bottom of your foot."
He roared loudly. "Ais!"
...
Turns out those were the four basic moves we worked on. And there was a lot to brush up on really. My karate and boxing fundamentals were solid, they had even translated from my old mind into a basically completely untrained body.
The trick was, just like in boxing, not to lean into your punches nor overextend or move your head off where it was when striking. Cobra Kai Karate might've been the best first choice for me to ever train in having been given a strange, but familiar new life.
The cardio I must've gotten from so much soccer helped. The class lasted a solid hour and a half and it was mostly me striking in place, striking while moving in a line. Knuckles pushups on hard concrete with Kreese balancing a few empty wooden crates he found on my back for a bit of added weight.
Kreese wasn't always rushing forward to attack me and test if I was paying attention to where he was or not. He turned out to be a very effective and simple, yet skilled karate teacher.
He was very stern, direct, and loud still. I forgot to keep my knee lowered when throwing the right hand to the body and he almost hit me in the nose with a backfist.
"Okay." he said quietly. "That concludes class."
We bowed to each other, again, he noted how I never took my eyes away from him.
Kreese sat down on the old loading dock. "I need to talk to you kid."
"Sure thing Sensei."
Kreese took a long sigh, scratching the stubble on his chin while chuckling quietly. "You were right. I did miss teaching. Why didn't you tell me you were already trained?"
"I just watched some Youtube videos on karate and boxing fundamentals."
"Youtube videos?" Kreese just gave a shrug at this. "Huh. I'll have to see what you're talking about sometime. Anyway. I have to ask you. Why would you ever want to train with an old man from a homeless shelter in a parking lot? Instead of just going to the dozens of dojos around this Valley. You have plenty of money, it's not like you can't afford it."
I shrugged back. "I don't know. Even if the training is a lot more low key. It's the teacher that matters. Not the environment."
Kreese seemed to absolutely love this. But he hid it behind a stern frown. "Your instincts and your striking form are strong. Your reflexes are good. I can tell you have good stamina from some sport of some kind you might've done. You already moderately understand strike first, and you can probably strike hard. All you're lacking is the third rule."
"Which is?"
"It's not one I teach so quickly to newcomers. Because it takes a lot of time to perfect. This." Kreese flicked his nose towards the abandoned supermarket loading dock we just used to train in. "Is no dojo. What Cobra Kai used to be. That's a dojo."
"What if it came back?"
"I don't think it will. The reason why. Is because of one thing."
I looked at him. "Which is?"
"There is no such thing as mercy in this entire world. People you love and trust with your life will vanish from this world in one way or another. Or betray you. Or leave you for dead. You can't rely on anyone, especially your enemies. To show mercy to you, even if it suits them."
Kreese shrugged again, putting his hands on the loading dock. "Until this evening. I thought Cobra Kai was dead. Then you showed up, convinced me I can still build fighters. But what in the world made you think Cobra Kai can come back?"
"Because. The world needs it."
Kreese nodded. "Explain."
"The entire Valley isn't filled with the kind of karate fighters my mom told me about. The Vidals. Most of the old dojos have either closed down or their old school Senseis have all retired. And the entire world has wiped plenty of important history in martial arts from existence. It's become weak, superficial, and all shiny and pretty. Like a snowflake. You get trophies just for showing up now. Making real champions less so."
Kreese chuckled loudly now. "You know kid. As true as all that is. You haven't made one thing clear to me."
"Which is?"
"Why would someone as rich as you. Don't deny it you show up wearing clothes this nice and walking around in parts of town you shouldn't be with hundreds of dollars in cash. Ever. Ever see the world as anything but merciful?"
I smiled. "Because when I found that box of 80s junk in my mom's room." Again, not technically my mom but still. "It felt more real than any other valuable or trophy I had already had. I knew you were at the center of all that."
Kreese looked thoughtful for a moment and then spoke.
"This drive. This passion to push your limits. You'll be somebody kid. You'll be somebody someday. I know it doesn't mean much coming from a senior citizen who's homeless. But you see the world for what it is. Handouts, don't exist or are loans in disguise. You make your own path. And that is more than something extremely meaningful today."
Kreese pointed at me. "That is Cobra Kai incarnate. We've only just met. But from what I saw so far, I wish you were my student back in the day. I know someone who would've gotten along really well with you."
"Who is he?"
"Johnny Lawrence. But all that about Vidal and the tournaments. And karate and the world now. You um. You found out all that on your own. You went beyond just what your mother told you. Son, that takes the kind of drive and initiative Cobra Kai needs."
I smiled with a small shrug. "What do we do now?"
"Now. Well. As rich as you are, you probably can't fund an entire karate dojo from the ground up. Only another very wealthy friend of mine could've done that. There are something snakes and cold blooded animals do in the winter. They stay awake, hiding in the snow. Waiting for the right time to emerge."
I remembered. "Brumation."
"Yes. You and I. Are going to be like Cobras in brumation. The right time to emerge will be made clear soon."
"How long should it take?"
"As long as it needs," Kreese said simply. "I'd say. Maybe a year or so? Maybe more? Either way. I want you here every single day at five o'clock ready to train except for Sundays and Saturdays. Bring better clothes next time. We'll emerge from our, brumation of sorts, absolutely unstoppable. When that happens, Cobra Kai will be back."
What I asked next was crucial.
"I always wanted to ask. Who exactly did beat Cobra Kai twice in a row?"
Kreese sighed. "That's a long story kid."
"Sensei, I'd really appreciate it."
"Well. The short version is a weakling by the name of Daniel LaRusso. And an old man by the name of Miyagi were able to beat Cobra Kai at its best two years in a row in competition." Kreese said with scorn. "Looking back on it. It was my fault for having challenged them. The ruin of Cobra Kai, was my own, my fault. But I've been given a second chance it seems. To strike back at Miyagi-Do."
"What's so wrong with Miyagi-Do?" I wondered, still knowing the answer.
"Their style of karate is very simplistic. You wait, someone attacks you. You counter them."
"So their way is wrong?" I asked.
Kreese shrugged. "Essentially. Waiting for a problem to arrive on your doorstep. A challenge. A war. Anything. That's the same thing as allowing yourself to get shot in a war. Waving your hands up and down out of cover begging to get attacked."
Huh. Combining Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai might be trickier than I thought. Robby pulled it off, but he never was able to train under both styles at the same time, not even in secret.
"You. Have a lot left to learn. For now Mr. Schwarber, you are Cobra Kai's first student since 1985." Kreese said calmly.
"Thank you Sensei." I sat up off the loading bay and bowed to him.
He merely nodded in acknowledgment as he sat up. "The old rate back in the day was. Fifty bucks a month? Accounting for inflation. That's."
"One hundred and twenty five dollars I think. I can get my phone out and get you the actual number."
Kreese looked at me funny. "Your phone?"
I showed my iPhone taking it out from my pocket. "Yeah. It tells you everything."
Kreese squinted. "Huh. Alright, that seems, very useful."
Guess this made sense. The moment Kreese heard Cobra Kai returned to the All Valley tournament under Johnny he probably started doing everything he could, including learning how to use the internet to figure out what was going on exactly.
I just realized one of the first visitors to the Cobra Kai webpage Miguel Diaz had set up in the show could've very well been Kreese thinking he was seeing things.
"Well. Let's just say it's a hundred dollars a month for now. Until tomorrow Schwarber," he said before walking away.
"Until tomorrow Sensei."
Now to pay Daniel LaRusso a visit too and also be trained possibly in secret.
How long could I keep this up? Would it work? I guess technically I could walk away from this betraying both. I'd need more time to think about this before seeking out Daniel.
I had time. I had so much time.
...
...
...
A/N: So. For the very first official Self insert in Cobra Kai/Karate Kid history (yes, I know there have been OCs, but an SI is something else technically) I have chosen Kreese to be the Sensei, at least the first Sensei.
Also very important, this story starts and takes place one year before Johnny meets Miguel in the first season of Cobra Kai.
Some will wonder the obvious "but what're the pairings!?"
Uh...for Luke? I have no clue. Besides the pairings I have listed in the summary it can go any number of different ways. Luke/Moon or Luke/Yasmine, although for a long long time at least, I don't see him being paired with anyone. Mostly because at a stage this early in the story, the only people not superficial enough for Lucas would probably be either Aisha or Sam, neither of which I can see staying with him at all in the long run.
Also, if the mc seems manipulative, immature, and stupid, yes, he's supposed to be. He's young, also he's supposed to go through an arc.
That being said. I do plan on having Aisha stick around for a long time. I don't plan on just dropping her when this story gets to around Season 3 in canon. Speaking of which, canonically speaking this story takes place in a Cobra Kai Season 0 or Season One Half? It's an entire year before Johnny and Miguel meet, so there's plenty to build.
However, big however. In order for a few key plot points to work, either Sam and Robby or probably Sam and Eli will be a thing. They of course, are not the endgame pairing by any means so I don't mean to off put anyone. I mean come on, Sam and Kyler were a thing in canon and Kyler is just.
Okay, so, Lucas, as the story has stated until this point, is by no means a completely good person nor a bad person. So him being a complete goody two shoes or utter bully is boring, I'd expect something inbetween moving forward. I prefer gray characters over completely light or dark, that's how the Cobra Kai series tends to be written and that's awesome of it.
I'm sure some are wondering the obvious as well. Where is Miguel? Will he show up?
Answering those questions are technically spoilers, but as a pretty decent Miguel fan myself here it is.
He's currently in Riverside and about to start his freshman year of highschool. And yes, he will show up when he does in canon, I don't know about the same manner. To get to where I need his character to start, I need to set up. A shitton of character arcs and development.
Another thing I'm sure some are wondering is why I didn't have Luke or the main character just seek out Daniel or Johnny first? That's kinda obvious and boring, I didn't want to go with such an easy one.
Still, thank you all for reading. And I'll see you all around.
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Chapter Two
MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Two: The First Week of Summer
…
The first thing I realized about LA is that my grandparents were some of the most boring people on the planet.
Frank Mills and Olivia Mills were exactly what I expected from Ali's parents to be like if they ever showed up in the Cobra Kai series.
Super old, super rich, and of course, despite how nice they were. Incredibly boring.
Frank, or. Grandpa technically. Tried playing chess with me claiming it'd be a "fun lesson", but he of course didn't know that in previous life I had competed on both a chess team for a year and was in my school's chess club for years.
My grandmother mostly kept to herself. Our entire house had servants, as two retired doctors, my new grandparents were kind, humble, yet very bland people.
Luckily for me, they couldn't care less about where I was or how I spent my time. They were family, but they weren't my parents.
More than anything. What I wanted to do was still combine Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. It was taking the two extremes of karate, hyper aggression and defense and basically turning it into the most overpowered sort of fighting style one could imagine.
The afternoon I was going to go to the LaRussos for the first time was the day I realized something.
It was the 2016 All Valley Tournament today. May 20th.
Wondered if my new teacher wanted to take me.
…
"No. No no no. No!"
For an old man, Kreese really still knew how to fight. He also really packed a punch.
I groaned on the ground standing up. "What did I do wrong?"
"Stop telegraphing that front kick. In a real fight you'd be toast."
"How?"
Kreese sighed. "Well. In actual combat. The front kick has to be one movement. You raise your leg and go for your opponent's torso with your foot instantly. You keep your guard tight the entire time."
"Yes Sensei."
"Forty pushups on your knuckles. I'll get a few extra crates this time."
It was grueling work. The knuckle pushups had to be constant, and done on the hard concrete of the old loading dock that became our unofficial 'Cobra Kai dojo.'
My arms got tired and my knuckles felt like the choppy asphalt were cutting them down to the bone.
I pushed through it and stood up, the wooden crates Kreese added for weight on my back falling right off.
"Alright. Forward strikes."
I got into my stance, panting quietly after wiping some sweat away.
"Jab punch! Ais!"
"Aiiya!"
"Ais!"
"Aiiya!"
"Ais!"
"Aiiiii!"
"Stay lower to the ground."
"Yes Sensei!"
"Ais!"
He was exactly like my old karate teacher when I trained in traditional Shotokan. He made me strike in place, he made me strike in lines. He watched calmly and inspected and corrected my form from every angle he could.
Guess this made sense as I was his only student.
If I overextended my right hand and exposed my chin or ribs, he slammed me into the concrete as hard as he could.
If during some sparring I exposed any part of my guard too or was too defensive or misread my openings improperly, I'd get caught with a backfist or a kick or something.
For such an old man I was really impressed by the shape he was in and how well he could strike. I guess it was something that never really left a trained black belt and veteran Cobra Kai Sensei.
In both the series and my old karate classes, old men could make younger, stronger, and bigger men fall over or stagger back even holding light pads to withstand the blows from how well they twisted their bodies into the strikes.
It wasn't based on muscle strength. It was simply how good the technique and form behind the strike was. It was what laid at the heart of Shotokan Karate, all your energy, controlled into a single precise blow. Kick, knife hand, punch, elbow, anything.
Oddly enough, despite Tang Soo Do being Cobra Kai's founding style, Kreese seemed to base his entire style of attacking and combat around Shotokan Karate fundamentals I had already learned.
Never would've guessed that.
"Okay. First counter attack. You already used it pretty well earlier this week during your first class. I jab. And what do you do?"
"Instantly punch to the body."
He attacked without announcing, testing my reflexes.
"Aii!"
As the jab punch with his left hand sailed harmlessly over my head, I was putting my whole body into the reverse punch to the kidney.
It didn't so much as stagger Kreese. Why was it that he had so much of that weird old man strength?
He seemed to accept the power and speed I put into the blow. "Good. You've got the gist of it down. Which is anticipating landing your attack no matter what's coming in. Not thinking about it, just. Going in to attack. It's an old technique my Sensei Kim Sun Yung taught me. You attack first, you land first. Nicely done Schwarber."
"Thank you Sensei."
Another hour and a half of more cardio, muscle strength training and practicing strikes and counters and we were done.
Kreese checked his very old looking watch by rolling up the sleeve of his jacket. "That concludes class for today. Even for your first week you're improving the basics better. But I'd like to test it properly."
"How do you want to do that?"
"Sparring between you and I is gonna be more of the same for. I'd say at least a year? What I want to do is see what your instincts are like. Rather, what I'm looking for is how you analyze a fight without my instruction. Do you know what begins in about two hours today?"
"This year's All Valley Karate tournament. I was wondering if we should go together."
Kreese nodded with a tiny shrug. "That's correct. I guess as the saying goes great minds think alike. I go to them on occasion every few years. I stopped at the last one. Let's see if you can figure out why that was."
"I don't have a car and I ride a bicycle everywhere. How do we get to the arena?"
"The same way I get around everywhere. The bus."
…
On the bus ride over to the arena, I decided to make conversation with the world's most useful old man to me right now.
"So. I wanted to talk to you about something."
Kreese looked over at me from the window. "About?"
"My mother. I was hoping you could elaborate more on her relationship with Johnny Lawrence."
Kreese scowled. "Kid, I know it's not your fault that you were born to Ali. But if I met your mother today, I don't think I'd be very patient with her."
"Why's that?"
"As a girl. Your mother was part of the reason why Cobra Kai fell. She started the rivalry between LaRusso and Johnny that led to the dojo's fall from grace. But if you must know. They were madly in love at one point."
I smiled a bit. "I knew that already. What more could you tell me about her?"
"She was the reason why Johnny Lawrence lost that day. He brought around his title fight with LaRusso on a dime. He tied up the score two to two." Kreese seemed to wince at the memory. "And then," he sighed quietly.
He smacked his fist into his palm loudly. "He walked right into the most telegraphed kick in karate history. It was my fault mostly. Instead of just telling him to relax and know he'd get the last point, I egged him on. Told him to finish LaRusso instead of taking a deep breath."
"Breathing and stepping back instead of forward doesn't sound like Cobra Kai."
"I've had about thirty years to consider the mistakes I've made with Johnny Lawrence kid." Kreese frowned. "Regardless of LaRusso. Miyagi. And your mother. The day I lost the dojo was the day I let Johnny fall for Ali Mills. He thought he was in love."
I remembered him referring to the crane kick as 'crap' and explaining to Robby in a deleted scene that was the reason why Johnny Lawrence lost. Funny how much he repeated that wisdom to me, Ali's son instead of Johnny's.
"There wasn't a single attack on this earth that could've stopped Johnny. He plastered the likes of Darryl Vidal and the entire Vidal family three to the nothing to the floor. Stuck their faces to the mat as if they were glued to it. And he couldn't beat a skinny Italian kid who only knew kata in his first few months of karate." Kreese sighed. "That was no bad student kid. That's a bad teacher."
I was surprised at how humble and wise to an extent decades out of the game had made Kreese. "So how do you plan to fix those mistakes?"
"How do you think? With you kid." Kreese put his hands on his knees. "I never in my life would've imagined the words Cobra Kai would be uttered to me by another person again after '85. And you convinced me this was worth a shot again."
The All Valley arena came into sight from the bus stop we pulled up to.
"It's time to test what I've taught you this week. You may not be ready to compete just yet. But I want to see how you analyze and watch a fight."
…
I almost laughed at what I saw.
"Sunglasses and a hat. Why the disguise?"
Kreese frowned. "Why do you think? If there's one place in this city I'll get recognized, it's here. I spent the better part of a decade and a half winning tournaments here or having my students do the same. Of course I need a disguise."
It technically only made him more conspicuous. But it still did a good enough job of hiding any attention or recognition for his appearance.
"Right."
It was already our turn in line. Wow, the crowd looked light. This almost looked like what it was supposed to be. A high school karate tournament instead of a state wide martial arts sporting event.
"Hi. Welcome to the All Valley Tournament 2016!" the girl at the plastic desk said. "Two tickets?"
"Yeah hi." Kreese said. "I'm a senior citizen. And a vet. Can I have a discount of some kind?"
"Of course. Do you have your military ID with you?"
Kreese took his wallet out and showed her his ID.
The girl looked at it with a frown. "This expired a few months ago. I'm sorry."
"Look. The VA office and I don't get along the best. I still promise I'm a vet." Kreese insisted.
"Still. I don't think it would be best to give you the discount." she said dryly.
She looked what. Nineteen. Twenty? I bet she just didn't care enough to possibly make an issue with her manager to ask.
Clearly used to this. Kreese just nodded slowly as I spoke up. "Hold on. You don't want to lose like five or ten bucks cause his ID was a few months out of date? Way to try to take advantage of a senior citizen."
"Well look-"
"Wow. Very nice." I scoffed.
She shifted in her chair. "A senior ticket and, how old are you?"
"I'm fourteen." I said.
"That'll be twenty two dollars and seventy five cents."
She handed me back my change and spoke quietly. "Enjoy the tournament this year."
"Thanks." I looked right back into her eye.
As we walked inside to find good seats Kreese muttered to me. "You know you didn't have to do that. We might've risked being kicked out of line or something."
"Doubt it. It's like you said Sensei. There's no such thing as mercy. She saw you as old and weak, had no trouble taking away a few extra bucks from you. Not caring if that was your bus fare or not."
I saw for a second Kreese shifted inside the small trench coat he was using to hide most of his appearance. I'd bet anything that he was smiling right now.
After a quick national anthem the arena of two hundred or three hundred or so people at the very most stood. The majority of the stands were empty.
Daryl, the announcer I remembered from hosting the All Valley tournament twice, walked out onto the mat.
"Welcome! To the 48th All Valley Under 18 Karate tournament." he said as everyone applauded. Even Kreese and I applauded, despite it looking like Kreese was stern and stoic enough to not even applaud Queen during Live Aid.
Hell, I only made him smile because I knew his weaknesses from the show so well. Star students with loyalty and honesty.
"The matches are about to begin. But first, our competitors!"
"Fighting out of Granada Hills. All Star Karate. From Glendale California, Xtreme Martial Arts."
Kreese seemed to look extremely bored, not even applauding once in his seat. I could tell he didn't respect any of the dojos one bit as Daryl went on and on.
"And from Topanga! Topanga Karate!"
I saw Patricia Stone roar a few seats away. "Yeah! Go get 'em Xander!"
"That's all of the dojos competing! And now! It's karate time!"
…
The first match we caught a glimpse of was someone I was pretty sure was going to win the entire tournament but I didn't want to say anything.
A guy named Phineas Morrison from All Star Karate was scoring an easy point on a seemingly fifteen year old Xander Stone.
"That's all right baby!" I heard Patricia yell nearby. "Just use your hands! Use the ring!"
Kreese sighed. "Think we should go tell her to tone it down?"
"No need." I said. "Her kid's about to lose."
Kreese said nothing as we kept watching the match.
Stone jabbed, moving away to set up a quick step up round kick with his front leg that allowed Morrison to easily sweep his leg and score a punch on the head with.
"Stop!" I saw the referee point towards Morrison. "That's two nothing, Morrison!"
"Sure Stone won't be able to score a point?"
I shook my head quietly without a word.
Unsurprisingly, Stone walked into another basic counter and was hit with a strong kick to the stomach, caught just as he began to move forward to attack.
"Three points to nothing! Winner!" the referee raised Morrison's hand before he bowed to Stone and they shook hands.
"What gave it away?" asked Kreese, as if he was quizzing me.
"It wasn't even Morrison's reach or speed advantage. Stone was telegraphing just about everything he did. After the second point he got too nervous, stayed too much on defense and was. How to put it best. Twitchy?"
Kreese hid how on the money I had analyzed the three stock Morrison had on Stone. "Hm."
For the rest of the tournament it was pretty easy to see who had actual chances to reach the quarter finals.
Morrison seemed to be on a fast track right to the quarters the moment he took Cutting Edge Karate's top fighter out in a three to one match.
Garcia from the Locust Valley Karate Club seemed to be doing well, as well as Gardener and Hernandez from Xtreme Martial Arts and Topanga Karate respectively.
All four were generally mediocre at best, except for Morrison, he was genuinely pretty okay. I could see him having a tough match with Garcia in the finals maybe, but ultimately Morrison would win three to two.
The whole time, I made comments on what I saw to Kreese.
"He telegraphed that front kick. Just like you told me today."
"Awful jab. Has no idea how to move around the ring."
"Looks like his Sensei pretended it was time for him to have a black belt just so he could compete. No combos or attacks of any kind."
One Locust Valley Karate Club fighter was so terrible he just stood there waiting to get hit, throwing really weak, random, and slow kicks occasionally.
I just looked at Kreese as if to say. 'Do I really need to explain that?'
Finally, the quarter finals were all basically three nothing matches. And the semi-finals began. This was where I really began to pay attention, because they'd tell me everything about who won the tournament.
…
"Last year's runner up champion Frederick Garcia has Gardener on the backfoot! Let's see if he can turn it around."
I shook my head towards Kreese knowing how quickly it would end.
Gardener began to attack but Garcia had already moved away.
Garcia jabbed, feinted to make Gardener move back and then landed a reverse punch to the head.
"Stop. Point!" The referee raised a hand towards Garcia. "Winner!"
"They really don't make Locust Valley fighters like they used to." Kreese sighed. "I remember Darryl Vidal and all his brothers and cousins. They used to be the only real competition Cobra Kai would have at all back in the day." Kreese muttered to me.
After Morrison shut out Hernandez three to nothing in one of the most blatant mismatches I'd ever seen in a fight that lasted under fifty seconds, I knew what was going to happen.
I had seen enough.
"All Star is taking the title this year." I said.
Kreese raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are they?"
"Morrison will score the first point against Garcia. He'll nearly score the next, then the round will be inconclusive. Maybe one will go off the mat or will be unable to continue combat or something."
"The next point is almost definitely Garcia's. Morrison will score the next, easy jab or back kick or something. And then Garcia is going to score one of the best points of the tournament. Either All Star or Locust Valley will call for time, then Morrison scores the last point in around ten to twenty seconds."
Kreese merely rubbed his chin. "We'll see."
I turned out to be pretty right.
The first to score was Morrison. However Garcia instantly tied it up. Morrison scored a strong punch to the body near the edge of the ring. Garcia then did score one of the best points of the tournament, caught Morrison during a combo with a very well timed counter as a back kick to the body disguised as a wheel kick to the head by making Morrison momentarily raise his hands to block to let him score.
The crowd probably missed it. But from the way he turned, it was a smart trap. Had to learn it.
The score was two to two, just as I predicted, one of the two dojos, Locust Valley Karate, called for time and seemed to give some advice I knew would fail Garcia.
Morrison landed a perfect head kick just going for it like I learned earlier today. He stepped in with a slicing and very fast front kick instantly catching Garcia on the side of the head.
"Point!" the ref lifted Morrison's hand and All Star Karate won the tournament. "Winner!"
Kreese chuckled as the entire arena roared and applauded Morrison. Except for both of us.
"Well." Kreese muttered as I was sitting close enough to him to hear him. "I'd say you'd have earned your white belt if I still had uniforms to give out. Nice job Schwarber."
…
On the bus ride back towards the homeless shelter where Kreese lived, I explained to Kreese everything I learned today.
"The lesson wasn't the karatekas themselves. They were all really mediocre despite having so many years of experience under their belts."
Kreese listened quietly.
"The lesson was what karate has become. Morrison wouldn't last ten seconds against even the lower skilled fighters of the 80s wouldn't he? And he became the champion. That was the lesson, that was why you don't even bother coming to tournaments anymore even to just pass the time."
Kreese looked at me. "Do you get what I mean now. When I say that you have the most necessary instincts of a Cobra Kai? For a fourteen year old kid you sure do know how to see things. What was the second lesson?"
It took me about two minutes. But I got it.
"You wanted me to see my competition. For next year when I compete."
"Yes but. Do you get why it's so important?"
"Yeah." I said, fixing the material of my flexible and somewhat loose fitting jeans that would allow me to practice kicks with Kreese. "I'd be basically the youngest person to become the All Valley Under 18 Champ in history if I won."
Kreese shook his head. "Not basically the youngest. The youngest. You'd be winning the tournament the week of your fifteenth birthday. In your very first All Valley. Son. Johnny Lawrence had a shot at the same title."
"He couldn't win it for two reasons. One. He was shorter with shorter limbs when he was your age. You are much taller, that's very important. The second is that the fighters that stood in his path before. The Vidals, much better dojos in general. They're all gone."
"I know." I said quietly.
"The time to emerge from the brumation we came up with. Is at next year's All Valley. I can't take on the All Valley board myself to lift the ban on Cobra Kai."
I knew why. "Daniel LaRusso's on it. Isn't he?"
"You're very smart for your age. You know that?" Kreese muttered. "You're getting it. The only way Cobra Kai wins. No. The only way you win. Is to compete unaffiliated with any dojo in the Valley. That would break enough ground to make national karate history."
Like Robby did when Daniel hung him out to dry.
"Okay."
"You did. Extremely well today, I can't lie. In your training. In how you're learning to observe and think. And process things. I really think Cobra Kai would have been very very lucky to have you back in the day." Kreese said. "But for now. I have to leave with you another lesson."
I nodded. "Okay."
"There's a man responsible for the reason you saw the All Valley turn out as mediocre and disappointing as you saw today. And that man's name, is one you already know. Daniel LaRusso."
I listened quietly as the bus kept driving towards Pacoima.
"You're living with your grandparents right?"
I nodded.
Kreese sighed. "You're neighbors with the LaRussos most likely. I found out he runs car dealerships all over the Valley. I'd imagine you can pay him a visit."
"Is he my enemy Sensei?"
"He has no reason to be. For now however, at least. You're the son of his old girlfriend from high school. The one that got away I'm sure. We can use that."
I smiled. "Really?"
"Never trust Daniel LaRusso though," Kreese said. "He's weak. And his karate is responsible for the complete decline into mediocrity and obscurity as you saw today. The way you can use LaRusso's history with your mother to your advantage is simple."
"How?"
"There's an old black belt lesson I used to use back in the day. It was simple. I brought in a living cobra. And the person tested had to strangle it with their bare hands. The trick to pass the test was simple too. You had to pet its head, make it calm. Show no fear. And then strike." explained Kreese. "The lesson still holds up today. The only way to beat a cobra. Is to make him your friend."
"How can I be friends with someone like LaRusso?" I asked. "From what you've told me. He's awful."
"Because the pain he will feel when he trusts you. When his family trusts you. And you reveal yourself to be my student all along. For months and months, maybe even more than this year we're planning. Will absolutely destroy him."
I began to nod. "Okay."
"Kid, there was no time in my life I saw LaRusso more scared than the moment he realized my old friend, Terry Silver, was his enemy the whole time he pretended to be his friend. I popped out from behind an old cardboard cutout of me. And he nearly seemed to wet his pants." said Kreese, chuckling at the memory. "But I want you to realize something too."
"Alright."
"I wouldn't trust most Cobra Kai students with something like this. I wouldn't even mention Terry to them unless I trusted them with the entire dojo the way I am to you."
"I understand Sensei."
"Don't let me down." calmly said Kreese. "Strike first against LaRusso. Introduce yourself. Don't be afraid to tell him what he needs to hear."
I came up with a mostly true script. "I'm Ali Mills' son. And I've come to LA to make friends and start high school off right. Friends. Including him."
Kreese chuckled, seeming to smile. "This was turning out yet another long and terrible year for me. Essentially the thirty first in a row. And then you showed up."
Kreese offered a hand for me to shake. "You might just be my student. But even just knowing you for a week. You've been the first person in decades who's earned my trust."
"And you've earned mine." I smiled back genuinely too, at least I pretended to as I shook his hand.
The look on his face when he found out I was just going to use both him and LaRusso to make karate history.
The ramifications of all this were going to be. Massive.
The bus reached its stop and I actually needed to use it as its next stop was near Encino where I lived.
"I never would've thought another clever person from the Hills would ever bail me out and restore my faith in Cobra Kai when I needed it most." Kreese said. "I look forward to seeing you in class next week."
In the doorway of the bus, I bowed to Kreese. And he bowed back. "Thank you Sensei."
…
As I rode my bike to the LaRusso home that night, I considered the consequences my double cross on both Daniel and Kreese might have.
I would have one tournament win under my belt most likely. Sure. Why not, it didn't seem too hard.
But I'd basically annihilate any chance I would have for actually good karate Senseis to train me.
Who knows how Kreese would react even if I won without him coaching me at the tournament? And Daniel would take me having sided with Kreese all along so badly that he might as well never talk to me again.
I can see him forgiving Robby Keene after all that he pulled in Season 5 of the Cobra Kai Netflix show. But me?
I would've lied to him for an entire year. Stealing Miyagi-Do karate from the very beginning for the explicit purpose of just winning.
Even if I would only be barely fifteen by that point. That is some truly out there level of manipulative I doubt he'd forgive.
I mean, at some point he would've found out. I felt a bit bad though. From what I saw today and from what I was beginning to understand. Daniel probably wouldn't find out I had trained under Kreese first and was playing him since the moment he met until well after I had won next year's All Valley.
He wouldn't even coach Robby at his tournament for nearly the entire thing until the final match. And that was in an argument he had with Johnny and Robby, he'd go ballistic if he found out about Kreese and I.
Well. I was already here.
I took a deep breath and rang the LaRusso home's doorbell, holding the bottle of expensive champagne my grandmother had given me.
I really hoped this worked in the long term. I had to be smart about it. I had to be really really smart about how I went about this entire thing.
...
...
...
…
The first thing I realized about LA is that my grandparents were some of the most boring people on the planet.
Frank Mills and Olivia Mills were exactly what I expected from Ali's parents to be like if they ever showed up in the Cobra Kai series.
Super old, super rich, and of course, despite how nice they were. Incredibly boring.
Frank, or. Grandpa technically. Tried playing chess with me claiming it'd be a "fun lesson", but he of course didn't know that in previous life I had competed on both a chess team for a year and was in my school's chess club for years.
My grandmother mostly kept to herself. Our entire house had servants, as two retired doctors, my new grandparents were kind, humble, yet very bland people.
Luckily for me, they couldn't care less about where I was or how I spent my time. They were family, but they weren't my parents.
More than anything. What I wanted to do was still combine Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. It was taking the two extremes of karate, hyper aggression and defense and basically turning it into the most overpowered sort of fighting style one could imagine.
The afternoon I was going to go to the LaRussos for the first time was the day I realized something.
It was the 2016 All Valley Tournament today. May 20th.
Wondered if my new teacher wanted to take me.
…
"No. No no no. No!"
For an old man, Kreese really still knew how to fight. He also really packed a punch.
I groaned on the ground standing up. "What did I do wrong?"
"Stop telegraphing that front kick. In a real fight you'd be toast."
"How?"
Kreese sighed. "Well. In actual combat. The front kick has to be one movement. You raise your leg and go for your opponent's torso with your foot instantly. You keep your guard tight the entire time."
"Yes Sensei."
"Forty pushups on your knuckles. I'll get a few extra crates this time."
It was grueling work. The knuckle pushups had to be constant, and done on the hard concrete of the old loading dock that became our unofficial 'Cobra Kai dojo.'
My arms got tired and my knuckles felt like the choppy asphalt were cutting them down to the bone.
I pushed through it and stood up, the wooden crates Kreese added for weight on my back falling right off.
"Alright. Forward strikes."
I got into my stance, panting quietly after wiping some sweat away.
"Jab punch! Ais!"
"Aiiya!"
"Ais!"
"Aiiya!"
"Ais!"
"Aiiiii!"
"Stay lower to the ground."
"Yes Sensei!"
"Ais!"
He was exactly like my old karate teacher when I trained in traditional Shotokan. He made me strike in place, he made me strike in lines. He watched calmly and inspected and corrected my form from every angle he could.
Guess this made sense as I was his only student.
If I overextended my right hand and exposed my chin or ribs, he slammed me into the concrete as hard as he could.
If during some sparring I exposed any part of my guard too or was too defensive or misread my openings improperly, I'd get caught with a backfist or a kick or something.
For such an old man I was really impressed by the shape he was in and how well he could strike. I guess it was something that never really left a trained black belt and veteran Cobra Kai Sensei.
In both the series and my old karate classes, old men could make younger, stronger, and bigger men fall over or stagger back even holding light pads to withstand the blows from how well they twisted their bodies into the strikes.
It wasn't based on muscle strength. It was simply how good the technique and form behind the strike was. It was what laid at the heart of Shotokan Karate, all your energy, controlled into a single precise blow. Kick, knife hand, punch, elbow, anything.
Oddly enough, despite Tang Soo Do being Cobra Kai's founding style, Kreese seemed to base his entire style of attacking and combat around Shotokan Karate fundamentals I had already learned.
Never would've guessed that.
"Okay. First counter attack. You already used it pretty well earlier this week during your first class. I jab. And what do you do?"
"Instantly punch to the body."
He attacked without announcing, testing my reflexes.
"Aii!"
As the jab punch with his left hand sailed harmlessly over my head, I was putting my whole body into the reverse punch to the kidney.
It didn't so much as stagger Kreese. Why was it that he had so much of that weird old man strength?
He seemed to accept the power and speed I put into the blow. "Good. You've got the gist of it down. Which is anticipating landing your attack no matter what's coming in. Not thinking about it, just. Going in to attack. It's an old technique my Sensei Kim Sun Yung taught me. You attack first, you land first. Nicely done Schwarber."
"Thank you Sensei."
Another hour and a half of more cardio, muscle strength training and practicing strikes and counters and we were done.
Kreese checked his very old looking watch by rolling up the sleeve of his jacket. "That concludes class for today. Even for your first week you're improving the basics better. But I'd like to test it properly."
"How do you want to do that?"
"Sparring between you and I is gonna be more of the same for. I'd say at least a year? What I want to do is see what your instincts are like. Rather, what I'm looking for is how you analyze a fight without my instruction. Do you know what begins in about two hours today?"
"This year's All Valley Karate tournament. I was wondering if we should go together."
Kreese nodded with a tiny shrug. "That's correct. I guess as the saying goes great minds think alike. I go to them on occasion every few years. I stopped at the last one. Let's see if you can figure out why that was."
"I don't have a car and I ride a bicycle everywhere. How do we get to the arena?"
"The same way I get around everywhere. The bus."
…
On the bus ride over to the arena, I decided to make conversation with the world's most useful old man to me right now.
"So. I wanted to talk to you about something."
Kreese looked over at me from the window. "About?"
"My mother. I was hoping you could elaborate more on her relationship with Johnny Lawrence."
Kreese scowled. "Kid, I know it's not your fault that you were born to Ali. But if I met your mother today, I don't think I'd be very patient with her."
"Why's that?"
"As a girl. Your mother was part of the reason why Cobra Kai fell. She started the rivalry between LaRusso and Johnny that led to the dojo's fall from grace. But if you must know. They were madly in love at one point."
I smiled a bit. "I knew that already. What more could you tell me about her?"
"She was the reason why Johnny Lawrence lost that day. He brought around his title fight with LaRusso on a dime. He tied up the score two to two." Kreese seemed to wince at the memory. "And then," he sighed quietly.
He smacked his fist into his palm loudly. "He walked right into the most telegraphed kick in karate history. It was my fault mostly. Instead of just telling him to relax and know he'd get the last point, I egged him on. Told him to finish LaRusso instead of taking a deep breath."
"Breathing and stepping back instead of forward doesn't sound like Cobra Kai."
"I've had about thirty years to consider the mistakes I've made with Johnny Lawrence kid." Kreese frowned. "Regardless of LaRusso. Miyagi. And your mother. The day I lost the dojo was the day I let Johnny fall for Ali Mills. He thought he was in love."
I remembered him referring to the crane kick as 'crap' and explaining to Robby in a deleted scene that was the reason why Johnny Lawrence lost. Funny how much he repeated that wisdom to me, Ali's son instead of Johnny's.
"There wasn't a single attack on this earth that could've stopped Johnny. He plastered the likes of Darryl Vidal and the entire Vidal family three to the nothing to the floor. Stuck their faces to the mat as if they were glued to it. And he couldn't beat a skinny Italian kid who only knew kata in his first few months of karate." Kreese sighed. "That was no bad student kid. That's a bad teacher."
I was surprised at how humble and wise to an extent decades out of the game had made Kreese. "So how do you plan to fix those mistakes?"
"How do you think? With you kid." Kreese put his hands on his knees. "I never in my life would've imagined the words Cobra Kai would be uttered to me by another person again after '85. And you convinced me this was worth a shot again."
The All Valley arena came into sight from the bus stop we pulled up to.
"It's time to test what I've taught you this week. You may not be ready to compete just yet. But I want to see how you analyze and watch a fight."
…
I almost laughed at what I saw.
"Sunglasses and a hat. Why the disguise?"
Kreese frowned. "Why do you think? If there's one place in this city I'll get recognized, it's here. I spent the better part of a decade and a half winning tournaments here or having my students do the same. Of course I need a disguise."
It technically only made him more conspicuous. But it still did a good enough job of hiding any attention or recognition for his appearance.
"Right."
It was already our turn in line. Wow, the crowd looked light. This almost looked like what it was supposed to be. A high school karate tournament instead of a state wide martial arts sporting event.
"Hi. Welcome to the All Valley Tournament 2016!" the girl at the plastic desk said. "Two tickets?"
"Yeah hi." Kreese said. "I'm a senior citizen. And a vet. Can I have a discount of some kind?"
"Of course. Do you have your military ID with you?"
Kreese took his wallet out and showed her his ID.
The girl looked at it with a frown. "This expired a few months ago. I'm sorry."
"Look. The VA office and I don't get along the best. I still promise I'm a vet." Kreese insisted.
"Still. I don't think it would be best to give you the discount." she said dryly.
She looked what. Nineteen. Twenty? I bet she just didn't care enough to possibly make an issue with her manager to ask.
Clearly used to this. Kreese just nodded slowly as I spoke up. "Hold on. You don't want to lose like five or ten bucks cause his ID was a few months out of date? Way to try to take advantage of a senior citizen."
"Well look-"
"Wow. Very nice." I scoffed.
She shifted in her chair. "A senior ticket and, how old are you?"
"I'm fourteen." I said.
"That'll be twenty two dollars and seventy five cents."
She handed me back my change and spoke quietly. "Enjoy the tournament this year."
"Thanks." I looked right back into her eye.
As we walked inside to find good seats Kreese muttered to me. "You know you didn't have to do that. We might've risked being kicked out of line or something."
"Doubt it. It's like you said Sensei. There's no such thing as mercy. She saw you as old and weak, had no trouble taking away a few extra bucks from you. Not caring if that was your bus fare or not."
I saw for a second Kreese shifted inside the small trench coat he was using to hide most of his appearance. I'd bet anything that he was smiling right now.
After a quick national anthem the arena of two hundred or three hundred or so people at the very most stood. The majority of the stands were empty.
Daryl, the announcer I remembered from hosting the All Valley tournament twice, walked out onto the mat.
"Welcome! To the 48th All Valley Under 18 Karate tournament." he said as everyone applauded. Even Kreese and I applauded, despite it looking like Kreese was stern and stoic enough to not even applaud Queen during Live Aid.
Hell, I only made him smile because I knew his weaknesses from the show so well. Star students with loyalty and honesty.
"The matches are about to begin. But first, our competitors!"
"Fighting out of Granada Hills. All Star Karate. From Glendale California, Xtreme Martial Arts."
Kreese seemed to look extremely bored, not even applauding once in his seat. I could tell he didn't respect any of the dojos one bit as Daryl went on and on.
"And from Topanga! Topanga Karate!"
I saw Patricia Stone roar a few seats away. "Yeah! Go get 'em Xander!"
"That's all of the dojos competing! And now! It's karate time!"
…
The first match we caught a glimpse of was someone I was pretty sure was going to win the entire tournament but I didn't want to say anything.
A guy named Phineas Morrison from All Star Karate was scoring an easy point on a seemingly fifteen year old Xander Stone.
"That's all right baby!" I heard Patricia yell nearby. "Just use your hands! Use the ring!"
Kreese sighed. "Think we should go tell her to tone it down?"
"No need." I said. "Her kid's about to lose."
Kreese said nothing as we kept watching the match.
Stone jabbed, moving away to set up a quick step up round kick with his front leg that allowed Morrison to easily sweep his leg and score a punch on the head with.
"Stop!" I saw the referee point towards Morrison. "That's two nothing, Morrison!"
"Sure Stone won't be able to score a point?"
I shook my head quietly without a word.
Unsurprisingly, Stone walked into another basic counter and was hit with a strong kick to the stomach, caught just as he began to move forward to attack.
"Three points to nothing! Winner!" the referee raised Morrison's hand before he bowed to Stone and they shook hands.
"What gave it away?" asked Kreese, as if he was quizzing me.
"It wasn't even Morrison's reach or speed advantage. Stone was telegraphing just about everything he did. After the second point he got too nervous, stayed too much on defense and was. How to put it best. Twitchy?"
Kreese hid how on the money I had analyzed the three stock Morrison had on Stone. "Hm."
For the rest of the tournament it was pretty easy to see who had actual chances to reach the quarter finals.
Morrison seemed to be on a fast track right to the quarters the moment he took Cutting Edge Karate's top fighter out in a three to one match.
Garcia from the Locust Valley Karate Club seemed to be doing well, as well as Gardener and Hernandez from Xtreme Martial Arts and Topanga Karate respectively.
All four were generally mediocre at best, except for Morrison, he was genuinely pretty okay. I could see him having a tough match with Garcia in the finals maybe, but ultimately Morrison would win three to two.
The whole time, I made comments on what I saw to Kreese.
"He telegraphed that front kick. Just like you told me today."
"Awful jab. Has no idea how to move around the ring."
"Looks like his Sensei pretended it was time for him to have a black belt just so he could compete. No combos or attacks of any kind."
One Locust Valley Karate Club fighter was so terrible he just stood there waiting to get hit, throwing really weak, random, and slow kicks occasionally.
I just looked at Kreese as if to say. 'Do I really need to explain that?'
Finally, the quarter finals were all basically three nothing matches. And the semi-finals began. This was where I really began to pay attention, because they'd tell me everything about who won the tournament.
…
"Last year's runner up champion Frederick Garcia has Gardener on the backfoot! Let's see if he can turn it around."
I shook my head towards Kreese knowing how quickly it would end.
Gardener began to attack but Garcia had already moved away.
Garcia jabbed, feinted to make Gardener move back and then landed a reverse punch to the head.
"Stop. Point!" The referee raised a hand towards Garcia. "Winner!"
"They really don't make Locust Valley fighters like they used to." Kreese sighed. "I remember Darryl Vidal and all his brothers and cousins. They used to be the only real competition Cobra Kai would have at all back in the day." Kreese muttered to me.
After Morrison shut out Hernandez three to nothing in one of the most blatant mismatches I'd ever seen in a fight that lasted under fifty seconds, I knew what was going to happen.
I had seen enough.
"All Star is taking the title this year." I said.
Kreese raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are they?"
"Morrison will score the first point against Garcia. He'll nearly score the next, then the round will be inconclusive. Maybe one will go off the mat or will be unable to continue combat or something."
"The next point is almost definitely Garcia's. Morrison will score the next, easy jab or back kick or something. And then Garcia is going to score one of the best points of the tournament. Either All Star or Locust Valley will call for time, then Morrison scores the last point in around ten to twenty seconds."
Kreese merely rubbed his chin. "We'll see."
I turned out to be pretty right.
The first to score was Morrison. However Garcia instantly tied it up. Morrison scored a strong punch to the body near the edge of the ring. Garcia then did score one of the best points of the tournament, caught Morrison during a combo with a very well timed counter as a back kick to the body disguised as a wheel kick to the head by making Morrison momentarily raise his hands to block to let him score.
The crowd probably missed it. But from the way he turned, it was a smart trap. Had to learn it.
The score was two to two, just as I predicted, one of the two dojos, Locust Valley Karate, called for time and seemed to give some advice I knew would fail Garcia.
Morrison landed a perfect head kick just going for it like I learned earlier today. He stepped in with a slicing and very fast front kick instantly catching Garcia on the side of the head.
"Point!" the ref lifted Morrison's hand and All Star Karate won the tournament. "Winner!"
Kreese chuckled as the entire arena roared and applauded Morrison. Except for both of us.
"Well." Kreese muttered as I was sitting close enough to him to hear him. "I'd say you'd have earned your white belt if I still had uniforms to give out. Nice job Schwarber."
…
On the bus ride back towards the homeless shelter where Kreese lived, I explained to Kreese everything I learned today.
"The lesson wasn't the karatekas themselves. They were all really mediocre despite having so many years of experience under their belts."
Kreese listened quietly.
"The lesson was what karate has become. Morrison wouldn't last ten seconds against even the lower skilled fighters of the 80s wouldn't he? And he became the champion. That was the lesson, that was why you don't even bother coming to tournaments anymore even to just pass the time."
Kreese looked at me. "Do you get what I mean now. When I say that you have the most necessary instincts of a Cobra Kai? For a fourteen year old kid you sure do know how to see things. What was the second lesson?"
It took me about two minutes. But I got it.
"You wanted me to see my competition. For next year when I compete."
"Yes but. Do you get why it's so important?"
"Yeah." I said, fixing the material of my flexible and somewhat loose fitting jeans that would allow me to practice kicks with Kreese. "I'd be basically the youngest person to become the All Valley Under 18 Champ in history if I won."
Kreese shook his head. "Not basically the youngest. The youngest. You'd be winning the tournament the week of your fifteenth birthday. In your very first All Valley. Son. Johnny Lawrence had a shot at the same title."
"He couldn't win it for two reasons. One. He was shorter with shorter limbs when he was your age. You are much taller, that's very important. The second is that the fighters that stood in his path before. The Vidals, much better dojos in general. They're all gone."
"I know." I said quietly.
"The time to emerge from the brumation we came up with. Is at next year's All Valley. I can't take on the All Valley board myself to lift the ban on Cobra Kai."
I knew why. "Daniel LaRusso's on it. Isn't he?"
"You're very smart for your age. You know that?" Kreese muttered. "You're getting it. The only way Cobra Kai wins. No. The only way you win. Is to compete unaffiliated with any dojo in the Valley. That would break enough ground to make national karate history."
Like Robby did when Daniel hung him out to dry.
"Okay."
"You did. Extremely well today, I can't lie. In your training. In how you're learning to observe and think. And process things. I really think Cobra Kai would have been very very lucky to have you back in the day." Kreese said. "But for now. I have to leave with you another lesson."
I nodded. "Okay."
"There's a man responsible for the reason you saw the All Valley turn out as mediocre and disappointing as you saw today. And that man's name, is one you already know. Daniel LaRusso."
I listened quietly as the bus kept driving towards Pacoima.
"You're living with your grandparents right?"
I nodded.
Kreese sighed. "You're neighbors with the LaRussos most likely. I found out he runs car dealerships all over the Valley. I'd imagine you can pay him a visit."
"Is he my enemy Sensei?"
"He has no reason to be. For now however, at least. You're the son of his old girlfriend from high school. The one that got away I'm sure. We can use that."
I smiled. "Really?"
"Never trust Daniel LaRusso though," Kreese said. "He's weak. And his karate is responsible for the complete decline into mediocrity and obscurity as you saw today. The way you can use LaRusso's history with your mother to your advantage is simple."
"How?"
"There's an old black belt lesson I used to use back in the day. It was simple. I brought in a living cobra. And the person tested had to strangle it with their bare hands. The trick to pass the test was simple too. You had to pet its head, make it calm. Show no fear. And then strike." explained Kreese. "The lesson still holds up today. The only way to beat a cobra. Is to make him your friend."
"How can I be friends with someone like LaRusso?" I asked. "From what you've told me. He's awful."
"Because the pain he will feel when he trusts you. When his family trusts you. And you reveal yourself to be my student all along. For months and months, maybe even more than this year we're planning. Will absolutely destroy him."
I began to nod. "Okay."
"Kid, there was no time in my life I saw LaRusso more scared than the moment he realized my old friend, Terry Silver, was his enemy the whole time he pretended to be his friend. I popped out from behind an old cardboard cutout of me. And he nearly seemed to wet his pants." said Kreese, chuckling at the memory. "But I want you to realize something too."
"Alright."
"I wouldn't trust most Cobra Kai students with something like this. I wouldn't even mention Terry to them unless I trusted them with the entire dojo the way I am to you."
"I understand Sensei."
"Don't let me down." calmly said Kreese. "Strike first against LaRusso. Introduce yourself. Don't be afraid to tell him what he needs to hear."
I came up with a mostly true script. "I'm Ali Mills' son. And I've come to LA to make friends and start high school off right. Friends. Including him."
Kreese chuckled, seeming to smile. "This was turning out yet another long and terrible year for me. Essentially the thirty first in a row. And then you showed up."
Kreese offered a hand for me to shake. "You might just be my student. But even just knowing you for a week. You've been the first person in decades who's earned my trust."
"And you've earned mine." I smiled back genuinely too, at least I pretended to as I shook his hand.
The look on his face when he found out I was just going to use both him and LaRusso to make karate history.
The ramifications of all this were going to be. Massive.
The bus reached its stop and I actually needed to use it as its next stop was near Encino where I lived.
"I never would've thought another clever person from the Hills would ever bail me out and restore my faith in Cobra Kai when I needed it most." Kreese said. "I look forward to seeing you in class next week."
In the doorway of the bus, I bowed to Kreese. And he bowed back. "Thank you Sensei."
…
As I rode my bike to the LaRusso home that night, I considered the consequences my double cross on both Daniel and Kreese might have.
I would have one tournament win under my belt most likely. Sure. Why not, it didn't seem too hard.
But I'd basically annihilate any chance I would have for actually good karate Senseis to train me.
Who knows how Kreese would react even if I won without him coaching me at the tournament? And Daniel would take me having sided with Kreese all along so badly that he might as well never talk to me again.
I can see him forgiving Robby Keene after all that he pulled in Season 5 of the Cobra Kai Netflix show. But me?
I would've lied to him for an entire year. Stealing Miyagi-Do karate from the very beginning for the explicit purpose of just winning.
Even if I would only be barely fifteen by that point. That is some truly out there level of manipulative I doubt he'd forgive.
I mean, at some point he would've found out. I felt a bit bad though. From what I saw today and from what I was beginning to understand. Daniel probably wouldn't find out I had trained under Kreese first and was playing him since the moment he met until well after I had won next year's All Valley.
He wouldn't even coach Robby at his tournament for nearly the entire thing until the final match. And that was in an argument he had with Johnny and Robby, he'd go ballistic if he found out about Kreese and I.
Well. I was already here.
I took a deep breath and rang the LaRusso home's doorbell, holding the bottle of expensive champagne my grandmother had given me.
I really hoped this worked in the long term. I had to be smart about it. I had to be really really smart about how I went about this entire thing.
...
...
...
Chapter Three
MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Three: Week Two, the LaRussos
…
The person to answer the door, was Daniel.
He smiled lightly. "Hi there. Can I help you?"
"Sure." I said. "I just moved in a few blocks away."
"Welcome to Encino." said Daniel.
I offered Daniel the champagne I had been given. "Here."
Daniel read the card aloud. "It's been ages Dan since you went out with our Ali. And we never got the chance to talk since. Sincerely." Daniel squinted for a second. "Frank and Olivia Mills?"
"They're my grandparents."
Daniel laughed in surprise. "I had no idea they lived so close to us. I thought they moved away in the nineties or something. Uh. Come in, come in!"
Daniel closed the front door to his house and it was a bit surreal.
In that interior walkway between two parts of the LaRusso home well over a year from now, Hawk ran down it to throw Doug Rickenberger into a table to save Demetri.
"So. What's your name?"
"Lucas."
We shook hands.
Daniel sat down across the table from me. "Do you go by Luke or Lucas?"
"Either one works." I said calmly.
"This is. Crazy. Absolutely crazy to think about after all these years I'd meet Ali's kid. I had no idea Ali even had a son. When did you move in with your grandparents?"
I explained. "Last week. I wanted to come over and introduce myself when I moved in."
"So do you know my name and that your mom and I were good friends?" asked Daniel.
I shrugged a bit. "Somewhat. You're Dan."
Daniel smiled. "Daniel."
"Honey I think you forgot some invoices by the-" the woman I knew to be Amanda walked into view, fixing her earring. "Oh hi. Who's this?" Amanda looked with a blank smile over to Daniel.
"Do you remember Ali Mills. From my highschool?" asked Daniel.
Amanda frowned for a second. "Yeah."
My technical mom or not. The truth was there. The beautiful, blonde, fun, intelligent, and rich doctor Daniel and Johnny literally started a karate war over. I didn't blame her for that reaction.
"This is. Her son. Lucas."
Amanda shook my hand. "Nice to meet you. We've got a meeting in forty five minutes hun. We gotta go."
"Oh um." Daniel looked between me and Amanda. "Think he could meet the kids too sometime?"
"So your mother knew Daniel when they were in highschool?" Amanda asked me.
I shrugged, pretending I didn't know a thing. "Apparently they were great friends."
"Okay. So this random kid shows up on our doorstep and a minute later you think the kids should get to know him. Is everyone from your highschool or involved in this karate stuff already like family to you?"
I wasn't offended. She had a point.
"Any family of Ali's is family of mine. I'm sure if we sent Sam or Anthony over to Denver they'd be treated the same way."
Amanda sighed. "I guess we'll talk about it later, no time right now."
Daniel seemed to defend himself even as he stood up to follow her out the door. "Look, he even brought a house warming gift!" He looked back at me. "It was so nice to meet you. Summer break just started a few days ago for Sam, she's in the backyard. Anthony's upstairs, gotta go! We'll talk later." he said hurriedly before he practically ran out the door with his wife.
I looked around the interior of Daniel's home.
Huh. Kreese wasn't kidding. His old soft spot for Ali or Miyagi was basically an ultimate weakness.
I actually felt really bad. But, I was looking forward to talking to him later.
In the backyard, I saw Sam sitting down the same way Robby did when he met her. Eyes closed, laying in the sun listening to music next to her pool.
I was not impressed unlike him.
She took her headphones off, looking confused. "Hi?"
"Hi." I said quietly.
Despite me not being interested in her, I didn't blame Miguel nor Robby for taking an interest in her. Her blue eyes, very pretty hair and she was admittedly gorgeous even at my age of fourteen.
"Who might you be?"
"A family friend of your dad's. Simplest way to explain it."
"Are you Italian?"
I shook my head.
"Then you must be involved in his old karate stuff." Sam said, making me chuckle for a second. "I'm Sam." she offered a hand to shake.
I shook her hand. "Lucas. I'm new in town. I moved a few blocks down from where you live. On my bike, it's like. A ten, fifteen minute ride."
"So. We're practically neighbors." said Sam.
"I'd say so."
"What kinda things are you into?" asked Sam.
Bringing back 80s karate villains from the dead to make national martial arts championship history and possibly planning to steal your dad's karate for a year maybe. The more I thought about it. The more strange it seemed to feel sometimes.
"Uh." I cleared my throat. "Soccer. Writing."
"What do you write?"
Lucas Mills Schwarber. Dive into your memories. Your memories, not your past memories. Are they there? Come on.
It took a second but luckily I did manage to inherit his soccer and writing abilities I knew the show canonically did give him.
"I write mostly poems. A few essays. Okay, mainly formal essays."
"You write essays. For fun?"
Wow was I glad I had such fine memories of memories I technically never had of over thirteen years.
"They're essays on historical events and scientific discovery. The sequencing of the human genome, the first World War. Stuff like that mostly."
Sam frowned. "Sounds. Spectacularly boring."
"Oh it is. The fun part is how nice it looks on transcripts and how consistently I win writing competitions."
Sam chuckled. "You do things for fun you don't even like just so you can enjoy beating other people at stuff?"
"No. I do things I sort of like because my parents took all the fun out of it by making me compete in writing. Soccer though. That's where it's at."
"My little brother tried to get into soccer."
I could imagine why he didn't want to.
"Would it be out of place for me to try to get him back into it?"
Sam brushed her hair back, shrugging. "Probably. He's really annoying and a total brat. I would just ignore him if I were you."
"I think I'll give him a chance."
"He's upstairs. Actually. If you do end up convincing him to play some soccer. I'd like to tag along. Haven't tried it in a while either myself."
…
Sam opened the door to Anthony's bedroom and spoke. "Hey dingus. This is Lucas. Friend of Dad's. Or, his mom's an old friend of Dad's. You know how weird he is about his old karate people."
Sam gave an apologetic smile to me and I accepted it with a shrug.
"Cool. Shut the door please?"
I chuckled seeing the game he was playing. "Halo Reach? Didn't know people still played it."
"Course they do."
"Teabagging? Really dude?" I asked as Anthony gave a shrug. "Amateur."
"Excuse me?"
I bet he wasn't even scoring that well.
I smiled. "Let's see your KD." Anthony did as soon as he died and then I snorted. "Yeah. You're trash."
"And you could do better." Anthony said.
"I know I could." I said. "How about this? I score twice as well as you in one round. We go play some soccer. It's a nice day outside."
"Why would I do that?"
"You're like what. Ten?"
"Eleven." corrected Anthony.
"Girls your age love guys that are fast and athletic. It's all they really care about and will care about for a while."
"Okay, sure. What could you teach me about soccer?"
I chuckled. "I promise I can teach you something."
"Whatever dude."
Ten minutes and about three quarters of the way through the first try I had, Anthony gave in. "Fine. You win. Let's go."
Sam smiled at me. "You're making me spend time with my brother and I'm not hating it. Great job."
"Thanks." I said.
…
"So." Anthony said, wearing a jacket as he followed Sam and I to a nearby soccer field. "What tricks can I learn?"
"Plenty." I said.
We stood in the center of the field and I put a ball the LaRussos had down. "Try to take the ball from me."
"You're way bigger than me. And you're a really experienced soccer player. How am I supposed to do that?"
"Be aggressive. Use your feints."
"Feints?"
I explained. "Here. I'll pass the ball to your sister. You have to intercept it."
Sam seemed to enjoy messing with her brother. Anthony couldn't get anywhere near the ball.
"Come on." he started to pant after about ten minutes of it. "I don't get it."
"Allow me to show you. Now you and Sam pass it to each other. Here. I'll even make it easy for you, you can give each other plenty of space to make it harder for me to intercept the ball."
Anthony nodded. "Okay."
I let Sam and Anthony pass the soccer ball back and forth and then I instantly made Sam think I was going one direction suddenly going another.
She ended up passing the ball right to me regardless of where Anthony was.
"Alright. How'd you do that?" asked Anthony.
"The trick is simple." I said. "You don't have to pay attention to the ball itself. You look to where it's about to be moved."
"And how do I do that?" Anthony wondered.
"I think I'll give it a try." Sam said.
"Go ahead."
I found out the hard way if she really wanted to, the reflexes Miyagi-Do gave her from a very young age helped.
I was almost flat on my back the moment she tackled the ball away from me. It wasn't even like I let her, she just understood the feint really quickly.
Anthony scoffed. "That's cheating. You're not allowed to throw people on their backs in a soccer match."
I stood up. "You can as long as it's not too obvious or violent. Then it's a foul. A ref can reasonably consider it an error on the fouled person's side if they can't control where they're running or dribbling the ball."
"Your turn Anthony." Sam challenged.
It took about twenty minutes and it actually ended up being pretty fun.
We started a hacky sack contest. I beat both LaRusso siblings by a lot.
Anthony ended up running towards the goal after I had managed to convince him into trying it.
"Whoo!" Anthony said as Sam missed catching the ball.
Sam stood up from the ground. "Huh. Thought this would be boring."
"And why isn't it?" I asked her.
"Because I don't like watching my little brother win at this."
I smiled. It was the same the other way around for Anthony too I was sure.
Eventually we were done an hour later.
Reasonably sweaty, Anthony walked back with Sam and I towards the LaRusso home. "Huh. I actually didn't think I would enjoy that." he admitted.
"Me neither honestly." Sam said.
"Do you think you could coach me my whole season if I got back into it?"
I shrugged. "Most of the basics are pretty easy to nail down. Then it's a matter of how seriously you take training."
"I'm getting the feeling you really know your stuff." Anthony said.
"I mean I was I was top of my league and at my school. I started playing when I was about six or so. Haven't stopped for about eight years."
Sam looked at me. "So you're starting high school in the fall right?"
"Of course."
"Where are you going?"
"West Valley High." I said.
"I'm going there too." said Sam. "Their soccer team would be really lucky to have you."
I shook my head with a slight smile. "I don't know if I'll get back into it. I might have my plate filled with other stuff."
"What do you plan on doing then besides school?" wondered Sam.
Karate, and lots of it. Two kinds of karate that have been at war for over thirty years.
"Maybe chess or writing club. Or the chess team too. That could be cool."
…
Sam sort of left Anthony and I alone after the soccer game. I didn't mind. She respectfully let me play some very fun video games with Anthony waiting for her dad to get home.
Besides, Anthony was actually asking me to play Halo Reach and all sorts of games on the Xbox in his room with him.
I could tell I had made a good first impression on all the LaRussos though except for maybe Amanda. But that was more no one's fault than mine and it wasn't so bad that it was impossible to fix.
I heard Daniel muttering before he opened the door to Anthony's room.
"Anth did you really spend another whole day just playing video games?"
"Nope. Lucas took Sam and I to the nearby park to play some soccer. He's really good at it. Maybe if I keep practicing with him this summer I'll be good enough to try out."
Daniel was surprised. "Really?"
"I enjoyed today." Anthony said. "Not gonna lie. I thought I wouldn't. But I did."
"I enjoyed today as well." I admitted.
"Um. Can we talk?" Daniel asked me.
I nodded.
…
Downstairs, Daniel handed me a soda can as he drank from a glass of water. "So. I heard Sam enjoyed her time with you at the soccer field too."
"She learns pretty fast. Just like Anthony."
"Soccer huh." Daniel looked thoughtful for a second. "I met your mom at a game of beach soccer. I tried to teach her some moves just like you taught Anthony and Sam today."
"I wasn't making any moves on her though. I promise."
"That's not what I was thinking about." Daniel sat down across the table from me. "I was wondering why Ali would ever send her son halfway across the country to stay with her parents."
"It's kind of personal."
"I can imagine. You came across as a nice person. But I haven't spoken to Ali in years. We're not even friends on Facebook."
"Could you see yourself being friends with people you knew like her from back in the day though?"
Daniel sighed. "Maybe. I didn't get along with most of them. I'm happy to see both my kids and you want to spend some time together this summer. I think you should know that the history between your mother and I. Not all of it is good."
"Really?"
"A few weeks after I won my first All Valley. Ali ditched me for some UC football player."
I chuckled.
"What?"
"You were a karate champ after your first tournament. And my mom ditched you for a football player?"
Daniel nodded. "My point is that the history of everything Ali left behind. I still don't understand why she would send you in the middle of all of it."
"You can ask her yourself. She'd be fine talking to you over Facebook."
Daniel looked upstairs towards where Amanda probably was waiting to have a long conversation with him. "When you get married. Any ex that shows up out of the blue like your mother. Creates a small bit of tension."
"So. You dated my mom?" I acted incredulously.
"For a time, yes, I did. I think Amanda knows that she was my first girlfriend. And. That she was part of." Daniel winced.
"What?"
"People know me as the karate guy who chops prices on TV. Basically all of them think it's a gimmick to sell more cars." Daniel said. "But the truth is. That your mother was a huge part of why I even learned karate in the first place. It ended up being a massive part of my life."
"Can it be part of mine?"
Daniel was surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Did you and my mom end things on unforgivable terms?"
"Not really," said Daniel. "But it was really complicated back then."
"Let me repay that debt." I shrugged. "My mom was a part of karate in the past for you. Now let me be part of karate now. Teach me what you know."
Daniel chuckled. "You've been nice to my family and I today. Very nice. I'll give you that, I think you led very well today. But the day I teach karate to Ali's son is the day she'll soon slap me across the face for it."
"Why's that?"
"Karate can be helpful. But here in the Valley. Trust me Lucas. It can end up very very messy."
I looked at him. "I'm the first person to ask you to do it. Aren't I?"
"Look I-" Daniel froze. "How do you know that?"
"Makes sense doesn't it? You're a father of two. You run a car dealership with your wife. No one would ever think you actually knew karate. And not only karate. But championship winning karate. Please. Teach me."
Daniel sighed. "Maybe, maybe I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because we met today. And all I know is that Ali let you fly here for some. Unexplained reason I don't know yet. And I don't know why you would use the knowledge of my karate in the first conversation we ever have."
"Isn't it obvious? I'm fourteen, it's a good age as any to start a martial art. I might have a girlfriend one day and someone might try to rob us. There also might be a ton of jerks who push me around for my four years of high school."
Daniel looked at me. "I'll think about it. Honestly."
Bullshit. That look in his eye. Probably the same when he realized he could step into Mr. Miyagi's shoes and make teenagers do chores and pass wisdom.
It made him feel important like he could reconnect with an old part of him.
He was as easy to read and understand as Kreese.
"It's getting dark quick." Daniel checked his watch. "I'll let you know tomorrow. Know that in the future though, regardless of what I decided. My decision could change."
I bet it probably would.
"Thank you Mr. LaRusso."
…
I sparred daily with Kreese in the old abandoned supermarket loading dock we used every weekday from five to six thirty to practice near the end of every class.
I get why he put it near the end. My muscles were already tired from an entire hour and a half or so of constant conditioning and training.
Still though, despite him not pulling his punches I typically lost an exchange but wasn't knocked down or hit very hard unless Kreese really wanted to and I was making a general mistake.
My Cobra Kai fighting stance wasn't too different from what I saw in show canon and what I imagined as well.
It combined both kickboxing and boxing with actual karate and Tang Soo Do. You didn't leave your hands too low nor your chin too untucked, but you still stayed light on your feet and moved around.
Kreese jabbed and began to attack, I countered moving to a different angle with a round kick and avoided his forward strike.
It glanced off Kreese's forearm and I began to move back as he turned to face me and then I went right in with a lunging reverse punch committing completely to the blow.
Kreese blocked and nearly caught me with a back fist after missing his thrusting side kick.
I barely dodged the next attacks, and damn near landed my own counter attack too before I realized how impressive it was that such an old man could again fight so well for so long.
I decided to use a lesson that I had learned from Kreese himself from watching the episode in the second season where Johnny decides to let Kreese be his Co Sensei.
I pretended like I was retreating and that was where I hit him at my hardest.
Strangely, it worked. Probably because despite the fact he came up with that trap, Kreese likely didn't expect someone who he thought never learned it to use it from instinct.
I used a back kick I had mostly improvised from the few times Kreese had taught me it and caught him square in the chest.
Kreese barely staggered back, unfazed he pushed forward as I re-engaged the fight and about a minute later was flipped flat on my back onto the concrete of the loading bay and copped a knife hand to the chest Kreese fell onto the floor next to me to put his full weight behind the blow.
It hurt like hell and Kreese stood back up, wiping some sweat off his forehead. "Your jab and your counters have gotten better. But for crying out loud, stop walking right into attacks."
"Yes Sensei."
He offered a hand to help me up but I ignored it. Despite him being my Sensei, I knew he could easily just toss me back onto the ground again to teach me a lesson on awareness and mercy.
Kreese nodded at this. "Still. Credit where it's due. You have in fact gotten very aware of the way I teach you. That's class."
I bowed to him and he bowed back.
"You hungry?" I asked. "I saw a diner not too far from here. 50s themed. Looks nice."
"Why not," said Kreese.
…
Kreese seemed to like the diner I chose.
If only he knew he'd be pretending he trained SEALs in Afghanistan and fought Noriega in Panama in this very restaraunt to Johnny Lawrence.
Kreese sipped his coffee without a sound, eyeing a waitress that walked by at her skirt line. "Well. You sure knew what hit the spot after a fair bit of training kid."
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"How can you stay in such great fighting shape despite living on the streets for the last thirty years?"
Kreese shrugged. "Well like I said I still got some training on my own done in that old parking lot every now and again. Plus I've been in my fair share of fights almost on a monthly, sometimes weekly basis."
Kreese rested his arms onto the booth's table, putting his coffee cup down. "So. You went to the LaRussos yesterday."
"I did."
"Your report." Kreese muttered as if I was a soldier in a war having scouted enemy positions.
I smiled. "What could I tell you that could be so crucial?"
"I need to know what he's been up to. I know Miyagi-Do Karate isn't a dojo anymore. I know he himself hasn't competed in anything anywhere for decades, nor has he trained anyone to do so either. What's crucial is knowing how he's trying to pass on Miyagi's karate."
I sighed. "Well. He has a wife and two kids. Sam's his daughter, she's my age."
"Hm." Kreese looked at me calmly for this, seeming to measure me.
"Anthony, his son. About eleven or so. And Amanda's his wife. I can't lie to you. They're nice people, very respectful, very nice people."
Kreese put his hands together and looked at me. "What about his students?"
"He doesn't have any."
"He never taught either of his children anything? None of his karate?"
I had two choices here. Lie. Or say that Sam was trained.
"I did catch a glimpse of a home dojo the LaRussos had in their backyard. My guess is, it's more than just a shrine to Miyagi. One of his kids was trained there at one point."
"Which one of them do you expect it is?"
"Samantha." I said. "She's not lazy nor whiny. Anthony is a brat who I had to motivate through humiliation to get him to move off his bed and stop playing video games to go outside. And he's only eleven."
Kreese nodded. "So the first friends your age you made here in the Valley. Are the son and daughter of Cobra Kai's greatest enemy of all time?"
"I wouldn't say they're my friends. More like. Friendly neighbors. Do you not approve Sensei?"
"I approve of you determining what LaRusso can call upon if needed."
I chuckled. "His two kids are not Miyagi-Do trained soldiers. Maybe they have some training, some, at most."
"You don't know that. He has a home dojo right?"
I exhaled quietly. "What do you want me to do? Throw Sam onto the grass the next time I play soccer with her and her brother hoping to see if she knows any karate?"
"I want you to remember to earn their trust. But to never give them yours." said Kreese cautiously. "They might be your neighbors. But try to see if you can make actual friends with others."
"I can do that." I said. "I have a question for you."
"What is it?"
"Last week when we went to the All Valley. You mentioned having regretted challenging Miyagi to the All Valley Johnny Lawrence lost to Daniel right?"
Kreese nodded quietly.
"Why regret it? I thought enemies deserved no mercy."
"You're right. Miyagi attacked my top students. He humiliated the greatest student I had trained in Cobra Kai. And I stand by making it the right decision. At the time." Kreese raised a finger slightly. "Key phrase there. At the time. Given the choice again, I wouldn't risk the dojo's glory and honor, as well as my standing with the students over such a bet."
"Isn't that what we're doing?"
Kreese stopped sipping from his coffee cup, putting it down. "Excuse me?"
"This entire plan is for me to win unaffiliated. And then reveal to the entire Valley I was your student all along. Aren't we putting LaRusso right in the middle of that by me earning so much trust and getting to know him and his family so well?"
"We need to put LaRusso in the middle of it. There will be no greater pain for him to know that such a close ally was Cobra Kai the whole time. We're not risking anything."
"But we're doing all this to bring Cobra Kai back. Isn't it risky with LaRusso knowing who I was an entire year in advance? He's on the All Valley committee. He has tons and tons of money, and he knows Miyagi-Do karate."
Kreese shifted in his seat at the booth. "The moment you win that championship next year. Even if LaRusso does absolutely everything in his power to stop us. He'll be completely unable to."
"Well why's that?"
"He has nothing. At most he has a single son or daughter who knows Miyagi-Do at all. Cobra Kai will have a record breaking champion. You'll have won unaffiliated. At barely fifteen. And all in your first tournament. That's three records in one. It would take LaRusso having allies of all kinds to do anything to stop us."
I nodded.
"Do you trust that Schwarber? Otherwise, all we've done until now is pointless."
"I trust that Sensei. I trust you. It's been two weeks of training under you. And I can safely say I already have the essentials to defend myself against any random attacker in the street. That's more than what anybody but my parents have done for me."
Kreese looked at the table and then at me. "You remain the most unique person I've talked to in over thirty years. You owe me nothing. I owe you nothing either. And yet I remain in your debt solely based on the fact of how much trust we've shared until now."
"All we've done is plan to make Cobra Kai number one again."
"No, we've done far more than that. I've told you about people like Terry who I didn't even tell my own students about back when I actually ran Cobra Kai. I've come out of retirement, to teach a complete stranger out of the blue. A fourteen year old boy no less, with no connection to me besides a name at all, my very livelihood. Cobra Kai Karate."
"What are you trying to say, Sensei?"
"You will be the very first of Cobra Kai's third generation of students. That's not a title you should take lightly. And you surprisingly have done well with the little I've had you do until now."
Kreese rarely gave out compliments unless I really was doing extremely well.
It almost sounded like he saw me as his successor or the most key part in his revenge plan on Daniel. He trusted me a great deal. This bitter, brutal, and cruel old man almost seemed to admit how necessary I was in his admittedly very simple and dry life of being homeless.
It was actually. A tiny bit touching.
"Thank you Sensei."
"Don't mention it. Because it leads me to my next point. We have to make you stronger, faster, and more ferocious as a fighter. In order to make you Cobra Kai. The basics will become your foundation, and then it's off to making you the most complete fighter I can make you. Working on your technique from the ground up."
"I like the sound of that."
"I can almost see it. You against those sorry excuses for karatekas in the All Valley Arena next year." Kreese snorted. "It's going to be quite the show to watch."
Assuming Daniel answered the way I was expecting him to tomorrow. Yeah. It would be a wipeout.
I looked around the diner. "Sensei. If we're supposed to make this a secret. Won't the chances of people discovering the fact that you and I know each other increase the more and more people I talk to and the more friends I make?"
"They would. Especially because I plan on training you so regularly. Which is why we'll keep an eye out for people you know. Won't we?"
I nodded. "Yes Sensei."
Our food arrived and we had a rather nice meal together, talked about what school could be like and what I was looking forward to doing spending my next four years of highschool at West Valley High.
For as cruel and evil as he seemed in the films. He really seemed patient with me for being a fourteen year old kid, we were just talking and getting to know each other like he was my grandfather or something on a regular summer Wednesday afternoon.
I'd given Daniel an entire day to think through my request to be trained in his karate. But I didn't really care if he said no or not.
Despite everything I knew Kreese did in the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai series.
He hadn't yet seemed to be violent, cruel, or harmful to me in any way. I knew he choked out Johnny at the end of the third season, his most recent bit of violent intent towards a good person, but in his slight defense. Johnny did start attacking him with punches and kicks and was nearly going to knife him with a Sai blade.
I didn't see a monster in this man. The same way he didn't see some stupid, spoiled rich kid in me.
We were both just people and I liked that as we talked over our early dinner together.
He was supposed to be the big bad of the original Karate Kid film. But surprisingly, he wasn't all that bad.
Was it because we were useful to each other? I didn't know yet really.
…
I knocked on the door of LaRusso's home the next day at 10 AM and Daniel answered it wearing a suit and tie.
"Are you planning on heading to work?"
Daniel nodded. "I am. I was expecting you later today honestly. But now that you're here I'll give you my answer. I've given it a lot of thought. Thought about the bit I've seen of you yesterday. How much your mother was there for me when I first learned karate and competed."
"And?"
"And." Daniel took a sigh. "My answer. Is yes."
Holy shit Schwarber you did it! Just keep this up for a year. One year of juggling Kreese and Daniel somehow and you will have done it.
"What?" I asked him. "Just like that."
"Trust me it won't be as flashy as you're thinking. I'll train you the same way I was trained. It's not fun, but it's not impossible. Which is why you're coming with me."
I rightfully should've asked him how him taking me to his car dealership would teach me any karate. But I knew how Miyagi-Do worked. Instead, I smiled.
"Okay," I said. "I'm ready to be trained."
…
The person to answer the door, was Daniel.
He smiled lightly. "Hi there. Can I help you?"
"Sure." I said. "I just moved in a few blocks away."
"Welcome to Encino." said Daniel.
I offered Daniel the champagne I had been given. "Here."
Daniel read the card aloud. "It's been ages Dan since you went out with our Ali. And we never got the chance to talk since. Sincerely." Daniel squinted for a second. "Frank and Olivia Mills?"
"They're my grandparents."
Daniel laughed in surprise. "I had no idea they lived so close to us. I thought they moved away in the nineties or something. Uh. Come in, come in!"
Daniel closed the front door to his house and it was a bit surreal.
In that interior walkway between two parts of the LaRusso home well over a year from now, Hawk ran down it to throw Doug Rickenberger into a table to save Demetri.
"So. What's your name?"
"Lucas."
We shook hands.
Daniel sat down across the table from me. "Do you go by Luke or Lucas?"
"Either one works." I said calmly.
"This is. Crazy. Absolutely crazy to think about after all these years I'd meet Ali's kid. I had no idea Ali even had a son. When did you move in with your grandparents?"
I explained. "Last week. I wanted to come over and introduce myself when I moved in."
"So do you know my name and that your mom and I were good friends?" asked Daniel.
I shrugged a bit. "Somewhat. You're Dan."
Daniel smiled. "Daniel."
"Honey I think you forgot some invoices by the-" the woman I knew to be Amanda walked into view, fixing her earring. "Oh hi. Who's this?" Amanda looked with a blank smile over to Daniel.
"Do you remember Ali Mills. From my highschool?" asked Daniel.
Amanda frowned for a second. "Yeah."
My technical mom or not. The truth was there. The beautiful, blonde, fun, intelligent, and rich doctor Daniel and Johnny literally started a karate war over. I didn't blame her for that reaction.
"This is. Her son. Lucas."
Amanda shook my hand. "Nice to meet you. We've got a meeting in forty five minutes hun. We gotta go."
"Oh um." Daniel looked between me and Amanda. "Think he could meet the kids too sometime?"
"So your mother knew Daniel when they were in highschool?" Amanda asked me.
I shrugged, pretending I didn't know a thing. "Apparently they were great friends."
"Okay. So this random kid shows up on our doorstep and a minute later you think the kids should get to know him. Is everyone from your highschool or involved in this karate stuff already like family to you?"
I wasn't offended. She had a point.
"Any family of Ali's is family of mine. I'm sure if we sent Sam or Anthony over to Denver they'd be treated the same way."
Amanda sighed. "I guess we'll talk about it later, no time right now."
Daniel seemed to defend himself even as he stood up to follow her out the door. "Look, he even brought a house warming gift!" He looked back at me. "It was so nice to meet you. Summer break just started a few days ago for Sam, she's in the backyard. Anthony's upstairs, gotta go! We'll talk later." he said hurriedly before he practically ran out the door with his wife.
I looked around the interior of Daniel's home.
Huh. Kreese wasn't kidding. His old soft spot for Ali or Miyagi was basically an ultimate weakness.
I actually felt really bad. But, I was looking forward to talking to him later.
In the backyard, I saw Sam sitting down the same way Robby did when he met her. Eyes closed, laying in the sun listening to music next to her pool.
I was not impressed unlike him.
She took her headphones off, looking confused. "Hi?"
"Hi." I said quietly.
Despite me not being interested in her, I didn't blame Miguel nor Robby for taking an interest in her. Her blue eyes, very pretty hair and she was admittedly gorgeous even at my age of fourteen.
"Who might you be?"
"A family friend of your dad's. Simplest way to explain it."
"Are you Italian?"
I shook my head.
"Then you must be involved in his old karate stuff." Sam said, making me chuckle for a second. "I'm Sam." she offered a hand to shake.
I shook her hand. "Lucas. I'm new in town. I moved a few blocks down from where you live. On my bike, it's like. A ten, fifteen minute ride."
"So. We're practically neighbors." said Sam.
"I'd say so."
"What kinda things are you into?" asked Sam.
Bringing back 80s karate villains from the dead to make national martial arts championship history and possibly planning to steal your dad's karate for a year maybe. The more I thought about it. The more strange it seemed to feel sometimes.
"Uh." I cleared my throat. "Soccer. Writing."
"What do you write?"
Lucas Mills Schwarber. Dive into your memories. Your memories, not your past memories. Are they there? Come on.
It took a second but luckily I did manage to inherit his soccer and writing abilities I knew the show canonically did give him.
"I write mostly poems. A few essays. Okay, mainly formal essays."
"You write essays. For fun?"
Wow was I glad I had such fine memories of memories I technically never had of over thirteen years.
"They're essays on historical events and scientific discovery. The sequencing of the human genome, the first World War. Stuff like that mostly."
Sam frowned. "Sounds. Spectacularly boring."
"Oh it is. The fun part is how nice it looks on transcripts and how consistently I win writing competitions."
Sam chuckled. "You do things for fun you don't even like just so you can enjoy beating other people at stuff?"
"No. I do things I sort of like because my parents took all the fun out of it by making me compete in writing. Soccer though. That's where it's at."
"My little brother tried to get into soccer."
I could imagine why he didn't want to.
"Would it be out of place for me to try to get him back into it?"
Sam brushed her hair back, shrugging. "Probably. He's really annoying and a total brat. I would just ignore him if I were you."
"I think I'll give him a chance."
"He's upstairs. Actually. If you do end up convincing him to play some soccer. I'd like to tag along. Haven't tried it in a while either myself."
…
Sam opened the door to Anthony's bedroom and spoke. "Hey dingus. This is Lucas. Friend of Dad's. Or, his mom's an old friend of Dad's. You know how weird he is about his old karate people."
Sam gave an apologetic smile to me and I accepted it with a shrug.
"Cool. Shut the door please?"
I chuckled seeing the game he was playing. "Halo Reach? Didn't know people still played it."
"Course they do."
"Teabagging? Really dude?" I asked as Anthony gave a shrug. "Amateur."
"Excuse me?"
I bet he wasn't even scoring that well.
I smiled. "Let's see your KD." Anthony did as soon as he died and then I snorted. "Yeah. You're trash."
"And you could do better." Anthony said.
"I know I could." I said. "How about this? I score twice as well as you in one round. We go play some soccer. It's a nice day outside."
"Why would I do that?"
"You're like what. Ten?"
"Eleven." corrected Anthony.
"Girls your age love guys that are fast and athletic. It's all they really care about and will care about for a while."
"Okay, sure. What could you teach me about soccer?"
I chuckled. "I promise I can teach you something."
"Whatever dude."
Ten minutes and about three quarters of the way through the first try I had, Anthony gave in. "Fine. You win. Let's go."
Sam smiled at me. "You're making me spend time with my brother and I'm not hating it. Great job."
"Thanks." I said.
…
"So." Anthony said, wearing a jacket as he followed Sam and I to a nearby soccer field. "What tricks can I learn?"
"Plenty." I said.
We stood in the center of the field and I put a ball the LaRussos had down. "Try to take the ball from me."
"You're way bigger than me. And you're a really experienced soccer player. How am I supposed to do that?"
"Be aggressive. Use your feints."
"Feints?"
I explained. "Here. I'll pass the ball to your sister. You have to intercept it."
Sam seemed to enjoy messing with her brother. Anthony couldn't get anywhere near the ball.
"Come on." he started to pant after about ten minutes of it. "I don't get it."
"Allow me to show you. Now you and Sam pass it to each other. Here. I'll even make it easy for you, you can give each other plenty of space to make it harder for me to intercept the ball."
Anthony nodded. "Okay."
I let Sam and Anthony pass the soccer ball back and forth and then I instantly made Sam think I was going one direction suddenly going another.
She ended up passing the ball right to me regardless of where Anthony was.
"Alright. How'd you do that?" asked Anthony.
"The trick is simple." I said. "You don't have to pay attention to the ball itself. You look to where it's about to be moved."
"And how do I do that?" Anthony wondered.
"I think I'll give it a try." Sam said.
"Go ahead."
I found out the hard way if she really wanted to, the reflexes Miyagi-Do gave her from a very young age helped.
I was almost flat on my back the moment she tackled the ball away from me. It wasn't even like I let her, she just understood the feint really quickly.
Anthony scoffed. "That's cheating. You're not allowed to throw people on their backs in a soccer match."
I stood up. "You can as long as it's not too obvious or violent. Then it's a foul. A ref can reasonably consider it an error on the fouled person's side if they can't control where they're running or dribbling the ball."
"Your turn Anthony." Sam challenged.
It took about twenty minutes and it actually ended up being pretty fun.
We started a hacky sack contest. I beat both LaRusso siblings by a lot.
Anthony ended up running towards the goal after I had managed to convince him into trying it.
"Whoo!" Anthony said as Sam missed catching the ball.
Sam stood up from the ground. "Huh. Thought this would be boring."
"And why isn't it?" I asked her.
"Because I don't like watching my little brother win at this."
I smiled. It was the same the other way around for Anthony too I was sure.
Eventually we were done an hour later.
Reasonably sweaty, Anthony walked back with Sam and I towards the LaRusso home. "Huh. I actually didn't think I would enjoy that." he admitted.
"Me neither honestly." Sam said.
"Do you think you could coach me my whole season if I got back into it?"
I shrugged. "Most of the basics are pretty easy to nail down. Then it's a matter of how seriously you take training."
"I'm getting the feeling you really know your stuff." Anthony said.
"I mean I was I was top of my league and at my school. I started playing when I was about six or so. Haven't stopped for about eight years."
Sam looked at me. "So you're starting high school in the fall right?"
"Of course."
"Where are you going?"
"West Valley High." I said.
"I'm going there too." said Sam. "Their soccer team would be really lucky to have you."
I shook my head with a slight smile. "I don't know if I'll get back into it. I might have my plate filled with other stuff."
"What do you plan on doing then besides school?" wondered Sam.
Karate, and lots of it. Two kinds of karate that have been at war for over thirty years.
"Maybe chess or writing club. Or the chess team too. That could be cool."
…
Sam sort of left Anthony and I alone after the soccer game. I didn't mind. She respectfully let me play some very fun video games with Anthony waiting for her dad to get home.
Besides, Anthony was actually asking me to play Halo Reach and all sorts of games on the Xbox in his room with him.
I could tell I had made a good first impression on all the LaRussos though except for maybe Amanda. But that was more no one's fault than mine and it wasn't so bad that it was impossible to fix.
I heard Daniel muttering before he opened the door to Anthony's room.
"Anth did you really spend another whole day just playing video games?"
"Nope. Lucas took Sam and I to the nearby park to play some soccer. He's really good at it. Maybe if I keep practicing with him this summer I'll be good enough to try out."
Daniel was surprised. "Really?"
"I enjoyed today." Anthony said. "Not gonna lie. I thought I wouldn't. But I did."
"I enjoyed today as well." I admitted.
"Um. Can we talk?" Daniel asked me.
I nodded.
…
Downstairs, Daniel handed me a soda can as he drank from a glass of water. "So. I heard Sam enjoyed her time with you at the soccer field too."
"She learns pretty fast. Just like Anthony."
"Soccer huh." Daniel looked thoughtful for a second. "I met your mom at a game of beach soccer. I tried to teach her some moves just like you taught Anthony and Sam today."
"I wasn't making any moves on her though. I promise."
"That's not what I was thinking about." Daniel sat down across the table from me. "I was wondering why Ali would ever send her son halfway across the country to stay with her parents."
"It's kind of personal."
"I can imagine. You came across as a nice person. But I haven't spoken to Ali in years. We're not even friends on Facebook."
"Could you see yourself being friends with people you knew like her from back in the day though?"
Daniel sighed. "Maybe. I didn't get along with most of them. I'm happy to see both my kids and you want to spend some time together this summer. I think you should know that the history between your mother and I. Not all of it is good."
"Really?"
"A few weeks after I won my first All Valley. Ali ditched me for some UC football player."
I chuckled.
"What?"
"You were a karate champ after your first tournament. And my mom ditched you for a football player?"
Daniel nodded. "My point is that the history of everything Ali left behind. I still don't understand why she would send you in the middle of all of it."
"You can ask her yourself. She'd be fine talking to you over Facebook."
Daniel looked upstairs towards where Amanda probably was waiting to have a long conversation with him. "When you get married. Any ex that shows up out of the blue like your mother. Creates a small bit of tension."
"So. You dated my mom?" I acted incredulously.
"For a time, yes, I did. I think Amanda knows that she was my first girlfriend. And. That she was part of." Daniel winced.
"What?"
"People know me as the karate guy who chops prices on TV. Basically all of them think it's a gimmick to sell more cars." Daniel said. "But the truth is. That your mother was a huge part of why I even learned karate in the first place. It ended up being a massive part of my life."
"Can it be part of mine?"
Daniel was surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Did you and my mom end things on unforgivable terms?"
"Not really," said Daniel. "But it was really complicated back then."
"Let me repay that debt." I shrugged. "My mom was a part of karate in the past for you. Now let me be part of karate now. Teach me what you know."
Daniel chuckled. "You've been nice to my family and I today. Very nice. I'll give you that, I think you led very well today. But the day I teach karate to Ali's son is the day she'll soon slap me across the face for it."
"Why's that?"
"Karate can be helpful. But here in the Valley. Trust me Lucas. It can end up very very messy."
I looked at him. "I'm the first person to ask you to do it. Aren't I?"
"Look I-" Daniel froze. "How do you know that?"
"Makes sense doesn't it? You're a father of two. You run a car dealership with your wife. No one would ever think you actually knew karate. And not only karate. But championship winning karate. Please. Teach me."
Daniel sighed. "Maybe, maybe I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because we met today. And all I know is that Ali let you fly here for some. Unexplained reason I don't know yet. And I don't know why you would use the knowledge of my karate in the first conversation we ever have."
"Isn't it obvious? I'm fourteen, it's a good age as any to start a martial art. I might have a girlfriend one day and someone might try to rob us. There also might be a ton of jerks who push me around for my four years of high school."
Daniel looked at me. "I'll think about it. Honestly."
Bullshit. That look in his eye. Probably the same when he realized he could step into Mr. Miyagi's shoes and make teenagers do chores and pass wisdom.
It made him feel important like he could reconnect with an old part of him.
He was as easy to read and understand as Kreese.
"It's getting dark quick." Daniel checked his watch. "I'll let you know tomorrow. Know that in the future though, regardless of what I decided. My decision could change."
I bet it probably would.
"Thank you Mr. LaRusso."
…
I sparred daily with Kreese in the old abandoned supermarket loading dock we used every weekday from five to six thirty to practice near the end of every class.
I get why he put it near the end. My muscles were already tired from an entire hour and a half or so of constant conditioning and training.
Still though, despite him not pulling his punches I typically lost an exchange but wasn't knocked down or hit very hard unless Kreese really wanted to and I was making a general mistake.
My Cobra Kai fighting stance wasn't too different from what I saw in show canon and what I imagined as well.
It combined both kickboxing and boxing with actual karate and Tang Soo Do. You didn't leave your hands too low nor your chin too untucked, but you still stayed light on your feet and moved around.
Kreese jabbed and began to attack, I countered moving to a different angle with a round kick and avoided his forward strike.
It glanced off Kreese's forearm and I began to move back as he turned to face me and then I went right in with a lunging reverse punch committing completely to the blow.
Kreese blocked and nearly caught me with a back fist after missing his thrusting side kick.
I barely dodged the next attacks, and damn near landed my own counter attack too before I realized how impressive it was that such an old man could again fight so well for so long.
I decided to use a lesson that I had learned from Kreese himself from watching the episode in the second season where Johnny decides to let Kreese be his Co Sensei.
I pretended like I was retreating and that was where I hit him at my hardest.
Strangely, it worked. Probably because despite the fact he came up with that trap, Kreese likely didn't expect someone who he thought never learned it to use it from instinct.
I used a back kick I had mostly improvised from the few times Kreese had taught me it and caught him square in the chest.
Kreese barely staggered back, unfazed he pushed forward as I re-engaged the fight and about a minute later was flipped flat on my back onto the concrete of the loading bay and copped a knife hand to the chest Kreese fell onto the floor next to me to put his full weight behind the blow.
It hurt like hell and Kreese stood back up, wiping some sweat off his forehead. "Your jab and your counters have gotten better. But for crying out loud, stop walking right into attacks."
"Yes Sensei."
He offered a hand to help me up but I ignored it. Despite him being my Sensei, I knew he could easily just toss me back onto the ground again to teach me a lesson on awareness and mercy.
Kreese nodded at this. "Still. Credit where it's due. You have in fact gotten very aware of the way I teach you. That's class."
I bowed to him and he bowed back.
"You hungry?" I asked. "I saw a diner not too far from here. 50s themed. Looks nice."
"Why not," said Kreese.
…
Kreese seemed to like the diner I chose.
If only he knew he'd be pretending he trained SEALs in Afghanistan and fought Noriega in Panama in this very restaraunt to Johnny Lawrence.
Kreese sipped his coffee without a sound, eyeing a waitress that walked by at her skirt line. "Well. You sure knew what hit the spot after a fair bit of training kid."
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"How can you stay in such great fighting shape despite living on the streets for the last thirty years?"
Kreese shrugged. "Well like I said I still got some training on my own done in that old parking lot every now and again. Plus I've been in my fair share of fights almost on a monthly, sometimes weekly basis."
Kreese rested his arms onto the booth's table, putting his coffee cup down. "So. You went to the LaRussos yesterday."
"I did."
"Your report." Kreese muttered as if I was a soldier in a war having scouted enemy positions.
I smiled. "What could I tell you that could be so crucial?"
"I need to know what he's been up to. I know Miyagi-Do Karate isn't a dojo anymore. I know he himself hasn't competed in anything anywhere for decades, nor has he trained anyone to do so either. What's crucial is knowing how he's trying to pass on Miyagi's karate."
I sighed. "Well. He has a wife and two kids. Sam's his daughter, she's my age."
"Hm." Kreese looked at me calmly for this, seeming to measure me.
"Anthony, his son. About eleven or so. And Amanda's his wife. I can't lie to you. They're nice people, very respectful, very nice people."
Kreese put his hands together and looked at me. "What about his students?"
"He doesn't have any."
"He never taught either of his children anything? None of his karate?"
I had two choices here. Lie. Or say that Sam was trained.
"I did catch a glimpse of a home dojo the LaRussos had in their backyard. My guess is, it's more than just a shrine to Miyagi. One of his kids was trained there at one point."
"Which one of them do you expect it is?"
"Samantha." I said. "She's not lazy nor whiny. Anthony is a brat who I had to motivate through humiliation to get him to move off his bed and stop playing video games to go outside. And he's only eleven."
Kreese nodded. "So the first friends your age you made here in the Valley. Are the son and daughter of Cobra Kai's greatest enemy of all time?"
"I wouldn't say they're my friends. More like. Friendly neighbors. Do you not approve Sensei?"
"I approve of you determining what LaRusso can call upon if needed."
I chuckled. "His two kids are not Miyagi-Do trained soldiers. Maybe they have some training, some, at most."
"You don't know that. He has a home dojo right?"
I exhaled quietly. "What do you want me to do? Throw Sam onto the grass the next time I play soccer with her and her brother hoping to see if she knows any karate?"
"I want you to remember to earn their trust. But to never give them yours." said Kreese cautiously. "They might be your neighbors. But try to see if you can make actual friends with others."
"I can do that." I said. "I have a question for you."
"What is it?"
"Last week when we went to the All Valley. You mentioned having regretted challenging Miyagi to the All Valley Johnny Lawrence lost to Daniel right?"
Kreese nodded quietly.
"Why regret it? I thought enemies deserved no mercy."
"You're right. Miyagi attacked my top students. He humiliated the greatest student I had trained in Cobra Kai. And I stand by making it the right decision. At the time." Kreese raised a finger slightly. "Key phrase there. At the time. Given the choice again, I wouldn't risk the dojo's glory and honor, as well as my standing with the students over such a bet."
"Isn't that what we're doing?"
Kreese stopped sipping from his coffee cup, putting it down. "Excuse me?"
"This entire plan is for me to win unaffiliated. And then reveal to the entire Valley I was your student all along. Aren't we putting LaRusso right in the middle of that by me earning so much trust and getting to know him and his family so well?"
"We need to put LaRusso in the middle of it. There will be no greater pain for him to know that such a close ally was Cobra Kai the whole time. We're not risking anything."
"But we're doing all this to bring Cobra Kai back. Isn't it risky with LaRusso knowing who I was an entire year in advance? He's on the All Valley committee. He has tons and tons of money, and he knows Miyagi-Do karate."
Kreese shifted in his seat at the booth. "The moment you win that championship next year. Even if LaRusso does absolutely everything in his power to stop us. He'll be completely unable to."
"Well why's that?"
"He has nothing. At most he has a single son or daughter who knows Miyagi-Do at all. Cobra Kai will have a record breaking champion. You'll have won unaffiliated. At barely fifteen. And all in your first tournament. That's three records in one. It would take LaRusso having allies of all kinds to do anything to stop us."
I nodded.
"Do you trust that Schwarber? Otherwise, all we've done until now is pointless."
"I trust that Sensei. I trust you. It's been two weeks of training under you. And I can safely say I already have the essentials to defend myself against any random attacker in the street. That's more than what anybody but my parents have done for me."
Kreese looked at the table and then at me. "You remain the most unique person I've talked to in over thirty years. You owe me nothing. I owe you nothing either. And yet I remain in your debt solely based on the fact of how much trust we've shared until now."
"All we've done is plan to make Cobra Kai number one again."
"No, we've done far more than that. I've told you about people like Terry who I didn't even tell my own students about back when I actually ran Cobra Kai. I've come out of retirement, to teach a complete stranger out of the blue. A fourteen year old boy no less, with no connection to me besides a name at all, my very livelihood. Cobra Kai Karate."
"What are you trying to say, Sensei?"
"You will be the very first of Cobra Kai's third generation of students. That's not a title you should take lightly. And you surprisingly have done well with the little I've had you do until now."
Kreese rarely gave out compliments unless I really was doing extremely well.
It almost sounded like he saw me as his successor or the most key part in his revenge plan on Daniel. He trusted me a great deal. This bitter, brutal, and cruel old man almost seemed to admit how necessary I was in his admittedly very simple and dry life of being homeless.
It was actually. A tiny bit touching.
"Thank you Sensei."
"Don't mention it. Because it leads me to my next point. We have to make you stronger, faster, and more ferocious as a fighter. In order to make you Cobra Kai. The basics will become your foundation, and then it's off to making you the most complete fighter I can make you. Working on your technique from the ground up."
"I like the sound of that."
"I can almost see it. You against those sorry excuses for karatekas in the All Valley Arena next year." Kreese snorted. "It's going to be quite the show to watch."
Assuming Daniel answered the way I was expecting him to tomorrow. Yeah. It would be a wipeout.
I looked around the diner. "Sensei. If we're supposed to make this a secret. Won't the chances of people discovering the fact that you and I know each other increase the more and more people I talk to and the more friends I make?"
"They would. Especially because I plan on training you so regularly. Which is why we'll keep an eye out for people you know. Won't we?"
I nodded. "Yes Sensei."
Our food arrived and we had a rather nice meal together, talked about what school could be like and what I was looking forward to doing spending my next four years of highschool at West Valley High.
For as cruel and evil as he seemed in the films. He really seemed patient with me for being a fourteen year old kid, we were just talking and getting to know each other like he was my grandfather or something on a regular summer Wednesday afternoon.
I'd given Daniel an entire day to think through my request to be trained in his karate. But I didn't really care if he said no or not.
Despite everything I knew Kreese did in the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai series.
He hadn't yet seemed to be violent, cruel, or harmful to me in any way. I knew he choked out Johnny at the end of the third season, his most recent bit of violent intent towards a good person, but in his slight defense. Johnny did start attacking him with punches and kicks and was nearly going to knife him with a Sai blade.
I didn't see a monster in this man. The same way he didn't see some stupid, spoiled rich kid in me.
We were both just people and I liked that as we talked over our early dinner together.
He was supposed to be the big bad of the original Karate Kid film. But surprisingly, he wasn't all that bad.
Was it because we were useful to each other? I didn't know yet really.
…
I knocked on the door of LaRusso's home the next day at 10 AM and Daniel answered it wearing a suit and tie.
"Are you planning on heading to work?"
Daniel nodded. "I am. I was expecting you later today honestly. But now that you're here I'll give you my answer. I've given it a lot of thought. Thought about the bit I've seen of you yesterday. How much your mother was there for me when I first learned karate and competed."
"And?"
"And." Daniel took a sigh. "My answer. Is yes."
Holy shit Schwarber you did it! Just keep this up for a year. One year of juggling Kreese and Daniel somehow and you will have done it.
"What?" I asked him. "Just like that."
"Trust me it won't be as flashy as you're thinking. I'll train you the same way I was trained. It's not fun, but it's not impossible. Which is why you're coming with me."
I rightfully should've asked him how him taking me to his car dealership would teach me any karate. But I knew how Miyagi-Do worked. Instead, I smiled.
"Okay," I said. "I'm ready to be trained."
Chapter Four
MiyazakiFan18
Know what you're doing yet?
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…
A/N: This being the first scene where I have to write in third person (action scene or training montage), I always visualize Dylan Minnette as Lucas. That being said, any scenes outside of third person will be the rest I mentioned to avoid confusion.
...
Learning Miyagi-Do Karate was the exact opposite of Cobra Kai.
Go figure.
Under the late May sun in searing heat, I waxed cars.
I mopped floors, turning and moving in the direction Daniel instructed.
I washed windows, I stapled papers together.
Daniel was teaching me how to incorporate karate into regular chores around his dealership.
About two hours into my first lesson I realized that at least Robby was being given a paycheck for this. I was fourteen, I'm sure a few eyebrows were raised around the workplace.
As I washed windows, swiping the cleaning blade side to side, always side to side, strongly, calm, a man walked up to me.
"Hey kid. I think the coffee filter needs a change or something. And I need some fresh bagels and donuts at the snack table."
I ignored him.
"Hello? I'm talking to you here."
I looked at him. It was Louie LaRusso. Complete dick, I might've hated him more than several characters on the show. Got Johnny's car burnt down and like a decent part of Daniel's family, rubbed me the wrong way.
"What?" I asked. "What do you want?"
Louie raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"
"I'm not here to help you frankly. You can go ask someone else."
"Alright, you work here. You do have to help, like it or not."
Daniel saw this, stepping away from shaking a client's hand. "Hey. Hey hey, what's going on?"
"This new intern thinks it's okay to mouth off on me."
I snorted. "Like you need a few extra pounds from all those donuts buddy."
"Where do you find these kids?" scoffed Louie.
Daniel sighed. "Okay. Lucas here is not an intern. He's. A friend of mine, a son of a friend of mine really."
"How come I've never heard of him?" Louie crossed his arms.
"I'll explain later. I-"
I smiled. "There's no need Mr. LaRusso. I'm Ali Mills' son. I'm here as a friend of Mr. LaRusso's."
"Ah." Louie smirked at Daniel. "The hot blonde from back in the day huh? The one who might've gotten away a little?" he nudged his cousin with an elbow. "I see ya. I see ya. No harm done kid, see ya round."
Daniel looked at me as I continued to wash windows for him. "Okay. Why'd you feel the need to do that?"
"No point in lying. All your employees were gonna find out eventually or wonder why a random fourteen year old is interning at a car dealership out of the blue. You don't come across as a liar Mr. LaRusso."
Daniel looked at me up and down. "You've taken all these chores I've given you rather well."
"They're not chores. They're karate." I muttered. "You wanted me to be trained. That's what I'm doing. Like I said. You're not a liar Mr. LaRusso."
Daniel chuckled. "Wow. You have a surprising bit of patience for a teenager."
No. I've just seen the show and watched the movies.
"That's what karate is supposed to build right? Patience, virtue. Honor and tact. I got nothing else better to do with my time but play video games at my house. This is a far better use of my summer."
Daniel looked at me. "It's been ages since this happened. I honestly thought it never would happen to begin with."
I chuckled. "Since what would happen?"
"Since I would believe anyone outside of my family could learn any Miyagi-Do karate. I'll train you every day you can be trained."
I smiled. "I'm available every single day of this entire summer."
"Then from twelve to three O'clock, I'll drive you from my house to here at the dealership. And when you're ready. We'll train in a forest."
"Sounds great."
…
Cobra Kai OST: Slither
…
From the 21st of May 2016 to the 21st of June 2016, Lucas Schwarber only did two things besides occasionally spending some time hanging out with the LaRusso siblings.
He trained in Cobra Kai Karate under John Kreese, and in Miyagi-Do Karate under Daniel LaRusso. Counting down the entire year by checking off red x marks on his calendar every day.
The moment he woke up in the same bedroom his mother, Ali Mills once slept in decades prior, he got dressed and went out for a run.
A golden retriever named Donnie Junior, the pup of Ali's old male golden retriever pup when she was a girl, ran with Lucas for his daily jog. He whistled him up, put a leash around him and they went jogging around Encino Hills.
Lucas jogged and jogged as Donnie Jr. followed him and he threw uppercuts and hook punches as he ran, making light 'tss' noises with his mouth.
When he returned home, Lucas jumped rope and hit a punching bag his grandfather had bought for him.
He practiced his boxing form, doing punches on the bag. Doing shadow boxing, using dumbells, a few pushups, but above all, mainly cardio for the entire afternoon of karate he'd start from twelve to three with Daniel to five to six thirty with Kreese.
At the LaRusso dealership, Lucas did kata disguised as chores for several hours, Daniel showing him the correct form and then eventually application after the first week of training.
After several days of practicing blocks by washing windows and waxing cars and doing all sorts of chores, Daniel took Lucas out into the forests where Lucas knew he likely trained Robby.
Daniel taught Lucas how to do kata on a pier out by a lake, kicking and punching the air.
Daniel insisted Lucas punch with all of his power into a single point on his knuckles while wearing a catcher's armor and mask.
And he taught him how to walk along a tree for hours throwing round kicks and even hook kicks to build balance. He even started to teach him the fundamentals for the two legged kick by balancing his whole body on one arm, which Lucas found was very helpful for building arm strength at times when he could pull it off.
Everything Daniel knew was at the cornerstone of Miyagi-Do karate, the kata, a few of the strikes, and especially the focus and balance, he taught to Lucas just how he at one point had seen on a screen in a different life.
While Daniel built Lucas' defense, blocks, and reactivity from the ground up, Kreese made him more aggressive, built his offense and attacks in the abandoned supermarket loading dock they trained in.
Lucas would throw forward strikes in place, kiai'ing loudly as Kreese inspected his form for fifteen minutes as the first part of his class to warm him up.
Lucas couldn't leave his guard open, or overextend nor move his head off line nor throw his body into it too much nor lean into it.
The strike itself was analyzed by Kreese for several minutes for weeks.
Kreese inspected, corrected, and improved the essential strikes every Cobra Kai karate student had to learn when he taught back on Lankershim Boulevard in the eighties.
The jab punch, consisting of a jab followed instantly by a right cross when the jab returned. Lucas couldn't move his head from where it was, starting from his foot leading all the way into his fist, Lucas had to throw his right hand twisting his back heel up and fully committing to it without leaning his head forward either and then returning it.
The reverse punch, to the head Lucas had to either rush right in and throw a cross to the face or quickly lower his opponent's lead hand protecting their face while throwing it. To the body, Lucas just had to commit and throw it as hard and fast as he could crouching down to land from a level change.
The front snap kick to the body and head, and then eventually the round kick to the body and head too.
Kreese used plenty of empty wooden crates the abandoned loading dock had for Lucas to smash apart and grow his striking speed, power, and ferocity like boards. And he'd break them apart easily just how Miguel used to as Johnny trained him to defeat Kyler and his group of bullies.
Nearing the final days of Lucas' first month of Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do training, Kreese and Daniel started to see just how much Lucas had improved.
He was more focused and precise, faster, and stronger. He was combining both of their styles into becoming a more complete fighter, one who could handle any sort of training they threw at him.
Daniel gave Lucas plenty of kata and precision, as well as balance, defense, and focus. And Kreese gave Lucas lots of raw muscle strength and physical conditioning, striking speed, aggression, and even plenty of ring control for how to move around the mat in a fight.
Standing in front of a mirror in his bedroom, even for a fourteen year old, Lucas could see how much muscle he had begun to pack onto his legs, and his bare chest, shoulders, back, and arms. Within an entire summer, he knew he would probably still be on a quick road to becoming the youngest All Valley karate champion in history.
He had spent a month straight just training and eating well. Lucas was getting more and more prepared by the day.
…
I was practicing with Daniel in his home Miyagi-Dojo.
"Show me wax on, wax off."
I blocked two face punches easily.
"Now paint the fence."
I had to use blocks with my palm and then the back of my hand, instead of just with the edge of each hand.
"And sand the floor."
I did so easily again like the other blocks.
"All together now."
Yelling loudly Daniel began to attack, I had to combine six separate blocks into a chain of strikes.
"Very nice." Daniel nodded.
We bowed to each other.
Daniel sighed. "You've got it all. You've got a solid, balanced, centered fighting stance. You don't break eye contact when you bow. Or, whenever you're practicing. You're strong, starting to build plenty of muscle surprisingly, and the bit of striking I taught you works out great whenever we practice it."
"I didn't know that last part was so important."
Daniel shrugged. "I was skinny as a stick when I first competed. Sure it would've helped against, the people I competed against back in the day. But it never hurts to have that extra bit of strength. Just always remember your center of balance, your focus. That, is far more important."
I was surprised by both my Senseis until now. I thought Daniel would be a goody two shoes and incredibly straitlaced with complete disregard for the physical side of training and Kreese honest to god hated any sort of encouragement. He was still as stern and stoic as an angry buffalo who happened to be a green beret and drill Sargeant, but still, he wasn't such an evil bastard to me.
"Remember. Karate is never here." Daniel tapped my bicep. "Karate is always." he tapped my forehead. "Here."
"Mental. Not physical?"
"Exactly," said Daniel. "I used to be the skinniest kid in school. These local guys, called Cobra Kais. Full of money and muscle, motorbikes and male bravado. All blondes and such, rich Valley kids. They would beat me up every week. A bit of Miyagi-Do training, and I took them all down at my first tournament."
"You ever wonder what happened to them?"
Daniel shrugged. "Never cared. They made my life hell for almost all of senior year. Glad to never see them again."
I frowned. Johnny, Bobby, Jimmy, Tommy, and even Dutch if prison reformed him would probably surprise Daniel if they met him again after what I knew from the show.
"What if they changed?" I asked.
Daniel snorted. "People don't change Lucas, trust me. I've seen it."
"Yes they do. Especially after decades I'd imagine they'd change."
Daniel sighed, sitting down on a nearby bench in the Miyagi-Dojo. "I think I should let you know something."
"Okay." I sat down next to him.
"What is the first rule of the karate I taught you?"
"Wax on wax off?" I joked.
Daniel shook his head, smiling. "No. You know what it is."
I muttered quietly. "Karate is for defense only."
"Cobra Kai made violent and brutal psychopaths, they lived by using karate to intimidate and do whatever they wanted. These guys, they hunted me down and tried to kill me once."
That was messed up. But.
It wasn't as black and white as I remembered. Nothing in life tended to be, Cobra Kai taught me that.
"Is there something you want to say to me?" Daniel asked kindly and quietly.
"My mom. She dated the top Cobra Kai at one point right? Johnny Lawrence."
Daniel nodded a bit. "She tell you that?"
"I pieced it together like I did everything else. Do you really think Johnny would've targeted you if you and him never went after the same girl?"
"What do I care? I never deserved that. You never met this guy and he was a total bully and a violent maniac. Why defend him?"
I frowned. "Speaking first hand. I don't think bullying is ever so black and white Mr. LaRusso. I don't think it's justified, but. To hold onto it for decades later. It can end badly I think."
I stood up off the bench. "We're done for today."
"Luke. Luke wait.-"
I had already left the home dojo.
…
I was draining a water bottle in the LaRusso's kitchen when I saw Sam walk into view.
"Hey Luke!"
"Sam." I said quietly.
"So. My dad's teaching you his karate. Surprised you lasted the first week without getting bored of it."
I shrugged. "It's not a bad skill to have. Building patience and a clear mind. An open mind too, be willing to go out of my comfort zone and see not everything is what it seems. I like Miyagi-Do karate."
"Yeah…" Sam cleared her throat. "About that."
"Yeah?"
"You've only really spent time with me and my family for karate related stuff lately. I made some friends with a few people around here. A guy named Kyler, Rory, Brucks. And a few others, Moon and Yasmine. Think it'd be cool if you went with me to meet them. We're hanging out for the first time next week if you want to join. I'd really appreciate going with someone I already knew."
I looked at Sam up and down quickly and with a bit of a frown.
She noticed this. "What?"
Poor Aisha Robinson. She was really awesome, I wish she had punched Yasmine in the mouth too instead of just giving her a front wedgie. I had half a mind to spend time with her or anyone else instead of Sam. She didn't know better but yeah.
"Don't you already have friends from your middle school?"
"They either moved away or we don't really. Gel. Anymore."
Right.
"Yeah. I'm good Sam." I said quietly, throwing a water bottle away.
"Um. Alright."
She was clearly a little bit upset by this.
I watched her walk off with a small wave.
Yeah. Have fun with them.
I clicked my bike helmet under my chin on their front porch realizing something.
This was the year Kyler spent warming up to Sam and her family to eventually start dating her next summer. That relationship ended very badly for Sam and she had no clue how it would all end up.
I scowled.
I might be self interested enough to seek both Daniel and Kreese out to become an All Valley champ. But I don't know why I felt weird about this.
Then it hit me.
A girl your age gets to know you for a month. You spend time with her dad. You get stronger and more confident.
Yeah Schwarber. Keep your distance. This is like using the ring in a fight. The world's throwing jabs at you. You might upset the LaRussos. Your plan gets outed a year early cause you didn't pay attention.
You get hit. Never lose focus.
I didn't have to watch her back. At least for now. But that didn't mean I had to get involved in something I had no business in either.
Sam was trouble. Couldn't tell Kreese about it.
I had a two months left before school started. I had to find friends I knew were worth my time and surprisingly far more mature than Sam despite being the same age, people I know would go to school with her in the fall.
Demetri and Eli. The Binary brothers. Aisha too would be great, all three of them were awesome. They'd be the best friend group in the world for the remainder of the summer while training.
…
A/N: This being the first scene where I have to write in third person (action scene or training montage), I always visualize Dylan Minnette as Lucas. That being said, any scenes outside of third person will be the rest I mentioned to avoid confusion.
...
Learning Miyagi-Do Karate was the exact opposite of Cobra Kai.
Go figure.
Under the late May sun in searing heat, I waxed cars.
I mopped floors, turning and moving in the direction Daniel instructed.
I washed windows, I stapled papers together.
Daniel was teaching me how to incorporate karate into regular chores around his dealership.
About two hours into my first lesson I realized that at least Robby was being given a paycheck for this. I was fourteen, I'm sure a few eyebrows were raised around the workplace.
As I washed windows, swiping the cleaning blade side to side, always side to side, strongly, calm, a man walked up to me.
"Hey kid. I think the coffee filter needs a change or something. And I need some fresh bagels and donuts at the snack table."
I ignored him.
"Hello? I'm talking to you here."
I looked at him. It was Louie LaRusso. Complete dick, I might've hated him more than several characters on the show. Got Johnny's car burnt down and like a decent part of Daniel's family, rubbed me the wrong way.
"What?" I asked. "What do you want?"
Louie raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"
"I'm not here to help you frankly. You can go ask someone else."
"Alright, you work here. You do have to help, like it or not."
Daniel saw this, stepping away from shaking a client's hand. "Hey. Hey hey, what's going on?"
"This new intern thinks it's okay to mouth off on me."
I snorted. "Like you need a few extra pounds from all those donuts buddy."
"Where do you find these kids?" scoffed Louie.
Daniel sighed. "Okay. Lucas here is not an intern. He's. A friend of mine, a son of a friend of mine really."
"How come I've never heard of him?" Louie crossed his arms.
"I'll explain later. I-"
I smiled. "There's no need Mr. LaRusso. I'm Ali Mills' son. I'm here as a friend of Mr. LaRusso's."
"Ah." Louie smirked at Daniel. "The hot blonde from back in the day huh? The one who might've gotten away a little?" he nudged his cousin with an elbow. "I see ya. I see ya. No harm done kid, see ya round."
Daniel looked at me as I continued to wash windows for him. "Okay. Why'd you feel the need to do that?"
"No point in lying. All your employees were gonna find out eventually or wonder why a random fourteen year old is interning at a car dealership out of the blue. You don't come across as a liar Mr. LaRusso."
Daniel looked at me up and down. "You've taken all these chores I've given you rather well."
"They're not chores. They're karate." I muttered. "You wanted me to be trained. That's what I'm doing. Like I said. You're not a liar Mr. LaRusso."
Daniel chuckled. "Wow. You have a surprising bit of patience for a teenager."
No. I've just seen the show and watched the movies.
"That's what karate is supposed to build right? Patience, virtue. Honor and tact. I got nothing else better to do with my time but play video games at my house. This is a far better use of my summer."
Daniel looked at me. "It's been ages since this happened. I honestly thought it never would happen to begin with."
I chuckled. "Since what would happen?"
"Since I would believe anyone outside of my family could learn any Miyagi-Do karate. I'll train you every day you can be trained."
I smiled. "I'm available every single day of this entire summer."
"Then from twelve to three O'clock, I'll drive you from my house to here at the dealership. And when you're ready. We'll train in a forest."
"Sounds great."
…
Cobra Kai OST: Slither
…
From the 21st of May 2016 to the 21st of June 2016, Lucas Schwarber only did two things besides occasionally spending some time hanging out with the LaRusso siblings.
He trained in Cobra Kai Karate under John Kreese, and in Miyagi-Do Karate under Daniel LaRusso. Counting down the entire year by checking off red x marks on his calendar every day.
The moment he woke up in the same bedroom his mother, Ali Mills once slept in decades prior, he got dressed and went out for a run.
A golden retriever named Donnie Junior, the pup of Ali's old male golden retriever pup when she was a girl, ran with Lucas for his daily jog. He whistled him up, put a leash around him and they went jogging around Encino Hills.
Lucas jogged and jogged as Donnie Jr. followed him and he threw uppercuts and hook punches as he ran, making light 'tss' noises with his mouth.
When he returned home, Lucas jumped rope and hit a punching bag his grandfather had bought for him.
He practiced his boxing form, doing punches on the bag. Doing shadow boxing, using dumbells, a few pushups, but above all, mainly cardio for the entire afternoon of karate he'd start from twelve to three with Daniel to five to six thirty with Kreese.
At the LaRusso dealership, Lucas did kata disguised as chores for several hours, Daniel showing him the correct form and then eventually application after the first week of training.
After several days of practicing blocks by washing windows and waxing cars and doing all sorts of chores, Daniel took Lucas out into the forests where Lucas knew he likely trained Robby.
Daniel taught Lucas how to do kata on a pier out by a lake, kicking and punching the air.
Daniel insisted Lucas punch with all of his power into a single point on his knuckles while wearing a catcher's armor and mask.
And he taught him how to walk along a tree for hours throwing round kicks and even hook kicks to build balance. He even started to teach him the fundamentals for the two legged kick by balancing his whole body on one arm, which Lucas found was very helpful for building arm strength at times when he could pull it off.
Everything Daniel knew was at the cornerstone of Miyagi-Do karate, the kata, a few of the strikes, and especially the focus and balance, he taught to Lucas just how he at one point had seen on a screen in a different life.
While Daniel built Lucas' defense, blocks, and reactivity from the ground up, Kreese made him more aggressive, built his offense and attacks in the abandoned supermarket loading dock they trained in.
Lucas would throw forward strikes in place, kiai'ing loudly as Kreese inspected his form for fifteen minutes as the first part of his class to warm him up.
Lucas couldn't leave his guard open, or overextend nor move his head off line nor throw his body into it too much nor lean into it.
The strike itself was analyzed by Kreese for several minutes for weeks.
Kreese inspected, corrected, and improved the essential strikes every Cobra Kai karate student had to learn when he taught back on Lankershim Boulevard in the eighties.
The jab punch, consisting of a jab followed instantly by a right cross when the jab returned. Lucas couldn't move his head from where it was, starting from his foot leading all the way into his fist, Lucas had to throw his right hand twisting his back heel up and fully committing to it without leaning his head forward either and then returning it.
The reverse punch, to the head Lucas had to either rush right in and throw a cross to the face or quickly lower his opponent's lead hand protecting their face while throwing it. To the body, Lucas just had to commit and throw it as hard and fast as he could crouching down to land from a level change.
The front snap kick to the body and head, and then eventually the round kick to the body and head too.
Kreese used plenty of empty wooden crates the abandoned loading dock had for Lucas to smash apart and grow his striking speed, power, and ferocity like boards. And he'd break them apart easily just how Miguel used to as Johnny trained him to defeat Kyler and his group of bullies.
Nearing the final days of Lucas' first month of Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do training, Kreese and Daniel started to see just how much Lucas had improved.
He was more focused and precise, faster, and stronger. He was combining both of their styles into becoming a more complete fighter, one who could handle any sort of training they threw at him.
Daniel gave Lucas plenty of kata and precision, as well as balance, defense, and focus. And Kreese gave Lucas lots of raw muscle strength and physical conditioning, striking speed, aggression, and even plenty of ring control for how to move around the mat in a fight.
Standing in front of a mirror in his bedroom, even for a fourteen year old, Lucas could see how much muscle he had begun to pack onto his legs, and his bare chest, shoulders, back, and arms. Within an entire summer, he knew he would probably still be on a quick road to becoming the youngest All Valley karate champion in history.
He had spent a month straight just training and eating well. Lucas was getting more and more prepared by the day.
…
I was practicing with Daniel in his home Miyagi-Dojo.
"Show me wax on, wax off."
I blocked two face punches easily.
"Now paint the fence."
I had to use blocks with my palm and then the back of my hand, instead of just with the edge of each hand.
"And sand the floor."
I did so easily again like the other blocks.
"All together now."
Yelling loudly Daniel began to attack, I had to combine six separate blocks into a chain of strikes.
"Very nice." Daniel nodded.
We bowed to each other.
Daniel sighed. "You've got it all. You've got a solid, balanced, centered fighting stance. You don't break eye contact when you bow. Or, whenever you're practicing. You're strong, starting to build plenty of muscle surprisingly, and the bit of striking I taught you works out great whenever we practice it."
"I didn't know that last part was so important."
Daniel shrugged. "I was skinny as a stick when I first competed. Sure it would've helped against, the people I competed against back in the day. But it never hurts to have that extra bit of strength. Just always remember your center of balance, your focus. That, is far more important."
I was surprised by both my Senseis until now. I thought Daniel would be a goody two shoes and incredibly straitlaced with complete disregard for the physical side of training and Kreese honest to god hated any sort of encouragement. He was still as stern and stoic as an angry buffalo who happened to be a green beret and drill Sargeant, but still, he wasn't such an evil bastard to me.
"Remember. Karate is never here." Daniel tapped my bicep. "Karate is always." he tapped my forehead. "Here."
"Mental. Not physical?"
"Exactly," said Daniel. "I used to be the skinniest kid in school. These local guys, called Cobra Kais. Full of money and muscle, motorbikes and male bravado. All blondes and such, rich Valley kids. They would beat me up every week. A bit of Miyagi-Do training, and I took them all down at my first tournament."
"You ever wonder what happened to them?"
Daniel shrugged. "Never cared. They made my life hell for almost all of senior year. Glad to never see them again."
I frowned. Johnny, Bobby, Jimmy, Tommy, and even Dutch if prison reformed him would probably surprise Daniel if they met him again after what I knew from the show.
"What if they changed?" I asked.
Daniel snorted. "People don't change Lucas, trust me. I've seen it."
"Yes they do. Especially after decades I'd imagine they'd change."
Daniel sighed, sitting down on a nearby bench in the Miyagi-Dojo. "I think I should let you know something."
"Okay." I sat down next to him.
"What is the first rule of the karate I taught you?"
"Wax on wax off?" I joked.
Daniel shook his head, smiling. "No. You know what it is."
I muttered quietly. "Karate is for defense only."
"Cobra Kai made violent and brutal psychopaths, they lived by using karate to intimidate and do whatever they wanted. These guys, they hunted me down and tried to kill me once."
That was messed up. But.
It wasn't as black and white as I remembered. Nothing in life tended to be, Cobra Kai taught me that.
"Is there something you want to say to me?" Daniel asked kindly and quietly.
"My mom. She dated the top Cobra Kai at one point right? Johnny Lawrence."
Daniel nodded a bit. "She tell you that?"
"I pieced it together like I did everything else. Do you really think Johnny would've targeted you if you and him never went after the same girl?"
"What do I care? I never deserved that. You never met this guy and he was a total bully and a violent maniac. Why defend him?"
I frowned. "Speaking first hand. I don't think bullying is ever so black and white Mr. LaRusso. I don't think it's justified, but. To hold onto it for decades later. It can end badly I think."
I stood up off the bench. "We're done for today."
"Luke. Luke wait.-"
I had already left the home dojo.
…
I was draining a water bottle in the LaRusso's kitchen when I saw Sam walk into view.
"Hey Luke!"
"Sam." I said quietly.
"So. My dad's teaching you his karate. Surprised you lasted the first week without getting bored of it."
I shrugged. "It's not a bad skill to have. Building patience and a clear mind. An open mind too, be willing to go out of my comfort zone and see not everything is what it seems. I like Miyagi-Do karate."
"Yeah…" Sam cleared her throat. "About that."
"Yeah?"
"You've only really spent time with me and my family for karate related stuff lately. I made some friends with a few people around here. A guy named Kyler, Rory, Brucks. And a few others, Moon and Yasmine. Think it'd be cool if you went with me to meet them. We're hanging out for the first time next week if you want to join. I'd really appreciate going with someone I already knew."
I looked at Sam up and down quickly and with a bit of a frown.
She noticed this. "What?"
Poor Aisha Robinson. She was really awesome, I wish she had punched Yasmine in the mouth too instead of just giving her a front wedgie. I had half a mind to spend time with her or anyone else instead of Sam. She didn't know better but yeah.
"Don't you already have friends from your middle school?"
"They either moved away or we don't really. Gel. Anymore."
Right.
"Yeah. I'm good Sam." I said quietly, throwing a water bottle away.
"Um. Alright."
She was clearly a little bit upset by this.
I watched her walk off with a small wave.
Yeah. Have fun with them.
I clicked my bike helmet under my chin on their front porch realizing something.
This was the year Kyler spent warming up to Sam and her family to eventually start dating her next summer. That relationship ended very badly for Sam and she had no clue how it would all end up.
I scowled.
I might be self interested enough to seek both Daniel and Kreese out to become an All Valley champ. But I don't know why I felt weird about this.
Then it hit me.
A girl your age gets to know you for a month. You spend time with her dad. You get stronger and more confident.
Yeah Schwarber. Keep your distance. This is like using the ring in a fight. The world's throwing jabs at you. You might upset the LaRussos. Your plan gets outed a year early cause you didn't pay attention.
You get hit. Never lose focus.
I didn't have to watch her back. At least for now. But that didn't mean I had to get involved in something I had no business in either.
Sam was trouble. Couldn't tell Kreese about it.
I had a two months left before school started. I had to find friends I knew were worth my time and surprisingly far more mature than Sam despite being the same age, people I know would go to school with her in the fall.
Demetri and Eli. The Binary brothers. Aisha too would be great, all three of them were awesome. They'd be the best friend group in the world for the remainder of the summer while training.
…
Chapter Five
MiyazakiFan18
Know what you're doing yet?
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…
Trimming the bonsais Daniel had around his home ended up being a pretty fun way to spend my time.
It was currently June 22nd, 2016. I had about a month and a half before I began high school at West Valley High for the first time.
And I was enjoying my time here in the Valley a great deal.
So was my Miyagi-Do Sensei.
"Another day. Some more kata huh?"
I nodded quietly.
"Look um."
I was surprised by how humble and apologetic he looked.
Daniel frowned. "You were right. I was holding on to the past a great deal."
"Thank you. But what exactly is in your past that makes Cobra Kai so wrong?"
Daniel sighed. "I can't tell you everything. At least not yet."
The third Karate Kid film. I could imagine.
I looked at him. "Don't you think it's best that I know everything about Cobra Kai in order to avoid it?"
"And why's that?"
"Because they're violent and cruel right? Shouldn't I avoid it?"
Daniel smiled. "Well the good news is Lucas. Cobra Kai will never come back. Not in a million years. There's no reason I should pass this all down to you."
I smiled. "Alright Mr. LaRusso. If Cobra Kai won't come back. Why dwell on the past?"
"Right." Daniel nodded. "Now. Kibadachi stance."
We stood in horse stance and began to practice our kata.
…
I decided to start looking for Demetri, Eli, or Aisha around town. They were the only friends I think I wanted to make right now here in the Valley.
After about twenty minutes of trying, eventually I stumbled across them at a nearby park.
I locked up my bicycle at a nearby rack and walked towards them, taking my helmet off. "You guys really should watch out. Who knows how many people like stealing vintage EDH commanders."
I smiled.
The person I knew to be Demetri Alexopolous nodded, smoothing out a few of his Magic the Gathering cards over the table. "So far so good."
I stuck my hand out. "My name's Lucas."
"Demetri." he shook it and continued to cycle his cards in his hand. "This is Eli."
He smiled at me weakly. Still looked horribly shy.
The Hawk unborn.
I was going to ask where Aisha was. But I don't think she actually met these two or were friends until high school.
I sat down next to them on the park bench. "So um. You guys always just play EDH out in the open?"
"Only sometimes. The comic book store was closed today."
"So you guys go to the mall and stuff?"
Demetri nodded.
"Cool. I'm uh, new in town. Could use someone to show me around and stuff."
Demetri shrugged. "Don't see why not. What kind of things are you into?"
I technically was reincarnated into six years in the past so I had to remember what did and didn't exist yet.
"Uh. Mostly a few old games on Xbox. I'd like to build a computer someday, I know my folks have the money for it."
"You like to build computers?" asked Demetri, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. It's not too hard after you've built your first. All you need is a screwdriver, a tower, all the parts and the manual that comes with a motherboard. That's mostly it."
Demetri looked at Eli for a second. "What else?"
"The original Star Wars trilogy. Love it to death. Huge fan, huge huge fan. Martial arts and boxing."
Demetri smiled at me for a second. "Lost me a bit with those last two, other than that, think you'd fit in perfectly with us."
Eli smiled and nodded too.
I chuckled, in thought.
That was what I was hoping for.
We started to talk about a few anime I knew were still popular and that I liked in 2016. Apparently Attack on Titan was still really popular.
I smiled as Demetri rambled on and on about his theories.
"See I want to read the manga to find out what happens later on? But honestly between coding camp in a few weeks and the Academic Decathlon. No time, no time at all to get into yet another manga."
"I feel that." I said.
Demetri nodded as Eli beat him almost 31 to nothing and they cleaned up their EDH game. "So. What kinda stuff do you do in your free time?"
"Karate."
Two warring kinds of karate actually by men who would train both of you at one point too.
"Karate?" scoffed Demetri. "What could you need karate for?"
Conveniently, those who I knew to be Season 1's 'popular kids' approached.
"Hey Luke!" Sam said as the people I knew to be Kyler's gang and Yasmine's were walking by at the park.
This did not feel like a coincidence that Sam happened to be walking around in the same park. I don't think it was stalking by any means, but it was likely she saw me from a nearby sidewalk or something.
"Hey Sam. This is Demetri and Eli."
Two fellow Miyagi-Dos you'll have despite you not knowing it, so cut out any ideas of bullying them.
She nodded to them. "Hi."
Demetri waved as Sam looked back towards me. "This is Kyler and Yasmine."
"Sup." he said.
"Glad to meet everyone." I said quietly. "Guess we're all going to West Valley in a few months huh?"
Everyone there nodded more or less.
"Cool. Guess we'll see each other around then."
Without me having to teach Yasmine and Kyler a lesson about being pieces of absolute shit.
Sam cleared her throat. "So. We were going to head to the mall or catch a movie or something. Wanna come with?"
I already said no. It was official now, she had a crush on me. Guess it made sense, besides all the differences in personality and such, I was basically Robby to her but Ali's son instead of Johnny's.
It was pretty clear that Eli and Demetri would never fit in with these guys, I belonged with them in some sense.
"I'll take a rain check." I shrugged and leaned my back on the park bench table.
The guy I think was named Rory laughed. "Look at how cool this guy thinks he is. Like he's passing on Princeton or something."
Damn this guy sounded stupid. Sam was friends with all these people for over a year in the show apparently?
Brucks and Kyler laughed and then I ignored them just staring calmly at Sam.
"Yeah. I'm not going."
I could see Yasmine muttering to the girl I knew was Moon. They laughed and I turned around to see Eli shrink and cover his upper lip.
"You got something you wanna say?" I asked, loud enough for them all to notice.
Yasmine froze. "Uh."
"No?"
Yasmine frowned.
"Thought so."
Sam looked at me. "What's the matter?"
"Look. Why don't take your little friends and get outta here. You're clearly making Eli uncomfortable."
Sam glanced at me up and down. "Luke I-"
"You what?"
Kyler raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem dude?"
"Maybe." I looked towards Sam. "Do you want me to tell your dad your new friends are making fun of a kid's lip?"
Kyler scoffed. "Oh shit. Your dad? You know her dad?"
I sighed. "Sam. I really don't care who you're friends with. But um. For now. You and I. We aren't friends. So. Sorry."
Sam had her arms crossed. She did not appreciate being threatened.
The Sam I knew could ruin my entire summer right now if I wasn't quick enough.
If Kyler wanted to act tough in front of Sam, things would get ugly. A mess would break out, I would have to strike first, hurt most of them or at least Kyler, maybe not win per say but definitely cause some damage.
Then, Mr. LaRusso figures out that I at least don't mind using Miyagi-Do aggressively and my whole plan has been blown.
"Let's just go." Moon suggested.
Sam nodded. "Fine then." she said to me.
"Fine."
They all walked off and this was probably not the best first impression. I had no choice. Either watch them act like spoiled bullies around this whole Valley by hanging out with them or making who I was clear.
I knew Sam was a good person deep down. But I hated her character during the first season of the show, which was much worse now that she was a year younger and far more immature probably.
It took her until basically the last episode of the first season to finally realize she had wronged Aisha and earned her forgiveness.
Demetri was jaw dropped. "I cannot believe you just did that."
"Did what?"
"You stood up to bullies. Maybe not bullies, but they made fun of Eli and you made them walk off."
"That's what karate teaches you. You have to either walk away or stand your ground instantly getting ready for anything."
Demetri scoffed. "Well. I wish I had your confidence."
Wait until you meet Miguel. He kicked all their asses in a school cafeteria on his own.
While Sam just watched, having done karate for nearly her whole life.
"But a girl that hot? You said no to hanging out with her?"
"Said no to hanging out with the people she was around." I said.
Demetri looked off after Yasmine, nodding towards her. "I wouldn't turn her down on that offer. No sir."
"Into rich blondes eh?"
"At least whoever she was. She was smoking."
"Eh." I muttered. "Can we get back to EDH?"
"Actually we wanted to finish building Eli's Lego Death Star first. It's at his place."
I looked to Eli. "Can we go?"
Needless to say after what I just did, I had more than earned Eli's trust and interest in becoming friends.
I had to trade two good first impressions for several bad ones just now.
…
After practicing some forward strikes, Kreese spoke. "Okay. Here's a good counter. It's called the catch and sweep, one of the first I learned over in 'Nam."
He got into his fighting stance across me as I stood in mine.
"As your opponent comes in with shots over the top towards the nose or chin. Straight or hook punches. You lower yourself and draw yourself forward. The second you catch them, spin in the same direction they are coming in with to use that momentum and throw them to the ground."
I nodded. "Okay."
"Allow me to demonstrate. Ais!"
I fired a quick jab punch and a reverse punch to the body. Despite me using my range properly enough to not get countered, Kreese was still skilled enough to catch me at close range and send me into the ground, hard.
"Aii!" he roared as the strike meant to finish me missed, just as he trained me.
I twisted my body using an improvised version of an escape from full or half mount Kreese had taught me. We didn't practice grappling more than twice or maybe thrice a week, but he did actually know plenty from years and years of karate and competition.
As his fist came towards my nose to strike me, I caught his arm and twisted away off the ground, spinning Kreese away from me and using the twist to stand back up, facing him and ready to strike.
Kreese nodded as the drill was finished. "You're learning the lesson Mr. Schwarber. That's a good hip throw off the ground, proper improvisation."
"Thank you Sensei."
"Now. You have to use that same movement but on your feet instead of on your back. Almost the same application."
Again Kreese struck without warning almost catching me off guard, made for having great reflexes honestly.
Despite me being a fifth of his age, the size difference wasn't staggering enough and I was able to use the hip throw perfectly as I caught him at close range and spun him onto the ground.
It wasn't a move based that much on strength, technically you could overcome a decent size difference so long as you had the right body movement down to toss a person to the ground using full range of motion.
I made sure to time my punch to the chest as Kreese fell to not give him time to react on the ground.
"Aiya!"
Kreese brushed himself off, it was if the blow didn't touch him. Always weird like that.
"That's it." Kreese nodded. "That would've been a perfect point in a tournament. More importantly, you could've really finished a fight with that one move."
I nodded back quietly.
"Now. Again!"
…
I wiped the sweat off my brow, I sat down and sipped water from a bottle I had brought with me after I was done for the day with Kreese.
"That was good work. But I need better next time." Kreese said sternly.
"Yes Sensei."
"You're not afraid to hit an old man. That's good, means you understand no mercy."
I nodded a bit. "It's what you taught me."
"It is. I need to know now how you're applying it outside of the classroom."
And what a classroom we trained in. An old abandoned supermarket loading dock that still had debris and old wooden pallets and loading crates from decades ago.
"How're things going with the LaRusso girl?"
"Not too well. Her friends are all vain, spoiled, and entitled bullies. Besides the bullies part. They're just like her."
Kreese chuckled quietly, crossing his arms. "I thought you wanted to leave a good impression on LaRusso."
"I think she's probably jealous of me. Spending more time with her dad than her or something."
"What do you think of her?"
I frowned, putting my water bottle down. "Why does it matter to you Sensei?"
"Well. After a year of getting to know her. I'd imagine betraying her father by using his karate to win the All Valley the whole time is the kind of thing to ruin a friendship for the rest of your lives."
"And?"
"And I'm curious if you have any guilt as to what you're doing to this family after getting to know them for an entire summer so far."
I shook my head. "Cobras don't feel guilt."
"You have the instincts and have started to have the skills of a Cobra Kai. But you're not a Cobra Kai just yet. You haven't had a real fight yet outside of class. You haven't competed in any tournaments or anywhere, nor tested yourself beyond daily practice and training. I just need to know what this family is like, and what they mean to you."
I frowned. "You don't trust me. Do you?"
"Lucas. I trust you a great deal. You're still a fourteen year old kid spending an entire summer plotting to betray your neighbors you only just met. It's only natural you might have some qualms about doing all this."
This was a test hidden in plain sight. He often did this. He called them 'land mines' meant to 'increase awareness.'
I stood up off the loading bay dock area from the building itself and looked at Kreese calmly in the eyes. "Mercy does not exist. Guilt, is mercy."
Bullseye.
Kreese muttered quietly. "In under a month you've learned almost every lesson I've taught you to the letter. Both physical, and mental. This um, plan we've built to put LaRusso in his place. It's making things a bit difficult."
"How so Sensei?"
"LaRusso, and his family by extension. Are the enemy so long as you're Cobra Kai. And I can't test you or your loyalty properly without risking the entire plan. I'm starting to wonder just how much you actually need LaRusso's trust in order to make this work."
Would I have only gotten just a full month of Miyagi-Do in to make my plan work?
I watched Kreese sigh quietly to himself. "We'll figure it out. Class is already over today. But I want to leave you with a lesson. I have no doubt you actually believe this Samantha girl is as vain or worthless to you as you say she is."
"But." Kreese approached me. "In a fight. And always in your life. The most important thing you must protect."
He tapped the center of my chest. "Is right here."
"My heart?"
It sometimes shocked me how much he trained me like I was Robby, deleted scenes or not. To him I bet we were very similar although not so similar in many ways.
"In a way. What you must protect is what you care about. There is only one thing a Cobra Kai must care about. In the street. In competition. In life. And that thing, is victory."
I smiled, I could tell Kreese liked how much I enjoyed and appreciated the lesson.
"Life has distractions. Most of them are easy to spot. Movies. Parties. Dates."
I was nodding, getting it.
"Girls. This LaRusso girl, like any other. Will make you weak if you get too attached. Friend or not."
He never met Tory Nichols yet, she basically became like a daughter to him. I highly doubted she'd make Cobra Kai weak if she became it's very first female champion.
"What if women started to compete in karate?"
Kreese laughed a decent bit, surprising as he never laughed at anything unless it was a low chuckle over how much I reminded him of an old student he had or something.
Kreese looked at me again. "Wait, you're serious?"
"I'm not saying it has to happen. I'm saying it could."
"Son, even if that did happen. Which it, probably won't. I still highly doubt it would change my lesson."
"I understand Sensei."
"The whole world has gotten weak. We must adapt to it. But it is weak to its very core. Words, awards, and titles have far less meaning now. Everything has become digitized and instantly accessible. Except for the truth."
I nodded again, he was pretty right.
Kreese went on. "And that's a truth you're going to humiliate that joke of an All Valley champion with. That All Star Karate ponce, Morrison. Show him, this Valley, and the man who has wronged me the most in my life, Daniel LaRusso. The real truth this pathetic snowflake generation desperately needs to know, which is."
It shocked me sometimes how much Johnny and Kreese sounded so similar sometimes.
"There is no such thing as mercy." Kreese said like he did before. It was basically his motto besides Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy. "The only truth we must seek. Is victory."
"I'll seek it Sensei."
"Good."
Trimming the bonsais Daniel had around his home ended up being a pretty fun way to spend my time.
It was currently June 22nd, 2016. I had about a month and a half before I began high school at West Valley High for the first time.
And I was enjoying my time here in the Valley a great deal.
So was my Miyagi-Do Sensei.
"Another day. Some more kata huh?"
I nodded quietly.
"Look um."
I was surprised by how humble and apologetic he looked.
Daniel frowned. "You were right. I was holding on to the past a great deal."
"Thank you. But what exactly is in your past that makes Cobra Kai so wrong?"
Daniel sighed. "I can't tell you everything. At least not yet."
The third Karate Kid film. I could imagine.
I looked at him. "Don't you think it's best that I know everything about Cobra Kai in order to avoid it?"
"And why's that?"
"Because they're violent and cruel right? Shouldn't I avoid it?"
Daniel smiled. "Well the good news is Lucas. Cobra Kai will never come back. Not in a million years. There's no reason I should pass this all down to you."
I smiled. "Alright Mr. LaRusso. If Cobra Kai won't come back. Why dwell on the past?"
"Right." Daniel nodded. "Now. Kibadachi stance."
We stood in horse stance and began to practice our kata.
…
I decided to start looking for Demetri, Eli, or Aisha around town. They were the only friends I think I wanted to make right now here in the Valley.
After about twenty minutes of trying, eventually I stumbled across them at a nearby park.
I locked up my bicycle at a nearby rack and walked towards them, taking my helmet off. "You guys really should watch out. Who knows how many people like stealing vintage EDH commanders."
I smiled.
The person I knew to be Demetri Alexopolous nodded, smoothing out a few of his Magic the Gathering cards over the table. "So far so good."
I stuck my hand out. "My name's Lucas."
"Demetri." he shook it and continued to cycle his cards in his hand. "This is Eli."
He smiled at me weakly. Still looked horribly shy.
The Hawk unborn.
I was going to ask where Aisha was. But I don't think she actually met these two or were friends until high school.
I sat down next to them on the park bench. "So um. You guys always just play EDH out in the open?"
"Only sometimes. The comic book store was closed today."
"So you guys go to the mall and stuff?"
Demetri nodded.
"Cool. I'm uh, new in town. Could use someone to show me around and stuff."
Demetri shrugged. "Don't see why not. What kind of things are you into?"
I technically was reincarnated into six years in the past so I had to remember what did and didn't exist yet.
"Uh. Mostly a few old games on Xbox. I'd like to build a computer someday, I know my folks have the money for it."
"You like to build computers?" asked Demetri, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. It's not too hard after you've built your first. All you need is a screwdriver, a tower, all the parts and the manual that comes with a motherboard. That's mostly it."
Demetri looked at Eli for a second. "What else?"
"The original Star Wars trilogy. Love it to death. Huge fan, huge huge fan. Martial arts and boxing."
Demetri smiled at me for a second. "Lost me a bit with those last two, other than that, think you'd fit in perfectly with us."
Eli smiled and nodded too.
I chuckled, in thought.
That was what I was hoping for.
We started to talk about a few anime I knew were still popular and that I liked in 2016. Apparently Attack on Titan was still really popular.
I smiled as Demetri rambled on and on about his theories.
"See I want to read the manga to find out what happens later on? But honestly between coding camp in a few weeks and the Academic Decathlon. No time, no time at all to get into yet another manga."
"I feel that." I said.
Demetri nodded as Eli beat him almost 31 to nothing and they cleaned up their EDH game. "So. What kinda stuff do you do in your free time?"
"Karate."
Two warring kinds of karate actually by men who would train both of you at one point too.
"Karate?" scoffed Demetri. "What could you need karate for?"
Conveniently, those who I knew to be Season 1's 'popular kids' approached.
"Hey Luke!" Sam said as the people I knew to be Kyler's gang and Yasmine's were walking by at the park.
This did not feel like a coincidence that Sam happened to be walking around in the same park. I don't think it was stalking by any means, but it was likely she saw me from a nearby sidewalk or something.
"Hey Sam. This is Demetri and Eli."
Two fellow Miyagi-Dos you'll have despite you not knowing it, so cut out any ideas of bullying them.
She nodded to them. "Hi."
Demetri waved as Sam looked back towards me. "This is Kyler and Yasmine."
"Sup." he said.
"Glad to meet everyone." I said quietly. "Guess we're all going to West Valley in a few months huh?"
Everyone there nodded more or less.
"Cool. Guess we'll see each other around then."
Without me having to teach Yasmine and Kyler a lesson about being pieces of absolute shit.
Sam cleared her throat. "So. We were going to head to the mall or catch a movie or something. Wanna come with?"
I already said no. It was official now, she had a crush on me. Guess it made sense, besides all the differences in personality and such, I was basically Robby to her but Ali's son instead of Johnny's.
It was pretty clear that Eli and Demetri would never fit in with these guys, I belonged with them in some sense.
"I'll take a rain check." I shrugged and leaned my back on the park bench table.
The guy I think was named Rory laughed. "Look at how cool this guy thinks he is. Like he's passing on Princeton or something."
Damn this guy sounded stupid. Sam was friends with all these people for over a year in the show apparently?
Brucks and Kyler laughed and then I ignored them just staring calmly at Sam.
"Yeah. I'm not going."
I could see Yasmine muttering to the girl I knew was Moon. They laughed and I turned around to see Eli shrink and cover his upper lip.
"You got something you wanna say?" I asked, loud enough for them all to notice.
Yasmine froze. "Uh."
"No?"
Yasmine frowned.
"Thought so."
Sam looked at me. "What's the matter?"
"Look. Why don't take your little friends and get outta here. You're clearly making Eli uncomfortable."
Sam glanced at me up and down. "Luke I-"
"You what?"
Kyler raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem dude?"
"Maybe." I looked towards Sam. "Do you want me to tell your dad your new friends are making fun of a kid's lip?"
Kyler scoffed. "Oh shit. Your dad? You know her dad?"
I sighed. "Sam. I really don't care who you're friends with. But um. For now. You and I. We aren't friends. So. Sorry."
Sam had her arms crossed. She did not appreciate being threatened.
The Sam I knew could ruin my entire summer right now if I wasn't quick enough.
If Kyler wanted to act tough in front of Sam, things would get ugly. A mess would break out, I would have to strike first, hurt most of them or at least Kyler, maybe not win per say but definitely cause some damage.
Then, Mr. LaRusso figures out that I at least don't mind using Miyagi-Do aggressively and my whole plan has been blown.
"Let's just go." Moon suggested.
Sam nodded. "Fine then." she said to me.
"Fine."
They all walked off and this was probably not the best first impression. I had no choice. Either watch them act like spoiled bullies around this whole Valley by hanging out with them or making who I was clear.
I knew Sam was a good person deep down. But I hated her character during the first season of the show, which was much worse now that she was a year younger and far more immature probably.
It took her until basically the last episode of the first season to finally realize she had wronged Aisha and earned her forgiveness.
Demetri was jaw dropped. "I cannot believe you just did that."
"Did what?"
"You stood up to bullies. Maybe not bullies, but they made fun of Eli and you made them walk off."
"That's what karate teaches you. You have to either walk away or stand your ground instantly getting ready for anything."
Demetri scoffed. "Well. I wish I had your confidence."
Wait until you meet Miguel. He kicked all their asses in a school cafeteria on his own.
While Sam just watched, having done karate for nearly her whole life.
"But a girl that hot? You said no to hanging out with her?"
"Said no to hanging out with the people she was around." I said.
Demetri looked off after Yasmine, nodding towards her. "I wouldn't turn her down on that offer. No sir."
"Into rich blondes eh?"
"At least whoever she was. She was smoking."
"Eh." I muttered. "Can we get back to EDH?"
"Actually we wanted to finish building Eli's Lego Death Star first. It's at his place."
I looked to Eli. "Can we go?"
Needless to say after what I just did, I had more than earned Eli's trust and interest in becoming friends.
I had to trade two good first impressions for several bad ones just now.
…
After practicing some forward strikes, Kreese spoke. "Okay. Here's a good counter. It's called the catch and sweep, one of the first I learned over in 'Nam."
He got into his fighting stance across me as I stood in mine.
"As your opponent comes in with shots over the top towards the nose or chin. Straight or hook punches. You lower yourself and draw yourself forward. The second you catch them, spin in the same direction they are coming in with to use that momentum and throw them to the ground."
I nodded. "Okay."
"Allow me to demonstrate. Ais!"
I fired a quick jab punch and a reverse punch to the body. Despite me using my range properly enough to not get countered, Kreese was still skilled enough to catch me at close range and send me into the ground, hard.
"Aii!" he roared as the strike meant to finish me missed, just as he trained me.
I twisted my body using an improvised version of an escape from full or half mount Kreese had taught me. We didn't practice grappling more than twice or maybe thrice a week, but he did actually know plenty from years and years of karate and competition.
As his fist came towards my nose to strike me, I caught his arm and twisted away off the ground, spinning Kreese away from me and using the twist to stand back up, facing him and ready to strike.
Kreese nodded as the drill was finished. "You're learning the lesson Mr. Schwarber. That's a good hip throw off the ground, proper improvisation."
"Thank you Sensei."
"Now. You have to use that same movement but on your feet instead of on your back. Almost the same application."
Again Kreese struck without warning almost catching me off guard, made for having great reflexes honestly.
Despite me being a fifth of his age, the size difference wasn't staggering enough and I was able to use the hip throw perfectly as I caught him at close range and spun him onto the ground.
It wasn't a move based that much on strength, technically you could overcome a decent size difference so long as you had the right body movement down to toss a person to the ground using full range of motion.
I made sure to time my punch to the chest as Kreese fell to not give him time to react on the ground.
"Aiya!"
Kreese brushed himself off, it was if the blow didn't touch him. Always weird like that.
"That's it." Kreese nodded. "That would've been a perfect point in a tournament. More importantly, you could've really finished a fight with that one move."
I nodded back quietly.
"Now. Again!"
…
I wiped the sweat off my brow, I sat down and sipped water from a bottle I had brought with me after I was done for the day with Kreese.
"That was good work. But I need better next time." Kreese said sternly.
"Yes Sensei."
"You're not afraid to hit an old man. That's good, means you understand no mercy."
I nodded a bit. "It's what you taught me."
"It is. I need to know now how you're applying it outside of the classroom."
And what a classroom we trained in. An old abandoned supermarket loading dock that still had debris and old wooden pallets and loading crates from decades ago.
"How're things going with the LaRusso girl?"
"Not too well. Her friends are all vain, spoiled, and entitled bullies. Besides the bullies part. They're just like her."
Kreese chuckled quietly, crossing his arms. "I thought you wanted to leave a good impression on LaRusso."
"I think she's probably jealous of me. Spending more time with her dad than her or something."
"What do you think of her?"
I frowned, putting my water bottle down. "Why does it matter to you Sensei?"
"Well. After a year of getting to know her. I'd imagine betraying her father by using his karate to win the All Valley the whole time is the kind of thing to ruin a friendship for the rest of your lives."
"And?"
"And I'm curious if you have any guilt as to what you're doing to this family after getting to know them for an entire summer so far."
I shook my head. "Cobras don't feel guilt."
"You have the instincts and have started to have the skills of a Cobra Kai. But you're not a Cobra Kai just yet. You haven't had a real fight yet outside of class. You haven't competed in any tournaments or anywhere, nor tested yourself beyond daily practice and training. I just need to know what this family is like, and what they mean to you."
I frowned. "You don't trust me. Do you?"
"Lucas. I trust you a great deal. You're still a fourteen year old kid spending an entire summer plotting to betray your neighbors you only just met. It's only natural you might have some qualms about doing all this."
This was a test hidden in plain sight. He often did this. He called them 'land mines' meant to 'increase awareness.'
I stood up off the loading bay dock area from the building itself and looked at Kreese calmly in the eyes. "Mercy does not exist. Guilt, is mercy."
Bullseye.
Kreese muttered quietly. "In under a month you've learned almost every lesson I've taught you to the letter. Both physical, and mental. This um, plan we've built to put LaRusso in his place. It's making things a bit difficult."
"How so Sensei?"
"LaRusso, and his family by extension. Are the enemy so long as you're Cobra Kai. And I can't test you or your loyalty properly without risking the entire plan. I'm starting to wonder just how much you actually need LaRusso's trust in order to make this work."
Would I have only gotten just a full month of Miyagi-Do in to make my plan work?
I watched Kreese sigh quietly to himself. "We'll figure it out. Class is already over today. But I want to leave you with a lesson. I have no doubt you actually believe this Samantha girl is as vain or worthless to you as you say she is."
"But." Kreese approached me. "In a fight. And always in your life. The most important thing you must protect."
He tapped the center of my chest. "Is right here."
"My heart?"
It sometimes shocked me how much he trained me like I was Robby, deleted scenes or not. To him I bet we were very similar although not so similar in many ways.
"In a way. What you must protect is what you care about. There is only one thing a Cobra Kai must care about. In the street. In competition. In life. And that thing, is victory."
I smiled, I could tell Kreese liked how much I enjoyed and appreciated the lesson.
"Life has distractions. Most of them are easy to spot. Movies. Parties. Dates."
I was nodding, getting it.
"Girls. This LaRusso girl, like any other. Will make you weak if you get too attached. Friend or not."
He never met Tory Nichols yet, she basically became like a daughter to him. I highly doubted she'd make Cobra Kai weak if she became it's very first female champion.
"What if women started to compete in karate?"
Kreese laughed a decent bit, surprising as he never laughed at anything unless it was a low chuckle over how much I reminded him of an old student he had or something.
Kreese looked at me again. "Wait, you're serious?"
"I'm not saying it has to happen. I'm saying it could."
"Son, even if that did happen. Which it, probably won't. I still highly doubt it would change my lesson."
"I understand Sensei."
"The whole world has gotten weak. We must adapt to it. But it is weak to its very core. Words, awards, and titles have far less meaning now. Everything has become digitized and instantly accessible. Except for the truth."
I nodded again, he was pretty right.
Kreese went on. "And that's a truth you're going to humiliate that joke of an All Valley champion with. That All Star Karate ponce, Morrison. Show him, this Valley, and the man who has wronged me the most in my life, Daniel LaRusso. The real truth this pathetic snowflake generation desperately needs to know, which is."
It shocked me sometimes how much Johnny and Kreese sounded so similar sometimes.
"There is no such thing as mercy." Kreese said like he did before. It was basically his motto besides Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy. "The only truth we must seek. Is victory."
"I'll seek it Sensei."
"Good."
Chapter Six
MiyazakiFan18
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…
During the little bit of June I had left and as July progressed, I had developed a pretty decent routine for myself.
On top of the regular training schedule I had developed, I had begun to spend time hanging out with Demetri and Eli. We built Lego sets, we built computers, they taught me some coding, and we spent dozens of hours doing things like playing Magic the Gathering or watching and discussing video games.
We needed a fourth person for sure, three was a tough way to play board games or card games sometimes, and I'm sure Aisha would be happy to oblige, but I had no idea how to find her because Sam and I weren't on good terms at all.
Luckily, Sam had decided to not say anything to Daniel about the confrontation I had had with Yasmine and Kyler when she talked to me in the park.
It was a week and a half after Sam and I argued at the park that I began to realize the biggest advantages I had over anyone here.
What I knew. And the choices I could make.
My choices could shape the livelihoods of loads of people. While I already knew from the choices I had already made that nothing would be too similar to the show, but the show could easily offer life altering consequences to anyone if I meddled too much, too little, or in the wrong way.
After getting to know Daniel, Kreese, Sam, Demetri, and Eli properly over this summer well, I realized that none of them hated me or were violent.
Kreese was a very tough, brutal, and stern man, but he was fair and reasonable basically the entire time we trained or talked together. Daniel likewise was much kinder, but despite being occasionally petty and close minded, he too felt like a fine person.
Sam was pretty superficial and could be a bit temperamental, but also wasn't a truly evil or cruel person to me. And becoming friends with Demetri and Eli, had turned out to be one of if not the best decision I had really made so far.
The problem was what to do.
The plan until now had seemed clear, but the speed bumps could have catastrophic consequences if I wasn't careful.
It was inevitable that I would have to make a very huge choice later down the line. To side with either Kreese or Daniel at one point.
While I had told Kreese after I compete and most likely win the 2017 All Valley I'd help him bring Cobra Kai back properly, I wasn't too sure I wanted that yet one hundred percent. Because that meant possibly huge consequences later from what I knew happened in the second, third, and especially fourth seasons of the Cobra Kai show.
Technically the safest option to become a three time All Valley Champion was to sign up at All Star Karate or Topanga or even the Locust Valley Karate Club. But one way or another, from the choices I'd already made or the strange world this was, something could get in the way.
I could safely live a very simple and happy life free of any dangerous karate rivalries if I chose the neutral and safe, yet still skilled dojos I knew were around.
The problem wasn't the Locust Valley Karate Club or dojos like it, it was the Senseis. I found out Darryl Vidal had retired about three years ago and he had trained great fighters for decades.
Technically the safest option for me would've been to track down him and train into a champion. But again, it was a bit boring and a huge missed opportunity.
Topanga, All Star, and plenty others, these used to be amazing dojos that were just a few steps behind Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai back in the day according to Daniel, but still great. The problem was again all the old school teachers had either retired, left the dojos, or had been fired or had a dispute with the owners.
Balancing missed opportunities with peoples safety was a big issue however.
In the Cobra Kai show, the degree of power and danger Cobra Kai posed to the Valley slowly grew, and I knew that I easily could've just lit a match to a whole truckload worth of dynamite just from what I've done.
In Season 1, I had no idea what could happen. Miguel appeared to be going down a dark path, but ultimately, Cobra Kai was just a single championship winning dojo that operated out of a strip mall that happened to include the name of Johnny's old dojo and teaching styles.
Season 2 ended gravely. Miguel had almost died, Sam, Tory, Eli, Demetri and everyone who was in the school fight easily could've been suspended for weeks and had their records tarnished for the rest of their lives probably from the massive fight at the school. And Cobra Kai was now run by my current Sensei, the mysterious and standoffish green beret John Kreese.
Seasons 3 ended with a house break in and nearly three repeated cases of attempted murder between Johnny, Kreese, and Daniel. And Season 4 ended with literally everyone on the show losing except for Terry Silver, who had turned Cobra Kai into an empire spanning across the entire Valley with no one able to stop him.
Terry Silver beat everyone, manipulated everything, and used the struggles of everyone in the show by that point to just win completely and all he had to do was mostly let Kreese, Tory, and Robby do all the work and spend loads of money. There was no stopping him if he came back for real.
I didn't want to cause harmful and dangerous conflict with anyone. But there were steps I could take to damage control things.
And it mostly started with how I treated people and how I moved forward.
Kreese and Silver could almost do whatever they wanted to their enemies as soon as they gained power. However, Kreese especially was vulnerable. He had a soft spot for his star student always, and punished them severely when they betrayed him. A soft spot so strong that it completely undermined his 'No Mercy' mentality.
The only weakness in Kreese anyone had ever spotted, and it was done by Silver of all people.
The relationship I was building with Kreese could easily be what saved me or whoever I needed a great deal of trouble when and if I brought back Cobra Kai with him.
Daniel was safer ultimately, but unfortunately, I did agree with Kreese's philosophy from a martial arts standpoint greatly.
Point fighting was a good way to have a safe, and controlled fight. But in a real fight, nothing was safe at all. A real street fight, even between trained people, resulted in broken noses, blood, massive scratches and bruises, and sometimes massive injury.
An opponent in a tournament could score a point, or controlled yet realistic technique on you. But an opponent in a street fight can do who knows what to you, and could have a friend hidden behind you waiting to stab you or hit you in the back of the head.
Cobra Kai was the most effective martial art the Karate Kid universe introduced because it was in essence hand to hand close combat infantry training from wars like Vietnam. You struck hard, your opponent went down, the fight was over.
That was the self defense application of the most effective styles of full contact martial arts and combat sports I had trained in like boxing. You hit and were prepared to get hit and avoided being hit, to win, to end the fight, to finish your opponent so combat and a threat was over.
I had nothing to fear really for my own personal safety so long as I chose the winning side and never betrayed it. And from everything I knew, that side was Cobra Kai.
Sure, there were alternatives. But the consequences could be massive too for whoever ended up paying for me leaving Kreese's side.
I could be Cobra Kai's star student for its entire run these next four years I was in high school just like Johnny Lawrence. So long as I was careful and acted when necessary knowing what I knew.
…
On the computer in my room I was practicing some Java code Demetri had taught me the day before yesterday. It was somewhat tedious when you started to learn how to code, even if you knew what you were doing.
I sighed.
This was just not a fun hobby.
I walked downstairs and whistled up Donnie Junior.
"Come here boy!"
My favorite part of living in the Mills Mansion Ali once did when Daniel took her out for dates during the original Karate Kid date barked and walked up to me.
"Hi boy. Hii." I scratched Donnie Junior's head. "Who's a good boy?"
The golden retriever pup barked again. Donnie panted quietly.
"Are you heading out Luke?"
I turned around. It was Gramps, Frank Geoffrey Mills. He was. Old. I knew he would be, it made sense. He was well into his forties in the Karate Kid films as Ali's father, Mr. Mills, and that was over thirty years ago.
"Hey pops." I said. "Yeah I was just about to head over to the LaRussos."
"Are you training in some of the karate he teaches? Or are you just looking to be an intern at that dealership of his?"
I chuckled. "How did you know he knew karate?"
"Ali talked about a tournament of his she went to back in '84. Your mother might not have been the most open about her relationships with us, lord knows she stopped caring what we thought after she decided to to pursue her own career in medicine in Denver instead of here in LA." Gramps sighed. "I'm trying to say that I think it'd be best if one of these summer nights we have a proper family dinner over at the LaRusso household."
"Yeah I think they'd be down." I said. "Sounds fine."
"They have a um. Daughter right. Samantha? She's your age?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
Gramps smiled. "How are you two getting along?"
I sighed. Wow. Old habits died hard for the one thing the Karate Kid films made known for him. Classism.
"I'm not interested in her grandpa."
"Well now I'm not saying you have to be interested in her. She's just. You know. Of our class, and the daughter of an old friend of the family. She'd be perfect for you to get to know."
I nodded a bit. "Yeah well. There are plenty of other better candidates I think. Besides, until I start school, I won't know who'd be best in this regard and stuff."
"Ah. I ever tell you about Donnie Junior?"
"He's the family dog. Not much to tell right?" I said as said golden retriever kept panting and smiling quietly, now sitting by my feet.
"Well your mother had a golden retriever just like him. Name was Donnie too. Before he died he had a son, named him Hubert. And Hubert had a son we named Donnie too, called him Junior. These are purebred dogs Luke. Trained professionally."
"Okay." I got the feeling he was trying to tell me something.
"Your mother ever tell you either that the Mills used to be dog breeders back in Scotland over almost two centuries ago?"
I laughed in surprise. "Really?"
"True story. Migrated to America, about fifty years later started the family tradition of medicine. And my father, your mother's grandfather, decided to start breeding personal golden retrievers for our family."
"Never would've guessed."
Grandpa seemed to start getting to his point. "Karate is um. It can be a violent sport."
"No it's not. All tournaments are no contact. You're punished for hitting too hard or dangerously at all."
"You must've never met the teacher of your mother's old boyfriend. John Kreese."
I could imagine the reaction Gramps must've had if I spent more time with Kreese instead of him. So far this month and a half of summer, Kreese had been more of a grandfather to me than my actual one had been.
"But I thought he hasn't taught in years."
"Either way. Karate is not for a Mills. You wear that name with pride, with honor. Like a gentleman."
"I'm not a Mills. I'm a Schwarber."
"You're both." he said, which was technically true.
I just realized the point of this dinner he had requested Gramps wanted to talk Daniel out of training me. I didn't care if it worked or not, I still had another Sensei anyway no one could possibly know about.
I scoffed. "So you never approved of mom's boyfriends then?"
"Ali dated two boys when she was living under our roof. First Johnny Lawrence. And then Daniel LaRusso, who has managed to move out of Reseda to nearby. When they were a little bit older than you but still your age, I knew how many fights they'd get in. Not just with each other, but Johnny was known as the town troublemaker since he was old enough to ride a dirtbike."
I nodded. "I get what you're saying. But karate is about avoiding and finishing fights. Not starting them."
"We'll see."
"Guess we will. Come here boy. Come here Don."
The one year old golden retriever pup barked as he followed me as I put a leash on his collar and we left.
…
I was jogging on the sidewalk towards the LaRussos this time around instead of using my bike and I saw Sam walking around me.
"Hey." she said quietly.
"Hey. You always just walk around alone around here?"
"It's a perfectly safe neighborhood. You know that." Sam said.
"I don't know. Those power walking old ladies and those girl scouts going door to door selling cookies look pretty dangerous."
We laughed before quietly looking down at our feet. There was a decent bit that had to be said between us.
Sam smiled when she looked at my dog. "Who's this little guy? He looks adorable."
"This is Donnie. Donnie Junior technically. My mom's dog's grandson."
Sam laughed, rubbing his head. "Wow. Your mom was a blonde right? Don't know why it makes so much sense she'd have a dog like this."
She had no idea how right she was about this.
"Tell me about it." I said.
We started to walk together towards her house. "So. You just decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood looking for me?"
"No. I know you always clock in for your internship at dad's dealership at around midday. You always get home for a chat and some midday snacks or whatever at around eleven thirty. Made sense you'd be around here."
I get she lived in the same house as Daniel, but yeah I could tell she was having some trouble hiding the fact that she liked me.
I nodded. "Cool. Thanks for wanting to reach out to me."
"So. Our parents used to date." Sam muttered.
"It was more than that. They were huge together. Them being together started everything that led to that tournament. The big tournament."
"Karate can be cool."
"You know any?" I lied. I knew she knew Miyagi-Do.
Sam cleared her throat. "My dad might've trained me a little."
"Really? Did Anthony get any training?"
"My dad tried for years. But he never had any luck."
He never would've needed any karate if he never decided to pick on Kenny Payne. It was strange sometimes to know how much I knew that.
"Look um. Lucas. I know we got off on the wrong foot this summer."
"Not really. We were all cool until you didn't get the message that I didn't want to hang out with you."
"And why is that?"
I laughed. "Because your dad is my Sensei. And your dad and my mom have like the weirdest history. And I actually enjoy the pseudo internship I have at the dealership. No need to complicate that."
"Complicate that how?"
No point beating around the bush.
"You think I'm an idiot LaRusso?" I said quietly. "You have a troop of guys like Kyler and Rory around you all week. They'll probably be dumb jocks like that at our school. And you decide to take a casual stroll through the neighborhood to catch me on my way to your dads?"
Sam shrugged with her hands in her jacket pockets. "I wanted to talk to you."
"Really. About the crush you have on me."
Sam froze.
"What?" I asked calmly. "Like I said. I'm not stupid. I just don't get why that is."
Sam couldn't say anything.
"Sit boy."
Donnie quietly sat down on the corner of the sidewalk. He scratched his head with his back paw and started to pant quietly as he smiled blankly.
"Well."
"I don't know. You're the first guy I met and started talking to a lot who didn't ask me out or show any interest in me."
I smiled. "Ah. Instant crush."
"Are you mad at me or something?"
"You're just different. I don't know. I don't know why I like that."
"Well. Still doesn't make sense to me. We don't know each other that well at all."
There are guys who really would deserve the crushes they'd have on you Sam. Like Miguel Diaz, wherever he was now.
"It's just. Over the weeks and weeks of training I had under your dad in karate. You and I didn't talk all that much."
"Aisha recommended I give you some space." Sam said casually.
My first instinct was to say. Wow. Really!? She was talking to Aisha?
Instead I went with the rational question. "Who's Aisha?"
"A friend of mine from middle school. We started to grow apart this summer. I didn't know what to say to her really, so you came up."
"Well. How about I help you two reconnect? I want to meet as many people as I can. I'm new in town remember?"
Sam nodded. "That sounds fine. I was going to hang out with her at the beach club today. You can come with my dad and I."
"Alright."
…
Daniel pushed his watch up. "The beach club? Wasn't your mom going to take you?"
"She has to take Anthony to soccer practice from two to three thirty." Sam said in the LaRusso kitchen.
Daniel gave me a quick look.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault. Well. It sort of was but I think it's good for him." I said.
Sam nodded a bit in agreement with this while Daniel sighed.
"Fine. I'll take you. Lucas, did you pack your hiking gear? I found a nice waterfall for some meditation, and a new kata for you." Daniel said hurriedly stuffing food into a brown paper bag.
I spoke quietly. "Actually. I was going to go to the beach club with Sam."
"Oh. Oh!" Daniel had the same look Gramps did. "Oh definitely. I'll take you then, we gotta make it fast. I can't miss this meeting."
"It's not like that." I said quietly. "I want to get to know a friend of hers. Maybe get some laps in."
"Fine. I'll guess we can train tomorrow."
Sam smiled. "I can teach him some kata by the beach."
"Sounds good to me." Daniel said.
…
Daniel spoke to us as we got out of his car after a pretty awkward car ride. "Hey. Have fun you two. Amanda will pick you up at three thirty with Anthony."
"Cool." I said. He drove off and Sam and I walked into the lobby together. "He seemed in a hurry."
"Besides our family. My dad takes karate and the dealership more seriously than anything." said Sam.
"He's awesome. He's a really good teacher."
"Taught me everything I know too."
I frowned for a second but she didn't see.
He didn't teach me everything I knew though.
The receptionist smiled as did Sam. "Hi! He's my guest." she passed him an ID card.
"Ah. Ms. LaRusso. What is your name so I can sign you in as a guest today?" asked the beach club employee.
"Uh Lucas. Lucas Mills Schwarber?"
She typed for a second. And she looked to looking through something on her computer before she looked at me.
"Okay." she said passing me an ID card that looked just like Sam's. "You're a legacy member of the club apparently."
I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"Your grandparents and a woman named Ali Mills apparently have been legacy members of our club since 1981. The club considers you a full member as well from our records."
"Yeah that's my mom. Wow. I had, I had no idea."
"Then it's our pleasure Mr. Mills." The employee bowed her head slightly. "Anything you need. Just ask us."
We walked towards the pool area together. "Damn." I said. "No idea."
"Guess it makes sense." Sam looked around. "Looks like Aisha isn't here yet. I'm thinking we catch up for a bit and then we can do some kata together later?"
"Why not? I think-"
Wow. That was quite the lap pool. The biggest I'd ever seen in my life and barely anyone was using it.
We had a nice pool back home that I used almost every day for muscle work and cardio, but this one was very very large and far nicer.
"What?"
"I think I'm gonna swim for a long time."
…
Butterfly, freestyle, even some backstroke. I forgot how much I liked swimming at full speed as hard and as much as I could for several minutes.
When I was done, I used a towel and dried myself and walked over to a table where two girls were waiting for me.
"Luke. This is Aisha."
I shook her hand, finally. One of the greatest friends I could make here.
"Nice to meet you."
Aisha smiled. "We got bored for a bit and decided to time your laps. Not bad. I did swimming for a bit too. Know what I'm talking about."
"Ah I try my best. Anyway, Sam tells me you have known each other since middle school." I said sitting with them with a towel over my shoulders.
"Yeah." Aisha said. "It's been tough finding time to hang out this summer. Today was a rare opportunity."
"What kind of stuff are you into?" I asked Aisha.
"I'm big into molecular chemistry. I hope to be a chem major someday. Maybe applied physics."
"That's awesome. I made two friends this summer who are big into biotech and applied mathematics. Well. They like 3-d modeling, coding, and computing. They make models of all sorts of stuff."
"They sound cool."
I nodded. "You going to West Valley High this fall?"
Aisha nodded as well. "Yeah."
"You'll get to know them then. Their names are Demetri and Eli." I spoke calmly. "Sam already met them."
Sam frowned. "That's kinda what I wanted to talk about. I was hoping we could clear the air."
"Aisha. In middle school were you ever made fun of. Or called names?"
"Not really."
I explained. "Sam's friends are the type to do that to people just because they can."
"You barely met them Luke. Give them a chance."
I scoffed. "Keep a close eye on it. You'll see what I mean."
Aisha changed the topic quickly. "Sam's told me her dad trains you in karate. Must be nice right?"
"I give up." Sam said. "All summer you've been super weird about my friends. I'm here to talk this out. And you're still accusing them."
I raised my hands defensively. "Sam. I am not trying to argue with you on anything."
"I have to use the bathroom." Sam quickly left the table.
I looked over at Aisha. "This has been her. For about two weeks now or something."
"She's right though. What happened with her friends? It sounds like you already have your mind made up about them or something."
"Once you get to know them. I promise you. It'll sink in that I'm right."
Aisha smiled lightly. "It wouldn't hurt you know. To get to actually know them."
"Do you feel like Sam has changed since middle school ended?"
"You mean two months ago? Yeah. A bit. But why do you ask?"
"Nevermind."
Aisha laughed a bit, looking at me up and down for a second. "Sam does have a crush on you. And I can see why."
"So I've noticed."
"Sam's cute you know."
"Look yeah. I take care of myself. Since the moment I moved here from Denver halfway through May I've done nothing but work out and swim." And train in both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai karate. "Just don't get why Sam is acting so weird about everything though."
"I think you're basically the first crush she's ever had on a guy who wasn't from a movie or something. I've known her for a while. That's the impression I got."
I sighed. "Makes perfect sense then."
"And why are you trying to stay in shape like. This? Is it just to stay healthy or is it something else?"
I couldn't tell her it was to become the youngest karate champion in All Valley history and break every single record I can at my first All Valley.
"Yeah. To stay healthy. But I promise you, I didn't do it to pick up chicks."
"Her dad hasn't trained anyone in karate since Sam was a little girl. Think that says a lot about the trust he put in you. And what it must be like between you and her family."
I sighed. Aisha had a point. But it was mostly out of a debt he felt he had to pay to my mom. Ali Mills, his old high school girlfriend.
"Thanks." I said as Aisha smiled a bit and nodded.
"Sam's had a group of guys trailing her and her new friends around all summer though."
I glanced at Aisha. "You jealous of them?"
"Sorta. They're hot and I'm. Not."
"You know what guys really like?"
"Hot girls?"
I laughed. "Some aren't as superficial as Sam's new friends. The average guy isn't super shallow and egotistical. Some. Like personality, and confidence."
"But I'm not confident."
"Then you make your own confidence." I said to Aisha. "That's how confidence works."
She needed Johnny before she even met him.
"What do I have to be confident about?"
"Well that's the thing. Find something you're proud of in yourself. Something you think makes you feel strong. Use that." I nodded to her and she seemed to agree. "And then you'll really know what to be confident about."
"Never thought of it like that. Are you really fourteen?"
"Yeah." I laughed with her. "Just different than what you'd expect is all. Just like Sam said."
Damn. Guess she was right.
I looked over and saw someone familiar. Someone who appeared to be a regular employee at first glance but was really someone with a weak mustache clearly in his very late teens.
He was very carefully sneaking in towels into his arms like a regular employee, but had a second hand somewhere when no one was looking.
It was actually impressive how he angled himself and how he could walk past a table and a wallet or phone would disappear.
I knew who this was.
Aisha spoke. "I'm gonna go check where Sam's gone off to."
"Cool." I said waiting until she was well out of eyesight of me to go follow Trey around.
I should've called the police or told one of the managers of the beach club. I knew where he was probably stashing the wallets and phones that conveniently would go missing.
It was the oddest coincidence today of all days to pull this. But then again, Robby was banned from pulling scams here with Cruz and Trey before the second season so this made sense.
I took my phone out walking a bit away from the beach club towards the pier, I needed to record this to show Sensei.
Then I heard a familiar voice for the first time.
"Damn! What a haul!" I recognized Robby Keene's voice.
"Let's see that shit. Mm." I saw Cruz and Trey all cycling through everything they had stolen from the beach club.
A three man job, I wouldn't be whacked over the back of the head with a wooden boat paddle.
It was time to make Sensei Kreese proud and for once have a good fight on my terms. Two to one from what I expected.
I struck first, I ran as fast as I could through the sand and threw everything I had, using every inch of my body to hurl a fully powered reverse punch starting from my feet and ending at my knuckles directly on Trey's nose.
Always go for the biggest one first my instincts told me.
Trey raised his fists, although he was confused as he began to attack.
"What the-" I heard Robby say.
I never gave my back to him despite the fact I knew he probably wouldn't attack me, even though I hit Cruz as hard as I could in the stomach as he came running at me with a front kick.
Trey and Cruz were both rising up from the sand slowly, then I didn't make a mistake I know Miguel made in his fight against Kyler and his group of bullies in the cafeteria of Cobra Kai's first season.
When you dazed your opponent, never stop striking until they're down.
I quickly rushed forward again with multiple forward strikes as I made Cruz miss and probably knocked Trey's jaw a bit loose with two quick punches.
As Trey went crashing directly into the sand, Cruz turned me around and was about to punch me but I moved his wild haymaker away with a Miyagi-Do block creating an opening for a counter and snapped a front kick directly to his face.
Cruz dropped as well, down and out, I didn't realize how much flexibility and strength years of soccer and nearly two months of two different kinds of karate had given me.
Robby looked confused out of his mind, didn't blame him. I had taken down two older and bigger opponents by striking first, fast really speed was crucial, hard, and without mercy, and specifically using very refined karate fundamentals.
"Alright." I said quietly. "The wallets and the phones you stole. Where are they?"
Robby took one look at his two friends sporting broken and bloodied noses in the sand barely able to move off the ground and was about to make a run for it.
I grabbed him. "Look man-"
"Stay away from me!"
Robby suddenly tried to push me back but this was a specific drill Mr. LaRusso taught me when someone tried to grab or push you from in front of you.
Move aside and grab their arm, and shove them away instead.
I now moved Robby aside where he was under the pier having to either run through plenty of broken glass and debris or past me.
"Listen."
"Okay!" Robby struggled to speak. "I. What!"
"I just want the wallets and the phones you guys stole. And to make sure you get home safe."
Robby was utterly shocked. "What!?" he repeated.
I didn't blame him at all still. It wouldn't make any sense to me either, I had ruthlessly knocked out his two friends but randomly decided to show him any mercy at all.
"Where's the stuff you stole?"
Robby handed me the cloth he had with all the stolen wallets and phones to me. I didn't mean to threaten him because I knew his situation, but I knew he was afraid I could break his nose or hurt his jaw like I did to Cruz and Trey.
"Alright. So here's what's going to happen. This." I looked over at a completely out of commission Cruz and Trey. "Never happened. These items, are going to be returned to the beach club's lost and found so no eyebrows are raised. And you and I. Are gonna keep in touch."
"You know. But still. Why!?"
"Just. Let me have your phone number or something man. Douchebags like these." I again nodded towards Trey and Cruz. "Absolute trash. You don't belong with them."
"Okay but. To you I must seem just like them. What are you doing?"
"You're younger and smaller than them. Sometimes in these scams you need a third. A clown, a dummy, someone to take bigger risks while they just collect some money and stuff and you might take the fall for them sometimes. I know how it is but in a different way, trust me."
Robby seemed to understand. "Fine. Just." he said a bit sadly. "Here's my number or whatever."
I wrote it down on a notepad on my phone after I retrieved it from where it was perched to record my fight with Trey and Cruz, who were still there, awkwardly knocked out while I talked to Robby.
"None of this makes any sense to me at all."
"It's just to protect you. I know that sounds weird since we're the same age. But I think you can definitely find better mentors than these two. Just let me help, I've been where you were."
"How did you do that by the way? Learn how to handle yourself like that?"
"You move fast and decisively in a fight. Know some fundamentals and are in decent shape. You'd be surprised how well you can do with training in any combat sport even with just a few months. But if you have to know. It was karate with a tiny bit of boxing."
Robby scoffed. "Karate?"
I smiled. "Yeah."
Robby shrugged. "Thanks for not calling the cops on me or. Kicking my ass I guess."
One day. I'm sure Robby could possibly even kick my ass. He was the top three male teen fighters on the show, among Eli and Miguel.
"I'm Robby."
"Lucas. Or Luke. You can call me either."
…
After quickly returning all the phones and wallets Trey and Cruz stole from the beach club back to the lost and found, Sam spoke to me. "Where did you go off to?"
"Just went on a walk by the pier. By myself."
"Well my mom's picking us up soon."
Guess I spent more time fighting Cruz and Trey and swimming than I thought I did. I had about a half hour to get back home and start taking the bus ride over from the main Encino Hills bus station over to Pacoima near the homeless shelter and abandoned loading dock I used to train with Kreese.
"Look Lucas I-"
"Stop. You're right. I was totally, totally out of line to keep judging you. I just can't return any sort of crush you have on me."
Sam smiled. "I get that. Thanks."
"It's no problem. There's a right guy out there for you. I promise."
Sam nodded. "Thanks." she repeated.
It was Miguel. Miguel Sam, just wait for a bit.
"It's just. Not Kyler. I promise that too."
Amanda pulled up to the front entrance of the beach club with Anthony in the back seat.
"Hey Luke!" he said, holding what I knew was a soccer trophy in the air, poking it out of the window. "We won our first match! I scored the winning goal!"
"That's my maaan!"
…
After a very solid hour and a half of cardio, strike practicing and working on counters and sparring, I showed Kreese my fight on my phone.
I had edited it on the bus ride over to Pacoima to remove the part where I talked to Robby. That would raise some pointless questions.
He missed the classic Miyagi-Do wax off block and counter in the video, I checked it to make sure it wasn't completely apparent. Not that it was Kreese's fault, he probably only really saw Miyagi-Do up close about three times in his entire life and from how the video was shot it looked like I had dodged the incoming haymaker and struck Cruz while striking to land first against his own attack.
Kreese nodded slightly. "Two bigger and older opponents. Nice job." he said casually and quietly.
"Really? I had my first fight, isn't that what you said I need to do?"
"Johnny Lawrence beat up guys like that every other weekend at football games and stuff like that with his buddies on his own when he was just about a year older than you. You did do what I told you to, and you admittedly did it how I asked. You've studied Cobra Kai dutifully, and skillfully for over two months now."
Kreese continued talking. "The training I've given you consists of mostly the same lessons I taught back in the day. You're showing me your progress and your skill."
"Then what's next for me?"
"You still have a long way to go before you're ever ready to face the entire All Valley on your own with just what I've taught you. However, you're right. There is a next step."
"Which is?"
Kreese glanced at my phone. "You noticed you dazed your opponents and you took advantage of it. But I have to ask. How did this whole fight happen?"
"These guys were stealing from my beach club. I had to teach them a lesson."
"Hm." Kreese said. "There was a third opponent you had in the video. Do you know why he didn't fight you?"
Robby.
"He looked scared. He ran off." I lied calmly.
"And did you chase him down?"
"No. The fight was over, he was long gone."
Kreese shook his head. "You're learning how to strike first properly. You didn't give your opponents a chance to think. You struck them hard, with all of your strength with proper technique. But you let one of them get away. That. Is mercy."
"I understand Sensei."
"But, that's not your fault. It takes more time than you could imagine to remove your mercy. Back in the day I just had the class spar and then they would finish their opponents. Maybe a punch to the face, chop to the shoulder, a strong kick to the ribs and such. You don't have that luxury. You have to learn almost all of this on your own." Kreese looked around at the abandoned supermarket loading dock that was our unofficial Cobra Kai dojo for months. "In unfortunately a place like this to train."
"Do you think Cobra Kai will ever return to what it was? To what people once remembered it as?"
"Even with your help. And possibly Terry's if I can convince him when the time comes."
Maybe two years from now probably.
Kreese sighed. "It would take a very long while. I haven't gone back to the original Cobra Kai dojo for decades. The place where I used to teach."
"It needs you. You made champions right? Tell me, what was it like?"
"For anyone to even consider us what we were. We'd need several championships to return to Cobra Kai's roots. And that place basically no longer exists. I opened the dojo in spring of 1975." said Kreese. "Terry and I had returned from 'Nam about a few months prior."
I listened. "Our tours had ended in about '72 after I won my first tournament in the army. We trained under Grandmaster Kim Sun Yung for three years in South Korea under a special transfer order to go there as we had more than completed our time on the front lines and could serve elsewhere. We returned, called murderers instead of defenders of our country."
Kreese spoke calmly. "It was time to make a name for what we knew, for what we could teach the world. We had to create Cobra Kai."
I continued to listen. "Terry." Kreese slightly frowned. "Terry's father had to pass on his business to him. I had to run the dojo on my own, the most he could do was buy the location where I taught and give me a bit of money to start out. For the first two years I was basically just figuring everything out."
I nodded a bit. "Paperwork and insurance and all that. How to pass on the techniques I had learned properly to the class. How to start competing. How to at all create the environment I had learned my own karate in. Most of the students were mediocre at best for the first two years. Then, my first real Cobra Kais walked in during '77."
I smiled a bit, started to get interested.
"The Lankershim dojo class. Now." Kreese chuckled quietly. "Those were fighters. For seven years straight, Cobra Kai became the ultimate competitive dojo in the entire Valley. Any tournament, and we were there."
Kreese continued to explain. "We won our first tournament in 1978. And then the trophies just started to pile up and filled the dojo entrance. I still have all of them stored in a few old boxes. The oldest of the Vidals, Robert Vidal, basically the son of the founder of the Locust Valley Karate Club at the time, lost to my top student back then three to two in the All Valley finals."
"What happened to him?"
"Compared to Johnny he was insignificant, but if you have to know he had to move away for work. I lost one champion in '79, for my next. Johnny Lawrence, he helped me make that dojo what it was."
I nodded again. "So you won trophies on your own while in the army and competing in Korea and abroad. And then the dojo became unstoppable from 1978 onwards."
"Just about. We only lost one championship before the dojo closed, it was to the Vidals in '81. Other than that, any tournament we competed in, All Valley or not. We won."
I smiled. "You said you still have those trophies right?"
"Yeah."
"Can I see them?"
…
For about two hours, Kreese took out two old cardboard boxes he had stored under his bed in his room at the homeless shelter and took the dusty old trophies out one by one. Lined them all up on a nearby desk and told me the stories behind each tournament.
What the competition was like, the scoring, the rules, the dojos and competitors. Every detail he remembered like it was yesterday. For such an old man, he really never seemed to forget much, made sense for Kreese.
Every trophy or medal he had had a story behind it, and Kreese explained it very well.
The earliest one was one labeled 1970 US Army Karate Championships - First Place, and the latest was, incredibly, 1984 Under 18 All Valley Karate Championships - Second Place.
I didn't say a word about it but I knew it the second I saw it.
Kreese had managed to actually fix the original second place trophy he had broken when Johnny lost to Daniel back in 1984. He didn't just make that up when approaching Johnny in Season 2 of the show, no, apparently this was the actual trophy. He had really kept it stored for over thirty years in honor of the relationship he had developed with Johnny.
That. Was shockingly touching for a man this cruel, vengeful, and cold. But it made perfect sense to me. It almost didn't feel real, like it was out of his character to not just fake that he did that.
Cobra Kai was literally all he ever had after Vietnam or in his life at all really. And he kept as much as he could from those memories. Even the bad memories. Johnny was his weakness through and through, Silver was completely right. And that second place trophy proved it.
As Kreese kept explaining all this, going on and on, I realized something. And like what just happened, it completely shocked me.
This was a side of Kreese that was apparently always there but never was allowed to be shown in the show or films.
He wasn't trying to impress me with made up stories of leading soldiers in wars that never happened overseas. He wasn't telling me how many Vietcongs he killed with his bare hands. Or how he trained himself, or if Captain Turner and Kim Sun Yung never existed, Kreese hadn't lied to me from the moment we had met.
Kreese had told me nothing but the complete truth. He was still a very stern, merciless, and loud Vietnam War Army captain. But he was honest and clear.
I knew it now. I knew what I wanted to do. I would have to work tirelessly to make sure no one got hurt from it, but I knew what I wanted to do now.
I wanted to bring Cobra Kai back to its former glory. Back to its original location and prestige on Lankershim Boulevard on its corner with Magnolia Drive.
Daniel might've been honest with me too. But his legacy was just different. It didn't speak to me in the same way.
I noticed something else too. The reason why he had shared this much with me and why I possibly never saw it in the films or show was because we almost never saw his relationship as a teacher back in the day with Johnny.
To Kreese, I was the new Johnny Lawrence from how much he was sharing with me here.
How was this possible? How could a man clearly portrayed to be so evil be. To be just a person. Just like everyone I'd seen in the Karate Kid films and the Cobra Kai show. John Kreese was just a man. He was human, just like me.
Kreese had noticed how lost in his stories behind each and every single trophy I was.
"Everything okay Mr. Schwarber?"
"Everything's fine Sensei."
During the little bit of June I had left and as July progressed, I had developed a pretty decent routine for myself.
On top of the regular training schedule I had developed, I had begun to spend time hanging out with Demetri and Eli. We built Lego sets, we built computers, they taught me some coding, and we spent dozens of hours doing things like playing Magic the Gathering or watching and discussing video games.
We needed a fourth person for sure, three was a tough way to play board games or card games sometimes, and I'm sure Aisha would be happy to oblige, but I had no idea how to find her because Sam and I weren't on good terms at all.
Luckily, Sam had decided to not say anything to Daniel about the confrontation I had had with Yasmine and Kyler when she talked to me in the park.
It was a week and a half after Sam and I argued at the park that I began to realize the biggest advantages I had over anyone here.
What I knew. And the choices I could make.
My choices could shape the livelihoods of loads of people. While I already knew from the choices I had already made that nothing would be too similar to the show, but the show could easily offer life altering consequences to anyone if I meddled too much, too little, or in the wrong way.
After getting to know Daniel, Kreese, Sam, Demetri, and Eli properly over this summer well, I realized that none of them hated me or were violent.
Kreese was a very tough, brutal, and stern man, but he was fair and reasonable basically the entire time we trained or talked together. Daniel likewise was much kinder, but despite being occasionally petty and close minded, he too felt like a fine person.
Sam was pretty superficial and could be a bit temperamental, but also wasn't a truly evil or cruel person to me. And becoming friends with Demetri and Eli, had turned out to be one of if not the best decision I had really made so far.
The problem was what to do.
The plan until now had seemed clear, but the speed bumps could have catastrophic consequences if I wasn't careful.
It was inevitable that I would have to make a very huge choice later down the line. To side with either Kreese or Daniel at one point.
While I had told Kreese after I compete and most likely win the 2017 All Valley I'd help him bring Cobra Kai back properly, I wasn't too sure I wanted that yet one hundred percent. Because that meant possibly huge consequences later from what I knew happened in the second, third, and especially fourth seasons of the Cobra Kai show.
Technically the safest option to become a three time All Valley Champion was to sign up at All Star Karate or Topanga or even the Locust Valley Karate Club. But one way or another, from the choices I'd already made or the strange world this was, something could get in the way.
I could safely live a very simple and happy life free of any dangerous karate rivalries if I chose the neutral and safe, yet still skilled dojos I knew were around.
The problem wasn't the Locust Valley Karate Club or dojos like it, it was the Senseis. I found out Darryl Vidal had retired about three years ago and he had trained great fighters for decades.
Technically the safest option for me would've been to track down him and train into a champion. But again, it was a bit boring and a huge missed opportunity.
Topanga, All Star, and plenty others, these used to be amazing dojos that were just a few steps behind Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai back in the day according to Daniel, but still great. The problem was again all the old school teachers had either retired, left the dojos, or had been fired or had a dispute with the owners.
Balancing missed opportunities with peoples safety was a big issue however.
In the Cobra Kai show, the degree of power and danger Cobra Kai posed to the Valley slowly grew, and I knew that I easily could've just lit a match to a whole truckload worth of dynamite just from what I've done.
In Season 1, I had no idea what could happen. Miguel appeared to be going down a dark path, but ultimately, Cobra Kai was just a single championship winning dojo that operated out of a strip mall that happened to include the name of Johnny's old dojo and teaching styles.
Season 2 ended gravely. Miguel had almost died, Sam, Tory, Eli, Demetri and everyone who was in the school fight easily could've been suspended for weeks and had their records tarnished for the rest of their lives probably from the massive fight at the school. And Cobra Kai was now run by my current Sensei, the mysterious and standoffish green beret John Kreese.
Seasons 3 ended with a house break in and nearly three repeated cases of attempted murder between Johnny, Kreese, and Daniel. And Season 4 ended with literally everyone on the show losing except for Terry Silver, who had turned Cobra Kai into an empire spanning across the entire Valley with no one able to stop him.
Terry Silver beat everyone, manipulated everything, and used the struggles of everyone in the show by that point to just win completely and all he had to do was mostly let Kreese, Tory, and Robby do all the work and spend loads of money. There was no stopping him if he came back for real.
I didn't want to cause harmful and dangerous conflict with anyone. But there were steps I could take to damage control things.
And it mostly started with how I treated people and how I moved forward.
Kreese and Silver could almost do whatever they wanted to their enemies as soon as they gained power. However, Kreese especially was vulnerable. He had a soft spot for his star student always, and punished them severely when they betrayed him. A soft spot so strong that it completely undermined his 'No Mercy' mentality.
The only weakness in Kreese anyone had ever spotted, and it was done by Silver of all people.
The relationship I was building with Kreese could easily be what saved me or whoever I needed a great deal of trouble when and if I brought back Cobra Kai with him.
Daniel was safer ultimately, but unfortunately, I did agree with Kreese's philosophy from a martial arts standpoint greatly.
Point fighting was a good way to have a safe, and controlled fight. But in a real fight, nothing was safe at all. A real street fight, even between trained people, resulted in broken noses, blood, massive scratches and bruises, and sometimes massive injury.
An opponent in a tournament could score a point, or controlled yet realistic technique on you. But an opponent in a street fight can do who knows what to you, and could have a friend hidden behind you waiting to stab you or hit you in the back of the head.
Cobra Kai was the most effective martial art the Karate Kid universe introduced because it was in essence hand to hand close combat infantry training from wars like Vietnam. You struck hard, your opponent went down, the fight was over.
That was the self defense application of the most effective styles of full contact martial arts and combat sports I had trained in like boxing. You hit and were prepared to get hit and avoided being hit, to win, to end the fight, to finish your opponent so combat and a threat was over.
I had nothing to fear really for my own personal safety so long as I chose the winning side and never betrayed it. And from everything I knew, that side was Cobra Kai.
Sure, there were alternatives. But the consequences could be massive too for whoever ended up paying for me leaving Kreese's side.
I could be Cobra Kai's star student for its entire run these next four years I was in high school just like Johnny Lawrence. So long as I was careful and acted when necessary knowing what I knew.
…
On the computer in my room I was practicing some Java code Demetri had taught me the day before yesterday. It was somewhat tedious when you started to learn how to code, even if you knew what you were doing.
I sighed.
This was just not a fun hobby.
I walked downstairs and whistled up Donnie Junior.
"Come here boy!"
My favorite part of living in the Mills Mansion Ali once did when Daniel took her out for dates during the original Karate Kid date barked and walked up to me.
"Hi boy. Hii." I scratched Donnie Junior's head. "Who's a good boy?"
The golden retriever pup barked again. Donnie panted quietly.
"Are you heading out Luke?"
I turned around. It was Gramps, Frank Geoffrey Mills. He was. Old. I knew he would be, it made sense. He was well into his forties in the Karate Kid films as Ali's father, Mr. Mills, and that was over thirty years ago.
"Hey pops." I said. "Yeah I was just about to head over to the LaRussos."
"Are you training in some of the karate he teaches? Or are you just looking to be an intern at that dealership of his?"
I chuckled. "How did you know he knew karate?"
"Ali talked about a tournament of his she went to back in '84. Your mother might not have been the most open about her relationships with us, lord knows she stopped caring what we thought after she decided to to pursue her own career in medicine in Denver instead of here in LA." Gramps sighed. "I'm trying to say that I think it'd be best if one of these summer nights we have a proper family dinner over at the LaRusso household."
"Yeah I think they'd be down." I said. "Sounds fine."
"They have a um. Daughter right. Samantha? She's your age?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
Gramps smiled. "How are you two getting along?"
I sighed. Wow. Old habits died hard for the one thing the Karate Kid films made known for him. Classism.
"I'm not interested in her grandpa."
"Well now I'm not saying you have to be interested in her. She's just. You know. Of our class, and the daughter of an old friend of the family. She'd be perfect for you to get to know."
I nodded a bit. "Yeah well. There are plenty of other better candidates I think. Besides, until I start school, I won't know who'd be best in this regard and stuff."
"Ah. I ever tell you about Donnie Junior?"
"He's the family dog. Not much to tell right?" I said as said golden retriever kept panting and smiling quietly, now sitting by my feet.
"Well your mother had a golden retriever just like him. Name was Donnie too. Before he died he had a son, named him Hubert. And Hubert had a son we named Donnie too, called him Junior. These are purebred dogs Luke. Trained professionally."
"Okay." I got the feeling he was trying to tell me something.
"Your mother ever tell you either that the Mills used to be dog breeders back in Scotland over almost two centuries ago?"
I laughed in surprise. "Really?"
"True story. Migrated to America, about fifty years later started the family tradition of medicine. And my father, your mother's grandfather, decided to start breeding personal golden retrievers for our family."
"Never would've guessed."
Grandpa seemed to start getting to his point. "Karate is um. It can be a violent sport."
"No it's not. All tournaments are no contact. You're punished for hitting too hard or dangerously at all."
"You must've never met the teacher of your mother's old boyfriend. John Kreese."
I could imagine the reaction Gramps must've had if I spent more time with Kreese instead of him. So far this month and a half of summer, Kreese had been more of a grandfather to me than my actual one had been.
"But I thought he hasn't taught in years."
"Either way. Karate is not for a Mills. You wear that name with pride, with honor. Like a gentleman."
"I'm not a Mills. I'm a Schwarber."
"You're both." he said, which was technically true.
I just realized the point of this dinner he had requested Gramps wanted to talk Daniel out of training me. I didn't care if it worked or not, I still had another Sensei anyway no one could possibly know about.
I scoffed. "So you never approved of mom's boyfriends then?"
"Ali dated two boys when she was living under our roof. First Johnny Lawrence. And then Daniel LaRusso, who has managed to move out of Reseda to nearby. When they were a little bit older than you but still your age, I knew how many fights they'd get in. Not just with each other, but Johnny was known as the town troublemaker since he was old enough to ride a dirtbike."
I nodded. "I get what you're saying. But karate is about avoiding and finishing fights. Not starting them."
"We'll see."
"Guess we will. Come here boy. Come here Don."
The one year old golden retriever pup barked as he followed me as I put a leash on his collar and we left.
…
I was jogging on the sidewalk towards the LaRussos this time around instead of using my bike and I saw Sam walking around me.
"Hey." she said quietly.
"Hey. You always just walk around alone around here?"
"It's a perfectly safe neighborhood. You know that." Sam said.
"I don't know. Those power walking old ladies and those girl scouts going door to door selling cookies look pretty dangerous."
We laughed before quietly looking down at our feet. There was a decent bit that had to be said between us.
Sam smiled when she looked at my dog. "Who's this little guy? He looks adorable."
"This is Donnie. Donnie Junior technically. My mom's dog's grandson."
Sam laughed, rubbing his head. "Wow. Your mom was a blonde right? Don't know why it makes so much sense she'd have a dog like this."
She had no idea how right she was about this.
"Tell me about it." I said.
We started to walk together towards her house. "So. You just decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood looking for me?"
"No. I know you always clock in for your internship at dad's dealership at around midday. You always get home for a chat and some midday snacks or whatever at around eleven thirty. Made sense you'd be around here."
I get she lived in the same house as Daniel, but yeah I could tell she was having some trouble hiding the fact that she liked me.
I nodded. "Cool. Thanks for wanting to reach out to me."
"So. Our parents used to date." Sam muttered.
"It was more than that. They were huge together. Them being together started everything that led to that tournament. The big tournament."
"Karate can be cool."
"You know any?" I lied. I knew she knew Miyagi-Do.
Sam cleared her throat. "My dad might've trained me a little."
"Really? Did Anthony get any training?"
"My dad tried for years. But he never had any luck."
He never would've needed any karate if he never decided to pick on Kenny Payne. It was strange sometimes to know how much I knew that.
"Look um. Lucas. I know we got off on the wrong foot this summer."
"Not really. We were all cool until you didn't get the message that I didn't want to hang out with you."
"And why is that?"
I laughed. "Because your dad is my Sensei. And your dad and my mom have like the weirdest history. And I actually enjoy the pseudo internship I have at the dealership. No need to complicate that."
"Complicate that how?"
No point beating around the bush.
"You think I'm an idiot LaRusso?" I said quietly. "You have a troop of guys like Kyler and Rory around you all week. They'll probably be dumb jocks like that at our school. And you decide to take a casual stroll through the neighborhood to catch me on my way to your dads?"
Sam shrugged with her hands in her jacket pockets. "I wanted to talk to you."
"Really. About the crush you have on me."
Sam froze.
"What?" I asked calmly. "Like I said. I'm not stupid. I just don't get why that is."
Sam couldn't say anything.
"Sit boy."
Donnie quietly sat down on the corner of the sidewalk. He scratched his head with his back paw and started to pant quietly as he smiled blankly.
"Well."
"I don't know. You're the first guy I met and started talking to a lot who didn't ask me out or show any interest in me."
I smiled. "Ah. Instant crush."
"Are you mad at me or something?"
"You're just different. I don't know. I don't know why I like that."
"Well. Still doesn't make sense to me. We don't know each other that well at all."
There are guys who really would deserve the crushes they'd have on you Sam. Like Miguel Diaz, wherever he was now.
"It's just. Over the weeks and weeks of training I had under your dad in karate. You and I didn't talk all that much."
"Aisha recommended I give you some space." Sam said casually.
My first instinct was to say. Wow. Really!? She was talking to Aisha?
Instead I went with the rational question. "Who's Aisha?"
"A friend of mine from middle school. We started to grow apart this summer. I didn't know what to say to her really, so you came up."
"Well. How about I help you two reconnect? I want to meet as many people as I can. I'm new in town remember?"
Sam nodded. "That sounds fine. I was going to hang out with her at the beach club today. You can come with my dad and I."
"Alright."
…
Daniel pushed his watch up. "The beach club? Wasn't your mom going to take you?"
"She has to take Anthony to soccer practice from two to three thirty." Sam said in the LaRusso kitchen.
Daniel gave me a quick look.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault. Well. It sort of was but I think it's good for him." I said.
Sam nodded a bit in agreement with this while Daniel sighed.
"Fine. I'll take you. Lucas, did you pack your hiking gear? I found a nice waterfall for some meditation, and a new kata for you." Daniel said hurriedly stuffing food into a brown paper bag.
I spoke quietly. "Actually. I was going to go to the beach club with Sam."
"Oh. Oh!" Daniel had the same look Gramps did. "Oh definitely. I'll take you then, we gotta make it fast. I can't miss this meeting."
"It's not like that." I said quietly. "I want to get to know a friend of hers. Maybe get some laps in."
"Fine. I'll guess we can train tomorrow."
Sam smiled. "I can teach him some kata by the beach."
"Sounds good to me." Daniel said.
…
Daniel spoke to us as we got out of his car after a pretty awkward car ride. "Hey. Have fun you two. Amanda will pick you up at three thirty with Anthony."
"Cool." I said. He drove off and Sam and I walked into the lobby together. "He seemed in a hurry."
"Besides our family. My dad takes karate and the dealership more seriously than anything." said Sam.
"He's awesome. He's a really good teacher."
"Taught me everything I know too."
I frowned for a second but she didn't see.
He didn't teach me everything I knew though.
The receptionist smiled as did Sam. "Hi! He's my guest." she passed him an ID card.
"Ah. Ms. LaRusso. What is your name so I can sign you in as a guest today?" asked the beach club employee.
"Uh Lucas. Lucas Mills Schwarber?"
She typed for a second. And she looked to looking through something on her computer before she looked at me.
"Okay." she said passing me an ID card that looked just like Sam's. "You're a legacy member of the club apparently."
I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"Your grandparents and a woman named Ali Mills apparently have been legacy members of our club since 1981. The club considers you a full member as well from our records."
"Yeah that's my mom. Wow. I had, I had no idea."
"Then it's our pleasure Mr. Mills." The employee bowed her head slightly. "Anything you need. Just ask us."
We walked towards the pool area together. "Damn." I said. "No idea."
"Guess it makes sense." Sam looked around. "Looks like Aisha isn't here yet. I'm thinking we catch up for a bit and then we can do some kata together later?"
"Why not? I think-"
Wow. That was quite the lap pool. The biggest I'd ever seen in my life and barely anyone was using it.
We had a nice pool back home that I used almost every day for muscle work and cardio, but this one was very very large and far nicer.
"What?"
"I think I'm gonna swim for a long time."
…
Butterfly, freestyle, even some backstroke. I forgot how much I liked swimming at full speed as hard and as much as I could for several minutes.
When I was done, I used a towel and dried myself and walked over to a table where two girls were waiting for me.
"Luke. This is Aisha."
I shook her hand, finally. One of the greatest friends I could make here.
"Nice to meet you."
Aisha smiled. "We got bored for a bit and decided to time your laps. Not bad. I did swimming for a bit too. Know what I'm talking about."
"Ah I try my best. Anyway, Sam tells me you have known each other since middle school." I said sitting with them with a towel over my shoulders.
"Yeah." Aisha said. "It's been tough finding time to hang out this summer. Today was a rare opportunity."
"What kind of stuff are you into?" I asked Aisha.
"I'm big into molecular chemistry. I hope to be a chem major someday. Maybe applied physics."
"That's awesome. I made two friends this summer who are big into biotech and applied mathematics. Well. They like 3-d modeling, coding, and computing. They make models of all sorts of stuff."
"They sound cool."
I nodded. "You going to West Valley High this fall?"
Aisha nodded as well. "Yeah."
"You'll get to know them then. Their names are Demetri and Eli." I spoke calmly. "Sam already met them."
Sam frowned. "That's kinda what I wanted to talk about. I was hoping we could clear the air."
"Aisha. In middle school were you ever made fun of. Or called names?"
"Not really."
I explained. "Sam's friends are the type to do that to people just because they can."
"You barely met them Luke. Give them a chance."
I scoffed. "Keep a close eye on it. You'll see what I mean."
Aisha changed the topic quickly. "Sam's told me her dad trains you in karate. Must be nice right?"
"I give up." Sam said. "All summer you've been super weird about my friends. I'm here to talk this out. And you're still accusing them."
I raised my hands defensively. "Sam. I am not trying to argue with you on anything."
"I have to use the bathroom." Sam quickly left the table.
I looked over at Aisha. "This has been her. For about two weeks now or something."
"She's right though. What happened with her friends? It sounds like you already have your mind made up about them or something."
"Once you get to know them. I promise you. It'll sink in that I'm right."
Aisha smiled lightly. "It wouldn't hurt you know. To get to actually know them."
"Do you feel like Sam has changed since middle school ended?"
"You mean two months ago? Yeah. A bit. But why do you ask?"
"Nevermind."
Aisha laughed a bit, looking at me up and down for a second. "Sam does have a crush on you. And I can see why."
"So I've noticed."
"Sam's cute you know."
"Look yeah. I take care of myself. Since the moment I moved here from Denver halfway through May I've done nothing but work out and swim." And train in both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai karate. "Just don't get why Sam is acting so weird about everything though."
"I think you're basically the first crush she's ever had on a guy who wasn't from a movie or something. I've known her for a while. That's the impression I got."
I sighed. "Makes perfect sense then."
"And why are you trying to stay in shape like. This? Is it just to stay healthy or is it something else?"
I couldn't tell her it was to become the youngest karate champion in All Valley history and break every single record I can at my first All Valley.
"Yeah. To stay healthy. But I promise you, I didn't do it to pick up chicks."
"Her dad hasn't trained anyone in karate since Sam was a little girl. Think that says a lot about the trust he put in you. And what it must be like between you and her family."
I sighed. Aisha had a point. But it was mostly out of a debt he felt he had to pay to my mom. Ali Mills, his old high school girlfriend.
"Thanks." I said as Aisha smiled a bit and nodded.
"Sam's had a group of guys trailing her and her new friends around all summer though."
I glanced at Aisha. "You jealous of them?"
"Sorta. They're hot and I'm. Not."
"You know what guys really like?"
"Hot girls?"
I laughed. "Some aren't as superficial as Sam's new friends. The average guy isn't super shallow and egotistical. Some. Like personality, and confidence."
"But I'm not confident."
"Then you make your own confidence." I said to Aisha. "That's how confidence works."
She needed Johnny before she even met him.
"What do I have to be confident about?"
"Well that's the thing. Find something you're proud of in yourself. Something you think makes you feel strong. Use that." I nodded to her and she seemed to agree. "And then you'll really know what to be confident about."
"Never thought of it like that. Are you really fourteen?"
"Yeah." I laughed with her. "Just different than what you'd expect is all. Just like Sam said."
Damn. Guess she was right.
I looked over and saw someone familiar. Someone who appeared to be a regular employee at first glance but was really someone with a weak mustache clearly in his very late teens.
He was very carefully sneaking in towels into his arms like a regular employee, but had a second hand somewhere when no one was looking.
It was actually impressive how he angled himself and how he could walk past a table and a wallet or phone would disappear.
I knew who this was.
Aisha spoke. "I'm gonna go check where Sam's gone off to."
"Cool." I said waiting until she was well out of eyesight of me to go follow Trey around.
I should've called the police or told one of the managers of the beach club. I knew where he was probably stashing the wallets and phones that conveniently would go missing.
It was the oddest coincidence today of all days to pull this. But then again, Robby was banned from pulling scams here with Cruz and Trey before the second season so this made sense.
I took my phone out walking a bit away from the beach club towards the pier, I needed to record this to show Sensei.
Then I heard a familiar voice for the first time.
"Damn! What a haul!" I recognized Robby Keene's voice.
"Let's see that shit. Mm." I saw Cruz and Trey all cycling through everything they had stolen from the beach club.
A three man job, I wouldn't be whacked over the back of the head with a wooden boat paddle.
It was time to make Sensei Kreese proud and for once have a good fight on my terms. Two to one from what I expected.
I struck first, I ran as fast as I could through the sand and threw everything I had, using every inch of my body to hurl a fully powered reverse punch starting from my feet and ending at my knuckles directly on Trey's nose.
Always go for the biggest one first my instincts told me.
Trey raised his fists, although he was confused as he began to attack.
"What the-" I heard Robby say.
I never gave my back to him despite the fact I knew he probably wouldn't attack me, even though I hit Cruz as hard as I could in the stomach as he came running at me with a front kick.
Trey and Cruz were both rising up from the sand slowly, then I didn't make a mistake I know Miguel made in his fight against Kyler and his group of bullies in the cafeteria of Cobra Kai's first season.
When you dazed your opponent, never stop striking until they're down.
I quickly rushed forward again with multiple forward strikes as I made Cruz miss and probably knocked Trey's jaw a bit loose with two quick punches.
As Trey went crashing directly into the sand, Cruz turned me around and was about to punch me but I moved his wild haymaker away with a Miyagi-Do block creating an opening for a counter and snapped a front kick directly to his face.
Cruz dropped as well, down and out, I didn't realize how much flexibility and strength years of soccer and nearly two months of two different kinds of karate had given me.
Robby looked confused out of his mind, didn't blame him. I had taken down two older and bigger opponents by striking first, fast really speed was crucial, hard, and without mercy, and specifically using very refined karate fundamentals.
"Alright." I said quietly. "The wallets and the phones you stole. Where are they?"
Robby took one look at his two friends sporting broken and bloodied noses in the sand barely able to move off the ground and was about to make a run for it.
I grabbed him. "Look man-"
"Stay away from me!"
Robby suddenly tried to push me back but this was a specific drill Mr. LaRusso taught me when someone tried to grab or push you from in front of you.
Move aside and grab their arm, and shove them away instead.
I now moved Robby aside where he was under the pier having to either run through plenty of broken glass and debris or past me.
"Listen."
"Okay!" Robby struggled to speak. "I. What!"
"I just want the wallets and the phones you guys stole. And to make sure you get home safe."
Robby was utterly shocked. "What!?" he repeated.
I didn't blame him at all still. It wouldn't make any sense to me either, I had ruthlessly knocked out his two friends but randomly decided to show him any mercy at all.
"Where's the stuff you stole?"
Robby handed me the cloth he had with all the stolen wallets and phones to me. I didn't mean to threaten him because I knew his situation, but I knew he was afraid I could break his nose or hurt his jaw like I did to Cruz and Trey.
"Alright. So here's what's going to happen. This." I looked over at a completely out of commission Cruz and Trey. "Never happened. These items, are going to be returned to the beach club's lost and found so no eyebrows are raised. And you and I. Are gonna keep in touch."
"You know. But still. Why!?"
"Just. Let me have your phone number or something man. Douchebags like these." I again nodded towards Trey and Cruz. "Absolute trash. You don't belong with them."
"Okay but. To you I must seem just like them. What are you doing?"
"You're younger and smaller than them. Sometimes in these scams you need a third. A clown, a dummy, someone to take bigger risks while they just collect some money and stuff and you might take the fall for them sometimes. I know how it is but in a different way, trust me."
Robby seemed to understand. "Fine. Just." he said a bit sadly. "Here's my number or whatever."
I wrote it down on a notepad on my phone after I retrieved it from where it was perched to record my fight with Trey and Cruz, who were still there, awkwardly knocked out while I talked to Robby.
"None of this makes any sense to me at all."
"It's just to protect you. I know that sounds weird since we're the same age. But I think you can definitely find better mentors than these two. Just let me help, I've been where you were."
"How did you do that by the way? Learn how to handle yourself like that?"
"You move fast and decisively in a fight. Know some fundamentals and are in decent shape. You'd be surprised how well you can do with training in any combat sport even with just a few months. But if you have to know. It was karate with a tiny bit of boxing."
Robby scoffed. "Karate?"
I smiled. "Yeah."
Robby shrugged. "Thanks for not calling the cops on me or. Kicking my ass I guess."
One day. I'm sure Robby could possibly even kick my ass. He was the top three male teen fighters on the show, among Eli and Miguel.
"I'm Robby."
"Lucas. Or Luke. You can call me either."
…
After quickly returning all the phones and wallets Trey and Cruz stole from the beach club back to the lost and found, Sam spoke to me. "Where did you go off to?"
"Just went on a walk by the pier. By myself."
"Well my mom's picking us up soon."
Guess I spent more time fighting Cruz and Trey and swimming than I thought I did. I had about a half hour to get back home and start taking the bus ride over from the main Encino Hills bus station over to Pacoima near the homeless shelter and abandoned loading dock I used to train with Kreese.
"Look Lucas I-"
"Stop. You're right. I was totally, totally out of line to keep judging you. I just can't return any sort of crush you have on me."
Sam smiled. "I get that. Thanks."
"It's no problem. There's a right guy out there for you. I promise."
Sam nodded. "Thanks." she repeated.
It was Miguel. Miguel Sam, just wait for a bit.
"It's just. Not Kyler. I promise that too."
Amanda pulled up to the front entrance of the beach club with Anthony in the back seat.
"Hey Luke!" he said, holding what I knew was a soccer trophy in the air, poking it out of the window. "We won our first match! I scored the winning goal!"
"That's my maaan!"
…
After a very solid hour and a half of cardio, strike practicing and working on counters and sparring, I showed Kreese my fight on my phone.
I had edited it on the bus ride over to Pacoima to remove the part where I talked to Robby. That would raise some pointless questions.
He missed the classic Miyagi-Do wax off block and counter in the video, I checked it to make sure it wasn't completely apparent. Not that it was Kreese's fault, he probably only really saw Miyagi-Do up close about three times in his entire life and from how the video was shot it looked like I had dodged the incoming haymaker and struck Cruz while striking to land first against his own attack.
Kreese nodded slightly. "Two bigger and older opponents. Nice job." he said casually and quietly.
"Really? I had my first fight, isn't that what you said I need to do?"
"Johnny Lawrence beat up guys like that every other weekend at football games and stuff like that with his buddies on his own when he was just about a year older than you. You did do what I told you to, and you admittedly did it how I asked. You've studied Cobra Kai dutifully, and skillfully for over two months now."
Kreese continued talking. "The training I've given you consists of mostly the same lessons I taught back in the day. You're showing me your progress and your skill."
"Then what's next for me?"
"You still have a long way to go before you're ever ready to face the entire All Valley on your own with just what I've taught you. However, you're right. There is a next step."
"Which is?"
Kreese glanced at my phone. "You noticed you dazed your opponents and you took advantage of it. But I have to ask. How did this whole fight happen?"
"These guys were stealing from my beach club. I had to teach them a lesson."
"Hm." Kreese said. "There was a third opponent you had in the video. Do you know why he didn't fight you?"
Robby.
"He looked scared. He ran off." I lied calmly.
"And did you chase him down?"
"No. The fight was over, he was long gone."
Kreese shook his head. "You're learning how to strike first properly. You didn't give your opponents a chance to think. You struck them hard, with all of your strength with proper technique. But you let one of them get away. That. Is mercy."
"I understand Sensei."
"But, that's not your fault. It takes more time than you could imagine to remove your mercy. Back in the day I just had the class spar and then they would finish their opponents. Maybe a punch to the face, chop to the shoulder, a strong kick to the ribs and such. You don't have that luxury. You have to learn almost all of this on your own." Kreese looked around at the abandoned supermarket loading dock that was our unofficial Cobra Kai dojo for months. "In unfortunately a place like this to train."
"Do you think Cobra Kai will ever return to what it was? To what people once remembered it as?"
"Even with your help. And possibly Terry's if I can convince him when the time comes."
Maybe two years from now probably.
Kreese sighed. "It would take a very long while. I haven't gone back to the original Cobra Kai dojo for decades. The place where I used to teach."
"It needs you. You made champions right? Tell me, what was it like?"
"For anyone to even consider us what we were. We'd need several championships to return to Cobra Kai's roots. And that place basically no longer exists. I opened the dojo in spring of 1975." said Kreese. "Terry and I had returned from 'Nam about a few months prior."
I listened. "Our tours had ended in about '72 after I won my first tournament in the army. We trained under Grandmaster Kim Sun Yung for three years in South Korea under a special transfer order to go there as we had more than completed our time on the front lines and could serve elsewhere. We returned, called murderers instead of defenders of our country."
Kreese spoke calmly. "It was time to make a name for what we knew, for what we could teach the world. We had to create Cobra Kai."
I continued to listen. "Terry." Kreese slightly frowned. "Terry's father had to pass on his business to him. I had to run the dojo on my own, the most he could do was buy the location where I taught and give me a bit of money to start out. For the first two years I was basically just figuring everything out."
I nodded a bit. "Paperwork and insurance and all that. How to pass on the techniques I had learned properly to the class. How to start competing. How to at all create the environment I had learned my own karate in. Most of the students were mediocre at best for the first two years. Then, my first real Cobra Kais walked in during '77."
I smiled a bit, started to get interested.
"The Lankershim dojo class. Now." Kreese chuckled quietly. "Those were fighters. For seven years straight, Cobra Kai became the ultimate competitive dojo in the entire Valley. Any tournament, and we were there."
Kreese continued to explain. "We won our first tournament in 1978. And then the trophies just started to pile up and filled the dojo entrance. I still have all of them stored in a few old boxes. The oldest of the Vidals, Robert Vidal, basically the son of the founder of the Locust Valley Karate Club at the time, lost to my top student back then three to two in the All Valley finals."
"What happened to him?"
"Compared to Johnny he was insignificant, but if you have to know he had to move away for work. I lost one champion in '79, for my next. Johnny Lawrence, he helped me make that dojo what it was."
I nodded again. "So you won trophies on your own while in the army and competing in Korea and abroad. And then the dojo became unstoppable from 1978 onwards."
"Just about. We only lost one championship before the dojo closed, it was to the Vidals in '81. Other than that, any tournament we competed in, All Valley or not. We won."
I smiled. "You said you still have those trophies right?"
"Yeah."
"Can I see them?"
…
For about two hours, Kreese took out two old cardboard boxes he had stored under his bed in his room at the homeless shelter and took the dusty old trophies out one by one. Lined them all up on a nearby desk and told me the stories behind each tournament.
What the competition was like, the scoring, the rules, the dojos and competitors. Every detail he remembered like it was yesterday. For such an old man, he really never seemed to forget much, made sense for Kreese.
Every trophy or medal he had had a story behind it, and Kreese explained it very well.
The earliest one was one labeled 1970 US Army Karate Championships - First Place, and the latest was, incredibly, 1984 Under 18 All Valley Karate Championships - Second Place.
I didn't say a word about it but I knew it the second I saw it.
Kreese had managed to actually fix the original second place trophy he had broken when Johnny lost to Daniel back in 1984. He didn't just make that up when approaching Johnny in Season 2 of the show, no, apparently this was the actual trophy. He had really kept it stored for over thirty years in honor of the relationship he had developed with Johnny.
That. Was shockingly touching for a man this cruel, vengeful, and cold. But it made perfect sense to me. It almost didn't feel real, like it was out of his character to not just fake that he did that.
Cobra Kai was literally all he ever had after Vietnam or in his life at all really. And he kept as much as he could from those memories. Even the bad memories. Johnny was his weakness through and through, Silver was completely right. And that second place trophy proved it.
As Kreese kept explaining all this, going on and on, I realized something. And like what just happened, it completely shocked me.
This was a side of Kreese that was apparently always there but never was allowed to be shown in the show or films.
He wasn't trying to impress me with made up stories of leading soldiers in wars that never happened overseas. He wasn't telling me how many Vietcongs he killed with his bare hands. Or how he trained himself, or if Captain Turner and Kim Sun Yung never existed, Kreese hadn't lied to me from the moment we had met.
Kreese had told me nothing but the complete truth. He was still a very stern, merciless, and loud Vietnam War Army captain. But he was honest and clear.
I knew it now. I knew what I wanted to do. I would have to work tirelessly to make sure no one got hurt from it, but I knew what I wanted to do now.
I wanted to bring Cobra Kai back to its former glory. Back to its original location and prestige on Lankershim Boulevard on its corner with Magnolia Drive.
Daniel might've been honest with me too. But his legacy was just different. It didn't speak to me in the same way.
I noticed something else too. The reason why he had shared this much with me and why I possibly never saw it in the films or show was because we almost never saw his relationship as a teacher back in the day with Johnny.
To Kreese, I was the new Johnny Lawrence from how much he was sharing with me here.
How was this possible? How could a man clearly portrayed to be so evil be. To be just a person. Just like everyone I'd seen in the Karate Kid films and the Cobra Kai show. John Kreese was just a man. He was human, just like me.
Kreese had noticed how lost in his stories behind each and every single trophy I was.
"Everything okay Mr. Schwarber?"
"Everything's fine Sensei."
Chapter Seven
MiyazakiFan18
Know what you're doing yet?
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It was the morning of July 19th, 2016 where I began to catalog my progress, set goals for myself and really start to map out most of what truly lay ahead.
The first thing I did was start to research things in this world. I remembered Robby finding plenty of information on Kreese while in Juvie using a PC in a computer lab he had there.
It turned out everything Kreese had told me about all his tournaments were true. The first recorded Karate Championships held by the US Army for US Army officers and enlisted men did include John Kreese as one of the first ever champions from 1967 onward.
The second thing I started to research was just exactly what the fighting style and kind of competition the All Valley Karate tournament was, what specifically was allowed and what wasn't, because the show and Karate Kid films weren't exactly clear and all the tournaments I had been in were very specific.
After some digging, I was able to find a detailed rule book of the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament.
What I realized was why exactly the karate looked so different than the karate I was used to. In my karate tournaments you at least needed to wear gloves and foot protectors, but everyone sparred in tournaments without so much as light cloth coverings on their knuckles.
The reason why was simple. The rule book for the All Valley Karate tournament hadn't been updated since the first All Valley tournament was held in 1968. Just like all karate tournaments at the time, no sparring gear of any kind was required or used at all.
It was an absolute miracle no one ever decided to include gloves, mouthguards, and helmets for sparring. Because bruises, injured knuckles, elbows, shins, forearms, and all sorts of things would happen in this kind of fighting. Oddly, it just didn't.
The scoring ruleset was useful, and I was able to find specific sources for context and reference in the rulebook specifically. Most of the All Valley Tournament rule book was used from the American Tang Soo Do Association Tournament rules very faithfully actually.
First, the scoring was clear that all strikes, if scored properly, were worth a single point.
The second was that you couldn't use open hand techniques to the face. Meaning a very easy score of throwing a knife hand over the top to the head was not allowed.
Despite how detailed and admittedly fair and realistic the rules were besides no sparring gear, the most important information I deduced was how to build my combination attacks.
In competitive karate, a 'blitz' or 'combination' attack were just very rapid and sudden forward strikes chained together either applied to taking the initiative on offense, or countering while on defense to interrupt an attack.
I began to write down a list of combos, similar to the ones I had in boxing.
Like the one two hook, or the jab jab cross, or the one two one. I could come up with simpler attacks based off the All Valley tournament ruleset, and ultimately they all felt effective.
Because the All Valley tournament simply didn't allow for enough information merely from the rules the show gave us, I had developed the following strategies.
First, face and body punches were allowed, which were easily the best ways to score right off the bat or while as a counter. I planned on using my fists to attack more than anyone else probably in the Karate Kid universe until now possibly, all the kicks were flashier in the show and movies so that's what people remembered them by.
Kicks, like the classic 'pump kick' with the front leg, were probably ineffective unless I would be insanely good and fast with it. You had to be creative and strong with it, not just flicking it out there weakly hoping to get scored on.
Front kicks were okay as long as they were part of a combo or done as a scissor kick or another attack set it up first.
The jab punch. Wow. A karate jab punch that was rarely ever seen except in very major fights on occasion. I had started to perfect it in all forms because it was incredibly useful because it was so fast and easy to score with as a first attack.
Above all I had begun to study Tang Soo Do karate as much as I could online. Finding videos, tips, and techniques as much as I could and surprisingly enough, videos of basic how-tos from the 80s and 90s by people like Bill Superfoot Wallace who had perfected the three point American Tang Soo Do sparring method on a globally competitive scale gave me the best tips, essentials, and combination attacks.
Most of the fighting style was actually pretty effective on paper, it mostly boiled down to how well a karateka in this style would apply it to real life that made it worthwhile to me in self defense.
The reactivity, guard or how well a fighter kept his hands up and reacted to blows to the head and chest area, adapdativity, aggression, flexibility, stamina, and strength of a fighter were key to this style.
Ultimately I didn't see much use for me to study Miyagi-Do for more than one year anyway besides my plans. From what I gathered it could give me extremely good reflexes for counters and even attacks if applied aggressively instead of defensively in a fight.
Huh. Nevermind then, I'd hold onto it for as long as I could then, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world if I had to walk away from it.
…
It was a hot summer afternoon, nice day out, and I decided to do my grandparents a favor while getting some kata practice done at home.
I waxed on and waxed off all their wildly expensive collectible cars from the 60s to the 80s.
I was in a tank top and shorts, practicing my standard Miyagi-Do blocks by washing cars when I heard a familiar voice behind me.
"Hi."
I turned around, nodding to Demetri. "Hey."
I made a circle with my fingers and whistled loudly. "Donnie! Come here boy, bring the bucket!"
The golden retriever held a pail of soapy water in his mouth and laid it down at my feet.
"That's a good boy. Yes. Good boy."
I tossed him a biscuit from my pocket and dipped the sponge into the bucket and continued to wax the cars.
Demetri nodded slightly. "You trained him well."
"Sure did. He was trained as soon as my grandparents were able to. The Mills family were all dog breeders back in Scotland or whatever." I mumbled.
"That's pretty cool. I'm just wondering though. Why would you ever wash your own cars instead of just hiring someone to do it for you?" asked Demetri. "Your family is clearly." Demetri nodded towards my house. "Loaded."
"Well. Here's what's gonna blow your mind. What I'm doing, is actually karate."
"Karate from chores. Odd." he didn't seem to question it. "Wonder how that works."
You'd actually learn it at some point.
"I'd teach you." I said. "But you don't seem like the confrontational type."
"Yeah I'm more of a hide behind guys with muscle and fighting ability like you kinda person." said Demetri raising his hand slightly.
I chuckled. "Yeah I figured."
I was his Miguel and then Robby against Kyler and then Hawk. Huh. Funny how that worked out.
I drew my phone from my pocket, texting Robby, the newest person in my contacts.
Hey. No hard feelings about yesterday, maybe know who this is? Everything okay?
Demetri spoke. "So. Eli just downloaded the new demo for Persona 5 on his Playstation. Wanna go check it out?"
"Sure." I said, quickly rinsing down the cars with some hose water and then closing the garage door to them.
After I let Donnie back inside my house I began to walk towards Eli's house, which actually wasn't that far from my own. Only about a thirty minute walk actually, and despite me being fourteen, my grandparents didn't mind me on my own or really care that much anyway.
I muttered. "My grandparents are making me have a stupid dinner at the LaRussos."
"Who are the LaRussos?"
"They're Sam's parents. Sam's the girl who walked up to me and asked to hang out with her, remember?"
"Right. You're having dinner at a really hot girl's house. And you expect me to feel bad for you?"
I chuckled. "No Demetri. I don't."
Robby had just texted me back, which actually surprised me.
The text was a bit odd.
Lucas right? I think I need your help.
…
The first thing I did was start to research things in this world. I remembered Robby finding plenty of information on Kreese while in Juvie using a PC in a computer lab he had there.
It turned out everything Kreese had told me about all his tournaments were true. The first recorded Karate Championships held by the US Army for US Army officers and enlisted men did include John Kreese as one of the first ever champions from 1967 onward.
The second thing I started to research was just exactly what the fighting style and kind of competition the All Valley Karate tournament was, what specifically was allowed and what wasn't, because the show and Karate Kid films weren't exactly clear and all the tournaments I had been in were very specific.
After some digging, I was able to find a detailed rule book of the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament.
What I realized was why exactly the karate looked so different than the karate I was used to. In my karate tournaments you at least needed to wear gloves and foot protectors, but everyone sparred in tournaments without so much as light cloth coverings on their knuckles.
The reason why was simple. The rule book for the All Valley Karate tournament hadn't been updated since the first All Valley tournament was held in 1968. Just like all karate tournaments at the time, no sparring gear of any kind was required or used at all.
It was an absolute miracle no one ever decided to include gloves, mouthguards, and helmets for sparring. Because bruises, injured knuckles, elbows, shins, forearms, and all sorts of things would happen in this kind of fighting. Oddly, it just didn't.
The scoring ruleset was useful, and I was able to find specific sources for context and reference in the rulebook specifically. Most of the All Valley Tournament rule book was used from the American Tang Soo Do Association Tournament rules very faithfully actually.
First, the scoring was clear that all strikes, if scored properly, were worth a single point.
The second was that you couldn't use open hand techniques to the face. Meaning a very easy score of throwing a knife hand over the top to the head was not allowed.
Despite how detailed and admittedly fair and realistic the rules were besides no sparring gear, the most important information I deduced was how to build my combination attacks.
In competitive karate, a 'blitz' or 'combination' attack were just very rapid and sudden forward strikes chained together either applied to taking the initiative on offense, or countering while on defense to interrupt an attack.
I began to write down a list of combos, similar to the ones I had in boxing.
Like the one two hook, or the jab jab cross, or the one two one. I could come up with simpler attacks based off the All Valley tournament ruleset, and ultimately they all felt effective.
Because the All Valley tournament simply didn't allow for enough information merely from the rules the show gave us, I had developed the following strategies.
First, face and body punches were allowed, which were easily the best ways to score right off the bat or while as a counter. I planned on using my fists to attack more than anyone else probably in the Karate Kid universe until now possibly, all the kicks were flashier in the show and movies so that's what people remembered them by.
Kicks, like the classic 'pump kick' with the front leg, were probably ineffective unless I would be insanely good and fast with it. You had to be creative and strong with it, not just flicking it out there weakly hoping to get scored on.
Front kicks were okay as long as they were part of a combo or done as a scissor kick or another attack set it up first.
The jab punch. Wow. A karate jab punch that was rarely ever seen except in very major fights on occasion. I had started to perfect it in all forms because it was incredibly useful because it was so fast and easy to score with as a first attack.
Above all I had begun to study Tang Soo Do karate as much as I could online. Finding videos, tips, and techniques as much as I could and surprisingly enough, videos of basic how-tos from the 80s and 90s by people like Bill Superfoot Wallace who had perfected the three point American Tang Soo Do sparring method on a globally competitive scale gave me the best tips, essentials, and combination attacks.
Most of the fighting style was actually pretty effective on paper, it mostly boiled down to how well a karateka in this style would apply it to real life that made it worthwhile to me in self defense.
The reactivity, guard or how well a fighter kept his hands up and reacted to blows to the head and chest area, adapdativity, aggression, flexibility, stamina, and strength of a fighter were key to this style.
Ultimately I didn't see much use for me to study Miyagi-Do for more than one year anyway besides my plans. From what I gathered it could give me extremely good reflexes for counters and even attacks if applied aggressively instead of defensively in a fight.
Huh. Nevermind then, I'd hold onto it for as long as I could then, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world if I had to walk away from it.
…
It was a hot summer afternoon, nice day out, and I decided to do my grandparents a favor while getting some kata practice done at home.
I waxed on and waxed off all their wildly expensive collectible cars from the 60s to the 80s.
I was in a tank top and shorts, practicing my standard Miyagi-Do blocks by washing cars when I heard a familiar voice behind me.
"Hi."
I turned around, nodding to Demetri. "Hey."
I made a circle with my fingers and whistled loudly. "Donnie! Come here boy, bring the bucket!"
The golden retriever held a pail of soapy water in his mouth and laid it down at my feet.
"That's a good boy. Yes. Good boy."
I tossed him a biscuit from my pocket and dipped the sponge into the bucket and continued to wax the cars.
Demetri nodded slightly. "You trained him well."
"Sure did. He was trained as soon as my grandparents were able to. The Mills family were all dog breeders back in Scotland or whatever." I mumbled.
"That's pretty cool. I'm just wondering though. Why would you ever wash your own cars instead of just hiring someone to do it for you?" asked Demetri. "Your family is clearly." Demetri nodded towards my house. "Loaded."
"Well. Here's what's gonna blow your mind. What I'm doing, is actually karate."
"Karate from chores. Odd." he didn't seem to question it. "Wonder how that works."
You'd actually learn it at some point.
"I'd teach you." I said. "But you don't seem like the confrontational type."
"Yeah I'm more of a hide behind guys with muscle and fighting ability like you kinda person." said Demetri raising his hand slightly.
I chuckled. "Yeah I figured."
I was his Miguel and then Robby against Kyler and then Hawk. Huh. Funny how that worked out.
I drew my phone from my pocket, texting Robby, the newest person in my contacts.
Hey. No hard feelings about yesterday, maybe know who this is? Everything okay?
Demetri spoke. "So. Eli just downloaded the new demo for Persona 5 on his Playstation. Wanna go check it out?"
"Sure." I said, quickly rinsing down the cars with some hose water and then closing the garage door to them.
After I let Donnie back inside my house I began to walk towards Eli's house, which actually wasn't that far from my own. Only about a thirty minute walk actually, and despite me being fourteen, my grandparents didn't mind me on my own or really care that much anyway.
I muttered. "My grandparents are making me have a stupid dinner at the LaRussos."
"Who are the LaRussos?"
"They're Sam's parents. Sam's the girl who walked up to me and asked to hang out with her, remember?"
"Right. You're having dinner at a really hot girl's house. And you expect me to feel bad for you?"
I chuckled. "No Demetri. I don't."
Robby had just texted me back, which actually surprised me.
The text was a bit odd.
Lucas right? I think I need your help.
…
Chapter Eight
MiyazakiFan18
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2024
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- 101
- Likes received
- 1,992
I muttered to Demetri. "Hey um. You got a way to make it home right?"
"Yeah, Eli's mom always gives me a ride. Why?"
"Nothing, I think I might be busy for a little bit. We can go a few rounds on Eli's Playstation any other day."
Demetri nodded. "Okay. Everything alright?"
"Everything's fine. Just get home safe."
"Thanks." Demetri smiled. "Even though there's only a few more weeks of summer still left. I've started to enjoy them. Glad we started hanging out."
"Me too man." I smiled back.
…
In my bedroom I dialed Robby's number.
He picked up and I spoke. "Hey Robby. Look I-"
"Luke? Shit! I gotta talk to you."
"I'm sorry about beating up your friends. I'm sure we could've just-"
"What? It's fine listen. I need your help."
I looked around my bedroom for a second. "That's why I'm calling."
"Yeah well I need your help like right now."
"What's going on?"
"Those two guys you beat up? Their names are Trey and Cruz. And they are, pissed."
I shrugged. "Yeah. So?"
"So they know we had a little conversation and I walked away unscathed while they got their faces busted in. And the goddamn cops know about all the shit I helped them lift from your beach club. We got into a pretty nasty argument. I'm at my mom's but I can't go anywhere without seeing them around, they gave me some pretty massive threats and I just ran from then. I can't go to the skatepark, library. Anywhere."
I frowned. "They know where you live?"
"We just moved. But I think Trey might have my address from um. Something he might've mailed to me."
Drugs, molly if I remember correctly. Shit, I forgot what Robby was into dealing at his old highschool at North Hills.
"Okay man um. Do you have somewhere safe to stay that's not your mom's. Like your aunt's or something?"
"That's why I'm calling. The only family I have in town isn't helpful I promise."
I know Robby. I know.
I sighed. "And you thought I could give you a place to stay?"
"Well I don't know. I'm fucked here! You're the reason why they're after me. You gotta do something! I think I'm owed something at least."
I had to agree with him, I basically was the reason why Trey and Cruz blamed Robby for apparently having betrayed them or sold them out to the cops. I did in fact identify Trey and Cruz at the beach club and they told the police. But there was a better alternative.
"This family of yours. I know we like, just met. But how unhelpful are they?"
"Really unhelpful."
"Are they dangerous, to you specifically?"
"No."
"Are they criminals?"
"Somewhat."
I remembered the record Johnny had by the time the show had started and resisted the urge to laugh.
"Somewhat? What does somewhat mean?"
"It doesn't matter. Can you help me or not?"
"We gotta talk in person for this."
"Well any minute now my old friends are gonna jump me the second I step outside my house not to mention I don't know what they're gonna do to me. So tomorrow is not my best option."
I muttered. "Where do you live?"
"887 Rancho Drive, North Hills. Apartment 17B."
"Where's your mom?"
Robby was quiet for a bit.
"Just not home." he said quietly.
I had forgotten about that too.
I checked my watch, I'd get there by seven thirty. "It'll take an hour by bus to go from where I live to your place. Lock the door. Get a baseball bat or some shit and for the love of everything sane. Do. Not. Open. The door. Unless you're sure it's me."
"Pretty much already doing that but you're right. See you in a bit."
…
Shannon Keene's apartment. Never thought I'd be here at all yet really, or so soon.
I had taken so many buses all over Los Angeles by this point that this wasn't trouble at all. I had walked around Pacoima and some pretty seedy parts of town all by myself even during nighttime so I wasn't bothered by this.
You kept your head down, talked to no one and stayed alert. You were safe. That's what I learned from Kreese about the places he stayed around, oddly it worked perfectly well.
I knew my grandparents and especially mom back home in Denver would lose their shit but they never caught me.
It was nightfall. A pretty quiet night besides some dog barking in the distance of North Hills.
I knocked on the door of Robby's place.
"Look man it's me. The person who told you to lock this door."
Robby quickly opened the door and guided me inside his house.
He locked the door to his house behind him and yelled at me. "You mind explaining to me what you were thinking today!? Why would you ever just randomly attack two dudes stealing wallets and beat them up instead of. I don't know. Calling the police or not committing a crime?"
For a juvenile, Robby was still quite the realist I remembered from the show.
I muttered. "You mind loosening your grip on that baseball bat while you say that?"
Robby froze. The wooden baseball bat clattered quietly to the ground.
"You seem awfully helpful for someone who had no issue beating up my friends. It still doesn't make any sense to me."
"I explained. I've been in your position before."
"Really?"
"Well not exactly but I know what it's like to have bad influences on you. To feel like. Doing stuff you shouldn't do is the only thing you can do sometimes."
Robby crossed his arms. "So. Pity then. And general violence for fun. That's you?"
"Do you want my help or not man?"
"I don't have a choice. But yeah. what did you have in mind?"
I knew Johnny could save my ass right now. How to ease into this.
"You said you had family."
"Why did you have to come here then for this. I already told you they're no help."
"What do you think will help you better long term? Staying secretly in my pool house until my grandparents find out and my ass gets sent back home to Denver? For who knows how long? Or someone who can actually help."
Robby sighed. "I get you have no reason to take me in. But we gotta do something else besides that and asking my dad for help."
"Your dad?"
"My dad isn't exactly a psychopath. But he's pretty awful. He's been arrested like three times last year. I see him once every few months. He wants nothing to do with me."
"So you barely talk to him."
Robby shrugged. "And?"
"Dude. He's an easy way out of this mess."
"He'll be mad as hell that I asked him for help."
I spoke calmly. "Well. Have you ever actually reached out to him and asked him for advice or anything?"
"Look I-" Robby froze again. "No." he said quietly.
I didn't blame him. He probably either hated him or was too afraid to admit how he felt about Johnny. I would be too honestly.
"Let's at least hear what he says. Do you know where he lives?"
Robby glanced around his house for a moment, seeming to think for a moment. "Yeah." he said quietly again. "Southern part of Reseda. Only been there once. He's too broke to move around anywhere else."
"We don't have all night. Buses stop moving around at eleven and it's how I get around town."
Robby nodded, clearly he trusted me to some extent to help defend him from Trey and Cruz.
Two guys with knives though? Martial arts covered weapons training to some extent, but in the real world, it was trickier.
…
On the bus ride over towards Johnny's apartment, I spoke to Robby.
"Look man, I might not be from your part of town. Or even get involved in the kinda shit you do." Robby said nothing as I kept explaining. "But I know what it's like to be neglected."
"How could you know that by looking at me? We never met."
"I saw your friends stealing wallets and phones from my beach club. Two assholes older. Bigger than you. Maybe they bullied you into it or used you. It made sense to me. People can be criminals and do bad things. But that doesn't mean they're all bad people. Some people."
I sighed.
"Some people just need to be talked to. Because at one point I."
Shit from my previous life. Technically it didn't even happen in Robby's universe.
"I just needed to be talked to as well."
Robby nodded a bit. "That's kinda touching to hear. But you took a massive risk. You went out of your way and acted way beyond how a person in your shoes should. For what?"
"For doing the right thing. Haven't you ever wanted to do that too?"
Robby frowned, the bus kept driving slowly towards Reseda. "At one point. Maybe."
"It's not too late. It's better to be honest sometimes than to hide what's really going on. Maybe I understood because we're the same age. Maybe it was a stupid and pointless risk I took like you said. Maybe I just wanted to beat up your friends for no damn reason and I was just pissed off at them from wanting to steal from me."
Robby muttered. "As odd as this is. Because it's literally the strangest thing I've ever had happen to me. It does make some sense as to why you could just try to help or whatever. I mean, why risk so much? All three of us jumping you or possibly doing worse? Just to try to kick the asses of two random guys who happened to steal from your beach club?"
"The more you get to know me. The more it'll make sense."
"I hope so. You are one completely crazy guy." Robby said, smiling lightly.
Even though he might've been joking I protested quietly and calmly. "I'm completely sane, just a bit stranger than your average person. Tell me about your dad."
Robby sighed. "Not much to tell. Name's Johnny. Probably hasn't been sober since. 1990 or something. Works as a handyman of some kind, I don't goddamn know. That's about it."
"His last name Lawrence?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Huh." I smiled. "Small world. My mom dated some guy named Johnny Lawrence back in high school. It's actually part of the reason why I moved here from Denver."
Robby laughed in surprise. "No way! That's a nightmare of a coincidence."
"Tell me about it." I laughed nervously for a second as Robby smiled.
"Wow. Talk about the odds. But um. What else do you know about my dad?"
"Supposed to be some sort of huge karate champ in the 80s. My mom's name is Ali Mills. They were a couple at one point."
"Karate champ? My goddamn dad? Get outta here."
"It's what she said. Or at least. What I found out."
Kreese did tell me a lot about him in the weeks and weeks I'd trained under him and gotten to know him.
"Huh. Well." Robby muttered. "I can't wait to see how freaked out he'll be by all this. As weird as it must be for me, for him. Must be huge."
"I can imagine."
He was in love with Ali. Even decades later he admitted he never got over her.
…
Robby knocked on the door across the hall from where I knew Miguel Diaz would at one point live.
Johnny Lawrence answered it. And wow did he look like he'd slept in a ditch drinking for the past thirty years.
"Robby?" he was a bit surprised to see him and then he looked at me.
"Hey um. Can we talk?"
"Who's he?" asked Johnny flicking his head towards me.
"Someone trustworthy." Robby said. "I know it might not mean much coming from me but. He is."
I looked away, I smiled at this.
Johnny cleared his throat. "Um. Sure. Sure yeah come on in."
We did so. Wow. He really did need to clean up the place like in the first season of the show. Odd to see it with my own eyes.
"So. Who's your friend?"
"Luke." Robby said.
"Luke Schwarber actually." I shook Johnny's hand. "Coincidence of the century. Caught Robby stealing from my beach club." Robby looked at me, clearly shocked that I had decided to spill the entire truth to him. "I beat the asses of two guys with him. And then decided to help him. Out of. Pity. Or. Whatever."
Johnny glared at Robby. "Stealing? The hell do you need to steal for?"
"You know what for."
Johnny frowned. He had a point. Robby basically lived alone all his life, the second season of the show established he lived off Cheerios and expired chips one summer.
"This might sound odd. But apparently you and my mom might know each other."
"How so?" asked Johnny.
"She's Ali Mills."
Johnny blinked rapidly again. "Excuse me?"
"Ali Mills? Apparently you two date-"
"No, I heard you, I just. Yeah. I guess that is the coincidence of the century." Johnny said in disbelief and a strong bit of calm yet noticeable shock. "How can I help you two?"
"These two guys after me are bad news. I need to stay with you for a bit until everything cools off." said Robby.
Johnny scoffed. "So? Then track them down and beat their asses again. Apparently you can do it already."
"Is that really a way to live? Looking over your shoulder not wanting to get stabbed in the back or something? Or knocked over the back of the head and robbed or who knows what else?" I asked.
"Well fighting doesn't seem to bother either of you two anyway, but. Why not go to the cops?" Johnny asked. "You got loads of solutions here."
"Would you have believed me if I just randomly decided to show up one night and say I wanted to live with you all of a sudden?" Robby asked blankly.
Johnny opened his mouth to protest but probably knew he was right. It would be strange, but admittedly stranger than this where Robby did actually need his help.
"Fine. We'll talk it over with your mom."
"She's busy." Robby muttered quietly.
"You mean Shan's? Again?" Johnny sighed. The entire carpet of his apartment was littered with nothing but beer cans and empty bags of Jack Links and other trash. "I can't talk, I guess. But look. We'll figure this out."
Robby frowned. "This has been the craziest day of my life. I'd like to go the hell to sleep. So I can just forget about it."
Johnny nodded a bit. "Okay. You can use the room across the hall from mine, I'll dig up a sleeping bag for you. I'll try to reach Shan as soon as we can."
Robby looked at Johnny and I and walked off, clearly really freaked out by the oddity of today. I didn't blame him, again.
"And this is the moment where I leave too."
"Uh uh." Johnny raised his eyebrows. "I need to know what happened."
"I told you the truth."
"No. I need to know why the hell Ali's kid coincidentally helps my. Kid. Out of a bad spot. And comes to me."
"Like I said it's an odd coincidence."
"Sure but." Johnny muttered quietly, leaning on his kitchen counter. "I haven't heard from or seen Ali in ages. What's going on?"
"My parents run the best Pediatric offices in downtown Denver. She's a surgeon, and my dad's an oncologist."
"Why aren't you with them then? Sound like responsible people."
I used something I knew would click with Johnny after his experiences with Sid.
"Money isn't everything to be considered present and good parents."
Johnny seemed to look at me in the same exact way he looked at Miguel in the second episode of the show where I knew he was relating to him for never meeting his father.
"And now you're in a crappy part of LA fighting random people and talking to her exes. Alright. So you ran off then?"
"I actually thought about it. I decided to ask my mom to send me here instead."
"And she accepted? How old are you? Thirteen?"
"Fourteen thank you."
"Why?" Johnny asked quietly.
"She spoils me for whatever I want. This was the one birthday present money couldn't buy."
"What? Beating up random people and then rescuing their friends from the shitiness of crime? Some birthday present."
Wow. For being a drunk for decades Johnny did speak with a lot of sense.
I just looked at him. "I felt like Denver wasn't my home and I needed to start highschool here. I don't feel comfortable sharing the details with you."
Johnny seemed to respectfully accept this. "Now that I can understand. But helping Robby? That also makes no sense. You jumped his buds from the sound of things. Why spare him?"
"Do you ever think rationally or with any kindness at all during or after winning a fight?"
"No. You're not supposed to. Victory means exactly that, it's over. You have to completely win it, as much as you can, and then move on. But that-"
Kreese had taught him this. Same way he taught me, it was very odd to hear.
"I guess it makes sense you're not some violent monster. You're just a kid. But on the other hand, going out of your way to help a random person?"
"I was raised richer than just about anyone I knew. I still live that way. I guess I saw a group of poor kids stealing from people as rich as I was. Saw two of them were bigger and older than the third, decided to take action. Most of my family lives rich but I don't think they know or cares what it's like for those who don't at all."
My grandparents certainly didn't at least. Not that boy from Reseda they seemed to say to my mom.
"How did you even kick so much ass? Three dudes who sound tough and from the streets? Stealing wallets and such. And you beat them all on your own?"
"I know. Karate."
Johnny looked at me, raising his eyebrows slightly. "Karate?"
"Yeah."
"Who taught you karate?"
I could tell him a neutral dojo I knew like Locust Valley Karate or Topanga Karate and possibly save myself a headache. But I saw no reason to lie to him.
"Guy named Daniel LaRusso. Friend of my mom's-"
Johnny scoffed. "Daniel LaRusso. Teaches karate?"
"He's my neighbor. I asked him for a favor. He taught me."
"So you know that Miyaggee stuff then. And you were able to use it to beat up two random dudes?"
I shrugged. "Pretty much. He also taught me to be kind to people, focused, and to use my awareness not your instincts. That's why I saw Robby as clearly a victim of the stealing and the crime I saw as much as I was."
"Makes more sense then." Johnny looked at me up and down. "As much as I respect a proper ass kicking using karate any day of the week. You are one strange. Goddamn. Kid."
"I like martial arts and doing the right thing every once in a while. How is that so strange?"
"It's not. It's just." Johnny frowned, in silent thought from what I saw. "Nothing."
We stood there in silence for a second. I checked the time on Johnny's stove.
"Shit." I muttered.
"What?"
"It's eleven o'clock already. The last bus back to Encino probably just left."
Johnny spoke quietly. "You live with your grandparents or something? The Mills right? A small mansion?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I know where that is. I'll give you a ride."
…
The red 1991 Firebird smelled so badly of cheap beer and piss that I honestly thought Sam was doing Johnny a favor by smashing it and then Louie for burning it down.
"So." Johnny drove calmly as he spoke to me. "How's your mom doing?"
"Fine."
"Does she. Ever. You know. Talk about me?" he asked slowly.
"No. I had to pry really hard to figure out who you were. And what the hell happened during her highschool years."
"Really."
I nodded.
"I can see Ali hiding that." admitted Johnny. "But why not just you know. Enjoy a normal summer like a regular kid your age? Playing video games and doing nothing all day? Instead of getting into fights and spending your time helping people from the crappy part of town?"
I smiled. "Maybe boring kids like that shit. I prefer to learn how to kick some major ass."
Johnny laughed loudly for a moment. "Hold on. So LaRusso really did teach you how to kick ass?"
"To a necessary degree." I said.
"Wow. I um."
Johnny was probably having a hard time admitting that he didn't like how much he liked me using Miyagi-Do to beat up two guys. Or seeing Miyagi-Do karate as useful outside of a tournament just like Kreese did for Daniel or anyone but Mr. Miyagi.
"Nothing."
"What. Thinking of maybe teaching karate too? Maybe become a Sensei?"
"Hell no, I got bills to pay and I need my current job. But I do need to seriously teach Robby what I should've taught him when he was younger if today's taught me anything. Same thing you were taught, just, completely differently. How to. Properly. Kick ass."
I think I might've just signed up Robby for Eagle-Fang Karate before it was even a thing. One on one training with his dad, huh.
For all I knew I might've created either a loyal friend, or the biggest rival I'd have later down the road in my path to martial arts record holding status.
"I think Robby does deserve that chance. But why not teach him earlier?"
I knew the answer to this but wanted to hear a bit of it anyway. He told it to Miguel when they got burgers together.
"Life. Life got in the way. You'll find out one day."
We started to enter the first boundaries of Encino Hills and my neighborhood.
"Your mom was a very funny, smart, and nice person. I may not know you very well, but I can see some of that rubbed off pretty well on you."
"Thanks."
Johnny braked a stop sign, I knew my house was around the corner.
He wasn't taking his foot off the brake, he could see the Mills Manor from here.
I saw the look on his face. Head Games by Foreigner might as well have been blasting in his head.
"What?"
Johnny sighed. "I used to pick up your mom from that house. Take her to Golf 'N Stuff, hang out with all our friends from school too sometimes. She was, she was something else."
"What does that mean?"
"It means she was a really kind person." Johnny smiled at me a little. "Just like you are. You helped Robby out. As weird as it all was. You still really helped. Helped both of us in a way."
"I thought you and Robby were on bad terms?"
"Shit like Robby almost being jumped. Tells me I have to do something at least, not right to let stuff like letting him rob people happen. Things are going to be tough between us. But I hope you and Robby keep in touch."
"He'll start high school soon with me right?"
"Yeah."
"I'm going to West Valley in the fall. Maybe I can see him there?"
Johnny sighed. "Got a lot to work out. We'll see I guess." Johnny smiled at me again for a second. "A part of me actually doesn't know how to feel that you learned about all this shit and went to LaRusso first. Must be in the same neighborhood as you I guess. But, you're Ali's son. Not mine. You can choose to train with whoever you please."
"Thanks."
"I'll see you around kid. Haven't seen someone randomly act as kind as you in a while."
He offered a fist to bump before I left his Firebird.
And I gladly bumped it back.
"Yeah, Eli's mom always gives me a ride. Why?"
"Nothing, I think I might be busy for a little bit. We can go a few rounds on Eli's Playstation any other day."
Demetri nodded. "Okay. Everything alright?"
"Everything's fine. Just get home safe."
"Thanks." Demetri smiled. "Even though there's only a few more weeks of summer still left. I've started to enjoy them. Glad we started hanging out."
"Me too man." I smiled back.
…
In my bedroom I dialed Robby's number.
He picked up and I spoke. "Hey Robby. Look I-"
"Luke? Shit! I gotta talk to you."
"I'm sorry about beating up your friends. I'm sure we could've just-"
"What? It's fine listen. I need your help."
I looked around my bedroom for a second. "That's why I'm calling."
"Yeah well I need your help like right now."
"What's going on?"
"Those two guys you beat up? Their names are Trey and Cruz. And they are, pissed."
I shrugged. "Yeah. So?"
"So they know we had a little conversation and I walked away unscathed while they got their faces busted in. And the goddamn cops know about all the shit I helped them lift from your beach club. We got into a pretty nasty argument. I'm at my mom's but I can't go anywhere without seeing them around, they gave me some pretty massive threats and I just ran from then. I can't go to the skatepark, library. Anywhere."
I frowned. "They know where you live?"
"We just moved. But I think Trey might have my address from um. Something he might've mailed to me."
Drugs, molly if I remember correctly. Shit, I forgot what Robby was into dealing at his old highschool at North Hills.
"Okay man um. Do you have somewhere safe to stay that's not your mom's. Like your aunt's or something?"
"That's why I'm calling. The only family I have in town isn't helpful I promise."
I know Robby. I know.
I sighed. "And you thought I could give you a place to stay?"
"Well I don't know. I'm fucked here! You're the reason why they're after me. You gotta do something! I think I'm owed something at least."
I had to agree with him, I basically was the reason why Trey and Cruz blamed Robby for apparently having betrayed them or sold them out to the cops. I did in fact identify Trey and Cruz at the beach club and they told the police. But there was a better alternative.
"This family of yours. I know we like, just met. But how unhelpful are they?"
"Really unhelpful."
"Are they dangerous, to you specifically?"
"No."
"Are they criminals?"
"Somewhat."
I remembered the record Johnny had by the time the show had started and resisted the urge to laugh.
"Somewhat? What does somewhat mean?"
"It doesn't matter. Can you help me or not?"
"We gotta talk in person for this."
"Well any minute now my old friends are gonna jump me the second I step outside my house not to mention I don't know what they're gonna do to me. So tomorrow is not my best option."
I muttered. "Where do you live?"
"887 Rancho Drive, North Hills. Apartment 17B."
"Where's your mom?"
Robby was quiet for a bit.
"Just not home." he said quietly.
I had forgotten about that too.
I checked my watch, I'd get there by seven thirty. "It'll take an hour by bus to go from where I live to your place. Lock the door. Get a baseball bat or some shit and for the love of everything sane. Do. Not. Open. The door. Unless you're sure it's me."
"Pretty much already doing that but you're right. See you in a bit."
…
Shannon Keene's apartment. Never thought I'd be here at all yet really, or so soon.
I had taken so many buses all over Los Angeles by this point that this wasn't trouble at all. I had walked around Pacoima and some pretty seedy parts of town all by myself even during nighttime so I wasn't bothered by this.
You kept your head down, talked to no one and stayed alert. You were safe. That's what I learned from Kreese about the places he stayed around, oddly it worked perfectly well.
I knew my grandparents and especially mom back home in Denver would lose their shit but they never caught me.
It was nightfall. A pretty quiet night besides some dog barking in the distance of North Hills.
I knocked on the door of Robby's place.
"Look man it's me. The person who told you to lock this door."
Robby quickly opened the door and guided me inside his house.
He locked the door to his house behind him and yelled at me. "You mind explaining to me what you were thinking today!? Why would you ever just randomly attack two dudes stealing wallets and beat them up instead of. I don't know. Calling the police or not committing a crime?"
For a juvenile, Robby was still quite the realist I remembered from the show.
I muttered. "You mind loosening your grip on that baseball bat while you say that?"
Robby froze. The wooden baseball bat clattered quietly to the ground.
"You seem awfully helpful for someone who had no issue beating up my friends. It still doesn't make any sense to me."
"I explained. I've been in your position before."
"Really?"
"Well not exactly but I know what it's like to have bad influences on you. To feel like. Doing stuff you shouldn't do is the only thing you can do sometimes."
Robby crossed his arms. "So. Pity then. And general violence for fun. That's you?"
"Do you want my help or not man?"
"I don't have a choice. But yeah. what did you have in mind?"
I knew Johnny could save my ass right now. How to ease into this.
"You said you had family."
"Why did you have to come here then for this. I already told you they're no help."
"What do you think will help you better long term? Staying secretly in my pool house until my grandparents find out and my ass gets sent back home to Denver? For who knows how long? Or someone who can actually help."
Robby sighed. "I get you have no reason to take me in. But we gotta do something else besides that and asking my dad for help."
"Your dad?"
"My dad isn't exactly a psychopath. But he's pretty awful. He's been arrested like three times last year. I see him once every few months. He wants nothing to do with me."
"So you barely talk to him."
Robby shrugged. "And?"
"Dude. He's an easy way out of this mess."
"He'll be mad as hell that I asked him for help."
I spoke calmly. "Well. Have you ever actually reached out to him and asked him for advice or anything?"
"Look I-" Robby froze again. "No." he said quietly.
I didn't blame him. He probably either hated him or was too afraid to admit how he felt about Johnny. I would be too honestly.
"Let's at least hear what he says. Do you know where he lives?"
Robby glanced around his house for a moment, seeming to think for a moment. "Yeah." he said quietly again. "Southern part of Reseda. Only been there once. He's too broke to move around anywhere else."
"We don't have all night. Buses stop moving around at eleven and it's how I get around town."
Robby nodded, clearly he trusted me to some extent to help defend him from Trey and Cruz.
Two guys with knives though? Martial arts covered weapons training to some extent, but in the real world, it was trickier.
…
On the bus ride over towards Johnny's apartment, I spoke to Robby.
"Look man, I might not be from your part of town. Or even get involved in the kinda shit you do." Robby said nothing as I kept explaining. "But I know what it's like to be neglected."
"How could you know that by looking at me? We never met."
"I saw your friends stealing wallets and phones from my beach club. Two assholes older. Bigger than you. Maybe they bullied you into it or used you. It made sense to me. People can be criminals and do bad things. But that doesn't mean they're all bad people. Some people."
I sighed.
"Some people just need to be talked to. Because at one point I."
Shit from my previous life. Technically it didn't even happen in Robby's universe.
"I just needed to be talked to as well."
Robby nodded a bit. "That's kinda touching to hear. But you took a massive risk. You went out of your way and acted way beyond how a person in your shoes should. For what?"
"For doing the right thing. Haven't you ever wanted to do that too?"
Robby frowned, the bus kept driving slowly towards Reseda. "At one point. Maybe."
"It's not too late. It's better to be honest sometimes than to hide what's really going on. Maybe I understood because we're the same age. Maybe it was a stupid and pointless risk I took like you said. Maybe I just wanted to beat up your friends for no damn reason and I was just pissed off at them from wanting to steal from me."
Robby muttered. "As odd as this is. Because it's literally the strangest thing I've ever had happen to me. It does make some sense as to why you could just try to help or whatever. I mean, why risk so much? All three of us jumping you or possibly doing worse? Just to try to kick the asses of two random guys who happened to steal from your beach club?"
"The more you get to know me. The more it'll make sense."
"I hope so. You are one completely crazy guy." Robby said, smiling lightly.
Even though he might've been joking I protested quietly and calmly. "I'm completely sane, just a bit stranger than your average person. Tell me about your dad."
Robby sighed. "Not much to tell. Name's Johnny. Probably hasn't been sober since. 1990 or something. Works as a handyman of some kind, I don't goddamn know. That's about it."
"His last name Lawrence?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Huh." I smiled. "Small world. My mom dated some guy named Johnny Lawrence back in high school. It's actually part of the reason why I moved here from Denver."
Robby laughed in surprise. "No way! That's a nightmare of a coincidence."
"Tell me about it." I laughed nervously for a second as Robby smiled.
"Wow. Talk about the odds. But um. What else do you know about my dad?"
"Supposed to be some sort of huge karate champ in the 80s. My mom's name is Ali Mills. They were a couple at one point."
"Karate champ? My goddamn dad? Get outta here."
"It's what she said. Or at least. What I found out."
Kreese did tell me a lot about him in the weeks and weeks I'd trained under him and gotten to know him.
"Huh. Well." Robby muttered. "I can't wait to see how freaked out he'll be by all this. As weird as it must be for me, for him. Must be huge."
"I can imagine."
He was in love with Ali. Even decades later he admitted he never got over her.
…
Robby knocked on the door across the hall from where I knew Miguel Diaz would at one point live.
Johnny Lawrence answered it. And wow did he look like he'd slept in a ditch drinking for the past thirty years.
"Robby?" he was a bit surprised to see him and then he looked at me.
"Hey um. Can we talk?"
"Who's he?" asked Johnny flicking his head towards me.
"Someone trustworthy." Robby said. "I know it might not mean much coming from me but. He is."
I looked away, I smiled at this.
Johnny cleared his throat. "Um. Sure. Sure yeah come on in."
We did so. Wow. He really did need to clean up the place like in the first season of the show. Odd to see it with my own eyes.
"So. Who's your friend?"
"Luke." Robby said.
"Luke Schwarber actually." I shook Johnny's hand. "Coincidence of the century. Caught Robby stealing from my beach club." Robby looked at me, clearly shocked that I had decided to spill the entire truth to him. "I beat the asses of two guys with him. And then decided to help him. Out of. Pity. Or. Whatever."
Johnny glared at Robby. "Stealing? The hell do you need to steal for?"
"You know what for."
Johnny frowned. He had a point. Robby basically lived alone all his life, the second season of the show established he lived off Cheerios and expired chips one summer.
"This might sound odd. But apparently you and my mom might know each other."
"How so?" asked Johnny.
"She's Ali Mills."
Johnny blinked rapidly again. "Excuse me?"
"Ali Mills? Apparently you two date-"
"No, I heard you, I just. Yeah. I guess that is the coincidence of the century." Johnny said in disbelief and a strong bit of calm yet noticeable shock. "How can I help you two?"
"These two guys after me are bad news. I need to stay with you for a bit until everything cools off." said Robby.
Johnny scoffed. "So? Then track them down and beat their asses again. Apparently you can do it already."
"Is that really a way to live? Looking over your shoulder not wanting to get stabbed in the back or something? Or knocked over the back of the head and robbed or who knows what else?" I asked.
"Well fighting doesn't seem to bother either of you two anyway, but. Why not go to the cops?" Johnny asked. "You got loads of solutions here."
"Would you have believed me if I just randomly decided to show up one night and say I wanted to live with you all of a sudden?" Robby asked blankly.
Johnny opened his mouth to protest but probably knew he was right. It would be strange, but admittedly stranger than this where Robby did actually need his help.
"Fine. We'll talk it over with your mom."
"She's busy." Robby muttered quietly.
"You mean Shan's? Again?" Johnny sighed. The entire carpet of his apartment was littered with nothing but beer cans and empty bags of Jack Links and other trash. "I can't talk, I guess. But look. We'll figure this out."
Robby frowned. "This has been the craziest day of my life. I'd like to go the hell to sleep. So I can just forget about it."
Johnny nodded a bit. "Okay. You can use the room across the hall from mine, I'll dig up a sleeping bag for you. I'll try to reach Shan as soon as we can."
Robby looked at Johnny and I and walked off, clearly really freaked out by the oddity of today. I didn't blame him, again.
"And this is the moment where I leave too."
"Uh uh." Johnny raised his eyebrows. "I need to know what happened."
"I told you the truth."
"No. I need to know why the hell Ali's kid coincidentally helps my. Kid. Out of a bad spot. And comes to me."
"Like I said it's an odd coincidence."
"Sure but." Johnny muttered quietly, leaning on his kitchen counter. "I haven't heard from or seen Ali in ages. What's going on?"
"My parents run the best Pediatric offices in downtown Denver. She's a surgeon, and my dad's an oncologist."
"Why aren't you with them then? Sound like responsible people."
I used something I knew would click with Johnny after his experiences with Sid.
"Money isn't everything to be considered present and good parents."
Johnny seemed to look at me in the same exact way he looked at Miguel in the second episode of the show where I knew he was relating to him for never meeting his father.
"And now you're in a crappy part of LA fighting random people and talking to her exes. Alright. So you ran off then?"
"I actually thought about it. I decided to ask my mom to send me here instead."
"And she accepted? How old are you? Thirteen?"
"Fourteen thank you."
"Why?" Johnny asked quietly.
"She spoils me for whatever I want. This was the one birthday present money couldn't buy."
"What? Beating up random people and then rescuing their friends from the shitiness of crime? Some birthday present."
Wow. For being a drunk for decades Johnny did speak with a lot of sense.
I just looked at him. "I felt like Denver wasn't my home and I needed to start highschool here. I don't feel comfortable sharing the details with you."
Johnny seemed to respectfully accept this. "Now that I can understand. But helping Robby? That also makes no sense. You jumped his buds from the sound of things. Why spare him?"
"Do you ever think rationally or with any kindness at all during or after winning a fight?"
"No. You're not supposed to. Victory means exactly that, it's over. You have to completely win it, as much as you can, and then move on. But that-"
Kreese had taught him this. Same way he taught me, it was very odd to hear.
"I guess it makes sense you're not some violent monster. You're just a kid. But on the other hand, going out of your way to help a random person?"
"I was raised richer than just about anyone I knew. I still live that way. I guess I saw a group of poor kids stealing from people as rich as I was. Saw two of them were bigger and older than the third, decided to take action. Most of my family lives rich but I don't think they know or cares what it's like for those who don't at all."
My grandparents certainly didn't at least. Not that boy from Reseda they seemed to say to my mom.
"How did you even kick so much ass? Three dudes who sound tough and from the streets? Stealing wallets and such. And you beat them all on your own?"
"I know. Karate."
Johnny looked at me, raising his eyebrows slightly. "Karate?"
"Yeah."
"Who taught you karate?"
I could tell him a neutral dojo I knew like Locust Valley Karate or Topanga Karate and possibly save myself a headache. But I saw no reason to lie to him.
"Guy named Daniel LaRusso. Friend of my mom's-"
Johnny scoffed. "Daniel LaRusso. Teaches karate?"
"He's my neighbor. I asked him for a favor. He taught me."
"So you know that Miyaggee stuff then. And you were able to use it to beat up two random dudes?"
I shrugged. "Pretty much. He also taught me to be kind to people, focused, and to use my awareness not your instincts. That's why I saw Robby as clearly a victim of the stealing and the crime I saw as much as I was."
"Makes more sense then." Johnny looked at me up and down. "As much as I respect a proper ass kicking using karate any day of the week. You are one strange. Goddamn. Kid."
"I like martial arts and doing the right thing every once in a while. How is that so strange?"
"It's not. It's just." Johnny frowned, in silent thought from what I saw. "Nothing."
We stood there in silence for a second. I checked the time on Johnny's stove.
"Shit." I muttered.
"What?"
"It's eleven o'clock already. The last bus back to Encino probably just left."
Johnny spoke quietly. "You live with your grandparents or something? The Mills right? A small mansion?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I know where that is. I'll give you a ride."
…
The red 1991 Firebird smelled so badly of cheap beer and piss that I honestly thought Sam was doing Johnny a favor by smashing it and then Louie for burning it down.
"So." Johnny drove calmly as he spoke to me. "How's your mom doing?"
"Fine."
"Does she. Ever. You know. Talk about me?" he asked slowly.
"No. I had to pry really hard to figure out who you were. And what the hell happened during her highschool years."
"Really."
I nodded.
"I can see Ali hiding that." admitted Johnny. "But why not just you know. Enjoy a normal summer like a regular kid your age? Playing video games and doing nothing all day? Instead of getting into fights and spending your time helping people from the crappy part of town?"
I smiled. "Maybe boring kids like that shit. I prefer to learn how to kick some major ass."
Johnny laughed loudly for a moment. "Hold on. So LaRusso really did teach you how to kick ass?"
"To a necessary degree." I said.
"Wow. I um."
Johnny was probably having a hard time admitting that he didn't like how much he liked me using Miyagi-Do to beat up two guys. Or seeing Miyagi-Do karate as useful outside of a tournament just like Kreese did for Daniel or anyone but Mr. Miyagi.
"Nothing."
"What. Thinking of maybe teaching karate too? Maybe become a Sensei?"
"Hell no, I got bills to pay and I need my current job. But I do need to seriously teach Robby what I should've taught him when he was younger if today's taught me anything. Same thing you were taught, just, completely differently. How to. Properly. Kick ass."
I think I might've just signed up Robby for Eagle-Fang Karate before it was even a thing. One on one training with his dad, huh.
For all I knew I might've created either a loyal friend, or the biggest rival I'd have later down the road in my path to martial arts record holding status.
"I think Robby does deserve that chance. But why not teach him earlier?"
I knew the answer to this but wanted to hear a bit of it anyway. He told it to Miguel when they got burgers together.
"Life. Life got in the way. You'll find out one day."
We started to enter the first boundaries of Encino Hills and my neighborhood.
"Your mom was a very funny, smart, and nice person. I may not know you very well, but I can see some of that rubbed off pretty well on you."
"Thanks."
Johnny braked a stop sign, I knew my house was around the corner.
He wasn't taking his foot off the brake, he could see the Mills Manor from here.
I saw the look on his face. Head Games by Foreigner might as well have been blasting in his head.
"What?"
Johnny sighed. "I used to pick up your mom from that house. Take her to Golf 'N Stuff, hang out with all our friends from school too sometimes. She was, she was something else."
"What does that mean?"
"It means she was a really kind person." Johnny smiled at me a little. "Just like you are. You helped Robby out. As weird as it all was. You still really helped. Helped both of us in a way."
"I thought you and Robby were on bad terms?"
"Shit like Robby almost being jumped. Tells me I have to do something at least, not right to let stuff like letting him rob people happen. Things are going to be tough between us. But I hope you and Robby keep in touch."
"He'll start high school soon with me right?"
"Yeah."
"I'm going to West Valley in the fall. Maybe I can see him there?"
Johnny sighed. "Got a lot to work out. We'll see I guess." Johnny smiled at me again for a second. "A part of me actually doesn't know how to feel that you learned about all this shit and went to LaRusso first. Must be in the same neighborhood as you I guess. But, you're Ali's son. Not mine. You can choose to train with whoever you please."
"Thanks."
"I'll see you around kid. Haven't seen someone randomly act as kind as you in a while."
He offered a fist to bump before I left his Firebird.
And I gladly bumped it back.
Chapter Nine
MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Nine: West Valley High School
…
Despite a few stumbles, I was convinced I had made the right choices so far after having moved to LA.
I had spent every single day except for weekends mostly training in both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai karate.
It was now the middle of August 2016, I had been training for three months almost daily for three hours a day under Kreese and Daniel.
The degree of physical conditioning and strength was impressive. Despite only being fourteen and about three months, I felt very fit, very strong, very fast especially with how I struck. I felt effective, prepared, ready.
Even if Robby had gotten a few months of Eagle-Fang training personally under his father, Johnny, I felt like I would be beyond any karate fighters my age from the Cobra Kai series.
It was the morning of my first day of high school. I remembered mine from my first day of high school in my previous life.
Grandpa pulled up in one of the less flashy cars he owned. Because it only cost a hundred grand or something.
"Good luck on your first day. Daniel's been putting off this dinner as long as he could. Even past the whole summer. We set a day. Next Friday night at 7 PM."
I scowled. "Really pops?"
He shrugged. "He might be your karate instructor. But I need to have a proper conversation with the man and catch up with him."
"Fine." I left the car as quickly as I possibly could.
The interior of West Valley High was exactly how I remembered from the Cobra Kai Netflix series.
There were TV screens on a few of the walls, it was a very well kept school all around. Clearly a wealthier high school, but I wasn't one to judge.
During orientation the week before, I had been given a locker number, combination, and a class schedule.
I had taken Honors classes everywhere despite wanting to focus on karate. Because my grandparents, and especially my parents back home in Denver basically forced me to.
I didn't care. I had already passed Honors and AP classes with perfect grades throughout all of high school once. I could do it again, I had most of my knowledge from the five AP tests I had passed already in my head.
The Binary brothers walked up to me.
"So. First day huh?" Demetri said.
"Yup." I muttered. "Can you guys let me know something?"
"Sure," said Demetri.
"You know those douchebags following my neighbor, Sam, around all summer?"
Demetri nodded. "Hard to forget them. Why?"
Kyler, Rory, Brucks, and the one whose name I never learned nor was interested in learning. The bullies of the first, and third and fourth seasons of the show in Kyler's case.
"They hassle either of you two. Give you any trouble. Do not tell a teacher. Come right to me."
Because I didn't want anybody to know I struck first against them.
Demetri scoffed. "Don't tell a teacher? That's the responsible thing to do. Besides, how do you even know they'll bother anybody?"
"Bullies are hard to miss. Let's just say I have a pretty strong hunch."
"And then what are you going to do? Beat them up?" asked Demetri.
Eli, who tended to rarely talk, chimed in. "It's the first day of school, Lucas. Maybe we should keep an open mind."
"Yeah. But just in case. Let me know."
"Are you okay? You seem angry. Are you just looking to pick a fight with anybody?" asked Demetri.
I finished putting a few of my books away in my locker. "I'm fine."
"Luke man? Are you sure. Cause-"
"I said I'm fine." I muttered, closing my locker and leaving.
I didn't blame them for my crappy mood.
A dinner at the LaRusso household wasn't a bad idea. I just didn't want to deal with the crapiness of my grandparents' views on karate or anything else. I sure wasn't going to listen to him.
I wondered how Kreese would feel about them. Probably would tell me to ignore them utterly and keep training with him.
What really bothered me was the unnerving suspicion that Kyler wasn't a bully yet because he hadn't gained something key. His confidence.
He already had his group of fellow dumb jocks, I met them over the summer. Now he needed something to make him feel himself better.
The wrestling team. That was probably the last thing he needed before trying to date the hottest girl in school, Sam, and bully nerds.
Odd how in 2016 high school was still as cliched and people acted just as stupid as they did in eighties. Wasn't like that when I went to high school in my previous life.
My first class was Honors Biology with Sam.
Class was already about to start when I decided to sit next to her.
After class, Sam tried to make conversation but Moon interrupted her and gave me an easy out to leave for my next class.
The only other person there I knew was Moon. And oddly, someone I knew would join Cobra Kai later on if he got the chance.
Dieter. The tall quiet person who was one of the first to join Cobra Kai and never left for the entire show.
Throughout the day, these people appeared in my classes and in the halls.
Frank, another one of the mostly background characters in Miyagi-Do. Abe, the Miyagi-Do with the glasses. Edwin, the Cobra Kai who always wore dreadlocks.
I actually decided to talk to some of them between and during my second and third period classes.
Edwin was huge into cars. He seemed like a calm regular guy, I got the impression he mainly joined Cobra Kai for sport and conditioning. Not for any crazy karate war as he was only really involved in one fight, the battle at the arcade at Golf 'N Stuff.
Frank, likewise, was similar. His only interests were tennis and chess, he was a very quiet guy and talked in a very shy voice like Eli did.
At lunch, I spotted Robby leaving the line of other people getting food from the cafeteria's lunch servers.
"Hey dude." I said after walking up to him. "Haven't seen you all summer barely."
"Different parts of town I guess." Robby said.
I nodded. "Yeah." I said quietly.
He had a lunch tray. "Where do you wanna sit man?"
"Uh."
Frank and Abe were, oddly, sitting with Dieter and Edwin. The oddest of coincidences really, not that big of a school.
Sam was by the exact same table she sat in during season 1 of Cobra Kai. With Yasmine and Moon by the back wall. She saw me and waved me over.
"Dude. She's cute, all her friends are firecrackers. We should go sit with them." Robby said in a manner very unlike himself.
Did an entire summer with his dad, Johnny. Influence his personality? A little, would make sense. But to this degree?
I noticed how Aisha quietly sat with Demetri and Eli and started walking towards them.
Robby hissed to me. "Those are the rejects. The hell are you doing?"
"Rejects?" I asked. "What's wrong with you?"
"High school's a chain dude. You're rich and athletic, I'm tough. We should sit with the- Hey!"
Robby was tough. But I never would've imagined he had the self awareness or confidence to admit it openly.
I sat down next to Aisha. "Wassup guys? This is Robby. We met over the summer."
"Hi." Aisha said.
Demetri nodded. "Hey."
Eli smiled and waved quietly.
I took out my packed lunch, opening the zip lock bag my steak sandwich was in. "So. How was your guys' first day so far?"
"Everything was okay. Honors Bio looks like a breeze. AP next year though. Heard it might be tough." Demetri said. "Aisha and I are lab partners. Easy A."
"Probably." I said as Aisha nodded.
Robby took something out of his backpack, he was flipping through his notebook when I noticed something stranger.
"Is that a trapper keeper!?" I laughed.
Robby was a bit embarrassed. "What?"
"That has a fighter jet on it. That's." I remembered. "That's awesome."
Robby raised an eyebrow. "Uh. Thanks?"
Huh. Never would've guessed.
I mostly sat back and observed the way Aisha, Demetri, Eli, and Robby talked. Robby it seemed was far less reserved, but couldn't partake in as much conversation with the rest of them. The King of West Valley High attitude Johnny seemed to pass down to Robby during the months they spent together didn't completely overtake his respectful and admittedly generally detached disposition.
Aisha, Demetri, and Eli were all huge on science, Star Wars, and the latest movies. Robby was clearly feeling left out of it, so I joined in occasionally and talked.
"You didn't eat the crust of your sandwich," Demetri said, pointing to the ziplock bag I left on my part of the lunch table.
I shrugged. "I never do."
"It's not too odd, everyone can have their thing when it comes to food." Robby lightly added. "My mom never liked eating mac and cheese or any sort of cheese type stuff."
"Really?" I asked.
Robby shrugged. "Said she just never liked it."
I realized that about how I ate my sandwiches. I bet Lucas Schwarber last year was fine eating the whole thing. It was something I carried over with me from my previous life like driving skills and the martial arts and boxing training I had.
"So Luke. You've pretty much trained like a professional athlete all summer anyway." said Aisha as Demetri laughed and Eli and Robby broke light smiles. "Plan on actually using that on a sports team?"
"I thought about joining the school's soccer team. Maybe wrestling." To embarrass Kyler on a regular basis just for fun. "I'm sticking with what I already do anyway," I said.
"Right. Karate." Demetri dug his fork into his plastic case of spaghetti.
Robby raised an eyebrow. "You gotta problem with that?"
"No. I just don't see the point in always fighting instead of just going to the authorities and the proper channels."
Robby stood up straighter in his chair. "You gotta take matters into your own hands sometimes."
"Like breaking people's noses?" scoffed Demetri.
"Can save more people than it hurts if you're responsible about it. And kick the proper asses where you should." Robby said proudly.
It was official now. He had become the very first Eagle-Fang student, while I had become the first Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do besides Sam in the latter.
"So I'm guessing you know karate?" I asked Robby.
"My dad taught me the basics. You were right, he actually was a karate champ in the eighties."
I was interested. "So. What did you guys do?"
Robby sighed. "Weeell. He tossed me into a pool with my arms tied to teach me how to use my legs in a fight. Made me do pushups and run all day. Then he just taught me how to throw punches and kicks and stuff after that."
"So you could've drowned?" asked Demetri. "Sounds pointless and dangerous."
"I think a two time karate champ would know his stuff." I said as Robby nodded in agreement. "I found out all about him."
From Kreese actually, not Daniel.
Wow. It was surprising how much Miguel and Robby had been trained the same under Johnny.
…
As the week went on as that dreaded dinner at the LaRusso's drew nearer day by day.
In Honors Bio with Sam for a lab we had to run a series of tests to see which kinds of light made plants undergo the most photosynthesis. I already knew it was white light, I had already done this lab in my previous life when I went through high school already and I read the textbook too.
Dieter and Moon had already found lab partners, so I had to go with Sam.
"So. Your grandparents have arranged a dinner."
"Yup. They claimed your dad didn't want to do it for weeks." I said.
Sam shrugged. "He said he was busy."
"Honestly I wouldn't want to have dinner with my grandparents either. Hey um. I was wondering if you decided to go back to training with your dad. We could always use a third for katas and fundamentals." I offered.
"Karate's not for me anymore."
Really? This did honestly bother me. I couldn't talk as I was currently training under Miyagi-Do to combine it with Cobra Kai for my first All Valley. But Sam was Daniel's daughter.
"Nail polish and dress shopping more your style?"
Sam looked at me for a second before she adjusted the lightbulb and switched out another. "What do you mean?"
"Bet Moon and Yasmine are total fashionistas. Who currently have the emotional depth of a kiddy pool."
Sam muttered quietly. "They're my friends."
"I mean. Aisha's your friend too right. But, she doesn't sit with you during your lunch?"
"Why do you care so much?"
"I don't. I'm just wondering why after how much Miyagi-Do means to your dad you'd just up and drop it to pursue being popular."
Sam looked at me in confusion. "I never would've guessed Miyagi-Do taught you how to just insult people."
"You have a point. That was out of line for me. I just don't like any of your friends."
"Maybe you should just mind your own business."
I scribbled data I already knew mostly in my notebook. "Maybe I should." I muttered to myself.
…
After lab Sam brushed past me to go to her locker. Being fair with her was tough. But the main reason why I kept finding it tough to just be nice to her wasn't because of what she technically hadn't done yet in a show I had watched.
It was because Kreese had forced me to be friends with her in order to spy on Daniel. Ironically if the tables were switched, I might've become a spy for Miyagi-Do and hated getting along with any of the Cobra Kais maybe.
I opened my locker and realized who Sam was talking about.
It was Robby.
They talked in a very similar manner to the way in which they did during the last episode of the second season of the show I realized. He leaned on some nearby lockers acting cool and casual, and Sam stood there talking to him, smiling brightly and chatting.
I was glad to see them getting along. Especially because Johnny had the sense to probably encourage Robby to get a decent haircut.
I finished discussing some Chem notes and a bit of Doctor Who with Demetri and Aisha before I noticed Eli slowly and quietly getting his books out of his locker.
"Hey man. Everything okay?"
Eli nodded, looking over his shoulder at Sam and Robby.
"What?" I asked.
Eli shook his head quietly.
I looked at him. "Wait. LaRusso? Okay. I can respect that. Have you even talked to her?"
Eli shook his head.
"She's okay. She's nice but. Her friends are all awful that can be a landmine."
"It's not the friends you're probably thinking of that I'm worried about." Eli said in his tiny voice.
Sam laughed at something Robby said.
I nodded a bit. "Right."
I was just surprised he developed a crush on Sam first instead of Moon despite going to the same school for so long. For all I knew he liked Sam first but never mentioned it and or got over it after dating Moon.
"Just go talk to her man." I said. "I personally don't like her that much. But I'm sure you two can get along."
"I don't think she'll enjoy it very much."
"Why not?"
Eli glanced at Robby. "Think she prefers talking to someone with a regular lip."
"Who told you that?"
"No one."
"Eli." I said, firmly. "Who told you?"
"I can't have you solving my problems for me."
I could tell Eli was reasonably afraid of me taking matters into my own hands. I remembered him crying as his mom made Counselor Blatt hold a cyberbullying PSA in the cafeteria.
I sighed. "You're right. If you're not comfortable with it. I can't force it out of you."
"Just please don't hurt anyone Luke. It's not right."
"And you thinking a girl like Sam wouldn't be interested in you? That's right?"
Eli had trouble making eye contact with me. "The way you and Robby talk sometimes. It's aggressive. And I think you two just want to be violent for the sake of violence."
"Not to beat down bullies."
"That sounds like an excuse a little. And even if it's not." Eli said. "You can't fix anybody's pain by hurting others more."
Wow. Hard to believe this would be the next generation of Cobra Kai's Dutch. I got the impression Eli was a Miyagi-Do all along who happened to train with Johnny first.
"Yeah. Well sometimes you're not given a choice. Regardless. You need to understand that Sam. Could very well be interested in you in return."
"Look at me." Eli muttered. "I'm a loser. A nerd with a scar on his lip."
"Today's losers. Are tomorrow's winners."
"Easy for you to say." said Eli. "You're tall. And well built. Not to mention you're ultra confident. What do I have?"
The heart of a Miyagi-Do and a great person, and strength and speed of a Hawk.
"I didn't think I had what it took before taking karate. Sometimes. Being on offense. Is exactly what someone needs to make the right step. To grow into something better."
"I can't grow out of who I am. Karate can't change that." Eli said, very upset.
"It won't. But it can still improve-" He was looking away from me and starting to leave. "Hey man-"
Eli turned around and walked away.
I saw Kyler wearing a wrestling team jacket chuckling as Eli walked past. Bruck and Rory and the last guy whose name I could never remember was with him.
They looked satisfied, as if Eli was walking by and they had scored a point in a tournament or something against him. Eli glanced at them for a second, Kyler merely shrugged at this and Eli kept walking.
It had already happened, Kyler with just a week of wrestling was enough to become a bully. An entire year before the show began, made perfect sense really and that he probably never said anything too.
I technically had very little evidence. But it was enough for me.
I glared at them. I was balling my fists and didn't notice how angry I must've looked.
"Hey." Robby said. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head. "Nothing." I ran my tongue along my upper teeth. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah yeah um. Sam's a pretty cool chick, we met in Geography."
I nodded. "Uh huh."
"Think she might? You know, like me. At some point?"
Robby shrugged a little.
"Definitely. But um." I cleared my throat. "Stuff can get in the way sometimes. Girls can be weird, just like guys. We can all be weird."
"It can't be that weird." Robby scoffed. "Dude. My dad said if there's a hot babe at school. You talk to her before any other guy can. I think it might pay off at some point."
Striking first. Similar to how Kreese taught almost the same lessons to me just in a very war like tone. To him, Miyagi-Do was like an enemy dojo in a karate war.
This was so unlike the Robby I knew. How could just an entire summer of Eagle-Fang and living with his dad change him this much? Guess it made sense. Years of neglect and a summer of attention and at his age too, I would definitely try to be like Johnny too.
He was also well over a younger right now than when he was introduced in the show, a bit more impressionable I guess. I mean, Cobra Kai and Johnny's lessons turned Eli and Miguel into ruthless Cobra Kais by the end of the first season of the show. When in the beginning they couldn't harm a fly.
"You came across as much more. I don't know. Calm. Standoffish and such when we first met over the summer. No offense."
"None taken." Robby shrugged. "I had a terrible haircut and hung out with the shadiest kinds of guys." he reached out and patted my chest with the back of his hand. "Thanks man. You got me outta that."
"Why drop the edgy skater guy vibe?"
"I don't know. I started to listen to Ratt and Guns and Roses. Rocky. Rocky two. All great. Something my dad said, everything he started to teach me. It all just clicked with me."
I laughed quietly. "Glad to hear it."
"My dad also started to say, to never trust a LaRusso? He gave me this um. Really personal story about what karate was like for him back then. Don't want to give you the details man, hope you don't mind."
I'm pretty sure I already knew all of them anyway.
"I don't mind."
"Yeah, he said. Karate's great and all. But LaRusso's karate. Ain't karate at all. At least, it really messed up karate for my dad."
I laughed again. "Did you happen to catch Sam's last name?"
"No."
"It's LaRusso. As in Daniel LaRusso. My Sensei. Remember?"
Robby's eyes widened for a second. "Oh. I didn't mean-"
"It's fine."
"No man. Um. My dad told me about that too. He's not on good terms with him. But, he said you're cool with us for helping me out. And, I'm cool with that too."
Now this was the Robby I remember.
"Right."
Robby chuckled nervously as I gave him a shrug.
Even though the tournament was about nine months away, I was glad I could have friends on the way.
As we began to walk out of school together, I noticed something that steadily became more clear. Other than the adults, this one year difference between now and the show meant a decent bit in terms of who everyone was exactly.
Robby was still a troublemaker and tended to be rather mistrusting and a bit detached from everything. Demetri and Eli were, the Binary Brothers. And Aisha was still really into science, and Sam started to care a lot about popularity.
However. Not all of them were the same. I was watching how their first year of high school cemented all of this. And seeing it happen honestly did surprise me.
I was happy to see a friendlier and happier Robby than the angry and heavily closed off miscreant I knew from the show. Johnny had been the influence Robby needed, and it might've been the best choice I've made so far.
Different, didn't mean worse to me.
...
...
...
A/N: Glad to see people are enjoying the fanfic. As I mentioned previously, I have completed this book already, all seventeen chapters. Luke has two series, one I've already completed, an an Alternate Universe spawning from the end of this fanfic. I have written all the way up until the first third or so of the second season of Cobra Kai's Netflix series. Anyways, thank you all for reading, I'm hoping I've been able to spread the fun and appreciation for The Karate Kid same as the Cobra Kai series initially made me feel. Thank you very much and stay safe everyone.
…
Despite a few stumbles, I was convinced I had made the right choices so far after having moved to LA.
I had spent every single day except for weekends mostly training in both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai karate.
It was now the middle of August 2016, I had been training for three months almost daily for three hours a day under Kreese and Daniel.
The degree of physical conditioning and strength was impressive. Despite only being fourteen and about three months, I felt very fit, very strong, very fast especially with how I struck. I felt effective, prepared, ready.
Even if Robby had gotten a few months of Eagle-Fang training personally under his father, Johnny, I felt like I would be beyond any karate fighters my age from the Cobra Kai series.
It was the morning of my first day of high school. I remembered mine from my first day of high school in my previous life.
Grandpa pulled up in one of the less flashy cars he owned. Because it only cost a hundred grand or something.
"Good luck on your first day. Daniel's been putting off this dinner as long as he could. Even past the whole summer. We set a day. Next Friday night at 7 PM."
I scowled. "Really pops?"
He shrugged. "He might be your karate instructor. But I need to have a proper conversation with the man and catch up with him."
"Fine." I left the car as quickly as I possibly could.
The interior of West Valley High was exactly how I remembered from the Cobra Kai Netflix series.
There were TV screens on a few of the walls, it was a very well kept school all around. Clearly a wealthier high school, but I wasn't one to judge.
During orientation the week before, I had been given a locker number, combination, and a class schedule.
I had taken Honors classes everywhere despite wanting to focus on karate. Because my grandparents, and especially my parents back home in Denver basically forced me to.
I didn't care. I had already passed Honors and AP classes with perfect grades throughout all of high school once. I could do it again, I had most of my knowledge from the five AP tests I had passed already in my head.
The Binary brothers walked up to me.
"So. First day huh?" Demetri said.
"Yup." I muttered. "Can you guys let me know something?"
"Sure," said Demetri.
"You know those douchebags following my neighbor, Sam, around all summer?"
Demetri nodded. "Hard to forget them. Why?"
Kyler, Rory, Brucks, and the one whose name I never learned nor was interested in learning. The bullies of the first, and third and fourth seasons of the show in Kyler's case.
"They hassle either of you two. Give you any trouble. Do not tell a teacher. Come right to me."
Because I didn't want anybody to know I struck first against them.
Demetri scoffed. "Don't tell a teacher? That's the responsible thing to do. Besides, how do you even know they'll bother anybody?"
"Bullies are hard to miss. Let's just say I have a pretty strong hunch."
"And then what are you going to do? Beat them up?" asked Demetri.
Eli, who tended to rarely talk, chimed in. "It's the first day of school, Lucas. Maybe we should keep an open mind."
"Yeah. But just in case. Let me know."
"Are you okay? You seem angry. Are you just looking to pick a fight with anybody?" asked Demetri.
I finished putting a few of my books away in my locker. "I'm fine."
"Luke man? Are you sure. Cause-"
"I said I'm fine." I muttered, closing my locker and leaving.
I didn't blame them for my crappy mood.
A dinner at the LaRusso household wasn't a bad idea. I just didn't want to deal with the crapiness of my grandparents' views on karate or anything else. I sure wasn't going to listen to him.
I wondered how Kreese would feel about them. Probably would tell me to ignore them utterly and keep training with him.
What really bothered me was the unnerving suspicion that Kyler wasn't a bully yet because he hadn't gained something key. His confidence.
He already had his group of fellow dumb jocks, I met them over the summer. Now he needed something to make him feel himself better.
The wrestling team. That was probably the last thing he needed before trying to date the hottest girl in school, Sam, and bully nerds.
Odd how in 2016 high school was still as cliched and people acted just as stupid as they did in eighties. Wasn't like that when I went to high school in my previous life.
My first class was Honors Biology with Sam.
Class was already about to start when I decided to sit next to her.
After class, Sam tried to make conversation but Moon interrupted her and gave me an easy out to leave for my next class.
The only other person there I knew was Moon. And oddly, someone I knew would join Cobra Kai later on if he got the chance.
Dieter. The tall quiet person who was one of the first to join Cobra Kai and never left for the entire show.
Throughout the day, these people appeared in my classes and in the halls.
Frank, another one of the mostly background characters in Miyagi-Do. Abe, the Miyagi-Do with the glasses. Edwin, the Cobra Kai who always wore dreadlocks.
I actually decided to talk to some of them between and during my second and third period classes.
Edwin was huge into cars. He seemed like a calm regular guy, I got the impression he mainly joined Cobra Kai for sport and conditioning. Not for any crazy karate war as he was only really involved in one fight, the battle at the arcade at Golf 'N Stuff.
Frank, likewise, was similar. His only interests were tennis and chess, he was a very quiet guy and talked in a very shy voice like Eli did.
At lunch, I spotted Robby leaving the line of other people getting food from the cafeteria's lunch servers.
"Hey dude." I said after walking up to him. "Haven't seen you all summer barely."
"Different parts of town I guess." Robby said.
I nodded. "Yeah." I said quietly.
He had a lunch tray. "Where do you wanna sit man?"
"Uh."
Frank and Abe were, oddly, sitting with Dieter and Edwin. The oddest of coincidences really, not that big of a school.
Sam was by the exact same table she sat in during season 1 of Cobra Kai. With Yasmine and Moon by the back wall. She saw me and waved me over.
"Dude. She's cute, all her friends are firecrackers. We should go sit with them." Robby said in a manner very unlike himself.
Did an entire summer with his dad, Johnny. Influence his personality? A little, would make sense. But to this degree?
I noticed how Aisha quietly sat with Demetri and Eli and started walking towards them.
Robby hissed to me. "Those are the rejects. The hell are you doing?"
"Rejects?" I asked. "What's wrong with you?"
"High school's a chain dude. You're rich and athletic, I'm tough. We should sit with the- Hey!"
Robby was tough. But I never would've imagined he had the self awareness or confidence to admit it openly.
I sat down next to Aisha. "Wassup guys? This is Robby. We met over the summer."
"Hi." Aisha said.
Demetri nodded. "Hey."
Eli smiled and waved quietly.
I took out my packed lunch, opening the zip lock bag my steak sandwich was in. "So. How was your guys' first day so far?"
"Everything was okay. Honors Bio looks like a breeze. AP next year though. Heard it might be tough." Demetri said. "Aisha and I are lab partners. Easy A."
"Probably." I said as Aisha nodded.
Robby took something out of his backpack, he was flipping through his notebook when I noticed something stranger.
"Is that a trapper keeper!?" I laughed.
Robby was a bit embarrassed. "What?"
"That has a fighter jet on it. That's." I remembered. "That's awesome."
Robby raised an eyebrow. "Uh. Thanks?"
Huh. Never would've guessed.
I mostly sat back and observed the way Aisha, Demetri, Eli, and Robby talked. Robby it seemed was far less reserved, but couldn't partake in as much conversation with the rest of them. The King of West Valley High attitude Johnny seemed to pass down to Robby during the months they spent together didn't completely overtake his respectful and admittedly generally detached disposition.
Aisha, Demetri, and Eli were all huge on science, Star Wars, and the latest movies. Robby was clearly feeling left out of it, so I joined in occasionally and talked.
"You didn't eat the crust of your sandwich," Demetri said, pointing to the ziplock bag I left on my part of the lunch table.
I shrugged. "I never do."
"It's not too odd, everyone can have their thing when it comes to food." Robby lightly added. "My mom never liked eating mac and cheese or any sort of cheese type stuff."
"Really?" I asked.
Robby shrugged. "Said she just never liked it."
I realized that about how I ate my sandwiches. I bet Lucas Schwarber last year was fine eating the whole thing. It was something I carried over with me from my previous life like driving skills and the martial arts and boxing training I had.
"So Luke. You've pretty much trained like a professional athlete all summer anyway." said Aisha as Demetri laughed and Eli and Robby broke light smiles. "Plan on actually using that on a sports team?"
"I thought about joining the school's soccer team. Maybe wrestling." To embarrass Kyler on a regular basis just for fun. "I'm sticking with what I already do anyway," I said.
"Right. Karate." Demetri dug his fork into his plastic case of spaghetti.
Robby raised an eyebrow. "You gotta problem with that?"
"No. I just don't see the point in always fighting instead of just going to the authorities and the proper channels."
Robby stood up straighter in his chair. "You gotta take matters into your own hands sometimes."
"Like breaking people's noses?" scoffed Demetri.
"Can save more people than it hurts if you're responsible about it. And kick the proper asses where you should." Robby said proudly.
It was official now. He had become the very first Eagle-Fang student, while I had become the first Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do besides Sam in the latter.
"So I'm guessing you know karate?" I asked Robby.
"My dad taught me the basics. You were right, he actually was a karate champ in the eighties."
I was interested. "So. What did you guys do?"
Robby sighed. "Weeell. He tossed me into a pool with my arms tied to teach me how to use my legs in a fight. Made me do pushups and run all day. Then he just taught me how to throw punches and kicks and stuff after that."
"So you could've drowned?" asked Demetri. "Sounds pointless and dangerous."
"I think a two time karate champ would know his stuff." I said as Robby nodded in agreement. "I found out all about him."
From Kreese actually, not Daniel.
Wow. It was surprising how much Miguel and Robby had been trained the same under Johnny.
…
As the week went on as that dreaded dinner at the LaRusso's drew nearer day by day.
In Honors Bio with Sam for a lab we had to run a series of tests to see which kinds of light made plants undergo the most photosynthesis. I already knew it was white light, I had already done this lab in my previous life when I went through high school already and I read the textbook too.
Dieter and Moon had already found lab partners, so I had to go with Sam.
"So. Your grandparents have arranged a dinner."
"Yup. They claimed your dad didn't want to do it for weeks." I said.
Sam shrugged. "He said he was busy."
"Honestly I wouldn't want to have dinner with my grandparents either. Hey um. I was wondering if you decided to go back to training with your dad. We could always use a third for katas and fundamentals." I offered.
"Karate's not for me anymore."
Really? This did honestly bother me. I couldn't talk as I was currently training under Miyagi-Do to combine it with Cobra Kai for my first All Valley. But Sam was Daniel's daughter.
"Nail polish and dress shopping more your style?"
Sam looked at me for a second before she adjusted the lightbulb and switched out another. "What do you mean?"
"Bet Moon and Yasmine are total fashionistas. Who currently have the emotional depth of a kiddy pool."
Sam muttered quietly. "They're my friends."
"I mean. Aisha's your friend too right. But, she doesn't sit with you during your lunch?"
"Why do you care so much?"
"I don't. I'm just wondering why after how much Miyagi-Do means to your dad you'd just up and drop it to pursue being popular."
Sam looked at me in confusion. "I never would've guessed Miyagi-Do taught you how to just insult people."
"You have a point. That was out of line for me. I just don't like any of your friends."
"Maybe you should just mind your own business."
I scribbled data I already knew mostly in my notebook. "Maybe I should." I muttered to myself.
…
After lab Sam brushed past me to go to her locker. Being fair with her was tough. But the main reason why I kept finding it tough to just be nice to her wasn't because of what she technically hadn't done yet in a show I had watched.
It was because Kreese had forced me to be friends with her in order to spy on Daniel. Ironically if the tables were switched, I might've become a spy for Miyagi-Do and hated getting along with any of the Cobra Kais maybe.
I opened my locker and realized who Sam was talking about.
It was Robby.
They talked in a very similar manner to the way in which they did during the last episode of the second season of the show I realized. He leaned on some nearby lockers acting cool and casual, and Sam stood there talking to him, smiling brightly and chatting.
I was glad to see them getting along. Especially because Johnny had the sense to probably encourage Robby to get a decent haircut.
I finished discussing some Chem notes and a bit of Doctor Who with Demetri and Aisha before I noticed Eli slowly and quietly getting his books out of his locker.
"Hey man. Everything okay?"
Eli nodded, looking over his shoulder at Sam and Robby.
"What?" I asked.
Eli shook his head quietly.
I looked at him. "Wait. LaRusso? Okay. I can respect that. Have you even talked to her?"
Eli shook his head.
"She's okay. She's nice but. Her friends are all awful that can be a landmine."
"It's not the friends you're probably thinking of that I'm worried about." Eli said in his tiny voice.
Sam laughed at something Robby said.
I nodded a bit. "Right."
I was just surprised he developed a crush on Sam first instead of Moon despite going to the same school for so long. For all I knew he liked Sam first but never mentioned it and or got over it after dating Moon.
"Just go talk to her man." I said. "I personally don't like her that much. But I'm sure you two can get along."
"I don't think she'll enjoy it very much."
"Why not?"
Eli glanced at Robby. "Think she prefers talking to someone with a regular lip."
"Who told you that?"
"No one."
"Eli." I said, firmly. "Who told you?"
"I can't have you solving my problems for me."
I could tell Eli was reasonably afraid of me taking matters into my own hands. I remembered him crying as his mom made Counselor Blatt hold a cyberbullying PSA in the cafeteria.
I sighed. "You're right. If you're not comfortable with it. I can't force it out of you."
"Just please don't hurt anyone Luke. It's not right."
"And you thinking a girl like Sam wouldn't be interested in you? That's right?"
Eli had trouble making eye contact with me. "The way you and Robby talk sometimes. It's aggressive. And I think you two just want to be violent for the sake of violence."
"Not to beat down bullies."
"That sounds like an excuse a little. And even if it's not." Eli said. "You can't fix anybody's pain by hurting others more."
Wow. Hard to believe this would be the next generation of Cobra Kai's Dutch. I got the impression Eli was a Miyagi-Do all along who happened to train with Johnny first.
"Yeah. Well sometimes you're not given a choice. Regardless. You need to understand that Sam. Could very well be interested in you in return."
"Look at me." Eli muttered. "I'm a loser. A nerd with a scar on his lip."
"Today's losers. Are tomorrow's winners."
"Easy for you to say." said Eli. "You're tall. And well built. Not to mention you're ultra confident. What do I have?"
The heart of a Miyagi-Do and a great person, and strength and speed of a Hawk.
"I didn't think I had what it took before taking karate. Sometimes. Being on offense. Is exactly what someone needs to make the right step. To grow into something better."
"I can't grow out of who I am. Karate can't change that." Eli said, very upset.
"It won't. But it can still improve-" He was looking away from me and starting to leave. "Hey man-"
Eli turned around and walked away.
I saw Kyler wearing a wrestling team jacket chuckling as Eli walked past. Bruck and Rory and the last guy whose name I could never remember was with him.
They looked satisfied, as if Eli was walking by and they had scored a point in a tournament or something against him. Eli glanced at them for a second, Kyler merely shrugged at this and Eli kept walking.
It had already happened, Kyler with just a week of wrestling was enough to become a bully. An entire year before the show began, made perfect sense really and that he probably never said anything too.
I technically had very little evidence. But it was enough for me.
I glared at them. I was balling my fists and didn't notice how angry I must've looked.
"Hey." Robby said. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head. "Nothing." I ran my tongue along my upper teeth. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah yeah um. Sam's a pretty cool chick, we met in Geography."
I nodded. "Uh huh."
"Think she might? You know, like me. At some point?"
Robby shrugged a little.
"Definitely. But um." I cleared my throat. "Stuff can get in the way sometimes. Girls can be weird, just like guys. We can all be weird."
"It can't be that weird." Robby scoffed. "Dude. My dad said if there's a hot babe at school. You talk to her before any other guy can. I think it might pay off at some point."
Striking first. Similar to how Kreese taught almost the same lessons to me just in a very war like tone. To him, Miyagi-Do was like an enemy dojo in a karate war.
This was so unlike the Robby I knew. How could just an entire summer of Eagle-Fang and living with his dad change him this much? Guess it made sense. Years of neglect and a summer of attention and at his age too, I would definitely try to be like Johnny too.
He was also well over a younger right now than when he was introduced in the show, a bit more impressionable I guess. I mean, Cobra Kai and Johnny's lessons turned Eli and Miguel into ruthless Cobra Kais by the end of the first season of the show. When in the beginning they couldn't harm a fly.
"You came across as much more. I don't know. Calm. Standoffish and such when we first met over the summer. No offense."
"None taken." Robby shrugged. "I had a terrible haircut and hung out with the shadiest kinds of guys." he reached out and patted my chest with the back of his hand. "Thanks man. You got me outta that."
"Why drop the edgy skater guy vibe?"
"I don't know. I started to listen to Ratt and Guns and Roses. Rocky. Rocky two. All great. Something my dad said, everything he started to teach me. It all just clicked with me."
I laughed quietly. "Glad to hear it."
"My dad also started to say, to never trust a LaRusso? He gave me this um. Really personal story about what karate was like for him back then. Don't want to give you the details man, hope you don't mind."
I'm pretty sure I already knew all of them anyway.
"I don't mind."
"Yeah, he said. Karate's great and all. But LaRusso's karate. Ain't karate at all. At least, it really messed up karate for my dad."
I laughed again. "Did you happen to catch Sam's last name?"
"No."
"It's LaRusso. As in Daniel LaRusso. My Sensei. Remember?"
Robby's eyes widened for a second. "Oh. I didn't mean-"
"It's fine."
"No man. Um. My dad told me about that too. He's not on good terms with him. But, he said you're cool with us for helping me out. And, I'm cool with that too."
Now this was the Robby I remember.
"Right."
Robby chuckled nervously as I gave him a shrug.
Even though the tournament was about nine months away, I was glad I could have friends on the way.
As we began to walk out of school together, I noticed something that steadily became more clear. Other than the adults, this one year difference between now and the show meant a decent bit in terms of who everyone was exactly.
Robby was still a troublemaker and tended to be rather mistrusting and a bit detached from everything. Demetri and Eli were, the Binary Brothers. And Aisha was still really into science, and Sam started to care a lot about popularity.
However. Not all of them were the same. I was watching how their first year of high school cemented all of this. And seeing it happen honestly did surprise me.
I was happy to see a friendlier and happier Robby than the angry and heavily closed off miscreant I knew from the show. Johnny had been the influence Robby needed, and it might've been the best choice I've made so far.
Different, didn't mean worse to me.
...
...
...
A/N: Glad to see people are enjoying the fanfic. As I mentioned previously, I have completed this book already, all seventeen chapters. Luke has two series, one I've already completed, an an Alternate Universe spawning from the end of this fanfic. I have written all the way up until the first third or so of the second season of Cobra Kai's Netflix series. Anyways, thank you all for reading, I'm hoping I've been able to spread the fun and appreciation for The Karate Kid same as the Cobra Kai series initially made me feel. Thank you very much and stay safe everyone.
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Chapter Ten
MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Ten: Dinner at the LaRussos
…
I fixed my collar while riding my bicycle towards the LaRussos. Guess Kreese was right when I met him. I did look like a Jehovah's Witness with the white button up, dark slacks, and bicycle.
Daniel wanted to talk to me early, I already knew what for before the dinner began.
He probably saw me on the sidewalk approaching his house because the garage was opened. Encino Hills was a more than safe neighborhood. But leaving a bicycle on the sidewalk kindly hoping no one would steal it was still a bad idea, especially at night.
I rested my bicycle against the interior of the LaRusso's garage and walked inside closing the garage door for him.
Daniel was setting up the table for the dinner. "Hey Lucas."
"Mr. LaRusso." I said quietly.
"Sam, Anthony, and Amanda all went out on a walk to the park. Apparently, Anthony just won his first soccer tournament."
"Awesome!"
"Yeah he. Really appreciates you helping him start playing. I have to admit. It's healthy for him alright."
I smiled. "Glad to hear it."
"Sam though." Daniel put a fork down and looked at me. "Says you are being. Very judgemental about her friends at school."
"I'll admit it. I was very quick to judge over the summer." I said. "But it turns out my instincts are right."
"How so?"
Daniel crossed his arms.
I glanced around the dining room table and then at him. "They're making fun of a kid named Eli. Online or at school. I don't know how."
"Has he told you that they've done this?"
I gritted my teeth and sniffed.
"No."
"Have you seen it happen?"
I still couldn't lie to him about this. "No."
"Then how could you know?"
I sighed. "It's a very strong hunch. These guys are jerks. Eli was walking away from me after telling me someone told him to be ashamed of his lip. Some of these guys were laughing, Eli looked at them as he walked by them. The main guy just shrugged."
"Huh. That could lead you in that direction I suppose. But I don't think it's enough."
I sighed. "I know it's not." I said. "But Mr. LaRusso. I wouldn't be saying anything unless I was sure about it."
Daniel nodded a bit. "I get that. But she said you mentioned Mr. Miyagi's legacy."
Should not have said that.
"And you know how much that means to me." said Daniel.
"He was like a father to you."
"For most of my life. He was basically, the only father I ever really had. So please, try to be open minded when it comes to saying things like that."
I took a deep breath. Because considering the things Daniel did in the first three seasons of the show, he couldn't say very much about being open minded.
"I am open minded." I said calmly. "I met this bully of yours you said you had. Johnny Lawrence. Great guy."
"You talked to Johnny Lawrence?"
"Yeah. I met him over the summer. And his son too, Robby. We go to school together now, he's a nice person."
Daniel looked like he wanted to say a lot but the doorbell rang.
"We're not done talking about this."
…
My grandparents had turned what was going to be a very awkward dinner, into a very boring and awkward dinner.
My grandfather, Frank Mills, seemed to want to measure Daniel's wealth and his business. He was acting how I expected my mother, Ali's Mills' father from the original Karate Kid movie would be if Daniel became rich and wanted his grandson to get with Daniel's granddaughter.
"Didn't that karate nonsense end up with Johnny Lawrence running you down off a cliff from his motorbike and beating you up with his friends one night on Halloween?" asked Grandpa.
Daniel sighed. "Actually. It ended up with them never bothering me again after I beat every single one of them at a tournament."
He technically never beat Bobby Brown. He was the one student of Cobra Kai he never defeated in a tournament. He was disqualified for a kick to the knee, but I still think Bobby had a legitimate shot at the title and could've possibly beaten both Daniel and Johnny maybe.
I still never said anything as Daniel and Grandpa continued their polite argument.
"Look. Lucas came to me asking for this training. He's growing healthier, more patient, and more honorable. Just the way Mr. Miyagi intended for me." Daniel said.
He seemed to say this with honesty. But I could tell from the way he looked at me that we had a lot to talk about.
"Really." Grandpa said blankly.
"He asked me, Frank." said Daniel. "I don't know what to tell you."
"Well I know what to tell you. First you try to steal our Ali away from us." My grandmother said, who had stayed quiet up until now. "And now you want to steal our only grandson."
"Steal!?" Daniel laughed. "You're joking right?"
"This karate nonsense was over decades ago." Grandpa said. "That's our problem. What danger is posed to Luke?"
"Bullies." I said. "West Valley has a couple."
"Look at him!" said Grandpa. "He's very tall and strong for his age. And an entire summer learning your karate. I think it's safe to say no one would be picking fights with him."
One summer was actually a decent bit of time to learn some of the fundamentals, but not nearly enough to give me the championship I was looking for.
"Him. And this karate. Has gone on, for long enough." Grandpa said.
"Begging your pardon, I think Lucas has only started to scratch the surface of Miyagi-Do," said Daniel quietly as I agreed. "I think he's made a good decision training with me."
As happy as I was that Sam had moved on from liking me for a bit. I had to deal with her dad and her being reasonably mad at me. He seemed to be looking at me every time he complimented me or his teachings, as if he mostly believed it but still had something to say to me.
"I'd like to." Amanda smoothed her hands out over her napkin, smiling and speaking kindly after clearing her throat. "Weigh in here."
"Go ahead dear." Grandpa smiled.
Amanda needed a quick swig from her wine glass, I was sure being called 'dear' angered her.
"I'd like to ask you something." Amanda said in a very fake nice tone. "I am no fan of this weird karate obsession Daniel has any more than you guys. But who do you think you are coming into our house and questioning my husband?"
"Well it's our grandson he's decided to fill with all that Miyagee nonsense," said Grandpa.
"It's Miyagi." Daniel corrected.
"Exactly. Grandson. He's not your son." Amanda said.
"He's the son of our only daughter." Grandpa said. "I've only known karate to cause trouble in this town."
"Ah." Amanda smiled. "I see how it is. You're old."
Grandpa blinked rapidly, fixing his glasses. "Excuse me?"
"You're old. Old people do this all the time." said Amanda as Sam laughed quietly and Anthony almost choked on his chicken parmesan in laughter, I patted him on the back to let him air it out. "You have nothing else better to do all day but meddle. So even after Dan made it clear he didn't want to have this dinner with you, you tortured him for it. Just like his mother, there's only one way of doing things for you. Your way."
"Hold on." Daniel turned to his wife. "My mother?"
"Grandma's not so bad." Anthony said as Sam gave a shrug.
Grandpa chuckled. "Well. I guess since I'm so old. You can use all your. Youth. And explain to me why I should let our Luke spend an entire summer, while continuing to do so I might add. Washing your windows, and doing nothing but chores, and basically doing unpaid labor at your dealership for hours every single day on a regular basis."
"It's part of his training," Daniel said quietly as I nodded.
"I could sue you for that." Grandpa said. "Would you mind explaining to a courtroom how a fourteen year old boy spent hours in conditions unfit for him, to supposedly learn karate? Or was Lucas apparently. An intern?"
What an empty threat. I was surprised my own grandfather was acting like this.
"Huh." Amanda sipped her wine with a mutter. "Old and delusional."
I hid my smile by drinking some water, Sam and Anthony again looked like they were wanting to laugh at their mother's joke.
"How could you go from dating angels like our Ali to marrying a woman this insulting?" asked Grandma. "Disgraceful."
"Disgraceful?" Amanda put her wine glass down and stood up. "Now hold on just a minute. How can you think it's your place to meddle so much in your grandson's affairs?"
"Ah. Now look who's talking about meddling." Grandma said. "Just like Daniel here. Who's still a troublemaker from Reseda."
Amanda looked about ready to take off her earrings. "Well I see you take on after your husband for how absolutely brain dead you can be about things you have nothing to do with!"
"Yeahh! Get her mom!" said Anthony.
Daniel spoke in surprise. "Amanda!"
"What?" she asked in surprise, as if Daniel was insulting her by letting her know to cool down.
Daniel took a quick glance around the table. He quickly wiped his hands with a napkin and muttered. "I need to take a call for work."
His chair scratched the wooden floor of the kitchen quietly and he left in a hurry.
I quickly joined him. "Excuse me everyone. Great cooking Mrs. L."
Amanda smiled. "Thank you sweetie."
I looked around the table at Sam, Anthony, Amanda, and both my grandparents, I then nodded and left.
Olivia Mills protested. "Luke-"
"I'll be right back grandma."
…
I found Daniel kneeling and looking over his two trophies in his home dojo.
"I thought you would've gotten along better with my grandparents." I said.
Daniel looked at me, muttering quietly. "Well. They never really approved of me and your mom. So. I don't really appreciate them coming here and telling me I'm out of place in wanting to teach you the karate I learned."
"Yeah."
Daniel sighed. "I'll be honest. With this summer being over and being able to properly look back on it. It was one of the best summers I had in years."
"Really?"
"Karate was a huge part of my life for decades." said Daniel as he stood up and walked towards me. "What I shared with Mr. Miyagi. I'm going to carry it for the rest of my life. And Cobra Kai, was unfortunately a painful reminder of why I needed him in the first place. And I feel you're becoming one in a way. With your temper and your bad and rude attitude with Sam sometimes."
I nodded. He was right.
Daniel frowned. "Look Lucas." he said, sounding very honest. "One of the most important things Mr. Miyagi ever taught me. Was to never put passion in front of principle. Because even if you win. You lose."
Daniel explained further. "Cobra Kai. Is all passion, and no principle. To Cobra Kai. As long as you win. It doesn't matter who suffered, or the cost of anything. Victory. Is the only thing in life that's important to Cobra Kai. Not friendship. Not honor. Nothing but victory."
"Really?"
Daniel nodded silently.
I disagreed on every level. Cobra Kai prided itself on principle. On discipline, strength. You respected yourself to not let people come to you and beat you up.
Was he right though? I just didn't know yet.
"I'm glad you told me about this kid, Eli, and Sam's friends. She might get really mad at me for it. But I have to do something or investigate further into what's going on."
"No. Mr. LaRusso. I can handle it."
"How?" asked Daniel. "By going to them and choosing to fight? Violence being the first answer? That's the opposite of what I taught you. This guy you met, Johnny Lawrence. You might be right, that he could've changed. But he never apologized, or even acknowledged what he did. And I'm worried he's rubbing off on his son, and on you a bit."
"Are you sure he never thought about what he did? I mean he bullied you like three decades ago."
"He gave me the All Valley Championship trophy after I won. And said I was alright. That was the last I ever saw of him for the last thirty two years. Bullying, is one thing. People can change, genuinely apologize and never do it again. And that's fine. What Johnny Lawrence did to me, goes beyond bullying." said Daniel. "What he did. Bordered on attempted murder. Twice."
I listened calmly.
"He pushed me off my bicycle and down a huge hill for no reason, I could've broken my neck. And then he beat me up so badly one night that unless Mr. Miyagi did something. Who knows if I had been able to walk away from it. Johnny Lawrence was vicious, violent, and cruel. He tried to break my busted knee with his elbow! In a karate tournament during our final match."
Daniel sighed. "And that's some of the tamer things Cobra Kai got up to back when it was around. I'm sure his son Robby is a nice kid like you said. And for all I know, Johnny could've moved on and become a different person. Until then and even after, I'm going to keep holding you by the standards Mr. Miyagi held me to. Keep your anger in check. Always."
Again. He was being completely reasonable, and right.
"I'm sorry for what I said to Samantha."
"That's not my point here," said Daniel. "Balance, breathing, and focus. They make for good technique. But. These lessons aren't just about karate." he said with a very strong, emphasized, but respectful tone. "These are lessons, for your entire life. Miyagi-Do, isn't about scoring points. And winning tournaments, looking cool and making damage or making the crowd roar. It creates clarity, and focus. It makes you a more balanced person. That's the real balance. That's the meaning of Miyagi-Do."
I nodded.
"Cobra Kai taught the opposite. How to hurt, how to turn all of karate into a competition. How to turn your life into a competition. Johnny Lawrence could be a great person for all I know, but, he was taught the wrong way. Just. Be careful around him and even his son if they've been around each other."
I saw the problem. The same problem I saw in the show. All the students of Johnny and Daniel sometimes, but not always, got along just great. It was them, that could create conflict. I got along perfectly well with Johnny and Robby, and they both knew I trained with Daniel and Robby trained with Johnny.
"I will. Okay Mr. LaRusso," I said. "Are you ready to go back to the worst dinner ever?"
"I've had worse dinners with your grandparents involved. Trust me. One time I got a whole bunch of spaghetti and piping hot tomato sauce all over my chest."
I laughed. "Really?"
"Johnny Lawrence forced a kiss on your mom that night. Everyone was laughing at me. I'll tell you the whole story some other time."
"Robby told me his dad was fine with me learning Miyagi-Do from you. They're training together I think."
Daniel froze at this. He seemed speechless, in deep thought for almost half a minute.
Daniel nodded a bit. "Did he? Then I guess I'm fine with Robby learning Johnny's karate."
"Glad to hear it."
...
...
A/N: Hey everyone. Thank you all so much for all the support I've gotten thus far. I appreciate it very much. I already have what the rest of the fic looks like planned out. And I especially am looking forward to writing the rest of the fic too!
Thank you all again so much for reading and the support. And I'll see you all soon.
As for the Mills, their sort of heel turn on Daniel would be justified I think. Given the history with Ali and how much they'd disapprove, thinking their grandson's future would be affected by the past. Feel free to let me know.
…
I fixed my collar while riding my bicycle towards the LaRussos. Guess Kreese was right when I met him. I did look like a Jehovah's Witness with the white button up, dark slacks, and bicycle.
Daniel wanted to talk to me early, I already knew what for before the dinner began.
He probably saw me on the sidewalk approaching his house because the garage was opened. Encino Hills was a more than safe neighborhood. But leaving a bicycle on the sidewalk kindly hoping no one would steal it was still a bad idea, especially at night.
I rested my bicycle against the interior of the LaRusso's garage and walked inside closing the garage door for him.
Daniel was setting up the table for the dinner. "Hey Lucas."
"Mr. LaRusso." I said quietly.
"Sam, Anthony, and Amanda all went out on a walk to the park. Apparently, Anthony just won his first soccer tournament."
"Awesome!"
"Yeah he. Really appreciates you helping him start playing. I have to admit. It's healthy for him alright."
I smiled. "Glad to hear it."
"Sam though." Daniel put a fork down and looked at me. "Says you are being. Very judgemental about her friends at school."
"I'll admit it. I was very quick to judge over the summer." I said. "But it turns out my instincts are right."
"How so?"
Daniel crossed his arms.
I glanced around the dining room table and then at him. "They're making fun of a kid named Eli. Online or at school. I don't know how."
"Has he told you that they've done this?"
I gritted my teeth and sniffed.
"No."
"Have you seen it happen?"
I still couldn't lie to him about this. "No."
"Then how could you know?"
I sighed. "It's a very strong hunch. These guys are jerks. Eli was walking away from me after telling me someone told him to be ashamed of his lip. Some of these guys were laughing, Eli looked at them as he walked by them. The main guy just shrugged."
"Huh. That could lead you in that direction I suppose. But I don't think it's enough."
I sighed. "I know it's not." I said. "But Mr. LaRusso. I wouldn't be saying anything unless I was sure about it."
Daniel nodded a bit. "I get that. But she said you mentioned Mr. Miyagi's legacy."
Should not have said that.
"And you know how much that means to me." said Daniel.
"He was like a father to you."
"For most of my life. He was basically, the only father I ever really had. So please, try to be open minded when it comes to saying things like that."
I took a deep breath. Because considering the things Daniel did in the first three seasons of the show, he couldn't say very much about being open minded.
"I am open minded." I said calmly. "I met this bully of yours you said you had. Johnny Lawrence. Great guy."
"You talked to Johnny Lawrence?"
"Yeah. I met him over the summer. And his son too, Robby. We go to school together now, he's a nice person."
Daniel looked like he wanted to say a lot but the doorbell rang.
"We're not done talking about this."
…
My grandparents had turned what was going to be a very awkward dinner, into a very boring and awkward dinner.
My grandfather, Frank Mills, seemed to want to measure Daniel's wealth and his business. He was acting how I expected my mother, Ali's Mills' father from the original Karate Kid movie would be if Daniel became rich and wanted his grandson to get with Daniel's granddaughter.
"Didn't that karate nonsense end up with Johnny Lawrence running you down off a cliff from his motorbike and beating you up with his friends one night on Halloween?" asked Grandpa.
Daniel sighed. "Actually. It ended up with them never bothering me again after I beat every single one of them at a tournament."
He technically never beat Bobby Brown. He was the one student of Cobra Kai he never defeated in a tournament. He was disqualified for a kick to the knee, but I still think Bobby had a legitimate shot at the title and could've possibly beaten both Daniel and Johnny maybe.
I still never said anything as Daniel and Grandpa continued their polite argument.
"Look. Lucas came to me asking for this training. He's growing healthier, more patient, and more honorable. Just the way Mr. Miyagi intended for me." Daniel said.
He seemed to say this with honesty. But I could tell from the way he looked at me that we had a lot to talk about.
"Really." Grandpa said blankly.
"He asked me, Frank." said Daniel. "I don't know what to tell you."
"Well I know what to tell you. First you try to steal our Ali away from us." My grandmother said, who had stayed quiet up until now. "And now you want to steal our only grandson."
"Steal!?" Daniel laughed. "You're joking right?"
"This karate nonsense was over decades ago." Grandpa said. "That's our problem. What danger is posed to Luke?"
"Bullies." I said. "West Valley has a couple."
"Look at him!" said Grandpa. "He's very tall and strong for his age. And an entire summer learning your karate. I think it's safe to say no one would be picking fights with him."
One summer was actually a decent bit of time to learn some of the fundamentals, but not nearly enough to give me the championship I was looking for.
"Him. And this karate. Has gone on, for long enough." Grandpa said.
"Begging your pardon, I think Lucas has only started to scratch the surface of Miyagi-Do," said Daniel quietly as I agreed. "I think he's made a good decision training with me."
As happy as I was that Sam had moved on from liking me for a bit. I had to deal with her dad and her being reasonably mad at me. He seemed to be looking at me every time he complimented me or his teachings, as if he mostly believed it but still had something to say to me.
"I'd like to." Amanda smoothed her hands out over her napkin, smiling and speaking kindly after clearing her throat. "Weigh in here."
"Go ahead dear." Grandpa smiled.
Amanda needed a quick swig from her wine glass, I was sure being called 'dear' angered her.
"I'd like to ask you something." Amanda said in a very fake nice tone. "I am no fan of this weird karate obsession Daniel has any more than you guys. But who do you think you are coming into our house and questioning my husband?"
"Well it's our grandson he's decided to fill with all that Miyagee nonsense," said Grandpa.
"It's Miyagi." Daniel corrected.
"Exactly. Grandson. He's not your son." Amanda said.
"He's the son of our only daughter." Grandpa said. "I've only known karate to cause trouble in this town."
"Ah." Amanda smiled. "I see how it is. You're old."
Grandpa blinked rapidly, fixing his glasses. "Excuse me?"
"You're old. Old people do this all the time." said Amanda as Sam laughed quietly and Anthony almost choked on his chicken parmesan in laughter, I patted him on the back to let him air it out. "You have nothing else better to do all day but meddle. So even after Dan made it clear he didn't want to have this dinner with you, you tortured him for it. Just like his mother, there's only one way of doing things for you. Your way."
"Hold on." Daniel turned to his wife. "My mother?"
"Grandma's not so bad." Anthony said as Sam gave a shrug.
Grandpa chuckled. "Well. I guess since I'm so old. You can use all your. Youth. And explain to me why I should let our Luke spend an entire summer, while continuing to do so I might add. Washing your windows, and doing nothing but chores, and basically doing unpaid labor at your dealership for hours every single day on a regular basis."
"It's part of his training," Daniel said quietly as I nodded.
"I could sue you for that." Grandpa said. "Would you mind explaining to a courtroom how a fourteen year old boy spent hours in conditions unfit for him, to supposedly learn karate? Or was Lucas apparently. An intern?"
What an empty threat. I was surprised my own grandfather was acting like this.
"Huh." Amanda sipped her wine with a mutter. "Old and delusional."
I hid my smile by drinking some water, Sam and Anthony again looked like they were wanting to laugh at their mother's joke.
"How could you go from dating angels like our Ali to marrying a woman this insulting?" asked Grandma. "Disgraceful."
"Disgraceful?" Amanda put her wine glass down and stood up. "Now hold on just a minute. How can you think it's your place to meddle so much in your grandson's affairs?"
"Ah. Now look who's talking about meddling." Grandma said. "Just like Daniel here. Who's still a troublemaker from Reseda."
Amanda looked about ready to take off her earrings. "Well I see you take on after your husband for how absolutely brain dead you can be about things you have nothing to do with!"
"Yeahh! Get her mom!" said Anthony.
Daniel spoke in surprise. "Amanda!"
"What?" she asked in surprise, as if Daniel was insulting her by letting her know to cool down.
Daniel took a quick glance around the table. He quickly wiped his hands with a napkin and muttered. "I need to take a call for work."
His chair scratched the wooden floor of the kitchen quietly and he left in a hurry.
I quickly joined him. "Excuse me everyone. Great cooking Mrs. L."
Amanda smiled. "Thank you sweetie."
I looked around the table at Sam, Anthony, Amanda, and both my grandparents, I then nodded and left.
Olivia Mills protested. "Luke-"
"I'll be right back grandma."
…
I found Daniel kneeling and looking over his two trophies in his home dojo.
"I thought you would've gotten along better with my grandparents." I said.
Daniel looked at me, muttering quietly. "Well. They never really approved of me and your mom. So. I don't really appreciate them coming here and telling me I'm out of place in wanting to teach you the karate I learned."
"Yeah."
Daniel sighed. "I'll be honest. With this summer being over and being able to properly look back on it. It was one of the best summers I had in years."
"Really?"
"Karate was a huge part of my life for decades." said Daniel as he stood up and walked towards me. "What I shared with Mr. Miyagi. I'm going to carry it for the rest of my life. And Cobra Kai, was unfortunately a painful reminder of why I needed him in the first place. And I feel you're becoming one in a way. With your temper and your bad and rude attitude with Sam sometimes."
I nodded. He was right.
Daniel frowned. "Look Lucas." he said, sounding very honest. "One of the most important things Mr. Miyagi ever taught me. Was to never put passion in front of principle. Because even if you win. You lose."
Daniel explained further. "Cobra Kai. Is all passion, and no principle. To Cobra Kai. As long as you win. It doesn't matter who suffered, or the cost of anything. Victory. Is the only thing in life that's important to Cobra Kai. Not friendship. Not honor. Nothing but victory."
"Really?"
Daniel nodded silently.
I disagreed on every level. Cobra Kai prided itself on principle. On discipline, strength. You respected yourself to not let people come to you and beat you up.
Was he right though? I just didn't know yet.
"I'm glad you told me about this kid, Eli, and Sam's friends. She might get really mad at me for it. But I have to do something or investigate further into what's going on."
"No. Mr. LaRusso. I can handle it."
"How?" asked Daniel. "By going to them and choosing to fight? Violence being the first answer? That's the opposite of what I taught you. This guy you met, Johnny Lawrence. You might be right, that he could've changed. But he never apologized, or even acknowledged what he did. And I'm worried he's rubbing off on his son, and on you a bit."
"Are you sure he never thought about what he did? I mean he bullied you like three decades ago."
"He gave me the All Valley Championship trophy after I won. And said I was alright. That was the last I ever saw of him for the last thirty two years. Bullying, is one thing. People can change, genuinely apologize and never do it again. And that's fine. What Johnny Lawrence did to me, goes beyond bullying." said Daniel. "What he did. Bordered on attempted murder. Twice."
I listened calmly.
"He pushed me off my bicycle and down a huge hill for no reason, I could've broken my neck. And then he beat me up so badly one night that unless Mr. Miyagi did something. Who knows if I had been able to walk away from it. Johnny Lawrence was vicious, violent, and cruel. He tried to break my busted knee with his elbow! In a karate tournament during our final match."
Daniel sighed. "And that's some of the tamer things Cobra Kai got up to back when it was around. I'm sure his son Robby is a nice kid like you said. And for all I know, Johnny could've moved on and become a different person. Until then and even after, I'm going to keep holding you by the standards Mr. Miyagi held me to. Keep your anger in check. Always."
Again. He was being completely reasonable, and right.
"I'm sorry for what I said to Samantha."
"That's not my point here," said Daniel. "Balance, breathing, and focus. They make for good technique. But. These lessons aren't just about karate." he said with a very strong, emphasized, but respectful tone. "These are lessons, for your entire life. Miyagi-Do, isn't about scoring points. And winning tournaments, looking cool and making damage or making the crowd roar. It creates clarity, and focus. It makes you a more balanced person. That's the real balance. That's the meaning of Miyagi-Do."
I nodded.
"Cobra Kai taught the opposite. How to hurt, how to turn all of karate into a competition. How to turn your life into a competition. Johnny Lawrence could be a great person for all I know, but, he was taught the wrong way. Just. Be careful around him and even his son if they've been around each other."
I saw the problem. The same problem I saw in the show. All the students of Johnny and Daniel sometimes, but not always, got along just great. It was them, that could create conflict. I got along perfectly well with Johnny and Robby, and they both knew I trained with Daniel and Robby trained with Johnny.
"I will. Okay Mr. LaRusso," I said. "Are you ready to go back to the worst dinner ever?"
"I've had worse dinners with your grandparents involved. Trust me. One time I got a whole bunch of spaghetti and piping hot tomato sauce all over my chest."
I laughed. "Really?"
"Johnny Lawrence forced a kiss on your mom that night. Everyone was laughing at me. I'll tell you the whole story some other time."
"Robby told me his dad was fine with me learning Miyagi-Do from you. They're training together I think."
Daniel froze at this. He seemed speechless, in deep thought for almost half a minute.
Daniel nodded a bit. "Did he? Then I guess I'm fine with Robby learning Johnny's karate."
"Glad to hear it."
...
...
A/N: Hey everyone. Thank you all so much for all the support I've gotten thus far. I appreciate it very much. I already have what the rest of the fic looks like planned out. And I especially am looking forward to writing the rest of the fic too!
Thank you all again so much for reading and the support. And I'll see you all soon.
As for the Mills, their sort of heel turn on Daniel would be justified I think. Given the history with Ali and how much they'd disapprove, thinking their grandson's future would be affected by the past. Feel free to let me know.
Chapter Eleven
MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Eleven: Fear Does Not Exist
…
Going to high school in California wasn't that odd for me. I had already done it in my previous life.
However, going to school with the people would eventually become rival black belt karatekas competing in the All Valley a year from the next was a bit odd but still not too unusual considering where I was.
Eli and Robby, Robby and Sam, Eli and Sam. All of whom I knew, at one point or another, because of the conflict between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai, would be enemies.
I was a lot busier than I thought I would.
I worked on lists and models my very rich parents and grandparents were willing to buy for me for the Warhammer 40 thousand battles I would build with Eli and Demetri. The Binary Brothers were a whole lot of fun to hang out with.
My grandparents and parents also spoiled me by letting me get some very nice Lego sets ranging from Star Wars to Architecture. Despite being fourteen, I mostly didn't care, the Binary Brothers would come over, we'd build them together, and then hang out and eat some food together.
All told, this must've cost my grandparents a decent bit of money considering how much fun it was to have all this. But a deal of sorts was made with Daniel LaRusso.
As soon as I turned fifteen and still worked at LaRusso Auto as an intern, I could get a work permit and start getting paid for what I did for him.
I didn't care, I possibly didn't plan on being affiliated with Daniel by that time.
I had a great deal of options ahead. But I didn't know what was holding me back necessarily on picking Miyagi-Do as August turned into September.
Despite how much of a violent person the John Kreese I knew from the original Karate Kid films was, I still didn't feel uncomfortable, unsafe, or especially unhappy in the way he treated me and trained me.
He came across as still very much the same man I knew. But there were parts of him I saw, the very same parts I liked about Daniel LaRusso as a teacher and mentor.
Kreese knew what he was talking about. He was effective, knowledgeable, and completely honest.
Not once did Kreese utter a threat to me or condescend. But he didn't respect me as anything more than a student. He was very tough, and had no qualms about sometimes hitting me when not paying attention or punishing me with pushups or jogging laps around the supermarket loading dock where I trained when not being effective enough in obeying his lessons.
I didn't consider Miyagi-Do my kind of dojo ultimately perhaps, but I wasn't completely sure yet. Despite how much I respect Daniel, despite how much his lessons would balance my life. And I knew Cobra Kai could in another way do the same.
And it did honestly cause conflict as I knew training in both dojos would push me to choose one at some point. Or I would have to abandon both of them.
…
"A month?" I asked in the hallways of West Valley High. "You've waited a month to ask out Sam?"
"Well she's you know. Popular and attractive and. Easy to talk to." Eli muttered. "And I'm not."
I didn't really see them share too many conversations, Eli wasn't the most talkative type to anyone except Demetri and I.
"Alright well go for it. And don't make it sound like a date. Make it sound like you two are just. Seeing what Golf 'N Stuff could be like."
Eli scrunched his eyebrows together for a second. "Um. Golf 'N Stuff?"
"Just an idea. Go get 'er man."
Demetri muttered as Eli crossed the hallway between the lockers. "Why would a guy like Eli and I ever get a girl like Sam LaRusso?"
Clearly he had no idea that every girl Miguel, Eli, and Demetri had while being nerds and bullied at West Valley would be their girlfriends by the third season of the show.
"I'm one of you guys and I'm proud of it."
"You and Robby are way cooler. You're stronger and tougher and. Manlier."
I chuckled, crossing my arms while leaning against the set of lockers behind me with a knee up. "Look man." I put my hands in the pockets of my jean jacket. "I-"
I stopped, Eli had frozen in the middle of the hallway, staring at Robby and Sam again.
No come on man. Just.
Ouch. Robby looked like he got very politely rejected by Sam when he tried to ask her out. He tried to insist, but Sam made it, respectfully, clear that her mind was made up.
Robby nodded as he walked over to us. "That was a failure."
Eli had disappeared in the crowd of people who had walked by.
One of them, who I knew to be Mia, the girl with the dreadlocks who stayed in Cobra Kai for as long as Tory did, and Charlotte, the blonde Cobra Kai girl who joined the dojo at the same time Kenny Payne did, both walked past.
"Hey Luke." chortled Charlotte.
I nodded back respectfully. It was odd how nearly everyone I knew to be an extra or background character in the show were regular people who went to West Valley in my freshman year class.
"How do you do it man?" asked Robby, looking off after them for a second.
Huh. I guess living with his father, Johnny, for months would in fact make him perceive girls as more like the supposed babes of the school he always mentioned to Miguel. Robby was still a pretty respectful and nice guy, but he did start to act more and more like Johnny the more I knew him.
"Dude like you said. You're tough. But just don't act tough. Be yourself."
"But I am myself."
"You liked skateboarding and stuff. Why leave it behind?"
Robby shrugged. "I don't know."
"Let's go skateboarding sometime." I suggested.
"Sure."
Robby smiled and left me alone with Demetri in the hall as I kept leaning on the lockers.
"Demetri. About Eli. Is anyone bugging him about his lip?"
Demetri shook his head. "Not that I know of. If Kyler and his guys saw you or Robby coming, they'd look the other way."
"So they are bothering people?"
"What are you, the bullying police now? Like I say, always go to a teacher."
I sighed. "Counselor Blatt is completely ineffective at stopping bullying from the looks of it."
"If you go looking for a fight. Someone's getting hurt. That's what always happens."
I nodded with a mutter. "Okay. Thanks Demetri."
He nodded back slightly.
A part of me wanted to believe Demetri was right. That there was nothing to get involved with. But if I was wrong, who knows how badly that could affect Eli.
And the worst part was I could've done something about it.
…
Kreese smacked the striking mitts together I had bought for training. "Again." he said.
A jab to close the distance, a roundhouse, and a final set of punches. I dodged two quick strikes towards my face and body and then a kick Kreese added to imitate three counter attacks, and then I countered back with a shot over the top to the jaw area where Kreese had his mitt raised.
"Take a rest Schwarber."
"Yes Sensei."
I wiped some of the sweat off my brow as I drank some water from a water bottle and Kreese spoke. "Your improvement is considerable. It's been what. Four months? Five?"
"Let's see." I put the water bottle down on the cement dock where the abandoned supermarket loading bay was. "We started around mid to late May. It's currently mid September. So between four and a half to five months."
"Hm. You'd have earned your yellow belt already. Well on your way to the next."
"What were the tests like?"
Kreese shrugged. "I would do simple things. Some sparring against higher belt students. A few important exercises. And then I would determine if they were ready."
"So nothing crazy then? Like stopping a burglary, like a guy is stealing someone's purse or wallet on the street and they prevented it?"
Kreese chuckled. "In that scenario I would actually admit the student in question followed my lessons properly. But no. I conducted all belt examinations personally in the classroom. Merit and skill were what determined belt level. As well as experience."
"So Johnny Lawrence was your very best student?"
Kreese spoke quietly. "Bobby Brown was a close second. He was great too."
"And what was he like?"
Kreese stood up off the loading bay. "Just focus on the lesson Mr. Schwarber."
I muttered quietly. "Yes Sensei."
"Now. I've taught you how to attack, how to counter, how to move around in a fight with your guard tight and your strikes proper. But. I haven't taught you a very important part of Cobra Kai karate."
I nodded, listening.
"How to sweep the leg."
I smiled.
"In a fight. There is no better counter than sweeping the leg, especially against multiple attackers. You both dodge and attack at the same time with a proper leg sweep. Other styles, view this as a cheaper tactic. Very rare. Most others include some form of trip."
"So is it tournament legal?"
"Very." Kreese said casually. "As long as you don't injure any part of the leg or knee. And you follow it up with a proper score within the next few seconds and combat is paused. That's a point. More importantly however, it prepares you for very practical scenarios in self defense."
I kept listening. "This move can be applied very aggressively and as I said. Is the best counter. Now. Let's say I'm running towards you to grab you, or starting a blitz attack. What do you do?"
"Strike first. Always."
"Yes. But how?"
I understood the lesson. "Sweep the leg."
"Good."
Kreese ran towards me and I was forced to try to sweep him on instinct.
I didn't use the catch and throw, I spun across the asphalt throwing a kick to Kreese's leg, just above his ankle.
It almost seemed to connect and start to connect and hook around the lower part of his leg to sweep him away, but the next thing I knew he had grabbed me and chucked me away over his knee towards a set of nearby wooden crates.
And I crashed into them pretty hard.
I groaned, standing up slowly. "The first hip throw. Good execution Sensei."
He ignored the compliment. "That was a good attempt." Kreese admitted. "But you need to move faster when you slide into the spin. Here's another execution of sweeping the leg."
Kreese got into his fighting stance and I quickly stood next to him. "From your front stance. You're strong, you're stable. Combat begins. Your opponent comes towards you, or if they don't, regardless, you immediately meet their aggression head on. This is an old combo, Johnny Lawrence always used it. I don't know if I'm still nimble enough to show you how, but here it is."
Kreese threw a kick with his rear leg to what was an invisible opponent's shin, just below their knee probably from where he aimed it. Then before his right foot settled down, he jumped upward and flicked his left leg forward to snap a round kick to the head.
A jumping switch kick, first one to their leg to stagger or surprise them, and then the next was the actual score. Very nice attack I had to admit, the timing and the jump was kind of tricky but doable.
I just realized what he had shown me.
It was the first point Johnny scored against Daniel in their title match at the 1984 All Valley.
I said the truth. "That was excellent Sensei."
He again ignored a compliment. "Now you try."
I tried it on wooden boxes Kreese strategically stacked. I tried it against Kreese himself who used the striking mitts to catch each kick.
Then it was another hour of strength conditioning, a bit of practice on hip throws, elbows, basic striking and a bit of sparring. And then it was the end of class already.
We bowed to each other.
"You still need to learn how to sweep the leg better. But that takes time."
"Thank you Sensei." I said.
…
In his room at the homeless shelter, Kreese used a small coffee making machine he had in his room to then pour some coffee into two mugs. "Where'd you get that?"
"Bought it with some of the money you gave me for training you." said Kreese handing a mug to me.
I sipped it and was surprised. "This is pretty good. Not sugary and sweet at all, but it's well made. And strong."
"I make coffee the same way I teach my classes." Kreese said with a shrug.
I smiled. "Cobra Kai coffee."
Kreese sipped from his mug. "I spent about a year or so in a diner when I was a few years older than you making coffee every morning for my bosses and all the cooks. I don't think I perfected it, but I still think I picked something up."
The only instance I remember of Kreese making coffee in the show was for Robby the night he spent at the Cobra Kai dojo in the strip mall during the third season. And apparently according to Kreese himself it wasn't that good.
Maybe he wasn't expecting Robby to like it.
"You worked in a diner?"
"My first real job. Had to provide for myself, I was the only person I knew who could look out for me at the time. It was where I found out I could join the Army, make something better of myself."
I looked over on the wall at the picture of a man with dark hair and a mustache with a knife hand outstretched wearing a white uniform top and black trousers. I realized it was the same picture by the front door of the Cobra Kai dojo in the original Karate Kid film.
"You said he was your first instructor. That's, Master Kim Sun-Yung of South Korea right?"
"Grandmaster to be precise after '86 I believe." said Kreese as I sipped my coffee. "During my first few months in the war. I met a Captain by the name of George Turner, I think I mentioned him to you before. Captain Turner trained under Master Kim during the Korean war where he became an officer, learning the original ways of Tang Soo Do."
A man who betrayed Kreese and founded the ways of No Mercy in him. It was still interesting to me to see him admit who he was years later. Maybe as a lesson in respect for me?
"So wait. By Grandmaster, you mean he was the head of a martial arts organization?"
"Not just any. The organization." said Kreese. "He was part of the group of men who invented Tang Soo Do, and then developed it further during the Korean War. Master Kim originally learned karate from the founders of Shotokan and Kyokushin karate. Funakoshi, Oyama. All of them. Then during the Korean war, he continued to develop Tang Soo Do with his comrades and teach it to fellow UN soldiers."
"One of them was my first instructor, Captain Turner. He taught it to me as part of a specialized unit during 'Nam. Soon after he died, and Terry and I and a few of his other students developed our own methods, we wanted to learn from the source. So, as I mentioned, we spent years training under Master Kim himself and then even managed to train soldiers back in 'Nam too on our own."
I kept listening. "So this Tang Soo Do. It's the cornerstone of Cobra Kai?"
"Yes but. This isn't just any Tang Soo Do, it's the original. Master Kim had dozens of influences from all sorts of styles. All sorts of Korean martial arts, the first bits of Taekwondo, and things like boxing, and even Judo, and Shotokan and Kyokushin karate as I said. He rose to be the best of the best in Korea at the time in terms of almost all kinds of fighting."
"That means Cobra Kai is. Basically a full contact style of martial arts developed from an art that is completely traditional, which themselves were developed through two actual wars of the wars in Korea and Vietnam. Except with face punches and points."
"Yes," said Kreese simply. "Back in the seventies and eighties, most people didn't really know what Tang Soo Do and all of these styles really meant. So we just started calling all of this karate to make it more understandable. I never respected point fighting at all, neither did Master Kim for that matter." Kreese explained while sipping from his coffee mug. "But. It was the only real way to compete with any of the other schools in the Valley at the time. The level of contact was limited, but we didn't mind."
I finished the coffee in my mug. "So what was the training like? Under Master Kim I mean?"
"Almost the exact same way I train you and used to train my students over on Lankershim back in the day. How to use joint locks, grappling, throwing, striking all of that. Everything possibly related to hand to hand combat with an opponent who actually knows how to fight. Then we'd train in the wilderness, breaking stones and bamboo with our bare hands and feet. But above all, Master Kim pushed for decisiveness."
"Decisiveness? In what way?"
"Your agency. Your will. Master Kim's training didn't relate just to karate. And mine doesn't either. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy. These are the ways of the fist. But they teach you things beyond that too."
I listened. "Your tenacity. Your drive, that need to take control of your life. And decide for yourself what you want your life to look like, to really accomplish and do something for yourself. That is the first part of Cobra Kai training."
Kreese sighed. "Because this kind of training takes so long to master. I spent months under Captain Turner in Vietnam, and over three years in South Korea under Grandmaster Kim Sun Yung. And it took me years to determine what a proper school of karate should look like. The ethics and code of Cobra Kai became it's most important part."
I nodded a bit as Kreese put his coffee mug down on the nearby windowsill. "I already knew what kind of combat and training I'd teach. What the class would practice. But not the kind of people they'd be. Other styles of karate, Miyagi-Do and Locust Valley, all the mediocre ones, they teach you how to be like them, weak and mediocre."
I looked at Kreese carefully as he continued. "They teach how to. Do forms. Maybe spar under the impression life is only about scoring points. Just to sit there, and breathe. And hope your problems will solve themselves and wait for life to come to you and present you with problems to solve. Cobra Kai teaches the opposite. It teaches the right way of doing things."
I nodded again silently.
"Miyagi-Do karate. Locust Valley and all these dojos that are shells of their former selves. As I keep saying they don't just represent the downfall of karate. They represent the downfall of everything we know into becoming weak. These lessons I teach you, they don't just make you a stronger fighter. Because look at you."
"What?"
"You're learning how to sweep the leg. How to strike first and hard. What no mercy means. Kids your age are all coddled and spoiled."
I looked at Kreese up and down. "My grandparents and parents are doing the same to me. Shower me with gifts. They're rich so, I don't question it."
"Gifts for what?"
"Lego sets, they're tiny plastic blocks you build into small buildings and vehicles. Figurines, of space monsters and soldiers."
Kreese shrugged. "Toys essentially," he said quietly. "For someone who's fourteen who'll become a young man within a few years."
"Yeah."
"You like all that?"
"I mean. Other than Robby. All my friends at school are into that. I like sharing stuff like that with them, it's fun."
Kreese squinted at me. "So you enjoy being spoiled?"
"I can't seem to figure out why they're being so nice to me though."
"I think you do know. You're smarter than that, Schwarber." said Kreese. "What would lead you to believe they would spend so much on trinkets and frivolities for you?"
"They want something."
Kreese started to nod.
"I'm doing really well with the internship and the relationship I'm building with another really powerful and important person. Daniel LaRusso. They want me to be a doctor like my grandfather and both parents are. The grades, the respect. They want me to add it all to the family, an incentive to do what they want."
Kreese chuckled. "Sometimes. You surprise me with how well you can implement my lessons outside of the classroom."
"So what. You're saying you actually enjoy spending time with me as a teacher and a mentor?"
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." Kreese said. "I never thought I'd teach anyone anything ever, after 1985. Let alone become a Cobra Kai Sensei again, even to just one student."
"But I'm fourteen. People think you're think you're my grandfather whenever we're around."
"Still. I want you to walk away from today with more than just a lesson on taking control of your life by striking first. And how to sweep the leg and what Master Kim was like as a teacher. I want you develop problem solving skills from my training and my lessons." Kreese looked at me. "Most boys in your position would grow softer than melted butter."
I chuckled quietly. "Spoiled rotten. Living richer than most of the entire populace. With parents and grandparents who all run hospitals and are the most successful kinds of doctors. They want to offer you an easy path to what they consider a successful career."
"One where I end up working for them. Because they, paid my way through med school or something. It's just a loan in a slightly different way."
"Exactly." said Kreese. "You're getting it."
Kreese spoke. "I don't want you to just practice these lessons in the classroom. You apply these lessons for your karate and your life. For how you solve each of your problems. Maybe being a doctor like your entire family would be a good choice for you. Maybe it is what you're best at. But don't do it just because you were told to. You're fourteen, you have years to decide this. Don't be afraid of what you can become on your own merits instead of what's already chosen for you. By your own decisions. Never show fear, be assertive, and you'll succeed at anything."
I nodded. "Do what you think is best. Be it a painter, or a bricklayer. Or anything. Cobra Kai, is about being assertive. You strike first, and decide what you want to do. And how to do it best. And the rest of what you do, be it a fight, or a test of some sort, or anything you want in life. I promise you. Will be yours."
Kreese showed me a fist. "That's the best way. The way of the fist is more than a fighting style. It's your life. How to live your life. No fear. No pain. No defeat. No mercy."
"The way of the fist." I repeated, making a fist and showing him it with a nod.
"You are physically strong, you're getting even tougher, faster, and much more skilled for your age, you have a gift for fighting, I can't lie. But. It's time for you to shape yourself, with my help. Into a young man. And it's going to take a lot before you've even taken a leap past the first step in even winning your first All Valley."
"Thank you Sensei."
I never would've expected this.
Both Daniel and Kreese giving such sound, honest, and helpful advice. In two completely opposite ways.
I guess Kreese wasn't wrong. I wasn't afraid of what siding with either him or Daniel could mean. Because so far, they were both very good teachers for karate and great mentors.
…
Going to high school in California wasn't that odd for me. I had already done it in my previous life.
However, going to school with the people would eventually become rival black belt karatekas competing in the All Valley a year from the next was a bit odd but still not too unusual considering where I was.
Eli and Robby, Robby and Sam, Eli and Sam. All of whom I knew, at one point or another, because of the conflict between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai, would be enemies.
I was a lot busier than I thought I would.
I worked on lists and models my very rich parents and grandparents were willing to buy for me for the Warhammer 40 thousand battles I would build with Eli and Demetri. The Binary Brothers were a whole lot of fun to hang out with.
My grandparents and parents also spoiled me by letting me get some very nice Lego sets ranging from Star Wars to Architecture. Despite being fourteen, I mostly didn't care, the Binary Brothers would come over, we'd build them together, and then hang out and eat some food together.
All told, this must've cost my grandparents a decent bit of money considering how much fun it was to have all this. But a deal of sorts was made with Daniel LaRusso.
As soon as I turned fifteen and still worked at LaRusso Auto as an intern, I could get a work permit and start getting paid for what I did for him.
I didn't care, I possibly didn't plan on being affiliated with Daniel by that time.
I had a great deal of options ahead. But I didn't know what was holding me back necessarily on picking Miyagi-Do as August turned into September.
Despite how much of a violent person the John Kreese I knew from the original Karate Kid films was, I still didn't feel uncomfortable, unsafe, or especially unhappy in the way he treated me and trained me.
He came across as still very much the same man I knew. But there were parts of him I saw, the very same parts I liked about Daniel LaRusso as a teacher and mentor.
Kreese knew what he was talking about. He was effective, knowledgeable, and completely honest.
Not once did Kreese utter a threat to me or condescend. But he didn't respect me as anything more than a student. He was very tough, and had no qualms about sometimes hitting me when not paying attention or punishing me with pushups or jogging laps around the supermarket loading dock where I trained when not being effective enough in obeying his lessons.
I didn't consider Miyagi-Do my kind of dojo ultimately perhaps, but I wasn't completely sure yet. Despite how much I respect Daniel, despite how much his lessons would balance my life. And I knew Cobra Kai could in another way do the same.
And it did honestly cause conflict as I knew training in both dojos would push me to choose one at some point. Or I would have to abandon both of them.
…
"A month?" I asked in the hallways of West Valley High. "You've waited a month to ask out Sam?"
"Well she's you know. Popular and attractive and. Easy to talk to." Eli muttered. "And I'm not."
I didn't really see them share too many conversations, Eli wasn't the most talkative type to anyone except Demetri and I.
"Alright well go for it. And don't make it sound like a date. Make it sound like you two are just. Seeing what Golf 'N Stuff could be like."
Eli scrunched his eyebrows together for a second. "Um. Golf 'N Stuff?"
"Just an idea. Go get 'er man."
Demetri muttered as Eli crossed the hallway between the lockers. "Why would a guy like Eli and I ever get a girl like Sam LaRusso?"
Clearly he had no idea that every girl Miguel, Eli, and Demetri had while being nerds and bullied at West Valley would be their girlfriends by the third season of the show.
"I'm one of you guys and I'm proud of it."
"You and Robby are way cooler. You're stronger and tougher and. Manlier."
I chuckled, crossing my arms while leaning against the set of lockers behind me with a knee up. "Look man." I put my hands in the pockets of my jean jacket. "I-"
I stopped, Eli had frozen in the middle of the hallway, staring at Robby and Sam again.
No come on man. Just.
Ouch. Robby looked like he got very politely rejected by Sam when he tried to ask her out. He tried to insist, but Sam made it, respectfully, clear that her mind was made up.
Robby nodded as he walked over to us. "That was a failure."
Eli had disappeared in the crowd of people who had walked by.
One of them, who I knew to be Mia, the girl with the dreadlocks who stayed in Cobra Kai for as long as Tory did, and Charlotte, the blonde Cobra Kai girl who joined the dojo at the same time Kenny Payne did, both walked past.
"Hey Luke." chortled Charlotte.
I nodded back respectfully. It was odd how nearly everyone I knew to be an extra or background character in the show were regular people who went to West Valley in my freshman year class.
"How do you do it man?" asked Robby, looking off after them for a second.
Huh. I guess living with his father, Johnny, for months would in fact make him perceive girls as more like the supposed babes of the school he always mentioned to Miguel. Robby was still a pretty respectful and nice guy, but he did start to act more and more like Johnny the more I knew him.
"Dude like you said. You're tough. But just don't act tough. Be yourself."
"But I am myself."
"You liked skateboarding and stuff. Why leave it behind?"
Robby shrugged. "I don't know."
"Let's go skateboarding sometime." I suggested.
"Sure."
Robby smiled and left me alone with Demetri in the hall as I kept leaning on the lockers.
"Demetri. About Eli. Is anyone bugging him about his lip?"
Demetri shook his head. "Not that I know of. If Kyler and his guys saw you or Robby coming, they'd look the other way."
"So they are bothering people?"
"What are you, the bullying police now? Like I say, always go to a teacher."
I sighed. "Counselor Blatt is completely ineffective at stopping bullying from the looks of it."
"If you go looking for a fight. Someone's getting hurt. That's what always happens."
I nodded with a mutter. "Okay. Thanks Demetri."
He nodded back slightly.
A part of me wanted to believe Demetri was right. That there was nothing to get involved with. But if I was wrong, who knows how badly that could affect Eli.
And the worst part was I could've done something about it.
…
Kreese smacked the striking mitts together I had bought for training. "Again." he said.
A jab to close the distance, a roundhouse, and a final set of punches. I dodged two quick strikes towards my face and body and then a kick Kreese added to imitate three counter attacks, and then I countered back with a shot over the top to the jaw area where Kreese had his mitt raised.
"Take a rest Schwarber."
"Yes Sensei."
I wiped some of the sweat off my brow as I drank some water from a water bottle and Kreese spoke. "Your improvement is considerable. It's been what. Four months? Five?"
"Let's see." I put the water bottle down on the cement dock where the abandoned supermarket loading bay was. "We started around mid to late May. It's currently mid September. So between four and a half to five months."
"Hm. You'd have earned your yellow belt already. Well on your way to the next."
"What were the tests like?"
Kreese shrugged. "I would do simple things. Some sparring against higher belt students. A few important exercises. And then I would determine if they were ready."
"So nothing crazy then? Like stopping a burglary, like a guy is stealing someone's purse or wallet on the street and they prevented it?"
Kreese chuckled. "In that scenario I would actually admit the student in question followed my lessons properly. But no. I conducted all belt examinations personally in the classroom. Merit and skill were what determined belt level. As well as experience."
"So Johnny Lawrence was your very best student?"
Kreese spoke quietly. "Bobby Brown was a close second. He was great too."
"And what was he like?"
Kreese stood up off the loading bay. "Just focus on the lesson Mr. Schwarber."
I muttered quietly. "Yes Sensei."
"Now. I've taught you how to attack, how to counter, how to move around in a fight with your guard tight and your strikes proper. But. I haven't taught you a very important part of Cobra Kai karate."
I nodded, listening.
"How to sweep the leg."
I smiled.
"In a fight. There is no better counter than sweeping the leg, especially against multiple attackers. You both dodge and attack at the same time with a proper leg sweep. Other styles, view this as a cheaper tactic. Very rare. Most others include some form of trip."
"So is it tournament legal?"
"Very." Kreese said casually. "As long as you don't injure any part of the leg or knee. And you follow it up with a proper score within the next few seconds and combat is paused. That's a point. More importantly however, it prepares you for very practical scenarios in self defense."
I kept listening. "This move can be applied very aggressively and as I said. Is the best counter. Now. Let's say I'm running towards you to grab you, or starting a blitz attack. What do you do?"
"Strike first. Always."
"Yes. But how?"
I understood the lesson. "Sweep the leg."
"Good."
Kreese ran towards me and I was forced to try to sweep him on instinct.
I didn't use the catch and throw, I spun across the asphalt throwing a kick to Kreese's leg, just above his ankle.
It almost seemed to connect and start to connect and hook around the lower part of his leg to sweep him away, but the next thing I knew he had grabbed me and chucked me away over his knee towards a set of nearby wooden crates.
And I crashed into them pretty hard.
I groaned, standing up slowly. "The first hip throw. Good execution Sensei."
He ignored the compliment. "That was a good attempt." Kreese admitted. "But you need to move faster when you slide into the spin. Here's another execution of sweeping the leg."
Kreese got into his fighting stance and I quickly stood next to him. "From your front stance. You're strong, you're stable. Combat begins. Your opponent comes towards you, or if they don't, regardless, you immediately meet their aggression head on. This is an old combo, Johnny Lawrence always used it. I don't know if I'm still nimble enough to show you how, but here it is."
Kreese threw a kick with his rear leg to what was an invisible opponent's shin, just below their knee probably from where he aimed it. Then before his right foot settled down, he jumped upward and flicked his left leg forward to snap a round kick to the head.
A jumping switch kick, first one to their leg to stagger or surprise them, and then the next was the actual score. Very nice attack I had to admit, the timing and the jump was kind of tricky but doable.
I just realized what he had shown me.
It was the first point Johnny scored against Daniel in their title match at the 1984 All Valley.
I said the truth. "That was excellent Sensei."
He again ignored a compliment. "Now you try."
I tried it on wooden boxes Kreese strategically stacked. I tried it against Kreese himself who used the striking mitts to catch each kick.
Then it was another hour of strength conditioning, a bit of practice on hip throws, elbows, basic striking and a bit of sparring. And then it was the end of class already.
We bowed to each other.
"You still need to learn how to sweep the leg better. But that takes time."
"Thank you Sensei." I said.
…
In his room at the homeless shelter, Kreese used a small coffee making machine he had in his room to then pour some coffee into two mugs. "Where'd you get that?"
"Bought it with some of the money you gave me for training you." said Kreese handing a mug to me.
I sipped it and was surprised. "This is pretty good. Not sugary and sweet at all, but it's well made. And strong."
"I make coffee the same way I teach my classes." Kreese said with a shrug.
I smiled. "Cobra Kai coffee."
Kreese sipped from his mug. "I spent about a year or so in a diner when I was a few years older than you making coffee every morning for my bosses and all the cooks. I don't think I perfected it, but I still think I picked something up."
The only instance I remember of Kreese making coffee in the show was for Robby the night he spent at the Cobra Kai dojo in the strip mall during the third season. And apparently according to Kreese himself it wasn't that good.
Maybe he wasn't expecting Robby to like it.
"You worked in a diner?"
"My first real job. Had to provide for myself, I was the only person I knew who could look out for me at the time. It was where I found out I could join the Army, make something better of myself."
I looked over on the wall at the picture of a man with dark hair and a mustache with a knife hand outstretched wearing a white uniform top and black trousers. I realized it was the same picture by the front door of the Cobra Kai dojo in the original Karate Kid film.
"You said he was your first instructor. That's, Master Kim Sun-Yung of South Korea right?"
"Grandmaster to be precise after '86 I believe." said Kreese as I sipped my coffee. "During my first few months in the war. I met a Captain by the name of George Turner, I think I mentioned him to you before. Captain Turner trained under Master Kim during the Korean war where he became an officer, learning the original ways of Tang Soo Do."
A man who betrayed Kreese and founded the ways of No Mercy in him. It was still interesting to me to see him admit who he was years later. Maybe as a lesson in respect for me?
"So wait. By Grandmaster, you mean he was the head of a martial arts organization?"
"Not just any. The organization." said Kreese. "He was part of the group of men who invented Tang Soo Do, and then developed it further during the Korean War. Master Kim originally learned karate from the founders of Shotokan and Kyokushin karate. Funakoshi, Oyama. All of them. Then during the Korean war, he continued to develop Tang Soo Do with his comrades and teach it to fellow UN soldiers."
"One of them was my first instructor, Captain Turner. He taught it to me as part of a specialized unit during 'Nam. Soon after he died, and Terry and I and a few of his other students developed our own methods, we wanted to learn from the source. So, as I mentioned, we spent years training under Master Kim himself and then even managed to train soldiers back in 'Nam too on our own."
I kept listening. "So this Tang Soo Do. It's the cornerstone of Cobra Kai?"
"Yes but. This isn't just any Tang Soo Do, it's the original. Master Kim had dozens of influences from all sorts of styles. All sorts of Korean martial arts, the first bits of Taekwondo, and things like boxing, and even Judo, and Shotokan and Kyokushin karate as I said. He rose to be the best of the best in Korea at the time in terms of almost all kinds of fighting."
"That means Cobra Kai is. Basically a full contact style of martial arts developed from an art that is completely traditional, which themselves were developed through two actual wars of the wars in Korea and Vietnam. Except with face punches and points."
"Yes," said Kreese simply. "Back in the seventies and eighties, most people didn't really know what Tang Soo Do and all of these styles really meant. So we just started calling all of this karate to make it more understandable. I never respected point fighting at all, neither did Master Kim for that matter." Kreese explained while sipping from his coffee mug. "But. It was the only real way to compete with any of the other schools in the Valley at the time. The level of contact was limited, but we didn't mind."
I finished the coffee in my mug. "So what was the training like? Under Master Kim I mean?"
"Almost the exact same way I train you and used to train my students over on Lankershim back in the day. How to use joint locks, grappling, throwing, striking all of that. Everything possibly related to hand to hand combat with an opponent who actually knows how to fight. Then we'd train in the wilderness, breaking stones and bamboo with our bare hands and feet. But above all, Master Kim pushed for decisiveness."
"Decisiveness? In what way?"
"Your agency. Your will. Master Kim's training didn't relate just to karate. And mine doesn't either. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy. These are the ways of the fist. But they teach you things beyond that too."
I listened. "Your tenacity. Your drive, that need to take control of your life. And decide for yourself what you want your life to look like, to really accomplish and do something for yourself. That is the first part of Cobra Kai training."
Kreese sighed. "Because this kind of training takes so long to master. I spent months under Captain Turner in Vietnam, and over three years in South Korea under Grandmaster Kim Sun Yung. And it took me years to determine what a proper school of karate should look like. The ethics and code of Cobra Kai became it's most important part."
I nodded a bit as Kreese put his coffee mug down on the nearby windowsill. "I already knew what kind of combat and training I'd teach. What the class would practice. But not the kind of people they'd be. Other styles of karate, Miyagi-Do and Locust Valley, all the mediocre ones, they teach you how to be like them, weak and mediocre."
I looked at Kreese carefully as he continued. "They teach how to. Do forms. Maybe spar under the impression life is only about scoring points. Just to sit there, and breathe. And hope your problems will solve themselves and wait for life to come to you and present you with problems to solve. Cobra Kai teaches the opposite. It teaches the right way of doing things."
I nodded again silently.
"Miyagi-Do karate. Locust Valley and all these dojos that are shells of their former selves. As I keep saying they don't just represent the downfall of karate. They represent the downfall of everything we know into becoming weak. These lessons I teach you, they don't just make you a stronger fighter. Because look at you."
"What?"
"You're learning how to sweep the leg. How to strike first and hard. What no mercy means. Kids your age are all coddled and spoiled."
I looked at Kreese up and down. "My grandparents and parents are doing the same to me. Shower me with gifts. They're rich so, I don't question it."
"Gifts for what?"
"Lego sets, they're tiny plastic blocks you build into small buildings and vehicles. Figurines, of space monsters and soldiers."
Kreese shrugged. "Toys essentially," he said quietly. "For someone who's fourteen who'll become a young man within a few years."
"Yeah."
"You like all that?"
"I mean. Other than Robby. All my friends at school are into that. I like sharing stuff like that with them, it's fun."
Kreese squinted at me. "So you enjoy being spoiled?"
"I can't seem to figure out why they're being so nice to me though."
"I think you do know. You're smarter than that, Schwarber." said Kreese. "What would lead you to believe they would spend so much on trinkets and frivolities for you?"
"They want something."
Kreese started to nod.
"I'm doing really well with the internship and the relationship I'm building with another really powerful and important person. Daniel LaRusso. They want me to be a doctor like my grandfather and both parents are. The grades, the respect. They want me to add it all to the family, an incentive to do what they want."
Kreese chuckled. "Sometimes. You surprise me with how well you can implement my lessons outside of the classroom."
"So what. You're saying you actually enjoy spending time with me as a teacher and a mentor?"
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." Kreese said. "I never thought I'd teach anyone anything ever, after 1985. Let alone become a Cobra Kai Sensei again, even to just one student."
"But I'm fourteen. People think you're think you're my grandfather whenever we're around."
"Still. I want you to walk away from today with more than just a lesson on taking control of your life by striking first. And how to sweep the leg and what Master Kim was like as a teacher. I want you develop problem solving skills from my training and my lessons." Kreese looked at me. "Most boys in your position would grow softer than melted butter."
I chuckled quietly. "Spoiled rotten. Living richer than most of the entire populace. With parents and grandparents who all run hospitals and are the most successful kinds of doctors. They want to offer you an easy path to what they consider a successful career."
"One where I end up working for them. Because they, paid my way through med school or something. It's just a loan in a slightly different way."
"Exactly." said Kreese. "You're getting it."
Kreese spoke. "I don't want you to just practice these lessons in the classroom. You apply these lessons for your karate and your life. For how you solve each of your problems. Maybe being a doctor like your entire family would be a good choice for you. Maybe it is what you're best at. But don't do it just because you were told to. You're fourteen, you have years to decide this. Don't be afraid of what you can become on your own merits instead of what's already chosen for you. By your own decisions. Never show fear, be assertive, and you'll succeed at anything."
I nodded. "Do what you think is best. Be it a painter, or a bricklayer. Or anything. Cobra Kai, is about being assertive. You strike first, and decide what you want to do. And how to do it best. And the rest of what you do, be it a fight, or a test of some sort, or anything you want in life. I promise you. Will be yours."
Kreese showed me a fist. "That's the best way. The way of the fist is more than a fighting style. It's your life. How to live your life. No fear. No pain. No defeat. No mercy."
"The way of the fist." I repeated, making a fist and showing him it with a nod.
"You are physically strong, you're getting even tougher, faster, and much more skilled for your age, you have a gift for fighting, I can't lie. But. It's time for you to shape yourself, with my help. Into a young man. And it's going to take a lot before you've even taken a leap past the first step in even winning your first All Valley."
"Thank you Sensei."
I never would've expected this.
Both Daniel and Kreese giving such sound, honest, and helpful advice. In two completely opposite ways.
I guess Kreese wasn't wrong. I wasn't afraid of what siding with either him or Daniel could mean. Because so far, they were both very good teachers for karate and great mentors.
Chapter Twelve
MiyazakiFan18
Know what you're doing yet?
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Chapter Twelve: The Old Yearbook
…
A/N: This song, by e7i, might be really obscure but I feel it is appropriate for the atmosphere and tone for the scene. Only during the "finale" of this fanfic I'll make it clear how important the OSTs are but besides that, enjoy the chapter guys.
…
OST: Best Thing - e7i
…
"So. Are you good?"
Robby was resting his hand on his skateboard at the skatepark looking at the halfpipe he knew like the back of his hand.
Lucas actually looked a bit nervous about trying skateboarding. Even with knee and elbow pads and a helmet. The halfpipe looked much longer and deeper than it really was to him.
He nodded slowly.
"Yeah. No fear." Lucas muttered, remembering his training from two karate masters.
"That's right." Robby grinned widely. "Try to keep up man." he said diving in headfirst.
Through the halfpipe Robby led Lucas on his skateboard as Lucas tried to follow.
"Wait, aren't you gonna teach me how to do this?" Lucas asked, trying to stay stable as he went through his first dive.
"You gotta learn like everyone did. By falling on your ass!"
"W-Wait! What!?"
Lucas had slipped and fallen failing to recover from the failed dive through the halfpipe. He groaned a tiny bit from how hard he landed.
Robby chuckled, nailed it perfectly having done skateboarding for several years. "Like I said. Keep up!"
Lucas grunted and picked his skateboard back up.
To even complete the basic halfpipe, Lucas realized he was struggling really hard, even for a first timer.
Robby pulled a quick kick flip while accelerating down into the halfpipe as Lucas continued to struggle.
As Robby kept grinning and laughing while showing off and scratching the bottom of his skateboard while switching between one dive and another while Lucas could barely complete one.
He fell and the skateboard slid away. Again and again for several minutes while Robby was cruising by.
After over an hour of trying, Lucas had begun to learn the basics.
How to stand on the board, how to keep his center of balance, how to twist and turn the skateboard properly. How to complete the halfpipe and start to switch to another dive by switching directions.
Lucas couldn't do any of the tricks like spinning the board or scratching it across the cement barrier of the pipe's edge like Robby could but instead doing the basics.
"There ya go!" chuckled Robby doing kickflips and all sorts of flashy but controlled moves.
Lucas started to realize how strong his center of balance had started to become. It was something he didn't realize Miyagi-Do and even Cobra Kai had helped him develop standing sideways on the skateboard.
Taking a deep breath, Lucas stood on the edge of the pipe before beginning his dive at full speed.
Halfway through, Lucas was able to manipulate his momentum and center of gravity well enough to flick the board upwards with his feet to complete his first kickflip.
"Nice!" Robby said as he finished his own dive and was about to start another.
Lucas tried slipping the bottom of the board at the other end of the half pipe like he watched Robby do with that satisfying and flashy scratch but failed miserably.
Lucas slipped and fell hard onto the half pipe with a groan.
Robby saw this and easily was able to halt his dive through the halfpipe as it wasn't anywhere near his full speed.
Lucas winced as Robby helped him up from the ground. "That was a good attempt. Keep going man."
"He says keep up..."
Lucas kept failing it and slipping and sliding at the edges of the halfpipe.
Until suddenly on one failed attempt when he let go of the board completely on accident, and within seconds he was balancing his entire body on a single hand upside down. His hand was gripping the edge of the half pipe for dear life, and Robby was amazed.
"Wow! Where'd you learn how to do that?" he asked in surprise.
A few of the other skateboarders around the skate park were all surprised by this, muttering and pointing.
Lucas kept balancing his whole body on a single hand upside down, blinking as he continued the first step of the two legged kick with a very advanced one handed handstand. His hair wasn't that long at all but some of it hung upside down from being encased inside his helmet too.
Robby smiled and chuckled. "Nice." he nodded.
…
Robby and I shared sodas after the quick skateboarding lesson we had for an hour or so.
"So. Fun?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Sam rejecting me. That was kinda painful man."
I'd like to tell him she'd actually come around. I was wondering why a younger version of Sam wouldn't like Robby more because in Season Two of the show they end up dating.
I saw why it happened though.
Sam and Robby had months to get to know each other much better than just being friends at school for a bit. They bonded and shared much more in the first and second seasons of the show.
"I told you. Girls can be weird." I said.
"You doing stuff that cool. No wonder they'd be into you though. A handstand on one hand. So quickly! How'd you learn how to do that?"
I was actually more interested in them in return about the girls who basically barely had names according to the show. The background characters from the fourth and second seasons who were still around in Cobra Kai, Charlotte and Mia respectively. Had no idea they went to West Valley High during what would've been Eli's freshman year of high school.
I sipped my soda. "Miyagi-Do Karate."
"You're serious?" Robby laughed loudly. "Never would've guessed that. My dad says that unless you're being aggressive in a fight and striking, you're not fighting. At least, you're not winning."
If only you knew that you possibly would've learned it instead of me right here in this skatepark in the same way.
"You'd be surprised. While there is a strong emphasis on counters and defense. Miyagi-Do does still employ basic karate strikes. The reverse punch, the roundhouse and hook kick. The chop, even a bit of the jab."
Robby finished his soda and tossed it away in a nearby garbage can. "But you can't strike first. You have to be on defense only right?"
I took another sip of my soda. "How do you know so much about Miyagi-Do?"
"How do you think? My dad competed against Miyagi-Do in karate tournaments back in the eighties. Specifically. Your Sensei, Daniel LaRusso."
"Yeah well. In a real fight. You can't follow exactly what your Sensei says. Things get messy and you have to improvise, adapt."
Robby smiled a bit. "Yeah. Yeah, that, that's how it is. That's exactly how it is."
I don't know why I identified more with Robby more than anyone I'd really met so far. I respect both of my teachers, Daniel LaRusso and John Kreese a great deal, at least, a great deal more than I did when I started to train with them.
But what Robby said during the fourth season of the show during the tournament. That it didn't matter what you called your fighting style as long as it worked, that really clicked with me.
And I was glad to see he hadn't changed very much. Even though he was about three years younger than he was there, I enjoyed talking to him.
"Well. I might not have much to do at my place. But I have this old Atari we can use at home."
I laughed. "Your dad still has a TV to go with one of those?"
Robby shrugged. "Yeah. So you wanna hang out a bit more?"
"Why not?"
I followed him as we went to his house riding on our skateboards.
…
I realized the Atari Robby was using was the same Johnny had tried to sell to the Pawn Shop close to where he opened the Cobra Kai dojo in a strip mall.
It had games like Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, we took turns playing, and it was pretty fun.
Robby sighed. "Hey. Sorry I couldn't find a newer game system for us to use."
"It's fine. Your Atari might be a little dusty, but it's still a lotta fun."
I didn't blame him or Johnny. They were rather poor, but I cycled through all the games Johnny had in his old cardboard box as Robby played some Asteroids.
"The original Dig Dug!" I laughed. "Pole Position. Frogger, Pitfall. Your dad has almost every major classic Atari game ever released. It's awesome."
Robby shrugged. "They're just old ass games dude. They're cool but you know. Old."
I didn't know why Robby was ashamed at all of being poor. At least much poorer than I was. It wasn't like in Harry Potter because there the reminder was pretty constant.
"Your dad won't mind if I look at all this stuff right?"
Robby shrugged. "Nah. He mentioned something about trying to pawn it all off at some point."
I kept cycling through the cardboard box full of eighties stuff Johnny had under the old TV in Robby's living room. I guess just like my mom, he never threw it out.
The karate tournament trophies. And then I found what I was looking for.
The 1984-1985 West Valley High School Yearbook.
I found pictures of everyone I knew to be in the original Karate Kid film. Daniel's neighbor, Freddie Fernandez, my own mother Ali Mills and all her friends, Barbara and such. Daniel LaRusso.
Then Johnny's gang. Bobby, Jimmy, Tommy, Dutch. And then a seventeen to eighteen year old Johnny Lawrence smiling at the camera for his senior photo.
"What you got there?" Robby asked, still playing Asteroids.
"A yearbook. Signed by my mom." I said. "In the year 1985. Wow."
"What she say?"
"She said. I wish you nothing but good health. God speed. Sincerely, Ali Mills."
Robby laughed. "That's it? Wow. That sounds like the most polite way to tell someone you won't miss them."
"Yeah." I said quietly. "Yeah, it does."
Estranged from his son for almost his entire life. Living as an alcoholic in a poor neighborhood for decades. Johnny was hit the worst from the events of the Karate Kid films.
But so was John Kreese too I realized.
The door to the house opened. A slightly better shaven and better dressed Johnny Lawrence walked in. "Hey kid. How was school?" I heard his keys make a small noise when it hit a ceramic bowl.
"Just fine. Luke was just about to help me on a Bio assignment."
"Yeah, we made flashcards."
Johnny looked at me. "Is that my old yearbook?"
"Uh. Yeah. I found what my mom said. I thought she'd have been nicer to you."
Despite the year you spent fighting.
Johnny was quiet, the only sound in the room for a moment was Robby blasting asteroids playing the Atari.
"I think we need to talk. Considering you're friends of the family now."
"Oh, okay."
…
Cars zoomed past quietly while I sat with Johnny on the parking lot sidewalk of the apartment building where I knew Miguel would move into to become neighbors with Johnny probably in the next summer.
"You train with LaRusso. And he's passing down all that stuff he learned right?"
"It's not just stuff. It's lessons. For karate, and for life. The same things you teach Robby I'm sure."
Johnny nodded slowly. "Right. I'm glad you and Robby are getting along. But while LaRusso could easily have changed in over the past thirty years or whatever. I think it's better if I tell you what exactly makes him untrustworthy."
I didn't need this conversation. "I think I have a good idea."
"No. Not until you find out how exactly your mom affected my life. And how LaRusso did too."
"It's just stuff in high school right?"
Johnny, surprisingly, did not blow it out of proportion and remained reasonable.
"Most of it yeah. But it had consequences."
I listened. "Okay. I'm all ears."
"Summer before my sophomore year. My buddies and I went to go see a movie. All was calm that night. Until. My friend Dutch, you might've seen him in that yearbook you were looking at. Pisses off some nearby girls sitting ahead of us. And one of them gets really really mad. That was the first time I saw her."
I had a feeling this story would have similar but very different revelations of who Johnny was and how he felt despite the similar sounding story he was telling.
"Who?"
"Your mom kid."
…
Cobra Kai OST: Johnny's Story
…
"She was incredibly beautiful you know. But she had something else about her. Something you just can't explain. This fire, this energy. I never saw anything like it anywhere else for the rest of my entire life."
Lucas nodded and Johnny kept explaining.
"Every belt test I passed, every tournament I won. She was there for me, rooting for me, supporting me. This might've just been some dumb highschool romance I'm sure if you asked anyone. But you have to realize that I was beyond in love with her."
Images of Johnny striking in lines at the original Cobra Kai Lankershim dojo passed in his head as Kreese yelled and trained them.
"Aits!"
"Kiya!"
"Aits!"
"Kiya!"
"She was smart. Funny. Helpful. Supportive. Kind. She was everything." said Johnny. "My buddies at the dojo were all friends with her friends. I was passing my classes, your mom helped. She tutored me, in the same way it sounds like Robby needs your help with classes. These were the best years of my life, back when everything made sense."
Lucas smiled. "When life was good." he muttered.
Johnny nodded. "Things were good yeah, spectacular actually. And the day of Ali's birthday I decide to get drunk with the guys. We had been arguing for some time, petty and dumb stuff, you'll know what it's like when you start dating. Ali ends it completely that night, doesn't want to hear a thing about it."
Lucas kept listening quietly.
"The whole summer before my senior year she completely shuts me out. I pass my second degree black belt test, the guys and I hadn't done that well in class for a long time. She's not there. I broke three bricks with one hand that day. Didn't shatter any bones or anything, my Sensei approved. And for the first time since we met, she wasn't there in the waiting area."
Lucas spoke. "So what happened next?"
"I needed to reconnect with her. To at least be on speaking terms because after two years ending it over something so dumb so quickly. It just wasn't right, it wasn't fair to either of us. I deserved a chance, we both did."
"Did you get it?"
"I never did. Because Daniel LaRusso ruined any shot I had."
Lucas remembered a particular line he saw in the Karate Kid film in another life. One Lucille told her son the moment they arrived at their new apartments.
"This is it. This is the end of the line."
"I try to talk things out with Ali at this little beach party she had with her friends. But LaRusso's there, and he sticks his nose in for no reason. Things were already getting heated, but neither of them had a level head at all."
"Alright!" the boys at the beach cheered when Johnny shoved Daniel down with the radio.
"He starts running at me."
Johnny easily tripped Daniel into the sand twice in a row.
"And to get him to cool off I show him what I'm made of. Just so he can stop trying to escalate things."
Johnny round kicked Daniel in the stomach and dropped him onto the sand.
"But LaRusso kept going. He sucker punches me, and expects me to just walk off and let him get away with it. So I knock him down to let him know it's over, he shouldn't have intervened."
"Aiya!" Johnny hit Daniel with a backfist to the nose into the sand again.
"And what about the time you shoved him off a cliff when he was on his bicycle? That was messed up." said Lucas.
The Cobra Kais had thrown Daniel right down a hill and he went spiraling down it hard, getting pretty hurt in the process.
Johnny sighed. "Okay that was out of line and pretty messed up yeah. But the rest? LaRusso probably makes it sound to you like I was beating him up every other day. Other than that one time on that hill. Not a cliff. Every time we fought. He started all of it, I ended it. That's just how it happened."
Daniel turned a water hose on Johnny's head in the bathroom at the Halloween dance.
"He expects me to ignore. Sucker punches, and dousing me with a water hose. All of it. And the worst part is your mom was on his side completely the entire time. Making me sound like a bully when other than one time, LaRusso was the one starting all of it."
"And when you forced a kiss on my mom? Or had Mr. LaRusso sit on a blueberry pie?"
"All of that happened after he had challenged my dojo, before that he was just some punk kid messing with me a few months at a time. You have to understand. My Sensei and I were fed up with LaRusso and his teacher thinking he could do whatever he wanted. So we decided to settle things once and for all."
"This is it folks! The final match! Daniel LaRusso Miyagee Do Karate, against John Lawrence! Of the Cobra Kai!"
"I had turned the match around. I tied up the score. It was a tournament for the ages, those were the days man. With the greatest final match you could imagine. And then."
Johnny Lawrence walked directly into the crane kick.
…
I understood. "You lost."
"What you have to understand here. And I cannot emphasize this more." Johnny repeated. "Anyone, and I mean anyone in my shoes would've done the same. I never intended to bully Daniel as much as he makes it sound like the opposite. And I get it you know, I really do."
"I was this two time karate champ from the hills." I kept listening. "He was the dirt poor new kid in town from Jersey. Skinny as a stick and had no clue how to fight. He happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when it all started. But from the beginning I just wanted him to butt out. That's all. And you know why now right?"
"To get back with my mom. To make up with her at least."
Johnny nodded. "Every. Chance. I got. To make Ali see reason? She took LaRusso's side without hesitation. As LaRusso kept escalating things, I was trying to end them. He would, torment me at school, knowing that I couldn't fight back until the tournament. He challenged my dojo! What was I supposed to do?"
"No I get it. You were trying to be fair. But so was Mr. LaRusso."
"That's why I get your Sensei's perspective too kid," Johnny said as a car zoomed past quietly in the nearby street. "LaRusso's a good teacher to you I'm sure. But he can really be a scheming little scum bag when he wants to. Sometimes, most of the time, for just no reason except because he can."
This was very true.
Johnny had no idea that during his future attempts to teach Miguel Cobra Kai and make a living. Daniel tried his very best to ensure Johnny would fail. He went out of his way just to ruin any chances Johnny had in the first season of the show.
If I had spoken to him supporting Johnny's side at all in this, Daniel probably never would've given me the time of day from how petty he came across in the first season of the show.
Even Amanda realized how ridiculous he was being.
"This has really opened my eyes. I knew you had some reason to do all this on some level. But I didn't realize just how much my mom really meant to you." I said. "I have a question though."
Johnny muttered. "Go ahead."
"The night of Halloween. Mr. LaRusso said you tried to kill him. And then you tried to snap his leg during the tournament."
"Yeah." Johnny sighed. "In a way. He's right. I'm not justifying what I did there. But I started training in that type of stuff when I was just a bit younger than you are. I wasn't taught anything else for the past four years of my life at the time. I can't see myself apologizing to LaRusso though anytime soon, because as messed up as I'm sure Halloween and the tournament were for him. All of this is extremely complicated."
"So what do you want me to do. What was the point of this?"
"LaRusso has a family right? Robby mentioned he has a daughter."
A daughter who rejected his attempt to ask her out recently actually.
"Yeah." I said. "His entire family and I are decent friends, except for Amanda his wife, she's still kind to me."
"I have no idea the kind of person LaRusso is now after all this time. But for your own sake, watch your back with him. He's a conniver. He's a troublemaker."
I laughed. "And you weren't? Both LaRusso and my grandparents say you were the town troublemaker since you were old enough to ride a dirtbike."
The Ace Degenerate.
"Hey. At least I was honest about all the shit I got up to. LaRusso will spin it into someone else's fault. Always."
He really was right.
"Do you want me to learn your karate then or something?"
"I can't." Johnny shook his head. "It's not right for me to get involved between you two. I know LaRusso is your Sensei. His way, is yours in a way. That's not my business. All I want for you is to know the true history here. You deserve that much."
Despite watching all four seasons of the Cobra Kai show and the three films, he was right. I knew all this affected him, but especially Ali of all things, I had no idea affected him this much.
"Thank you Mr. Lawrence."
"Call me Johnny, kid."
…
A/N: This song, by e7i, might be really obscure but I feel it is appropriate for the atmosphere and tone for the scene. Only during the "finale" of this fanfic I'll make it clear how important the OSTs are but besides that, enjoy the chapter guys.
…
OST: Best Thing - e7i
…
"So. Are you good?"
Robby was resting his hand on his skateboard at the skatepark looking at the halfpipe he knew like the back of his hand.
Lucas actually looked a bit nervous about trying skateboarding. Even with knee and elbow pads and a helmet. The halfpipe looked much longer and deeper than it really was to him.
He nodded slowly.
"Yeah. No fear." Lucas muttered, remembering his training from two karate masters.
"That's right." Robby grinned widely. "Try to keep up man." he said diving in headfirst.
Through the halfpipe Robby led Lucas on his skateboard as Lucas tried to follow.
"Wait, aren't you gonna teach me how to do this?" Lucas asked, trying to stay stable as he went through his first dive.
"You gotta learn like everyone did. By falling on your ass!"
"W-Wait! What!?"
Lucas had slipped and fallen failing to recover from the failed dive through the halfpipe. He groaned a tiny bit from how hard he landed.
Robby chuckled, nailed it perfectly having done skateboarding for several years. "Like I said. Keep up!"
Lucas grunted and picked his skateboard back up.
To even complete the basic halfpipe, Lucas realized he was struggling really hard, even for a first timer.
Robby pulled a quick kick flip while accelerating down into the halfpipe as Lucas continued to struggle.
As Robby kept grinning and laughing while showing off and scratching the bottom of his skateboard while switching between one dive and another while Lucas could barely complete one.
He fell and the skateboard slid away. Again and again for several minutes while Robby was cruising by.
After over an hour of trying, Lucas had begun to learn the basics.
How to stand on the board, how to keep his center of balance, how to twist and turn the skateboard properly. How to complete the halfpipe and start to switch to another dive by switching directions.
Lucas couldn't do any of the tricks like spinning the board or scratching it across the cement barrier of the pipe's edge like Robby could but instead doing the basics.
"There ya go!" chuckled Robby doing kickflips and all sorts of flashy but controlled moves.
Lucas started to realize how strong his center of balance had started to become. It was something he didn't realize Miyagi-Do and even Cobra Kai had helped him develop standing sideways on the skateboard.
Taking a deep breath, Lucas stood on the edge of the pipe before beginning his dive at full speed.
Halfway through, Lucas was able to manipulate his momentum and center of gravity well enough to flick the board upwards with his feet to complete his first kickflip.
"Nice!" Robby said as he finished his own dive and was about to start another.
Lucas tried slipping the bottom of the board at the other end of the half pipe like he watched Robby do with that satisfying and flashy scratch but failed miserably.
Lucas slipped and fell hard onto the half pipe with a groan.
Robby saw this and easily was able to halt his dive through the halfpipe as it wasn't anywhere near his full speed.
Lucas winced as Robby helped him up from the ground. "That was a good attempt. Keep going man."
"He says keep up..."
Lucas kept failing it and slipping and sliding at the edges of the halfpipe.
Until suddenly on one failed attempt when he let go of the board completely on accident, and within seconds he was balancing his entire body on a single hand upside down. His hand was gripping the edge of the half pipe for dear life, and Robby was amazed.
"Wow! Where'd you learn how to do that?" he asked in surprise.
A few of the other skateboarders around the skate park were all surprised by this, muttering and pointing.
Lucas kept balancing his whole body on a single hand upside down, blinking as he continued the first step of the two legged kick with a very advanced one handed handstand. His hair wasn't that long at all but some of it hung upside down from being encased inside his helmet too.
Robby smiled and chuckled. "Nice." he nodded.
…
Robby and I shared sodas after the quick skateboarding lesson we had for an hour or so.
"So. Fun?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Sam rejecting me. That was kinda painful man."
I'd like to tell him she'd actually come around. I was wondering why a younger version of Sam wouldn't like Robby more because in Season Two of the show they end up dating.
I saw why it happened though.
Sam and Robby had months to get to know each other much better than just being friends at school for a bit. They bonded and shared much more in the first and second seasons of the show.
"I told you. Girls can be weird." I said.
"You doing stuff that cool. No wonder they'd be into you though. A handstand on one hand. So quickly! How'd you learn how to do that?"
I was actually more interested in them in return about the girls who basically barely had names according to the show. The background characters from the fourth and second seasons who were still around in Cobra Kai, Charlotte and Mia respectively. Had no idea they went to West Valley High during what would've been Eli's freshman year of high school.
I sipped my soda. "Miyagi-Do Karate."
"You're serious?" Robby laughed loudly. "Never would've guessed that. My dad says that unless you're being aggressive in a fight and striking, you're not fighting. At least, you're not winning."
If only you knew that you possibly would've learned it instead of me right here in this skatepark in the same way.
"You'd be surprised. While there is a strong emphasis on counters and defense. Miyagi-Do does still employ basic karate strikes. The reverse punch, the roundhouse and hook kick. The chop, even a bit of the jab."
Robby finished his soda and tossed it away in a nearby garbage can. "But you can't strike first. You have to be on defense only right?"
I took another sip of my soda. "How do you know so much about Miyagi-Do?"
"How do you think? My dad competed against Miyagi-Do in karate tournaments back in the eighties. Specifically. Your Sensei, Daniel LaRusso."
"Yeah well. In a real fight. You can't follow exactly what your Sensei says. Things get messy and you have to improvise, adapt."
Robby smiled a bit. "Yeah. Yeah, that, that's how it is. That's exactly how it is."
I don't know why I identified more with Robby more than anyone I'd really met so far. I respect both of my teachers, Daniel LaRusso and John Kreese a great deal, at least, a great deal more than I did when I started to train with them.
But what Robby said during the fourth season of the show during the tournament. That it didn't matter what you called your fighting style as long as it worked, that really clicked with me.
And I was glad to see he hadn't changed very much. Even though he was about three years younger than he was there, I enjoyed talking to him.
"Well. I might not have much to do at my place. But I have this old Atari we can use at home."
I laughed. "Your dad still has a TV to go with one of those?"
Robby shrugged. "Yeah. So you wanna hang out a bit more?"
"Why not?"
I followed him as we went to his house riding on our skateboards.
…
I realized the Atari Robby was using was the same Johnny had tried to sell to the Pawn Shop close to where he opened the Cobra Kai dojo in a strip mall.
It had games like Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, we took turns playing, and it was pretty fun.
Robby sighed. "Hey. Sorry I couldn't find a newer game system for us to use."
"It's fine. Your Atari might be a little dusty, but it's still a lotta fun."
I didn't blame him or Johnny. They were rather poor, but I cycled through all the games Johnny had in his old cardboard box as Robby played some Asteroids.
"The original Dig Dug!" I laughed. "Pole Position. Frogger, Pitfall. Your dad has almost every major classic Atari game ever released. It's awesome."
Robby shrugged. "They're just old ass games dude. They're cool but you know. Old."
I didn't know why Robby was ashamed at all of being poor. At least much poorer than I was. It wasn't like in Harry Potter because there the reminder was pretty constant.
"Your dad won't mind if I look at all this stuff right?"
Robby shrugged. "Nah. He mentioned something about trying to pawn it all off at some point."
I kept cycling through the cardboard box full of eighties stuff Johnny had under the old TV in Robby's living room. I guess just like my mom, he never threw it out.
The karate tournament trophies. And then I found what I was looking for.
The 1984-1985 West Valley High School Yearbook.
I found pictures of everyone I knew to be in the original Karate Kid film. Daniel's neighbor, Freddie Fernandez, my own mother Ali Mills and all her friends, Barbara and such. Daniel LaRusso.
Then Johnny's gang. Bobby, Jimmy, Tommy, Dutch. And then a seventeen to eighteen year old Johnny Lawrence smiling at the camera for his senior photo.
"What you got there?" Robby asked, still playing Asteroids.
"A yearbook. Signed by my mom." I said. "In the year 1985. Wow."
"What she say?"
"She said. I wish you nothing but good health. God speed. Sincerely, Ali Mills."
Robby laughed. "That's it? Wow. That sounds like the most polite way to tell someone you won't miss them."
"Yeah." I said quietly. "Yeah, it does."
Estranged from his son for almost his entire life. Living as an alcoholic in a poor neighborhood for decades. Johnny was hit the worst from the events of the Karate Kid films.
But so was John Kreese too I realized.
The door to the house opened. A slightly better shaven and better dressed Johnny Lawrence walked in. "Hey kid. How was school?" I heard his keys make a small noise when it hit a ceramic bowl.
"Just fine. Luke was just about to help me on a Bio assignment."
"Yeah, we made flashcards."
Johnny looked at me. "Is that my old yearbook?"
"Uh. Yeah. I found what my mom said. I thought she'd have been nicer to you."
Despite the year you spent fighting.
Johnny was quiet, the only sound in the room for a moment was Robby blasting asteroids playing the Atari.
"I think we need to talk. Considering you're friends of the family now."
"Oh, okay."
…
Cars zoomed past quietly while I sat with Johnny on the parking lot sidewalk of the apartment building where I knew Miguel would move into to become neighbors with Johnny probably in the next summer.
"You train with LaRusso. And he's passing down all that stuff he learned right?"
"It's not just stuff. It's lessons. For karate, and for life. The same things you teach Robby I'm sure."
Johnny nodded slowly. "Right. I'm glad you and Robby are getting along. But while LaRusso could easily have changed in over the past thirty years or whatever. I think it's better if I tell you what exactly makes him untrustworthy."
I didn't need this conversation. "I think I have a good idea."
"No. Not until you find out how exactly your mom affected my life. And how LaRusso did too."
"It's just stuff in high school right?"
Johnny, surprisingly, did not blow it out of proportion and remained reasonable.
"Most of it yeah. But it had consequences."
I listened. "Okay. I'm all ears."
"Summer before my sophomore year. My buddies and I went to go see a movie. All was calm that night. Until. My friend Dutch, you might've seen him in that yearbook you were looking at. Pisses off some nearby girls sitting ahead of us. And one of them gets really really mad. That was the first time I saw her."
I had a feeling this story would have similar but very different revelations of who Johnny was and how he felt despite the similar sounding story he was telling.
"Who?"
"Your mom kid."
…
Cobra Kai OST: Johnny's Story
…
"She was incredibly beautiful you know. But she had something else about her. Something you just can't explain. This fire, this energy. I never saw anything like it anywhere else for the rest of my entire life."
Lucas nodded and Johnny kept explaining.
"Every belt test I passed, every tournament I won. She was there for me, rooting for me, supporting me. This might've just been some dumb highschool romance I'm sure if you asked anyone. But you have to realize that I was beyond in love with her."
Images of Johnny striking in lines at the original Cobra Kai Lankershim dojo passed in his head as Kreese yelled and trained them.
"Aits!"
"Kiya!"
"Aits!"
"Kiya!"
"She was smart. Funny. Helpful. Supportive. Kind. She was everything." said Johnny. "My buddies at the dojo were all friends with her friends. I was passing my classes, your mom helped. She tutored me, in the same way it sounds like Robby needs your help with classes. These were the best years of my life, back when everything made sense."
Lucas smiled. "When life was good." he muttered.
Johnny nodded. "Things were good yeah, spectacular actually. And the day of Ali's birthday I decide to get drunk with the guys. We had been arguing for some time, petty and dumb stuff, you'll know what it's like when you start dating. Ali ends it completely that night, doesn't want to hear a thing about it."
Lucas kept listening quietly.
"The whole summer before my senior year she completely shuts me out. I pass my second degree black belt test, the guys and I hadn't done that well in class for a long time. She's not there. I broke three bricks with one hand that day. Didn't shatter any bones or anything, my Sensei approved. And for the first time since we met, she wasn't there in the waiting area."
Lucas spoke. "So what happened next?"
"I needed to reconnect with her. To at least be on speaking terms because after two years ending it over something so dumb so quickly. It just wasn't right, it wasn't fair to either of us. I deserved a chance, we both did."
"Did you get it?"
"I never did. Because Daniel LaRusso ruined any shot I had."
Lucas remembered a particular line he saw in the Karate Kid film in another life. One Lucille told her son the moment they arrived at their new apartments.
"This is it. This is the end of the line."
"I try to talk things out with Ali at this little beach party she had with her friends. But LaRusso's there, and he sticks his nose in for no reason. Things were already getting heated, but neither of them had a level head at all."
"Alright!" the boys at the beach cheered when Johnny shoved Daniel down with the radio.
"He starts running at me."
Johnny easily tripped Daniel into the sand twice in a row.
"And to get him to cool off I show him what I'm made of. Just so he can stop trying to escalate things."
Johnny round kicked Daniel in the stomach and dropped him onto the sand.
"But LaRusso kept going. He sucker punches me, and expects me to just walk off and let him get away with it. So I knock him down to let him know it's over, he shouldn't have intervened."
"Aiya!" Johnny hit Daniel with a backfist to the nose into the sand again.
"And what about the time you shoved him off a cliff when he was on his bicycle? That was messed up." said Lucas.
The Cobra Kais had thrown Daniel right down a hill and he went spiraling down it hard, getting pretty hurt in the process.
Johnny sighed. "Okay that was out of line and pretty messed up yeah. But the rest? LaRusso probably makes it sound to you like I was beating him up every other day. Other than that one time on that hill. Not a cliff. Every time we fought. He started all of it, I ended it. That's just how it happened."
Daniel turned a water hose on Johnny's head in the bathroom at the Halloween dance.
"He expects me to ignore. Sucker punches, and dousing me with a water hose. All of it. And the worst part is your mom was on his side completely the entire time. Making me sound like a bully when other than one time, LaRusso was the one starting all of it."
"And when you forced a kiss on my mom? Or had Mr. LaRusso sit on a blueberry pie?"
"All of that happened after he had challenged my dojo, before that he was just some punk kid messing with me a few months at a time. You have to understand. My Sensei and I were fed up with LaRusso and his teacher thinking he could do whatever he wanted. So we decided to settle things once and for all."
"This is it folks! The final match! Daniel LaRusso Miyagee Do Karate, against John Lawrence! Of the Cobra Kai!"
"I had turned the match around. I tied up the score. It was a tournament for the ages, those were the days man. With the greatest final match you could imagine. And then."
Johnny Lawrence walked directly into the crane kick.
…
I understood. "You lost."
"What you have to understand here. And I cannot emphasize this more." Johnny repeated. "Anyone, and I mean anyone in my shoes would've done the same. I never intended to bully Daniel as much as he makes it sound like the opposite. And I get it you know, I really do."
"I was this two time karate champ from the hills." I kept listening. "He was the dirt poor new kid in town from Jersey. Skinny as a stick and had no clue how to fight. He happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when it all started. But from the beginning I just wanted him to butt out. That's all. And you know why now right?"
"To get back with my mom. To make up with her at least."
Johnny nodded. "Every. Chance. I got. To make Ali see reason? She took LaRusso's side without hesitation. As LaRusso kept escalating things, I was trying to end them. He would, torment me at school, knowing that I couldn't fight back until the tournament. He challenged my dojo! What was I supposed to do?"
"No I get it. You were trying to be fair. But so was Mr. LaRusso."
"That's why I get your Sensei's perspective too kid," Johnny said as a car zoomed past quietly in the nearby street. "LaRusso's a good teacher to you I'm sure. But he can really be a scheming little scum bag when he wants to. Sometimes, most of the time, for just no reason except because he can."
This was very true.
Johnny had no idea that during his future attempts to teach Miguel Cobra Kai and make a living. Daniel tried his very best to ensure Johnny would fail. He went out of his way just to ruin any chances Johnny had in the first season of the show.
If I had spoken to him supporting Johnny's side at all in this, Daniel probably never would've given me the time of day from how petty he came across in the first season of the show.
Even Amanda realized how ridiculous he was being.
"This has really opened my eyes. I knew you had some reason to do all this on some level. But I didn't realize just how much my mom really meant to you." I said. "I have a question though."
Johnny muttered. "Go ahead."
"The night of Halloween. Mr. LaRusso said you tried to kill him. And then you tried to snap his leg during the tournament."
"Yeah." Johnny sighed. "In a way. He's right. I'm not justifying what I did there. But I started training in that type of stuff when I was just a bit younger than you are. I wasn't taught anything else for the past four years of my life at the time. I can't see myself apologizing to LaRusso though anytime soon, because as messed up as I'm sure Halloween and the tournament were for him. All of this is extremely complicated."
"So what do you want me to do. What was the point of this?"
"LaRusso has a family right? Robby mentioned he has a daughter."
A daughter who rejected his attempt to ask her out recently actually.
"Yeah." I said. "His entire family and I are decent friends, except for Amanda his wife, she's still kind to me."
"I have no idea the kind of person LaRusso is now after all this time. But for your own sake, watch your back with him. He's a conniver. He's a troublemaker."
I laughed. "And you weren't? Both LaRusso and my grandparents say you were the town troublemaker since you were old enough to ride a dirtbike."
The Ace Degenerate.
"Hey. At least I was honest about all the shit I got up to. LaRusso will spin it into someone else's fault. Always."
He really was right.
"Do you want me to learn your karate then or something?"
"I can't." Johnny shook his head. "It's not right for me to get involved between you two. I know LaRusso is your Sensei. His way, is yours in a way. That's not my business. All I want for you is to know the true history here. You deserve that much."
Despite watching all four seasons of the Cobra Kai show and the three films, he was right. I knew all this affected him, but especially Ali of all things, I had no idea affected him this much.
"Thank you Mr. Lawrence."
"Call me Johnny, kid."
Chapter Thirteen
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Chapter Thirteen: Strike First
...
As my first semester of highschool at West Valley High wound on I started to notice a few things about several people.
The first about John Kreese, specifically the karate he taught me.
I realized that in my previous life, where all these people were actors and the martial arts they taught actual styles, each had a real reference.
More specifically, the Cobra Kai Karate taught at Lankershim's Cobra Kai dojo in the original films was a real style.
It incorporated both Tang Soo Do and who Master Kim Sun-Yung would be, the man in the picture entering the Cobra Kai dojo, the real life Jun Chong.
Shortly before I woke up one morning as Lucas Schwarber in my previous life, I had watched parts of a documentary about Jun Chong who had existed as Master Kim Sun Yung in this world. His Taekwondo was incredibly similar to the style of karate Cobra Kai fought with in the eighties and the kind I practiced every day of the week except for weekends.
In the documentary. According to Master Chong himself, who taught ITF Taekwondo combined with several aspects of Judo and boxing just like Kreese's karate, his school outperformed all others in tournaments by a very wide margin just like the Cobra Kai used to in the original films.
Because he said all Taekwondo schools competed with only kicks, whereas his school used a very strong amount of punching and hand techniques from styles like Kenpo Karate and Tang Soo Do even as well. And that there was a heavy emphasis on sparring, just like in the Cobra Kai dojo too.
With all this in mind, I tried to find ways to combine my training in Miyagi-Do karate with all I started to learn from Kreese. Typically whenever I trained at home in my garage.
I used a small wooden bench to practice throwing kicks from a balanced position as if I was back on the fallen tree Daniel made Robby practice all sorts of kicks for hours until he could do them all without falling.
I made a strong stance to have a good center of balance and technique, and started practicing my kicks.
I practiced several of the kicks I had learned from Kreese during this sort of balance training using the Miyagi-Do lesson about balance.
The front kick, meant to land the moment your opponent's guard opened up when throwing a reverse punch with their rear hand, the counter Johnny had landed against an opponent he had during the All Valley tournament in the first Karate Kid film.
The inside to outside or outside to inside crescent kick, both worked, which meant to make your opponent dodge or block and then instantly get hit in the head with the next kick. Which was the first and only point Dutch landed against Daniel during the tournament.
Then there were simple strikes like the round kick to the body and to the head. Then I started with the hook kick, lost my balance and fell off a few times, but kept going.
My weekly routine was actually rather simple and I was pretty busy. Weekdays were the hardest.
From eight to three I went to school, then three to four thirty I finished homework in the library or just relaxed and sometimes spent time playing Magic the Gathering with Demetri, Eli, and occasionally Aisha when she felt up to it.
Then I took the bus to Pacoima to train with Kreese in the abandoned supermarket loading dock we used as a classroom for an hour and a half from five to six thirty. After I was finished I took a bus back to Encino to spend about seven o'clock to eight to finish any remaining assignments I had for school.
From about eight to nine I worked on bonsais, kata, and whatever else Daniel wanted me to do. I trimmed bonsais he had in his home dojo, practiced the basic katas, and then worked on whatever sort of balance or focus drills he wanted me to do, ranging from practicing fundamentals in reverse order from a kata, or doing what he considered light sparring, which was just one step sparring from traditional karate except in a chain of strikes and blocks.
Kata with a partner basically. I'd seen him do it before under Mr. Miyagi in Okinawa during the second film I didn't judge him.
At nine thirty to around ten I tended to ride my bike back home to the Mills Manor and go to bed and then do it all over again the next day.
That was my whole week, Monday to Friday. Then on Saturdays, I usually went on a small fishing trip or hike in the woods with Daniel to both chat and relax together as well as train in Miyagi-Do. And then besides some extra muscle training and catching up on boxing in my garage on Saturdays, Saturdays and Sundays were my only rest days.
I was surprised to find out there was far more than just hook kicks on a tree and a two legged kick to learn, both of which I was doing pretty well at.
Doing kata on a small boat on a lake, mirroring Daniel's movements blindfolded having to do the kata from pure memory.
Blocking strikes from behind a canvas to better predict and block strikes.
Unless Robby had already done so incredibly well, and Eli to an extent too, I never would've guessed Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do would work so well together.
In all forms of karate, there were always two results in training you were tested on during competitions as well as belt tests.
Sparring, or fundamentals and strikes. Or kata, or forms.
Cobra Kai focused purely on sparring, there weren't any forms in Cobra Kai karate at all. And Miyagi-Do was nearly the opposite, it was purely all the applications of combat outside of real combat.
My entire semester had been this routine, and it didn't seem to stop anytime soon, and I was actually liking it.
…
Gramps was pulling into the parking lot of West Valley High School. "Good luck at school Sonny."
"Thanks pops." I said quietly.
It was Friday October 21st. I didn't have much going on today except a dinner or social event at the country club with my grandparents at seven thirty today. Luckily, the LaRussos would be there too, which was a relief because at least I'd actually know someone there, Sam and Daniel.
Eli would be too, I knew his parents were wealthy but not wealthy enough to be part of the social club.
I was opening my locker as Robby walked up to me. "Hey man."
"Hey." I said.
"I heard Eli's taking Demetri to this dinner thing tonight at the country club. He's going as his guest."
"Yeah. I don't think it's your kinda place man. It's a suit and tie kind of event. Boring. Dumb. Food's probably not even that good."
Robby scoffed. "Cause I'm not rich?"
"No. Cause you're not a boring person."
"I don't wanna go to have fun. I wanna go cause you know. Sam's there." Robby said quietly.
I laughed. "Dude. Forget about her."
"Why?"
"Because this school is filled with girls. And it's pointless to get hung up on one of them. Trust me, you're better off anyway."
"And why's that?"
"Her friends suck. Yasmine and Moon. Are terrible. Same with Kyler, and Brucks, and Rory. They're all trash."
"Sam's not trash."
I sighed. "Maybe not." I closed my locker and started walking toward my next class. "But anyway, I already asked my grandparents if I could bring you. And they said no."
"What?"
"They're awful sometimes man. Sorry."
Robby's eyes widened for a second and then he muttered. "It's cool man."
"Robby look-"
"I said it's cool. I gotta get to class," he said quietly again.
Aisha was nearby, getting books out of her locker a bit slowly.
"Everything okay?"
Aisha shook her head quietly.
Yasmine and Moon were pretty close by, Sam conveniently was nowhere to be seen as they had a few of their other friends nearby.
They were laughing and talking quietly.
"If they're bothering you you can tell a teacher."
Aisha spoke quietly. "I already told Counselor Blatt. She's pretty useless."
"Apparently the school's very concerned with its image and political correctness. Until someone starts bullying someone else."
"It's easier for you. You don't know what it's like."
I did though. Just not in high school, and during my previous life before I was Lucas.
"I might not," I said honestly. "But you can at least tell Sam."
"You already did right? You knew what they were like and she didn't listen. She just never listens."
Sam did this during the first season of the show too.
"Yeah. You going to this country club dinner tonight?"
"I think everyone's parents are making them go." Aisha looked back at Yasmine with a scowl. "Everyone's parents."
"Well then for tonight. You can mess with her back if she's bothering you."
Aisha shook her head. "It's easier for guys. You can just fight each other. Girls aren't allowed to do that."
If only you knew the number of times girls would fight both at and outside of this school.
"Says who?"
"Everyone. I'm already called a cow and Fuglisha by Yasmine. Next thing you know I'll be called an angry bull or something. They always come up with stuff like that."
I passed on a very fun lesson from Miyagi-Do. "There are always alternatives to fighting."
"Like?"
"Like embarrassing her."
"How do I do that?"
I smiled at Aisha. "Ehh. Trust me. You'll see."
…
The rest of the day was completely uneventful.
Sam wasn't very talkative in Bio, I didn't mind. We had a test and a lab practical, I knew I aced both.
During lunch Robby seemed to have moved on from the country club thing, I didn't mind nor bring it up.
And luckily neither did anyone else.
As I finished a chicken sandwich I muttered to Eli. "Kyler isn't still giving you shit right?"
"What's it matter?" asked Eli as Aisha and Demetri talked quietly with Robby about their favorite anime and he mostly kept completely quiet.
"I'm just wondering."
"Only sometimes. Yasmine and her people bother me about my lip too."
"I keep wondering. How the hell can't I see it?"
Eli frowned and sounded very bitter. "Why do you think? Look at you. They have nothing to make fun of you for."
"Well, I'm your friend man. I need to look out for you."
"I can look out for myself."
"Evidently not."
Eli sighed. "Do you want to go beat them all up or something?"
I had been weighing the consequences of doing precisely that for a while. If Miguel could do it with the same time frame of training I had, about five to six months or so, or possibly less, with only Cobra Kai, and I had the same amount of Miyagi-Do too, I could do it for sure.
The truth was I would earn a ton of points with Kreese, but by proxy lose the same amount with Sam and Daniel.
Brucks, Kyler, Rory, and their last jock bully friend whose name I couldn't remember had been doing sports all semester. I think Brucks was on the football team or something, Rory did baseball I'm pretty sure and their last friend did either Lacrosse or baseball too.
These were four guys in admittedly decent shape fighting me all at once if I needed to. More than anything I was itching for a fight. I technically hadn't had one yet since I beat up Trey and Cruz with a very sudden surprise attack at the pier by the beach club.
"Maybe," I said.
"Well fighting won't solve anything."
It could actually solve plenty. My first instinct was to just go fight all of them at once and prove myself to Kreese.
But Eli had a point. Because I didn't know the extent to Kyler's bullying here.
First I didn't see it with my own eyes. All I knew was that Kyler made fun of Eli's lip a few times, which was genuinely uncool, but it wasn't the sexual assault he made on Sam nor the rumor about her he spread, nor tormenting Miguel, Eli, and Demetri for months.
…
It turned out the country club dinner took place in the exact same dining hall where Johnny had forced a kiss on my mom, Ali, and she proceeded to punch him in the face.
I knew several people there but it still turned out to be pretty boring.
Aisha had taken Robby to the country club dinner as a guest, something I had no doubt both of her parents had something to say about since he was a guy. Who despite both being a guy and a girl teenager, admittedly I knew shared no interest in each other though and had gone as friends.
Sam, Daniel, Amanda, and Anthony were all there. Same with people who I knew would still belong to this country club a year prior to the first season of the show, Armand Zarkarian and his son.
Kyler Park also belonged and was here, he brought Brucks as a guest. So did Rory who brought along their fourth friend, think I found out his name was AJ, in their group.
Yasmine and Moon were here, same with Demetri and Eli.
Eli's parents and mine got along splendidly as the dinner got underway. My grandparents were the type to hide how Jewish the family was out of old Stoic Scottish pride I found that out pretty early on.
I myself wasn't too observant in Judaism in my previous life, but I never hid it as if these were the 80s and needed to be as classist as them.
"So." Mr. Moskowitz said. "Lucas. Where did you do your Bar Mitzvot?"
"Uh. Northern Denver Conservative Congregation." I said, remembering something I wasn't there for. "My dad was more observant than my mother was," I added bitterly. "I still never did things like Youth Group and such."
My grandfather took a pretty long sip of water nonchalantly.
"What was your Parshat?"
Wow come on man, think. Did I use my real one I knew about or the one I apparently had as Lucas?
"Emor."
Mr. Moskowitz smiled. "Huh. Glad Eli made a friend like you."
"Our Ali wasn't too insistent. I'm sure it was Gregory who was more involved." said my grandfather quietly as if he was slightly embarrassed.
"Oh he was." I said quietly.
"So your parents met in medical school?" asked Mrs. Moskowitz, who was the same woman I remember calling West Valley High School when Kyler was making fun of him for his lip.
"Yes."
"An old partner of our law firm actually worked with representing the Schwarber's practice over in Denver back in the seventies. It's great to finally meet you."
Never would've guessed.
"Same here." I said.
"Must be a great deal of pressure. Several generations of medicine on both sides of the family. And you're the last male." said Mr. Moskowitz.
"Some of us have to deal with very unique kinds of pressure sometimes."
Eli frowned, glancing at me shyly while eating his dinner quietly. He knew I implied I wanted to tell everyone that Kyler was bullying him and it wasn't right.
I'm sure he told his parents or something but he never gave them any specific names.
"Well. I'm glad you moved to Los Angeles Lucas." Mrs. Moskowitz said. "Welcome."
"And I'm glad to be here Mrs. Moskowitz."
I had the same two options for how to handle both Kyler and Yasmine as it was almost November and they hadn't called it quits on either Eli or Aisha.
Cobra Kai, or striking first. Or Miyagi-Do, defense only.
I wanted to run it by someone first, or, particularly the person who I knew could make this hell if it all came down on me.
I finished my dinner quickly and noticed Sam dancing with her father on what could very well be the same wooden dancing platform Johnny and Ali danced on when Daniel got spaghetti all over him.
"It was a pleasure meeting both of you Mr. and Mrs. Moskowitz." I smiled. "I'm sure you both run the most professional of law firms."
"Aw. Thank you dear, it was a pleasure to meet you too," said Mrs. Moskowitz.
I walked over to the dance floor and muttered to Daniel.
"Uh. Mr. LaRusso, can I cut in for a second?"
He was just as on board as my grandparents when it came to Sam and I, even though we both knew there was absolutely nothing there.
"Uh sure. Yeah yeah, go ahead." her father said.
I took over as Sam's dance partner.
She knew me pretty well at this point, I knew that she knew that I knew I didn't make random gestures of good faith like this for no reason.
"What do you want?" asked Sam quietly.
"I need to call a truce I think."
"No one's at war Luke." Sam looked up at me with a shrug.
"Well, your friends at war with mine. Bullying mine. And it's time for them to stop."
Sam scoffed. "They're not bullying anyone."
"Aisha and Eli beg to differ. I thought they were your friends too."
"And if they refuse whatever you're accusing them of, you're going to fight them?"
I sighed. "No one's fighting anyone. I just wanted to work on a diplomatic approach. I'm sure Kyler and Yasmine just need to be reminded of what they're doing is wrong. Nothing else."
"Yeah well. I'm not sure I trust your judgment."
"Then I don't trust yours either Sam." I respectfully raised my hands away and stopped dancing with her and walked back towards her table.
Aisha had gotten some really nasty comments from the shit Yasmine started about her, and both Eli and Sam suffered a decent bit too under what Kyler did.
If diplomacy wasn't an option, my only remaining options were hoping Eli's parents could do something, which I seriously doubted, even if they walked over to Kyler's parents.
That would probably make things worse for all of us.
I remembered something Kreese taught me.
"No mercy means finishing your opponent. You struck first, you struck hard. That is it. They cannot retaliate or react, because you finished the fight."
How to teach both Yasmine and Kyler a lesson without Daniel realizing I had no problems with beating people up.
I think this plan would work.
"Mr. LaRusso can we talk?"
Sam glanced at me.
"Yeah." Daniel said.
…
Outside the dining hall I spoke to him.
"I really don't want things to escalate to physical violence. That should be a last resort. But I don't see this going any other way."
"Lucas slow down." said Daniel patiently. "What's going on?"
"Yasmine and Kyler, are two of Sam's friends. I know for a fact now they've been bullying two friends of mine, Aisha and Eli respectively."
"And all four of them are here tonight."
"Exactly."
Daniel nodded. "Alright. Why don't we sit them all down in a room somewhere and have them hash it out? This country club has some empty rooms, I'm sure we could be allowed to use one."
"You don't get it. They can easily turn this completely the other way. They're cowards and liars. And the school will never punish them unless Kyler has like beaten them up or something. And even then." I remembered how easily he got away with beating up Miguel on Halloween.
"So what do you propose?"
"I need your permission to confront them personally."
"Of course you can talk to them, Luke. That's fine," said Daniel.
"No. I mean if they're going to fight me. And I need to trust. That you will attest to the fact, that I was not the aggressor. And for you to back me up if their parents or them retaliate. That I specifically was defending myself."
Daniel sighed. "They wouldn't attack you if I was nearby."
"But I want this to end tonight though. They could easily pretend like they were sorry in a dining hall full of their parents and adults. But the moment someone turns their back they could attack me, or make things worse for Eli and Aisha because I stood up for them."
"So you want my permission to fight them?"
"Essentially. They're awful people and they're awful to people, but that's one thing. I genuinely believe Kyler and Yasmine could really hurt Aisha and Eli. Physically more so in Eli's case."
Considering the lengths Kyler went to when it seemed like Sam started to want nothing to do with him.
Daniel took a deep breath. "I really can't condone violence. That's just not right. But if you do believe that Eli and Aisha are in danger." Daniel winced. "Ach. This is really tricky. I want what's best for everyone here."
"So do I. All I wanted to do was talk to you first. Before anything happened."
"Just please be careful."
"These guys are complete douchebags. And they will not care if they're talked to."
Daniel sighed. "As my student. You have my support to protect your friends. Mr. Miyagi only really allowed violence if it was absolutely necessary. For that reason, I want you to promise me that you will not fight unless you're defending yourself."
"I promise."
Defense takes on many forms though.
…
As a waiter came by to hand Yasmine's table their seconds of spaghetti and meatloaf, I pretended I tripped or something to bump the giant serving plate over completely onto Yasmine.
Several people in the dining hall burst into laughter. Particularly Robby and Aisha at the Robinson's table and even the very quiet and shy Eli.
"This was designer Schwarber!" cried Yasmine looking like her entire night was ruined as Moon doted over her.
"It was an accient I swear," I said as honestly as I could as Yasmine's parents seemed convinced by my follow up brown nosing. "Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. Your new lines of clothes. Absolutely stellar stuff, I can see sponsorships of all sorts happening around the world. Your brand is, incredible. I would never do something like this considering the respect I have for your family."
"It's alright Lucas." Yasmine's mother said kindly.
Aisha had already snapped a picture on her phone. Strike back Ms. Robinson, very nice.
Daniel looked pretty disappointed in me for this, probably in the same way I knew Johnny would disapprove of the sprinkler prank being the new version of the water hose on his head he got.
Then I made a casual trip to the bathroom.
…
Setting up a phone to record what I knew would happen was kind of an invasion of privacy, but I made sure to angle the camera away from stalls and urinals.
No one needed to pay other than Kyler and his group for what was about to happen.
I quietly washed my hands as Kyler walked into the bathroom.
"So how good was she?" I heard Rory ask.
"She was a'ight. You know how those East Valley chicks are. They get down pretty easy."
"Total slut wow." laughed Brucks. "Nice Ky."
Brucks gripped hands and bumped shoulders with Kyler. All four of them were dressed as nicely as I was for the evening.
"Wassup Schwarber." said Kyler quietly.
"Not much." I dried my hands.
"Saw what you did to Yas. That's uncool man." Kyler said.
"I agree. But she should know what it's like to be messed with. As do you."
Kyler laughed. "Me? What did I do to you?"
"You did plenty to Eli. Come on man. Making fun of his lip."
Brucks shrugged. "Mm. It is pretty ugly though."
"I mean. Bullying to me is pretty cruel I guess. But it really crosses a line when you make fun of a deformity they can't control."
"So Fuglisha can walk around like an overstuffed pumpkin is what you're saying?" said Rory. "But Lip can't look like he tried to make out with a blender?"
I sighed. "You know what. If you want to be bullies go ahead. What do I care? But I swear at one point in life. You all will get what's coming to you."
"What about what's coming to you?" Kyler said.
They started to form up a little behind him.
"Huh?" asked Kyler. "Come on man. You think you're hard or something? For threatening us?"
"It's not a threat. It's just the truth."
I had recorded one fight on my phone. I could record another.
"You four think you're so tough? Fine then. Prove it."
Kyler was confused. "Huh?"
"Show me how tough you are." I shrugged. "All of you. One of you. Go ahead."
I was so confident I could beat them I wouldn't even try my best. I could beat them with purely unmodified Miyagi-Do so long as I didn't make Miguel's mistake from his early few fights and stopped striking until everyone was down.
Kyler laughed, turning around. "This loser." he scoffed, turning around to laugh and look at Rory before throwing a hook punch.
…
Cobra Kai OST: Strike First
…
As Kyler had finished throwing his hook punch Lucas had already used a palm heel strike to both shove and hit him back into Rory.
Brucks and AJ looked at each other for a moment starting to surround Lucas from both sides.
"Well?" asked Lucas calmly as they weren't making a move yet.
Brucks and AJ threw wild haymakers at the same time and Lucas blocked both by adapting a single move from a kata.
He turned around to give his back to AJ momentarily to use a high block both behind and in front of him. Unless Lucas knew he would instantly keep striking, he'd never give his back during a fight, that was a very important rule both Daniel and Kreese had taught him. His fist behind him was pointed upwards and the one in front downard to block both punches at the same time.
Without a moment's hesitation, Lucas stepped up into a jumping snap front kick directly to Brucks' nose. As Brucks fell, Lucas spun around with a back fist to the head to interrupt the random grab AJ started to use.
AJ fell grasping his temple as Kyler managed to grab Lucas at close range.
As Kyler ran towards to wall to smash him into it, Lucas had the reflexes to jump and leap off a bathroom sink and back flip behind Kyler.
Amazed, Kyler had no time to react before Lucas round kicked him directly above the hip and then punched him to the floor.
When Rory started to punch Lucas he used a simple Miyagi-Do counter. He used 'wax off' to move Rory's fist aside and create the opening for a counter punch. The reverse punch directly to the body landed strongly, the follow up back kick to the chest landed strongly as well and was enough to drop him and make him hit his head against the bathroom stall behind him.
Brucks and Kyler got up slowly but managed to attack Lucas at the same time.
As Lucas' phone recorded the fight from a very well positioned spot in the bathroom, he went to work beating both of them with ease.
He used very flowing, creative, and adaptive Miyagi-Do Karate. Blocks in multiple directions, single counter attacks, and then that was it.
A round kick to the head again and a punch to the chest and Bruck and Kyler were out on the ground.
The fight was over and Lucas didn't have so much as a scratch on him.
He rubbed his nose slightly fixed his shirt sleeve nonchalantly. "Well, I guess that's that."
…
...
...
A/N: Small correction on this chapter. The character of AJ was incorrectly named as "John" even though Kyler's fourth friend canonically is named "AJ." Just a small fix I had to make.
...
As my first semester of highschool at West Valley High wound on I started to notice a few things about several people.
The first about John Kreese, specifically the karate he taught me.
I realized that in my previous life, where all these people were actors and the martial arts they taught actual styles, each had a real reference.
More specifically, the Cobra Kai Karate taught at Lankershim's Cobra Kai dojo in the original films was a real style.
It incorporated both Tang Soo Do and who Master Kim Sun-Yung would be, the man in the picture entering the Cobra Kai dojo, the real life Jun Chong.
Shortly before I woke up one morning as Lucas Schwarber in my previous life, I had watched parts of a documentary about Jun Chong who had existed as Master Kim Sun Yung in this world. His Taekwondo was incredibly similar to the style of karate Cobra Kai fought with in the eighties and the kind I practiced every day of the week except for weekends.
In the documentary. According to Master Chong himself, who taught ITF Taekwondo combined with several aspects of Judo and boxing just like Kreese's karate, his school outperformed all others in tournaments by a very wide margin just like the Cobra Kai used to in the original films.
Because he said all Taekwondo schools competed with only kicks, whereas his school used a very strong amount of punching and hand techniques from styles like Kenpo Karate and Tang Soo Do even as well. And that there was a heavy emphasis on sparring, just like in the Cobra Kai dojo too.
With all this in mind, I tried to find ways to combine my training in Miyagi-Do karate with all I started to learn from Kreese. Typically whenever I trained at home in my garage.
I used a small wooden bench to practice throwing kicks from a balanced position as if I was back on the fallen tree Daniel made Robby practice all sorts of kicks for hours until he could do them all without falling.
I made a strong stance to have a good center of balance and technique, and started practicing my kicks.
I practiced several of the kicks I had learned from Kreese during this sort of balance training using the Miyagi-Do lesson about balance.
The front kick, meant to land the moment your opponent's guard opened up when throwing a reverse punch with their rear hand, the counter Johnny had landed against an opponent he had during the All Valley tournament in the first Karate Kid film.
The inside to outside or outside to inside crescent kick, both worked, which meant to make your opponent dodge or block and then instantly get hit in the head with the next kick. Which was the first and only point Dutch landed against Daniel during the tournament.
Then there were simple strikes like the round kick to the body and to the head. Then I started with the hook kick, lost my balance and fell off a few times, but kept going.
My weekly routine was actually rather simple and I was pretty busy. Weekdays were the hardest.
From eight to three I went to school, then three to four thirty I finished homework in the library or just relaxed and sometimes spent time playing Magic the Gathering with Demetri, Eli, and occasionally Aisha when she felt up to it.
Then I took the bus to Pacoima to train with Kreese in the abandoned supermarket loading dock we used as a classroom for an hour and a half from five to six thirty. After I was finished I took a bus back to Encino to spend about seven o'clock to eight to finish any remaining assignments I had for school.
From about eight to nine I worked on bonsais, kata, and whatever else Daniel wanted me to do. I trimmed bonsais he had in his home dojo, practiced the basic katas, and then worked on whatever sort of balance or focus drills he wanted me to do, ranging from practicing fundamentals in reverse order from a kata, or doing what he considered light sparring, which was just one step sparring from traditional karate except in a chain of strikes and blocks.
Kata with a partner basically. I'd seen him do it before under Mr. Miyagi in Okinawa during the second film I didn't judge him.
At nine thirty to around ten I tended to ride my bike back home to the Mills Manor and go to bed and then do it all over again the next day.
That was my whole week, Monday to Friday. Then on Saturdays, I usually went on a small fishing trip or hike in the woods with Daniel to both chat and relax together as well as train in Miyagi-Do. And then besides some extra muscle training and catching up on boxing in my garage on Saturdays, Saturdays and Sundays were my only rest days.
I was surprised to find out there was far more than just hook kicks on a tree and a two legged kick to learn, both of which I was doing pretty well at.
Doing kata on a small boat on a lake, mirroring Daniel's movements blindfolded having to do the kata from pure memory.
Blocking strikes from behind a canvas to better predict and block strikes.
Unless Robby had already done so incredibly well, and Eli to an extent too, I never would've guessed Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do would work so well together.
In all forms of karate, there were always two results in training you were tested on during competitions as well as belt tests.
Sparring, or fundamentals and strikes. Or kata, or forms.
Cobra Kai focused purely on sparring, there weren't any forms in Cobra Kai karate at all. And Miyagi-Do was nearly the opposite, it was purely all the applications of combat outside of real combat.
My entire semester had been this routine, and it didn't seem to stop anytime soon, and I was actually liking it.
…
Gramps was pulling into the parking lot of West Valley High School. "Good luck at school Sonny."
"Thanks pops." I said quietly.
It was Friday October 21st. I didn't have much going on today except a dinner or social event at the country club with my grandparents at seven thirty today. Luckily, the LaRussos would be there too, which was a relief because at least I'd actually know someone there, Sam and Daniel.
Eli would be too, I knew his parents were wealthy but not wealthy enough to be part of the social club.
I was opening my locker as Robby walked up to me. "Hey man."
"Hey." I said.
"I heard Eli's taking Demetri to this dinner thing tonight at the country club. He's going as his guest."
"Yeah. I don't think it's your kinda place man. It's a suit and tie kind of event. Boring. Dumb. Food's probably not even that good."
Robby scoffed. "Cause I'm not rich?"
"No. Cause you're not a boring person."
"I don't wanna go to have fun. I wanna go cause you know. Sam's there." Robby said quietly.
I laughed. "Dude. Forget about her."
"Why?"
"Because this school is filled with girls. And it's pointless to get hung up on one of them. Trust me, you're better off anyway."
"And why's that?"
"Her friends suck. Yasmine and Moon. Are terrible. Same with Kyler, and Brucks, and Rory. They're all trash."
"Sam's not trash."
I sighed. "Maybe not." I closed my locker and started walking toward my next class. "But anyway, I already asked my grandparents if I could bring you. And they said no."
"What?"
"They're awful sometimes man. Sorry."
Robby's eyes widened for a second and then he muttered. "It's cool man."
"Robby look-"
"I said it's cool. I gotta get to class," he said quietly again.
Aisha was nearby, getting books out of her locker a bit slowly.
"Everything okay?"
Aisha shook her head quietly.
Yasmine and Moon were pretty close by, Sam conveniently was nowhere to be seen as they had a few of their other friends nearby.
They were laughing and talking quietly.
"If they're bothering you you can tell a teacher."
Aisha spoke quietly. "I already told Counselor Blatt. She's pretty useless."
"Apparently the school's very concerned with its image and political correctness. Until someone starts bullying someone else."
"It's easier for you. You don't know what it's like."
I did though. Just not in high school, and during my previous life before I was Lucas.
"I might not," I said honestly. "But you can at least tell Sam."
"You already did right? You knew what they were like and she didn't listen. She just never listens."
Sam did this during the first season of the show too.
"Yeah. You going to this country club dinner tonight?"
"I think everyone's parents are making them go." Aisha looked back at Yasmine with a scowl. "Everyone's parents."
"Well then for tonight. You can mess with her back if she's bothering you."
Aisha shook her head. "It's easier for guys. You can just fight each other. Girls aren't allowed to do that."
If only you knew the number of times girls would fight both at and outside of this school.
"Says who?"
"Everyone. I'm already called a cow and Fuglisha by Yasmine. Next thing you know I'll be called an angry bull or something. They always come up with stuff like that."
I passed on a very fun lesson from Miyagi-Do. "There are always alternatives to fighting."
"Like?"
"Like embarrassing her."
"How do I do that?"
I smiled at Aisha. "Ehh. Trust me. You'll see."
…
The rest of the day was completely uneventful.
Sam wasn't very talkative in Bio, I didn't mind. We had a test and a lab practical, I knew I aced both.
During lunch Robby seemed to have moved on from the country club thing, I didn't mind nor bring it up.
And luckily neither did anyone else.
As I finished a chicken sandwich I muttered to Eli. "Kyler isn't still giving you shit right?"
"What's it matter?" asked Eli as Aisha and Demetri talked quietly with Robby about their favorite anime and he mostly kept completely quiet.
"I'm just wondering."
"Only sometimes. Yasmine and her people bother me about my lip too."
"I keep wondering. How the hell can't I see it?"
Eli frowned and sounded very bitter. "Why do you think? Look at you. They have nothing to make fun of you for."
"Well, I'm your friend man. I need to look out for you."
"I can look out for myself."
"Evidently not."
Eli sighed. "Do you want to go beat them all up or something?"
I had been weighing the consequences of doing precisely that for a while. If Miguel could do it with the same time frame of training I had, about five to six months or so, or possibly less, with only Cobra Kai, and I had the same amount of Miyagi-Do too, I could do it for sure.
The truth was I would earn a ton of points with Kreese, but by proxy lose the same amount with Sam and Daniel.
Brucks, Kyler, Rory, and their last jock bully friend whose name I couldn't remember had been doing sports all semester. I think Brucks was on the football team or something, Rory did baseball I'm pretty sure and their last friend did either Lacrosse or baseball too.
These were four guys in admittedly decent shape fighting me all at once if I needed to. More than anything I was itching for a fight. I technically hadn't had one yet since I beat up Trey and Cruz with a very sudden surprise attack at the pier by the beach club.
"Maybe," I said.
"Well fighting won't solve anything."
It could actually solve plenty. My first instinct was to just go fight all of them at once and prove myself to Kreese.
But Eli had a point. Because I didn't know the extent to Kyler's bullying here.
First I didn't see it with my own eyes. All I knew was that Kyler made fun of Eli's lip a few times, which was genuinely uncool, but it wasn't the sexual assault he made on Sam nor the rumor about her he spread, nor tormenting Miguel, Eli, and Demetri for months.
…
It turned out the country club dinner took place in the exact same dining hall where Johnny had forced a kiss on my mom, Ali, and she proceeded to punch him in the face.
I knew several people there but it still turned out to be pretty boring.
Aisha had taken Robby to the country club dinner as a guest, something I had no doubt both of her parents had something to say about since he was a guy. Who despite both being a guy and a girl teenager, admittedly I knew shared no interest in each other though and had gone as friends.
Sam, Daniel, Amanda, and Anthony were all there. Same with people who I knew would still belong to this country club a year prior to the first season of the show, Armand Zarkarian and his son.
Kyler Park also belonged and was here, he brought Brucks as a guest. So did Rory who brought along their fourth friend, think I found out his name was AJ, in their group.
Yasmine and Moon were here, same with Demetri and Eli.
Eli's parents and mine got along splendidly as the dinner got underway. My grandparents were the type to hide how Jewish the family was out of old Stoic Scottish pride I found that out pretty early on.
I myself wasn't too observant in Judaism in my previous life, but I never hid it as if these were the 80s and needed to be as classist as them.
"So." Mr. Moskowitz said. "Lucas. Where did you do your Bar Mitzvot?"
"Uh. Northern Denver Conservative Congregation." I said, remembering something I wasn't there for. "My dad was more observant than my mother was," I added bitterly. "I still never did things like Youth Group and such."
My grandfather took a pretty long sip of water nonchalantly.
"What was your Parshat?"
Wow come on man, think. Did I use my real one I knew about or the one I apparently had as Lucas?
"Emor."
Mr. Moskowitz smiled. "Huh. Glad Eli made a friend like you."
"Our Ali wasn't too insistent. I'm sure it was Gregory who was more involved." said my grandfather quietly as if he was slightly embarrassed.
"Oh he was." I said quietly.
"So your parents met in medical school?" asked Mrs. Moskowitz, who was the same woman I remember calling West Valley High School when Kyler was making fun of him for his lip.
"Yes."
"An old partner of our law firm actually worked with representing the Schwarber's practice over in Denver back in the seventies. It's great to finally meet you."
Never would've guessed.
"Same here." I said.
"Must be a great deal of pressure. Several generations of medicine on both sides of the family. And you're the last male." said Mr. Moskowitz.
"Some of us have to deal with very unique kinds of pressure sometimes."
Eli frowned, glancing at me shyly while eating his dinner quietly. He knew I implied I wanted to tell everyone that Kyler was bullying him and it wasn't right.
I'm sure he told his parents or something but he never gave them any specific names.
"Well. I'm glad you moved to Los Angeles Lucas." Mrs. Moskowitz said. "Welcome."
"And I'm glad to be here Mrs. Moskowitz."
I had the same two options for how to handle both Kyler and Yasmine as it was almost November and they hadn't called it quits on either Eli or Aisha.
Cobra Kai, or striking first. Or Miyagi-Do, defense only.
I wanted to run it by someone first, or, particularly the person who I knew could make this hell if it all came down on me.
I finished my dinner quickly and noticed Sam dancing with her father on what could very well be the same wooden dancing platform Johnny and Ali danced on when Daniel got spaghetti all over him.
"It was a pleasure meeting both of you Mr. and Mrs. Moskowitz." I smiled. "I'm sure you both run the most professional of law firms."
"Aw. Thank you dear, it was a pleasure to meet you too," said Mrs. Moskowitz.
I walked over to the dance floor and muttered to Daniel.
"Uh. Mr. LaRusso, can I cut in for a second?"
He was just as on board as my grandparents when it came to Sam and I, even though we both knew there was absolutely nothing there.
"Uh sure. Yeah yeah, go ahead." her father said.
I took over as Sam's dance partner.
She knew me pretty well at this point, I knew that she knew that I knew I didn't make random gestures of good faith like this for no reason.
"What do you want?" asked Sam quietly.
"I need to call a truce I think."
"No one's at war Luke." Sam looked up at me with a shrug.
"Well, your friends at war with mine. Bullying mine. And it's time for them to stop."
Sam scoffed. "They're not bullying anyone."
"Aisha and Eli beg to differ. I thought they were your friends too."
"And if they refuse whatever you're accusing them of, you're going to fight them?"
I sighed. "No one's fighting anyone. I just wanted to work on a diplomatic approach. I'm sure Kyler and Yasmine just need to be reminded of what they're doing is wrong. Nothing else."
"Yeah well. I'm not sure I trust your judgment."
"Then I don't trust yours either Sam." I respectfully raised my hands away and stopped dancing with her and walked back towards her table.
Aisha had gotten some really nasty comments from the shit Yasmine started about her, and both Eli and Sam suffered a decent bit too under what Kyler did.
If diplomacy wasn't an option, my only remaining options were hoping Eli's parents could do something, which I seriously doubted, even if they walked over to Kyler's parents.
That would probably make things worse for all of us.
I remembered something Kreese taught me.
"No mercy means finishing your opponent. You struck first, you struck hard. That is it. They cannot retaliate or react, because you finished the fight."
How to teach both Yasmine and Kyler a lesson without Daniel realizing I had no problems with beating people up.
I think this plan would work.
"Mr. LaRusso can we talk?"
Sam glanced at me.
"Yeah." Daniel said.
…
Outside the dining hall I spoke to him.
"I really don't want things to escalate to physical violence. That should be a last resort. But I don't see this going any other way."
"Lucas slow down." said Daniel patiently. "What's going on?"
"Yasmine and Kyler, are two of Sam's friends. I know for a fact now they've been bullying two friends of mine, Aisha and Eli respectively."
"And all four of them are here tonight."
"Exactly."
Daniel nodded. "Alright. Why don't we sit them all down in a room somewhere and have them hash it out? This country club has some empty rooms, I'm sure we could be allowed to use one."
"You don't get it. They can easily turn this completely the other way. They're cowards and liars. And the school will never punish them unless Kyler has like beaten them up or something. And even then." I remembered how easily he got away with beating up Miguel on Halloween.
"So what do you propose?"
"I need your permission to confront them personally."
"Of course you can talk to them, Luke. That's fine," said Daniel.
"No. I mean if they're going to fight me. And I need to trust. That you will attest to the fact, that I was not the aggressor. And for you to back me up if their parents or them retaliate. That I specifically was defending myself."
Daniel sighed. "They wouldn't attack you if I was nearby."
"But I want this to end tonight though. They could easily pretend like they were sorry in a dining hall full of their parents and adults. But the moment someone turns their back they could attack me, or make things worse for Eli and Aisha because I stood up for them."
"So you want my permission to fight them?"
"Essentially. They're awful people and they're awful to people, but that's one thing. I genuinely believe Kyler and Yasmine could really hurt Aisha and Eli. Physically more so in Eli's case."
Considering the lengths Kyler went to when it seemed like Sam started to want nothing to do with him.
Daniel took a deep breath. "I really can't condone violence. That's just not right. But if you do believe that Eli and Aisha are in danger." Daniel winced. "Ach. This is really tricky. I want what's best for everyone here."
"So do I. All I wanted to do was talk to you first. Before anything happened."
"Just please be careful."
"These guys are complete douchebags. And they will not care if they're talked to."
Daniel sighed. "As my student. You have my support to protect your friends. Mr. Miyagi only really allowed violence if it was absolutely necessary. For that reason, I want you to promise me that you will not fight unless you're defending yourself."
"I promise."
Defense takes on many forms though.
…
As a waiter came by to hand Yasmine's table their seconds of spaghetti and meatloaf, I pretended I tripped or something to bump the giant serving plate over completely onto Yasmine.
Several people in the dining hall burst into laughter. Particularly Robby and Aisha at the Robinson's table and even the very quiet and shy Eli.
"This was designer Schwarber!" cried Yasmine looking like her entire night was ruined as Moon doted over her.
"It was an accient I swear," I said as honestly as I could as Yasmine's parents seemed convinced by my follow up brown nosing. "Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. Your new lines of clothes. Absolutely stellar stuff, I can see sponsorships of all sorts happening around the world. Your brand is, incredible. I would never do something like this considering the respect I have for your family."
"It's alright Lucas." Yasmine's mother said kindly.
Aisha had already snapped a picture on her phone. Strike back Ms. Robinson, very nice.
Daniel looked pretty disappointed in me for this, probably in the same way I knew Johnny would disapprove of the sprinkler prank being the new version of the water hose on his head he got.
Then I made a casual trip to the bathroom.
…
Setting up a phone to record what I knew would happen was kind of an invasion of privacy, but I made sure to angle the camera away from stalls and urinals.
No one needed to pay other than Kyler and his group for what was about to happen.
I quietly washed my hands as Kyler walked into the bathroom.
"So how good was she?" I heard Rory ask.
"She was a'ight. You know how those East Valley chicks are. They get down pretty easy."
"Total slut wow." laughed Brucks. "Nice Ky."
Brucks gripped hands and bumped shoulders with Kyler. All four of them were dressed as nicely as I was for the evening.
"Wassup Schwarber." said Kyler quietly.
"Not much." I dried my hands.
"Saw what you did to Yas. That's uncool man." Kyler said.
"I agree. But she should know what it's like to be messed with. As do you."
Kyler laughed. "Me? What did I do to you?"
"You did plenty to Eli. Come on man. Making fun of his lip."
Brucks shrugged. "Mm. It is pretty ugly though."
"I mean. Bullying to me is pretty cruel I guess. But it really crosses a line when you make fun of a deformity they can't control."
"So Fuglisha can walk around like an overstuffed pumpkin is what you're saying?" said Rory. "But Lip can't look like he tried to make out with a blender?"
I sighed. "You know what. If you want to be bullies go ahead. What do I care? But I swear at one point in life. You all will get what's coming to you."
"What about what's coming to you?" Kyler said.
They started to form up a little behind him.
"Huh?" asked Kyler. "Come on man. You think you're hard or something? For threatening us?"
"It's not a threat. It's just the truth."
I had recorded one fight on my phone. I could record another.
"You four think you're so tough? Fine then. Prove it."
Kyler was confused. "Huh?"
"Show me how tough you are." I shrugged. "All of you. One of you. Go ahead."
I was so confident I could beat them I wouldn't even try my best. I could beat them with purely unmodified Miyagi-Do so long as I didn't make Miguel's mistake from his early few fights and stopped striking until everyone was down.
Kyler laughed, turning around. "This loser." he scoffed, turning around to laugh and look at Rory before throwing a hook punch.
…
Cobra Kai OST: Strike First
…
As Kyler had finished throwing his hook punch Lucas had already used a palm heel strike to both shove and hit him back into Rory.
Brucks and AJ looked at each other for a moment starting to surround Lucas from both sides.
"Well?" asked Lucas calmly as they weren't making a move yet.
Brucks and AJ threw wild haymakers at the same time and Lucas blocked both by adapting a single move from a kata.
He turned around to give his back to AJ momentarily to use a high block both behind and in front of him. Unless Lucas knew he would instantly keep striking, he'd never give his back during a fight, that was a very important rule both Daniel and Kreese had taught him. His fist behind him was pointed upwards and the one in front downard to block both punches at the same time.
Without a moment's hesitation, Lucas stepped up into a jumping snap front kick directly to Brucks' nose. As Brucks fell, Lucas spun around with a back fist to the head to interrupt the random grab AJ started to use.
AJ fell grasping his temple as Kyler managed to grab Lucas at close range.
As Kyler ran towards to wall to smash him into it, Lucas had the reflexes to jump and leap off a bathroom sink and back flip behind Kyler.
Amazed, Kyler had no time to react before Lucas round kicked him directly above the hip and then punched him to the floor.
When Rory started to punch Lucas he used a simple Miyagi-Do counter. He used 'wax off' to move Rory's fist aside and create the opening for a counter punch. The reverse punch directly to the body landed strongly, the follow up back kick to the chest landed strongly as well and was enough to drop him and make him hit his head against the bathroom stall behind him.
Brucks and Kyler got up slowly but managed to attack Lucas at the same time.
As Lucas' phone recorded the fight from a very well positioned spot in the bathroom, he went to work beating both of them with ease.
He used very flowing, creative, and adaptive Miyagi-Do Karate. Blocks in multiple directions, single counter attacks, and then that was it.
A round kick to the head again and a punch to the chest and Bruck and Kyler were out on the ground.
The fight was over and Lucas didn't have so much as a scratch on him.
He rubbed his nose slightly fixed his shirt sleeve nonchalantly. "Well, I guess that's that."
…
...
...
A/N: Small correction on this chapter. The character of AJ was incorrectly named as "John" even though Kyler's fourth friend canonically is named "AJ." Just a small fix I had to make.
Chapter Fourteen
MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Fourteen: Front and Center
…
Shortly after I defeat Kyler and his buddies I left the bathroom and my grandparents were already waiting to take me home.
I had done it. I had beaten them with just Miyagi-Do, now came the hard part.
Which was dealing with the fallout.
…
Daniel had watched the entire video carefully, start to finish, without any edits of mine sitting on the wooden bench he had in his home dojo.
"Wow." Daniel exhaled quickly. "I expected them to be bullies. But not pure." Daniel trailed.
"Douchebags?" I asked.
"Well. I mean." Daniel sighed. "Maybe. Maybe you could say that."
"Do you believe me now?"
Daniel sighed, standing up off the bench. "Of course I do. But I'm worried about what the school's gonna say."
"It happened at a private event at a country club. I have evidence that I didn't attack them." I tapped my phone screen playing the video of the fight.
"Either way. It'll be a mess for you." said Daniel. "I'm sorry I didn't do more until now. I mean. I basically stood by and let you handle this whole thing. While it was my own daughter who was friends with all these people."
Sam wasn't to blame. But not Daniel at all for sure.
"No. You taught me the karate I needed to defend myself and my friends. Thank you." I smiled. "I think you made Mr. Miyagi proud by helping me stop my school's bullies."
Daniel frowned. "Thanks but. If anyone got hurt. One way or another. He wouldn't be happy. He never liked nor sought violence. You know the saying people who don't know how to fight go out looking for fights?"
"Yeah?"
"Mr. Miyagi was the exact opposite. He was a man shorter than your average guy. Not muscular or tough looking at all, very respectful and soft spoken. And he was the greatest karate master and fighter I ever met. While I am glad you were able to settle this, or at least try to. I'm just disappointed violence ended up being the only answer."
"They'd never punish them otherwise. I had to do something."
"I know. And that's why I'm going to completely support you on this moving forward."
…
On Monday I noticed something.
People Robby, Aisha, Demetri, or Eli knew either congratulated me or were glad Kyler was put in his place. People who he had bothered or annoyed, which were plenty, were happy with what they heard I did.
The few people Kyler and Yasmine were friends with, which were only in athletics, weren't too happy with me.
Members and a few coaches and assistant coaches of the football and baseball teams. They didn't say or do anything except give me a few nasty looks in the halls but they didn't threaten me or anything.
Because even the jocks of this school probably knew it was a really bad idea to mess with me, even four against one.
However, the inevitable came, and a staff member of the school took me to Counselor Blatt's office out of my first period.
…
Counselor Blatt and a few administrators asked me to wait outside while they reviewed the video of the fight I showed them.
About fifteen minutes later I was allowed in.
"Sit." Blatt said.
She took a deep breath while I sat in the chair in front of her desk.
"You. Cannot face any serious disciplinary action."
"And why's that?"
"Because this morning I received emails from the parents of several students attesting that the behavior of these students you fought against unequivocally. And undeniably proves that it was part of Mr. Parks group of boys."
I was still confused. "How was this proven?"
"With this video, just now." said Blatt pointing to her computer screen. "Mr. Park and his friends have been recorded admitting to harassing Mr. Moskowitz and others. And during this video you have clearly shown that you never struck any of them while they were down. In fact you made sure to show that you left with knowledge of this being recorded to show you were acting in self defense."
Blatt frowned. "Which is what worries me."
"I'm sorry what?"
"Because you technically never broke any school rules and never threw the first punch nor seriously injured Mr. Park or his friends. And Mr. Robinson, Mrs. Moskowitz, and Mr. Alexpolous, as well as Mr. LaRusso have all sided with you and proven Mr. Park and the others were in fact the aggressors. The school has their hands tied from punishing you seriously."
My eyes widened when I got it.
Blatt or the administration was only useful when someone basically held West Valley High in a PR chokehold and threatened to let go only if they did the right thing.
"So what's gonna happen?"
"The most that's going to happen is you'll receive a detention tomorrow afternoon from three thirty to four thirty."
I refused to take a sigh of relief to show that I respected this woman at all.
"Okay."
"Let me make this clear Mr. Schwarber. You are in a very lucky position. The staff is not happy at all that you took matters into your own hands and left what needed to be done out of the ability of the school to handle it."
So I had to do nothing while useless PSAs were held about cyberbullying and harassment. Right.
"I'll make sure none of this continues to happen. I won't fight anymore nor make sure there are any more sorts of altercations. But please. Just please, do me one favor. And don't call my grandparents."
Because I actually was starting to like Miyagi-Do only slightly less than Cobra Kai and they'd probably threaten to fly me back to Denver if they found out I got into a fight.
"Yeah, that's not really an option here," Blatt said. "However. The school staff does understand the. Unique situation of the support behind you. We'll comply with this favor you've asked for one time. If you understand by proxy that this behavior will not be tolerated under any circumstance moving forward. Self defense, or not."
I nodded. "Yes Counselor Blatt."
"Good. You're free to go back to class."
…
In the administration office before I left, three different parents were waiting for me and one by one thanked me.
"I can't thank you enough son." I realized I was shaking hands with Chargers Linebacker Legend, the one and only 'Flash' Robinson. This guy was utterly huge, he was gigantic, built like a mountain and at least six feet tall, no wonder Yasmine had the courage of being a girl as a shield to torment Aisha for so long. "We owe you for what you did for Aisha." he said in a very strong and low voice.
This guy's hand could probably grip a basketball with ease.
"Of course Mr. Robinson. And thank you for taking my side."
"It was our duty as parents." the man I recognized as Demetri's father said. A balding man with round glasses fixed them and spoke while shaking my hand. "You showed commendable courage. Honor. And tact. Just please don't get into a fight over this next time." he said in a tone that exactly matched his son's.
I laughed, thoroughly reminded of Demetri. "Sure thing Mr. Alexopolous."
"And when Eli finally was able to speak up about it." Mrs. Moskowitz smiled and put a hand over her chest. "Broke my heart to hear how proud he was of you for doing the right thing."
I thought he'd be horrified. "Really?"
"Uh huh." Mrs. Moskowitz shook my hand. "Thank you. Thank you so much for helping."
…
Lunch was a different story.
No one was as cheerful or happy as Miguel. I was no hero, the entire thing was so covered in rumor no one knew what to believe so the cafeteria felt off and strange. A bit muted and a bit less chatty in other areas.
I sat down at my usual table.
Eli and Demetri quickly lifted up their lunch trays and left the moment I sat down.
"Hey come on guys."
They sat down at an empty table far from where I was, leaving me with Robby and Aisha.
"What do they have to be mad about?" I asked.
Aisha looked around the cafeteria as I began to eat. "This doesn't look good Luke."
"Why?"
"No one knows if Kyler really did bully anyone or not. I believe you, and so do my parents. But everyone else? All anyone knows is the school let you get off basically scot free and Kyler got beat up."
I can see how choosing to settle this in a bathroom at a country club instead of a very public cafeteria would change things. There, it was clear Miguel asked Kyler to just leave Sam and people alone and he refused in front of everyone. Here, the only evidence the fight even happened were the bruises Kyler, Brucks, and their friends got, all four of them saying I fought them, and the video I took.
I still deserved more than that.
"But Eli told me they were messing with him!" I said. "It's done. They won't bother anyone anymore. I mean, people in my first period were glad Kyler got taught a lesson. Robby, back me up."
"Look man. I'm glad you kicked a ton of ass using karate. A part of me wishes I was there actually despite just being a hallway away from where it happened," admitted Robby. "But Luke. Demetri and Eli specifically asked you to stay out of it."
"That's not the right thing to do though. The school was going to do nothing. I wouldn't mind taking a suspension or two if it meant putting Kyler in his place."
"If you can't respect Eli and Demetri's decision to just leave this alone. Why should we respect what you did?" asked Aisha, quickly joining Eli and Demetri at their table.
I looked over at Robby. "Well. What are you waiting for? Sure Eli and Sam would be happy with you sitting with them for lunch."
Robby looked down at his lap for a second while he ate the best lunch I knew Johnny could probably pack for him. Lunchables and Jack Links.
He looked at me. "I agree with you that what Kyler and Yasmine were doing was messed up of them. But come on man. You could've run it by Eli and Demetri first. It was their problem."
"I thought you said sometimes you had to take matters into your own hands. That you had to solve problems with karate sometimes."
"Yeah you solve problems that way. When they're right in your face."
"I seriously needed Demetri and Eli's permission to teach Kyler a lesson? Your dad is a karate champ who seriously knows what it means to be badass. Why would you disagree knowing what he taught you?"
"Dude all we know for a fact is that you beat up four dudes in a bathroom. Again, no one really knows what happened. And people do know for a fact that Kyler never, ever talks to you or goes anywhere near you or me."
"Because he's a coward. If Eli and Demetri stood up and admitted that they were bullied. My name would be cleared."
"Publicly admit they couldn't do anything for weeks and needed another dude to save them."
I sighed. "So Aisha's cool then?"
"It's different for girls in a way. I don't know? But you need to apologize to Demetri and Eli. Soon."
"Dude, Aisha, Eli, and Demetri's parents came to the school to shake my hand. They sent emails to the school backing up the fact that I was right. What more evidence do I need that I was completely in the right?"
Robby sighed. "Nobody said you were wrong. And nobody said you were right. All we know. Is that the situation was really tricky. I can't take sides in this. Only the people involved deserve to. Aisha, Eli, Demetri, and in a way even Kyler and his people deserve that."
"Because they're asshole bullies?"
"Because they got their asses kicked." Robby chuckled. "I'm happy you're really damn effective with your Miyagee karate."
"It's Miyagi." I said.
"Sure." said Robby.
I looked at him. "Do you think Kyler Park is a bully? Cut and dry pure and simple. Yes or no, do you think so?"
"I mean maybe?" said Robby. "Eli said he was messed with. But it's not like I saw it happen. Like in the hallways or something or some time after school. And I'm pretty sure you didn't either."
"How could you know that?"
"Luke come on. We both know you were itching for a fight."
"And you're not?"
Robby shrugged. "I haven't had to use my karate yet. The point of it is to only attack and strike first when you know you have an enemy. Going out to fight and cause havoc for no reason, that's not what my dad taught me."
Wow. Guess Johnny was still a really good teacher, to his own son of all people.
"But I knew Kyler was my enemy. He was bullying my friends."
"Sure. I just um. Think it's a very gray thing to talk about. All things are."
I could show Robby the video. Or just finish my lunch quietly.
"Were Trey and Cruz your enemies?"
"The guys I knew had robbed my beach club and from what I saw were probably the worst kind of influence on you? Sure."
"I appreciate you helping me out and getting me back in touch with my dad." said Robby. "Truly I am. But not everyone needs you involved in their problems. I think that's the main issue people have with you Luke."
He had me there. I was a meddler in a way. Miguel was seen as a hero pretty quickly because for a fact people knew Kyler messed with Miguel and others by that point.
An entire year had passed by that point of Kyler being a complete bully. Stopping it in its tracks had been a double edged sword.
…
In the hallway after school between the library and towards where the bicycle racks were, I was sitting down reading something when I saw Kyler walk past with a pretty noticeable bruise on his face.
"Hey Park."
He froze, turning around slowly.
"What do you want?" he asked quietly.
"For you to just leave people alone. Was that too much to ask?"
"You could've just led with that yo." Kyler shrugged. "Instead you got up all in my face. Threatened me."
"It wasn't a threat."
"You said I'd get what was coming to me. How was I supposed to take that?"
I sighed. "Okay I could've worded that differently. But I did say at one point in life, not soon. And. What you were doing wasn't cool."
And I know for a fact you could easily return to being that kind of person the moment you stopped.
"Is it fun for you? Is that it?"
"They're pathetic and weak. What's the issue with pointing it out and laughing about it?"
I scoffed. "So the fact that they're helpless is what makes it fun? Guess that makes sense for a bully. But okay. Do you know what I think? I think the moment you met me that day in the park over summer you realized. That I would have none of you or Yasmine being terrible to people."
"And what do you want now?"
"Nothing. Just stop trying to make it seem like what I did was on me in any way. Instead of just protecting my friends."
"You keep bossing me around with this bruise on my eye. People will think you're the bully now."
I nodded. "You're right. Which is why as long as you're not sorry for what you did. I'm not either."
That shut Kyler right up, and then I left.
I saw Yasmine standing near the bike racks talking to Moon and I walked past her.
"Schwarber."
I stopped, looking at her. "What?" I asked.
Yasmine shifted where she stood, Moon walked away quietly.
"I thought about what happened. And. I'm sorry."
"Yeah well. It's not me you should be apologizing to."
"About that. I don't think Aisha wants to talk to me."
I frowned at her. "Then maybe she deserves that right."
"She does," Yasmine admitted quietly. "But look-"
"It took me humiliating you personally. In front of all of our friends and family. All of them. To realize you messed up. I-"
"I'm not claiming you were wrong Schwarber," said Yasmine. "Just. Can you talk to her for me?"
I spoke honestly. "Absolutely not. That's not my place, Aisha needs to decide that for herself."
"But it is your place to beat up Kyler?"
"I thought you just said I wasn't wrong," I said to her, gripping my backpack.
Yasmine shrugged. "Never said you were right either."
She had me there.
"But you're just doing it out of guilt. Not empathy. You're sorry, 'cause you got caught."
"And how would you know that?"
"I don't have to explain any of this. This is between you and Aisha. I stepped in when she was clearly helpless for months. I'm the only person in this entire school, except for maybe Robby, who you and your crowd are afraid of at all. So I'm done okay? Drop it and I'll leave you all alone, and you leave everyone alone."
Yasmine crossed her arms, smiling. "Wow. You say all this about courage. But you can't let a person explain themselves or make try to make amends without walking away from it."
"You can't guilt trip me. I'm immune to that, I'm Jewish."
"Then you should know that I have just as much right to apologize as much as Aisha does to not forgive."
"Maybe. But again, that's not my place. I wish you better luck with asking Robby, Demetri, or Eli for this."
I quickly left towards the bus stop on my bicycle before Yasmine could say another word.
…
In the supermarket loading dock, I was smashing wooden crates apart with my foot, practicing sweeping the leg and round and head kicks.
Then I used the punching dummy we had created out of punching mitts and a strong stack of old wooden pallets.
"Ais! Ais, ai, aiya!"
I punched the pallet dummy so hard I burst apart the wood behind the punching mitt we had duct taped onto it.
"You're learning the lesson well. You're aiming for the person behind your target. But I've noticed something. Front and center Schwarber."
I walked over to what was 'Fall in' position in the middle of the abandoned supermarket loading bay. I got into Junbi, or ready stance, I made a fist with both hands and punched downward, my jacket making a quiet flicking sound as I stood with my fists in front of my hips.
"What do you study here?"
"The way of the fist sir!" I barked.
"And what is that way!?"
"Strike first! Strike hard! No mercy, sir!"
Kreese looked directly into my eyes. "Then. Let's go over your basics. How do you strike first?"
"There are only two parts to the Cobra bite. The lunge to close the distance or strike when in range, and the bite, the strike itself. There is nothing else Sensei."
"Is there? So. Does the lunge include a lack of focus?"
"No Sensei."
"Does the lunge include anger or emotion?"
I didn't know how to answer that correctly, so I said nothing.
"It's a trick question. The truth is, the saying goes, that the best fighter is never angry. Cobra Kai Karate agrees in a very unique way." said Kreese. "In that, if you are angry, or confused, or scared. The strike becomes your emotion, not the other way around. But there is no hesitation. Your emotions do not cloud your technique, they enhance it."
I looked at Kreese as he paced by me, rubbing his hands and sticking them by his sides as he looked back at me.
"In the case that you are angry. And you truly wish to harm your opponent. Which is fine of course. You are still composed, focused, and above all. Vigilant. Anger makes you want to take that step forward to making damage. Which is good. Cobra Kai gives you a proper path with which to take that step and the next ones."
Kreese raised one of the new striking mitts I bought for him. "Try it again."
He gave me a nod the same way he nodded to Robby when teaching him to start channeling his anger. And the strange part was, I both liked it and found it effective, and it worked.
And then I started to throw the standard Cobra Bite, or reverse punch.
I started to throw techniques that were still strong and were meant to whip a person's head back. To throw all of my power into one single, focused blow and then repeat it.
But I remembered the point of the lesson, to visualize. Then attack. Nothing else.
Everything that frustrated me today. I let it out, but I did so by channeling it through the strike.
By staying composed, by not thinking about it at all. I used the correct form when striking, but I added what he told me.
Kreese was nodding by the end of the lesson after I started adding the roundhouse kick and the backfist.
"To tap into the fullest potential of skill and effectiveness of how you fight. And who you can be. There can't be anything else. No anger. No emotion. Everything in you, can only be released and expressed in one place and one place only."
Kreese tapped my knuckles, much how Daniel did so when teaching me the reverse punch but explained in a much different way. I used Kreese's own words from a scene that didn't even make the final cut of the third season.
To the man I knew said them to another person.
"I have to shut out everything else. And just strike."
That nod he gave me told me everything I needed to know. He treated me with the same degree of respect, or more, as he did when training Robby Keene.
Kreese explained. "Channeling your anger isn't easy. Johnny Lawrence was the best example of this and he was the greatest Cobra Kai I ever trained, he was unstoppable, precise, he struck as fast and hard as lightning. But he loved your mother. He saw beating LaRusso as the only way to win her back. The moment he lost the match, was when he thought love was a better substitute for what I had taught him."
I continued to understand the lesson. "It's not anger. It's channeling everything. Into just one strike. Into attacking. Into no mercy."
"You've understood the lesson well. I'm looking forward to how you can apply it outside the classroom too." Kreese chuckled and checked his watch. "You're doing well for your sixth month. That's class."
My feet came together, my hands snapped to my sides, and I bowed to Kreese. "Thank you Sensei."
…
I sipped from my water bottle while stuffing a few of the striking mitts into my backpack as both it and Kreese sat on the cement loading dock bay.
"You really had all the fuel necessary for the fire that was the lesson," said Kreese. "Where did it come from?"
"Does it matter?" I asked quietly.
Kreese detected how I said this and crossed his arms, laughing quietly by merely exhaling quickly from his nose and smiling for a faint second. "No. It doesn't. But I need to know anyway."
"I thought striking was the only thing that mattered. There was nothing else. No reason for it. You struck." I zipped up my back pack quickly. "That was it."
"That's for black belts to fully understand and apply," said Kreese. "Not students of Cobra Kai who've been studying it for only a few months. Like I said, even Johnny Lawrence who I'd trained for years couldn't apply this lesson properly when it mattered the most. During his match with LaRusso."
"What are you saying?" I asked. "That I'll go out and just get arrested or something for breaking some guy's nose randomly?
"That's not what I'm saying," said Kreese. "I'm just saying that you typically aren't angry at all. In fact, since the day we started training. You just strike, there's nothing behind it. This anger of yours, it's new. It's good don't get me wrong, with the right training it'll be great even. But it's new I need to know what the source is."
"And you picked up on all of that by just watching me warm up today?"
"Of course I did. What's bothering you Schwarber?"
"Dumb stuff at school. It's all. Stupid drama. None of it matters."
"It must matter a whole lot to you."
I looked at him. "Sensei. I did what you taught me and I was punished for it."
"You did?"
I spoke. "I need to explain a lot to you."
I then told him everything that happened these past few weeks between Sam, Eli, Demetri, Aisha, and Kyler and Yasmine's groups of bullies. While making sure to exclude any notion that I trained in Miyagi-Do.
Kreese was nodding by the end. "Yeah. I'd be frustrated too. But you have to know something."
"Which is?" I asked.
"You did nothing wrong. And they want to shame you for it."
I nodded. "Even LaRusso backed me up. Daniel LaRusso I mean, not his daughter."
"Even still. The school, all these people. Your own friends. Tried to make you feel ashamed for who you were. And for doing the right thing. It's a miracle the most you got was just a pat on the wrist."
The first person I'd met besides Daniel to truly accept my actions as just and fair for what was done to Eli and Aisha.
"And people called Cobra Kai the bullies apparently. According to what you told me about it back in the day."
Kreese shrugged. "Bullying is a very complex topic. Oftentimes, we can see a bully only. But sometimes, behind it the whole time could just be a person or a victim. It can even be the other way around too."
"I found that out first hand today, despite how clear it was to me who the victims and the bullies were. I knew it before. Just didn't realize what it would be like up close to handle all of it."
"But the important thing I want you to know is that you did everything right. These friends of yours. They'll forgive you in time for what you did for them. But for now, they don't understand it. They don't understand what you did."
I nodded.
"They don't understand who you are Schwarber. Who you're trying to become. You fought for them and they scorned you for it. You struck your enemies down. Now. If your friends couldn't handle some taunting and name calling. Well. You know how I feel about weakness. But you didn't like that that was happening to your friends. You didn't like it at all, you more than hold that right. To take action on what you think needs to be done or doesn't."
Kreese smiled and so did I as I looked away slightly. "You didn't want that to keep happening to your friends. So. You took action. You were assertive, and you didn't hesitate, you just struck. That's exactly what I taught you to do, of course no one would understand it. The results are meant to feel messy. They always are. But the lesson sticks with you forever."
"But no one gets it. Even Robby who trains and lives with Johnny Lawrence, your old top student as you said. He only somewhat gets it. I explained myself perfectly. And it's like no one understands that I did the right thing."
Kreese nodded slowly.
"People don't listen to words if you want them to do something. They listen to actions."
I nodded back. "Yeah."
"Cobra Kai was built on that. Everyone can say they know how to fight. The problem with most martial arts is that they train under the assumption their sparring partners are complying to not harm them. After all, karate was about the opposite. Knowing how to be ready for a real fight right? So Cobra Kai was all about pressure testing our training to realistic scenarios and hard sparring. But every year at the All Valley. The second we overcame the Vidals. We were so far ahead of the rest of our competition it was hard to consider tournaments as just that anymore. A competition."
Kreese kept talking. "Outside the dojo." he cleared his throat. "Where I taught, the original location back on Lankershim and Magnolia in North Hollywood. I had this giant and bright Cobra out front, and the words Karate and Strike Like a Cobra everywhere in all capitals or big letters. As well as pictures on the windows of people sparring."
I nodded again.
"And you could hear the students kiai'ing from outside the dojo sometimes, and there were all sorts of trophies in the windows and in the entrance, I've showed them to you. All this noise, all these bright colors and fanfare. But inside the dojo. If I couldn't train my students properly or truly prepare them for a real fight. What did all of that matter?"
I got it. "What anything looks like. Or what it sounds like. Doesn't matter. It's the actions that matter."
"Yes," said Kreese. "That is the heart of Cobra Kai. Talk is cheap. Underneath everything in this very fragile and as you said, misunderstanding world, the only truth we have are actions. And actions determine victory. Do you understand that Mr. Schwarber?"
"Yes Sensei. I do." I put my backpack over my shoulders. "I'll see you tomorrow Sensei."
"Hm." he nodded. "You know a part of me wanted to leave this town just around the time we met this summer."
"Really?" I was surprised.
"Maybe I'd come back a few times and visit just for a few old memories. But until I started to train you, there was nothing really left for me here until then. Now I see my place as a teacher is more crucial than ever. Because what happened to you in regard to this Kyler Park kid, is only the beginning."
I was a bit confused. "The beginning of my training? The beginning of breaking All Valley tournament records?"
"I mean that it's the beginning of everything for you," said Kreese. "Whoever you will become. The person you will want to be. My lessons will follow you and help shape that."
Kreese looked very pensive for a moment.
"In the twelve months you've had since we met to prepare you for your first All Valley, I've broken it into three four month parts. You've passed the first. Which was teaching you the basics, and giving you good discipline and awareness. This second part is very important. Where I start really improving your technique and making it all more advanced. Then, the third part in the four months leading up to the All Valley are especially crucial."
I listened carefully.
"In that time frame. I will have to essentially double your training and my efforts to make you Cobra Kai. However, to enter the All Valley, you have to at least have a black belt. It has always been my belief that one year is not enough time to master any martial art that means anything, least of all Cobra Kai. But I will make sure you're ready to prove that your way. Is the right way, in the greatest stage possible to show it. So I'll make sure you're ready."
I nodded. "Yes Sensei."
"You're dismissed Schwarber."
I bowed and then left the loading dock.
...
...
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for reading.
Now a quick message to the guest reviewer Anon, as I can't send PMs to guests I have to post this quick question here.
I'd like to thank you very much for very loyal, consistent and helpful comments. But I'm wondering if you've seen the Karate Kid trilogy and the Cobra Kai Netflix series? If so, I'd like to know if I've portrayed all the characters accurately and faithfully as well as if the story and plot are faithful as well.
If you haven't, I politely request you watch them, because not only are they of rather high quality, but it is pretty crucial for this fic.
I was hoping to keep things realistic with how the fellow high school students of West Valley would react to Lucas beating up known bullies. I don't think they'd be ungrateful nor unhappy, but surprised that he went with violence first. That was the main takeaway I wanted, because Lucas didn't try to report them to any teachers, he just went right for violence:
He struck first.
That was the main objective of this chapter, hopefully I kept that realistic with all of the characters in this universe.
…
Shortly after I defeat Kyler and his buddies I left the bathroom and my grandparents were already waiting to take me home.
I had done it. I had beaten them with just Miyagi-Do, now came the hard part.
Which was dealing with the fallout.
…
Daniel had watched the entire video carefully, start to finish, without any edits of mine sitting on the wooden bench he had in his home dojo.
"Wow." Daniel exhaled quickly. "I expected them to be bullies. But not pure." Daniel trailed.
"Douchebags?" I asked.
"Well. I mean." Daniel sighed. "Maybe. Maybe you could say that."
"Do you believe me now?"
Daniel sighed, standing up off the bench. "Of course I do. But I'm worried about what the school's gonna say."
"It happened at a private event at a country club. I have evidence that I didn't attack them." I tapped my phone screen playing the video of the fight.
"Either way. It'll be a mess for you." said Daniel. "I'm sorry I didn't do more until now. I mean. I basically stood by and let you handle this whole thing. While it was my own daughter who was friends with all these people."
Sam wasn't to blame. But not Daniel at all for sure.
"No. You taught me the karate I needed to defend myself and my friends. Thank you." I smiled. "I think you made Mr. Miyagi proud by helping me stop my school's bullies."
Daniel frowned. "Thanks but. If anyone got hurt. One way or another. He wouldn't be happy. He never liked nor sought violence. You know the saying people who don't know how to fight go out looking for fights?"
"Yeah?"
"Mr. Miyagi was the exact opposite. He was a man shorter than your average guy. Not muscular or tough looking at all, very respectful and soft spoken. And he was the greatest karate master and fighter I ever met. While I am glad you were able to settle this, or at least try to. I'm just disappointed violence ended up being the only answer."
"They'd never punish them otherwise. I had to do something."
"I know. And that's why I'm going to completely support you on this moving forward."
…
On Monday I noticed something.
People Robby, Aisha, Demetri, or Eli knew either congratulated me or were glad Kyler was put in his place. People who he had bothered or annoyed, which were plenty, were happy with what they heard I did.
The few people Kyler and Yasmine were friends with, which were only in athletics, weren't too happy with me.
Members and a few coaches and assistant coaches of the football and baseball teams. They didn't say or do anything except give me a few nasty looks in the halls but they didn't threaten me or anything.
Because even the jocks of this school probably knew it was a really bad idea to mess with me, even four against one.
However, the inevitable came, and a staff member of the school took me to Counselor Blatt's office out of my first period.
…
Counselor Blatt and a few administrators asked me to wait outside while they reviewed the video of the fight I showed them.
About fifteen minutes later I was allowed in.
"Sit." Blatt said.
She took a deep breath while I sat in the chair in front of her desk.
"You. Cannot face any serious disciplinary action."
"And why's that?"
"Because this morning I received emails from the parents of several students attesting that the behavior of these students you fought against unequivocally. And undeniably proves that it was part of Mr. Parks group of boys."
I was still confused. "How was this proven?"
"With this video, just now." said Blatt pointing to her computer screen. "Mr. Park and his friends have been recorded admitting to harassing Mr. Moskowitz and others. And during this video you have clearly shown that you never struck any of them while they were down. In fact you made sure to show that you left with knowledge of this being recorded to show you were acting in self defense."
Blatt frowned. "Which is what worries me."
"I'm sorry what?"
"Because you technically never broke any school rules and never threw the first punch nor seriously injured Mr. Park or his friends. And Mr. Robinson, Mrs. Moskowitz, and Mr. Alexpolous, as well as Mr. LaRusso have all sided with you and proven Mr. Park and the others were in fact the aggressors. The school has their hands tied from punishing you seriously."
My eyes widened when I got it.
Blatt or the administration was only useful when someone basically held West Valley High in a PR chokehold and threatened to let go only if they did the right thing.
"So what's gonna happen?"
"The most that's going to happen is you'll receive a detention tomorrow afternoon from three thirty to four thirty."
I refused to take a sigh of relief to show that I respected this woman at all.
"Okay."
"Let me make this clear Mr. Schwarber. You are in a very lucky position. The staff is not happy at all that you took matters into your own hands and left what needed to be done out of the ability of the school to handle it."
So I had to do nothing while useless PSAs were held about cyberbullying and harassment. Right.
"I'll make sure none of this continues to happen. I won't fight anymore nor make sure there are any more sorts of altercations. But please. Just please, do me one favor. And don't call my grandparents."
Because I actually was starting to like Miyagi-Do only slightly less than Cobra Kai and they'd probably threaten to fly me back to Denver if they found out I got into a fight.
"Yeah, that's not really an option here," Blatt said. "However. The school staff does understand the. Unique situation of the support behind you. We'll comply with this favor you've asked for one time. If you understand by proxy that this behavior will not be tolerated under any circumstance moving forward. Self defense, or not."
I nodded. "Yes Counselor Blatt."
"Good. You're free to go back to class."
…
In the administration office before I left, three different parents were waiting for me and one by one thanked me.
"I can't thank you enough son." I realized I was shaking hands with Chargers Linebacker Legend, the one and only 'Flash' Robinson. This guy was utterly huge, he was gigantic, built like a mountain and at least six feet tall, no wonder Yasmine had the courage of being a girl as a shield to torment Aisha for so long. "We owe you for what you did for Aisha." he said in a very strong and low voice.
This guy's hand could probably grip a basketball with ease.
"Of course Mr. Robinson. And thank you for taking my side."
"It was our duty as parents." the man I recognized as Demetri's father said. A balding man with round glasses fixed them and spoke while shaking my hand. "You showed commendable courage. Honor. And tact. Just please don't get into a fight over this next time." he said in a tone that exactly matched his son's.
I laughed, thoroughly reminded of Demetri. "Sure thing Mr. Alexopolous."
"And when Eli finally was able to speak up about it." Mrs. Moskowitz smiled and put a hand over her chest. "Broke my heart to hear how proud he was of you for doing the right thing."
I thought he'd be horrified. "Really?"
"Uh huh." Mrs. Moskowitz shook my hand. "Thank you. Thank you so much for helping."
…
Lunch was a different story.
No one was as cheerful or happy as Miguel. I was no hero, the entire thing was so covered in rumor no one knew what to believe so the cafeteria felt off and strange. A bit muted and a bit less chatty in other areas.
I sat down at my usual table.
Eli and Demetri quickly lifted up their lunch trays and left the moment I sat down.
"Hey come on guys."
They sat down at an empty table far from where I was, leaving me with Robby and Aisha.
"What do they have to be mad about?" I asked.
Aisha looked around the cafeteria as I began to eat. "This doesn't look good Luke."
"Why?"
"No one knows if Kyler really did bully anyone or not. I believe you, and so do my parents. But everyone else? All anyone knows is the school let you get off basically scot free and Kyler got beat up."
I can see how choosing to settle this in a bathroom at a country club instead of a very public cafeteria would change things. There, it was clear Miguel asked Kyler to just leave Sam and people alone and he refused in front of everyone. Here, the only evidence the fight even happened were the bruises Kyler, Brucks, and their friends got, all four of them saying I fought them, and the video I took.
I still deserved more than that.
"But Eli told me they were messing with him!" I said. "It's done. They won't bother anyone anymore. I mean, people in my first period were glad Kyler got taught a lesson. Robby, back me up."
"Look man. I'm glad you kicked a ton of ass using karate. A part of me wishes I was there actually despite just being a hallway away from where it happened," admitted Robby. "But Luke. Demetri and Eli specifically asked you to stay out of it."
"That's not the right thing to do though. The school was going to do nothing. I wouldn't mind taking a suspension or two if it meant putting Kyler in his place."
"If you can't respect Eli and Demetri's decision to just leave this alone. Why should we respect what you did?" asked Aisha, quickly joining Eli and Demetri at their table.
I looked over at Robby. "Well. What are you waiting for? Sure Eli and Sam would be happy with you sitting with them for lunch."
Robby looked down at his lap for a second while he ate the best lunch I knew Johnny could probably pack for him. Lunchables and Jack Links.
He looked at me. "I agree with you that what Kyler and Yasmine were doing was messed up of them. But come on man. You could've run it by Eli and Demetri first. It was their problem."
"I thought you said sometimes you had to take matters into your own hands. That you had to solve problems with karate sometimes."
"Yeah you solve problems that way. When they're right in your face."
"I seriously needed Demetri and Eli's permission to teach Kyler a lesson? Your dad is a karate champ who seriously knows what it means to be badass. Why would you disagree knowing what he taught you?"
"Dude all we know for a fact is that you beat up four dudes in a bathroom. Again, no one really knows what happened. And people do know for a fact that Kyler never, ever talks to you or goes anywhere near you or me."
"Because he's a coward. If Eli and Demetri stood up and admitted that they were bullied. My name would be cleared."
"Publicly admit they couldn't do anything for weeks and needed another dude to save them."
I sighed. "So Aisha's cool then?"
"It's different for girls in a way. I don't know? But you need to apologize to Demetri and Eli. Soon."
"Dude, Aisha, Eli, and Demetri's parents came to the school to shake my hand. They sent emails to the school backing up the fact that I was right. What more evidence do I need that I was completely in the right?"
Robby sighed. "Nobody said you were wrong. And nobody said you were right. All we know. Is that the situation was really tricky. I can't take sides in this. Only the people involved deserve to. Aisha, Eli, Demetri, and in a way even Kyler and his people deserve that."
"Because they're asshole bullies?"
"Because they got their asses kicked." Robby chuckled. "I'm happy you're really damn effective with your Miyagee karate."
"It's Miyagi." I said.
"Sure." said Robby.
I looked at him. "Do you think Kyler Park is a bully? Cut and dry pure and simple. Yes or no, do you think so?"
"I mean maybe?" said Robby. "Eli said he was messed with. But it's not like I saw it happen. Like in the hallways or something or some time after school. And I'm pretty sure you didn't either."
"How could you know that?"
"Luke come on. We both know you were itching for a fight."
"And you're not?"
Robby shrugged. "I haven't had to use my karate yet. The point of it is to only attack and strike first when you know you have an enemy. Going out to fight and cause havoc for no reason, that's not what my dad taught me."
Wow. Guess Johnny was still a really good teacher, to his own son of all people.
"But I knew Kyler was my enemy. He was bullying my friends."
"Sure. I just um. Think it's a very gray thing to talk about. All things are."
I could show Robby the video. Or just finish my lunch quietly.
"Were Trey and Cruz your enemies?"
"The guys I knew had robbed my beach club and from what I saw were probably the worst kind of influence on you? Sure."
"I appreciate you helping me out and getting me back in touch with my dad." said Robby. "Truly I am. But not everyone needs you involved in their problems. I think that's the main issue people have with you Luke."
He had me there. I was a meddler in a way. Miguel was seen as a hero pretty quickly because for a fact people knew Kyler messed with Miguel and others by that point.
An entire year had passed by that point of Kyler being a complete bully. Stopping it in its tracks had been a double edged sword.
…
In the hallway after school between the library and towards where the bicycle racks were, I was sitting down reading something when I saw Kyler walk past with a pretty noticeable bruise on his face.
"Hey Park."
He froze, turning around slowly.
"What do you want?" he asked quietly.
"For you to just leave people alone. Was that too much to ask?"
"You could've just led with that yo." Kyler shrugged. "Instead you got up all in my face. Threatened me."
"It wasn't a threat."
"You said I'd get what was coming to me. How was I supposed to take that?"
I sighed. "Okay I could've worded that differently. But I did say at one point in life, not soon. And. What you were doing wasn't cool."
And I know for a fact you could easily return to being that kind of person the moment you stopped.
"Is it fun for you? Is that it?"
"They're pathetic and weak. What's the issue with pointing it out and laughing about it?"
I scoffed. "So the fact that they're helpless is what makes it fun? Guess that makes sense for a bully. But okay. Do you know what I think? I think the moment you met me that day in the park over summer you realized. That I would have none of you or Yasmine being terrible to people."
"And what do you want now?"
"Nothing. Just stop trying to make it seem like what I did was on me in any way. Instead of just protecting my friends."
"You keep bossing me around with this bruise on my eye. People will think you're the bully now."
I nodded. "You're right. Which is why as long as you're not sorry for what you did. I'm not either."
That shut Kyler right up, and then I left.
I saw Yasmine standing near the bike racks talking to Moon and I walked past her.
"Schwarber."
I stopped, looking at her. "What?" I asked.
Yasmine shifted where she stood, Moon walked away quietly.
"I thought about what happened. And. I'm sorry."
"Yeah well. It's not me you should be apologizing to."
"About that. I don't think Aisha wants to talk to me."
I frowned at her. "Then maybe she deserves that right."
"She does," Yasmine admitted quietly. "But look-"
"It took me humiliating you personally. In front of all of our friends and family. All of them. To realize you messed up. I-"
"I'm not claiming you were wrong Schwarber," said Yasmine. "Just. Can you talk to her for me?"
I spoke honestly. "Absolutely not. That's not my place, Aisha needs to decide that for herself."
"But it is your place to beat up Kyler?"
"I thought you just said I wasn't wrong," I said to her, gripping my backpack.
Yasmine shrugged. "Never said you were right either."
She had me there.
"But you're just doing it out of guilt. Not empathy. You're sorry, 'cause you got caught."
"And how would you know that?"
"I don't have to explain any of this. This is between you and Aisha. I stepped in when she was clearly helpless for months. I'm the only person in this entire school, except for maybe Robby, who you and your crowd are afraid of at all. So I'm done okay? Drop it and I'll leave you all alone, and you leave everyone alone."
Yasmine crossed her arms, smiling. "Wow. You say all this about courage. But you can't let a person explain themselves or make try to make amends without walking away from it."
"You can't guilt trip me. I'm immune to that, I'm Jewish."
"Then you should know that I have just as much right to apologize as much as Aisha does to not forgive."
"Maybe. But again, that's not my place. I wish you better luck with asking Robby, Demetri, or Eli for this."
I quickly left towards the bus stop on my bicycle before Yasmine could say another word.
…
In the supermarket loading dock, I was smashing wooden crates apart with my foot, practicing sweeping the leg and round and head kicks.
Then I used the punching dummy we had created out of punching mitts and a strong stack of old wooden pallets.
"Ais! Ais, ai, aiya!"
I punched the pallet dummy so hard I burst apart the wood behind the punching mitt we had duct taped onto it.
"You're learning the lesson well. You're aiming for the person behind your target. But I've noticed something. Front and center Schwarber."
I walked over to what was 'Fall in' position in the middle of the abandoned supermarket loading bay. I got into Junbi, or ready stance, I made a fist with both hands and punched downward, my jacket making a quiet flicking sound as I stood with my fists in front of my hips.
"What do you study here?"
"The way of the fist sir!" I barked.
"And what is that way!?"
"Strike first! Strike hard! No mercy, sir!"
Kreese looked directly into my eyes. "Then. Let's go over your basics. How do you strike first?"
"There are only two parts to the Cobra bite. The lunge to close the distance or strike when in range, and the bite, the strike itself. There is nothing else Sensei."
"Is there? So. Does the lunge include a lack of focus?"
"No Sensei."
"Does the lunge include anger or emotion?"
I didn't know how to answer that correctly, so I said nothing.
"It's a trick question. The truth is, the saying goes, that the best fighter is never angry. Cobra Kai Karate agrees in a very unique way." said Kreese. "In that, if you are angry, or confused, or scared. The strike becomes your emotion, not the other way around. But there is no hesitation. Your emotions do not cloud your technique, they enhance it."
I looked at Kreese as he paced by me, rubbing his hands and sticking them by his sides as he looked back at me.
"In the case that you are angry. And you truly wish to harm your opponent. Which is fine of course. You are still composed, focused, and above all. Vigilant. Anger makes you want to take that step forward to making damage. Which is good. Cobra Kai gives you a proper path with which to take that step and the next ones."
Kreese raised one of the new striking mitts I bought for him. "Try it again."
He gave me a nod the same way he nodded to Robby when teaching him to start channeling his anger. And the strange part was, I both liked it and found it effective, and it worked.
And then I started to throw the standard Cobra Bite, or reverse punch.
I started to throw techniques that were still strong and were meant to whip a person's head back. To throw all of my power into one single, focused blow and then repeat it.
But I remembered the point of the lesson, to visualize. Then attack. Nothing else.
Everything that frustrated me today. I let it out, but I did so by channeling it through the strike.
By staying composed, by not thinking about it at all. I used the correct form when striking, but I added what he told me.
Kreese was nodding by the end of the lesson after I started adding the roundhouse kick and the backfist.
"To tap into the fullest potential of skill and effectiveness of how you fight. And who you can be. There can't be anything else. No anger. No emotion. Everything in you, can only be released and expressed in one place and one place only."
Kreese tapped my knuckles, much how Daniel did so when teaching me the reverse punch but explained in a much different way. I used Kreese's own words from a scene that didn't even make the final cut of the third season.
To the man I knew said them to another person.
"I have to shut out everything else. And just strike."
That nod he gave me told me everything I needed to know. He treated me with the same degree of respect, or more, as he did when training Robby Keene.
Kreese explained. "Channeling your anger isn't easy. Johnny Lawrence was the best example of this and he was the greatest Cobra Kai I ever trained, he was unstoppable, precise, he struck as fast and hard as lightning. But he loved your mother. He saw beating LaRusso as the only way to win her back. The moment he lost the match, was when he thought love was a better substitute for what I had taught him."
I continued to understand the lesson. "It's not anger. It's channeling everything. Into just one strike. Into attacking. Into no mercy."
"You've understood the lesson well. I'm looking forward to how you can apply it outside the classroom too." Kreese chuckled and checked his watch. "You're doing well for your sixth month. That's class."
My feet came together, my hands snapped to my sides, and I bowed to Kreese. "Thank you Sensei."
…
I sipped from my water bottle while stuffing a few of the striking mitts into my backpack as both it and Kreese sat on the cement loading dock bay.
"You really had all the fuel necessary for the fire that was the lesson," said Kreese. "Where did it come from?"
"Does it matter?" I asked quietly.
Kreese detected how I said this and crossed his arms, laughing quietly by merely exhaling quickly from his nose and smiling for a faint second. "No. It doesn't. But I need to know anyway."
"I thought striking was the only thing that mattered. There was nothing else. No reason for it. You struck." I zipped up my back pack quickly. "That was it."
"That's for black belts to fully understand and apply," said Kreese. "Not students of Cobra Kai who've been studying it for only a few months. Like I said, even Johnny Lawrence who I'd trained for years couldn't apply this lesson properly when it mattered the most. During his match with LaRusso."
"What are you saying?" I asked. "That I'll go out and just get arrested or something for breaking some guy's nose randomly?
"That's not what I'm saying," said Kreese. "I'm just saying that you typically aren't angry at all. In fact, since the day we started training. You just strike, there's nothing behind it. This anger of yours, it's new. It's good don't get me wrong, with the right training it'll be great even. But it's new I need to know what the source is."
"And you picked up on all of that by just watching me warm up today?"
"Of course I did. What's bothering you Schwarber?"
"Dumb stuff at school. It's all. Stupid drama. None of it matters."
"It must matter a whole lot to you."
I looked at him. "Sensei. I did what you taught me and I was punished for it."
"You did?"
I spoke. "I need to explain a lot to you."
I then told him everything that happened these past few weeks between Sam, Eli, Demetri, Aisha, and Kyler and Yasmine's groups of bullies. While making sure to exclude any notion that I trained in Miyagi-Do.
Kreese was nodding by the end. "Yeah. I'd be frustrated too. But you have to know something."
"Which is?" I asked.
"You did nothing wrong. And they want to shame you for it."
I nodded. "Even LaRusso backed me up. Daniel LaRusso I mean, not his daughter."
"Even still. The school, all these people. Your own friends. Tried to make you feel ashamed for who you were. And for doing the right thing. It's a miracle the most you got was just a pat on the wrist."
The first person I'd met besides Daniel to truly accept my actions as just and fair for what was done to Eli and Aisha.
"And people called Cobra Kai the bullies apparently. According to what you told me about it back in the day."
Kreese shrugged. "Bullying is a very complex topic. Oftentimes, we can see a bully only. But sometimes, behind it the whole time could just be a person or a victim. It can even be the other way around too."
"I found that out first hand today, despite how clear it was to me who the victims and the bullies were. I knew it before. Just didn't realize what it would be like up close to handle all of it."
"But the important thing I want you to know is that you did everything right. These friends of yours. They'll forgive you in time for what you did for them. But for now, they don't understand it. They don't understand what you did."
I nodded.
"They don't understand who you are Schwarber. Who you're trying to become. You fought for them and they scorned you for it. You struck your enemies down. Now. If your friends couldn't handle some taunting and name calling. Well. You know how I feel about weakness. But you didn't like that that was happening to your friends. You didn't like it at all, you more than hold that right. To take action on what you think needs to be done or doesn't."
Kreese smiled and so did I as I looked away slightly. "You didn't want that to keep happening to your friends. So. You took action. You were assertive, and you didn't hesitate, you just struck. That's exactly what I taught you to do, of course no one would understand it. The results are meant to feel messy. They always are. But the lesson sticks with you forever."
"But no one gets it. Even Robby who trains and lives with Johnny Lawrence, your old top student as you said. He only somewhat gets it. I explained myself perfectly. And it's like no one understands that I did the right thing."
Kreese nodded slowly.
"People don't listen to words if you want them to do something. They listen to actions."
I nodded back. "Yeah."
"Cobra Kai was built on that. Everyone can say they know how to fight. The problem with most martial arts is that they train under the assumption their sparring partners are complying to not harm them. After all, karate was about the opposite. Knowing how to be ready for a real fight right? So Cobra Kai was all about pressure testing our training to realistic scenarios and hard sparring. But every year at the All Valley. The second we overcame the Vidals. We were so far ahead of the rest of our competition it was hard to consider tournaments as just that anymore. A competition."
Kreese kept talking. "Outside the dojo." he cleared his throat. "Where I taught, the original location back on Lankershim and Magnolia in North Hollywood. I had this giant and bright Cobra out front, and the words Karate and Strike Like a Cobra everywhere in all capitals or big letters. As well as pictures on the windows of people sparring."
I nodded again.
"And you could hear the students kiai'ing from outside the dojo sometimes, and there were all sorts of trophies in the windows and in the entrance, I've showed them to you. All this noise, all these bright colors and fanfare. But inside the dojo. If I couldn't train my students properly or truly prepare them for a real fight. What did all of that matter?"
I got it. "What anything looks like. Or what it sounds like. Doesn't matter. It's the actions that matter."
"Yes," said Kreese. "That is the heart of Cobra Kai. Talk is cheap. Underneath everything in this very fragile and as you said, misunderstanding world, the only truth we have are actions. And actions determine victory. Do you understand that Mr. Schwarber?"
"Yes Sensei. I do." I put my backpack over my shoulders. "I'll see you tomorrow Sensei."
"Hm." he nodded. "You know a part of me wanted to leave this town just around the time we met this summer."
"Really?" I was surprised.
"Maybe I'd come back a few times and visit just for a few old memories. But until I started to train you, there was nothing really left for me here until then. Now I see my place as a teacher is more crucial than ever. Because what happened to you in regard to this Kyler Park kid, is only the beginning."
I was a bit confused. "The beginning of my training? The beginning of breaking All Valley tournament records?"
"I mean that it's the beginning of everything for you," said Kreese. "Whoever you will become. The person you will want to be. My lessons will follow you and help shape that."
Kreese looked very pensive for a moment.
"In the twelve months you've had since we met to prepare you for your first All Valley, I've broken it into three four month parts. You've passed the first. Which was teaching you the basics, and giving you good discipline and awareness. This second part is very important. Where I start really improving your technique and making it all more advanced. Then, the third part in the four months leading up to the All Valley are especially crucial."
I listened carefully.
"In that time frame. I will have to essentially double your training and my efforts to make you Cobra Kai. However, to enter the All Valley, you have to at least have a black belt. It has always been my belief that one year is not enough time to master any martial art that means anything, least of all Cobra Kai. But I will make sure you're ready to prove that your way. Is the right way, in the greatest stage possible to show it. So I'll make sure you're ready."
I nodded. "Yes Sensei."
"You're dismissed Schwarber."
I bowed and then left the loading dock.
...
...
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for reading.
Now a quick message to the guest reviewer Anon, as I can't send PMs to guests I have to post this quick question here.
I'd like to thank you very much for very loyal, consistent and helpful comments. But I'm wondering if you've seen the Karate Kid trilogy and the Cobra Kai Netflix series? If so, I'd like to know if I've portrayed all the characters accurately and faithfully as well as if the story and plot are faithful as well.
If you haven't, I politely request you watch them, because not only are they of rather high quality, but it is pretty crucial for this fic.
I was hoping to keep things realistic with how the fellow high school students of West Valley would react to Lucas beating up known bullies. I don't think they'd be ungrateful nor unhappy, but surprised that he went with violence first. That was the main takeaway I wanted, because Lucas didn't try to report them to any teachers, he just went right for violence:
He struck first.
That was the main objective of this chapter, hopefully I kept that realistic with all of the characters in this universe.
Chapter Fifteen
MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Fifteen: Legacies
…
In the days following the complete defeat of Kyler, I kept my eye on him for any retaliation. But it didn't happen.
Things were still tenser than ever with Sam, I don't think she openly accused Kyler of any bullying but I had succeeded in making her ask questions.
Regardless, I didn't care anymore about her or talked at all really. She and I both got different lab partners and that was the last I saw of her mostly for days.
As with most people I identified as being background characters I could interact with and talk to, one of them was actually the first person attractive to me in any way, Charlotte.
She had that very pretty blonde look I knew Yasmine had, but none of that nasty superficiality and bullying attitude at all.
I knew her character only received a name at all by coincidence in the credits of the show or on the actor or actress' social media in real life back when I lived outside of this world. She had joined Cobra Kai around the same time Kenny Payne did in the show, and had no role in the plot at all besides being yet another named extra.
However, her actress, Phoebe French, was kind enough to appear on a few interviews with Youtubers in the same way the actor for Shawn Payne did as well. Weird to consider all these people I knew as well, people now playing fictional characters I interacted with on a daily basis.
I mostly got used to it after the first month, every time I really thought about it, it surprised me.
But I was still building on how exactly to talk to Charlotte. Because for all the attention I got earlier this semester, that sort of died down upon fighting Kyler, I honestly wasn't the best when it came to relationships in general, least of all romantic ones of any sort.
…
In the library after school I spotted Kyler and Brucks walking past, chatting loudly.
"What?" Demetri asked.
Both Binary Brothers weren't on the best terms with me so we were taking the resumption of our friendship slowly.
"I'm sorry about the fight. Really I am." I said.
Demetri grumbled. "Honestly who's gonna mess with you now that you're the toughest kid in school? Whatever Luke."
"I'm the toughest kid in school?"
"Yeah." said Demetri. "Not even Robby Keene's as tough as you are. You both ride skateboards around sometimes. Makes me wonder why you bother hanging out with us."
"I think our social groups are a little limited now that I've pretty much pissed off every major athletic group in school."
"Why would the basketball team be mad at you?" Demetri wondered.
"Let me guess," I said quietly. "I showed I had no problem putting top football, wrestling, and baseball players out of commission for about a week no sweat. They're probably wondering if I'll be the bully police as you say and go around doing the same or whatever."
Demetri scoffed, taking a few more notes from his History textbook. "Wouldn't be surprised honestly."
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry."
"It's fine Lucas," said Eli shyly. "Really. It is."
I looked around and saw Charlotte reading in front of a nearby book case.
"What?" Demetri asked.
I shook my head.
"Nothing."
Demetri shrugged. "I'd wish you good luck. But with your level of looks, confidence, money, and general level of strength and muscle I'd say you'd be fine."
Sometimes Demetri resembled Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory so much that sometimes it was pathetic.
"It's not like that man. Not anymore anyway."
"Beating up the school's top bullies no one really knew were bullies can do that."
I put my book for English, A Separate Peace, down and walked towards her.
Charlotte didn't see me approaching.
"Hi," I said quietly.
Charlotte saw me, closing her book. "Hi."
"We have the same English teacher, right? O'Shaughnessy?"
"Yeah I see you leave his room a few times after fourth," she said lightly.
I cleared my throat. "This is a. Bad way to start a conversation. But through rumor or otherwise. Would you happen to know my name?" I smiled weakly.
Charlotte smiled lightly, stifling a laugh. "Yeah. You're Lucas Schwarber. The sports team menace. Some of the other girls on my tennis team mentioned you. Not that, girls have anything to be afraid of." she said awkwardly.
"I mean. The whole spaghetti thing was kinda out of line for me." I admitted.
"Well. No, Yas deserved that. Half the people I know from cheer say she really got put in her place for that."
I was enjoying the decision to talk to her more and more.
I was a bit surprised. "You do cheer and tennis?"
"I just am friends with people on cheer, but I did consider trying out. I knew Yasmine from our middle school. She was cool, until she joined the cheer squad. I don't know what happened afterward, we stopped talking."
"People change when they. Join a sports team? I don't know." I said quietly. "Anyway. Um. What's your name?"
Because it was weird to admit I already knew it from a place I myself never would've imagined knowing.
"Charlotte." she shook my hand. "Friends call me Char. Char, Charlotte. Doesn't matter to me."
"Well." I put my hands in my jeans pockets. "I didn't realize I was a menace."
"Yeah…" Charlotte said. "Most freshmen aren't known to beat up four guys on their own. Fights rarely happen in general here I've noticed. But I don't know, I didn't mean it like that."
"It's cool. Speaking of menaces, this reading list huh? What a snore."
"I know right. I actually like books, it's just the ones we got I'm gonna have to Sparknote."
I nodded. "PE. English. Some classes seem pretty useless. Separate Peace is a total drag, god. I couldn't get past the second paragraph."
"I know!" Charlotte laughed quietly as we were still in a library. "I can't stand English either."
"Besides this mess with Kyler. I was expecting these really dumb cliques to pop up. And for high school here to be. Terrible in a way."
Charlotte shrugged. "So did I. I had an old middle school teacher who made it seem like it'd be a living hell. It's just not."
"My friends still seem to think these really weird outdated concepts like popularity and me. Apparently being the toughest kid in school are you know. The norm."
Charlotte winced, gripping her arm. "You kinda are no offense. That does happen when you walk away from fighting four guys fine and they're all beat up."
"Why does everyone think that's such an odd thing?"
"Gee. Maybe because it only seems to happen in the movies?"
I laughed.
I really liked talking to her.
Charlotte checked her phone. "I um. I gotta go. But can you do something for me?"
"Sure."
"Can you hand me that book on the top shelf? That one."
I read the title aloud after I helped her. "A Traditional Guide to Creole Peoples and Culture?"
"It's for a project. I think you might get it next unit. Which History teacher do you have?"
"Er. Old guy, tends to wear a hat. Milton."
"Milton. Yeah, I think it'll come up for you. You gotta make a presentation on your heritage and culture or something. The books a requirement for a source."
I smiled. "Guess I'll have trouble finding books on Scottish dog breeding. It's an old family thing for the Mills. And um, it's cool to hear you're Creole."
"Oh, I myself am not Creole. My parents adopted me, they're mostly Creole and Native American."
"That, that's awesome. See ya round."
I walked back to my table where Robby was sitting with us tucking his headphones into his backpack.
"Very nice Luke." Robby nodded slightly.
"What?"
"She's in my History class. Blonde. Ridiculously cute." Robby smiled with a wink making an 'okay' sign. "Indeed. Niiice."
As time went on I realized just how much of his father Robby absorbed from Johnny.
Demetri said nothing as Eli broke a smile.
"What are we talking about? What's so nice?" Aisha said putting her backpack down and sitting in the empty spot next to Robby.
"Luke's got a thing for that blonde girl we sit with in Ilanova's class." said Robby.
"Oh, she's nice," Aisha said.
"That's what I keep saying." Robby nodded again. "Niiiiice."
Aisha lightly slapped his elbow as Eli actually started to laugh which was a very rare thing and Demetri finally showed any interest outside of his homework unless specifically interrupted to do so by laughing.
I took a long sigh. "I hate you guys."
"We're all you got since you got Kyler and Yasmine and all their friends either afraid of or mad at you. Both in most cases." Robby said.
I muttered back to him. "Alright dude. And what groups have you branched out to?"
"None. I mean. None of the clubs or teams are for me." said Robby. "My dad said all that's for nerds."
"You do everything your dad tells you?" I wondered.
"Well no. But he is the authority of this school. Prom king, karate champ."
"Yeah maybe thirty years ago. Back when fights at beach parties and the VHS was the hottest thing out."
"Your mom was the queen apparently. According to my dad. Sorry if that sounds weird man."
Demetri and Eli were pretty lost and then Aisha chimed in. "Their parents used to date in the eighties." They then both nodded.
I assumed Robby told her. A bit surprising really.
"His Sensei is the guy who went out with his mom that started this whole. Thing," said Robby.
"What's a Sensei?" asked Eli quietly.
"It's a karate instructor," I said before checking my phone for the time.
One of the two aforementioned Senseis I would actually be late with. Unless I left immediately to the bus stop I would miss it and show up late to class with Kreese for the first time ever.
"Alright." I said picking up my backpack. "I gotta go guys."
Robby nodded as everyone muttered their goodbyes for the day.
…
I approached the supermarket loading dock where we trained and saw Kreese holding a duffel bag which was a bit strange.
"Sensei, what's going on?"
"Today's class is a field trip."
"A field trip where?"
"To your first fight."
"I told you I already had my first fight. I beat up four bullies on my own, if that's not my first fight I don't know what is."
"Four completely untrained kids your age aren't what I'd call a first fight. We'll make it there in time if we hurry."
"But where is this?"
"If we hurry. We go." Kreese said. "Or are you questioning my orders Schwarber?"
"No Sensei."
…
On the bus ride towards wherever it was we were going I spoke. "So where is this? What is this?"
"It's called semi contact kickboxing. It's point sparring but actually useful to developing good fighting ethics."
"So then why am I competing in the All Valley in May? Why does Cobra Kai take the All Valley so seriously?"
"Because martial arts have evolved greatly since back in the day. In the eighties, karate was everything. Boxing and kickboxing were around for sure, but all the kids of all ages respect and wanted to learn karate. Now, it's all these new styles."
I sighed. "But I just know karate."
"Exactly. My karate. Which I think can survive in this new environment." said Kreese. "I've taught you good fundamentals. Good striking form, a good guard, and given you good reflexes. This is the best kind of place to test this."
"But again, I beat up four guys. Everyone at school's called me the toughest kid in school this whole week."
Kreese sighed. "Does anyone at your school train in any sort of kickboxing or boxing?"
"Not that I know of."
"Then you beat up four idiots who thought numbers and size meant everything in a fight. You fought creatively enough to win when outnumbered. But it's not enough. You need to face someone with actual training, in a genuinely competitive environment. This tournament will really help your training. It's the right kind of energy and sportsmanship."
"But won't people recognize you and I? I thought our training was supposed to be a secret?"
"Do you know anyone in Valencia?"
"I know people who could know people in Valencia. Because of the internet anyone can know where I've been in under a few hours." I remembered that Kreese wasn't as out of touch as Johnny but he was still pretty old. "Plus if we're going to some kickboxing tournament wouldn't people recognize you? You said tournaments are the one place you could get recognized."
"We'll be fine. This might only be a twenty to thirty minute drive for most, but this is a muted and subtle tournament. Not the kind you're thinking. It'll all be fine, trust me."
I nodded. "Okay Sensei. I trust you."
…
He was right. I wasn't expecting it to be a very large yet low key kind of place.
It was in some sort of huge garage or storage area. It clearly wasn't any sort of underground fighting ring of any kind, all the referees and officials had a uniform of a simple white shirt and black slacks or jeans.
Kreese and I walked up to the main plastic table.
"Hi there. Can I help you?" the guy with dreadlocks there asked.
"Yeah we're here to compete." Kreese said.
"Okay." he handed us a sheet of paper and a clipboard. "All the paperworks there. The rulesets are attached. Have you ever competed in IKF competitions before?"
Before I could say the honest no, Kreese spoke.
"I used to compete in the old IKF, back when it was still SCKC." Kreese said. "I know the rules."
"Well they haven't changed much sir." said the official. "Take a seat and as soon as you're registered we'll see if you can line up a fight for you."
I sat down with Kreese. "I didn't know you used to compete in kickboxing."
"Only back in the seventies before I opened the dojo. Three point style fighting was useful for a time for the Cobras. But I knew at some point they'd want to move on to bigger and better things. Sure karate was globally competitive at the time, but this was really the next step. It never came around because I had to close the dojo before I got the chance."
"So this will help me with my training for the All Valley?"
"Immensely. Possibly more than anything I could really come up with in regular training. A few solid rounds in the ring will really improve your stuff. Here."
He handed me the clipboard and pen as I read the paper.
IKF PKB Amateur Valencia Championships
Friday, November 18th 2016
"This seems way beyond karate. Why bother with the All Valley if this is what Cobra Kai was meant for?"
"Because it's ultimately the same thing just with much more limited contact and only three un-continous points. And this league completely fell apart from lack of memberships and competition during '75 so I had to move on. This is points sparring but continuous. Punches and kicks to the head, chest, and legs are all scored differently. The match does not stop when a point lands."
"Oh so like a Taekwondo match. The classic style."
Kreese shrugged. "Somewhat. This is semi contact instead of no contact or full contact. It helps competitors appreciate both a real fight as well as the sportsmanship and training conditions of a spar. You won't be tapping each other or playing tag around the ring, but you won't be bashing each other to bits either."
"Would Cobra Kai compete in stuff like this if the dojo reopened?"
"No. This is a mostly one time thing to keep you sharp our dojo is still completely about karate, this is just a smaller part of that, a training exercise of sorts. After this, I expect you to return to full on training for the All Valley. You only have a couple months before it starts anyway."
It was Saturday May 13th of next year.
I signed everything I needed to on the sheet as I spoke to him. "We have the rest of November. December, January, and then February, March, and April to get ready."
"You'll be training so hard in the preceding three months before the tournament today will look like a tray of cupcakes." said Kreese. "I promise you that."
I handed the finished papers to the official who spoke after checking his notebook, open nearby on his table.
"You're in luck. We have only one person in your category signed up for a match. Typically juniors divisions are thirteen to fourteen and fifteen to seventeen, but you two are the only teenagers competing at all today you have to spar. He's fifteen, record's one and one, around your size and weight class, should make for good work." he said.
I nodded. "Looking forward to it."
Kreese walked over to the fight schedule which was quickly updated about two minutes later by the man.
"I just forgot something."
"What?"
"You're just fourteen. They always have the kids fight first at these things. We only have half an hour to warm you up."
I was surprised. "Is that enough?"
"Plenty actually."
Kreese had managed to buy me a mouthguard and sparring helmet and used the mitts we had to warm me up. "Remember. This is semi contact, you can land your hits properly. Just don't over do it or you'll be taken out."
"That's even if I can land a knockout." I mumbled, starting to throw some punches on the pads. "How'd you even find out about this?" I said through my mouthguard.
"Found a computer at a local library. Just don't worry."
I made sure to keep my chin tucked in tight and my shoulder high when throwing my jab on the mitts. Not telegraphing my front kick, and going over everything I needed to know for my match as Kreese spoke.
…
Lucas and his opponent entered the ring, Kreese standing just behind where Lucas was on his corner.
"Again kid. This is a free spar with plenty of punches to the head. You're not used to it, but you'll be fine. Points just happen to be involved."
The announcer spoke as there was only one referee and Lucas' opponent was a curly haired teenager slightly taller and more muscular than him. Both of them had their shirts off wearing boxing trunks and were wearing both foot and shin protectors, gloves, and a mouthguard and helmet.
"Fighting from Cabrero's Muay Thai! His record one one, Liam Borges!"
The crowd of nearly twenty five people all sitting in plastic chairs around the single ring used for the entire competition applauded lightly.
"And fighting unaffiliated. His record nothing nothing, Lucas Schwarber!"
The crowd applauded slightly less.
"Okay gentlemen. Come here, touch gloves."
The same official who had helped Kreese and Lucas sign up for the tournament was the one refereeing the match.
Lucas and Liam did so and tapped their gloves together and the referee spoke. "These are two one minute and a half rounds with a third for a tiebreaker if necessary. Do not stop fighting unless I direct you to do so. Ready?"
Both nodded.
"To your corners!"
Liam walked to his corner, Liam bouncing.
"And!"
The bell rang.
"Fight!"
Lucas and Liam walked towards each other.
Lucas was mostly nervous, a little wary of being hit in the face for the first time in his life. The crowd wasn't even that massive nor were there too many lights. But he still kept his guard tight and circle his opponent, not throwing anything significant.
Liam came right at him and started throwing very strong yet controlled punches to the head and body, finishing it off with a perfectly landing round kick to Lucas' ribs that hit him in the left side of the chest.
That started to wake him up, and Lucas started to jab.
He timed a huge right hand landing on his opponents chest and then simple front kick to the temple which was blocked.
They circled each other again, as Liam started to jab, Lucas circled around for a split and cut an angle, throwing a backfist to raise his opponents guard and expose his body and another strong kick.
He stepped up into a lead side kick which landed just above Liam's hip, staggering him.
Kreese nodded silently in approval.
The round continued and the only significant blows either of them landed were Lucas with a perfectly timed left lead hook to the liver and Liam with a punches to the head and body and a single kicks to the leg.
As everything except punches to the head counted as two points instead of one, Lucas had to get very creative with how he chained his shots together.
Being checked with a knee when throwing a round kick to either the body or the head hurt very badly and Lucas learned it the hard way. As well as leaving his hands down, chin up, or elbows out, to get hit in the head or body. But he started to find ways to counter certain attacks and combinations.
A straight right followed up instantly with a round kick was easily parried and dodged, but the moment of space created the second a new angle was created had to be followed up instantly with either a punch of a kick of his own. Other counters followed similar timing of creating a new quick space after dodging when an opponent attacked and filling it instantly when counter attacking and throwing a strike in return to score.
Lucas didn't realize it but exactly what Kreese intended was working.
He was getting less afraid of being hit in the face with direct punches or kicks. He read the ring more, timed his shots better. Even though it wasn't full contact, the semi contact aspect helped him appreciate the simple method of hitting and not being hit more.
However, it wasn't enough. His opponent was far more experienced and despite it being hard fought throughout, his opponent ultimately scored clearly better.
The bell was rung quickly and the referee separated Lucas from Liam the moment he started to jab. "Stop!" he said.
A young woman was handed a slip of paper from one of the referees and spoke. "Round goes to Borges!"
Lucas panted quietly as Kreese took out his mouthguard, gave him his water and spoke. "You're doing great kid."
"I'm losing."
"Cobra Kai doesn't believe in defeat for a reason. Because you're learning to adapt to a losing situation that's the point." Lucas spat out the water in a bucket Kreese offered. "Then you come out a winner."
Kreese spoke.
"You need to work on your counters more. This is how you'll land and how you'll win this match. Fight more aggressively, now that you've gotten a handle for his jab and how a match like this works. You make the come back. Score those points back Mr. Schwarber."
"Yes Sensei."
A pair of plastic sticks were banged together loudly to announce the round was about to begin.
"Just stop thinking about it and go. All your training, all your reflexes and technique are already there."
The bell rang for the second round.
Lucas did exactly as Kreese asked.
He read his opponent's attacks and acted accordingly.
Lucas threw way more jabs and more front kicks to lead into follow up punches and knees and other kicks.
The moment his opponents foot began to lift off the ground and throw a front snap kick Lucas had almost jumped forward and already planted his front leg hard on the mat to control yet hit his opponent as hard as he could within the rules directly in the jaw.
Lucas threw a jab to invite a counter, a round kick, that Lucas instantly counted with his own counter, a right hand straight to the body.
He landed straight punches with his lead hand, his left, and his right hand to both the head and body, as both counters and part of combination attacks.
Lucas started to land his kicks more, even a few knees a bit, and was timing his blocks and defense far better than in the first round.
Liam was still scoring hits well, but not as much as Lucas.
Then the next thing Lucas knew the second round ended and almost instantly the quickest judges decision he'd ever seen was announced.
"Round goes to Schwarber!"
Lucas walked back over to Kreese who was crossing his arms smugly without so much as a grin or a nod of acknowledgment.
The referee muttered to Lucas. "You get an extra thirty seconds to prepare for this last round."
"Okay." he muttered back while panting slightly.
"What did I say?"
"That fear does not exist."
Kreese shrugged. "You know what to do for this last round."
…
During the last round, Lucas hadn't evolved completely at all, but it was clear to Kreese that he had grown from the previous two rounds.
There was no flinching or freezing up from his part. Any strikes coming his way, punches, kicks, knees, he merely adapted to and reacted appropriately.
He countered, dodged, or blocked them. He used the ring, he struck, he scored.
Liam was still a kickboxer through and through and didn't make it easy at all, but fought a losing match.
He had begun to turn it around nearing the end of the last half of the fight until Lucas used the only legal sweep the Semi Contact Kickboxing match allowed, a trip using the front part of his foot to hook onto his opponent's lead leg and sweep him off the mat as he kicked.
Lucas' first instinct was to finish his opponent and score with a punch to the head or body, but managed to keep his contact under control as he had the entire match having thoroughly abided by the rules since learning them.
Liam stood up and they two continued to spar for almost ten seconds when the round rang.
…
I panted quietly wearing a simple black tanktop I had brought with me for training with Kreese today instead of competing in this points kickboxing match surprisingly.
Borges was wearing a shirt too and we both stood with one of our hands held by a ref standing on either side of him.
"Ladies and gentlemen after three rounds of kickboxing." said the announcer as the audience listened in silence. "We give you the judge's decision. The first round was scored decisively for Liam Borges, the second, split for Lucas Schwarber. And."
The announced fixed his tie as he spoke. "By split decision. Your new thirteen to fourteen and fifteen to seventeen year old Southern California IKF, PKB, PIR, and PMT Division winner."
He paused.
"Lucaaaass Schwarber!"
I watched as Borges applauded respectfully, showing great sportsmanship as a green and white trophy was handed to me.
The small crowd applauded.
I smiled back and nodded and shook Borges' hand as an official gave Borges a medal.
"That was great man. Good work." we tapped hand wrapped fists I said. "Great fight."
"You too. Where'd you learn that?" he asked.
I looked at Kreese for a second. I hesitated to say karate, because it really was just kickboxing and boxing applied in a traditional karate style of training as I'd proven in our bout.
"Just an old school kickboxing club. You've probably never heard of it."
He nodded. "A'ight. Good shit."
"Yeah good stuff man."
…
I looked at the trophy I was given. "Smaller than I would've expected."
"It isn't an All Valley trophy I promise you that." Kreese chuckled. "Karate's the sport that's fallen off. All the others just grew."
"Tell me about it. But why was that tournament we just went to so tiny?"
"Like I said. This form of competition got so unpopular in its old league it actually got disbanded a few months before I opened Cobra Kai. It used to be called the Semi Contact Kickboxing Club, only had twenty eight members during its peak. Great men, great fighters, all of them retired, moved elsewhere, or passed away."
"Any of them still live in LA?"
Kreese shook his head. "No. That's why I was sure neither of us would get recognized. And, the reason why I helped join a semi contact club was for the same reason you just learned."
"It's the only way for what I learned to be applied in an environment against other trained fighters outside of huge championships like the All Valley."
"How do you feel?"
"Pain does not exist." I muttered quietly.
Thankfully too. I was glad I took so many headshots today to numb the pain I felt in my knees, shins, and especially my ribs and chest. I'm sure I gave out as well as I took, better by the trophy in my hands. But for a semi contact tournament, it only really meant you couldn't apply enough force behind a blow to knock out an opponent.
Everything else was fair game so long as it was in legal scoring areas above the belt.
"And what do you think?"
"This was good. But I preferred the All Valley we saw earlier this year. Sure there were more people, but I think it's a lot faster. Lower volume of strikes, but different. I like both overall really."
"Good. Because this was the most you'll see of point kickboxing for a long time, this was just a training exercise. Because the moment your winter break starts, your real training begins."
"How so?"
"In the months leading up to a tournament. I had the class do the reasonably hardest training I could. First cardio, then strength training, then sparring and fundamentals. The class would train at least two hours a day every weekday for weeks until the tournament began. Then they actually competed."
I laughed. "Miracle the Vidals actually gave you any trouble at all considering you trained your class so well. Sounds like a lot of training."
"When I said pain does not exist." Kreese looked over at me slowly from his bus seat next to me. "Did you think I was joking?"
"No Sensei."
"Good. This trophy." Kreese nodded towards the new Point Muay Thai. "Needs to be the first of many. Your opponent fought well today. And he fought hard. As did you. You need to start fighting better, and harder. And keep up these trophies. You can never stop winning enough, that is Cobra Kai."
"Yes Sensei."
And for the first time since I met him, Kreese patted my shoulder and completely acknowledged what I had done.
"You are becoming Cobra Kai. You are becoming a student I can be proud of." he admitted quietly.
I smiled. "Thank you Sensei."
"But just don't think I'll repeat it."
"Sure."
…
Shortly before nightfall I waxed cars on and off in the LaRusso's driveway. They had two.
Daniel had his own car, and Amanda had a family car, which was strange since I was sure they could have a third for a family car and give Amanda her own.
I whistled him up. "Donnie! Bring the bucket boy, come on."
He did so like always.
"Yes, good boy yes. Who likes the head pats? Now fetch the soap."
Donnie's tail wagged and the golden retriever quickly retrieved the can of wax I needed.
"Yes." he adored the chin scratch and the head pat. "Yes! Good boy." I said before tossing him a biscuit he caught out of the air.
He panted quietly and sat next to where I stood before I continued, attached by leash to a clip on my belt even though I knew I ran the risk of being thrown around suddenly if he saw a squirrel or something.
"I thought your internship only meant you had to clean cars in dad's lot."
I smiled at him for a quick second. "Oh. Hey Anthony. No, I'm just practicing my fundamentals and kata." I said, knowing how crucial my reflexes Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai both gave me for counters after today especially.
"This. Is karate?" asked Anthony. "Where are the punches and kicks? And dad's weird hop kick thing?"
"I don't plan on ever learning the crane kick." I said. "Miyagi-Do karate teaches you that life is not what it seems. Balance is everything. Life starts in the breath."
"What does that mean?"
"That doing cardio is absolutely great for you in a fight," I said. "And um. To take life one step at a time. And everything becomes clearer."
Anthony sipped his cold drink. "But it just looks like you're doing chores."
"And it looks like you. Have really gotten in shape."
"Yeah um. Soccer helped. You did actually thanks."
"No problem Anth." I tapped his shoulder quickly. "Speaking of which. You're on your way to becoming a fellow soccer champ. Which means. You'll get attention from more of the ladies."
"Which ladies? I haven't met any interested in me." Anthony said dryly.
He hadn't met Lia yet then.
"Trust me. At some point it'll happen."
"You speaking from experience?"
I shrugged. "More or less. Thing is. You're out on a date one night. Or some guy happened to be jealous of you." Like Kenny the Cobra Kai, who you also haven't met yet. "You might need to know how to defend yourself."
"And washing cars helps?"
"It's called wax on wax off. And it helps you to not get hit in the face by a punch."
"But that still doesn't look like karate."
"Do the blueprints for a car look like a car? No. Kata includes the basic techniques involved in karate. The reverse punch, several kicks, almost every block."
Anthony was still confused. "Then why practice kata? Why not just practice the techniques themselves?"
"Because Miyagi-Do kata is about more than just the techniques. Miyagi-Do is about balance in all aspects of life, and the kata specifically teaches things you need in life. Clarity, a neutral and calm perspective. And if all you care about is striking to win."
I stayed silent realizing that was nearly the opposite of all I used it for until now.
"Or to hurt. Then you've missed the point of karate entirely."
"So then what is karate supposed to be about?"
"Whatever you want it to be. As long as it's for self defense."
Anthony shrugged. "Okay. Nice to know." He said before leaving.
A few minutes later before I left I finished the last coat of wax on Amanda's car.
I saw my own reflection in how shiny the car was. And I thought of the pride, honor, and respect both Daniel and Kreese had in me.
And how conflicted that made me feel. But I was interrupted.
"You gonna sic your dog on me or something?"
I didn't look at her. "Trust me. Donnie'd never hurt a fly."
"Just like you wouldn't?"
I folded the towel I used to get rid of any sticky or messy debris in particular I found. "First time all week you talk to me Sam. And it's to aggravate me."
"You attacked my friends!"
"Yasmine instantly regretted what she did to Aisha. And Eli and Aisha won't be bullied anymore."
"Is that why you spoke condescendingly to her the first chance you got?"
I sighed. "That was out of line for me. But I was right that it's up to Aisha to decide how to feel."
"You know what? I'm sick of this. You use the karate my dad gave you to become the toughest kid in school. Some people even think you're some sort of hero." said Sam. "But all you did was beat up four people in a bathroom and got away with it scot free. Doesn't that bother you?"
"I didn't want violence to be the first answer."
"Which is why you baited Kyler into fighting you?"
I couldn't look at her. "I'm sorry Sam."
"You are?"
"But you don't get to talk to me like I'm some sort of monster."
Sam scoffed. "Why not?"
I knelt to put the finishing touches on her mom's car. "Because it's not fair. I don't consider you to be awful. So don't treat me that way either."
"So if Kyler did that to your friends you wouldn't be mad?"
"Sam I go to school every single day with Aisha and Eli. We're pretty good friends. And I have to ask myself if they're getting hate mail and being called awful things no one should online. Started by things your friends did and said."
I realized the root of all this.
Sam never had undergone the cyberbullying she had on Cobra Kai here. She didn't know what it was like for them.
I frowned. "But you know what? It's all my fault. It's my fault I stood up to Kyler and Yasmine. My fault for having to use karate for its purpose. Self defense. My friends are part of who I am, of myself. Myself was attacked the moment Eli and Aisha were bullied despite being genuinely kind people."
I laughed. "Look at you Sam. You have a great house, tons of friends and will own your own car one day. One kid from out of town comes in and learns karate from your dad. And you automatically assume he's a monster for having to beat up one of your friends with it. Yasmine felt guilty, and your first assumption is that I'm in the wrong."
I walked past Sam mumbling. "If I'm so much of a burden to you and to this family. Fine. You won't have to see me at anywhere but school."
…
Cobra Kai OST: Bonsai Lessons
…
I spent the last half hour before sunset practicing kata on the place I often sought to seek balance. Donnie laid down and waited patiently outside the LaRusso's home dojo on the patio to not get dog hair anywhere.
Kata cleared my head. It made me forget about everything. It made me feel centered and clear.
Donnie stood up instantly off the floor and panted as Daniel rubbed the top of his head and walked in. "Hey Lucas."
I stopped doing the third kata he had taught me, Saifa Kata, combined with a few moves from Sanchin.
"Mr. LaRusso." I said.
"I heard. About what happened with Sam. And being called, the toughest kid at your school apparently."
I nodded. "Yeah."
"And I heard particularly about what you just told Sam. Look, you don't have to guilt Sam into-"
"It wasn't guilt Mr. LaRusso," I said honestly. "It was the truth. I'm done."
"What?"
"I have nothing to gain by fighting with her. It's clear she and her friends have no patience with me. And being here adds horrible distress to your family. I'll go."
"No." said Daniel quickly walking up to me. "No no no. Lucas, there's no horrible distress."
The truth is that there was. But it wasn't Daniel's family or Sam, or even him.
It was me.
For months now I've learned that Daniel was almost exactly the same man I knew from the Cobra Kai show and Karate Kid series.
He was a patient, kind, and forgiving man. He was very flawed, but ultimately, and always, meant well and stuck to his principles.
Mr. Miyagi would've been proud when he forgave Miguel. And forgave Johnny in a way. And saw how responsible he was for everything that happened by the end of the show's fourth season.
He had been honest, respectful, and helpful. He gave very good and clear advice, and it was applicable and helpful from day to day.
But I learned something else. Something I never thought possible.
Daniel saw how thoughtful and resentful I looked. "What is it?"
I couldn't say.
Because John Kreese, a man Daniel only knew as an abusive, violent, and murderous monster was as much a mentor and father figure to me as he was.
"Lucas. Talk to me please."
"Do you regret having taught me Miyagi-Do?"
Because it tore me apart to be able to see both you and a person who was the reason you even needed karate in the first place as good teachers.
"Of course not. I'm proud of what you've done actually, I helped show your school that what you did was justice."
"Because Mr. Miyagi never saw violence as justice right?"
Daniel walked past his picture on the wall of the home dojo and sighed. "No. He didn't. But Mr. Miyagi understood something much more important than that."
"What?"
"Balance," Daniel said. "Peace. Safety. Mr. Miyagi only wanted to teach me karate because I was in danger. From Cobra Kai. From enemies he had made." Daniel frowned down at his own feet. "From even myself at one point."
He had just referenced the problems he'd encountered throughout all three films. And it hit me how this wasn't a movie character. I again realized this often.
That this was a very very real person. Someone I trusted and respected a great deal.
"But Mr. Miyagi knew what he was passing down to me was a huge part of his life. He told me very personal things. Taught me very personal lessons. And he'd only find it right I helped another person find balance and pass on that torch."
Daniel smiled. "This home dojo we practice in often. I was going to make it a storage room. Forget this entire part of my life even existed. Because wow, Amanda and I really needed it at one point. But you know what? I'm glad it came back. Because it showed me how necessary what I had learned was."
He continued to explain. "It's more than Miyagi-Do karate what Mr. Miyagi taught me. He taught me how to be a better person. How to live a better life. The same way you're doing."
I sighed. "I'm not too sure about that."
"Lucas. You're fourteen years old and you got into your first fight. These things happen."
But I didn't. I sided with and bonded to a man he'd never believe I thought as human, honest, helpful, and mentor-like as he was.
The fact that I came to realize Kreese deserved as much of my respect and attention as a person, caused me so much guilt I could barely look at this home dojo. Of Mr. Miyagi's picture, all the Miyagi artifacts everywhere, and Daniel's trophies.
Or even at Daniel himself.
"I'm sorry Mr. LaRusso. But I just can't do this."
"Yes! You can. You understand these lessons better than my own children-"
"I don't," I said quickly, surprising Daniel. "Sam and Anthony aren't perfect. But Miyagi-Do. Miyagi-Do isn't me."
"Lucas, your mother was part of the reason I learned Miyagi-Do. She was one of the only three people I knew who helped me compete when I won that trophy over there. And one day if you want. Your own kids can learn it too. Mr. Miyagi was willing to fight five kids one night on Halloween just to save me. What makes you think he'd be ashamed of you beating up four other bullies using the same karate?"
That wasn't why I was so ashamed.
"All the kata and these lessons have helped me a lot, to feel better, to feel like myself. But I just feel really awful and awkward about all this." I looked around Daniel's home dojo again. "But I can't help feel out of place. Like I don't belong."
Because I literally did not belong here in a way.
"I understand," Daniel said after placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'll want to be your teacher for as long as you need. It's up to you. It always is."
He smiled lightly and gave me a nod before leaving the dojo.
I glanced at Mr. Miyagi's picture before I left. And thought about the legacies of his karate and the other kind I learned.
Because I think I was the only person who'd ever want to honor both him and the founder of its rival martial art, Tang Soo Do, that helped create Cobra Kai Karate, Kim Sun-Yung.
I'd bow to both their pictures. And learn both of their karate. I found there was much to learn and much to respect in both styles and in what both men passed on.
But the truth was, that it'd never happen for much longer than May of next year. Because their students, my two Senseis, all had too much history.
I'd tough this really strange and horrible guilt of balancing two completely different kinds of karate taught by polar opposite teachers out for another few months. But, at the All Valley tournament, I'd make my decision.
I took a deep breath. I learned one of the most important lessons in Miyagi-Do in my first few months.
I'd need a clear head to make that choice. This guilt was natural.
Right?
...
...
...
…
In the days following the complete defeat of Kyler, I kept my eye on him for any retaliation. But it didn't happen.
Things were still tenser than ever with Sam, I don't think she openly accused Kyler of any bullying but I had succeeded in making her ask questions.
Regardless, I didn't care anymore about her or talked at all really. She and I both got different lab partners and that was the last I saw of her mostly for days.
As with most people I identified as being background characters I could interact with and talk to, one of them was actually the first person attractive to me in any way, Charlotte.
She had that very pretty blonde look I knew Yasmine had, but none of that nasty superficiality and bullying attitude at all.
I knew her character only received a name at all by coincidence in the credits of the show or on the actor or actress' social media in real life back when I lived outside of this world. She had joined Cobra Kai around the same time Kenny Payne did in the show, and had no role in the plot at all besides being yet another named extra.
However, her actress, Phoebe French, was kind enough to appear on a few interviews with Youtubers in the same way the actor for Shawn Payne did as well. Weird to consider all these people I knew as well, people now playing fictional characters I interacted with on a daily basis.
I mostly got used to it after the first month, every time I really thought about it, it surprised me.
But I was still building on how exactly to talk to Charlotte. Because for all the attention I got earlier this semester, that sort of died down upon fighting Kyler, I honestly wasn't the best when it came to relationships in general, least of all romantic ones of any sort.
…
In the library after school I spotted Kyler and Brucks walking past, chatting loudly.
"What?" Demetri asked.
Both Binary Brothers weren't on the best terms with me so we were taking the resumption of our friendship slowly.
"I'm sorry about the fight. Really I am." I said.
Demetri grumbled. "Honestly who's gonna mess with you now that you're the toughest kid in school? Whatever Luke."
"I'm the toughest kid in school?"
"Yeah." said Demetri. "Not even Robby Keene's as tough as you are. You both ride skateboards around sometimes. Makes me wonder why you bother hanging out with us."
"I think our social groups are a little limited now that I've pretty much pissed off every major athletic group in school."
"Why would the basketball team be mad at you?" Demetri wondered.
"Let me guess," I said quietly. "I showed I had no problem putting top football, wrestling, and baseball players out of commission for about a week no sweat. They're probably wondering if I'll be the bully police as you say and go around doing the same or whatever."
Demetri scoffed, taking a few more notes from his History textbook. "Wouldn't be surprised honestly."
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry."
"It's fine Lucas," said Eli shyly. "Really. It is."
I looked around and saw Charlotte reading in front of a nearby book case.
"What?" Demetri asked.
I shook my head.
"Nothing."
Demetri shrugged. "I'd wish you good luck. But with your level of looks, confidence, money, and general level of strength and muscle I'd say you'd be fine."
Sometimes Demetri resembled Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory so much that sometimes it was pathetic.
"It's not like that man. Not anymore anyway."
"Beating up the school's top bullies no one really knew were bullies can do that."
I put my book for English, A Separate Peace, down and walked towards her.
Charlotte didn't see me approaching.
"Hi," I said quietly.
Charlotte saw me, closing her book. "Hi."
"We have the same English teacher, right? O'Shaughnessy?"
"Yeah I see you leave his room a few times after fourth," she said lightly.
I cleared my throat. "This is a. Bad way to start a conversation. But through rumor or otherwise. Would you happen to know my name?" I smiled weakly.
Charlotte smiled lightly, stifling a laugh. "Yeah. You're Lucas Schwarber. The sports team menace. Some of the other girls on my tennis team mentioned you. Not that, girls have anything to be afraid of." she said awkwardly.
"I mean. The whole spaghetti thing was kinda out of line for me." I admitted.
"Well. No, Yas deserved that. Half the people I know from cheer say she really got put in her place for that."
I was enjoying the decision to talk to her more and more.
I was a bit surprised. "You do cheer and tennis?"
"I just am friends with people on cheer, but I did consider trying out. I knew Yasmine from our middle school. She was cool, until she joined the cheer squad. I don't know what happened afterward, we stopped talking."
"People change when they. Join a sports team? I don't know." I said quietly. "Anyway. Um. What's your name?"
Because it was weird to admit I already knew it from a place I myself never would've imagined knowing.
"Charlotte." she shook my hand. "Friends call me Char. Char, Charlotte. Doesn't matter to me."
"Well." I put my hands in my jeans pockets. "I didn't realize I was a menace."
"Yeah…" Charlotte said. "Most freshmen aren't known to beat up four guys on their own. Fights rarely happen in general here I've noticed. But I don't know, I didn't mean it like that."
"It's cool. Speaking of menaces, this reading list huh? What a snore."
"I know right. I actually like books, it's just the ones we got I'm gonna have to Sparknote."
I nodded. "PE. English. Some classes seem pretty useless. Separate Peace is a total drag, god. I couldn't get past the second paragraph."
"I know!" Charlotte laughed quietly as we were still in a library. "I can't stand English either."
"Besides this mess with Kyler. I was expecting these really dumb cliques to pop up. And for high school here to be. Terrible in a way."
Charlotte shrugged. "So did I. I had an old middle school teacher who made it seem like it'd be a living hell. It's just not."
"My friends still seem to think these really weird outdated concepts like popularity and me. Apparently being the toughest kid in school are you know. The norm."
Charlotte winced, gripping her arm. "You kinda are no offense. That does happen when you walk away from fighting four guys fine and they're all beat up."
"Why does everyone think that's such an odd thing?"
"Gee. Maybe because it only seems to happen in the movies?"
I laughed.
I really liked talking to her.
Charlotte checked her phone. "I um. I gotta go. But can you do something for me?"
"Sure."
"Can you hand me that book on the top shelf? That one."
I read the title aloud after I helped her. "A Traditional Guide to Creole Peoples and Culture?"
"It's for a project. I think you might get it next unit. Which History teacher do you have?"
"Er. Old guy, tends to wear a hat. Milton."
"Milton. Yeah, I think it'll come up for you. You gotta make a presentation on your heritage and culture or something. The books a requirement for a source."
I smiled. "Guess I'll have trouble finding books on Scottish dog breeding. It's an old family thing for the Mills. And um, it's cool to hear you're Creole."
"Oh, I myself am not Creole. My parents adopted me, they're mostly Creole and Native American."
"That, that's awesome. See ya round."
I walked back to my table where Robby was sitting with us tucking his headphones into his backpack.
"Very nice Luke." Robby nodded slightly.
"What?"
"She's in my History class. Blonde. Ridiculously cute." Robby smiled with a wink making an 'okay' sign. "Indeed. Niiice."
As time went on I realized just how much of his father Robby absorbed from Johnny.
Demetri said nothing as Eli broke a smile.
"What are we talking about? What's so nice?" Aisha said putting her backpack down and sitting in the empty spot next to Robby.
"Luke's got a thing for that blonde girl we sit with in Ilanova's class." said Robby.
"Oh, she's nice," Aisha said.
"That's what I keep saying." Robby nodded again. "Niiiiice."
Aisha lightly slapped his elbow as Eli actually started to laugh which was a very rare thing and Demetri finally showed any interest outside of his homework unless specifically interrupted to do so by laughing.
I took a long sigh. "I hate you guys."
"We're all you got since you got Kyler and Yasmine and all their friends either afraid of or mad at you. Both in most cases." Robby said.
I muttered back to him. "Alright dude. And what groups have you branched out to?"
"None. I mean. None of the clubs or teams are for me." said Robby. "My dad said all that's for nerds."
"You do everything your dad tells you?" I wondered.
"Well no. But he is the authority of this school. Prom king, karate champ."
"Yeah maybe thirty years ago. Back when fights at beach parties and the VHS was the hottest thing out."
"Your mom was the queen apparently. According to my dad. Sorry if that sounds weird man."
Demetri and Eli were pretty lost and then Aisha chimed in. "Their parents used to date in the eighties." They then both nodded.
I assumed Robby told her. A bit surprising really.
"His Sensei is the guy who went out with his mom that started this whole. Thing," said Robby.
"What's a Sensei?" asked Eli quietly.
"It's a karate instructor," I said before checking my phone for the time.
One of the two aforementioned Senseis I would actually be late with. Unless I left immediately to the bus stop I would miss it and show up late to class with Kreese for the first time ever.
"Alright." I said picking up my backpack. "I gotta go guys."
Robby nodded as everyone muttered their goodbyes for the day.
…
I approached the supermarket loading dock where we trained and saw Kreese holding a duffel bag which was a bit strange.
"Sensei, what's going on?"
"Today's class is a field trip."
"A field trip where?"
"To your first fight."
"I told you I already had my first fight. I beat up four bullies on my own, if that's not my first fight I don't know what is."
"Four completely untrained kids your age aren't what I'd call a first fight. We'll make it there in time if we hurry."
"But where is this?"
"If we hurry. We go." Kreese said. "Or are you questioning my orders Schwarber?"
"No Sensei."
…
On the bus ride towards wherever it was we were going I spoke. "So where is this? What is this?"
"It's called semi contact kickboxing. It's point sparring but actually useful to developing good fighting ethics."
"So then why am I competing in the All Valley in May? Why does Cobra Kai take the All Valley so seriously?"
"Because martial arts have evolved greatly since back in the day. In the eighties, karate was everything. Boxing and kickboxing were around for sure, but all the kids of all ages respect and wanted to learn karate. Now, it's all these new styles."
I sighed. "But I just know karate."
"Exactly. My karate. Which I think can survive in this new environment." said Kreese. "I've taught you good fundamentals. Good striking form, a good guard, and given you good reflexes. This is the best kind of place to test this."
"But again, I beat up four guys. Everyone at school's called me the toughest kid in school this whole week."
Kreese sighed. "Does anyone at your school train in any sort of kickboxing or boxing?"
"Not that I know of."
"Then you beat up four idiots who thought numbers and size meant everything in a fight. You fought creatively enough to win when outnumbered. But it's not enough. You need to face someone with actual training, in a genuinely competitive environment. This tournament will really help your training. It's the right kind of energy and sportsmanship."
"But won't people recognize you and I? I thought our training was supposed to be a secret?"
"Do you know anyone in Valencia?"
"I know people who could know people in Valencia. Because of the internet anyone can know where I've been in under a few hours." I remembered that Kreese wasn't as out of touch as Johnny but he was still pretty old. "Plus if we're going to some kickboxing tournament wouldn't people recognize you? You said tournaments are the one place you could get recognized."
"We'll be fine. This might only be a twenty to thirty minute drive for most, but this is a muted and subtle tournament. Not the kind you're thinking. It'll all be fine, trust me."
I nodded. "Okay Sensei. I trust you."
…
He was right. I wasn't expecting it to be a very large yet low key kind of place.
It was in some sort of huge garage or storage area. It clearly wasn't any sort of underground fighting ring of any kind, all the referees and officials had a uniform of a simple white shirt and black slacks or jeans.
Kreese and I walked up to the main plastic table.
"Hi there. Can I help you?" the guy with dreadlocks there asked.
"Yeah we're here to compete." Kreese said.
"Okay." he handed us a sheet of paper and a clipboard. "All the paperworks there. The rulesets are attached. Have you ever competed in IKF competitions before?"
Before I could say the honest no, Kreese spoke.
"I used to compete in the old IKF, back when it was still SCKC." Kreese said. "I know the rules."
"Well they haven't changed much sir." said the official. "Take a seat and as soon as you're registered we'll see if you can line up a fight for you."
I sat down with Kreese. "I didn't know you used to compete in kickboxing."
"Only back in the seventies before I opened the dojo. Three point style fighting was useful for a time for the Cobras. But I knew at some point they'd want to move on to bigger and better things. Sure karate was globally competitive at the time, but this was really the next step. It never came around because I had to close the dojo before I got the chance."
"So this will help me with my training for the All Valley?"
"Immensely. Possibly more than anything I could really come up with in regular training. A few solid rounds in the ring will really improve your stuff. Here."
He handed me the clipboard and pen as I read the paper.
IKF PKB Amateur Valencia Championships
Friday, November 18th 2016
"This seems way beyond karate. Why bother with the All Valley if this is what Cobra Kai was meant for?"
"Because it's ultimately the same thing just with much more limited contact and only three un-continous points. And this league completely fell apart from lack of memberships and competition during '75 so I had to move on. This is points sparring but continuous. Punches and kicks to the head, chest, and legs are all scored differently. The match does not stop when a point lands."
"Oh so like a Taekwondo match. The classic style."
Kreese shrugged. "Somewhat. This is semi contact instead of no contact or full contact. It helps competitors appreciate both a real fight as well as the sportsmanship and training conditions of a spar. You won't be tapping each other or playing tag around the ring, but you won't be bashing each other to bits either."
"Would Cobra Kai compete in stuff like this if the dojo reopened?"
"No. This is a mostly one time thing to keep you sharp our dojo is still completely about karate, this is just a smaller part of that, a training exercise of sorts. After this, I expect you to return to full on training for the All Valley. You only have a couple months before it starts anyway."
It was Saturday May 13th of next year.
I signed everything I needed to on the sheet as I spoke to him. "We have the rest of November. December, January, and then February, March, and April to get ready."
"You'll be training so hard in the preceding three months before the tournament today will look like a tray of cupcakes." said Kreese. "I promise you that."
I handed the finished papers to the official who spoke after checking his notebook, open nearby on his table.
"You're in luck. We have only one person in your category signed up for a match. Typically juniors divisions are thirteen to fourteen and fifteen to seventeen, but you two are the only teenagers competing at all today you have to spar. He's fifteen, record's one and one, around your size and weight class, should make for good work." he said.
I nodded. "Looking forward to it."
Kreese walked over to the fight schedule which was quickly updated about two minutes later by the man.
"I just forgot something."
"What?"
"You're just fourteen. They always have the kids fight first at these things. We only have half an hour to warm you up."
I was surprised. "Is that enough?"
"Plenty actually."
Kreese had managed to buy me a mouthguard and sparring helmet and used the mitts we had to warm me up. "Remember. This is semi contact, you can land your hits properly. Just don't over do it or you'll be taken out."
"That's even if I can land a knockout." I mumbled, starting to throw some punches on the pads. "How'd you even find out about this?" I said through my mouthguard.
"Found a computer at a local library. Just don't worry."
I made sure to keep my chin tucked in tight and my shoulder high when throwing my jab on the mitts. Not telegraphing my front kick, and going over everything I needed to know for my match as Kreese spoke.
…
Lucas and his opponent entered the ring, Kreese standing just behind where Lucas was on his corner.
"Again kid. This is a free spar with plenty of punches to the head. You're not used to it, but you'll be fine. Points just happen to be involved."
The announcer spoke as there was only one referee and Lucas' opponent was a curly haired teenager slightly taller and more muscular than him. Both of them had their shirts off wearing boxing trunks and were wearing both foot and shin protectors, gloves, and a mouthguard and helmet.
"Fighting from Cabrero's Muay Thai! His record one one, Liam Borges!"
The crowd of nearly twenty five people all sitting in plastic chairs around the single ring used for the entire competition applauded lightly.
"And fighting unaffiliated. His record nothing nothing, Lucas Schwarber!"
The crowd applauded slightly less.
"Okay gentlemen. Come here, touch gloves."
The same official who had helped Kreese and Lucas sign up for the tournament was the one refereeing the match.
Lucas and Liam did so and tapped their gloves together and the referee spoke. "These are two one minute and a half rounds with a third for a tiebreaker if necessary. Do not stop fighting unless I direct you to do so. Ready?"
Both nodded.
"To your corners!"
Liam walked to his corner, Liam bouncing.
"And!"
The bell rang.
"Fight!"
Lucas and Liam walked towards each other.
Lucas was mostly nervous, a little wary of being hit in the face for the first time in his life. The crowd wasn't even that massive nor were there too many lights. But he still kept his guard tight and circle his opponent, not throwing anything significant.
Liam came right at him and started throwing very strong yet controlled punches to the head and body, finishing it off with a perfectly landing round kick to Lucas' ribs that hit him in the left side of the chest.
That started to wake him up, and Lucas started to jab.
He timed a huge right hand landing on his opponents chest and then simple front kick to the temple which was blocked.
They circled each other again, as Liam started to jab, Lucas circled around for a split and cut an angle, throwing a backfist to raise his opponents guard and expose his body and another strong kick.
He stepped up into a lead side kick which landed just above Liam's hip, staggering him.
Kreese nodded silently in approval.
The round continued and the only significant blows either of them landed were Lucas with a perfectly timed left lead hook to the liver and Liam with a punches to the head and body and a single kicks to the leg.
As everything except punches to the head counted as two points instead of one, Lucas had to get very creative with how he chained his shots together.
Being checked with a knee when throwing a round kick to either the body or the head hurt very badly and Lucas learned it the hard way. As well as leaving his hands down, chin up, or elbows out, to get hit in the head or body. But he started to find ways to counter certain attacks and combinations.
A straight right followed up instantly with a round kick was easily parried and dodged, but the moment of space created the second a new angle was created had to be followed up instantly with either a punch of a kick of his own. Other counters followed similar timing of creating a new quick space after dodging when an opponent attacked and filling it instantly when counter attacking and throwing a strike in return to score.
Lucas didn't realize it but exactly what Kreese intended was working.
He was getting less afraid of being hit in the face with direct punches or kicks. He read the ring more, timed his shots better. Even though it wasn't full contact, the semi contact aspect helped him appreciate the simple method of hitting and not being hit more.
However, it wasn't enough. His opponent was far more experienced and despite it being hard fought throughout, his opponent ultimately scored clearly better.
The bell was rung quickly and the referee separated Lucas from Liam the moment he started to jab. "Stop!" he said.
A young woman was handed a slip of paper from one of the referees and spoke. "Round goes to Borges!"
Lucas panted quietly as Kreese took out his mouthguard, gave him his water and spoke. "You're doing great kid."
"I'm losing."
"Cobra Kai doesn't believe in defeat for a reason. Because you're learning to adapt to a losing situation that's the point." Lucas spat out the water in a bucket Kreese offered. "Then you come out a winner."
Kreese spoke.
"You need to work on your counters more. This is how you'll land and how you'll win this match. Fight more aggressively, now that you've gotten a handle for his jab and how a match like this works. You make the come back. Score those points back Mr. Schwarber."
"Yes Sensei."
A pair of plastic sticks were banged together loudly to announce the round was about to begin.
"Just stop thinking about it and go. All your training, all your reflexes and technique are already there."
The bell rang for the second round.
Lucas did exactly as Kreese asked.
He read his opponent's attacks and acted accordingly.
Lucas threw way more jabs and more front kicks to lead into follow up punches and knees and other kicks.
The moment his opponents foot began to lift off the ground and throw a front snap kick Lucas had almost jumped forward and already planted his front leg hard on the mat to control yet hit his opponent as hard as he could within the rules directly in the jaw.
Lucas threw a jab to invite a counter, a round kick, that Lucas instantly counted with his own counter, a right hand straight to the body.
He landed straight punches with his lead hand, his left, and his right hand to both the head and body, as both counters and part of combination attacks.
Lucas started to land his kicks more, even a few knees a bit, and was timing his blocks and defense far better than in the first round.
Liam was still scoring hits well, but not as much as Lucas.
Then the next thing Lucas knew the second round ended and almost instantly the quickest judges decision he'd ever seen was announced.
"Round goes to Schwarber!"
Lucas walked back over to Kreese who was crossing his arms smugly without so much as a grin or a nod of acknowledgment.
The referee muttered to Lucas. "You get an extra thirty seconds to prepare for this last round."
"Okay." he muttered back while panting slightly.
"What did I say?"
"That fear does not exist."
Kreese shrugged. "You know what to do for this last round."
…
During the last round, Lucas hadn't evolved completely at all, but it was clear to Kreese that he had grown from the previous two rounds.
There was no flinching or freezing up from his part. Any strikes coming his way, punches, kicks, knees, he merely adapted to and reacted appropriately.
He countered, dodged, or blocked them. He used the ring, he struck, he scored.
Liam was still a kickboxer through and through and didn't make it easy at all, but fought a losing match.
He had begun to turn it around nearing the end of the last half of the fight until Lucas used the only legal sweep the Semi Contact Kickboxing match allowed, a trip using the front part of his foot to hook onto his opponent's lead leg and sweep him off the mat as he kicked.
Lucas' first instinct was to finish his opponent and score with a punch to the head or body, but managed to keep his contact under control as he had the entire match having thoroughly abided by the rules since learning them.
Liam stood up and they two continued to spar for almost ten seconds when the round rang.
…
I panted quietly wearing a simple black tanktop I had brought with me for training with Kreese today instead of competing in this points kickboxing match surprisingly.
Borges was wearing a shirt too and we both stood with one of our hands held by a ref standing on either side of him.
"Ladies and gentlemen after three rounds of kickboxing." said the announcer as the audience listened in silence. "We give you the judge's decision. The first round was scored decisively for Liam Borges, the second, split for Lucas Schwarber. And."
The announced fixed his tie as he spoke. "By split decision. Your new thirteen to fourteen and fifteen to seventeen year old Southern California IKF, PKB, PIR, and PMT Division winner."
He paused.
"Lucaaaass Schwarber!"
I watched as Borges applauded respectfully, showing great sportsmanship as a green and white trophy was handed to me.
The small crowd applauded.
I smiled back and nodded and shook Borges' hand as an official gave Borges a medal.
"That was great man. Good work." we tapped hand wrapped fists I said. "Great fight."
"You too. Where'd you learn that?" he asked.
I looked at Kreese for a second. I hesitated to say karate, because it really was just kickboxing and boxing applied in a traditional karate style of training as I'd proven in our bout.
"Just an old school kickboxing club. You've probably never heard of it."
He nodded. "A'ight. Good shit."
"Yeah good stuff man."
…
I looked at the trophy I was given. "Smaller than I would've expected."
"It isn't an All Valley trophy I promise you that." Kreese chuckled. "Karate's the sport that's fallen off. All the others just grew."
"Tell me about it. But why was that tournament we just went to so tiny?"
"Like I said. This form of competition got so unpopular in its old league it actually got disbanded a few months before I opened Cobra Kai. It used to be called the Semi Contact Kickboxing Club, only had twenty eight members during its peak. Great men, great fighters, all of them retired, moved elsewhere, or passed away."
"Any of them still live in LA?"
Kreese shook his head. "No. That's why I was sure neither of us would get recognized. And, the reason why I helped join a semi contact club was for the same reason you just learned."
"It's the only way for what I learned to be applied in an environment against other trained fighters outside of huge championships like the All Valley."
"How do you feel?"
"Pain does not exist." I muttered quietly.
Thankfully too. I was glad I took so many headshots today to numb the pain I felt in my knees, shins, and especially my ribs and chest. I'm sure I gave out as well as I took, better by the trophy in my hands. But for a semi contact tournament, it only really meant you couldn't apply enough force behind a blow to knock out an opponent.
Everything else was fair game so long as it was in legal scoring areas above the belt.
"And what do you think?"
"This was good. But I preferred the All Valley we saw earlier this year. Sure there were more people, but I think it's a lot faster. Lower volume of strikes, but different. I like both overall really."
"Good. Because this was the most you'll see of point kickboxing for a long time, this was just a training exercise. Because the moment your winter break starts, your real training begins."
"How so?"
"In the months leading up to a tournament. I had the class do the reasonably hardest training I could. First cardio, then strength training, then sparring and fundamentals. The class would train at least two hours a day every weekday for weeks until the tournament began. Then they actually competed."
I laughed. "Miracle the Vidals actually gave you any trouble at all considering you trained your class so well. Sounds like a lot of training."
"When I said pain does not exist." Kreese looked over at me slowly from his bus seat next to me. "Did you think I was joking?"
"No Sensei."
"Good. This trophy." Kreese nodded towards the new Point Muay Thai. "Needs to be the first of many. Your opponent fought well today. And he fought hard. As did you. You need to start fighting better, and harder. And keep up these trophies. You can never stop winning enough, that is Cobra Kai."
"Yes Sensei."
And for the first time since I met him, Kreese patted my shoulder and completely acknowledged what I had done.
"You are becoming Cobra Kai. You are becoming a student I can be proud of." he admitted quietly.
I smiled. "Thank you Sensei."
"But just don't think I'll repeat it."
"Sure."
…
Shortly before nightfall I waxed cars on and off in the LaRusso's driveway. They had two.
Daniel had his own car, and Amanda had a family car, which was strange since I was sure they could have a third for a family car and give Amanda her own.
I whistled him up. "Donnie! Bring the bucket boy, come on."
He did so like always.
"Yes, good boy yes. Who likes the head pats? Now fetch the soap."
Donnie's tail wagged and the golden retriever quickly retrieved the can of wax I needed.
"Yes." he adored the chin scratch and the head pat. "Yes! Good boy." I said before tossing him a biscuit he caught out of the air.
He panted quietly and sat next to where I stood before I continued, attached by leash to a clip on my belt even though I knew I ran the risk of being thrown around suddenly if he saw a squirrel or something.
"I thought your internship only meant you had to clean cars in dad's lot."
I smiled at him for a quick second. "Oh. Hey Anthony. No, I'm just practicing my fundamentals and kata." I said, knowing how crucial my reflexes Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai both gave me for counters after today especially.
"This. Is karate?" asked Anthony. "Where are the punches and kicks? And dad's weird hop kick thing?"
"I don't plan on ever learning the crane kick." I said. "Miyagi-Do karate teaches you that life is not what it seems. Balance is everything. Life starts in the breath."
"What does that mean?"
"That doing cardio is absolutely great for you in a fight," I said. "And um. To take life one step at a time. And everything becomes clearer."
Anthony sipped his cold drink. "But it just looks like you're doing chores."
"And it looks like you. Have really gotten in shape."
"Yeah um. Soccer helped. You did actually thanks."
"No problem Anth." I tapped his shoulder quickly. "Speaking of which. You're on your way to becoming a fellow soccer champ. Which means. You'll get attention from more of the ladies."
"Which ladies? I haven't met any interested in me." Anthony said dryly.
He hadn't met Lia yet then.
"Trust me. At some point it'll happen."
"You speaking from experience?"
I shrugged. "More or less. Thing is. You're out on a date one night. Or some guy happened to be jealous of you." Like Kenny the Cobra Kai, who you also haven't met yet. "You might need to know how to defend yourself."
"And washing cars helps?"
"It's called wax on wax off. And it helps you to not get hit in the face by a punch."
"But that still doesn't look like karate."
"Do the blueprints for a car look like a car? No. Kata includes the basic techniques involved in karate. The reverse punch, several kicks, almost every block."
Anthony was still confused. "Then why practice kata? Why not just practice the techniques themselves?"
"Because Miyagi-Do kata is about more than just the techniques. Miyagi-Do is about balance in all aspects of life, and the kata specifically teaches things you need in life. Clarity, a neutral and calm perspective. And if all you care about is striking to win."
I stayed silent realizing that was nearly the opposite of all I used it for until now.
"Or to hurt. Then you've missed the point of karate entirely."
"So then what is karate supposed to be about?"
"Whatever you want it to be. As long as it's for self defense."
Anthony shrugged. "Okay. Nice to know." He said before leaving.
A few minutes later before I left I finished the last coat of wax on Amanda's car.
I saw my own reflection in how shiny the car was. And I thought of the pride, honor, and respect both Daniel and Kreese had in me.
And how conflicted that made me feel. But I was interrupted.
"You gonna sic your dog on me or something?"
I didn't look at her. "Trust me. Donnie'd never hurt a fly."
"Just like you wouldn't?"
I folded the towel I used to get rid of any sticky or messy debris in particular I found. "First time all week you talk to me Sam. And it's to aggravate me."
"You attacked my friends!"
"Yasmine instantly regretted what she did to Aisha. And Eli and Aisha won't be bullied anymore."
"Is that why you spoke condescendingly to her the first chance you got?"
I sighed. "That was out of line for me. But I was right that it's up to Aisha to decide how to feel."
"You know what? I'm sick of this. You use the karate my dad gave you to become the toughest kid in school. Some people even think you're some sort of hero." said Sam. "But all you did was beat up four people in a bathroom and got away with it scot free. Doesn't that bother you?"
"I didn't want violence to be the first answer."
"Which is why you baited Kyler into fighting you?"
I couldn't look at her. "I'm sorry Sam."
"You are?"
"But you don't get to talk to me like I'm some sort of monster."
Sam scoffed. "Why not?"
I knelt to put the finishing touches on her mom's car. "Because it's not fair. I don't consider you to be awful. So don't treat me that way either."
"So if Kyler did that to your friends you wouldn't be mad?"
"Sam I go to school every single day with Aisha and Eli. We're pretty good friends. And I have to ask myself if they're getting hate mail and being called awful things no one should online. Started by things your friends did and said."
I realized the root of all this.
Sam never had undergone the cyberbullying she had on Cobra Kai here. She didn't know what it was like for them.
I frowned. "But you know what? It's all my fault. It's my fault I stood up to Kyler and Yasmine. My fault for having to use karate for its purpose. Self defense. My friends are part of who I am, of myself. Myself was attacked the moment Eli and Aisha were bullied despite being genuinely kind people."
I laughed. "Look at you Sam. You have a great house, tons of friends and will own your own car one day. One kid from out of town comes in and learns karate from your dad. And you automatically assume he's a monster for having to beat up one of your friends with it. Yasmine felt guilty, and your first assumption is that I'm in the wrong."
I walked past Sam mumbling. "If I'm so much of a burden to you and to this family. Fine. You won't have to see me at anywhere but school."
…
Cobra Kai OST: Bonsai Lessons
…
I spent the last half hour before sunset practicing kata on the place I often sought to seek balance. Donnie laid down and waited patiently outside the LaRusso's home dojo on the patio to not get dog hair anywhere.
Kata cleared my head. It made me forget about everything. It made me feel centered and clear.
Donnie stood up instantly off the floor and panted as Daniel rubbed the top of his head and walked in. "Hey Lucas."
I stopped doing the third kata he had taught me, Saifa Kata, combined with a few moves from Sanchin.
"Mr. LaRusso." I said.
"I heard. About what happened with Sam. And being called, the toughest kid at your school apparently."
I nodded. "Yeah."
"And I heard particularly about what you just told Sam. Look, you don't have to guilt Sam into-"
"It wasn't guilt Mr. LaRusso," I said honestly. "It was the truth. I'm done."
"What?"
"I have nothing to gain by fighting with her. It's clear she and her friends have no patience with me. And being here adds horrible distress to your family. I'll go."
"No." said Daniel quickly walking up to me. "No no no. Lucas, there's no horrible distress."
The truth is that there was. But it wasn't Daniel's family or Sam, or even him.
It was me.
For months now I've learned that Daniel was almost exactly the same man I knew from the Cobra Kai show and Karate Kid series.
He was a patient, kind, and forgiving man. He was very flawed, but ultimately, and always, meant well and stuck to his principles.
Mr. Miyagi would've been proud when he forgave Miguel. And forgave Johnny in a way. And saw how responsible he was for everything that happened by the end of the show's fourth season.
He had been honest, respectful, and helpful. He gave very good and clear advice, and it was applicable and helpful from day to day.
But I learned something else. Something I never thought possible.
Daniel saw how thoughtful and resentful I looked. "What is it?"
I couldn't say.
Because John Kreese, a man Daniel only knew as an abusive, violent, and murderous monster was as much a mentor and father figure to me as he was.
"Lucas. Talk to me please."
"Do you regret having taught me Miyagi-Do?"
Because it tore me apart to be able to see both you and a person who was the reason you even needed karate in the first place as good teachers.
"Of course not. I'm proud of what you've done actually, I helped show your school that what you did was justice."
"Because Mr. Miyagi never saw violence as justice right?"
Daniel walked past his picture on the wall of the home dojo and sighed. "No. He didn't. But Mr. Miyagi understood something much more important than that."
"What?"
"Balance," Daniel said. "Peace. Safety. Mr. Miyagi only wanted to teach me karate because I was in danger. From Cobra Kai. From enemies he had made." Daniel frowned down at his own feet. "From even myself at one point."
He had just referenced the problems he'd encountered throughout all three films. And it hit me how this wasn't a movie character. I again realized this often.
That this was a very very real person. Someone I trusted and respected a great deal.
"But Mr. Miyagi knew what he was passing down to me was a huge part of his life. He told me very personal things. Taught me very personal lessons. And he'd only find it right I helped another person find balance and pass on that torch."
Daniel smiled. "This home dojo we practice in often. I was going to make it a storage room. Forget this entire part of my life even existed. Because wow, Amanda and I really needed it at one point. But you know what? I'm glad it came back. Because it showed me how necessary what I had learned was."
He continued to explain. "It's more than Miyagi-Do karate what Mr. Miyagi taught me. He taught me how to be a better person. How to live a better life. The same way you're doing."
I sighed. "I'm not too sure about that."
"Lucas. You're fourteen years old and you got into your first fight. These things happen."
But I didn't. I sided with and bonded to a man he'd never believe I thought as human, honest, helpful, and mentor-like as he was.
The fact that I came to realize Kreese deserved as much of my respect and attention as a person, caused me so much guilt I could barely look at this home dojo. Of Mr. Miyagi's picture, all the Miyagi artifacts everywhere, and Daniel's trophies.
Or even at Daniel himself.
"I'm sorry Mr. LaRusso. But I just can't do this."
"Yes! You can. You understand these lessons better than my own children-"
"I don't," I said quickly, surprising Daniel. "Sam and Anthony aren't perfect. But Miyagi-Do. Miyagi-Do isn't me."
"Lucas, your mother was part of the reason I learned Miyagi-Do. She was one of the only three people I knew who helped me compete when I won that trophy over there. And one day if you want. Your own kids can learn it too. Mr. Miyagi was willing to fight five kids one night on Halloween just to save me. What makes you think he'd be ashamed of you beating up four other bullies using the same karate?"
That wasn't why I was so ashamed.
"All the kata and these lessons have helped me a lot, to feel better, to feel like myself. But I just feel really awful and awkward about all this." I looked around Daniel's home dojo again. "But I can't help feel out of place. Like I don't belong."
Because I literally did not belong here in a way.
"I understand," Daniel said after placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'll want to be your teacher for as long as you need. It's up to you. It always is."
He smiled lightly and gave me a nod before leaving the dojo.
I glanced at Mr. Miyagi's picture before I left. And thought about the legacies of his karate and the other kind I learned.
Because I think I was the only person who'd ever want to honor both him and the founder of its rival martial art, Tang Soo Do, that helped create Cobra Kai Karate, Kim Sun-Yung.
I'd bow to both their pictures. And learn both of their karate. I found there was much to learn and much to respect in both styles and in what both men passed on.
But the truth was, that it'd never happen for much longer than May of next year. Because their students, my two Senseis, all had too much history.
I'd tough this really strange and horrible guilt of balancing two completely different kinds of karate taught by polar opposite teachers out for another few months. But, at the All Valley tournament, I'd make my decision.
I took a deep breath. I learned one of the most important lessons in Miyagi-Do in my first few months.
I'd need a clear head to make that choice. This guilt was natural.
Right?
...
...
...
Chapter Sixteen
MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Sixteen: No Way But the Classic Way
…
A/N: These are actually the last few chapters of the entire fanfic. So the OSTs really, and I mean really really start to become crucial. So please, if you can, listen to the music I chose to add atmosphere which I used to write and frame the scenes in my head too.
A huge thanks to Anon and all the other reviewers who gave feedback. It's been much appreciated as we head in the third act and finale of this book as the tournament is right around the corner.
Also while Young Hearts Beat Fast by Commuter is the song everyone remembers, Feel the Night was the original song they used during Ali's first date with Daniel.
…
…
One day at Robby's house shortly before winter break started I was playing Atari with him and his dad walked out of his bedroom on the phone.
"The name of my dojo?" said Johnny. "Steel Eagle Karate. That's right. Steel Eagle Karate. No, this isn't a prank call, I just want to sign up for the tournament. I've competed in these things for years back in the day, I even know some of the old officials."
Robby and I smiled and laughed quietly on the couch.
"My name? Johnny Lawrence. Uh, I just got one student now. His full name's Robert Swayze Keene, he's my son, I'm his personal Sensei."
The person on the phone with him seemed to be talking for a bit. "Uh huh. Uh huh. Great. Great thank you."
Johnny hung up. "We just got Steel Eagle underway for official competition. All that's left to do is train."
"Steel Eagle?" I laughed.
"Because American Eagle and Iron Eagle were both already taken." said Robby.
I looked at him.
"I know. I had the same reaction but you know. I don't care though, it works."
I looked at Johnny. "Why not just call it Cobra Kai?"
"Because Cobra Kai was a mistake, I realize it now looking back on all of it. A violent dojo making violent people. We might be tough, okay." Johnny pointed to Robby and I. "Tough, but not assholes."
"I don't get it," I said. "I thought the point of you training Robby was so you could fix the mistakes Cobra Kai made in the past."
"Sort of, but not really. Not that it matters anyway. The one guy who taught me Cobra Kai, I'm completely sure he's dead or something." Johnny shrugged. "Why pretend I need to pass on whatever sick lessons he taught me?"
I wouldn't call him dead necessarily, as a matter of fact John Kreese was very alive.
"For our symbol or icon or whatever. I'm thinking of a bald eagle made of pure shiny stainless steel in front of the American flag," said Johnny. "It'll be awesome. You could join too, you'd do well."
I sighed. "I already have a dojo."
"Yeah yeah Miyagi-Do. But are you competing in the All Valley in May?" asked Johnny.
"Not affiliated with Miyagi-Do. No."
"And how does LaRusso feel about that?" Johnny asked.
I took a deep breath. "I. Haven't told him yet. Wanted to make it a surprise."
In the same way your son, the person sitting next to me would make it for Daniel as well during his own All Valley next year.
"So then join my dojo and compete with us. You and Robby already spend enough time skateboarding or playing video games." he threw a hand towards his old TV set. "Why not actually do something useful?"
I looked at Johnny. "You make a fair point. I just don't want to cause any needless tension between you and Mr. LaRusso."
"Look he's your Sensei. Not your father, and you could learn a lot from me."
"I still have a lot to learn over at Miyagi-Do too." I said respectfully.
Johnny raised a hand slightly. "Fine." he said quietly before leaving.
The front door to the apartment closed behind us.
I looked at Robby again for a second. "I don't get his problem," said Robby. "We both already said we were cool with it."
"I still don't think either him or Mr. LaRusso would be cool with me in particular training with the other person no matter how reasonable they could be about it. My mom was the reason they even fought in the first place even if it was decades ago."
Robby nodded. "But still. Competing at the All Valley without a dojo at all? That's gotta be rough for you."
"That doesn't mean I'll be untrained."
"Still, that feels like you're basically making a decision without your Sensei. Not my place. But you should probably go over it with him."
"Easier said than done," I said picking up my soda on the coffee table nearby and sipping from it. "He doesn't really believe in tournaments."
"Didn't he become famous for a bit for winning two in a row? Isn't that how he sells cars?" asked Robby.
"It is. My style of karate is very pacifistic." One of the two was actually. "It's very patient and precise. It's. It's great. And your way is too man." Because I only trained in a more brutal version of it. "When we compete against each other, if we end up facing each other. We'll do it the right way. As people competing against each other. But still friends."
Someone with a white GI against someone with a likely red GI, Eli Moskowitz facing Miguel Diaz in the semis of the fifty first All Valley Tournament was what I envisioned for a few months from now as the closest match.
I checked my phone, it would be sun down soon.
"I gotta go. See ya man."
"See ya at school. Got end of semester tests to finish."
"Yup." I said, not worried in the slightest for them.
…
I rode on my bicycle over to Daniel's house and rang the doorbell.
Luckily, it wasn't Sam, it was the person I wanted to talk to.
"Hey Lucas. We were in the middle of dinner I-"
"All those messy and weird feelings of feeling out of place with Miyagi-Do karate. They're gone for me." I said honestly. "I need balance. And you're part of that. So, I'd like to train with you as much as you can when winter break starts next week and for as long as you'll allow."
Daniel smiled, laughing in surprise. "Definitely. Definitely, I'm am totally in."
"Mr. Miyagi's way." I said with pride.
He held my shoulders. "Yes. Mr. Miyagi's way. The right way."
Right.
…
OST: The Comeback Kid - The Midnight
…
The bell rang to West Valley High School and everyone broke out for winter break.
Yasmine said her farewells and muttered to Sam and Moon.
"See you at Moon's right?" asked Yasmine.
"Yeah. Yeah for sure." said Sam.
Robby and Lucas brushed past, laughing loudly as Sam and Yasmine looked at them in disgust and annoyance as they walked towards the front of the school.
Demetri, Eli, and Aisha approached them after leaning off a few nearby cement barriers leading to the entrance of the school.
They all talked excitedly and for a moment Aisha could've sworn Sam was looking longingly at Lucas again during her summer crush days on him.
But Sam wasn't looking at Lucas.
It was Eli.
The typically shy and very reserved freshman was usually very somber and mellow, but had started to come out of his shell after not being bullied for a semester and spending time with friends like Lucas and Robby.
Eli laughed loudly with both of them as Demetri grinned a tiny bit.
"Dude yeah. Yeahhhh!" Eli stuck his tongue out of his mouth gripping his backpack for a second, pretending guts were flowing out of his stomach as Lucas imitated stabbing him with a sword. "Blahhh!"
Robby laughed too as Lucas spoke. "We gotta have a Game of Thrones watch party at my place." Eli said.
"Yes dude. Yes!" Robby gripped hands with Eli.
"That's right. Gimme that, gimme that. Mm!" Lucas gripped hands too with Eli and they bumped shoulders and snapped. "Mm!" he repeated proudly and loudly.
Sam looked over from Eli to Aisha from the front of the school. She often wondered why she spent so much time hanging out with and being friends with very loud and rambunctious boys instead of fellow freshman girls like her and the friend group she was forming.
Aisha saw Sam walking towards her and spoke. "Peace out guys. I gotta go." she said before leaving in a hurry. "About that Thrones watch party. I am down."
"Let's gooo! See ya Aisha!" Lucas waved as the four boys all said their goodbyes.
He wasn't as cheerful to wake up at the same time every morning despite being on winter break.
At six thirty in the morning every day, Lucas had to get up, ride his bicycle to the nearest bus station and need to go all the way over to the nearest beach well over a half hour away.
There, he jogged up and down an entire beach that was well over a mile long.
Seagulls flew by behind him in the early December morning sun just during sunrise as he jogged. Lucas was wearing a sweatshirt and track pants, he threw jabs and hook punches as he ran, making footprints in the sand as he ran.
Occasionally, Lucas would spin into a perfect hook kick and then keep jogging.
He would run for well over an hour and then he started to do kata. He did hook kicks, the spinning hands kata, and punches and blocks on a raised, thin, but stable cement bench near the beach.
Lucas always maintained perfect balance during every technique he did. The best form, the best execution, speed, and power.
When he went home he had a very hearty breakfast cooked by a personal chef the Mills family had and then worked on strategies for the All Valley.
He watched footage from previous All Valley finals he found online. Watched as many point fighting strategy videos as he could on the computer in his room while working out his arm with a dumbbell from as many different sources as he could.
From kickboxing, karate, and even Taekwondo videos. Anything that was point sparring at all Lucas researched on and worked around his 'five combo strategy.'
After relaxing for a bit, he went downstairs and started to practice his five combos.
In the event Lucas felt the need to score during the All Valley tournament, he decided to develop and train five 'blitz' or rush attacks with multiple forward strikes.
Most were two or three attack combinations, some even four. He hit a punching bag to practice these exact scenarios, then pumped iron using the dumbbells and weight lifting set his grandfather had stopped using decades prior but Lucas had more than wiped the dust off of.
It was about two thirty in the afternoon by the time Lucas spent some time working on Warhammer Forty Thousand or Magic the Gathering games with Demetri and Eli or built some Lego sets with them.
Just for fun, they would build computers from scratch and then code entire systems from scratch. Lucas more than anything observed and occasionally took notes, coding was not his thing but on the computer they had built in Lucas' garage, he more than enjoyed watching the Binary Brothers go to work.
Lucas had to be on time during his regular five o'clock classes in Pacoima with Kreese.
They lasted two hours and sometimes two and a half hours as Kreese was making sure Lucas was as prepared as remotely possible for his first All Valley tournament.
He made him practice his five combo set he completely approved off and helped develop on mitts. Then Kreese made Lucas practice both the very basics of Cobra Kai Karate and the newer lessons.
Kreese made Lucas do pushups on one hand on choppy cement, then made him continue to hit wooden pallets and crates as hard as he could despite how much it could hurt him. Because it simply didn't.
Lucas had gotten so used to the very intense training demands of Kreese's training that his striking form, technique, speed, and power didn't let hardwood or anything Kreese throw at him hurt him. It all just made him stronger.
Lucas practiced the two punch combo finished off with an outside crescent kick and Kreese shook his head, taking the spot next to him and showing the proper application.
Kreese made a pushing motion with his hand and then a lowering motion with his hand to indicate Lucas had to stay lower to the ground as he moved as he explained.
After an entire hour of pure karate training in Cobra Kai, Kreese took Lucas to a public indoor swimming pool and spoke.
"For a three minute title fight. You have to train for three thousand minutes. And in a match like the kind you'll have at this All Valley. All of it is based on fast twitch muscles and how much speed you can put into one blow." said Kreese as Lucas was wearing specialized competitive swimming trunks and goggles. "You will never find a better place to train those kinds of muscles all over your entire body than sprint style swimming. I need you running these laps like you have a shark chasing after you. Because you do kid."
Lucas listened. "That shark is the 49th All Valley tournament in May. So don't let it catch you. It catches you, you lose. And Cobra Kais, do not lose."
And Lucas didn't let it catch him for a second. Not for the entire winter break or even the months that followed it.
Lucas did sprint laps in freestyle, butterfly, and backstroke for an entire hour and a half every day for all of winter break.
During his single lap and double lap runs, Kreese used a stopwatch and it was never good enough. Despite how fast and how much effort Lucas was putting into his laps.
Kreese spun a finger around in the air, shaking his head. "You gotta shave a half second off. Run it again."
Water splashed as Lucas flew through his laps.
"Run it again!"
He flew through the water again.
"Again!"
Lucas grunted back in his garage that night, not letting his muscles in his shoulders and arms cool off by pulling weights around.
"Again!"
Lucas flew through the water.
"Again!"
He did kata on the beach with Daniel this time nearing sunset.
"Again!"
Nearing the end of his winter break, Lucas was breaking apart thick and strong wooden blocks with his bare fists and elbows in the abandoned supermarket loading dock with Kreese.
"Again!"
Lucas was laughing and enjoying himself as Daniel had lent him his old Japanese sanders he had in a box stored in the home dojo. They were practicing sand the floor the same way Daniel had learned.
"Again!"
Lucas was getting in such good shape and training so hard with both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do and combining them so well he felt better than he ever did.
During the Game of Thrones watch party at Eli's he watched intently with his friends, eating popcorn and staying quiet always.
Sam had joined quietly as Demetri had invited her.
Aisha and Lucas looked uncomfortable, and the watch party continued awkwardly as Robby broke the ice with a quick joke everyone gave a light chuckle at.
Through the darkness of Eli's living room, Sam and Eli made eye contact for a moment. Eli could've sworn Sam was smiling at him, but the next time he looked she was laughing with Demetri and Aisha quietly.
As school began, Lucas had to reduce his training by a bit, but he still was extremely busy balancing both school and his months long preparation for the All Valley.
One morning for school, Lucas realized how hard it was for him to fit into his old clothes he had started the fall semester with months prior now that it was the start of his spring semester at West Valley.
He looked at himself in the mirror in his bedroom. Kreese had helped him grow muscles over his entire body and was in excellent shape.
Lucas sighed, needing to pick out the largest clothes he had and then left.
The following weeks wearing clothes now better suited for him, he started to spend more time at school with all his friends.
Robby, Eli, Aisha, Demetri, and even Charlotte. We spent a decent bit of time about once or twice a week discussing stuff for English and other classes in the West Valley High School library.
He trained daily in Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai with Daniel and Kreese. He studied school work and as many fight tip videos as he could apply to his training for the All Valley.
By around February of 2017 Lucas was passing the apex of his training in both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do Karate.
After nearly nine months of training as much as he could under Kreese and Daniel, combining both their methods on his own as well, Lucas was seriously impressing both Daniel and Kreese with his degree of skill.
He could do almost any one of the five strike combinations with a single code word given under Kreese.
Any of the basic blocks or attacks from the multitude Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do had given him, Lucas could do at the drop of a hat with highly advanced form for someone who was barely even reaching his fifteenth birthday.
He had a degree of technique, speed, and strength that made Kreese surprised at how quickly he progressed. And Daniel had found the same in Lucas.
And it was because he combined their styles, he developed his own methods and his own confidence from them both and always respected them both every chance he got.
All of March he focused entirely on cardio, fundamentals, and kata. And then it was already April.
Lucas turned over the page on his calendar, and several dozen red X marks were cleared off as he had since the day he began to train during the summer of the previous year.
All Lucas could do was start to focus on his regular training and a bit more fight strategy on his own.
His hand curled into a fist and Lucas looked over at the nearby posted on his wall.
In the same classic style posters the All Valley had in the eighties, a Forty Ninth All Valley Under 18 Karate Championships poster hung on the wall of his bedroom.
Lucas smiled.
He was finally ready. All that was left, was to wait and train one final month.
…
I got off the electronic scale.
Kreese looked at it, and then he chuckled for a second.
"What?"
"You've gained. About twenty six pounds worth of muscle since you started training with me. And you've grown about an inch and a half taller. So you weigh about one hundred and thirty eight pounds, and are five feet and eight and a half inches tall. Your arms and legs are naturally long for your age too."
"And?"
"And. That's adding to the fact you've trained as much as you have been for almost eleven months. You have an entire month left before the All Valley, and that would mark the entire year you began your training with Cobra Kai. You're at least guaranteed a spot in the semi finals by this rate kid is what I'm saying."
I nodded. "Yeah well. I think my competition is still pretty decent."
"And who is your competition?"
"Phineas Morrison, last year's champion from All Star Karate. And Xander Stone, I started checking online he really stepped up his game from last year and I think beat Cutting Edge Karate's top fighter in a friendly spar. And."
"Who else?"
I explained. "Robby Keene. He's trained with his dad, Johnny Lawrence, this whole time remember?"
"Right. You did mention it before. That um, Eagle dojo."
"Yeah."
"I expect he'll give you a really good match. Similar ages, level of experience. A fight between you two would come down mostly to skill and level of physical conditioning. I think you'd win."
"But you've never met him."
And Robby was always a great fighter, even in his first months of training fighting against Trey and Cruz to defend car parts for the LaRussos.
"Still. I think you're going to beat him. You've done well tonight Schwarber. Go home, I'll see you tomorrow."
I bowed. "Yes Sensei."
…
I hopped off my bicycle approaching the LaRusso's house. "What's the occasion?"
"You dressed appropriately. Good." Daniel said as Amanda fixed his tie.
"Yeah it's my best suit and tie. But what's happening?"
"A cousin of mine is getting married. I thought, since you've been training so hard for. Months and months on end. You deserved a reward. You're coming with us."
"It's not Louie is it?"
Amanda laughed at this as Daniel smiled. "No. It's not Louie. It's someone you haven't met yet. Vanessa."
I was surprised. "Yeah, you guys mentioned her a few times. Isn't she only in her twenties?"
"She's." Amanda sighed. "Only twenty four. But. Her job and life are stable and she's known the guy for ages so. No place for us to judge."
"Where are we driving?" I asked.
"Mission Viejo." answered Daniel.
I already knew the entire Los Angeles area very well after getting to know it so well this past year.
"An hour long drive." I said quietly. "In the same car with Sam."
Amanda and Daniel smiled at each other. "We know how you two get along. Which is why Sam has brung a guest."
"Really. Who?"
I expected Aisha or Demetri but.
"Daaang!" I laughed in pride and gripped hands and bumped shoulders with Eli. "You look sharp as a sword!"
"Thanks man you too," he said quietly. "Are we gonna get going?"
Daniel nodded. "Soon as Anthony finally gets done getting dressed." he muttered before leaving through the garage.
I laid my bicycle down in their garage and looked at two people I knew would at one point be Miyagi-Dos, again in Sam's case. "So. You two are going to this wedding together."
Sam nodded wearing a simple yellow dress. "Yup."
"Good. Awesome. I, I mean a bit of a surprise. But an awesome one for sure."
I wasn't jealous at all, I just wasn't expecting this.
…
After a very cheerful car ride where I talked with Anthony the whole time, Eli with Sam, and Amanda with Daniel, we reached Vanessa LaRusso's wedding celebration.
…
I walked in. "Huh. Nice music."
The band was playing a spiritful and bright tune as we walked into the wedding.
Still in her wedding dress Vanessa walked over and kissed Daniel on the cheek. "Daaanny! You came!"
"Who would miss their favorite cousin's most special day?"
This was a pretty big wedding taking place in a very large social hall.
The dinner was rather short and followed by loads of dancing.
I sat down at a rather secluded part of the celebration and checked something on my phone before Eli sat down next to me.
"Feeling out of place too?"
"Sort of." I said. "I needed to explain something to you."
"Sure, what is it?" asked Eli.
The bouncy music kept playing and the wedding continued to dance nearby as I spoke. "You do know that Sam's dad was famous for karate right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, my mom was part of that. She was the reason why he even needed karate at all. About thirty three years ago, in nineteen eighty four my mother went to our school."
Eli laughed. "Awesome! I knew you already had family here in LA, but still."
I smiled lightly. "I wouldn't call it so awesome yet. My mother used to date a local karate champ named Johnny Lawrence for two years. They broke up right around the time Sam's dad moved here from New Jersey and got to know my mom."
"So?"
"So Lawrence got jealous, they started to scrap. Beat the crap outta Mr. LaRusso a few times. And that's how he ended up winning that tournament."
Eli nodded a bit. "So that karate. Is your karate?"
I nodded back.
"Why tell me this?"
"Because that's my family Eli. That's not me. I don't want you thinking I like starting petty rivalries or nonsense like that. Sam's family, or, Mr. LaRusso in particular was incredibly involved with a man named Mr. Miyagi. A karate teacher, known as a Sensei."
"Was he a good teacher?"
I remembered everything he did in the original trilogy of films.
"The best apparently." I said before looking at Eli. "Sam thinks I might be doing things I shouldn't with this karate. Hurting people. But the truth is man, that I only wanted to help you. To protect you from them, from Sam's friends."
Eli nodded and he left the table.
…
Eli Moskowitz danced slowly with Samantha LaRusso on the dance floor of the wedding celebration.
"Lucas told me you've been judging him lately."
Sam shrugged. "And?"
"Does he deserve that?" asked Eli.
"You came here as my guest Eli. We have something nice going right?"
"I don't know," Eli said simply. "If it wasn't for Lucas I would still be bullied. By your friends no less."
Sam shifted, looking down at her shoes for a moment. "So it's true then."
"Look I. I like you. You're smart and really pretty, and I've liked you for a while. But what you did just wasn't cool. Vouching for them for so long."
"Put yourself in my shoes for a moment," said Sam. "Luke's trained with my dad since May of last year. That's a really long time Eli."
"So?"
"So reasonably it'd be pretty hard for someone without any training to hold their own against him in a fight. The next thing I know, friends I've had for just as long he's been training are beaten up by him."
"It was four against one Sam. I don't think that was a fair fight the other way around of what you're saying."
"My point is," Sam said. "That I only heard of Yas and Kyler doing all that through rumor. Not from first hand experiences. So, I'm sorry."
Sam held herself close to Eli and they danced together in each other's embrace.
Lucas watched on from afar and Eli smiled as Lucas raised a glass for him.
…
Daniel sat down next to me. "Everything got along rather well now didn't it?"
"Yeah." I said.
"Your second semester of high school is wrapping up. How'd it go?"
"Better than I thought. Besides that fight with Kyler last year, not much else really happened."
Daniel spoke. "I wanted to thank you."
"For what?"
"For training so well in Miyagi-Do for so long. At first I would've guessed you might've quit after the first month. What with all the chores and just kata. But you stuck through it."
I smiled. "To be fair. You taught me much more than that. You taught me some counters, the reverse punch." I tapped the knuckles on my right hand. "The power of my whole body, whole body always. Here."
"Mr. Miyagi's lessons are making you a more mature. Calm. And rational person. Technically you've trained much more than I have before my first tournament. And learned more."
"I wouldn't say I'm a better Miyagi-Do than you were Mr. LaRusso please."
"No that's for me to say," said Daniel. "And I'm saying exactly that."
"And why? What have I done that's so right?"
Daniel pointed to his own daughter dancing with Eli. "That."
"What's that exactly?"
"Sam was wronging Eli in a way with her friends were doing. You helped them reconcile by making sure those bullies weren't going to bother anyone at your school. You've done well with that. Even if it took violence to get there. The results speak for themselves."
"Thank you Mr. LaRusso. But I wouldn't say I'm a better Miyagi-Do than you were. I would actually never say that."
"And why's that?"
"Because you trained with Mr. Miyagi himself. Made him proud, followed his teachings personally. I'm just. Not like that."
Daniel sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I often considered myself the same. Not like Miyagi-Do at all. I had a temper, and was impatient and in a way, I created my own problems back then. You are not like that at all. I mean, your nature. You're not angry or spiteful, you don't go seeking trouble. You fix it and help it for others like how you did with Eli."
Every time he praised me I remembered that I trained daily just as much as I did with him with one of his worst enemies.
"Thank you Mr. LaRusso."
Daniel smiled and nodded, patting my shoulder before he left.
I realized that Robby was put in a very similar situation to me in the first season of the show. At first, he joined as part of a revenge plan on his father, Johnny Lawrence, but actually started to enjoy Miyagi-Do.
I wanted to tell him the truth, but I just couldn't. Because it was far worse than keeping Johnny Lawrence being Robby's father as a secret.
The same thing happened to me with Cobra Kai under Kreese as well. Except I wasn't trying to get revenge on anyone, I was just using both him and Daniel.
And it still really made me guilty about all of it.
A few older women muttered in Italian and practically pushed me on the dance floor from my seat to get me to dance with their daughters and soon I did.
I had a fun time despite some of them not being the most pleasant people to be around. It was a great night. One of the last few I think I'd have before either Kreese or Daniel would get mad at me greatly for my decision.
Before that though, I really wanted to get in the best training with both Kreese and Daniel. Before the tournament.
Before I decided which one of them I'd follow for the next three years.
…
OST: Training Hard - Bill Conti
…
Lucas was balancing on one of the wooden stumps by the ocean.
Instead of doing the crane kick, he was balancing on a single hand in a one handed hand stand, lowering his body forward and pretending to kick an invisible person in front of him with both feet.
Daniel saw this from afar near his car and smiled. Surprised.
They did kata together on the beach as seagulls fluttered around.
Daniel's hands swirled around and so did Lucas', they turned and faced the ocean in horse stance.
They continued to practice kata. Then they did hook kicks and blocks in unison in the sand.
Daniel was wearing a catcher's mask and armor. "Make a kiai. Force it through."
"Hiya!" Lucas' fist hit Daniel in the target he had painted on his chest.
"Once more. Hut!"
"Hiya!"
With Kreese, Lucas spun around throwing spinning back fists and then hook kicks right onto mitts he held.
He made him dodge attacks and do plenty of knuckle pushups now with very heavy full wooden boxes on his back.
Kreese yelled at him and walked around him like he was training his original Cobra Kais from his old Lankershim dojo in the eighties as Lucas broke wooden crates apart with his feet, the side of his hands in chops and knife hands, and fists.
Lucas dodged a round kick from Kreese and proceeded to miss a back kick on his chest before scoring a hit on the mitt Kreese raised just in time with a perfectly timed reverse punch.
"Jab out! Jab out! Jab out, come on." said Kreese as Lucas was throwing constant, fast, and strong hook, straight, and uppercut punches on mitts wearing boxing gloves.
On a boat by the water where he trained with Daniel, as the setting sun shimmered as it was reflected, Lucas practiced his kata. His hands swiveled around in a circle, he did punches, low blocks, and high blocks.
A side block transitioning into two punches, a low block transitioning into another two direct punches to the chest.
Constantly flowing blocks and punches in different directions, all in a circle as he balanced on the boat.
He had trained exactly like Daniel LaRusso did under Mr. Miyagi and Johnny Lawrence did under John Kreese for an entire year.
As the sun had set and Lucas walked back with a towel over his shoulders.
He was as ready as ever to take on the 49th All Valley Under 18 Karate tournament.
…
At school the next day I practiced my Queen Mab speech for English class with Demetri in the hallway.
Everyone, Robby, Aisha, and Eli thought it was funny how in character I got as Demetri read Romeo's lines.
"That dreamers often lie!" I said with glee.
Demetri sighed. "In bed asleep while they do dream things true."
"Oh. Then. I see Queen Mab hath been with you."
"Queen Mab, what's she?" asked Robby.
"She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes. In shape no bigger than an agate stone. On the forefinger of an alderman. Drawn with a team of little atomi. Over men's noses as they lie asleep."
Aisha and Eli laughed as I ran up a nearby wall for a second and then squatted with both feet widely apart as I continued my lines. "Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs. The cover of the wings of grasshoppers! Her traces of the smallest spider's web. Her collars of the moonshine's watery beams! Her whip-"
I stopped, everyone stopped laughing.
"What?" I asked.
Charlotte was standing between Robby and I. "Luke. Can we talk?"
"Sure. Sure, sure. Um, we'll practice later in the cafeteria guys." I said.
I picked up my backpack from the ground as Robby looked at Charlotte and I and then laughed with Eli as he muttered to him.
"You make a really great Mercutio," said Charlotte brightly with a smile. "Really great!"
"Uh thank you. So what's up?"
"I was wondering what you were doing this Friday night."
"Just the usual. Why?"
Charlotte shrugged, crossing her arms over a notebook she was carrying. "I don't know. Maybe we could do something."
"You asking me out Everston?"
"Maybe I am. Schwarber."
I laughed quietly as she smiled with a small hint of embarrassment. "Okay. Okay um. How about we go to Golf 'N Stuff?"
"Where's that?"
"Over between the highway and the old waterpark near Fifth and Johnston. It'll be fun."
"See ya then. Five thirty?"
"Yeah. Yeah that sounds great."
I had had a crush on her since we met really. I was happy. I was excited.
Which was why I didn't say a word about it to anyone.
…
OST: Feel the Night - Baxter Robinson
…
I had no idea what the hell to wear to my first ever date with anyone ever, so I just went with some nice jeans and a decent open button up shirt and my Lannister Lion and Stark Direwolf Game of Thrones shirt underneath.
Charlotte had an old photo camera, a simple digital silver rectangular camera, slung around her shoulders waiting for me outside the front entrance to Golf 'N Stuff. She was wearing a simple red jacket, didn't know why I found her outfit so nice.
It was just a simple long white skirt and a matching white bandanna holding her clean blonde hair back.
This was the cutest girl I knew.
She stopped checking the shots of the old camera she had and nodded to me when I walked up to her. "Hey." she said lightly.
"Hi Char."
"Shall we get going?" she asked.
To the same place where Chris would one day possibly work and my mom went out with my karate teacher?
"Yeah." I said with a tiny smile.
It ended up being the most fun I had had since I moved to the Valley last summer.
Charlotte and I tried racing go karts, which I completely beat her at because I had raced go karts in my previous life.
She still enjoyed it and took a picture on her old camera of the race results.
"You didn't even do that well." Char muttered.
"Now hold on. Hey!-"
Before I could react she held me by the wrist and we walked inside Golf 'N Stuff itself.
Playing Skeeball Charlotte was again losing to me. I wasn't trying to beat her at every game we played I was just having fun just trying it, but it was Charlotte who was having fun being competitive.
I was winning a whole lot and then Charlotte sighed. "I thought you'd go easy on me."
"Well. I mean, watch. No peeking."
I covered my eyes with my hand and then threw the ball randomly up the Skeeball machine.
Char then laughed at the top of her lungs.
I uncovered my eyes and I had sunk the Skeeball into the highest point hole.
"I swear I was-"
"No. You're fine." she smiled. "I wasn't expecting to win this anyway."
"Look. Why don't we try another game?"
Basketball, even old arcade machines like Galaga. I was trying to let her win and I still won.
Finally, after several tries, we found something she was better than me at. Stick hockey, she annihilated me.
She put more tokens into the machine. "Let's go again."
"Wait-"
"No, no no no. Just one more." she insisted.
"You said that twenty minutes ago!"
Charlotte proceeded to absolutely embarrass me soundly nineteen to zero.
"Everston scoooores!" she hollered loudly.
I muttered dryly. "Yeah you got me." I said. "Can we try another game now?"
I did end up doing pretty well at mini golf but so did Char. She beat me by only one par.
"What's that. Four to two for you?"
"This isn't a competition Charlotte come on."
"Says who?" she shrugged and said slyly before turning around to grab a few more golf balls.
She went over to try another round of mini golf and looking at her I realized something. This was the best date I think I'd ever been on, even if it was the only one.
I was really enjoying myself with a girl I considered to be really funny and quirky. And awesome.
This was all awesome.
We went back into the Golf 'N Stuff arcade area and soon found ourselves in the photo booth. The same one where both my mother and Miyagi-Do Sensei Daniel LaRusso could've sat in over thirty years ago.
On the first few we made some goofy poses, some serious.
And then on the third to last one I decided to just go for it. I pecked her quickly on the cheek.
Charlotte looked at me strangely and I thought I had really messed up. On the next picture she covered my face as a joke, I was still confused and it was probably caught on the picture how completely and utterly bewildered I was.
And on the last one Char kissed me strongly on the lips.
I was even more astounded. "Whoa whoa whoa what the-"
Charlotte grabbed the pictures the booth printed out for us and practically ran out of it.
I protested. "Hold on."
"Oh my god. That second to last picture."
"Charlotte come on please-"
"You bet I'm keeping this."
"But-"
Charlotte already tucked it into her pocket. "If you want it you're going to have to beat me for once at mini golf."
"But that's not fair! What is with you tonight?"
Outside I was surprised again as she interlocked fingers with mine. This was something I never expected really.
…
We bought a few slushies and used a straw and a plastic spoon they gave us to sit down and drink them.
"Don't you feel this is moving a little fast is all?" I asked her.
Charlotte shrugged, tapping her spoon on the edge of the slushie cup. "Why? It's moving as fast as I think I want it to. And that means it's moving as fast as it should."
I laughed quietly.
That was very Cobra Kai. She saw an opportunity, even if it wasn't there. And she made it happen.
Just like in a fight, she made her opening. I just didn't want to admit I liked her because I honestly didn't know anything about her from what I had seen.
"No but I mean. We've known each other for months. And I never got any vibes that you liked me."
"Well I got vibes you liked me. I didn't mind on the contrary really. And I said. You know, why not take a chance?"
We listened to and watched people splash around in the water by the nearby water slide.
"I wasn't expecting that at all. But I think that's really cool." I said quietly.
This girl was very very sweet and funny and incredibly beautiful. What did she see in me?
"We just kissed on our first date."
Charlotte scoffed. "We didn't." she said.
"You have photographic proof that says otherwise."
"I thought you wanted to get rid of those pictures."
"At first, because. You've been messing with me since I got here. And I still can't figure out why?"
"Better drop the kiss buddy otherwise it might not happen again."
I nodded. "Oh. Really?"
Charlotte shrugged. "Tonight was amazing but that may or may not have happened."
"Okay. Okay sure."
Charlotte looked at me. "You had fun right?"
"More than I had since I got here," I admitted. "But there's been something on my mind. It's. Stupid."
"Just tell me."
"My mom dated these two guys back in high school. They had rival karate dojos. Blah blah blah. It doesn't matter it's ancient history. They still hate each other. Or at least. They can't even talk to each other decades later."
"Who are these two guys?"
"Robby's dad and Sam's dad. But they're not the only ones. The karate teacher, or Sensei, of Sam's dad passed. Robby's dad thinks his Sensei passed too. He didn't."
Charlotte blinked, staying quiet.
"He trains me every day for this tournament in about two weeks. He trains me, in an indoor swimming pool, at kickboxing tournaments and even a few tiny karate dojos for sparring every day. As well as, an abandoned supermarket loading dock." It sounded even weirder when I said it out loud. "His name is John Kreese. And everyone thinks he's a monster because he choked out Robby's dad back in the eighties for losing a karate tournament."
Charlotte muttered. "And is he a monster?"
"He's not exactly kind. At all really. But he's honest, and real. More real than several people I've met in my life. But he's just been scarred, and it's not his fault."
I chuckled. "He's been more of a father to me than my real one back home in Denver ever was."
Charlotte stayed quiet and looked completely blank.
"I'm sorry. This is, really personal for a first date and."
"No. I never met either of my parents. I was adopted when I was pretty young. I get what you're going through."
I finished my slushie. "Well. There's more. Sam's dad teaches me his karate taught too, he's taught me it just as long as Sensei Kreese has. These two guys don't realize. That both their ways, are the right way. But because they can't let go of the past. I can only choose one of them."
"Choose neither," said Charlotte.
"What?"
"Choose neither," Charlotte repeated. "I'm sure they've been good to you. But if they can't let go of something that happened thirty years ago. That's on them Lucas. Not you."
"Some of this was very violent and messed up."
"Well did anybody die?"
"No."
Char sighed. "Do you think this Kreese guy would try to hurt anybody again? Like really badly?"
"Probably not honestly. He's very high strung and intense. But I think I've helped him."
"Go with what you think is best. I might not know anything about karate," said Charlotte. "But I know you. You're a really cool guy, whatever you think is best. Is best."
A familiar senior citizen began walking towards the bench where we sat.
"Who's that?"
"The guy I just mentioned. Sensei Kreese." I stood up off the bench. "Sensei. I wasn't expecting to see you."
"Evidently not. You missed class today. For the first time since we met." Kreese said.
I sighed. Wow. I can't believe I forgot.
Charlotte threw away her empty slushie cup and walked towards him. "Sir, it's my fault. I asked Lucas to be here."
I just realized I had introduced Charlotte to the man who would be her Cobra Kai Sensei during the fourth season of the show.
"I trained you to be responsible." Kreese said to me. "You should've told me."
"I just wanted tonight to be the one night I got away from literally everything we've been training for."
"You know the importance of Master Kim Sun-Yung's legacy. Of Cobra Kai. Of everything."
I nodded shamefully. "I do Sensei. But I'm sorry I just needed to get away from everything. Just for one night."
Kreese couldn't say anything.
"How'd you even find me here?"
"The VA's office is nearby I was stopping for a late visit. I planned on maybe stopping by your home before I didn't see you again until next week, I needed to talk to you."
"But my grandparents could recognize you, they-"
"This is about you Lucas," Kreese said. "Not them. I don't care about LaRusso at this point. You have no reason to miss class with the tournament so near."
"I'm sorry Sensei."
He walked off shaking his head without a word and Charlotte checked her phone. "My mom," she said slowly. "Is picking me up. Right now."
"Thanks Charlotte. I'll see you at school next week."
She smiled and hugged me a bit, pecking me on the cheek.
"Bye."
"Bye." I repeated.
…
At the nearby mini golf course on one of their first dates, Eli watched as Sam had snapped a picture on her phone of Kreese talking to Lucas.
"Who's that?" wondered Eli.
"I have no idea." Sam said. "But I heard Lucas call him Sensei. Whatever that is, that's not good."
…
I needed to come clean that night. I had had enough of the sneaking around and lying.
I owed to Daniel. To Mr. Miyagi's memory.
I had regular kata practice with Daniel at seven thirty, I rode my bicycle towards his house to fess up.
I opened the wooden door right next to Daniel's home dojo. It was supposed to be locked but he always left it unlocked.
I entered the home dojo and saw Daniel staring at Mr. Miyagi's picture with his back turned to the dojo door.
"Mr. LaRusso. God, what a crazy day. I was asked out on a date earlier this week. It actually went pretty well until. I have to. I have tell you something."
Daniel stayed quiet for a moment.
Before he spoke over his shoulder.
"I think it's a little late for that."
I froze.
He knew.
"I-I-I I meant for you to find out soon."
"How soon?" Daniel turned around and looked completely calm. "Hm? How soon before you told me you sided with the man dedicated more than anyone to the shaming and destruction of my best friend and mentor?"
"He's not that bad anymore. In the same way your karate works, his does too. He's not, that, bad."
"You don't. Know him. And frankly, I don't know you either." said Daniel. "Lying to me."
He started to look very upset.
"Lying to me!" he repeated. "To my family. It would've been one thing if you had been with Johnny this whole time. I was suspecting that for a while. And I would've been mad, but not as mad as this!"
"Mr. LaRusso I swear-"
"Swear what? That Sam was right about you this entire time? I listened to you, instead of my own daughter. I can't believe this. I can't believe you could ever do something this strange. And still. Why?"
"I'll tell you why." I heard Kreese say.
We both turned around and Kreese stepped into the home dojo.
He had walked in through the very close by open side door to the LaRusso's backyard.
John Kreese and Daniel LaRusso looked right at each other, completely ignoring me.
"How many years has it been?" Kreese said quietly.
"Far too few." Daniel admitted. "Do you?" Daniel squinted at me and then Kreese. "Do you know anything about this? What am I saying, of course you do."
"It doesn't matter if I do or don't, you're still going to blame me instead of the kid."
"Then the hell is going on!?" asked Daniel.
Kreese spoke quietly. "I asked myself the same question for some time. Why in the world would a fourteen year old kid appear out of the blue asking to learn karate? Maybe he had selfish reasons. But. Maybe, he didn't care all along. What my karate meant to me. By that point I assumed he had no limits. Just the same lack of limits he could have with anyone else's."
"It's not like that." I said. "It's not like that at all."
"Quiet. The adults are talking." Kreese muttered, looking over slowly to Daniel. "You really want to know what's going on?"
"Why would I ever trust you? And you're standing on my property right now I can call the police."
"This will only take a second. And, you don't have to trust me. To know a pretty blatant truth. We both got played. We got played." Kreese gave a very painful smile for a second as he walked forward. "By a barely fifteen year old highschool freshman."
"Played for what?"
"For what Johnny should've had. It took me a while but it hit me the moment I talked to him tonight. Schwarber wants the All Valley golden trophy. More specifically. He wants three."
"How could you possibly know that?" I asked, blown away that he figured out my plan.
Kreese sighed. "No one's ever cross trained in karate styles, because as I'm sure you've figured out, karate Senseis are rather traditional and always have some sort of rivalry and are very peculiar about how they teach their styles of karate. Especially not ones that have as many championship titles under their belts as Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. You do that. And you can more than make history. You can become a living legend, except with the added benefit of never needing either LaRusso or myself after your second title or so."
Kreese was a lot more intelligent than I gave him credit for.
Kreese chuckled quietly as both Daniel and I stayed quiet. "I'll admit it. It's bold. Incredibly ambitious for someone as young as you. But if you can't respect me enough to look me in the eye and tell me you never appreciated what I taught you. There's no point in talking about it."
"It's not like that at all a few months in, I respected you both more than anyone else in my whole life. Both of you." I pointed to Kreese. "He is not a monster." and I looked towards Daniel. "And you are not a weakling. You both don't understand this because you don't care how much the past thirty years have changed both of you! For the better!"
Daniel put his hands on his hips. "Which is why you decided to show us this. By betraying us? Lying to us for about a year. And then planning to have used us for maybe three years?"
"It wasn't supposed to be like this I promise."
"The thing is. How else was this supposed to happen?" asked Kreese. "Let's suppose by some miracle you prove LaRusso and I have fought over nothing and are holding onto nothing this entire time. What then? What was your plan after one of us realized what you did? At some point one of us would see you were part of the other's karate. More importantly, that you were its only student for an entire year."
I sighed. "I understand."
"Good luck at the tournament. You'll need it." Kreese said quietly before he left the dojo.
Daniel took a deep breath about a minute after he left. He was mostly speechless.
"Maybe he lied to you about what he was. But I never lied to you about what Mr. Miyagi was. Even if Kreese had changed, and even if you were trying to help him. You couldn't repay me with the same honesty."
I couldn't say anything.
"This. Was what you were guilty about all this time huh?" Daniel said with calm fury. "The All Valley board will know I trained you should I try to ban you from entering the tournament. You're smart enough to stop me I know you are. I'm furious Lucas. But not at you. I'm just disappointed you could never be honest with me from the start."
"I could've told you I wanted Miyagi-Do Karate to help me become a champion. But not to the extent of success I needed to have."
"And for that you had to lie to me? For no reason but ambition and a hunger for glory. It's hard to believe you're Ali's son of all people."
"Mr. LaRusso-"
"Get out." Daniel said quietly. "Get out. And never come near me, or my family ever again. At least if you had sided with only him." he pointed toward the door Kreese had walked out of. "You could've at least had the honesty of telling me you never pretended you cared about Mr. Miyagi, or what he taught."
I nodded.
I picked up my bicycle, and went home.
…
I sat in Johnny's apartment the next day and had told him everything. Everything, from top to bottom and left to right.
He was shocked.
"Hold on, Kreese. Is alive?"
"Yeah."
Johnny was silent for a bit. "I don't, I don't know what to say."
"He's changed Johnny. He wanted to help me. He wants! To help me. Until I stabbed him in the back."
"In my experience kid, people like that can't change," Johnny sighed deeply and loudly. "Sure. But I would never have dropped you on the spot like that. You're barely fifteen. You're a good person Lucas."
"Then why did I do that?"
"Because you make really dumb mistakes when you're young. Just like I did."
"You never hatched a conspiracy to lie to two people for an entire year to make martial arts history. How could I have done that to them?"
Johnny put a hand on my shoulder. "You still have a chance to make things right though. You gotta remember that, always."
It was then where I realized Johnny Lawrence's mentality was the same I remembered something he might've said.
"We all get shit wrong sometimes. But if you own up to your mistakes, you always have a shot of making things right."
I stopped myself from saying Eagle-Fang Karate. "I'm not joining Steel Eagle."
"I'm not saying you have to. I'll be right back."
He walked out from his bedroom holding an old black headband.
"Your mom gave me this when I was about your age. It's only right you wear it when you compete against Robby and everyone else at the All Valley the weekend after the next. You made a really, really cruel, and selfish mistake. But what they don't realize is you actually respected what they did for you pretty soon didn't you?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Then it's on them then." Johnny said.
He was right. I had changed from the person I was when I first stepped off that plane from Denver.
I wrapped the new headband around my head. "Thank you Johnny."
"Hey. There was no such thing as a bad student, ever. You just had teachers you happened to lie to. Your fourteen, you didn't know the kind of people they were before you trained with them. Even if you're still fighting unaffiliated with any dojo in the Valley. I'll be rooting for you. Until, you might face Robby."
I smiled. "Thanks."
I shook his hand and prepared mentally for the competition.
For the 49th All Valley Karate Championships.
...
...
...
A/N: The next chapter will actually be the very last of this book of whole fanfiction, edit: there are more incoming already finished, I have other chapters already written as a continuation. If you've liked my work and follow it or review it, there are some great Cobra Kai fics I have to recommend. I've checked some profiles and highly recommend you all branch out beyond just Defeat Does Not Exist into other fics. For example, Dontatme420's fanfics: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/13829890/Dontatme420
The MC in this story has seen the trailer for Season 5, that's why he knew that line from Johnny.
Thank you all for reading and I'll see you all soon in the next and final chapter of Book 1 of this series of my Cobra Kai fanfiction.
…
A/N: These are actually the last few chapters of the entire fanfic. So the OSTs really, and I mean really really start to become crucial. So please, if you can, listen to the music I chose to add atmosphere which I used to write and frame the scenes in my head too.
A huge thanks to Anon and all the other reviewers who gave feedback. It's been much appreciated as we head in the third act and finale of this book as the tournament is right around the corner.
Also while Young Hearts Beat Fast by Commuter is the song everyone remembers, Feel the Night was the original song they used during Ali's first date with Daniel.
…
…
One day at Robby's house shortly before winter break started I was playing Atari with him and his dad walked out of his bedroom on the phone.
"The name of my dojo?" said Johnny. "Steel Eagle Karate. That's right. Steel Eagle Karate. No, this isn't a prank call, I just want to sign up for the tournament. I've competed in these things for years back in the day, I even know some of the old officials."
Robby and I smiled and laughed quietly on the couch.
"My name? Johnny Lawrence. Uh, I just got one student now. His full name's Robert Swayze Keene, he's my son, I'm his personal Sensei."
The person on the phone with him seemed to be talking for a bit. "Uh huh. Uh huh. Great. Great thank you."
Johnny hung up. "We just got Steel Eagle underway for official competition. All that's left to do is train."
"Steel Eagle?" I laughed.
"Because American Eagle and Iron Eagle were both already taken." said Robby.
I looked at him.
"I know. I had the same reaction but you know. I don't care though, it works."
I looked at Johnny. "Why not just call it Cobra Kai?"
"Because Cobra Kai was a mistake, I realize it now looking back on all of it. A violent dojo making violent people. We might be tough, okay." Johnny pointed to Robby and I. "Tough, but not assholes."
"I don't get it," I said. "I thought the point of you training Robby was so you could fix the mistakes Cobra Kai made in the past."
"Sort of, but not really. Not that it matters anyway. The one guy who taught me Cobra Kai, I'm completely sure he's dead or something." Johnny shrugged. "Why pretend I need to pass on whatever sick lessons he taught me?"
I wouldn't call him dead necessarily, as a matter of fact John Kreese was very alive.
"For our symbol or icon or whatever. I'm thinking of a bald eagle made of pure shiny stainless steel in front of the American flag," said Johnny. "It'll be awesome. You could join too, you'd do well."
I sighed. "I already have a dojo."
"Yeah yeah Miyagi-Do. But are you competing in the All Valley in May?" asked Johnny.
"Not affiliated with Miyagi-Do. No."
"And how does LaRusso feel about that?" Johnny asked.
I took a deep breath. "I. Haven't told him yet. Wanted to make it a surprise."
In the same way your son, the person sitting next to me would make it for Daniel as well during his own All Valley next year.
"So then join my dojo and compete with us. You and Robby already spend enough time skateboarding or playing video games." he threw a hand towards his old TV set. "Why not actually do something useful?"
I looked at Johnny. "You make a fair point. I just don't want to cause any needless tension between you and Mr. LaRusso."
"Look he's your Sensei. Not your father, and you could learn a lot from me."
"I still have a lot to learn over at Miyagi-Do too." I said respectfully.
Johnny raised a hand slightly. "Fine." he said quietly before leaving.
The front door to the apartment closed behind us.
I looked at Robby again for a second. "I don't get his problem," said Robby. "We both already said we were cool with it."
"I still don't think either him or Mr. LaRusso would be cool with me in particular training with the other person no matter how reasonable they could be about it. My mom was the reason they even fought in the first place even if it was decades ago."
Robby nodded. "But still. Competing at the All Valley without a dojo at all? That's gotta be rough for you."
"That doesn't mean I'll be untrained."
"Still, that feels like you're basically making a decision without your Sensei. Not my place. But you should probably go over it with him."
"Easier said than done," I said picking up my soda on the coffee table nearby and sipping from it. "He doesn't really believe in tournaments."
"Didn't he become famous for a bit for winning two in a row? Isn't that how he sells cars?" asked Robby.
"It is. My style of karate is very pacifistic." One of the two was actually. "It's very patient and precise. It's. It's great. And your way is too man." Because I only trained in a more brutal version of it. "When we compete against each other, if we end up facing each other. We'll do it the right way. As people competing against each other. But still friends."
Someone with a white GI against someone with a likely red GI, Eli Moskowitz facing Miguel Diaz in the semis of the fifty first All Valley Tournament was what I envisioned for a few months from now as the closest match.
I checked my phone, it would be sun down soon.
"I gotta go. See ya man."
"See ya at school. Got end of semester tests to finish."
"Yup." I said, not worried in the slightest for them.
…
I rode on my bicycle over to Daniel's house and rang the doorbell.
Luckily, it wasn't Sam, it was the person I wanted to talk to.
"Hey Lucas. We were in the middle of dinner I-"
"All those messy and weird feelings of feeling out of place with Miyagi-Do karate. They're gone for me." I said honestly. "I need balance. And you're part of that. So, I'd like to train with you as much as you can when winter break starts next week and for as long as you'll allow."
Daniel smiled, laughing in surprise. "Definitely. Definitely, I'm am totally in."
"Mr. Miyagi's way." I said with pride.
He held my shoulders. "Yes. Mr. Miyagi's way. The right way."
Right.
…
OST: The Comeback Kid - The Midnight
…
The bell rang to West Valley High School and everyone broke out for winter break.
Yasmine said her farewells and muttered to Sam and Moon.
"See you at Moon's right?" asked Yasmine.
"Yeah. Yeah for sure." said Sam.
Robby and Lucas brushed past, laughing loudly as Sam and Yasmine looked at them in disgust and annoyance as they walked towards the front of the school.
Demetri, Eli, and Aisha approached them after leaning off a few nearby cement barriers leading to the entrance of the school.
They all talked excitedly and for a moment Aisha could've sworn Sam was looking longingly at Lucas again during her summer crush days on him.
But Sam wasn't looking at Lucas.
It was Eli.
The typically shy and very reserved freshman was usually very somber and mellow, but had started to come out of his shell after not being bullied for a semester and spending time with friends like Lucas and Robby.
Eli laughed loudly with both of them as Demetri grinned a tiny bit.
"Dude yeah. Yeahhhh!" Eli stuck his tongue out of his mouth gripping his backpack for a second, pretending guts were flowing out of his stomach as Lucas imitated stabbing him with a sword. "Blahhh!"
Robby laughed too as Lucas spoke. "We gotta have a Game of Thrones watch party at my place." Eli said.
"Yes dude. Yes!" Robby gripped hands with Eli.
"That's right. Gimme that, gimme that. Mm!" Lucas gripped hands too with Eli and they bumped shoulders and snapped. "Mm!" he repeated proudly and loudly.
Sam looked over from Eli to Aisha from the front of the school. She often wondered why she spent so much time hanging out with and being friends with very loud and rambunctious boys instead of fellow freshman girls like her and the friend group she was forming.
Aisha saw Sam walking towards her and spoke. "Peace out guys. I gotta go." she said before leaving in a hurry. "About that Thrones watch party. I am down."
"Let's gooo! See ya Aisha!" Lucas waved as the four boys all said their goodbyes.
He wasn't as cheerful to wake up at the same time every morning despite being on winter break.
At six thirty in the morning every day, Lucas had to get up, ride his bicycle to the nearest bus station and need to go all the way over to the nearest beach well over a half hour away.
There, he jogged up and down an entire beach that was well over a mile long.
Seagulls flew by behind him in the early December morning sun just during sunrise as he jogged. Lucas was wearing a sweatshirt and track pants, he threw jabs and hook punches as he ran, making footprints in the sand as he ran.
Occasionally, Lucas would spin into a perfect hook kick and then keep jogging.
He would run for well over an hour and then he started to do kata. He did hook kicks, the spinning hands kata, and punches and blocks on a raised, thin, but stable cement bench near the beach.
Lucas always maintained perfect balance during every technique he did. The best form, the best execution, speed, and power.
When he went home he had a very hearty breakfast cooked by a personal chef the Mills family had and then worked on strategies for the All Valley.
He watched footage from previous All Valley finals he found online. Watched as many point fighting strategy videos as he could on the computer in his room while working out his arm with a dumbbell from as many different sources as he could.
From kickboxing, karate, and even Taekwondo videos. Anything that was point sparring at all Lucas researched on and worked around his 'five combo strategy.'
After relaxing for a bit, he went downstairs and started to practice his five combos.
In the event Lucas felt the need to score during the All Valley tournament, he decided to develop and train five 'blitz' or rush attacks with multiple forward strikes.
Most were two or three attack combinations, some even four. He hit a punching bag to practice these exact scenarios, then pumped iron using the dumbbells and weight lifting set his grandfather had stopped using decades prior but Lucas had more than wiped the dust off of.
It was about two thirty in the afternoon by the time Lucas spent some time working on Warhammer Forty Thousand or Magic the Gathering games with Demetri and Eli or built some Lego sets with them.
Just for fun, they would build computers from scratch and then code entire systems from scratch. Lucas more than anything observed and occasionally took notes, coding was not his thing but on the computer they had built in Lucas' garage, he more than enjoyed watching the Binary Brothers go to work.
Lucas had to be on time during his regular five o'clock classes in Pacoima with Kreese.
They lasted two hours and sometimes two and a half hours as Kreese was making sure Lucas was as prepared as remotely possible for his first All Valley tournament.
He made him practice his five combo set he completely approved off and helped develop on mitts. Then Kreese made Lucas practice both the very basics of Cobra Kai Karate and the newer lessons.
Kreese made Lucas do pushups on one hand on choppy cement, then made him continue to hit wooden pallets and crates as hard as he could despite how much it could hurt him. Because it simply didn't.
Lucas had gotten so used to the very intense training demands of Kreese's training that his striking form, technique, speed, and power didn't let hardwood or anything Kreese throw at him hurt him. It all just made him stronger.
Lucas practiced the two punch combo finished off with an outside crescent kick and Kreese shook his head, taking the spot next to him and showing the proper application.
Kreese made a pushing motion with his hand and then a lowering motion with his hand to indicate Lucas had to stay lower to the ground as he moved as he explained.
After an entire hour of pure karate training in Cobra Kai, Kreese took Lucas to a public indoor swimming pool and spoke.
"For a three minute title fight. You have to train for three thousand minutes. And in a match like the kind you'll have at this All Valley. All of it is based on fast twitch muscles and how much speed you can put into one blow." said Kreese as Lucas was wearing specialized competitive swimming trunks and goggles. "You will never find a better place to train those kinds of muscles all over your entire body than sprint style swimming. I need you running these laps like you have a shark chasing after you. Because you do kid."
Lucas listened. "That shark is the 49th All Valley tournament in May. So don't let it catch you. It catches you, you lose. And Cobra Kais, do not lose."
And Lucas didn't let it catch him for a second. Not for the entire winter break or even the months that followed it.
Lucas did sprint laps in freestyle, butterfly, and backstroke for an entire hour and a half every day for all of winter break.
During his single lap and double lap runs, Kreese used a stopwatch and it was never good enough. Despite how fast and how much effort Lucas was putting into his laps.
Kreese spun a finger around in the air, shaking his head. "You gotta shave a half second off. Run it again."
Water splashed as Lucas flew through his laps.
"Run it again!"
He flew through the water again.
"Again!"
Lucas grunted back in his garage that night, not letting his muscles in his shoulders and arms cool off by pulling weights around.
"Again!"
Lucas flew through the water.
"Again!"
He did kata on the beach with Daniel this time nearing sunset.
"Again!"
Nearing the end of his winter break, Lucas was breaking apart thick and strong wooden blocks with his bare fists and elbows in the abandoned supermarket loading dock with Kreese.
"Again!"
Lucas was laughing and enjoying himself as Daniel had lent him his old Japanese sanders he had in a box stored in the home dojo. They were practicing sand the floor the same way Daniel had learned.
"Again!"
Lucas was getting in such good shape and training so hard with both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do and combining them so well he felt better than he ever did.
During the Game of Thrones watch party at Eli's he watched intently with his friends, eating popcorn and staying quiet always.
Sam had joined quietly as Demetri had invited her.
Aisha and Lucas looked uncomfortable, and the watch party continued awkwardly as Robby broke the ice with a quick joke everyone gave a light chuckle at.
Through the darkness of Eli's living room, Sam and Eli made eye contact for a moment. Eli could've sworn Sam was smiling at him, but the next time he looked she was laughing with Demetri and Aisha quietly.
As school began, Lucas had to reduce his training by a bit, but he still was extremely busy balancing both school and his months long preparation for the All Valley.
One morning for school, Lucas realized how hard it was for him to fit into his old clothes he had started the fall semester with months prior now that it was the start of his spring semester at West Valley.
He looked at himself in the mirror in his bedroom. Kreese had helped him grow muscles over his entire body and was in excellent shape.
Lucas sighed, needing to pick out the largest clothes he had and then left.
The following weeks wearing clothes now better suited for him, he started to spend more time at school with all his friends.
Robby, Eli, Aisha, Demetri, and even Charlotte. We spent a decent bit of time about once or twice a week discussing stuff for English and other classes in the West Valley High School library.
He trained daily in Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai with Daniel and Kreese. He studied school work and as many fight tip videos as he could apply to his training for the All Valley.
By around February of 2017 Lucas was passing the apex of his training in both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do Karate.
After nearly nine months of training as much as he could under Kreese and Daniel, combining both their methods on his own as well, Lucas was seriously impressing both Daniel and Kreese with his degree of skill.
He could do almost any one of the five strike combinations with a single code word given under Kreese.
Any of the basic blocks or attacks from the multitude Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do had given him, Lucas could do at the drop of a hat with highly advanced form for someone who was barely even reaching his fifteenth birthday.
He had a degree of technique, speed, and strength that made Kreese surprised at how quickly he progressed. And Daniel had found the same in Lucas.
And it was because he combined their styles, he developed his own methods and his own confidence from them both and always respected them both every chance he got.
All of March he focused entirely on cardio, fundamentals, and kata. And then it was already April.
Lucas turned over the page on his calendar, and several dozen red X marks were cleared off as he had since the day he began to train during the summer of the previous year.
All Lucas could do was start to focus on his regular training and a bit more fight strategy on his own.
His hand curled into a fist and Lucas looked over at the nearby posted on his wall.
In the same classic style posters the All Valley had in the eighties, a Forty Ninth All Valley Under 18 Karate Championships poster hung on the wall of his bedroom.
Lucas smiled.
He was finally ready. All that was left, was to wait and train one final month.
…
I got off the electronic scale.
Kreese looked at it, and then he chuckled for a second.
"What?"
"You've gained. About twenty six pounds worth of muscle since you started training with me. And you've grown about an inch and a half taller. So you weigh about one hundred and thirty eight pounds, and are five feet and eight and a half inches tall. Your arms and legs are naturally long for your age too."
"And?"
"And. That's adding to the fact you've trained as much as you have been for almost eleven months. You have an entire month left before the All Valley, and that would mark the entire year you began your training with Cobra Kai. You're at least guaranteed a spot in the semi finals by this rate kid is what I'm saying."
I nodded. "Yeah well. I think my competition is still pretty decent."
"And who is your competition?"
"Phineas Morrison, last year's champion from All Star Karate. And Xander Stone, I started checking online he really stepped up his game from last year and I think beat Cutting Edge Karate's top fighter in a friendly spar. And."
"Who else?"
I explained. "Robby Keene. He's trained with his dad, Johnny Lawrence, this whole time remember?"
"Right. You did mention it before. That um, Eagle dojo."
"Yeah."
"I expect he'll give you a really good match. Similar ages, level of experience. A fight between you two would come down mostly to skill and level of physical conditioning. I think you'd win."
"But you've never met him."
And Robby was always a great fighter, even in his first months of training fighting against Trey and Cruz to defend car parts for the LaRussos.
"Still. I think you're going to beat him. You've done well tonight Schwarber. Go home, I'll see you tomorrow."
I bowed. "Yes Sensei."
…
I hopped off my bicycle approaching the LaRusso's house. "What's the occasion?"
"You dressed appropriately. Good." Daniel said as Amanda fixed his tie.
"Yeah it's my best suit and tie. But what's happening?"
"A cousin of mine is getting married. I thought, since you've been training so hard for. Months and months on end. You deserved a reward. You're coming with us."
"It's not Louie is it?"
Amanda laughed at this as Daniel smiled. "No. It's not Louie. It's someone you haven't met yet. Vanessa."
I was surprised. "Yeah, you guys mentioned her a few times. Isn't she only in her twenties?"
"She's." Amanda sighed. "Only twenty four. But. Her job and life are stable and she's known the guy for ages so. No place for us to judge."
"Where are we driving?" I asked.
"Mission Viejo." answered Daniel.
I already knew the entire Los Angeles area very well after getting to know it so well this past year.
"An hour long drive." I said quietly. "In the same car with Sam."
Amanda and Daniel smiled at each other. "We know how you two get along. Which is why Sam has brung a guest."
"Really. Who?"
I expected Aisha or Demetri but.
"Daaang!" I laughed in pride and gripped hands and bumped shoulders with Eli. "You look sharp as a sword!"
"Thanks man you too," he said quietly. "Are we gonna get going?"
Daniel nodded. "Soon as Anthony finally gets done getting dressed." he muttered before leaving through the garage.
I laid my bicycle down in their garage and looked at two people I knew would at one point be Miyagi-Dos, again in Sam's case. "So. You two are going to this wedding together."
Sam nodded wearing a simple yellow dress. "Yup."
"Good. Awesome. I, I mean a bit of a surprise. But an awesome one for sure."
I wasn't jealous at all, I just wasn't expecting this.
…
After a very cheerful car ride where I talked with Anthony the whole time, Eli with Sam, and Amanda with Daniel, we reached Vanessa LaRusso's wedding celebration.
…
I walked in. "Huh. Nice music."
The band was playing a spiritful and bright tune as we walked into the wedding.
Still in her wedding dress Vanessa walked over and kissed Daniel on the cheek. "Daaanny! You came!"
"Who would miss their favorite cousin's most special day?"
This was a pretty big wedding taking place in a very large social hall.
The dinner was rather short and followed by loads of dancing.
I sat down at a rather secluded part of the celebration and checked something on my phone before Eli sat down next to me.
"Feeling out of place too?"
"Sort of." I said. "I needed to explain something to you."
"Sure, what is it?" asked Eli.
The bouncy music kept playing and the wedding continued to dance nearby as I spoke. "You do know that Sam's dad was famous for karate right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, my mom was part of that. She was the reason why he even needed karate at all. About thirty three years ago, in nineteen eighty four my mother went to our school."
Eli laughed. "Awesome! I knew you already had family here in LA, but still."
I smiled lightly. "I wouldn't call it so awesome yet. My mother used to date a local karate champ named Johnny Lawrence for two years. They broke up right around the time Sam's dad moved here from New Jersey and got to know my mom."
"So?"
"So Lawrence got jealous, they started to scrap. Beat the crap outta Mr. LaRusso a few times. And that's how he ended up winning that tournament."
Eli nodded a bit. "So that karate. Is your karate?"
I nodded back.
"Why tell me this?"
"Because that's my family Eli. That's not me. I don't want you thinking I like starting petty rivalries or nonsense like that. Sam's family, or, Mr. LaRusso in particular was incredibly involved with a man named Mr. Miyagi. A karate teacher, known as a Sensei."
"Was he a good teacher?"
I remembered everything he did in the original trilogy of films.
"The best apparently." I said before looking at Eli. "Sam thinks I might be doing things I shouldn't with this karate. Hurting people. But the truth is man, that I only wanted to help you. To protect you from them, from Sam's friends."
Eli nodded and he left the table.
…
Eli Moskowitz danced slowly with Samantha LaRusso on the dance floor of the wedding celebration.
"Lucas told me you've been judging him lately."
Sam shrugged. "And?"
"Does he deserve that?" asked Eli.
"You came here as my guest Eli. We have something nice going right?"
"I don't know," Eli said simply. "If it wasn't for Lucas I would still be bullied. By your friends no less."
Sam shifted, looking down at her shoes for a moment. "So it's true then."
"Look I. I like you. You're smart and really pretty, and I've liked you for a while. But what you did just wasn't cool. Vouching for them for so long."
"Put yourself in my shoes for a moment," said Sam. "Luke's trained with my dad since May of last year. That's a really long time Eli."
"So?"
"So reasonably it'd be pretty hard for someone without any training to hold their own against him in a fight. The next thing I know, friends I've had for just as long he's been training are beaten up by him."
"It was four against one Sam. I don't think that was a fair fight the other way around of what you're saying."
"My point is," Sam said. "That I only heard of Yas and Kyler doing all that through rumor. Not from first hand experiences. So, I'm sorry."
Sam held herself close to Eli and they danced together in each other's embrace.
Lucas watched on from afar and Eli smiled as Lucas raised a glass for him.
…
Daniel sat down next to me. "Everything got along rather well now didn't it?"
"Yeah." I said.
"Your second semester of high school is wrapping up. How'd it go?"
"Better than I thought. Besides that fight with Kyler last year, not much else really happened."
Daniel spoke. "I wanted to thank you."
"For what?"
"For training so well in Miyagi-Do for so long. At first I would've guessed you might've quit after the first month. What with all the chores and just kata. But you stuck through it."
I smiled. "To be fair. You taught me much more than that. You taught me some counters, the reverse punch." I tapped the knuckles on my right hand. "The power of my whole body, whole body always. Here."
"Mr. Miyagi's lessons are making you a more mature. Calm. And rational person. Technically you've trained much more than I have before my first tournament. And learned more."
"I wouldn't say I'm a better Miyagi-Do than you were Mr. LaRusso please."
"No that's for me to say," said Daniel. "And I'm saying exactly that."
"And why? What have I done that's so right?"
Daniel pointed to his own daughter dancing with Eli. "That."
"What's that exactly?"
"Sam was wronging Eli in a way with her friends were doing. You helped them reconcile by making sure those bullies weren't going to bother anyone at your school. You've done well with that. Even if it took violence to get there. The results speak for themselves."
"Thank you Mr. LaRusso. But I wouldn't say I'm a better Miyagi-Do than you were. I would actually never say that."
"And why's that?"
"Because you trained with Mr. Miyagi himself. Made him proud, followed his teachings personally. I'm just. Not like that."
Daniel sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I often considered myself the same. Not like Miyagi-Do at all. I had a temper, and was impatient and in a way, I created my own problems back then. You are not like that at all. I mean, your nature. You're not angry or spiteful, you don't go seeking trouble. You fix it and help it for others like how you did with Eli."
Every time he praised me I remembered that I trained daily just as much as I did with him with one of his worst enemies.
"Thank you Mr. LaRusso."
Daniel smiled and nodded, patting my shoulder before he left.
I realized that Robby was put in a very similar situation to me in the first season of the show. At first, he joined as part of a revenge plan on his father, Johnny Lawrence, but actually started to enjoy Miyagi-Do.
I wanted to tell him the truth, but I just couldn't. Because it was far worse than keeping Johnny Lawrence being Robby's father as a secret.
The same thing happened to me with Cobra Kai under Kreese as well. Except I wasn't trying to get revenge on anyone, I was just using both him and Daniel.
And it still really made me guilty about all of it.
A few older women muttered in Italian and practically pushed me on the dance floor from my seat to get me to dance with their daughters and soon I did.
I had a fun time despite some of them not being the most pleasant people to be around. It was a great night. One of the last few I think I'd have before either Kreese or Daniel would get mad at me greatly for my decision.
Before that though, I really wanted to get in the best training with both Kreese and Daniel. Before the tournament.
Before I decided which one of them I'd follow for the next three years.
…
OST: Training Hard - Bill Conti
…
Lucas was balancing on one of the wooden stumps by the ocean.
Instead of doing the crane kick, he was balancing on a single hand in a one handed hand stand, lowering his body forward and pretending to kick an invisible person in front of him with both feet.
Daniel saw this from afar near his car and smiled. Surprised.
They did kata together on the beach as seagulls fluttered around.
Daniel's hands swirled around and so did Lucas', they turned and faced the ocean in horse stance.
They continued to practice kata. Then they did hook kicks and blocks in unison in the sand.
Daniel was wearing a catcher's mask and armor. "Make a kiai. Force it through."
"Hiya!" Lucas' fist hit Daniel in the target he had painted on his chest.
"Once more. Hut!"
"Hiya!"
With Kreese, Lucas spun around throwing spinning back fists and then hook kicks right onto mitts he held.
He made him dodge attacks and do plenty of knuckle pushups now with very heavy full wooden boxes on his back.
Kreese yelled at him and walked around him like he was training his original Cobra Kais from his old Lankershim dojo in the eighties as Lucas broke wooden crates apart with his feet, the side of his hands in chops and knife hands, and fists.
Lucas dodged a round kick from Kreese and proceeded to miss a back kick on his chest before scoring a hit on the mitt Kreese raised just in time with a perfectly timed reverse punch.
"Jab out! Jab out! Jab out, come on." said Kreese as Lucas was throwing constant, fast, and strong hook, straight, and uppercut punches on mitts wearing boxing gloves.
On a boat by the water where he trained with Daniel, as the setting sun shimmered as it was reflected, Lucas practiced his kata. His hands swiveled around in a circle, he did punches, low blocks, and high blocks.
A side block transitioning into two punches, a low block transitioning into another two direct punches to the chest.
Constantly flowing blocks and punches in different directions, all in a circle as he balanced on the boat.
He had trained exactly like Daniel LaRusso did under Mr. Miyagi and Johnny Lawrence did under John Kreese for an entire year.
As the sun had set and Lucas walked back with a towel over his shoulders.
He was as ready as ever to take on the 49th All Valley Under 18 Karate tournament.
…
At school the next day I practiced my Queen Mab speech for English class with Demetri in the hallway.
Everyone, Robby, Aisha, and Eli thought it was funny how in character I got as Demetri read Romeo's lines.
"That dreamers often lie!" I said with glee.
Demetri sighed. "In bed asleep while they do dream things true."
"Oh. Then. I see Queen Mab hath been with you."
"Queen Mab, what's she?" asked Robby.
"She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes. In shape no bigger than an agate stone. On the forefinger of an alderman. Drawn with a team of little atomi. Over men's noses as they lie asleep."
Aisha and Eli laughed as I ran up a nearby wall for a second and then squatted with both feet widely apart as I continued my lines. "Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs. The cover of the wings of grasshoppers! Her traces of the smallest spider's web. Her collars of the moonshine's watery beams! Her whip-"
I stopped, everyone stopped laughing.
"What?" I asked.
Charlotte was standing between Robby and I. "Luke. Can we talk?"
"Sure. Sure, sure. Um, we'll practice later in the cafeteria guys." I said.
I picked up my backpack from the ground as Robby looked at Charlotte and I and then laughed with Eli as he muttered to him.
"You make a really great Mercutio," said Charlotte brightly with a smile. "Really great!"
"Uh thank you. So what's up?"
"I was wondering what you were doing this Friday night."
"Just the usual. Why?"
Charlotte shrugged, crossing her arms over a notebook she was carrying. "I don't know. Maybe we could do something."
"You asking me out Everston?"
"Maybe I am. Schwarber."
I laughed quietly as she smiled with a small hint of embarrassment. "Okay. Okay um. How about we go to Golf 'N Stuff?"
"Where's that?"
"Over between the highway and the old waterpark near Fifth and Johnston. It'll be fun."
"See ya then. Five thirty?"
"Yeah. Yeah that sounds great."
I had had a crush on her since we met really. I was happy. I was excited.
Which was why I didn't say a word about it to anyone.
…
OST: Feel the Night - Baxter Robinson
…
I had no idea what the hell to wear to my first ever date with anyone ever, so I just went with some nice jeans and a decent open button up shirt and my Lannister Lion and Stark Direwolf Game of Thrones shirt underneath.
Charlotte had an old photo camera, a simple digital silver rectangular camera, slung around her shoulders waiting for me outside the front entrance to Golf 'N Stuff. She was wearing a simple red jacket, didn't know why I found her outfit so nice.
It was just a simple long white skirt and a matching white bandanna holding her clean blonde hair back.
This was the cutest girl I knew.
She stopped checking the shots of the old camera she had and nodded to me when I walked up to her. "Hey." she said lightly.
"Hi Char."
"Shall we get going?" she asked.
To the same place where Chris would one day possibly work and my mom went out with my karate teacher?
"Yeah." I said with a tiny smile.
It ended up being the most fun I had had since I moved to the Valley last summer.
Charlotte and I tried racing go karts, which I completely beat her at because I had raced go karts in my previous life.
She still enjoyed it and took a picture on her old camera of the race results.
"You didn't even do that well." Char muttered.
"Now hold on. Hey!-"
Before I could react she held me by the wrist and we walked inside Golf 'N Stuff itself.
Playing Skeeball Charlotte was again losing to me. I wasn't trying to beat her at every game we played I was just having fun just trying it, but it was Charlotte who was having fun being competitive.
I was winning a whole lot and then Charlotte sighed. "I thought you'd go easy on me."
"Well. I mean, watch. No peeking."
I covered my eyes with my hand and then threw the ball randomly up the Skeeball machine.
Char then laughed at the top of her lungs.
I uncovered my eyes and I had sunk the Skeeball into the highest point hole.
"I swear I was-"
"No. You're fine." she smiled. "I wasn't expecting to win this anyway."
"Look. Why don't we try another game?"
Basketball, even old arcade machines like Galaga. I was trying to let her win and I still won.
Finally, after several tries, we found something she was better than me at. Stick hockey, she annihilated me.
She put more tokens into the machine. "Let's go again."
"Wait-"
"No, no no no. Just one more." she insisted.
"You said that twenty minutes ago!"
Charlotte proceeded to absolutely embarrass me soundly nineteen to zero.
"Everston scoooores!" she hollered loudly.
I muttered dryly. "Yeah you got me." I said. "Can we try another game now?"
I did end up doing pretty well at mini golf but so did Char. She beat me by only one par.
"What's that. Four to two for you?"
"This isn't a competition Charlotte come on."
"Says who?" she shrugged and said slyly before turning around to grab a few more golf balls.
She went over to try another round of mini golf and looking at her I realized something. This was the best date I think I'd ever been on, even if it was the only one.
I was really enjoying myself with a girl I considered to be really funny and quirky. And awesome.
This was all awesome.
We went back into the Golf 'N Stuff arcade area and soon found ourselves in the photo booth. The same one where both my mother and Miyagi-Do Sensei Daniel LaRusso could've sat in over thirty years ago.
On the first few we made some goofy poses, some serious.
And then on the third to last one I decided to just go for it. I pecked her quickly on the cheek.
Charlotte looked at me strangely and I thought I had really messed up. On the next picture she covered my face as a joke, I was still confused and it was probably caught on the picture how completely and utterly bewildered I was.
And on the last one Char kissed me strongly on the lips.
I was even more astounded. "Whoa whoa whoa what the-"
Charlotte grabbed the pictures the booth printed out for us and practically ran out of it.
I protested. "Hold on."
"Oh my god. That second to last picture."
"Charlotte come on please-"
"You bet I'm keeping this."
"But-"
Charlotte already tucked it into her pocket. "If you want it you're going to have to beat me for once at mini golf."
"But that's not fair! What is with you tonight?"
Outside I was surprised again as she interlocked fingers with mine. This was something I never expected really.
…
We bought a few slushies and used a straw and a plastic spoon they gave us to sit down and drink them.
"Don't you feel this is moving a little fast is all?" I asked her.
Charlotte shrugged, tapping her spoon on the edge of the slushie cup. "Why? It's moving as fast as I think I want it to. And that means it's moving as fast as it should."
I laughed quietly.
That was very Cobra Kai. She saw an opportunity, even if it wasn't there. And she made it happen.
Just like in a fight, she made her opening. I just didn't want to admit I liked her because I honestly didn't know anything about her from what I had seen.
"No but I mean. We've known each other for months. And I never got any vibes that you liked me."
"Well I got vibes you liked me. I didn't mind on the contrary really. And I said. You know, why not take a chance?"
We listened to and watched people splash around in the water by the nearby water slide.
"I wasn't expecting that at all. But I think that's really cool." I said quietly.
This girl was very very sweet and funny and incredibly beautiful. What did she see in me?
"We just kissed on our first date."
Charlotte scoffed. "We didn't." she said.
"You have photographic proof that says otherwise."
"I thought you wanted to get rid of those pictures."
"At first, because. You've been messing with me since I got here. And I still can't figure out why?"
"Better drop the kiss buddy otherwise it might not happen again."
I nodded. "Oh. Really?"
Charlotte shrugged. "Tonight was amazing but that may or may not have happened."
"Okay. Okay sure."
Charlotte looked at me. "You had fun right?"
"More than I had since I got here," I admitted. "But there's been something on my mind. It's. Stupid."
"Just tell me."
"My mom dated these two guys back in high school. They had rival karate dojos. Blah blah blah. It doesn't matter it's ancient history. They still hate each other. Or at least. They can't even talk to each other decades later."
"Who are these two guys?"
"Robby's dad and Sam's dad. But they're not the only ones. The karate teacher, or Sensei, of Sam's dad passed. Robby's dad thinks his Sensei passed too. He didn't."
Charlotte blinked, staying quiet.
"He trains me every day for this tournament in about two weeks. He trains me, in an indoor swimming pool, at kickboxing tournaments and even a few tiny karate dojos for sparring every day. As well as, an abandoned supermarket loading dock." It sounded even weirder when I said it out loud. "His name is John Kreese. And everyone thinks he's a monster because he choked out Robby's dad back in the eighties for losing a karate tournament."
Charlotte muttered. "And is he a monster?"
"He's not exactly kind. At all really. But he's honest, and real. More real than several people I've met in my life. But he's just been scarred, and it's not his fault."
I chuckled. "He's been more of a father to me than my real one back home in Denver ever was."
Charlotte stayed quiet and looked completely blank.
"I'm sorry. This is, really personal for a first date and."
"No. I never met either of my parents. I was adopted when I was pretty young. I get what you're going through."
I finished my slushie. "Well. There's more. Sam's dad teaches me his karate taught too, he's taught me it just as long as Sensei Kreese has. These two guys don't realize. That both their ways, are the right way. But because they can't let go of the past. I can only choose one of them."
"Choose neither," said Charlotte.
"What?"
"Choose neither," Charlotte repeated. "I'm sure they've been good to you. But if they can't let go of something that happened thirty years ago. That's on them Lucas. Not you."
"Some of this was very violent and messed up."
"Well did anybody die?"
"No."
Char sighed. "Do you think this Kreese guy would try to hurt anybody again? Like really badly?"
"Probably not honestly. He's very high strung and intense. But I think I've helped him."
"Go with what you think is best. I might not know anything about karate," said Charlotte. "But I know you. You're a really cool guy, whatever you think is best. Is best."
A familiar senior citizen began walking towards the bench where we sat.
"Who's that?"
"The guy I just mentioned. Sensei Kreese." I stood up off the bench. "Sensei. I wasn't expecting to see you."
"Evidently not. You missed class today. For the first time since we met." Kreese said.
I sighed. Wow. I can't believe I forgot.
Charlotte threw away her empty slushie cup and walked towards him. "Sir, it's my fault. I asked Lucas to be here."
I just realized I had introduced Charlotte to the man who would be her Cobra Kai Sensei during the fourth season of the show.
"I trained you to be responsible." Kreese said to me. "You should've told me."
"I just wanted tonight to be the one night I got away from literally everything we've been training for."
"You know the importance of Master Kim Sun-Yung's legacy. Of Cobra Kai. Of everything."
I nodded shamefully. "I do Sensei. But I'm sorry I just needed to get away from everything. Just for one night."
Kreese couldn't say anything.
"How'd you even find me here?"
"The VA's office is nearby I was stopping for a late visit. I planned on maybe stopping by your home before I didn't see you again until next week, I needed to talk to you."
"But my grandparents could recognize you, they-"
"This is about you Lucas," Kreese said. "Not them. I don't care about LaRusso at this point. You have no reason to miss class with the tournament so near."
"I'm sorry Sensei."
He walked off shaking his head without a word and Charlotte checked her phone. "My mom," she said slowly. "Is picking me up. Right now."
"Thanks Charlotte. I'll see you at school next week."
She smiled and hugged me a bit, pecking me on the cheek.
"Bye."
"Bye." I repeated.
…
At the nearby mini golf course on one of their first dates, Eli watched as Sam had snapped a picture on her phone of Kreese talking to Lucas.
"Who's that?" wondered Eli.
"I have no idea." Sam said. "But I heard Lucas call him Sensei. Whatever that is, that's not good."
…
I needed to come clean that night. I had had enough of the sneaking around and lying.
I owed to Daniel. To Mr. Miyagi's memory.
I had regular kata practice with Daniel at seven thirty, I rode my bicycle towards his house to fess up.
I opened the wooden door right next to Daniel's home dojo. It was supposed to be locked but he always left it unlocked.
I entered the home dojo and saw Daniel staring at Mr. Miyagi's picture with his back turned to the dojo door.
"Mr. LaRusso. God, what a crazy day. I was asked out on a date earlier this week. It actually went pretty well until. I have to. I have tell you something."
Daniel stayed quiet for a moment.
Before he spoke over his shoulder.
"I think it's a little late for that."
I froze.
He knew.
"I-I-I I meant for you to find out soon."
"How soon?" Daniel turned around and looked completely calm. "Hm? How soon before you told me you sided with the man dedicated more than anyone to the shaming and destruction of my best friend and mentor?"
"He's not that bad anymore. In the same way your karate works, his does too. He's not, that, bad."
"You don't. Know him. And frankly, I don't know you either." said Daniel. "Lying to me."
He started to look very upset.
"Lying to me!" he repeated. "To my family. It would've been one thing if you had been with Johnny this whole time. I was suspecting that for a while. And I would've been mad, but not as mad as this!"
"Mr. LaRusso I swear-"
"Swear what? That Sam was right about you this entire time? I listened to you, instead of my own daughter. I can't believe this. I can't believe you could ever do something this strange. And still. Why?"
"I'll tell you why." I heard Kreese say.
We both turned around and Kreese stepped into the home dojo.
He had walked in through the very close by open side door to the LaRusso's backyard.
John Kreese and Daniel LaRusso looked right at each other, completely ignoring me.
"How many years has it been?" Kreese said quietly.
"Far too few." Daniel admitted. "Do you?" Daniel squinted at me and then Kreese. "Do you know anything about this? What am I saying, of course you do."
"It doesn't matter if I do or don't, you're still going to blame me instead of the kid."
"Then the hell is going on!?" asked Daniel.
Kreese spoke quietly. "I asked myself the same question for some time. Why in the world would a fourteen year old kid appear out of the blue asking to learn karate? Maybe he had selfish reasons. But. Maybe, he didn't care all along. What my karate meant to me. By that point I assumed he had no limits. Just the same lack of limits he could have with anyone else's."
"It's not like that." I said. "It's not like that at all."
"Quiet. The adults are talking." Kreese muttered, looking over slowly to Daniel. "You really want to know what's going on?"
"Why would I ever trust you? And you're standing on my property right now I can call the police."
"This will only take a second. And, you don't have to trust me. To know a pretty blatant truth. We both got played. We got played." Kreese gave a very painful smile for a second as he walked forward. "By a barely fifteen year old highschool freshman."
"Played for what?"
"For what Johnny should've had. It took me a while but it hit me the moment I talked to him tonight. Schwarber wants the All Valley golden trophy. More specifically. He wants three."
"How could you possibly know that?" I asked, blown away that he figured out my plan.
Kreese sighed. "No one's ever cross trained in karate styles, because as I'm sure you've figured out, karate Senseis are rather traditional and always have some sort of rivalry and are very peculiar about how they teach their styles of karate. Especially not ones that have as many championship titles under their belts as Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. You do that. And you can more than make history. You can become a living legend, except with the added benefit of never needing either LaRusso or myself after your second title or so."
Kreese was a lot more intelligent than I gave him credit for.
Kreese chuckled quietly as both Daniel and I stayed quiet. "I'll admit it. It's bold. Incredibly ambitious for someone as young as you. But if you can't respect me enough to look me in the eye and tell me you never appreciated what I taught you. There's no point in talking about it."
"It's not like that at all a few months in, I respected you both more than anyone else in my whole life. Both of you." I pointed to Kreese. "He is not a monster." and I looked towards Daniel. "And you are not a weakling. You both don't understand this because you don't care how much the past thirty years have changed both of you! For the better!"
Daniel put his hands on his hips. "Which is why you decided to show us this. By betraying us? Lying to us for about a year. And then planning to have used us for maybe three years?"
"It wasn't supposed to be like this I promise."
"The thing is. How else was this supposed to happen?" asked Kreese. "Let's suppose by some miracle you prove LaRusso and I have fought over nothing and are holding onto nothing this entire time. What then? What was your plan after one of us realized what you did? At some point one of us would see you were part of the other's karate. More importantly, that you were its only student for an entire year."
I sighed. "I understand."
"Good luck at the tournament. You'll need it." Kreese said quietly before he left the dojo.
Daniel took a deep breath about a minute after he left. He was mostly speechless.
"Maybe he lied to you about what he was. But I never lied to you about what Mr. Miyagi was. Even if Kreese had changed, and even if you were trying to help him. You couldn't repay me with the same honesty."
I couldn't say anything.
"This. Was what you were guilty about all this time huh?" Daniel said with calm fury. "The All Valley board will know I trained you should I try to ban you from entering the tournament. You're smart enough to stop me I know you are. I'm furious Lucas. But not at you. I'm just disappointed you could never be honest with me from the start."
"I could've told you I wanted Miyagi-Do Karate to help me become a champion. But not to the extent of success I needed to have."
"And for that you had to lie to me? For no reason but ambition and a hunger for glory. It's hard to believe you're Ali's son of all people."
"Mr. LaRusso-"
"Get out." Daniel said quietly. "Get out. And never come near me, or my family ever again. At least if you had sided with only him." he pointed toward the door Kreese had walked out of. "You could've at least had the honesty of telling me you never pretended you cared about Mr. Miyagi, or what he taught."
I nodded.
I picked up my bicycle, and went home.
…
I sat in Johnny's apartment the next day and had told him everything. Everything, from top to bottom and left to right.
He was shocked.
"Hold on, Kreese. Is alive?"
"Yeah."
Johnny was silent for a bit. "I don't, I don't know what to say."
"He's changed Johnny. He wanted to help me. He wants! To help me. Until I stabbed him in the back."
"In my experience kid, people like that can't change," Johnny sighed deeply and loudly. "Sure. But I would never have dropped you on the spot like that. You're barely fifteen. You're a good person Lucas."
"Then why did I do that?"
"Because you make really dumb mistakes when you're young. Just like I did."
"You never hatched a conspiracy to lie to two people for an entire year to make martial arts history. How could I have done that to them?"
Johnny put a hand on my shoulder. "You still have a chance to make things right though. You gotta remember that, always."
It was then where I realized Johnny Lawrence's mentality was the same I remembered something he might've said.
"We all get shit wrong sometimes. But if you own up to your mistakes, you always have a shot of making things right."
I stopped myself from saying Eagle-Fang Karate. "I'm not joining Steel Eagle."
"I'm not saying you have to. I'll be right back."
He walked out from his bedroom holding an old black headband.
"Your mom gave me this when I was about your age. It's only right you wear it when you compete against Robby and everyone else at the All Valley the weekend after the next. You made a really, really cruel, and selfish mistake. But what they don't realize is you actually respected what they did for you pretty soon didn't you?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Then it's on them then." Johnny said.
He was right. I had changed from the person I was when I first stepped off that plane from Denver.
I wrapped the new headband around my head. "Thank you Johnny."
"Hey. There was no such thing as a bad student, ever. You just had teachers you happened to lie to. Your fourteen, you didn't know the kind of people they were before you trained with them. Even if you're still fighting unaffiliated with any dojo in the Valley. I'll be rooting for you. Until, you might face Robby."
I smiled. "Thanks."
I shook his hand and prepared mentally for the competition.
For the 49th All Valley Karate Championships.
...
...
...
A/N: The next chapter will actually be the very last of this book of whole fanfiction, edit: there are more incoming already finished, I have other chapters already written as a continuation. If you've liked my work and follow it or review it, there are some great Cobra Kai fics I have to recommend. I've checked some profiles and highly recommend you all branch out beyond just Defeat Does Not Exist into other fics. For example, Dontatme420's fanfics: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/13829890/Dontatme420
The MC in this story has seen the trailer for Season 5, that's why he knew that line from Johnny.
Thank you all for reading and I'll see you all soon in the next and final chapter of Book 1 of this series of my Cobra Kai fanfiction.
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Chapter Seventeen
MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Seventeen: The Choice Is Made
…
When I woke up, I started getting dressed and ready.
Today was the day.
Today was the day where the entire past year worth of effort paid off or I failed at becoming a legend.
I had spent the last two weeks training with Johnny and Robby lightly just to stay prepared, and now it was the day.
Saturday May 13th, 2017. The 49th All Valley Karate Tournament.
I had bought my uniform online, a simple sleeved white GI, exactly how Robby wore in his first tournament. No logos, nothing like it.
Unlike in Daniel's first tournament, I didn't have to steal a black belt, it actually came with the uniform. Huh. Really made me think.
I smiled nodding to myself.
My grandparents were nowhere to be found. Fine, I didn't need them there when I took my chance at making history.
At trying to become a legend.
…
OST: Photograph - Def Leppard
…
The preparations for the All Valley tournament were a very momentous occasion for the staff.
There had been talk of changing the color of the mats due to dwindling attendance, so it was possibly the last time they'd ever place down the classic red mats with the white fists.
They went to every part of the All Valley Sports Arena's main floor and spread out mats everywhere. They were arranged like puzzle pieces so they fit together perfectly.
There were a dozen in a large square around the main one used for semi finals and final matches.
After they were done putting them down, staff members of the tournament had to brush them down and make sure they were clean.
The large canvas covering the tournament brackets were thrown off revealing the blank boxes that would hold the names of the quarter finalists, semi finalists, and finalists of the tournament.
Snack stations were set up. Churros, hot dogs, nachos, pizza, and all sorts of food were prepared.
Karate merch including hand wraps, punching mitts and dummies were sold at a specially marked area of the arena lobby.
Locker room areas for each dojo were prepared.
White signs holding names for 'Topanga Karate' or 'Krunch Karate' were spread out through each part of the locker rooms.
The smallest area of the entire locker rooms had a sign labeled 'Unaffiliated' outside it.
Tickets and metal boxes to hold cash were placed on plastic white tables.
Black and red shirts commemorating the forty ninth All Valley Under 18 Karate tournament were placed on merchandise tables.
Check in and registration sheets were placed on separate tables. Posters rolled down from the ceiling, one of them including a picture of Daniel in his crane kick stance as Johnny Lawrence was on another during the same tournament.
Each official put on red 'Referee' shirts and wore black karate trousers, competitors tied their black belts on, and the tournament was now ready.
And the doors to the tournament were opened.
The All Valley tournament committee was surprised to see the crowd wasn't tiny this year. With talk of the mats changing and a few new dojos joining, attendance was significantly higher.
Above all, because word had spread that tournament legends Johnny Lawrence was competing and Daniel LaRusso and his family were attending, attendance of the tournament was much higher.
Karatekas various dojos all stretched and warmed up with their Senseis. They stretched on the mats, they hit punching mitts, and they jumped and stretched their legs with high kicks.
They stretched their legs, arms, necks, and shoulders.
Officials cleaned the lines and lines of trophies and made them all look all as shiny as possible, especially the largest All Valley Champion trophy.
A single person stood in front of the entire arena next to the very long lines of people waiting to spectate the tournament.
He wasn't in his simple white uniform yet, he was still wearing regular clothing.
He was holding a sports duffel bag over his shoulder and looking up at the arena.
Lucas Schwarber balled his fists ready to compete on his own.
…
I walked up to the registration table and sighed when I recognized who it was.
It was the same girl from last year who didn't want to let Kreese get a veteran discount. She was wearing a black 'Official' shirt instead of a few of the red referee ones I saw.
"Hi." I said quietly.
"Hi." she appeared to not remember me or was too polite to say anything. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah I'm here to um. Compete?"
"Do you have a signed waiver from your Sensei?"
"I don't have a Sensei this year. I'm competing unaffiliated with any, is that okay?"
She smiled and nodded. "That's fine. We just have to make sure a staff member swings by your locker room and gives you the rules." She then handed me a clipboard with two different pieces of paper attached.
"The first form is a safety form you have to fill out. The second is a rules and regulations form you have to sign too."
I filled out both forms in about five minutes.
When she was finished talking with two other people, another All Valley tournament staff member and a competitor who looked like he had a question, I walked over to her and handed the clipboard with the finished papers.
She quickly stacked them into a box filled with other papers and spoke. "You're free to go get ready in the locker room. All dojos have a designated area so you basically get your own this year. A staff member will go over the tournament rules with you and then you'll be called onto the mat when the tournament's ready to begin."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." she said politely with a slight smile and a nod.
Before I walked towards the locker rooms I saw Aisha, Demetri, and Charlotte talking in the lobby with Aisha's parents nearby.
"Hey guys you came!" I said in surprise.
"Of course, we came. Both you and Robby are competing," said Demetri. "You'd support us too if you were in our shoes."
Aisha sighed. "I was just hoping this tournament would be a great way to get away from all the drama for once."
I watched her look over towards Sam talking to Eli nearby who were clearly thinking Aisha, Demetri, and Charlotte had wronged either them or at least Sam for coming to the tournament for supporting me.
"Did I miss something or are they dating now?" I asked.
Charlotte shrugged. "I think you got more important things to worry about. Like you know. An entire tournament to compete in."
"Right. I gotta get going to the locker rooms. Next time you see me I'll be out on the mats."
"Good luck." Charlotte smiled and said before I left and Aisha and Demetri waved.
…
I got done being dressed as the only person in the unaffiliated area of the locker rooms.
Across the hall, I saw Robby and Johnny both wearing uniforms very similar to the Eagle-Fang GIs I remember from the fourth season of Cobra Kai's tournament. They were a light red with black outlines and the same went for their belts.
On their backs, I saw the same logo Johnny had talked about wanting. A huge steel and shiny eagle had its wings outstretched on an American flag as a field.
Before I could say anything to them a referee with a goatee walked into my part of the locker rooms.
"Lucas Schwarber?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Okay. First tournament right?"
"Yup."
He cleared his throat. "Rules are pretty simple. No elbow strikes, no knee strikes either. You can't strike your opponents when outside of combat. Any hit that lands clean above the belt to the torso or head area, except to the back of the head and is decisively first and struck properly will be a point. Three points win the match. You may use both hand and foot strikes to score only, and the only punches to the body that are allowed to score are your rear hand only."
I already knew all this but still listened.
"You have to watch the level of contact out there. These are in fact matches but you're all still underage so you're not allowed too much contact and will be warned or possibly disqualified if needed. Any illegal strikes or techniques, such as wrist or arm locks, or any strikes to the groin, knees, or ankles are not permitted at all. Above all, obey any and all instructions from all referees or any officials."
"You are also not allowed to grab your opponent or their uniform for longer than about one to two seconds. And you're certainly not allowed to grab them and pin them down to start hitting them. Basic things I know, but you do have to be careful out there." He nodded. "Alright, are you ready?"
"Yeah."
"Good luck out there son." he offered a hand to shake which I did.
I walked over across the hall of the locker room to Johnny and Robby. "Passing on the torch huh?"
Johnny smiled, nodding to the headband he gave me that I wore around my forehead. "Robby's not the only one getting it passed to."
"Yeah, I know." I looked at Robby. "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah yeah. Um. Apparently, the first few rounds are always the easiest," he said. "So. No worries."
"Easiest. But I didn't say easy," said Johnny.
"Aisha and all the others are in the stands with her parents. Demetri, Charlotte's there too."
Robby cleared his throat. "Is um. Sam there?"
Johnny gave him a quick look after hearing this.
"So's Eli," I said which changed the look on his face the moment he heard it. "With Sam's entire family."
A voice was heard over the intercom. "All dojos report to staging for introduction. All dojos, report to staging for introduction."
I began to feel a little nervous. "Wow already?"
"I know. We're out last cause we're the smallest dojos. Or, in your case. You know what I meant." said Johnny.
…
Daryl walked out onto the red mat. "So folks. It's that time of year once more!"
He smiled and spoke into his mic. "It's the forty ninth All Valley Under 18 Karate Championships!"
The crowd cheered.
"From Granada Hills. The defending champions! All Star Karate!"
He began to introduce the dojos one by one and they began to exit the locker rooms.
Daniel muttered to Amanda as he ignored what Daryl was saying. "Johnny and Kreese returning to official competition. What a joke!" he scoffed.
"Honey you're the reason we're here and it looks like you're hating this already. Is there a problem?" wondered Amanda.
"No. There's not." Daniel said quietly.
Eli looked at Daniel. "Um Mr. LaRusso. I thought Lucas was competing unaffiliated. I really doubt that guy we saw at Golf 'N Stuff is his teacher anymore. They looked pretty mad at each other."
"You don't know Kreese like I do. He'll be in his corner whether he wants him there or not."
"And! Every year like always, new dojos appear to try to make their mark on this momentous yearly competition! Fighting out of Reseda. Steel Eagle Karate! Led by two time All Valley Champion, Sensei Johnny Lawrence, coaching his son Robby Keene!"
Sam and Eli applauded for him as they walked out but Daniel was still upset.
"A bully pretending to be a champion. Wow." Daniel scowled.
"And lastly. Competing unaffiliated this year out of Encino Hills. Mister Lucas Schwarber!"
Jogging lightly out of the locker rooms, the crowd cheered slightly for him as he joined his spot next to Robby and Johnny right in front of the tournament brackets. Demetri, Aisha, and Charlotte were the only people really cheering for him at all besides a few other polite and kind spectators.
"Wait a minute what's he wearing?" Daniel asked quietly. "That thing on his head."
"Looks like it's just a headband dad," said Sam.
Daniel quickly noticed how Johnny wasn't wearing one. "No. It's not. Noo. Iiit's not."
"And those are all our competitors fighting this year! And now! It's karate tiiime! Let's gooo!"
The crowd cheered again and the tournament's first matches began.
…
Lucas was bouncing in place as Robby and Johnny and a few other Xtreme Martial Artists stood nearby on his side of the mat.
"You got this." said Johnny as Robby nodded.
Lucas was staring down his opponent from the Locust Valley Karate club.
"Okay gentlemen. Three points win, listen to my instructions at all times." the referee walked out and spoke.
They both bowed onto the mat walking towards their lines.
"Face me. Bow. Face off. Bow. En garde!"
Lucas got into a very stable but relaxed fighting stance. He wasn't stiff, but he wasn't loose enough to be knocked over in an instant.
"Ready?"
Lucas didn't so much as twitch as his opponent bounced.
"Fight!"
The moment they began to circle each other, Lucas stayed perfectly calm, not moving at all.
Johnny was confused, until the second the Locust Valley fighter began to attack he got countered instantly.
It had happened so fast Johnny was surprised.
His opponent had thrown two straight punches to the jaw and before he could throw a round kick he had been sent reeling back slightly with a perfectly controlled reverse punch directly to the face.
"Aiya!" roared Lucas.
After his kiai, the crowd cheered.
"Did you see how fast he did that?" chuckled Robby in surprise.
Johnny muttered. "Guess Miyagi-Do still knows its counters."
White flags had already risen from each of the corner judges as Lucas walked back to his line.
"One point Schwarber! Ready!"
Lucas stayed calm.
"Ait!"
Lucas countered his opponent's next attack so fast Johnny was still rather surprised. He moved forward just slightly without attacking to invite the Locust Valley fighter's attack when in range, moved just out of range to make it miss, and the second before his opponent could reset his guard after overextending Lucas had hit him squarely in the chest with a front kick.
"Wow." Johnny muttered silently as the crowd in the stands nearby cheered.
The speed and decisiveness Lucas possessed was seriously impressing him. He could measure distance and take advantage of it very quickly, it was an adaptation of Miyagi-Do Daniel couldn't believe he could see.
He wasn't even using any Cobra Kai at all, he was just being very creative with how he applied Miyagi-Do.
"He's fighting aggressively. This is Kreese messing with his head and bastardizing Mr. Miyagi's teachings." growled Daniel.
Amanda again gave him a look. "Would you mind how you use your language around our children?"
"I'm sorry honey I just can't stand to-"
Lucas had sprung off the ground into a front snap kick directly to the head. It barely missed, and as his opponent tried to counter Lucas had already round kicked him in the head.
…
OST: Thunder in Your Heart - John Farnham
…
"Point three! Schwarber! Winner!"
"That's what I'm talking about! Yeah!" cheered Robby as Lucas had his hand raised by the ref and he bowed to his opponent and stepped off the mat.
Both Robby and Johnny patted Lucas on the shoulder and congratulated him.
In the proceeding rounds, it became increasingly clear to Lucas which fighters would likely be the semi finalists and which wouldn't.
Phineas Morrison from All Star Karate was making his best attempt to reach the quarters as quickly as he could and retain his title. Xander Stone had improved so much he was a completely different fighter, and Robby too was breaking ground in his first tournament.
As Morrison made easy work of Cutting Edge Karate fighters and Xtreme Martial Artists three to nothing each time, Lucas, Robby, and Johnny watched.
Against an Xtreme Martial Arts student Morrison blocked a round kick and a punch to the body, moving around the ring.
As he dodged a punch to the head Morrison tripped his opponent and sent a controlled kick to his temple.
Red flags rose, unimpressed, Lucas shook his head and muttered to Johnny as Robby nodded in agreement that he could be trouble but not impossible to deal with.
Daniel watched as Robby was fighting so similar to Bobby Brown it was eerie.
The style and finesse he used moving around the ring was just like him. The way he bounced and moved around the ring, his spinning back kicks, the crab scissor throw onto the mat followed by a chop.
Scowling and shaking his head, Daniel watched as his old highschool bully was helping his son win another easy match.
Facing a Yoshukai Karate student Robby jabbed, blocked and dodged two counters and landed a round kick to the body as his opponent started to attack again.
"That's the third point! Winner Keene!" the ref said raising a hand towards Robby.
The crowd cheered and Lucas and Robby hit their forearms together holding tight fists and laughed.
Topanga Karate's new top fighter was using very flashy but still very effective kicks against opponents from nearly every dojo.
Xander Stone continued to wow the crowd. He had completely evolved from the prior year and Lucas paid very close attention to every match he had, studying his technique and fighting style carefully.
As Lucas walked onto the mat to face his next opponent, he saw Xander doing a stack fist bump with one of his Topanga Karate friends before he got onto the mat.
The Topanga fighter smiled at Lucas, and the fellow teen did not appreciate this but didn't show it.
"Bow to me. Bow to each other. Readyyy! Fight!"
Lucas still refused to use any Cobra Kai karate, he still merely used very peculiar applications of Miyagi-Do, and he picked apart his Topanga opponent in seconds.
His speed and precision with his strikes was on a completely different level than what anyone watching would've expected from a fourteen year old during his very first tournament.
Each of his counters were perfectly timed and scored. A chop to the shoulder, a round kick to the head while changing angles, and a punch to the chest.
There was no aggression to his technique, he was just being very unique in how he fought.
"Stop! Point!" Lucas' hand was raised by the referee. "Winner!"
Nearby officials were counting on the stopwatches just how fast Lucas was beating his opponents. He got the strange feeling he was setting some sort of record for how many three to nothing matches he was having from how quickly he could defeat his opponents in the first few rounds of the tournament.
Lucas smiled, smirking Daniel and Sam's way before Johnny and Robby again patted his shoulder walking off the mat.
Robby was driving his Krunch Karate opponent around the ring easily. When he was cornered, he threw a wild jab and a hook kick as Robby dodged both and then back kicked him so hard he went out of the ring.
"Alriiiight!" proudly roared Lucas. "Let's goooo!"
Xander was blocking kicks from one of Locust Valley Karate's top fighters. Moving around the ring, Xander quickly stopped moving the moment he expected to invited a jab, which he dodged and countered simultaneously by spinning into a back kick.
Red flags rose for him, and he bowed as the bald referee waved a hand in his direction. "Winner, Stone!"
Now entering the quarter finals, Lucas had his next match against Reid, a Yoshukai student familiar to him.
Flipping around the mat with very random and erratic acrobatic kicks, Lucas had a bit of trouble landing on Reid.
However, the moment Lucas found his rhythm and read his opponent's attacks it was over.
Lucas timed a leg sweep as his opponent landed and started to throw a front kick. As Reid landed almost face first on the mat, Lucas scored a chop. A knife hand quickly hit Reid in his now exposed ribs and red flags rose up.
As Lucas looked around the crowd that seemed to grow larger and larger by the hour and cheer more and more for him the more he won completely, he could've sworn he saw Kreese in the stands for a moment.
However, when he looked again, he wasn't there.
The referee had to remind Lucas to step off the mat as his match was over and he had won.
Lucas' name was the first to be put on the brackets for the semi finals as SCHWARBER was placed on the board with an empty logo next to his name as he was fighting unaffiliated.
Robby now had to face Garcia from Locust Valley Karate, the prior year's runner up champion. Despite almost getting scored on a few times, Robby found his footing and scored a round kick to the jaw while stepping back and expecting his opponent to throw a reverse punch over the top towards his head.
Garcia stumbled for a second, was checked on and cleared by a ref and Robby was awarded a point. "Winner!"
Lucas applauded quickly and cheered. "That's just another one Keene!"
KEENE was placed in the adjacent empty bracket above SCHWARBER and the two would not face each other in the semi final round.
Morrison was throwing fast round kicks and leg trips towards his opponent from Yoshukai Karate, nothing landed.
Lucas watched quietly as Morrison countered a punch to the face with a back kick that landed on his opponent's elbow and staggered him back.
Morrison then caught his opponent as he jabbed with a front kick and quickly made it to the semi finals.
…
"Alriiiight!" said Daryl. "We've seen some great matches today. But there are still three left."
Daryl, two corner judges, the main referee standing behind him, and Johnny, the Senseis of All Star and Topanga Karate, Robby, Xander, Lucas, and Morrison were all standing on the main mat.
"Who. Will be, our forty ninth Under 18 All Valley Karate champion!? Will it be, Robby Keene fighting for Steel Eagle Karate? Hoping to recapture his father's title from over thirty years prior?"
"Will it be, Topanga Karate's PC Patriot!? The one, the only, Xander Stone!? Making his third attempt at the All Valley golden trophy?"
"Or will it be Lucas Schwarber? The invisible and invincible fighter!?"
More people than Lucas ever expected to were cheering for him. The crowd had swelled greatly in number, he strongly suspected that had heard of his record pace and skill in the tournament so far.
"Or Phineas Morrison, looking to reclaim his title as last year's winner?"
The crowd cheered and Daryl chuckled.
"Good matches right?' the crowd roared louder before Daryl went on. "So first up! Morrison versus Schwarber! Let's go!"
Lucas was facing someone with several times more tournament experience with him, an All Valley Championship title, and a two year age advantage and significantly more reach. Even still, he wasn't worried at all when he bumped fists with both Robby and Johnny and walked over to his line.
To him, fear did not exist.
…
Cobra Kai OST: Stone vs. Diaz
…
Lucas and Morrison were trading very fast and powerful kicks.
"Ais! Ais, aiiis!" kiai'd Lucas as he struck.
Morrison dodged, Lucas switched angles, starting to jab.
Lucas missed his shots and barely dodged two spinning kicks to the head and body.
Lucas dodged another pair of round kicks but managed to counter in time. Using Miyagi-Do, Lucas used the spinning hands kata and froze Morrison in place to grapple him at close range.
Lucas quickly pinned Morrison to the mat and chopped him on the chest.
"Yeah!" roared Johnny and Robby cheered and applauded in approval.
"That is. So amazing." sighed out Charlotte from the stands.
"How. Does this work?" Demetri muttered.
Lucas got back on his line. "Score's one to nothing! Ready! Aits!"
Morrison went on offense and Lucas slipped away quickly.
Lucas closed the distance between him and Morrison with a back kick that missed, at close range, Lucas threw a back fist and a pair of punches. Morrison blocked all, and on the last strike he managed to block Lucas' punch with a crescent kick, and almost connected on Lucas' chin with a hook kick.
Lucas dodged just in time and started to circle Morrison, again preparing to use Miyagi-Do.
He invited an attack by feinting a jab and moving into range of Morrison's strikes.
His own counter meant to counter Morrison's missing counters missed, and they traded punches and kicks at close range and nothing landed from either of them.
Still in a stable yet relaxed stance, Lucas' Miyagi-Do was stopping everything Morrison threw at him.
On the last exchange, before they moved away and started to circle each other again, Lucas scored decisively with very unique application of Miyagi-Do karate.
He dodged before catching his opponent's fist and slipped Morrison's leg out from under him.
As Morrison fell, Lucas did not give him the chance to slip away in time as he struck. Lucas scored directly on the chest with a quick punch.
"Aiii!" Lucas roared as he scored.
The crowd was off their feet.
Morrison and Lucas moved back onto their lines.
"Score's two nothing, Schwarber! Ready!"
Lucas took a deep breath, tightened Johnny's headband around his forehead, and his hands balled into fists.
"And fight!"
Lucas and Morrison started circling each other right off the line. Having been trained in Miyagi-Do for over a year, Lucas was best at circling and countering from long range he could do it all match.
But instead, he just went for the point in a blitz attack.
He threw a jab to raise Morrison's guard, threw a round kick that missed as Morrison countered and missed his own shot too.
Then Lucas spun around and landed a back fist that scored as Morrison's punch was too late.
White flags rose and the crowd cheered.
"Three points Schwarber! Winner!"
Lucas bowed to Morrison as he rubbed his nose and he bowed back.
"Lucas Schwarber just earned his spot in the finals! Now, it's Keene! Versus Stone!"
…
Robby and Xander were tied up one to one in a very tight match.
"Come on Robby get 'im!" said Johnny.
"Get him dude so we can face off in the finals! Just you and me, let's go!"
Robby landed a leg sweep on Xander, and he had the reflexes to dodge the follow up attack and start to strike back against Robby.
Xander used multiple crescent kicks and more acrobatics to push Robby back and then Johnny spoke. "You don't have anything to worry about just go for it!"
Robby threw a reverse punch to the body leading into a round kick that split Xander's guard and still scored on his head despite him blocking.
"That's it!" said Johnny. "You gotta stay on offense!"
"Two one! Keene! Ready! Fight!"
Xander got the better footing right off the line and started trading shots with Robby.
As Robby missed two snap front kicks and threw a jab punch they grappled at close range.
Xander managed to successfully use a hip throw on Robby and he was spun onto the mat.
As Robby caught Xander's foot on the ground he pushed him away, bouncing where he stood after he got up quickly.
Xander circled Robby for a bit and they started to trade kicks again.
Robby threw a round kick, Xander blocked it and returned his own right to the body, Robby blocked and threw one back and Xander did the same.
Now Xander stayed as far from Robby as he could. With a spinning leg sweep, Robby missed as Xander timed a back kick spinning into a head kick to stagger Robby first and then score before he had the chance to recover.
Lucas groaned and punched his palm as Johnny winced.
"That's two to two, the next point wins! Readyyy! And fight!"
Johnny watched as his son gave a top class fighter a real run for his money. They went back and forth, both of them taking their time before fighting very aggressively.
And then Xander scored a round kick to the body as Robby missed a reverse punch to the body and then head.
"Point!"
"Ach." growled Johnny quietly as Lucas shook his head.
"Point! Winner!" the referee said raising Xander's hand.
"Good fight." Xander said respectfully.
Robby nodded, shaking Xander's hand and bowing to each other.
"We have our finalists! We'll be right back, after this quick break," said Daryl.
…
In the locker rooms, Johnny knelt in front of Robby as he sat on a bench. "Hey. You did good kid. You made it to the semis and nearly won. In your first tournament. He's been on that mat competing for way longer than you."
"I know." Robby said. "Thank you."
"I agree. He did do well."
Johnny turned around, seeing John Kreese.
They were both silent.
"Give us a second Robby."
"But dad who's that-"
"Please."
Robby left them alone.
Johnny cleared his throat. "I have to coach Schwarber on his final match I-"
"This'll only take a second. I know we have a lot to talk about." Kreese said.
"I don't want to talk to you." Johnny said.
Kreese sighed. "I know. And I know why. I understand what defeat means now. And what you meant to me."
"Bullshit. If I meant so much to you, you never would've tried to kill me."
"I realize now what that cost me with you. But Cobra Kai was the only family I had-"
"Then why weren't you coaching Schwarber today? He's a good kid.-"
"Who's wearing your headband." Daniel said, entering the locker room. "I remember that thing. You wore it almost every day of senior year."
Kreese and Johnny turned to look at Daniel.
Daniel sighed. "Hey Johnny."
He nodded slightly. "LaRusso. Been a while."
"Yup." Daniel shifted where he stood. "This has all gotten a little out of hand don't you think? These kids getting mixed up in nonsense we all failed to settle thirty years ago?"
"No," Kreese said. "They're making a legacy for themselves. We're just there to guide them."
"Is that why both of you turned your backs on Luke huh?" asked Johnny spitefully. "Now that he's on the verge of breaking almost every All Valley record in the book. You both show up for him? You should be disgusted with yourselves."
"No. This is about him. Not us." Kreese muttered. "Which is why I stepped away when LaRusso got involved. No need to needlessly toss his head around before this tournament."
"Is that why you tried to choke me out and kill me? Huh?" asked Johnny. "Real compassionate and necessary."
Kreese's lips tightened. "That's ancient history, Johnny. Not who I am anymore."
"Maybe. But it's not my problem."
Johnny quickly left the locker room before Daniel did so as well.
Leaving Kreese to his own thoughts.
Kreese looked over at a familiar duffel bag that he knew was Lucas' as it contained sparring gear they trained with.
Kreese walked to the open side pocket of the duffel bag and saw a familiar picture. Lucas had taken a picture of Kim Sun-Yung from his bedroom at the homeless shelter and printed it out into a polaroid.
For the first time in months, Kreese smiled widely and happily as he picked up the picture.
Then he frowned when the woman on the intercom spoke. "Both competitors have five more minutes before the final match. Five minutes until the finals."
Kreese put the picture back in Lucas' duffel bag.
…
Johnny was speaking to Lucas. "Hey kid. Um. I wanted to wish you good luck out there."
"Thanks."
"After all the final matches Ali was cheering on during. I never would've imagined her son would one day be getting ready for his own."
"I could imagine." Lucas said.
"Look uh. This match is probably yours. But you need to know that there's more to life than winning and trophies."
Lucas was very surprised. "Really?"
"These dumb rivalries started over trophies and sometimes girls. They don't end well. For anyone. I figured that out the hard way, so I didn't want to pass that on to Robby. So whatever happens out there. Make this yours. This other kid you're about to face. He never stole your girlfriend or dumped water on your head at a Halloween dance."
Lucas smiled.
"He's just another fighter. Another guy in a GI. Win or lose. It's literally just a tournament. And you've done incredibly well."
Lucas knew it was time to go. "I'm a bit nervous but. You're right. Considering how well I've done up until now. Yeah."
"See you out there." Johnny left him alone with a nod.
…
I realized who my biggest opponent out there was.
This world, or rather this world without me in it.
Xander Stone was supposed to win this tournament. He was the champion Miguel faced a year from today in the first season of the Cobra Kai show.
Robby and I were not supposed to be out there competing today. Kreese was not supposed to have interacted with Daniel or Johnny this early on. And I was not supposed to be in the finals.
So whatever was about to happen. Was going to change the events of this world so much it would be completely different to what I was used to.
My knowledge of everything, could only get me so far.
But I knew I would win this match and all the records that came with it so long as I went all out in the first thirty seconds. The first thirty seconds, and I didn't let Stone score one point on me.
And I would become the most famous karate fighter who ever lived in the history of the Valley.
…
Daryl spoke. "This! Is it folks. The final match, of the entire tournament."
The crowd cheered.
"We have quite the battle here folks! Lucas Schwarber, fighting unaffiliated, at only fourteen! Is the first person to do so reaching the finals since 1993. And! The first person to reach the finals without being scored on a single time, since 1987. Not to mention!"
Daryl said. "He completed all of his matches so far except for one in under an average thirty nine seconds! An All Valley all time record! Should he complete this match without conceding a single point, and win in at least under a minute! He will have broken almost every record in All Valley history there is to beat but one."
"Which is, the all time record for All Valley championship titles. At two! So gentlemen, let's go!"
Xander and Lucas bowed as they stepped onto the mat and approached each other by walking towards their lines.
White faced off against blue as a hundreds cheered.
The referee fixed his red shirt and walked towards both of them as they stared off. "This might be the final match. But you must still obey all the rules and my orders. Watch the control gentlemen, and do not strike outside of the clash."
"Face me! Bow. Face each other! Bow. En garde!"
Xander and Lucas got into their stances.
For the first time in the entire tournament, Lucas started to bounce in his stance.
He bounced forward and backward, not up and down.
"Fight!"
Lucas fought aggressively for the first time since he stepped onto the mat and had his first match.
He didn't fight with Miyagi-Do or Cobra Kai, he fought with an explosive combination of both.
He drove Xander backward, almost connecting on his chin with the first kick, a front kick to the jaw.
Xander dodged, starting to counter with leg sweeps and spinning roundhouses, but suddenly, Lucas used the catch and sweep technique combined with spinning hands kata.
He tied up Xander while he threw a side kick and threw him to the mat, instantly scoring a point with his fist on Xander's chest.
Xander was slightly used to Cobra Kai having beaten Robby a few minutes earlier but combined so creatively with Miyagi-Do and Lucas' own style, Xander had no reference for the kind of karate he was facing.
"Point Schwarber!" the referee announced.
Red flags were in the air for each corner judge and Demetri and Charlotte cheered.
"That's it! That's right!" cheered Robby as Johnny nodded and applauded.
"Lucas Schwarber with the first point!" announced Daryl.
"One zero, Schwarber! Back on your lines!"
Lucas was back on his line as Xander rubbed his chest and walked back over to his spot.
"Ready! And fight!"
Lucas moved away blocking easily as Xander tried to get an easy point with a jab punch the moment combat resumed.
Xander telegraphed a front kick and Lucas easily blocked. On the next attack, Lucas struck first and interrupted Xander's attempt at a grab on his front arm by throwing a jab and a reverse punch towards Xander's chin first.
Xander raised his arms and blocked both, but Lucas didn't give him a second to react a split second later.
He instantly dove in and kicked Xander as quickly as he could in the stomach, but he blocked just in time.
Xander and Lucas circled each other for a bit and then Lucas had struck first and lunged perfectly into a reverse punch right on Xander's chest as his rear leg had started to rise off the ground to throw a kick. The speed, power, and technique Lucas had, hadn't changed, he had just started to fight more aggressively.
Xander staggered back for a second under the power of the blow, and red flags rose again once more.
They walked back to their lines and the referee spoke. "Schwarber two! Stone nothing! Ready? And fight!"
The referee's hand had barely moved away as Lucas had already lowered himself onto one hand and used the two legged kick to score on Xander.
Lucas had kicked Xander on the chest and face at the exact same time and he fell to the ground.
"Point! Winner!" the referee said raising a right hand quickly towards Lucas.
Daniel sighed, groaning quietly and kicking the ground in silent frustration.
"Winner!? Oh my god!" Charlotte yelled in surprise and cheered as Aisha and the crowd roared.
The crowd was off their feet in a tornado of cheers.
Lucas rubbed his nose for a second in awed silence as hundreds cheered for him as dozens of karatekas flooded the mat.
Fighters from almost every dojo except Topanga Karate had started to hoist Lucas into the air like he was Daniel LaRusso a moment after beating Johnny Lawrence.
"Let's gooo!" roared Robby, his arm muscles flexing beneath his red GI as he and Cutting Edge Karate fighters lifted Lucas into the air.
"Your winner! And the new! Youngest All Valley Under 18 Karate Champion in history! Lucas, the Flash Schwarber!"
The crowd cheered and cheered as the All Valley golden trophy was handed to him by Daryl.
Lucas was laughing and smiling lifting the trophy into the air.
"That's right!" Robby was bouncing up and down as Lucas was hoisted up. "That's right let's go! That's right! There we go baby! There we go!"
Johnny was speechless but still smiled. Daniel was hanging his head in shame.
And Kreese was watching from a corner of the stands far away from all the other spectators.
He smiled, shaking his head in amazement.
When Lucas was let back down onto the mat, Daryl spoke. "You have anything you want to say son?"
Gripping his new first place trophy, Lucas spoke into the mic Daryl had used all tournament.
"I know what my victory means! And it's something I need to share with all of you today. That there is no greater step to take than the next step forward! And the future is bright for karate! Let me tell you!"
The crowd cheered for this. Only Daniel and his family seemed confused or quiet at all.
Lucas smiled as he continued to speak. "All of you are wondering how I got here today. Who trained me!? What karate I used!? Well let me tell you, all these questions and more will be answered soon! Because what comes next is better than anything any of you could ever imagine!"
"Whatever it may be. Keep your eyes peeled. Cause it will be huge! And it's happening very very soon! It's time for karate to move into a new age! A better age! The classic ways! The ways of either Johnny Lawrence or Daniel LaRusso, the All Valley's greatest champions!"
Lucas smiled and raised a fist into the air. "Thank you all so much! Thank you all! Thank you!"
The crowd couldn't stop applauding and cheering.
The several Senseis were watching Johnny curiously. He had to have an instructor, Lucas' technique couldn't be self taught. And if Johnny wasn't teaching him technically. Then, who could be his teacher? They could ask him right?
Regardless, Lucas couldn't focus on that, merely basking in the glory of being the first person to win the All Valley in ages without needing a formal dojo.
...
I had lied during my short acceptance speech of the 49th All Valley Under 18 Karate Championships golden trophy.
I had no idea what I was going to do next.
I carpooled with Johnny and Robby back to my home in Encino. It was a bit surreal to be honest, holding it in the seats of Johnny's Pontiac firebird. This car didn't feel like it was going to scrapped very soon at all actually, despite what I knew Sam and her friends did to it.
It was odd too seeing Robby with a third place trophy, he was better than Xander Stone, for sure. It made me wonder if Robby just happened to have a bad day when I happened to have a very good one. It happened in tournaments all the time.
I smiled, remembering who taught me that. John Kreese.
I frowned, realizing what had happened now.
"Tell your grandparents I said hey." Johnny smiled through the window at me.
Robby was wearing a white tanktop and still in his red Steel Eagle GI pants. "We should train together sometime this summer! Tournament or not, we can kick ass together."
It was odd, again, seeing Robby Keene as a much more cheerful, Johnny Lawrence-esque, version of his original snarky, brooding, and closed off self I knew him otherwise. Even now after all that happened.
Johnny grinned at this, looking back slightly at his son in the passenger seat next to him.
...
For all the respect I wanted to gain, for all the glory I expected to win in a tournament like this:
Barely anyone cared.
My grandparents when I told them were glad to hear Johnny said hi, but ultimately just saw my achievement at the All Valley, all the records I had broken as just another soccer medal or writing trophy basically. At school, I didn't get showered in adoration during the last weeks of class.
Charlotte actually started kind of ghosting me after how awkwardly our last date had ended. I think she just wanted to be friends despite her being at the tournament to support me.
No other girls showed up with romantic potential after the All Valley.
Right now, despite the trophy in my hand, and knowing Robby and Johnny supported me all the way, it felt like I had nothing else.
Daniel LaRusso wouldn't speak to me, nor his family, even if I knew Anthony liked me. John Kreese wouldn't either, after all we'd been through.
I had made friends, Eli, Aisha, Demetri, and a few others, but ultimately I was awaiting for a groundbreaking, Instagram famous pop off that never came. Being on the cover of Black Belt magazine, having banners at the All Valley arena. All of it.
But the truth was, I understood why practically none of that happened now:
Until the events of the Second Season of the Netflix show, no one outside of the small and tightly-nit karate community knew jack about karate. Much less cared. As odd as this world was sometimes, it at least had that in common with the real world.
It was 7th of June, 2017. Technically speaking, Miguel would be moving in from Riverside to meet Johnny Lawrence any day now.
He would be disconnected from Robby, leading to conflict with his old rival Daniel LaRusso, and Miguel would follow a dark path leading to the revival of John Kreese from the grave.
But...none of that could ever happen I realized now.
Johnny and Robby were actually getting along fine. The only way I could jeopardize that would be furthering this karate conflict until potentially, there could inevitable disagreement between Robby and Johnny. As for John Kreese.
I looked at the trophy I'd gotten, the 49th All Valley golden trophy sitting at the foot of my bedroom.
I saw something of myself in John, someone lost without purpose. Mr. Miyagi, but deciding to project his emotions outward instead of holding them in. In a way, his philosophy worked, for me, combined with Miyagi-Do, I reached a level of balance, skill, and strength that outshined kids as old as 17 going on 18 with years of experience competing in the Valley, when I was 14 barely turning 15 competing in my first tournament ever.
I reviewed some of my footage collected by my friends throughout the tournament, they only caught my very first rounds and my last.
It was clear in the earlier and later parts of the tournament as Charlotte had recorded, I was applying both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, just, blending it into the same thing. I was applying the precise blocks and counters of Miyagi-Do in a very aggressive fashion, and allowing parts of the leg sweeps and round kick combinations of Cobra Kai to come out in ideal countering moments.
This...had never been done before.
But there was something more important to me now than this trophy.
The people around me.
Daniel and his family would never view mine the same again, and that was a connection my mother, Ali Mills, and Daniel had shared for decades. If I wasn't careful, that could only be the beginning.
I knew a truth others didn't, that left unchecked, Cobra Kai could change the fate of the Valley forever. Combined, Terry Silver and John Kreese offered teenagers pretty much free reign to do whatever they wanted at the cost of the suffering and pain of their enemies.
John Kreese had helped build all of my insecurities, about my over achieving family, my lack of identity and friendship and connection to anything around me when I arrived here. All of it. And he helped me develop it into my greatest strength:
My karate.
And for it, while my peers didn't really view me any differently, that wasn't the point. It was about how I viewed myself differently.
John Kreese didn't understand forgiveness, it was as foreign to him as mercy. I learned the hard way what it meant to come to him weak, my bones cracked, and my muscles damn near broke. I had learned the way of the fist from him, at least as much one can at their greatest dedication to it for a year.
And for it, I didn't feel like I was this Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy sort of guy. I didn't want to hurt anyone.
'And there's the problem.' Kreese would say.
You're supposed to want to hurt people even if that's not the point. You're supposed to view the entire world as a stable place, until the second someone wrongs you. When that happens, you're supposed to use your karate, all of your anger, to just make them regret that moment for the rest of their lives.
And for that simple fact, Daniel LaRusso suffered. For basically an entire year during the events of the Karate Kid. And what I realized now too.
The entire Valley would suffer. He left the fates of everyone in the hands of someone like Terry Silver, otherwise his best friend until he betrayed him.
The true victory I learned from his trophy was that I had made a mistake.
There was such a thing as good and evil, the simple fact was, that John Kreese was evil. He taught me to abuse my power if it brought me more respect, while the issue with Kyler blew over easily due to my at the time, friendship with Daniel and the other parents of the school. Kreese's message was supposed to apply to my entire life:
There was no such thing as mercy. By extension, good and evil didn't mean shit. You were either weak or strong, and weakness did not exist at Cobra Kai.
I remembered how intense how some of Kreese's lessons were. How hard he made me hit all those damn pallets and shit, I think there might've even been a brick at some point. Not that surprising considering what they made Daniel and Mike Barnes go through in the third film.
All of that pain, I had to lie about it. I had to deny what the purpose of it was.
John Kreese never went easy on me because I was fourteen, because he knew my mother from the past, because I came to him looking for help. Going easy on anyone, in any aspect of your life, was wrong, it was weakness.
I was stronger for it, but I had to leave a peace of myself with him: My mercy.
The roles reversed during the first scenes of Karate Kid Part Two, and Kreese wouldn't have quoted Miyagi back to himself and jokingly honked him on the nose. It was very damn likely he would've just killed him. And if not, he would've passed the same lessons on to his students you didn't forgive nor forget anything.
If I wasn't careful, the entire Valley would suffer.
I deeply regretted seeking John Kreese, if enough time passed. I could become like him.
I decided to go on my laptop and submit an application to get my internship at LaRusso auto reinstated. As much as I wanted to remove myself from this karate rivalry, before it spiraled out of control to the point a ponytailed Bond Villain held the fate of the world in his Cobra Kai hands, I wanted one more thing before I left the Valley or stopped practicing karate for good. Or at least, prevented this from getting any worse:
Daniel's forgiveness.
I wasn't going to the LaRusso house begging, he needed to come to me on fair terms. If he never realized I made a mistake and I was sorry for it, that was on him.
Personally, I wasn't going to stay in the Valley much longer waiting for the shit storm of love triangle, square, whatever drama to unfold. Miguel almost died, Robby could've gone to jail for a very long time for manslaughter if that was the case. Johnny and Daniel had even set their shit aside and that still happened. About a year later, Terry Silver might as well have said 'fuck you' to everyone who struggled before him because he swooped in and won.
He was worse than Kreese, as I realized just now, somehow.
However, I did in fact make friends here. I would enjoy seeing their highschool experience grow alongside mine.
But it all started with forgiveness. And I wasn't going to smile if Mr. LaRusso came around.
...
John Kreese didn't have two pennies to scratch together.
He had spent his days going back and forth between a homeless shelter as a spot he was narrowly losing, and living on the street itself. Then, he realized that even for a moment, something of value had returned to his life.
One evening, he walked to Encino, remembering Lucas' address for where the Mills lived and Ali's girlhood home from the 80s. There, he began to walk up the steps towards his house, and prepared to knock on the door.
He even considered ringing the doorbell.
After a moment's hesitation, he relented.
Kreese shook his head and trudged off. Having no idea what to do next, or where he'd go.
By the Greyhound pamphlets Kreese had in his hands, looking them over as he walked aimlessly through the streets of the Valley, he was considering leaving by going out east. By the look on his face, probably forever.
...
Johnny saw his old enemy, Daniel LaRusso sitting at the bar by himself at a place in the middle of Van Nuys.
He pulled up a stool with snark. "Coors Banquet for me, Shirley Temple for the lady."
"I'm good with my Fresca, thanks." Daniel grinned painfully at the middle aged bartender who then walked off.
"You had something you wanted to say to me? Could've written me a letter instead of sending my co-workers whatever the hell an email is."
Daniel snorted. "Never heard of text?"
"Not sure that part of my phone works anymore. Robby tried to get me figure out smartphones but, I couldn't."
"Let me see it."
Johnny proceeded to pull a early 2000s flip phone from his pocket and showed it to him.
"What?"
Daniel hid the look unsurprise from his face. "Nothing."
"Spit it out Danielle, the hell did you invite me for a drink for?"
He ignored the slight and spoke calmly. "Just, wanted to catch up with you." he muttered the next part while sipping from a green glass bottle. "And to know if you've heard anything from Lucas."
"I'm not a damn messenger bird, you want to see him talk to him yourself."
"I can't do that."
"And why not?"
Daniel sighed. "Because I wanted to know the truth first."
"Ask him yourself," Johnny looked around the bar. "I don't have time for this."
"You and I have never gotten along, but right now I trust your word over his."
Johnny didn't feel praised nor happy, but instead he was just curious. "Really? Why's that?"
"Because he was the one who trudged up your old Sensei, brought back Kreese from the local cementery."
"Yeah he told me."
Daniel shook his head. "Did he mention why he did any of what he did?"
"Shouldn't you know? You were his Sensei for this entire past year."
"Yeah but-" Daniel tutted. "You were the only one he seemed to trust at the All Valley Johnny."
"Because I was the only one in his corner." said Johnny. "I know you two just fought, but you couldn't have put that bullshit aside just to stick up for him?"
"He became a friend of the family, specifically under the guise of Kreese, just for the sake of gainining more fame in karate. I've seen that before, so it's very hard to forgive."
Johnny nodded his thanks to the bartender who passed him his Coors Banquet. "Wait really?'
"Doesn't matter." Daniel swallowed his drink and put the bottle back down on the bar's counter. "Point is, I need to know what you knew. Has he mentioned anything about what happened between him and Kreese?"
"All I know is he and Robby haven't talked that much since the tournament. Other than that, the most he mentioned was that he wanted to combined Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do so he could win the All Valley like no one ever did."
"That's not much more than I could gather at this point." admitted Daniel. "This begs the question, if he wanted that so badly, why didn't he train with you the whole time? Would've made some sense since there's no way he didn't realize Kreese was responsible for everything back in the day."
Johnny almost looked offended. "Are you saying I'm easier to manipulate?" he snapped his fingers together to spike the beer cap into a nearby trashcan.
"Well no, all I'm saying is that you would've been a better teacher than he was."
"Low bar to set," Johnny grinned and spoke sarcastically. "Wow I'm dying of thanks over here LaRusso, what a compliment."
"Look we have to admit our faults Johnny. But acting so oddly and dangerously at that age? Where were his parents? What was going on?"
"It doesn't matter." Johnny took a deep sip of his Coors. "Point is, he sought you as a teacher."
"And Kreese!"
"So did I."
Johnny lowered his voice, seeing the look on Daniel's face. "The fact that he's a kid who didn't know better doesn't matter. What does, is that he figured his shit out."
"How?" Daniel was incredulous.
"He spent a year managing all the history and bad blood between all three of us just to develop his own style. And then not only that, he went out and did it. He won. You can do whatever you like, it's not my place to get involved. But as a father, and a Sensei. There's no such thing as a bad student, even though he lied, that wasn't Luke."
Daniel almost seemed to smile at this. "But he knew what a bad teacher Kreese was, I told him. I'm sure Ali told him."
"I'm not saying we should applaud how manipulative it was. But he definitely wasn't the same person I met when he flew in from Denver last summer. Any other kid in his shoes would've been scared shitless, and he went out and confronted the bastard. He found the baddest man in the Valley, made him his teacher, and cut him off."
"For all I knew, they could still be in this together."
"Then you don't know the same person I do." muttered Johnny.
"But why would he do that?"
"Because he wasn't afraid!"
The bartender raised an eyebrow from nearby.
"You and I have been at each other's throats since highschool," Johnny said, quieter. "A part of me probably wishes we'd never have to see each other ever again."
"Same here." Daniel finished his fresca.
"The way I see it. This wasn't a keep your enemies closer type of deal, he wanted to know what Kreese's style was."
"And he learned it."
"He did," admitted Johnny. "But that's over now, he's smart enough to want nothing to do with Kreese or any of this shit. As long as you and I have fought, these kids are just learning. They're like fifteen. The hell is it our place to tell them what to do and what to learn, if we're not their Senseis?"
"It is our place, at least when Kreese is involved. You know firsthand how dangerous he is."
"Was."
Daniel was surprised. "Excuse me?"
"I get you and the memory of your teacher were hurt by what he did." Johnny said calmly. "But you gotta move on man, we all do. Either go and talk to him yourself and find the whole story, or don't and just move on."
"You weren't bothered by any of this?"
Johnny shrugged. "Not really. Robby's living half and half between me and Shannon. The kid's in school and doing karate, staying out of trouble. Considering where he was when we started talking again, I can lead well enough alone. And you should too before your own family gets more messed up by this old history, you have standards you have morals. Kreese has neither."
"Maybe you should worry about your own family."
Johnny finished his beer. "Yeah well, maybe I should."
He tossed some cash on the counter and left, Daniel was in deep thought when Johnny left.
The man had genuinely no idea what to do next in regards to Miyagi-Do.
...
"Dad, are you okay?"
He was putting dishes away after dinner with his family.
"Just fine, thanks for asking."
Sam didn't appear to be convinced. "You don't seem like it."
"Well I'm not fine." Daniel sighed and closed the cabinet door, turning around to speak to his daughter. "What happened this past year with Lucas, was just."
He trailed.
"But what's on your mind? All of that's over now, I haven't seen him want to train anywhere. In fact, since the tournament, no one I knew has even mentioned karate until you. Just now."
"Karate or not. I was trying to make a difference in his life. The same way I'd want to make a difference in yours, what Mr. Miyagi taught, it went beyond fighting or martial arts. It was about balance."
"But, you brought balance."
Daniel was confused. "What're you talking about?"
"I know things got messed up because of that other guy he was learning from but." Sam shrugged. "He won, he got what he wanted. No one got hurt, not even anyone at the tournament. Are you afraid he'll hurt people, himself? Us?"
"No I'm just-" he put his hands on the table leaning on to them. "I spoke to Johnny lately."
"Robby's dad? I think I saw him help Robby compete at the All Valley."
Daniel snorted, realizing that was probably the fullest extent of Sam's knowledge of him. "Yes. He said I should forget everything, or at least move on. When I started karate again, it was to pass on Mr. Miyagi's lessons. And after an entire year of teaching Luke the physical aspects of karate. I'm not sure he grasped the mental aspects at all."
"Who cares?"
Daniel was surprised. "What?"
"Who cares what he learned or not? It's over. Stop feeling so guilty about it. If Luke was a better person, if he didn't lie to you about what he was doing. About how he only respected what you taught this whole time, then yeah. Maybe should feel guilty."
"Wait- Sam."
She had stormed off towards her room and out of the kitchen.
...
"Still upset you lost your mini me?"
Daniel was sitting in bed with his wife. "He was never my mini me." he scoffed.
He saw the smug look on Amanda's face as she wore a nightgown and read a book.
"What?"
"Nothing, I just find it funny seeing a grown man get so upset over karate he taught to a teenager."
"It goes beyond that. You met him he was just, he was becoming a friend of the family. Anthony started to look up to him and he had to go off and-"
Amanda turned to him. "Seeing you at the tournament, it was like unveiling a whole different side of you. You were mad about what a highschool kid was doing competing on a mat. It's fine if you get upset but. Maybe realize not all of what you're hurting over is completely worth it."
"Sam is upset with him. She's even upset with me over him."
"What did she say?"
"That if he lied, then feeling guilty is wrong."
Amanda put her book down on the nightstand. "Look, I know nothing about this karate nonsense but I know our kids. You were there for a new friend both of our children made, you both fought because of this tournament. And then you're acting like a compeltely different person. If you're so distressed over what happened between you and Lucas go and talk to him. I've never seen you like this, clueless and helpless over what to do."
"I don't." Daniel trailed.
"Are you confused because of what Mr. Miyagi would want you to do?"
"Partially. I'm just, truthfully wondering what would be best for me. For this family, if I decided to talk to him again."
"Well whatever you decide. Know, I'm behind you, a hundred percent."
The two kissed. Amanda shut off the lights, and Daniel turned over to rest.
...
...
...
Author's Note:
That concludes Book 1. The next book would cover everything that happened in what would be Season 1 of the Cobra Kai Netflix series in the scenario I created. Needless to say, but the plot and character dynamics are of course completely different.
It will lightly follow the structure of the first Season but barely in plot points. The way each person learns their karate, develops it, and or passes it on will be completely different. Everyone has students they otherwise wouldn't.
Johnny has Robby for the first season, and I won't spoil who ends up with Daniel or Kreese if they still decide to teach after Luke.
Thank you all for reading and supporting!
…
When I woke up, I started getting dressed and ready.
Today was the day.
Today was the day where the entire past year worth of effort paid off or I failed at becoming a legend.
I had spent the last two weeks training with Johnny and Robby lightly just to stay prepared, and now it was the day.
Saturday May 13th, 2017. The 49th All Valley Karate Tournament.
I had bought my uniform online, a simple sleeved white GI, exactly how Robby wore in his first tournament. No logos, nothing like it.
Unlike in Daniel's first tournament, I didn't have to steal a black belt, it actually came with the uniform. Huh. Really made me think.
I smiled nodding to myself.
My grandparents were nowhere to be found. Fine, I didn't need them there when I took my chance at making history.
At trying to become a legend.
…
OST: Photograph - Def Leppard
…
The preparations for the All Valley tournament were a very momentous occasion for the staff.
There had been talk of changing the color of the mats due to dwindling attendance, so it was possibly the last time they'd ever place down the classic red mats with the white fists.
They went to every part of the All Valley Sports Arena's main floor and spread out mats everywhere. They were arranged like puzzle pieces so they fit together perfectly.
There were a dozen in a large square around the main one used for semi finals and final matches.
After they were done putting them down, staff members of the tournament had to brush them down and make sure they were clean.
The large canvas covering the tournament brackets were thrown off revealing the blank boxes that would hold the names of the quarter finalists, semi finalists, and finalists of the tournament.
Snack stations were set up. Churros, hot dogs, nachos, pizza, and all sorts of food were prepared.
Karate merch including hand wraps, punching mitts and dummies were sold at a specially marked area of the arena lobby.
Locker room areas for each dojo were prepared.
White signs holding names for 'Topanga Karate' or 'Krunch Karate' were spread out through each part of the locker rooms.
The smallest area of the entire locker rooms had a sign labeled 'Unaffiliated' outside it.
Tickets and metal boxes to hold cash were placed on plastic white tables.
Black and red shirts commemorating the forty ninth All Valley Under 18 Karate tournament were placed on merchandise tables.
Check in and registration sheets were placed on separate tables. Posters rolled down from the ceiling, one of them including a picture of Daniel in his crane kick stance as Johnny Lawrence was on another during the same tournament.
Each official put on red 'Referee' shirts and wore black karate trousers, competitors tied their black belts on, and the tournament was now ready.
And the doors to the tournament were opened.
The All Valley tournament committee was surprised to see the crowd wasn't tiny this year. With talk of the mats changing and a few new dojos joining, attendance was significantly higher.
Above all, because word had spread that tournament legends Johnny Lawrence was competing and Daniel LaRusso and his family were attending, attendance of the tournament was much higher.
Karatekas various dojos all stretched and warmed up with their Senseis. They stretched on the mats, they hit punching mitts, and they jumped and stretched their legs with high kicks.
They stretched their legs, arms, necks, and shoulders.
Officials cleaned the lines and lines of trophies and made them all look all as shiny as possible, especially the largest All Valley Champion trophy.
A single person stood in front of the entire arena next to the very long lines of people waiting to spectate the tournament.
He wasn't in his simple white uniform yet, he was still wearing regular clothing.
He was holding a sports duffel bag over his shoulder and looking up at the arena.
Lucas Schwarber balled his fists ready to compete on his own.
…
I walked up to the registration table and sighed when I recognized who it was.
It was the same girl from last year who didn't want to let Kreese get a veteran discount. She was wearing a black 'Official' shirt instead of a few of the red referee ones I saw.
"Hi." I said quietly.
"Hi." she appeared to not remember me or was too polite to say anything. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah I'm here to um. Compete?"
"Do you have a signed waiver from your Sensei?"
"I don't have a Sensei this year. I'm competing unaffiliated with any, is that okay?"
She smiled and nodded. "That's fine. We just have to make sure a staff member swings by your locker room and gives you the rules." She then handed me a clipboard with two different pieces of paper attached.
"The first form is a safety form you have to fill out. The second is a rules and regulations form you have to sign too."
I filled out both forms in about five minutes.
When she was finished talking with two other people, another All Valley tournament staff member and a competitor who looked like he had a question, I walked over to her and handed the clipboard with the finished papers.
She quickly stacked them into a box filled with other papers and spoke. "You're free to go get ready in the locker room. All dojos have a designated area so you basically get your own this year. A staff member will go over the tournament rules with you and then you'll be called onto the mat when the tournament's ready to begin."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." she said politely with a slight smile and a nod.
Before I walked towards the locker rooms I saw Aisha, Demetri, and Charlotte talking in the lobby with Aisha's parents nearby.
"Hey guys you came!" I said in surprise.
"Of course, we came. Both you and Robby are competing," said Demetri. "You'd support us too if you were in our shoes."
Aisha sighed. "I was just hoping this tournament would be a great way to get away from all the drama for once."
I watched her look over towards Sam talking to Eli nearby who were clearly thinking Aisha, Demetri, and Charlotte had wronged either them or at least Sam for coming to the tournament for supporting me.
"Did I miss something or are they dating now?" I asked.
Charlotte shrugged. "I think you got more important things to worry about. Like you know. An entire tournament to compete in."
"Right. I gotta get going to the locker rooms. Next time you see me I'll be out on the mats."
"Good luck." Charlotte smiled and said before I left and Aisha and Demetri waved.
…
I got done being dressed as the only person in the unaffiliated area of the locker rooms.
Across the hall, I saw Robby and Johnny both wearing uniforms very similar to the Eagle-Fang GIs I remember from the fourth season of Cobra Kai's tournament. They were a light red with black outlines and the same went for their belts.
On their backs, I saw the same logo Johnny had talked about wanting. A huge steel and shiny eagle had its wings outstretched on an American flag as a field.
Before I could say anything to them a referee with a goatee walked into my part of the locker rooms.
"Lucas Schwarber?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Okay. First tournament right?"
"Yup."
He cleared his throat. "Rules are pretty simple. No elbow strikes, no knee strikes either. You can't strike your opponents when outside of combat. Any hit that lands clean above the belt to the torso or head area, except to the back of the head and is decisively first and struck properly will be a point. Three points win the match. You may use both hand and foot strikes to score only, and the only punches to the body that are allowed to score are your rear hand only."
I already knew all this but still listened.
"You have to watch the level of contact out there. These are in fact matches but you're all still underage so you're not allowed too much contact and will be warned or possibly disqualified if needed. Any illegal strikes or techniques, such as wrist or arm locks, or any strikes to the groin, knees, or ankles are not permitted at all. Above all, obey any and all instructions from all referees or any officials."
"You are also not allowed to grab your opponent or their uniform for longer than about one to two seconds. And you're certainly not allowed to grab them and pin them down to start hitting them. Basic things I know, but you do have to be careful out there." He nodded. "Alright, are you ready?"
"Yeah."
"Good luck out there son." he offered a hand to shake which I did.
I walked over across the hall of the locker room to Johnny and Robby. "Passing on the torch huh?"
Johnny smiled, nodding to the headband he gave me that I wore around my forehead. "Robby's not the only one getting it passed to."
"Yeah, I know." I looked at Robby. "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah yeah. Um. Apparently, the first few rounds are always the easiest," he said. "So. No worries."
"Easiest. But I didn't say easy," said Johnny.
"Aisha and all the others are in the stands with her parents. Demetri, Charlotte's there too."
Robby cleared his throat. "Is um. Sam there?"
Johnny gave him a quick look after hearing this.
"So's Eli," I said which changed the look on his face the moment he heard it. "With Sam's entire family."
A voice was heard over the intercom. "All dojos report to staging for introduction. All dojos, report to staging for introduction."
I began to feel a little nervous. "Wow already?"
"I know. We're out last cause we're the smallest dojos. Or, in your case. You know what I meant." said Johnny.
…
Daryl walked out onto the red mat. "So folks. It's that time of year once more!"
He smiled and spoke into his mic. "It's the forty ninth All Valley Under 18 Karate Championships!"
The crowd cheered.
"From Granada Hills. The defending champions! All Star Karate!"
He began to introduce the dojos one by one and they began to exit the locker rooms.
Daniel muttered to Amanda as he ignored what Daryl was saying. "Johnny and Kreese returning to official competition. What a joke!" he scoffed.
"Honey you're the reason we're here and it looks like you're hating this already. Is there a problem?" wondered Amanda.
"No. There's not." Daniel said quietly.
Eli looked at Daniel. "Um Mr. LaRusso. I thought Lucas was competing unaffiliated. I really doubt that guy we saw at Golf 'N Stuff is his teacher anymore. They looked pretty mad at each other."
"You don't know Kreese like I do. He'll be in his corner whether he wants him there or not."
"And! Every year like always, new dojos appear to try to make their mark on this momentous yearly competition! Fighting out of Reseda. Steel Eagle Karate! Led by two time All Valley Champion, Sensei Johnny Lawrence, coaching his son Robby Keene!"
Sam and Eli applauded for him as they walked out but Daniel was still upset.
"A bully pretending to be a champion. Wow." Daniel scowled.
"And lastly. Competing unaffiliated this year out of Encino Hills. Mister Lucas Schwarber!"
Jogging lightly out of the locker rooms, the crowd cheered slightly for him as he joined his spot next to Robby and Johnny right in front of the tournament brackets. Demetri, Aisha, and Charlotte were the only people really cheering for him at all besides a few other polite and kind spectators.
"Wait a minute what's he wearing?" Daniel asked quietly. "That thing on his head."
"Looks like it's just a headband dad," said Sam.
Daniel quickly noticed how Johnny wasn't wearing one. "No. It's not. Noo. Iiit's not."
"And those are all our competitors fighting this year! And now! It's karate tiiime! Let's gooo!"
The crowd cheered again and the tournament's first matches began.
…
Lucas was bouncing in place as Robby and Johnny and a few other Xtreme Martial Artists stood nearby on his side of the mat.
"You got this." said Johnny as Robby nodded.
Lucas was staring down his opponent from the Locust Valley Karate club.
"Okay gentlemen. Three points win, listen to my instructions at all times." the referee walked out and spoke.
They both bowed onto the mat walking towards their lines.
"Face me. Bow. Face off. Bow. En garde!"
Lucas got into a very stable but relaxed fighting stance. He wasn't stiff, but he wasn't loose enough to be knocked over in an instant.
"Ready?"
Lucas didn't so much as twitch as his opponent bounced.
"Fight!"
The moment they began to circle each other, Lucas stayed perfectly calm, not moving at all.
Johnny was confused, until the second the Locust Valley fighter began to attack he got countered instantly.
It had happened so fast Johnny was surprised.
His opponent had thrown two straight punches to the jaw and before he could throw a round kick he had been sent reeling back slightly with a perfectly controlled reverse punch directly to the face.
"Aiya!" roared Lucas.
After his kiai, the crowd cheered.
"Did you see how fast he did that?" chuckled Robby in surprise.
Johnny muttered. "Guess Miyagi-Do still knows its counters."
White flags had already risen from each of the corner judges as Lucas walked back to his line.
"One point Schwarber! Ready!"
Lucas stayed calm.
"Ait!"
Lucas countered his opponent's next attack so fast Johnny was still rather surprised. He moved forward just slightly without attacking to invite the Locust Valley fighter's attack when in range, moved just out of range to make it miss, and the second before his opponent could reset his guard after overextending Lucas had hit him squarely in the chest with a front kick.
"Wow." Johnny muttered silently as the crowd in the stands nearby cheered.
The speed and decisiveness Lucas possessed was seriously impressing him. He could measure distance and take advantage of it very quickly, it was an adaptation of Miyagi-Do Daniel couldn't believe he could see.
He wasn't even using any Cobra Kai at all, he was just being very creative with how he applied Miyagi-Do.
"He's fighting aggressively. This is Kreese messing with his head and bastardizing Mr. Miyagi's teachings." growled Daniel.
Amanda again gave him a look. "Would you mind how you use your language around our children?"
"I'm sorry honey I just can't stand to-"
Lucas had sprung off the ground into a front snap kick directly to the head. It barely missed, and as his opponent tried to counter Lucas had already round kicked him in the head.
…
OST: Thunder in Your Heart - John Farnham
…
"Point three! Schwarber! Winner!"
"That's what I'm talking about! Yeah!" cheered Robby as Lucas had his hand raised by the ref and he bowed to his opponent and stepped off the mat.
Both Robby and Johnny patted Lucas on the shoulder and congratulated him.
In the proceeding rounds, it became increasingly clear to Lucas which fighters would likely be the semi finalists and which wouldn't.
Phineas Morrison from All Star Karate was making his best attempt to reach the quarters as quickly as he could and retain his title. Xander Stone had improved so much he was a completely different fighter, and Robby too was breaking ground in his first tournament.
As Morrison made easy work of Cutting Edge Karate fighters and Xtreme Martial Artists three to nothing each time, Lucas, Robby, and Johnny watched.
Against an Xtreme Martial Arts student Morrison blocked a round kick and a punch to the body, moving around the ring.
As he dodged a punch to the head Morrison tripped his opponent and sent a controlled kick to his temple.
Red flags rose, unimpressed, Lucas shook his head and muttered to Johnny as Robby nodded in agreement that he could be trouble but not impossible to deal with.
Daniel watched as Robby was fighting so similar to Bobby Brown it was eerie.
The style and finesse he used moving around the ring was just like him. The way he bounced and moved around the ring, his spinning back kicks, the crab scissor throw onto the mat followed by a chop.
Scowling and shaking his head, Daniel watched as his old highschool bully was helping his son win another easy match.
Facing a Yoshukai Karate student Robby jabbed, blocked and dodged two counters and landed a round kick to the body as his opponent started to attack again.
"That's the third point! Winner Keene!" the ref said raising a hand towards Robby.
The crowd cheered and Lucas and Robby hit their forearms together holding tight fists and laughed.
Topanga Karate's new top fighter was using very flashy but still very effective kicks against opponents from nearly every dojo.
Xander Stone continued to wow the crowd. He had completely evolved from the prior year and Lucas paid very close attention to every match he had, studying his technique and fighting style carefully.
As Lucas walked onto the mat to face his next opponent, he saw Xander doing a stack fist bump with one of his Topanga Karate friends before he got onto the mat.
The Topanga fighter smiled at Lucas, and the fellow teen did not appreciate this but didn't show it.
"Bow to me. Bow to each other. Readyyy! Fight!"
Lucas still refused to use any Cobra Kai karate, he still merely used very peculiar applications of Miyagi-Do, and he picked apart his Topanga opponent in seconds.
His speed and precision with his strikes was on a completely different level than what anyone watching would've expected from a fourteen year old during his very first tournament.
Each of his counters were perfectly timed and scored. A chop to the shoulder, a round kick to the head while changing angles, and a punch to the chest.
There was no aggression to his technique, he was just being very unique in how he fought.
"Stop! Point!" Lucas' hand was raised by the referee. "Winner!"
Nearby officials were counting on the stopwatches just how fast Lucas was beating his opponents. He got the strange feeling he was setting some sort of record for how many three to nothing matches he was having from how quickly he could defeat his opponents in the first few rounds of the tournament.
Lucas smiled, smirking Daniel and Sam's way before Johnny and Robby again patted his shoulder walking off the mat.
Robby was driving his Krunch Karate opponent around the ring easily. When he was cornered, he threw a wild jab and a hook kick as Robby dodged both and then back kicked him so hard he went out of the ring.
"Alriiiight!" proudly roared Lucas. "Let's goooo!"
Xander was blocking kicks from one of Locust Valley Karate's top fighters. Moving around the ring, Xander quickly stopped moving the moment he expected to invited a jab, which he dodged and countered simultaneously by spinning into a back kick.
Red flags rose for him, and he bowed as the bald referee waved a hand in his direction. "Winner, Stone!"
Now entering the quarter finals, Lucas had his next match against Reid, a Yoshukai student familiar to him.
Flipping around the mat with very random and erratic acrobatic kicks, Lucas had a bit of trouble landing on Reid.
However, the moment Lucas found his rhythm and read his opponent's attacks it was over.
Lucas timed a leg sweep as his opponent landed and started to throw a front kick. As Reid landed almost face first on the mat, Lucas scored a chop. A knife hand quickly hit Reid in his now exposed ribs and red flags rose up.
As Lucas looked around the crowd that seemed to grow larger and larger by the hour and cheer more and more for him the more he won completely, he could've sworn he saw Kreese in the stands for a moment.
However, when he looked again, he wasn't there.
The referee had to remind Lucas to step off the mat as his match was over and he had won.
Lucas' name was the first to be put on the brackets for the semi finals as SCHWARBER was placed on the board with an empty logo next to his name as he was fighting unaffiliated.
Robby now had to face Garcia from Locust Valley Karate, the prior year's runner up champion. Despite almost getting scored on a few times, Robby found his footing and scored a round kick to the jaw while stepping back and expecting his opponent to throw a reverse punch over the top towards his head.
Garcia stumbled for a second, was checked on and cleared by a ref and Robby was awarded a point. "Winner!"
Lucas applauded quickly and cheered. "That's just another one Keene!"
KEENE was placed in the adjacent empty bracket above SCHWARBER and the two would not face each other in the semi final round.
Morrison was throwing fast round kicks and leg trips towards his opponent from Yoshukai Karate, nothing landed.
Lucas watched quietly as Morrison countered a punch to the face with a back kick that landed on his opponent's elbow and staggered him back.
Morrison then caught his opponent as he jabbed with a front kick and quickly made it to the semi finals.
…
"Alriiiight!" said Daryl. "We've seen some great matches today. But there are still three left."
Daryl, two corner judges, the main referee standing behind him, and Johnny, the Senseis of All Star and Topanga Karate, Robby, Xander, Lucas, and Morrison were all standing on the main mat.
"Who. Will be, our forty ninth Under 18 All Valley Karate champion!? Will it be, Robby Keene fighting for Steel Eagle Karate? Hoping to recapture his father's title from over thirty years prior?"
"Will it be, Topanga Karate's PC Patriot!? The one, the only, Xander Stone!? Making his third attempt at the All Valley golden trophy?"
"Or will it be Lucas Schwarber? The invisible and invincible fighter!?"
More people than Lucas ever expected to were cheering for him. The crowd had swelled greatly in number, he strongly suspected that had heard of his record pace and skill in the tournament so far.
"Or Phineas Morrison, looking to reclaim his title as last year's winner?"
The crowd cheered and Daryl chuckled.
"Good matches right?' the crowd roared louder before Daryl went on. "So first up! Morrison versus Schwarber! Let's go!"
Lucas was facing someone with several times more tournament experience with him, an All Valley Championship title, and a two year age advantage and significantly more reach. Even still, he wasn't worried at all when he bumped fists with both Robby and Johnny and walked over to his line.
To him, fear did not exist.
…
Cobra Kai OST: Stone vs. Diaz
…
Lucas and Morrison were trading very fast and powerful kicks.
"Ais! Ais, aiiis!" kiai'd Lucas as he struck.
Morrison dodged, Lucas switched angles, starting to jab.
Lucas missed his shots and barely dodged two spinning kicks to the head and body.
Lucas dodged another pair of round kicks but managed to counter in time. Using Miyagi-Do, Lucas used the spinning hands kata and froze Morrison in place to grapple him at close range.
Lucas quickly pinned Morrison to the mat and chopped him on the chest.
"Yeah!" roared Johnny and Robby cheered and applauded in approval.
"That is. So amazing." sighed out Charlotte from the stands.
"How. Does this work?" Demetri muttered.
Lucas got back on his line. "Score's one to nothing! Ready! Aits!"
Morrison went on offense and Lucas slipped away quickly.
Lucas closed the distance between him and Morrison with a back kick that missed, at close range, Lucas threw a back fist and a pair of punches. Morrison blocked all, and on the last strike he managed to block Lucas' punch with a crescent kick, and almost connected on Lucas' chin with a hook kick.
Lucas dodged just in time and started to circle Morrison, again preparing to use Miyagi-Do.
He invited an attack by feinting a jab and moving into range of Morrison's strikes.
His own counter meant to counter Morrison's missing counters missed, and they traded punches and kicks at close range and nothing landed from either of them.
Still in a stable yet relaxed stance, Lucas' Miyagi-Do was stopping everything Morrison threw at him.
On the last exchange, before they moved away and started to circle each other again, Lucas scored decisively with very unique application of Miyagi-Do karate.
He dodged before catching his opponent's fist and slipped Morrison's leg out from under him.
As Morrison fell, Lucas did not give him the chance to slip away in time as he struck. Lucas scored directly on the chest with a quick punch.
"Aiii!" Lucas roared as he scored.
The crowd was off their feet.
Morrison and Lucas moved back onto their lines.
"Score's two nothing, Schwarber! Ready!"
Lucas took a deep breath, tightened Johnny's headband around his forehead, and his hands balled into fists.
"And fight!"
Lucas and Morrison started circling each other right off the line. Having been trained in Miyagi-Do for over a year, Lucas was best at circling and countering from long range he could do it all match.
But instead, he just went for the point in a blitz attack.
He threw a jab to raise Morrison's guard, threw a round kick that missed as Morrison countered and missed his own shot too.
Then Lucas spun around and landed a back fist that scored as Morrison's punch was too late.
White flags rose and the crowd cheered.
"Three points Schwarber! Winner!"
Lucas bowed to Morrison as he rubbed his nose and he bowed back.
"Lucas Schwarber just earned his spot in the finals! Now, it's Keene! Versus Stone!"
…
Robby and Xander were tied up one to one in a very tight match.
"Come on Robby get 'im!" said Johnny.
"Get him dude so we can face off in the finals! Just you and me, let's go!"
Robby landed a leg sweep on Xander, and he had the reflexes to dodge the follow up attack and start to strike back against Robby.
Xander used multiple crescent kicks and more acrobatics to push Robby back and then Johnny spoke. "You don't have anything to worry about just go for it!"
Robby threw a reverse punch to the body leading into a round kick that split Xander's guard and still scored on his head despite him blocking.
"That's it!" said Johnny. "You gotta stay on offense!"
"Two one! Keene! Ready! Fight!"
Xander got the better footing right off the line and started trading shots with Robby.
As Robby missed two snap front kicks and threw a jab punch they grappled at close range.
Xander managed to successfully use a hip throw on Robby and he was spun onto the mat.
As Robby caught Xander's foot on the ground he pushed him away, bouncing where he stood after he got up quickly.
Xander circled Robby for a bit and they started to trade kicks again.
Robby threw a round kick, Xander blocked it and returned his own right to the body, Robby blocked and threw one back and Xander did the same.
Now Xander stayed as far from Robby as he could. With a spinning leg sweep, Robby missed as Xander timed a back kick spinning into a head kick to stagger Robby first and then score before he had the chance to recover.
Lucas groaned and punched his palm as Johnny winced.
"That's two to two, the next point wins! Readyyy! And fight!"
Johnny watched as his son gave a top class fighter a real run for his money. They went back and forth, both of them taking their time before fighting very aggressively.
And then Xander scored a round kick to the body as Robby missed a reverse punch to the body and then head.
"Point!"
"Ach." growled Johnny quietly as Lucas shook his head.
"Point! Winner!" the referee said raising Xander's hand.
"Good fight." Xander said respectfully.
Robby nodded, shaking Xander's hand and bowing to each other.
"We have our finalists! We'll be right back, after this quick break," said Daryl.
…
In the locker rooms, Johnny knelt in front of Robby as he sat on a bench. "Hey. You did good kid. You made it to the semis and nearly won. In your first tournament. He's been on that mat competing for way longer than you."
"I know." Robby said. "Thank you."
"I agree. He did do well."
Johnny turned around, seeing John Kreese.
They were both silent.
"Give us a second Robby."
"But dad who's that-"
"Please."
Robby left them alone.
Johnny cleared his throat. "I have to coach Schwarber on his final match I-"
"This'll only take a second. I know we have a lot to talk about." Kreese said.
"I don't want to talk to you." Johnny said.
Kreese sighed. "I know. And I know why. I understand what defeat means now. And what you meant to me."
"Bullshit. If I meant so much to you, you never would've tried to kill me."
"I realize now what that cost me with you. But Cobra Kai was the only family I had-"
"Then why weren't you coaching Schwarber today? He's a good kid.-"
"Who's wearing your headband." Daniel said, entering the locker room. "I remember that thing. You wore it almost every day of senior year."
Kreese and Johnny turned to look at Daniel.
Daniel sighed. "Hey Johnny."
He nodded slightly. "LaRusso. Been a while."
"Yup." Daniel shifted where he stood. "This has all gotten a little out of hand don't you think? These kids getting mixed up in nonsense we all failed to settle thirty years ago?"
"No," Kreese said. "They're making a legacy for themselves. We're just there to guide them."
"Is that why both of you turned your backs on Luke huh?" asked Johnny spitefully. "Now that he's on the verge of breaking almost every All Valley record in the book. You both show up for him? You should be disgusted with yourselves."
"No. This is about him. Not us." Kreese muttered. "Which is why I stepped away when LaRusso got involved. No need to needlessly toss his head around before this tournament."
"Is that why you tried to choke me out and kill me? Huh?" asked Johnny. "Real compassionate and necessary."
Kreese's lips tightened. "That's ancient history, Johnny. Not who I am anymore."
"Maybe. But it's not my problem."
Johnny quickly left the locker room before Daniel did so as well.
Leaving Kreese to his own thoughts.
Kreese looked over at a familiar duffel bag that he knew was Lucas' as it contained sparring gear they trained with.
Kreese walked to the open side pocket of the duffel bag and saw a familiar picture. Lucas had taken a picture of Kim Sun-Yung from his bedroom at the homeless shelter and printed it out into a polaroid.
For the first time in months, Kreese smiled widely and happily as he picked up the picture.
Then he frowned when the woman on the intercom spoke. "Both competitors have five more minutes before the final match. Five minutes until the finals."
Kreese put the picture back in Lucas' duffel bag.
…
Johnny was speaking to Lucas. "Hey kid. Um. I wanted to wish you good luck out there."
"Thanks."
"After all the final matches Ali was cheering on during. I never would've imagined her son would one day be getting ready for his own."
"I could imagine." Lucas said.
"Look uh. This match is probably yours. But you need to know that there's more to life than winning and trophies."
Lucas was very surprised. "Really?"
"These dumb rivalries started over trophies and sometimes girls. They don't end well. For anyone. I figured that out the hard way, so I didn't want to pass that on to Robby. So whatever happens out there. Make this yours. This other kid you're about to face. He never stole your girlfriend or dumped water on your head at a Halloween dance."
Lucas smiled.
"He's just another fighter. Another guy in a GI. Win or lose. It's literally just a tournament. And you've done incredibly well."
Lucas knew it was time to go. "I'm a bit nervous but. You're right. Considering how well I've done up until now. Yeah."
"See you out there." Johnny left him alone with a nod.
…
I realized who my biggest opponent out there was.
This world, or rather this world without me in it.
Xander Stone was supposed to win this tournament. He was the champion Miguel faced a year from today in the first season of the Cobra Kai show.
Robby and I were not supposed to be out there competing today. Kreese was not supposed to have interacted with Daniel or Johnny this early on. And I was not supposed to be in the finals.
So whatever was about to happen. Was going to change the events of this world so much it would be completely different to what I was used to.
My knowledge of everything, could only get me so far.
But I knew I would win this match and all the records that came with it so long as I went all out in the first thirty seconds. The first thirty seconds, and I didn't let Stone score one point on me.
And I would become the most famous karate fighter who ever lived in the history of the Valley.
…
Daryl spoke. "This! Is it folks. The final match, of the entire tournament."
The crowd cheered.
"We have quite the battle here folks! Lucas Schwarber, fighting unaffiliated, at only fourteen! Is the first person to do so reaching the finals since 1993. And! The first person to reach the finals without being scored on a single time, since 1987. Not to mention!"
Daryl said. "He completed all of his matches so far except for one in under an average thirty nine seconds! An All Valley all time record! Should he complete this match without conceding a single point, and win in at least under a minute! He will have broken almost every record in All Valley history there is to beat but one."
"Which is, the all time record for All Valley championship titles. At two! So gentlemen, let's go!"
Xander and Lucas bowed as they stepped onto the mat and approached each other by walking towards their lines.
White faced off against blue as a hundreds cheered.
The referee fixed his red shirt and walked towards both of them as they stared off. "This might be the final match. But you must still obey all the rules and my orders. Watch the control gentlemen, and do not strike outside of the clash."
"Face me! Bow. Face each other! Bow. En garde!"
Xander and Lucas got into their stances.
For the first time in the entire tournament, Lucas started to bounce in his stance.
He bounced forward and backward, not up and down.
"Fight!"
Lucas fought aggressively for the first time since he stepped onto the mat and had his first match.
He didn't fight with Miyagi-Do or Cobra Kai, he fought with an explosive combination of both.
He drove Xander backward, almost connecting on his chin with the first kick, a front kick to the jaw.
Xander dodged, starting to counter with leg sweeps and spinning roundhouses, but suddenly, Lucas used the catch and sweep technique combined with spinning hands kata.
He tied up Xander while he threw a side kick and threw him to the mat, instantly scoring a point with his fist on Xander's chest.
Xander was slightly used to Cobra Kai having beaten Robby a few minutes earlier but combined so creatively with Miyagi-Do and Lucas' own style, Xander had no reference for the kind of karate he was facing.
"Point Schwarber!" the referee announced.
Red flags were in the air for each corner judge and Demetri and Charlotte cheered.
"That's it! That's right!" cheered Robby as Johnny nodded and applauded.
"Lucas Schwarber with the first point!" announced Daryl.
"One zero, Schwarber! Back on your lines!"
Lucas was back on his line as Xander rubbed his chest and walked back over to his spot.
"Ready! And fight!"
Lucas moved away blocking easily as Xander tried to get an easy point with a jab punch the moment combat resumed.
Xander telegraphed a front kick and Lucas easily blocked. On the next attack, Lucas struck first and interrupted Xander's attempt at a grab on his front arm by throwing a jab and a reverse punch towards Xander's chin first.
Xander raised his arms and blocked both, but Lucas didn't give him a second to react a split second later.
He instantly dove in and kicked Xander as quickly as he could in the stomach, but he blocked just in time.
Xander and Lucas circled each other for a bit and then Lucas had struck first and lunged perfectly into a reverse punch right on Xander's chest as his rear leg had started to rise off the ground to throw a kick. The speed, power, and technique Lucas had, hadn't changed, he had just started to fight more aggressively.
Xander staggered back for a second under the power of the blow, and red flags rose again once more.
They walked back to their lines and the referee spoke. "Schwarber two! Stone nothing! Ready? And fight!"
The referee's hand had barely moved away as Lucas had already lowered himself onto one hand and used the two legged kick to score on Xander.
Lucas had kicked Xander on the chest and face at the exact same time and he fell to the ground.
"Point! Winner!" the referee said raising a right hand quickly towards Lucas.
Daniel sighed, groaning quietly and kicking the ground in silent frustration.
"Winner!? Oh my god!" Charlotte yelled in surprise and cheered as Aisha and the crowd roared.
The crowd was off their feet in a tornado of cheers.
Lucas rubbed his nose for a second in awed silence as hundreds cheered for him as dozens of karatekas flooded the mat.
Fighters from almost every dojo except Topanga Karate had started to hoist Lucas into the air like he was Daniel LaRusso a moment after beating Johnny Lawrence.
"Let's gooo!" roared Robby, his arm muscles flexing beneath his red GI as he and Cutting Edge Karate fighters lifted Lucas into the air.
"Your winner! And the new! Youngest All Valley Under 18 Karate Champion in history! Lucas, the Flash Schwarber!"
The crowd cheered and cheered as the All Valley golden trophy was handed to him by Daryl.
Lucas was laughing and smiling lifting the trophy into the air.
"That's right!" Robby was bouncing up and down as Lucas was hoisted up. "That's right let's go! That's right! There we go baby! There we go!"
Johnny was speechless but still smiled. Daniel was hanging his head in shame.
And Kreese was watching from a corner of the stands far away from all the other spectators.
He smiled, shaking his head in amazement.
When Lucas was let back down onto the mat, Daryl spoke. "You have anything you want to say son?"
Gripping his new first place trophy, Lucas spoke into the mic Daryl had used all tournament.
"I know what my victory means! And it's something I need to share with all of you today. That there is no greater step to take than the next step forward! And the future is bright for karate! Let me tell you!"
The crowd cheered for this. Only Daniel and his family seemed confused or quiet at all.
Lucas smiled as he continued to speak. "All of you are wondering how I got here today. Who trained me!? What karate I used!? Well let me tell you, all these questions and more will be answered soon! Because what comes next is better than anything any of you could ever imagine!"
"Whatever it may be. Keep your eyes peeled. Cause it will be huge! And it's happening very very soon! It's time for karate to move into a new age! A better age! The classic ways! The ways of either Johnny Lawrence or Daniel LaRusso, the All Valley's greatest champions!"
Lucas smiled and raised a fist into the air. "Thank you all so much! Thank you all! Thank you!"
The crowd couldn't stop applauding and cheering.
The several Senseis were watching Johnny curiously. He had to have an instructor, Lucas' technique couldn't be self taught. And if Johnny wasn't teaching him technically. Then, who could be his teacher? They could ask him right?
Regardless, Lucas couldn't focus on that, merely basking in the glory of being the first person to win the All Valley in ages without needing a formal dojo.
...
I had lied during my short acceptance speech of the 49th All Valley Under 18 Karate Championships golden trophy.
I had no idea what I was going to do next.
I carpooled with Johnny and Robby back to my home in Encino. It was a bit surreal to be honest, holding it in the seats of Johnny's Pontiac firebird. This car didn't feel like it was going to scrapped very soon at all actually, despite what I knew Sam and her friends did to it.
It was odd too seeing Robby with a third place trophy, he was better than Xander Stone, for sure. It made me wonder if Robby just happened to have a bad day when I happened to have a very good one. It happened in tournaments all the time.
I smiled, remembering who taught me that. John Kreese.
I frowned, realizing what had happened now.
"Tell your grandparents I said hey." Johnny smiled through the window at me.
Robby was wearing a white tanktop and still in his red Steel Eagle GI pants. "We should train together sometime this summer! Tournament or not, we can kick ass together."
It was odd, again, seeing Robby Keene as a much more cheerful, Johnny Lawrence-esque, version of his original snarky, brooding, and closed off self I knew him otherwise. Even now after all that happened.
Johnny grinned at this, looking back slightly at his son in the passenger seat next to him.
...
For all the respect I wanted to gain, for all the glory I expected to win in a tournament like this:
Barely anyone cared.
My grandparents when I told them were glad to hear Johnny said hi, but ultimately just saw my achievement at the All Valley, all the records I had broken as just another soccer medal or writing trophy basically. At school, I didn't get showered in adoration during the last weeks of class.
Charlotte actually started kind of ghosting me after how awkwardly our last date had ended. I think she just wanted to be friends despite her being at the tournament to support me.
No other girls showed up with romantic potential after the All Valley.
Right now, despite the trophy in my hand, and knowing Robby and Johnny supported me all the way, it felt like I had nothing else.
Daniel LaRusso wouldn't speak to me, nor his family, even if I knew Anthony liked me. John Kreese wouldn't either, after all we'd been through.
I had made friends, Eli, Aisha, Demetri, and a few others, but ultimately I was awaiting for a groundbreaking, Instagram famous pop off that never came. Being on the cover of Black Belt magazine, having banners at the All Valley arena. All of it.
But the truth was, I understood why practically none of that happened now:
Until the events of the Second Season of the Netflix show, no one outside of the small and tightly-nit karate community knew jack about karate. Much less cared. As odd as this world was sometimes, it at least had that in common with the real world.
It was 7th of June, 2017. Technically speaking, Miguel would be moving in from Riverside to meet Johnny Lawrence any day now.
He would be disconnected from Robby, leading to conflict with his old rival Daniel LaRusso, and Miguel would follow a dark path leading to the revival of John Kreese from the grave.
But...none of that could ever happen I realized now.
Johnny and Robby were actually getting along fine. The only way I could jeopardize that would be furthering this karate conflict until potentially, there could inevitable disagreement between Robby and Johnny. As for John Kreese.
I looked at the trophy I'd gotten, the 49th All Valley golden trophy sitting at the foot of my bedroom.
I saw something of myself in John, someone lost without purpose. Mr. Miyagi, but deciding to project his emotions outward instead of holding them in. In a way, his philosophy worked, for me, combined with Miyagi-Do, I reached a level of balance, skill, and strength that outshined kids as old as 17 going on 18 with years of experience competing in the Valley, when I was 14 barely turning 15 competing in my first tournament ever.
I reviewed some of my footage collected by my friends throughout the tournament, they only caught my very first rounds and my last.
It was clear in the earlier and later parts of the tournament as Charlotte had recorded, I was applying both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, just, blending it into the same thing. I was applying the precise blocks and counters of Miyagi-Do in a very aggressive fashion, and allowing parts of the leg sweeps and round kick combinations of Cobra Kai to come out in ideal countering moments.
This...had never been done before.
But there was something more important to me now than this trophy.
The people around me.
Daniel and his family would never view mine the same again, and that was a connection my mother, Ali Mills, and Daniel had shared for decades. If I wasn't careful, that could only be the beginning.
I knew a truth others didn't, that left unchecked, Cobra Kai could change the fate of the Valley forever. Combined, Terry Silver and John Kreese offered teenagers pretty much free reign to do whatever they wanted at the cost of the suffering and pain of their enemies.
John Kreese had helped build all of my insecurities, about my over achieving family, my lack of identity and friendship and connection to anything around me when I arrived here. All of it. And he helped me develop it into my greatest strength:
My karate.
And for it, while my peers didn't really view me any differently, that wasn't the point. It was about how I viewed myself differently.
John Kreese didn't understand forgiveness, it was as foreign to him as mercy. I learned the hard way what it meant to come to him weak, my bones cracked, and my muscles damn near broke. I had learned the way of the fist from him, at least as much one can at their greatest dedication to it for a year.
And for it, I didn't feel like I was this Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy sort of guy. I didn't want to hurt anyone.
'And there's the problem.' Kreese would say.
You're supposed to want to hurt people even if that's not the point. You're supposed to view the entire world as a stable place, until the second someone wrongs you. When that happens, you're supposed to use your karate, all of your anger, to just make them regret that moment for the rest of their lives.
And for that simple fact, Daniel LaRusso suffered. For basically an entire year during the events of the Karate Kid. And what I realized now too.
The entire Valley would suffer. He left the fates of everyone in the hands of someone like Terry Silver, otherwise his best friend until he betrayed him.
The true victory I learned from his trophy was that I had made a mistake.
There was such a thing as good and evil, the simple fact was, that John Kreese was evil. He taught me to abuse my power if it brought me more respect, while the issue with Kyler blew over easily due to my at the time, friendship with Daniel and the other parents of the school. Kreese's message was supposed to apply to my entire life:
There was no such thing as mercy. By extension, good and evil didn't mean shit. You were either weak or strong, and weakness did not exist at Cobra Kai.
I remembered how intense how some of Kreese's lessons were. How hard he made me hit all those damn pallets and shit, I think there might've even been a brick at some point. Not that surprising considering what they made Daniel and Mike Barnes go through in the third film.
All of that pain, I had to lie about it. I had to deny what the purpose of it was.
John Kreese never went easy on me because I was fourteen, because he knew my mother from the past, because I came to him looking for help. Going easy on anyone, in any aspect of your life, was wrong, it was weakness.
I was stronger for it, but I had to leave a peace of myself with him: My mercy.
The roles reversed during the first scenes of Karate Kid Part Two, and Kreese wouldn't have quoted Miyagi back to himself and jokingly honked him on the nose. It was very damn likely he would've just killed him. And if not, he would've passed the same lessons on to his students you didn't forgive nor forget anything.
If I wasn't careful, the entire Valley would suffer.
I deeply regretted seeking John Kreese, if enough time passed. I could become like him.
I decided to go on my laptop and submit an application to get my internship at LaRusso auto reinstated. As much as I wanted to remove myself from this karate rivalry, before it spiraled out of control to the point a ponytailed Bond Villain held the fate of the world in his Cobra Kai hands, I wanted one more thing before I left the Valley or stopped practicing karate for good. Or at least, prevented this from getting any worse:
Daniel's forgiveness.
I wasn't going to the LaRusso house begging, he needed to come to me on fair terms. If he never realized I made a mistake and I was sorry for it, that was on him.
Personally, I wasn't going to stay in the Valley much longer waiting for the shit storm of love triangle, square, whatever drama to unfold. Miguel almost died, Robby could've gone to jail for a very long time for manslaughter if that was the case. Johnny and Daniel had even set their shit aside and that still happened. About a year later, Terry Silver might as well have said 'fuck you' to everyone who struggled before him because he swooped in and won.
He was worse than Kreese, as I realized just now, somehow.
However, I did in fact make friends here. I would enjoy seeing their highschool experience grow alongside mine.
But it all started with forgiveness. And I wasn't going to smile if Mr. LaRusso came around.
...
John Kreese didn't have two pennies to scratch together.
He had spent his days going back and forth between a homeless shelter as a spot he was narrowly losing, and living on the street itself. Then, he realized that even for a moment, something of value had returned to his life.
One evening, he walked to Encino, remembering Lucas' address for where the Mills lived and Ali's girlhood home from the 80s. There, he began to walk up the steps towards his house, and prepared to knock on the door.
He even considered ringing the doorbell.
After a moment's hesitation, he relented.
Kreese shook his head and trudged off. Having no idea what to do next, or where he'd go.
By the Greyhound pamphlets Kreese had in his hands, looking them over as he walked aimlessly through the streets of the Valley, he was considering leaving by going out east. By the look on his face, probably forever.
...
Johnny saw his old enemy, Daniel LaRusso sitting at the bar by himself at a place in the middle of Van Nuys.
He pulled up a stool with snark. "Coors Banquet for me, Shirley Temple for the lady."
"I'm good with my Fresca, thanks." Daniel grinned painfully at the middle aged bartender who then walked off.
"You had something you wanted to say to me? Could've written me a letter instead of sending my co-workers whatever the hell an email is."
Daniel snorted. "Never heard of text?"
"Not sure that part of my phone works anymore. Robby tried to get me figure out smartphones but, I couldn't."
"Let me see it."
Johnny proceeded to pull a early 2000s flip phone from his pocket and showed it to him.
"What?"
Daniel hid the look unsurprise from his face. "Nothing."
"Spit it out Danielle, the hell did you invite me for a drink for?"
He ignored the slight and spoke calmly. "Just, wanted to catch up with you." he muttered the next part while sipping from a green glass bottle. "And to know if you've heard anything from Lucas."
"I'm not a damn messenger bird, you want to see him talk to him yourself."
"I can't do that."
"And why not?"
Daniel sighed. "Because I wanted to know the truth first."
"Ask him yourself," Johnny looked around the bar. "I don't have time for this."
"You and I have never gotten along, but right now I trust your word over his."
Johnny didn't feel praised nor happy, but instead he was just curious. "Really? Why's that?"
"Because he was the one who trudged up your old Sensei, brought back Kreese from the local cementery."
"Yeah he told me."
Daniel shook his head. "Did he mention why he did any of what he did?"
"Shouldn't you know? You were his Sensei for this entire past year."
"Yeah but-" Daniel tutted. "You were the only one he seemed to trust at the All Valley Johnny."
"Because I was the only one in his corner." said Johnny. "I know you two just fought, but you couldn't have put that bullshit aside just to stick up for him?"
"He became a friend of the family, specifically under the guise of Kreese, just for the sake of gainining more fame in karate. I've seen that before, so it's very hard to forgive."
Johnny nodded his thanks to the bartender who passed him his Coors Banquet. "Wait really?'
"Doesn't matter." Daniel swallowed his drink and put the bottle back down on the bar's counter. "Point is, I need to know what you knew. Has he mentioned anything about what happened between him and Kreese?"
"All I know is he and Robby haven't talked that much since the tournament. Other than that, the most he mentioned was that he wanted to combined Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do so he could win the All Valley like no one ever did."
"That's not much more than I could gather at this point." admitted Daniel. "This begs the question, if he wanted that so badly, why didn't he train with you the whole time? Would've made some sense since there's no way he didn't realize Kreese was responsible for everything back in the day."
Johnny almost looked offended. "Are you saying I'm easier to manipulate?" he snapped his fingers together to spike the beer cap into a nearby trashcan.
"Well no, all I'm saying is that you would've been a better teacher than he was."
"Low bar to set," Johnny grinned and spoke sarcastically. "Wow I'm dying of thanks over here LaRusso, what a compliment."
"Look we have to admit our faults Johnny. But acting so oddly and dangerously at that age? Where were his parents? What was going on?"
"It doesn't matter." Johnny took a deep sip of his Coors. "Point is, he sought you as a teacher."
"And Kreese!"
"So did I."
Johnny lowered his voice, seeing the look on Daniel's face. "The fact that he's a kid who didn't know better doesn't matter. What does, is that he figured his shit out."
"How?" Daniel was incredulous.
"He spent a year managing all the history and bad blood between all three of us just to develop his own style. And then not only that, he went out and did it. He won. You can do whatever you like, it's not my place to get involved. But as a father, and a Sensei. There's no such thing as a bad student, even though he lied, that wasn't Luke."
Daniel almost seemed to smile at this. "But he knew what a bad teacher Kreese was, I told him. I'm sure Ali told him."
"I'm not saying we should applaud how manipulative it was. But he definitely wasn't the same person I met when he flew in from Denver last summer. Any other kid in his shoes would've been scared shitless, and he went out and confronted the bastard. He found the baddest man in the Valley, made him his teacher, and cut him off."
"For all I knew, they could still be in this together."
"Then you don't know the same person I do." muttered Johnny.
"But why would he do that?"
"Because he wasn't afraid!"
The bartender raised an eyebrow from nearby.
"You and I have been at each other's throats since highschool," Johnny said, quieter. "A part of me probably wishes we'd never have to see each other ever again."
"Same here." Daniel finished his fresca.
"The way I see it. This wasn't a keep your enemies closer type of deal, he wanted to know what Kreese's style was."
"And he learned it."
"He did," admitted Johnny. "But that's over now, he's smart enough to want nothing to do with Kreese or any of this shit. As long as you and I have fought, these kids are just learning. They're like fifteen. The hell is it our place to tell them what to do and what to learn, if we're not their Senseis?"
"It is our place, at least when Kreese is involved. You know firsthand how dangerous he is."
"Was."
Daniel was surprised. "Excuse me?"
"I get you and the memory of your teacher were hurt by what he did." Johnny said calmly. "But you gotta move on man, we all do. Either go and talk to him yourself and find the whole story, or don't and just move on."
"You weren't bothered by any of this?"
Johnny shrugged. "Not really. Robby's living half and half between me and Shannon. The kid's in school and doing karate, staying out of trouble. Considering where he was when we started talking again, I can lead well enough alone. And you should too before your own family gets more messed up by this old history, you have standards you have morals. Kreese has neither."
"Maybe you should worry about your own family."
Johnny finished his beer. "Yeah well, maybe I should."
He tossed some cash on the counter and left, Daniel was in deep thought when Johnny left.
The man had genuinely no idea what to do next in regards to Miyagi-Do.
...
"Dad, are you okay?"
He was putting dishes away after dinner with his family.
"Just fine, thanks for asking."
Sam didn't appear to be convinced. "You don't seem like it."
"Well I'm not fine." Daniel sighed and closed the cabinet door, turning around to speak to his daughter. "What happened this past year with Lucas, was just."
He trailed.
"But what's on your mind? All of that's over now, I haven't seen him want to train anywhere. In fact, since the tournament, no one I knew has even mentioned karate until you. Just now."
"Karate or not. I was trying to make a difference in his life. The same way I'd want to make a difference in yours, what Mr. Miyagi taught, it went beyond fighting or martial arts. It was about balance."
"But, you brought balance."
Daniel was confused. "What're you talking about?"
"I know things got messed up because of that other guy he was learning from but." Sam shrugged. "He won, he got what he wanted. No one got hurt, not even anyone at the tournament. Are you afraid he'll hurt people, himself? Us?"
"No I'm just-" he put his hands on the table leaning on to them. "I spoke to Johnny lately."
"Robby's dad? I think I saw him help Robby compete at the All Valley."
Daniel snorted, realizing that was probably the fullest extent of Sam's knowledge of him. "Yes. He said I should forget everything, or at least move on. When I started karate again, it was to pass on Mr. Miyagi's lessons. And after an entire year of teaching Luke the physical aspects of karate. I'm not sure he grasped the mental aspects at all."
"Who cares?"
Daniel was surprised. "What?"
"Who cares what he learned or not? It's over. Stop feeling so guilty about it. If Luke was a better person, if he didn't lie to you about what he was doing. About how he only respected what you taught this whole time, then yeah. Maybe should feel guilty."
"Wait- Sam."
She had stormed off towards her room and out of the kitchen.
...
"Still upset you lost your mini me?"
Daniel was sitting in bed with his wife. "He was never my mini me." he scoffed.
He saw the smug look on Amanda's face as she wore a nightgown and read a book.
"What?"
"Nothing, I just find it funny seeing a grown man get so upset over karate he taught to a teenager."
"It goes beyond that. You met him he was just, he was becoming a friend of the family. Anthony started to look up to him and he had to go off and-"
Amanda turned to him. "Seeing you at the tournament, it was like unveiling a whole different side of you. You were mad about what a highschool kid was doing competing on a mat. It's fine if you get upset but. Maybe realize not all of what you're hurting over is completely worth it."
"Sam is upset with him. She's even upset with me over him."
"What did she say?"
"That if he lied, then feeling guilty is wrong."
Amanda put her book down on the nightstand. "Look, I know nothing about this karate nonsense but I know our kids. You were there for a new friend both of our children made, you both fought because of this tournament. And then you're acting like a compeltely different person. If you're so distressed over what happened between you and Lucas go and talk to him. I've never seen you like this, clueless and helpless over what to do."
"I don't." Daniel trailed.
"Are you confused because of what Mr. Miyagi would want you to do?"
"Partially. I'm just, truthfully wondering what would be best for me. For this family, if I decided to talk to him again."
"Well whatever you decide. Know, I'm behind you, a hundred percent."
The two kissed. Amanda shut off the lights, and Daniel turned over to rest.
...
...
...
Author's Note:
That concludes Book 1. The next book would cover everything that happened in what would be Season 1 of the Cobra Kai Netflix series in the scenario I created. Needless to say, but the plot and character dynamics are of course completely different.
It will lightly follow the structure of the first Season but barely in plot points. The way each person learns their karate, develops it, and or passes it on will be completely different. Everyone has students they otherwise wouldn't.
Johnny has Robby for the first season, and I won't spoil who ends up with Daniel or Kreese if they still decide to teach after Luke.
Thank you all for reading and supporting!
Last edited:
Interlude - Lucas
MiyazakiFan18
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...
OST: Raindrops Keep Falling - B.J. Thomas
...
Lucas Schwarber had a very large and typically empty house, and a loyal Golden Retriever for pretty much his entire summer. As well as all the toys, hobbies, and workout equipment to keep him busy for the summer.
He wasn't training anymore to be in the best shape of his life, so he began to eat a bit more freely without trying to focus so much on a perfect diet and exercise regimen.
Without karate of any sort, he turned back to his basics: his interests, just trying to relax and enjoy his life the best he could.
In the morning, he woke up and cooked himself some breakfast. Tossing Donnie Junior some scraps as he panted quietly next to his bowl, eating some fried turkey bacon.
After a quick workout in his garage, he began to read. He read historical novels, medical books in his grandfather's study, and then napped outside in the sun on lawn chairs by the pool. Lucas didn't even practice kata on his own, nothing about his life other than his trophy resembled karate at all anymore.
He lived by following his hobbies.
Lucas got back into computer building, finishing a project that took several months of scrounging up what little money a fifteen year old could to build his own PC.
He followed all the steps in the manual that came with the motherboard he bought listed, and soon was able to run Windows inserted into the PC by a flash drive. The home computer didn't even have a tower or case, it was just connected by screws and wires in his family's garage on a large workbench next to all of his other projects onto a wooden stand and an old monitor his grandmother let him borrow.
All the other projects included the several interests Demetri and Eli shared with him.
Including Lego, model trains, Magic the Gathering, and all sorts of other things the Binary Brothers helped share with him since the summer from the year prior.
The next day, he didn't even bother washing down his grandfather's old cars on his own, just chuckling to himself at the cans of soap, wax, and some rags.
Lucas played video games on a Nintendo and Xbox he owned.
Just a few blocks away, Daniel LaRusso found his own son doing what he typically was:
Playing video games in his bedroom.
He was playing both Halo and Fifa. Anthony laughed into his mic, liking Lucas' jokes about its comparison to real world soccer.
Daniel shook his head, walking away from Anthony's bedroom having no idea who it was that Anthony was online with.
Lucas felt happy with his life now.
The lack of stress from all the karate and old history, the trophy in his bedroom was starting to collect dust. For all he knew, he was just another regular Encino kid in the Valley with far too much free time and fun than he knew what to do with.
As he sat in his gaming chair in the garage, something began to hit him, something he knew he missed dearly.
He texted his friend, wishing Anthony goodbye and then exiting the garage.
Lucas packed his skateboard into a backpack and rode off on his bicycle, so well accustomed to the streets of Los Angeles by this point it was second nature.
The sun was bright, the summer calm, and his life as actionless as possible.
...
Robby Keene didn't know what to think at first when he began speaking to Lucas again, things had been awkward since the tournament even though he cheered for him. Oddly, his father, Johnny Lawrence had been acting a bit strangely too.
He was too reserved as a person to inquire further in either regard, but eventually, was fine to meet with Lucas at the skatepark.
The first few dives into the cement basins of the skate park were a bit more aggressive.
Robby was far less cheerful and supportive of Lucas who was still learning a bit, clearly trying to show off. Lucas didn't mind Robby's slight grumpiness, knowing things hadn't been the best between them.
He responded by showing off too, going back to the one handed hand stand on the edge of the skate park ridge with a bright smile, showing his friend he really was there to have fun with him. Robby wasn't sure how to take this.
Other boys at the skatepark found Lucas' skills intriguing, and everyone just started skating and talking casually there.
Robby was able to scrape the bottom of his board with ease around the edges of the skate park basin, popping ollies with easy jumps like it was second nature. Robby turned back, surprised to see Lucas following him just as casually. It wasn't about competing, trying to show he was upset over a few weeks after not talking. It took a second, but Robby broke a smile.
...
Lucas was fine teaching Robby his own tricks because he was willing to impart with his own in regards to skateboarding.
"See? Not so hard is it?"
"Speak for yourself."
Robby was grunting in pain, damn near bursting a vein through his forehead in concentration while balancing his entire body upside down on one hand. Everyone else at the skate park had gotten so used to this, that they didn't even blink at this when they rode past.
"I can hold on for longer than you bro!"
"Damnit man, why does everything have to be a competition with you today?"
Eventually, seeing Robby was going to pop a blood vessel before admitting defeat, Lucas relented. Robby didn't gloat nor smile, merely just sitting on the edge of the basin next to Lucas.
"What made you want to start hanging out again? We didn't even talk during finals."
"Things were messed up between Charlotte and I, I didn't want to talk about it."
"You can talk to me about anything man. Same way I know I can count on you."
Lucas snorted. "I don't know, I just didn't want to bother you about anything. Or bother anyone until this morning."
"What made you change your mind?"
"I missed having friends." Lucas got a text. "Speaking of which. Wanna follow me back to my place?"
"Isn't that like an hour away by board?"
"Hour and a half. And what, are you saying you can't keep up?"
"Hey!"
Lucas packed his skateboard together and removed his bike lock from the rack in the blink of an eye.
"Dude wait!"
Robby chuckled, accelerating quickly on his skateboard to cruise after Lucas, only slightly slower but easily able to keep him in view.
...
"Hey guys, hadn't seen you all summer." Robby and Lucas entered through the side door, Donnie Junior ran up to his owner, smiling, panting, tail wagging.
Demetri and Eli were already in Lucas' backyard, playing Magic the Gathering and chatting already over a glass of lemonade.
"Sorry about that." said Demetri. "Eli and I were busy with coding classes. Computer camp is from home this year."
"Really?" Lucas was surprised.
"We won every competition there every year since the sixth grade, the counselors just didn't think it was fair if we kept going now that we're in high school," explained Eli. "In our last session, we already were ranked with college kids."
Lucas chuckled about this, Robby was more or less confused.
"So, what're you guys working on over here?" wondered Robby.
"Eli's trying out his new Red Aggro deck, his commander's solid but the rest of his draw state just hasn't been working."
Robby looked at Lucas, as if Demetri had talked to him in Chinese.
"We can teach you how to play." Lucas shrugged to him, leaning on the empty chair next to Eli while sipping some lemonade he poured for himself. "It's not for everyone."
"No kidding. So Demetri's winning?" Robby had no idea what he was looking at.
"Winning is an understatement by the looks of the board." muttered Lucas, Eli even acknowledged this painfully. "You mind?"
Eli let Lucas take a look at his hand, then Lucas circled around when Demetri showed him his cards too.
"Not sure this game is your style," Demetri said to Robby, putting all of his cards away the game was over one turn later. "I'm sure Luke has a deck you can borrow, but there's a lot of patience and strategy involved."
Robby was confused. "What made you think that's not for me?"
"Well, is it for you?" asked Demetri.
"I never said that but." Robby was looking at one of the cards in specialized sleeves that Eli had handed to him.
Lucas snorted, smiling a bit.
"I like patience and strategy I guess. Just all these spells and wizards are just not for me."
Lucas smiled. "Glad my nana let you guys in right before she left then. I have something that I know is right up your alley."
...
Demetri taught Lucas, Robby, and Eli chess using an old set made of carved wood he had in his attic. Lucas more or less already knew the basics, but there were small certain strategies he taught them that helped them play better.
Robby beat Eli, Eli beat Lucas, Lucas beat Robby, and it actually ended up being decent fun even if there wasn't any weed, stealing laptops, or video games considering what Robby, and Demetri, Lucas, and Eli were used to respectively when hanging out. Until he started high school, Robby had no real idea what it was like to make friends with people who weren't criminals.
"I feel like there's someone missing here." Eli said.
"Yeah, me too." said Lucas. "Someone who likes this sorta stuff too."
"Hm." Robby agreed.
"Aisha." Demetri admitted.
"Right." said Lucas. "It doesn't really make sense if we're not hanging out with her at school, or if Sam's not around."
"Yeah guess that's weird." admitted Robby.
"Oh well." Demetri shrugged.
All three other boys shrugged at this too.
"Everything okay with you and Sam?"
Eli shook his head at Lucas' question.
"What happened?" asked Lucas.
"I don't know. I only plan on having one group of friends for the next few years before we all go off to college." said Eli. "And they're all sitting at this table."
"So?" wondered Demetri. "What does Sam have to do with that?"
"I know she was into Luke." everyone looked a little more uncomfortable. Eli began to sip his lemonade. "Screw that nonsense, friends come first before girls."
"I believe the phrase you're looking for is b-"
"Completely uncharacteristic for Eli?" asked Demetri.
The subsequent air felt a whole less tense as the boys began to chuckle together quietly.
"Bros before hoes." Eli said proudly.
They laughed a bit louder.
"Glad we're starting to rub off on you." Lucas muttered.
"We?"
"Yeah fool," Lucas glanced at Robby. "You say it too."
"Not that I need to prove anything to any of you, but whatever. Eli's right."
"I'm not saying a thing." said Demetri. "Like I said before, I'd let Yasmine stab any of you if it meant she'd talk to me."
"That right there, that's probably why she wants nothing to do with you." admitted Robby.
"Checkmate." Eli proceeded to defeat Lucas for the third time in a row.
"Damn, think you're ready to take on the master." he admitted.
"Good luck." Robby chortled, as with a grin, Demetri set up the board between him and Eli.
...
Bob Marley's Three Little Birds played soulfully and lightly on a portable stereo he had borrowed from his old home in Denver, Lucas was sunbathing, eyes closed, sunglasses tucked into his dark hair, as Robby sat on a nearby lawn chair.
"So man, now that everyone's hanging out together again, got any plans for this summer?"
"You're looking at it." he mused.
Robby scoffed, putting his phone away. "But you're literally just doing nothing."
"No, I'm laying here."
"Yeah, that's nothing."
Lucas sighed.
He opened his eyes. "There's a difference between laying. And listening."
Robby was utterly confused.
"I can hear the Binary Bros argue about fan theories for Game of Thrones and stuff just over there. My dog's panting." he rubbed Donnie Junior's head, the Golden Retriever laying next to him. "Those birds tweeting in those trees." Robby could see the small orchard in the Mills Manor backyard. "The music. Your voice. Even with my eyes closed, I'm more connected than ever was than if I was trying to focus on a chore or even a game."
"How'd you learn how to do that?" Robby said, clearly sounding like he believed him.
"Fact of life. It all starts." Lucas lifted his arms behind his head, getting comfortable on the pool chair. "With the breath, always return to basics of life dude. No breath, no life."
"Yeah, but who taught you that? You look up some meditation guides online?"
"Nah man, you'd never believe me."
Robby actually envied the degree as to wish Lucas was able to switch instantly into relaxing. And to show his appreciation, he pranked him.
In a giant splash of water, he sprayed him with a nearby water hose.
Lucas actually thought it was funny, the two wrestling each other, and then into the pool.
Soon, all four friends were playing shoulder wars or chicken fights in Lucas' pool in his backyard, wrestling, laughing, racing each other across the pool.
It was shaping up to be the best summer any of them had ever had for a long time.
...
...
...
A/N:
I plan on making one or two more chaps like this, one probably about Kreese, then Johnny or Daniel or both. Not sure yet, anyways, thank you all so much for reading, have a great day everyone and stay safe. Peace!
OST: Raindrops Keep Falling - B.J. Thomas
...
Lucas Schwarber had a very large and typically empty house, and a loyal Golden Retriever for pretty much his entire summer. As well as all the toys, hobbies, and workout equipment to keep him busy for the summer.
He wasn't training anymore to be in the best shape of his life, so he began to eat a bit more freely without trying to focus so much on a perfect diet and exercise regimen.
Without karate of any sort, he turned back to his basics: his interests, just trying to relax and enjoy his life the best he could.
In the morning, he woke up and cooked himself some breakfast. Tossing Donnie Junior some scraps as he panted quietly next to his bowl, eating some fried turkey bacon.
After a quick workout in his garage, he began to read. He read historical novels, medical books in his grandfather's study, and then napped outside in the sun on lawn chairs by the pool. Lucas didn't even practice kata on his own, nothing about his life other than his trophy resembled karate at all anymore.
He lived by following his hobbies.
Lucas got back into computer building, finishing a project that took several months of scrounging up what little money a fifteen year old could to build his own PC.
He followed all the steps in the manual that came with the motherboard he bought listed, and soon was able to run Windows inserted into the PC by a flash drive. The home computer didn't even have a tower or case, it was just connected by screws and wires in his family's garage on a large workbench next to all of his other projects onto a wooden stand and an old monitor his grandmother let him borrow.
All the other projects included the several interests Demetri and Eli shared with him.
Including Lego, model trains, Magic the Gathering, and all sorts of other things the Binary Brothers helped share with him since the summer from the year prior.
The next day, he didn't even bother washing down his grandfather's old cars on his own, just chuckling to himself at the cans of soap, wax, and some rags.
Lucas played video games on a Nintendo and Xbox he owned.
Just a few blocks away, Daniel LaRusso found his own son doing what he typically was:
Playing video games in his bedroom.
He was playing both Halo and Fifa. Anthony laughed into his mic, liking Lucas' jokes about its comparison to real world soccer.
Daniel shook his head, walking away from Anthony's bedroom having no idea who it was that Anthony was online with.
Lucas felt happy with his life now.
The lack of stress from all the karate and old history, the trophy in his bedroom was starting to collect dust. For all he knew, he was just another regular Encino kid in the Valley with far too much free time and fun than he knew what to do with.
As he sat in his gaming chair in the garage, something began to hit him, something he knew he missed dearly.
He texted his friend, wishing Anthony goodbye and then exiting the garage.
Lucas packed his skateboard into a backpack and rode off on his bicycle, so well accustomed to the streets of Los Angeles by this point it was second nature.
The sun was bright, the summer calm, and his life as actionless as possible.
...
Robby Keene didn't know what to think at first when he began speaking to Lucas again, things had been awkward since the tournament even though he cheered for him. Oddly, his father, Johnny Lawrence had been acting a bit strangely too.
He was too reserved as a person to inquire further in either regard, but eventually, was fine to meet with Lucas at the skatepark.
The first few dives into the cement basins of the skate park were a bit more aggressive.
Robby was far less cheerful and supportive of Lucas who was still learning a bit, clearly trying to show off. Lucas didn't mind Robby's slight grumpiness, knowing things hadn't been the best between them.
He responded by showing off too, going back to the one handed hand stand on the edge of the skate park ridge with a bright smile, showing his friend he really was there to have fun with him. Robby wasn't sure how to take this.
Other boys at the skatepark found Lucas' skills intriguing, and everyone just started skating and talking casually there.
Robby was able to scrape the bottom of his board with ease around the edges of the skate park basin, popping ollies with easy jumps like it was second nature. Robby turned back, surprised to see Lucas following him just as casually. It wasn't about competing, trying to show he was upset over a few weeks after not talking. It took a second, but Robby broke a smile.
...
Lucas was fine teaching Robby his own tricks because he was willing to impart with his own in regards to skateboarding.
"See? Not so hard is it?"
"Speak for yourself."
Robby was grunting in pain, damn near bursting a vein through his forehead in concentration while balancing his entire body upside down on one hand. Everyone else at the skate park had gotten so used to this, that they didn't even blink at this when they rode past.
"I can hold on for longer than you bro!"
"Damnit man, why does everything have to be a competition with you today?"
Eventually, seeing Robby was going to pop a blood vessel before admitting defeat, Lucas relented. Robby didn't gloat nor smile, merely just sitting on the edge of the basin next to Lucas.
"What made you want to start hanging out again? We didn't even talk during finals."
"Things were messed up between Charlotte and I, I didn't want to talk about it."
"You can talk to me about anything man. Same way I know I can count on you."
Lucas snorted. "I don't know, I just didn't want to bother you about anything. Or bother anyone until this morning."
"What made you change your mind?"
"I missed having friends." Lucas got a text. "Speaking of which. Wanna follow me back to my place?"
"Isn't that like an hour away by board?"
"Hour and a half. And what, are you saying you can't keep up?"
"Hey!"
Lucas packed his skateboard together and removed his bike lock from the rack in the blink of an eye.
"Dude wait!"
Robby chuckled, accelerating quickly on his skateboard to cruise after Lucas, only slightly slower but easily able to keep him in view.
...
"Hey guys, hadn't seen you all summer." Robby and Lucas entered through the side door, Donnie Junior ran up to his owner, smiling, panting, tail wagging.
Demetri and Eli were already in Lucas' backyard, playing Magic the Gathering and chatting already over a glass of lemonade.
"Sorry about that." said Demetri. "Eli and I were busy with coding classes. Computer camp is from home this year."
"Really?" Lucas was surprised.
"We won every competition there every year since the sixth grade, the counselors just didn't think it was fair if we kept going now that we're in high school," explained Eli. "In our last session, we already were ranked with college kids."
Lucas chuckled about this, Robby was more or less confused.
"So, what're you guys working on over here?" wondered Robby.
"Eli's trying out his new Red Aggro deck, his commander's solid but the rest of his draw state just hasn't been working."
Robby looked at Lucas, as if Demetri had talked to him in Chinese.
"We can teach you how to play." Lucas shrugged to him, leaning on the empty chair next to Eli while sipping some lemonade he poured for himself. "It's not for everyone."
"No kidding. So Demetri's winning?" Robby had no idea what he was looking at.
"Winning is an understatement by the looks of the board." muttered Lucas, Eli even acknowledged this painfully. "You mind?"
Eli let Lucas take a look at his hand, then Lucas circled around when Demetri showed him his cards too.
"Not sure this game is your style," Demetri said to Robby, putting all of his cards away the game was over one turn later. "I'm sure Luke has a deck you can borrow, but there's a lot of patience and strategy involved."
Robby was confused. "What made you think that's not for me?"
"Well, is it for you?" asked Demetri.
"I never said that but." Robby was looking at one of the cards in specialized sleeves that Eli had handed to him.
Lucas snorted, smiling a bit.
"I like patience and strategy I guess. Just all these spells and wizards are just not for me."
Lucas smiled. "Glad my nana let you guys in right before she left then. I have something that I know is right up your alley."
...
Demetri taught Lucas, Robby, and Eli chess using an old set made of carved wood he had in his attic. Lucas more or less already knew the basics, but there were small certain strategies he taught them that helped them play better.
Robby beat Eli, Eli beat Lucas, Lucas beat Robby, and it actually ended up being decent fun even if there wasn't any weed, stealing laptops, or video games considering what Robby, and Demetri, Lucas, and Eli were used to respectively when hanging out. Until he started high school, Robby had no real idea what it was like to make friends with people who weren't criminals.
"I feel like there's someone missing here." Eli said.
"Yeah, me too." said Lucas. "Someone who likes this sorta stuff too."
"Hm." Robby agreed.
"Aisha." Demetri admitted.
"Right." said Lucas. "It doesn't really make sense if we're not hanging out with her at school, or if Sam's not around."
"Yeah guess that's weird." admitted Robby.
"Oh well." Demetri shrugged.
All three other boys shrugged at this too.
"Everything okay with you and Sam?"
Eli shook his head at Lucas' question.
"What happened?" asked Lucas.
"I don't know. I only plan on having one group of friends for the next few years before we all go off to college." said Eli. "And they're all sitting at this table."
"So?" wondered Demetri. "What does Sam have to do with that?"
"I know she was into Luke." everyone looked a little more uncomfortable. Eli began to sip his lemonade. "Screw that nonsense, friends come first before girls."
"I believe the phrase you're looking for is b-"
"Completely uncharacteristic for Eli?" asked Demetri.
The subsequent air felt a whole less tense as the boys began to chuckle together quietly.
"Bros before hoes." Eli said proudly.
They laughed a bit louder.
"Glad we're starting to rub off on you." Lucas muttered.
"We?"
"Yeah fool," Lucas glanced at Robby. "You say it too."
"Not that I need to prove anything to any of you, but whatever. Eli's right."
"I'm not saying a thing." said Demetri. "Like I said before, I'd let Yasmine stab any of you if it meant she'd talk to me."
"That right there, that's probably why she wants nothing to do with you." admitted Robby.
"Checkmate." Eli proceeded to defeat Lucas for the third time in a row.
"Damn, think you're ready to take on the master." he admitted.
"Good luck." Robby chortled, as with a grin, Demetri set up the board between him and Eli.
...
Bob Marley's Three Little Birds played soulfully and lightly on a portable stereo he had borrowed from his old home in Denver, Lucas was sunbathing, eyes closed, sunglasses tucked into his dark hair, as Robby sat on a nearby lawn chair.
"So man, now that everyone's hanging out together again, got any plans for this summer?"
"You're looking at it." he mused.
Robby scoffed, putting his phone away. "But you're literally just doing nothing."
"No, I'm laying here."
"Yeah, that's nothing."
Lucas sighed.
He opened his eyes. "There's a difference between laying. And listening."
Robby was utterly confused.
"I can hear the Binary Bros argue about fan theories for Game of Thrones and stuff just over there. My dog's panting." he rubbed Donnie Junior's head, the Golden Retriever laying next to him. "Those birds tweeting in those trees." Robby could see the small orchard in the Mills Manor backyard. "The music. Your voice. Even with my eyes closed, I'm more connected than ever was than if I was trying to focus on a chore or even a game."
"How'd you learn how to do that?" Robby said, clearly sounding like he believed him.
"Fact of life. It all starts." Lucas lifted his arms behind his head, getting comfortable on the pool chair. "With the breath, always return to basics of life dude. No breath, no life."
"Yeah, but who taught you that? You look up some meditation guides online?"
"Nah man, you'd never believe me."
Robby actually envied the degree as to wish Lucas was able to switch instantly into relaxing. And to show his appreciation, he pranked him.
In a giant splash of water, he sprayed him with a nearby water hose.
Lucas actually thought it was funny, the two wrestling each other, and then into the pool.
Soon, all four friends were playing shoulder wars or chicken fights in Lucas' pool in his backyard, wrestling, laughing, racing each other across the pool.
It was shaping up to be the best summer any of them had ever had for a long time.
...
...
...
A/N:
I plan on making one or two more chaps like this, one probably about Kreese, then Johnny or Daniel or both. Not sure yet, anyways, thank you all so much for reading, have a great day everyone and stay safe. Peace!
Interlude - John Kreese
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This chapter is dedicated to Pat E. Johnson, a man who was as vital to the success and brilliance of the original Karate Kid as Mr. Miyagi and the directors and writers of the films. May he rest in peace. He will make an appearance in this chapter, even a small cameo, because during this time period of the show's filming right around season 1 of Cobra Kai, he was still alive.
I hope I can portray his wisdom as a martial artist properly in this chapter.
...
John Kreese lived a life with no life.
He woke up, and got what passed for breakfast served at the homeless shelter. He hadn't shaved since the tournament, nor barely had a chance to shower. He ate what little he could find, and work was just as difficult for an aging man like himself as anything else.
Kreese had little to no skills beyond sparse karate instruction during the early 80s, while he was an incredible soldier, the war he fought in ended decades prior. He wasn't a stupid man, he could read and write, but possessed nothing someone with a college degree would have entering the job field in the late 2010s:
Computer skills, customer service, administrative support and technical support skills. Experience with Microsoft Office, nor any sort of background working in an office or formalized job setting of any kind.
Instead, he spent his time in what was called 'the yard.'
Near a Home Depot, men looking for some freelance construction stood around battered trucks with all sorts of equipment. As powerful as they were, Kreese's own two hands were all he could bring.
"Okay um," a man with a red pickup truck and a cap showed up with a neatly trimmed beard. "You two, you and you. And uh, you too old timer. Why not?" he added a smile.
He didn't grumble, why should he?
Kreese was lucky, someone actually drove by, and not only that, chose him for work.
The man in charge of the operation was named Benny, he obviously paid in cash and the work was equal parts straightforward and back breaking. He offered the worst neighborhoods of Los Angeles construction, maintenance, and general lawn and building work on the cheap. Kreese had dealt with men like Benny all his life, but had the street smarts and experience to know just by looking at him and how he interacted with his customers, that Kreese was in fact was going to actually get paid for his work: another luck factor.
Kreese had the muscle strength and experience in this sort of work, moving around old cinder blocks, worn out refrigerators and other such things, that he wasn't weak by any means. However, he strongly lacked the stamina and endurance of younger men who were just starting out in this field.
His lack of proper nutrition and rest in recent weeks only added to this. John Kreese was working himself practically to the point of blacking out in the June sun just for enough cash to last the rest of the week.
Benny dropped Kreese off on the corner of a small street near his shelter in Pacoima.
"Nice job today, you worked a lot better than I would've expected."
Not knowing how to respond, Kreese merely nodded.
As he walked away and the truck drove off, Kreese wondered how to feel. This had actually been the first bit of good news he'd had in months, actual work.
...
It didn't last long.
A week and a half later, Kreese's boss of sorts, Benny, had to shut down his entire business when his two partners had legal and financial troubles, and were forced to sell off all the trucks and equipment they used.
John Kreese quickly realized that there were little alternatives.
He walked into the Veteran Affairs office in Sherwood Forest.
"Military ID card please."
The clerk behind the desk with a glass pane was handed Kreese's card when it was his turn in line.
"Okay Mr. Kreese, how can I help you today?" the VA official didn't seem to mind that it was expired.
"My GI bill, I was wondering if there was any sort of veteran's benefits I was still eligible for?" he asked calmly.
"Well let's see. Your tours during the 1960s and early 70s already exhausted the benefits they set aside."
"And that special operative from the 1980s?"
"I'm afraid your local congressman didn't permit renewal for that specific program."
Kreese nodded quietly.
"I know your doctors have to do a screening first, but is it possible to re-enlist?"
"As dated as your records are, you're one of the top rated officers who served in your unit. However that can't change our rules," The clerk shook his head and spoke kindly. "You served almost twenty years under both Special Forces and the main branch of the Army. Your enlistment age is technically around fifty or so, you're well over the limit."
Kreese thanked the clerk. He held his anger in check.
"Don't you want your-"
"Keep it."
...
The Benny of next week was far less kind than the newer one.
Constantly on his Bluetooth, less likable overall and focused on his work and being fair, he also paid even less somehow and less frequently.
"Hey Branchosaurus!" the foreman said sitting on a box sipping some beer.
Kreese turned, making a face before he turned around and put his work away.
"Yes?"
"Yeah you, get over here. Don't break your last hip on the way over here."
Every step from Kreese was with pure calm.
"You can't work next week's shift for the last hour of every day."
Kreese was confused. "What're you talking about? I show up on time, I do all-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, ba ahabb bababa," the less friendly Benny said. "My higher ups tossed me some bullshit about possibly getting sued for hiring someone uh. Your age."
Kreese bought the story as much as someone with his experience in freelance worked tended to, but said nothing. He held his anger.
"Either way, you're on barrow duty. Hop to it, I see you slack and it's the whole week I cut instead."
Kreese turned around, picking up a wheelbarrow laden with bricks, and starting to ferry it up some supported walkways towards the rooftops where other workers were. In scorching early summer sun, for hours.
...
"Pronouns for the differently abled are misconstrued every day!"
Kreese was ignoring the speech a woman with dyed red hair was giving at the podium at a city council meeting.
"Councilperson Roberts, how dare the Great Bakers on Fifth Avenue deny my aunt her favorite loaves of spiced donuts because she's to quote them. Not able to walk right into their store?"
The woman city council member calmly replied. "We have precise legislation over how private companies can install the right measurements to their buildings to allow the disabled to enter them properly."
"But my aunt was insulted! Everyone on my Instagram is helping sign my petition right now." the girl showed them her phone. "All over this side of the valley, no one is using the right ways to respect or address minorities! My boyfriend got called a travesty for not conforming to gender norms at a restaurant. It's a micro and macroaggression of the lowest sort!"
Looking like she already lost her patience, Roberts looked aside. "I'm afraid that's all the time we've allowed for you today."
A security guard or official in charge of allowing everyone their turn was heeded aside. The young woman who was speaking didn't even flinch, just turned and threw her hands up, walking away.
"Next."
Kreese took the podium and spoke quietly. "My name is John Kreese, I'm a local veteran of the United States military. I did tours in Vietnam, as well as re-assignment in Korea."
"Thank you for your service, how can we help you today?" Roberts shifted some papers aside, looking at him.
"It's difficult for me to explain this. But there is no advocate for homeless veterans today at all."
"I can make sure you're given all the necessary avenues to contact Unemployment Insurance or Veterinary Affairs, as well as any other resources to contact who you may need."
Kreese gulped, blinking hard. "I've tried them."
There was some silence, Kreese was trying to explain.
"Everyone I met on the street who was released from the army runs into the same problems. Doctors refuse re-enlistment or any sort of benefit eligibility based on mental health screening, while there are no ways to counsel them. Nor find the right ways to get them work. Three of my last employers still have outstanding debts to me based on phony checkstubs, but because we can't report these things properly by the computers. We're left all alone, to our own devices."
Roberts was curious. "You say everyone you met. What do you mean?"
"I mean two of the men I served with. About a dozen others of all sorts, their addictions, their losses became too much for some. They either all disappeared or I've um. I've seen them pass."
"I'm confused though." Roberts fixed her glasses. "What exactly are you asking for?"
"A way for veterans like myself to find proper work, we can't prove discrimination nor contact anyone at the state or elsewhere. Without a heck of a lot of time, and most of the time, knowledge of technology."
"You could go into an American Job Center, they have people with the ability to teach you how to use a computer for what you're asking for."
Kreese nodded. "I'm afraid, when I can catch the right bus. Those offices tend to have long lines, and the nice folks there can only get help for state benefits by calling other phone numbers. And those of which, are also busy, and when I can reach someone. They can't help."
"Mr. Kreese-"
"I'm not tired of sleeping on benches for the last few decades. Maybe behind a nice empty store when I can find the time and place for it. I'm not tired of only manual labor positions, nor the difficulty of finding food or shelter of any kind. I promise you, as old as I am, I'm not tired. All I'm asking for is that the state do its part, to improve the services they've already had."
"We're doing our best."
"I'm sure you are. I'm not here for myself, but mainly for all the people I've met who the system failed after they left the military," said Kreese. "I don't think we're owed much. Just the right chance. Thank you for your time."
"And you as well."
Kreese left the podium, barely rubbing his chin to let the next person speak.
Outside, as Kreese was able to use a water fountain, a man offered him twenty dollars in cash.
"It was a nice speech, I think what you said was fair."
"You misunderstood. What I needed wasn't charity, just what I was owed."
Kreese nodded slightly out of respect to the man, before he left down the street.
...
The bus ride would take the entire day, he knew that, but Kreese went out towards Quartz Hill, he was that desperate.
From the 'old days' Kreese only knew one person who could help him.
He'd considered Terry Silver, even found his business address by borrowing someone's newspaper, but settled on someone else instead.
Kreese entered a karate dojo, its symbol was a triangle with the Korean and American flags tied beneath by a fist labeled 'American Tang Soo Do'. The dojo was large enough for two full size mats, a large waiting area, and mirrors all around. The class was mainly black belts, practicing forms in perfectly neat rows.
"Good kiai!"
The instructor was a bald man a few years older than Kreese himself. He was a bit short, but the respect he commanded was undeniable. However, he was kind to his students.
"Move your foot just a bit more to the left Tracey."
"Yes Sensei!" the girl said.
"Strike again."
She did so with a strong yell. "Aiya!" she roared.
"Nice job."
"Thank you Sensei."
When Pat E Johnson reached the end of the lines, he froze. As if he had seen a ghost, the man actually froze where he stood.
"Er, Assistant Sensei Brad."
"Yes Sensei?"
"Lead sparring, class ends early."
"Yes Sensei."
Everyone's hands snapped to their side, at Charyot. They bowed and Pat dismissed them.
Pat walked up to Kreese. "What can I do for you?"
"Well I was hoping for-"
"An apology." Pat crossed his hands together. "From you I mean, I have nothing to apologize for."
"How've you been Sensei Johnson? You hung up the referee uniform to go back to teaching?"
"Karate's students matter more than any competition. If only you'd known that, perhaps those boys would've made for fine Senseis of their own someday."
Kreese looked around the dojo. "I had no idea you were still involved."
"Retirement didn't suit me, I'll be letting Ronald and Bradley take over fulltime soon though. What're you here for?"
"To ask for help."
Pat raised an eyebrow. "Help? You want my help? After what you pulled?"
"What Terry and I put you through was-"
Kreese looked around.
"Perhaps we should speak in private."
Pat agreed. "We should."
...
Kreese listened to Pat carefully, the door closed, students wearing head, foot, and hand protectors sparring through the window in Pat's door behind him.
"The All Valley banned you for a reason. I made sure you were banned." Pat pointed to himself.
"I know, I'm here to apologize for that, I-"
"You tried sending bribes to my house. When that didn't work, thinly veiled threats." Pat then pointed to Kreese.
Kreese sighed. "That was Terry, I never would've allowed that to happen."
"Right. I disqualified Bobby Brown for what he did on your orders, jumping onto LaRusso's knee unprovoked. How is what you did any different."
Kreese shrugged. "Then why not disqualify Cobra Kai altogether? The final went on as planned."
"Because Johnny deserved a fair chance. Same as anyone else who competed at the All Valley, everyone deserved a fair shot." Pat leaned back, crossing his arms. "You ruined that fair shot with Bobby, with Johnny. And worse than any of them, Mike Barnes."
Kreese was silent, seeing the expression of sadness on Pat's face.
"That night haunted me for years John. I didn't care if LaRusso won or lost, same as with the year before. It was about the principle. I was forced to let Barnes do whatever he wanted, or myself and my students would have to pay the consequences. And for the first time in thirty years I get the chance to hear anything about it again, and you ask for help!?"
"I apologize for it." Kreese said calmly. "I've been trying to turn over a new leaf of sorts."
"Is that true?"
"You must've heard of Luke Schwarber."
Pat nodded. "Of course I did. Had to audit his record breaking with some papers I still have in my desk on the All Valleys before they started coming up with some sort of commemoration for him."
"The trophy wasn't enough?"
"Nah it was gonna be something small, I'm still not sure."
Kreese spoke. "He was my student."
"No kidding. Is he here to prove that? It'd be able to help your case."
Kreese frowned.
Pat chuckled. "Oh I don't blame him."
"Daniel LaRusso got involved, look I was just-"
"You you you. You stayed you." Pat shrugged, scoffing. "Even if he was your student, I'm not inclined to ask him how he taught under you. What the circumstances were, and so forth. And by the way, what sort of help could I even give you? I can't lift the ban on the All Valley."
"If the full story about the '85 All Valley came out, your name would be tarnished forever."
"Is that a threat?"
"Quite the opposite. Your debt would be paid."
Pat shook his head. "That's not how debts work. Regardless, again, what help do you need?"
"Your word carries a lot of weight. You can help me find a job."
"Doing what?"
"What I do best. Teaching."
Pat leaned forward slowly. "Get out John."
"Sensei Pat, listen, I-"
"Get. Out."
"Can you hear me out first?"
"Let's say, hypothetically, Schwarber was your student. So? It only proves you aimed to train him physically at the least. That he only understood karate's competition side better than anyone. I have no idea about the rest when it comes to him, the parts that matter just as much."
"You want to do a full evaluation of his karate, of who he is? He's no slouch in those areas either." Kreese said, as if he was still his student, proud of him.
"No, what I'm saying is your actions aren't matching up to your words. You come in, saying you've turned in a new leaf. New student, new champion, new you. But so far, what else have you done?"
Kreese was quiet, he didn't fully disagree with the point Pat was making.
Pat continued to explain, leaning on his desk on his elbows. "You've been doing nothing new John. Nothing for the past, almost thirty years. As far as I'm concerned, you're the exact same person I knew."
"How is that possible?"
"Because no student turns their back on the right Sensei, champion or otherwise. You must've turned your back on him too, or else I think he would be here."
"His situation is complicated, but we can-"
"You'll have to figure it out on your own." said Pat, putting his foot down. "I actually do believe that kid was your student. He fully understood a physical aspect to sparring that I hadn't seen since you were still around. But for that reason, I can never again help you in any sort of way John."
"Why's that?" Kreese squinted at him.
"You let your reputation proceed you, you let your teachings, likely push that kid away from you. When karate becomes your life, your life, takes away from the karate." said Pat. "It will always cost you. You have a new chance John, a way to make a difference in the lives of the children of the Valley for the better. If you had been the man you're telling me you are, wiser and kinder, and better, you would've kept his trust. Or at least, he'd be here."
Pat leaned back in his chair, raising a quick eyebrow. "Even for old times sake, if I could try to find a job teaching for you. Given your history, no one would let you near their students."
"Thanks." Kreese said bitterly, starting to leave.
With his hand on the doorknob, Kreese paused.
"I'm truly sorry. For what it's worth, you were always a great judge."
"I don't think I'll ever forgive you for getting in the way of that then. You were a disgrace to the karate community back in the day, and now, you still appear to be the same person."
And now, Kreese held his anger in check.
Kreese frowned, exiting the dojo office quietly.
...
John Kreese was facing week three of how New Benny was treating him.
The younger workers would just topple Kreese's wheelbarrows from time to time. Move his lunch and his things around, tease him like their boss.
Kreese knew he couldn't retaliate, the first time he'd ever asked for anything politely was when he spoke to Roberts at the city council meeting.
"Hey Gramps."
Kreese breathed in tightly, dropping the wheelbarrow lightly and turning around, walking towards New Benny.
The man grinned painfully, spreading his hands. "I'm afraid you're fired."
"What're you talking about?"
"Come on, you're twice the age of anyone here." he muttered, not even wearing a hard hat around the construction site, well out of any work zone in the shade with some lemonade. "Shows in your productivity."
"And I work twice as hard."
"True as that may be, I'm only facing a lawsuit and more scrutiny from my boss the longer you stay here. Afraid I'm gonna have to let you go."
Kreese sighed. "You still haven't paid me for last week."
"Yeah you left your walker at home most of those days. Didn't help us move the weight we needed, we fell short when the building owner came through. You earned less than we agreed." New Benny snorted at him. "Trust me, soon as you can figure out how an email works. How about you send your congress person a message?"
He started laughing at him, the other workers joined in too.
Kreese held in his anger...
....for about, twenty seconds.
John Kreese unleashed a beating on his previous boss the likes of which he hadn't dished out in decades. A bigger foreman in the construction yard, shocked, began to step forward, a single glare from Kreese was enough to get him to freeze. As New Benny spat out some blood, Kreese gripped his collar growling into his face.
"You made a mistake making a cash only paper trail to pay us all." he growled, hissing with anger. "Harder for the cops to follow."
John stopped beating him about an inch from his life. And then, he reached into New Benny's pocket, and withdrew all the cash he could find on him.
"Thanks for the advance."
He threw the empty wallet onto the man, and began to walk away, the entire construction yard having frozen in shock.
Kreese began to walk away, he didn't even smile.
...
He found himself at a park bench, having barely scraped together enough to purchase some bus tickets. His main goal for weeks, and it was finally accomplished.
His old boss' blood was still on his knuckles. The man's creed was No Mercy, and yet for a moment he appeared remorseful.
He was remembering what it was like training Lucas, they were sitting on a nearby park bench.
...
"Isn't that kind of cliche?"
"What do you mean?" asked Kreese.
"Feeding ducks with some bread. Isn't that like, exactly what older people are supposed to do when they go to a park?"
Kreese, normally a violent and merciless person, was actually amused by a younger Lucas' words almost a year prior.
"You show no fear with comments like that." Kreese watched all the ducks shrink back into the pond when the feeding stopped.
"Fear does not exist."
"True."
"I'm not supposed to fear you either."
Kreese turned, a bit curious, putting the paper bag filled with bread crumbs back in his lap. "Really? Why's that?"
"You told me how you lost the All Valley. Isn't that why your students lost? Because they feared you more than anything?"
Kreese was pensive.
"One day, after you've competed. I'll tell you why I really lost the All Valley against LaRusso."
"What's your biggest fear?"
Kreese looked at him. "Excuse me?"
"Your biggest fear. You tell me pain does not exist, mercy does not exist, defeat does not exist. All of it. How does that make sense? Aren't fears real? Everyone has to be afraid of something, even if they're super tough."
"You first," said Kreese. "What's your biggest fear?"
Lucas shrugged a bit. "My family I guess. They're literally I got, if I never get good at anything. I'll just be left out."
Kreese snorted. "Interesting. Then I suppose we have the same fear."
"And that is?"
"Being mediocre, mediocrity."
"So then, fear does exist."
"You're missing the lesson." explained Kreese, nodding when he leaned onto his knees, still sitting on the park bench. "Fear, is a human thing. The idea is supposed to be like a cobra, fearless. You turn your fears into your strength. All of your anger, your pain, your need to improve and prove yourself." he nodded quickly to Lucas. "That becomes your weapon, you strike in control of all those emotions. You strike with all your heart, but by being heartless."
"You told me to put my heart into everything."
Kreese looked around at the trees, then Lucas. "I did."
"If you were being heartless when all of your students competed at the All Valley. How did you lose?"
"I still needed to improve." explained Kreese. "As do you. That's why I'm here, teaching you. So you can improve, to pass on the lessons someday."
"Really? I wasn't aware we were still in class."
Kreese exhaled quickly, putting his hands together and glancing at him. "What you learn never ends. Cobra Kai never dies. That's not just a motto, that's a promise. You dedicate yourself to the way of the fist at all costs. A man confronts you, he is the enemy. Anywhere he confronts you in life, in the street, competition. But it doesn't just apply to fighting."
Lucas nodded quietly.
"You have to be solid as stone to be prepared for whatever life throws at you."
"Is that why you had me breaking those bricks?"
Kreese noticed the boy couldn't lean his elbows on any of the armrest on the metal park bench.
"The bruises will heal in time." he nodded, Lucas was doing whatever he could to hide his pain, that was the lesson. "But you, you will stay strong forever. The class, being physically inside the dojo, is temporary."
Lucas understood. "But the lesson is forever."
"Yes." Kreese nodded, barely smiling.
...
Kreese looked up from his fists, still bloody.
Now, he didn't appear empty anymore before he planned to leave the Valley forever.
He'd be doing it on a high note, from the smile on his face, the smug pride:
John Kreese was glad at least once, he'd been able to create another champion since Johnny Lawrence in the ways of Cobra Kai.
...
...
...
Author's Note:
Johnny and Daniel focused interlude before the story begins again? Either way, I tried to establish that Pat Johnson was likely threatened or blackmailed into the refereeing decisions he made at the end of the third Karate Kid. The judges in Cobra Kai Season 4 were, spoilers, paid off by Silver, so him trying during Karate Kid III wouldn't be that far fetched. Thank you all for reading, and stay safe everyone. Peace.
This chapter is dedicated to Pat E. Johnson, a man who was as vital to the success and brilliance of the original Karate Kid as Mr. Miyagi and the directors and writers of the films. May he rest in peace. He will make an appearance in this chapter, even a small cameo, because during this time period of the show's filming right around season 1 of Cobra Kai, he was still alive.
I hope I can portray his wisdom as a martial artist properly in this chapter.
...
John Kreese lived a life with no life.
He woke up, and got what passed for breakfast served at the homeless shelter. He hadn't shaved since the tournament, nor barely had a chance to shower. He ate what little he could find, and work was just as difficult for an aging man like himself as anything else.
Kreese had little to no skills beyond sparse karate instruction during the early 80s, while he was an incredible soldier, the war he fought in ended decades prior. He wasn't a stupid man, he could read and write, but possessed nothing someone with a college degree would have entering the job field in the late 2010s:
Computer skills, customer service, administrative support and technical support skills. Experience with Microsoft Office, nor any sort of background working in an office or formalized job setting of any kind.
Instead, he spent his time in what was called 'the yard.'
Near a Home Depot, men looking for some freelance construction stood around battered trucks with all sorts of equipment. As powerful as they were, Kreese's own two hands were all he could bring.
"Okay um," a man with a red pickup truck and a cap showed up with a neatly trimmed beard. "You two, you and you. And uh, you too old timer. Why not?" he added a smile.
He didn't grumble, why should he?
Kreese was lucky, someone actually drove by, and not only that, chose him for work.
The man in charge of the operation was named Benny, he obviously paid in cash and the work was equal parts straightforward and back breaking. He offered the worst neighborhoods of Los Angeles construction, maintenance, and general lawn and building work on the cheap. Kreese had dealt with men like Benny all his life, but had the street smarts and experience to know just by looking at him and how he interacted with his customers, that Kreese was in fact was going to actually get paid for his work: another luck factor.
Kreese had the muscle strength and experience in this sort of work, moving around old cinder blocks, worn out refrigerators and other such things, that he wasn't weak by any means. However, he strongly lacked the stamina and endurance of younger men who were just starting out in this field.
His lack of proper nutrition and rest in recent weeks only added to this. John Kreese was working himself practically to the point of blacking out in the June sun just for enough cash to last the rest of the week.
Benny dropped Kreese off on the corner of a small street near his shelter in Pacoima.
"Nice job today, you worked a lot better than I would've expected."
Not knowing how to respond, Kreese merely nodded.
As he walked away and the truck drove off, Kreese wondered how to feel. This had actually been the first bit of good news he'd had in months, actual work.
...
It didn't last long.
A week and a half later, Kreese's boss of sorts, Benny, had to shut down his entire business when his two partners had legal and financial troubles, and were forced to sell off all the trucks and equipment they used.
John Kreese quickly realized that there were little alternatives.
He walked into the Veteran Affairs office in Sherwood Forest.
"Military ID card please."
The clerk behind the desk with a glass pane was handed Kreese's card when it was his turn in line.
"Okay Mr. Kreese, how can I help you today?" the VA official didn't seem to mind that it was expired.
"My GI bill, I was wondering if there was any sort of veteran's benefits I was still eligible for?" he asked calmly.
"Well let's see. Your tours during the 1960s and early 70s already exhausted the benefits they set aside."
"And that special operative from the 1980s?"
"I'm afraid your local congressman didn't permit renewal for that specific program."
Kreese nodded quietly.
"I know your doctors have to do a screening first, but is it possible to re-enlist?"
"As dated as your records are, you're one of the top rated officers who served in your unit. However that can't change our rules," The clerk shook his head and spoke kindly. "You served almost twenty years under both Special Forces and the main branch of the Army. Your enlistment age is technically around fifty or so, you're well over the limit."
Kreese thanked the clerk. He held his anger in check.
"Don't you want your-"
"Keep it."
...
The Benny of next week was far less kind than the newer one.
Constantly on his Bluetooth, less likable overall and focused on his work and being fair, he also paid even less somehow and less frequently.
"Hey Branchosaurus!" the foreman said sitting on a box sipping some beer.
Kreese turned, making a face before he turned around and put his work away.
"Yes?"
"Yeah you, get over here. Don't break your last hip on the way over here."
Every step from Kreese was with pure calm.
"You can't work next week's shift for the last hour of every day."
Kreese was confused. "What're you talking about? I show up on time, I do all-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, ba ahabb bababa," the less friendly Benny said. "My higher ups tossed me some bullshit about possibly getting sued for hiring someone uh. Your age."
Kreese bought the story as much as someone with his experience in freelance worked tended to, but said nothing. He held his anger.
"Either way, you're on barrow duty. Hop to it, I see you slack and it's the whole week I cut instead."
Kreese turned around, picking up a wheelbarrow laden with bricks, and starting to ferry it up some supported walkways towards the rooftops where other workers were. In scorching early summer sun, for hours.
...
"Pronouns for the differently abled are misconstrued every day!"
Kreese was ignoring the speech a woman with dyed red hair was giving at the podium at a city council meeting.
"Councilperson Roberts, how dare the Great Bakers on Fifth Avenue deny my aunt her favorite loaves of spiced donuts because she's to quote them. Not able to walk right into their store?"
The woman city council member calmly replied. "We have precise legislation over how private companies can install the right measurements to their buildings to allow the disabled to enter them properly."
"But my aunt was insulted! Everyone on my Instagram is helping sign my petition right now." the girl showed them her phone. "All over this side of the valley, no one is using the right ways to respect or address minorities! My boyfriend got called a travesty for not conforming to gender norms at a restaurant. It's a micro and macroaggression of the lowest sort!"
Looking like she already lost her patience, Roberts looked aside. "I'm afraid that's all the time we've allowed for you today."
A security guard or official in charge of allowing everyone their turn was heeded aside. The young woman who was speaking didn't even flinch, just turned and threw her hands up, walking away.
"Next."
Kreese took the podium and spoke quietly. "My name is John Kreese, I'm a local veteran of the United States military. I did tours in Vietnam, as well as re-assignment in Korea."
"Thank you for your service, how can we help you today?" Roberts shifted some papers aside, looking at him.
"It's difficult for me to explain this. But there is no advocate for homeless veterans today at all."
"I can make sure you're given all the necessary avenues to contact Unemployment Insurance or Veterinary Affairs, as well as any other resources to contact who you may need."
Kreese gulped, blinking hard. "I've tried them."
There was some silence, Kreese was trying to explain.
"Everyone I met on the street who was released from the army runs into the same problems. Doctors refuse re-enlistment or any sort of benefit eligibility based on mental health screening, while there are no ways to counsel them. Nor find the right ways to get them work. Three of my last employers still have outstanding debts to me based on phony checkstubs, but because we can't report these things properly by the computers. We're left all alone, to our own devices."
Roberts was curious. "You say everyone you met. What do you mean?"
"I mean two of the men I served with. About a dozen others of all sorts, their addictions, their losses became too much for some. They either all disappeared or I've um. I've seen them pass."
"I'm confused though." Roberts fixed her glasses. "What exactly are you asking for?"
"A way for veterans like myself to find proper work, we can't prove discrimination nor contact anyone at the state or elsewhere. Without a heck of a lot of time, and most of the time, knowledge of technology."
"You could go into an American Job Center, they have people with the ability to teach you how to use a computer for what you're asking for."
Kreese nodded. "I'm afraid, when I can catch the right bus. Those offices tend to have long lines, and the nice folks there can only get help for state benefits by calling other phone numbers. And those of which, are also busy, and when I can reach someone. They can't help."
"Mr. Kreese-"
"I'm not tired of sleeping on benches for the last few decades. Maybe behind a nice empty store when I can find the time and place for it. I'm not tired of only manual labor positions, nor the difficulty of finding food or shelter of any kind. I promise you, as old as I am, I'm not tired. All I'm asking for is that the state do its part, to improve the services they've already had."
"We're doing our best."
"I'm sure you are. I'm not here for myself, but mainly for all the people I've met who the system failed after they left the military," said Kreese. "I don't think we're owed much. Just the right chance. Thank you for your time."
"And you as well."
Kreese left the podium, barely rubbing his chin to let the next person speak.
Outside, as Kreese was able to use a water fountain, a man offered him twenty dollars in cash.
"It was a nice speech, I think what you said was fair."
"You misunderstood. What I needed wasn't charity, just what I was owed."
Kreese nodded slightly out of respect to the man, before he left down the street.
...
The bus ride would take the entire day, he knew that, but Kreese went out towards Quartz Hill, he was that desperate.
From the 'old days' Kreese only knew one person who could help him.
He'd considered Terry Silver, even found his business address by borrowing someone's newspaper, but settled on someone else instead.
Kreese entered a karate dojo, its symbol was a triangle with the Korean and American flags tied beneath by a fist labeled 'American Tang Soo Do'. The dojo was large enough for two full size mats, a large waiting area, and mirrors all around. The class was mainly black belts, practicing forms in perfectly neat rows.
"Good kiai!"
The instructor was a bald man a few years older than Kreese himself. He was a bit short, but the respect he commanded was undeniable. However, he was kind to his students.
"Move your foot just a bit more to the left Tracey."
"Yes Sensei!" the girl said.
"Strike again."
She did so with a strong yell. "Aiya!" she roared.
"Nice job."
"Thank you Sensei."
When Pat E Johnson reached the end of the lines, he froze. As if he had seen a ghost, the man actually froze where he stood.
"Er, Assistant Sensei Brad."
"Yes Sensei?"
"Lead sparring, class ends early."
"Yes Sensei."
Everyone's hands snapped to their side, at Charyot. They bowed and Pat dismissed them.
Pat walked up to Kreese. "What can I do for you?"
"Well I was hoping for-"
"An apology." Pat crossed his hands together. "From you I mean, I have nothing to apologize for."
"How've you been Sensei Johnson? You hung up the referee uniform to go back to teaching?"
"Karate's students matter more than any competition. If only you'd known that, perhaps those boys would've made for fine Senseis of their own someday."
Kreese looked around the dojo. "I had no idea you were still involved."
"Retirement didn't suit me, I'll be letting Ronald and Bradley take over fulltime soon though. What're you here for?"
"To ask for help."
Pat raised an eyebrow. "Help? You want my help? After what you pulled?"
"What Terry and I put you through was-"
Kreese looked around.
"Perhaps we should speak in private."
Pat agreed. "We should."
...
Kreese listened to Pat carefully, the door closed, students wearing head, foot, and hand protectors sparring through the window in Pat's door behind him.
"The All Valley banned you for a reason. I made sure you were banned." Pat pointed to himself.
"I know, I'm here to apologize for that, I-"
"You tried sending bribes to my house. When that didn't work, thinly veiled threats." Pat then pointed to Kreese.
Kreese sighed. "That was Terry, I never would've allowed that to happen."
"Right. I disqualified Bobby Brown for what he did on your orders, jumping onto LaRusso's knee unprovoked. How is what you did any different."
Kreese shrugged. "Then why not disqualify Cobra Kai altogether? The final went on as planned."
"Because Johnny deserved a fair chance. Same as anyone else who competed at the All Valley, everyone deserved a fair shot." Pat leaned back, crossing his arms. "You ruined that fair shot with Bobby, with Johnny. And worse than any of them, Mike Barnes."
Kreese was silent, seeing the expression of sadness on Pat's face.
"That night haunted me for years John. I didn't care if LaRusso won or lost, same as with the year before. It was about the principle. I was forced to let Barnes do whatever he wanted, or myself and my students would have to pay the consequences. And for the first time in thirty years I get the chance to hear anything about it again, and you ask for help!?"
"I apologize for it." Kreese said calmly. "I've been trying to turn over a new leaf of sorts."
"Is that true?"
"You must've heard of Luke Schwarber."
Pat nodded. "Of course I did. Had to audit his record breaking with some papers I still have in my desk on the All Valleys before they started coming up with some sort of commemoration for him."
"The trophy wasn't enough?"
"Nah it was gonna be something small, I'm still not sure."
Kreese spoke. "He was my student."
"No kidding. Is he here to prove that? It'd be able to help your case."
Kreese frowned.
Pat chuckled. "Oh I don't blame him."
"Daniel LaRusso got involved, look I was just-"
"You you you. You stayed you." Pat shrugged, scoffing. "Even if he was your student, I'm not inclined to ask him how he taught under you. What the circumstances were, and so forth. And by the way, what sort of help could I even give you? I can't lift the ban on the All Valley."
"If the full story about the '85 All Valley came out, your name would be tarnished forever."
"Is that a threat?"
"Quite the opposite. Your debt would be paid."
Pat shook his head. "That's not how debts work. Regardless, again, what help do you need?"
"Your word carries a lot of weight. You can help me find a job."
"Doing what?"
"What I do best. Teaching."
Pat leaned forward slowly. "Get out John."
"Sensei Pat, listen, I-"
"Get. Out."
"Can you hear me out first?"
"Let's say, hypothetically, Schwarber was your student. So? It only proves you aimed to train him physically at the least. That he only understood karate's competition side better than anyone. I have no idea about the rest when it comes to him, the parts that matter just as much."
"You want to do a full evaluation of his karate, of who he is? He's no slouch in those areas either." Kreese said, as if he was still his student, proud of him.
"No, what I'm saying is your actions aren't matching up to your words. You come in, saying you've turned in a new leaf. New student, new champion, new you. But so far, what else have you done?"
Kreese was quiet, he didn't fully disagree with the point Pat was making.
Pat continued to explain, leaning on his desk on his elbows. "You've been doing nothing new John. Nothing for the past, almost thirty years. As far as I'm concerned, you're the exact same person I knew."
"How is that possible?"
"Because no student turns their back on the right Sensei, champion or otherwise. You must've turned your back on him too, or else I think he would be here."
"His situation is complicated, but we can-"
"You'll have to figure it out on your own." said Pat, putting his foot down. "I actually do believe that kid was your student. He fully understood a physical aspect to sparring that I hadn't seen since you were still around. But for that reason, I can never again help you in any sort of way John."
"Why's that?" Kreese squinted at him.
"You let your reputation proceed you, you let your teachings, likely push that kid away from you. When karate becomes your life, your life, takes away from the karate." said Pat. "It will always cost you. You have a new chance John, a way to make a difference in the lives of the children of the Valley for the better. If you had been the man you're telling me you are, wiser and kinder, and better, you would've kept his trust. Or at least, he'd be here."
Pat leaned back in his chair, raising a quick eyebrow. "Even for old times sake, if I could try to find a job teaching for you. Given your history, no one would let you near their students."
"Thanks." Kreese said bitterly, starting to leave.
With his hand on the doorknob, Kreese paused.
"I'm truly sorry. For what it's worth, you were always a great judge."
"I don't think I'll ever forgive you for getting in the way of that then. You were a disgrace to the karate community back in the day, and now, you still appear to be the same person."
And now, Kreese held his anger in check.
Kreese frowned, exiting the dojo office quietly.
...
John Kreese was facing week three of how New Benny was treating him.
The younger workers would just topple Kreese's wheelbarrows from time to time. Move his lunch and his things around, tease him like their boss.
Kreese knew he couldn't retaliate, the first time he'd ever asked for anything politely was when he spoke to Roberts at the city council meeting.
"Hey Gramps."
Kreese breathed in tightly, dropping the wheelbarrow lightly and turning around, walking towards New Benny.
The man grinned painfully, spreading his hands. "I'm afraid you're fired."
"What're you talking about?"
"Come on, you're twice the age of anyone here." he muttered, not even wearing a hard hat around the construction site, well out of any work zone in the shade with some lemonade. "Shows in your productivity."
"And I work twice as hard."
"True as that may be, I'm only facing a lawsuit and more scrutiny from my boss the longer you stay here. Afraid I'm gonna have to let you go."
Kreese sighed. "You still haven't paid me for last week."
"Yeah you left your walker at home most of those days. Didn't help us move the weight we needed, we fell short when the building owner came through. You earned less than we agreed." New Benny snorted at him. "Trust me, soon as you can figure out how an email works. How about you send your congress person a message?"
He started laughing at him, the other workers joined in too.
Kreese held in his anger...
....for about, twenty seconds.
John Kreese unleashed a beating on his previous boss the likes of which he hadn't dished out in decades. A bigger foreman in the construction yard, shocked, began to step forward, a single glare from Kreese was enough to get him to freeze. As New Benny spat out some blood, Kreese gripped his collar growling into his face.
"You made a mistake making a cash only paper trail to pay us all." he growled, hissing with anger. "Harder for the cops to follow."
John stopped beating him about an inch from his life. And then, he reached into New Benny's pocket, and withdrew all the cash he could find on him.
"Thanks for the advance."
He threw the empty wallet onto the man, and began to walk away, the entire construction yard having frozen in shock.
Kreese began to walk away, he didn't even smile.
...
He found himself at a park bench, having barely scraped together enough to purchase some bus tickets. His main goal for weeks, and it was finally accomplished.
His old boss' blood was still on his knuckles. The man's creed was No Mercy, and yet for a moment he appeared remorseful.
He was remembering what it was like training Lucas, they were sitting on a nearby park bench.
...
"Isn't that kind of cliche?"
"What do you mean?" asked Kreese.
"Feeding ducks with some bread. Isn't that like, exactly what older people are supposed to do when they go to a park?"
Kreese, normally a violent and merciless person, was actually amused by a younger Lucas' words almost a year prior.
"You show no fear with comments like that." Kreese watched all the ducks shrink back into the pond when the feeding stopped.
"Fear does not exist."
"True."
"I'm not supposed to fear you either."
Kreese turned, a bit curious, putting the paper bag filled with bread crumbs back in his lap. "Really? Why's that?"
"You told me how you lost the All Valley. Isn't that why your students lost? Because they feared you more than anything?"
Kreese was pensive.
"One day, after you've competed. I'll tell you why I really lost the All Valley against LaRusso."
"What's your biggest fear?"
Kreese looked at him. "Excuse me?"
"Your biggest fear. You tell me pain does not exist, mercy does not exist, defeat does not exist. All of it. How does that make sense? Aren't fears real? Everyone has to be afraid of something, even if they're super tough."
"You first," said Kreese. "What's your biggest fear?"
Lucas shrugged a bit. "My family I guess. They're literally I got, if I never get good at anything. I'll just be left out."
Kreese snorted. "Interesting. Then I suppose we have the same fear."
"And that is?"
"Being mediocre, mediocrity."
"So then, fear does exist."
"You're missing the lesson." explained Kreese, nodding when he leaned onto his knees, still sitting on the park bench. "Fear, is a human thing. The idea is supposed to be like a cobra, fearless. You turn your fears into your strength. All of your anger, your pain, your need to improve and prove yourself." he nodded quickly to Lucas. "That becomes your weapon, you strike in control of all those emotions. You strike with all your heart, but by being heartless."
"You told me to put my heart into everything."
Kreese looked around at the trees, then Lucas. "I did."
"If you were being heartless when all of your students competed at the All Valley. How did you lose?"
"I still needed to improve." explained Kreese. "As do you. That's why I'm here, teaching you. So you can improve, to pass on the lessons someday."
"Really? I wasn't aware we were still in class."
Kreese exhaled quickly, putting his hands together and glancing at him. "What you learn never ends. Cobra Kai never dies. That's not just a motto, that's a promise. You dedicate yourself to the way of the fist at all costs. A man confronts you, he is the enemy. Anywhere he confronts you in life, in the street, competition. But it doesn't just apply to fighting."
Lucas nodded quietly.
"You have to be solid as stone to be prepared for whatever life throws at you."
"Is that why you had me breaking those bricks?"
Kreese noticed the boy couldn't lean his elbows on any of the armrest on the metal park bench.
"The bruises will heal in time." he nodded, Lucas was doing whatever he could to hide his pain, that was the lesson. "But you, you will stay strong forever. The class, being physically inside the dojo, is temporary."
Lucas understood. "But the lesson is forever."
"Yes." Kreese nodded, barely smiling.
...
Kreese looked up from his fists, still bloody.
Now, he didn't appear empty anymore before he planned to leave the Valley forever.
He'd be doing it on a high note, from the smile on his face, the smug pride:
John Kreese was glad at least once, he'd been able to create another champion since Johnny Lawrence in the ways of Cobra Kai.
...
...
...
Author's Note:
Johnny and Daniel focused interlude before the story begins again? Either way, I tried to establish that Pat Johnson was likely threatened or blackmailed into the refereeing decisions he made at the end of the third Karate Kid. The judges in Cobra Kai Season 4 were, spoilers, paid off by Silver, so him trying during Karate Kid III wouldn't be that far fetched. Thank you all for reading, and stay safe everyone. Peace.
Interlude - Daniel LaRusso
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…
Daniel LaRusso was struggling to focus on his work at the car dealership.
For days since the tournament he wondered:
What had happened with Lucas? Was he okay?
His family seemed more or less unchanged. Sam was a little more upset with Lucas after everything, but not more than what she'd mentioned. Amanda hardly had changed either, and Anthony if anything was happy he'd made a friend.
But Daniel started to wonder. And everything over the past year began to make a whole lot more sense.
As he shifted some inventory forms around his desk for LaRusso auto, he began to realize.
Lucas was often bruised in odd places, he could come up with strange excuses that always seemed to make sense. He was sometimes late to class for Miyagi-Do, and he had developed better striking form for karate far faster than he would've normally otherwise.
He shuddered at the thought of it, remembering his own training when he was shortly a Cobra Kai. Being forced to strike boards.
Lucas was being forced to hide his pain, and then lie about it. Something Daniel related to heavily, and brought up memories he otherwise didn't have.
...
On the same lake where Daniel would take Sam when she was troubled, a fourteen year old Lucas Schwarber fished with Daniel on a wooden boat.
"So. You finally managed to figure out that two legged kick huh?"
Lucas chuckled, patiently waiting for a fish to nibble on his line. "Yeah. I pulled off part of it skateboarding with Robby."
"He's still learning that Cobra Kai stuff from his father though?"
Lucas nodded slightly.
Daniel frowned. "What's the matter?"
"You considered Mr. Miyagi to be a father to you right?"
"The real one I had died when I was only eight."
Lucas glanced at Daniel. "The one I had. Couldn't even say goodbye to me when I flew into LAX from Denver at the beginning of last summer. I would see him practically once a month, maybe. He lived working in a hospital."
"What was his name again?"
"Greg Schwarber."
"So what's your point?"
"Robby's father probably didn't have the best relationship with him. I found him trying to steal from my beach club. I told him off for it, and it got him back in touch with Johnny."
Lucas raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Daniel. "Miyagi-Do might give balance. But there's nothing more balancing than getting to know your father."
Daniel said nothing.
"It sounds like you're speaking from personal experience to know what it's like to miss out on that."
Lucas said nothing.
It was impossible for him to say anything. Just as impossible to tell his other father figure and mentor, John Kreese, that he learned karate and about life under Daniel.
"My history with Cobra Kai. Is long, and complicated. But I meant nothing by it."
"Yeah."
"Luke." Daniel smiled.
He looked at him slowly. "Yeah?"
"Get on the bow of the boat."
Lucas scoffed. "What? We're fishing."
"Mr. Miyagi always taught me this when we were fishing. Get on the bow of the boat. It'll help you perfect balance. Trust me."
Lucas put his fishing rod down and stood on the bow of the boat.
"First kata."
"Mr. LaRusso-"
"First. Kata. Close your eyes. Breathe. Focus. Just how I taught you."
Lucas did so.
"What do you hear?"
"Those geese over there. Nothing else really."
"Listen deeper."
Lucas nodded.
"The boat's rocking slightly. Even if the water's calm."
"Good. Now, start doing the kata."
Lucas began to swivel his hands around with his eyes closed, and then Daniel rocked the boat as hard as he could.
Lucas instantly fell off and went right into the water.
Daniel began laughing as loudly as he could.
Lucas swam to the side of the boat and Daniel quickly pulled him back in.
"Why'd you do that!?" asked Lucas.
"The secret to Miyagi-Do Karate. Is never knowing when you might lose your balance. Mr. Miyagi could spend hours up on that bow meditating. I couldn't move him off it with a forklift. It has to do with your stance, how you measure the rocking of the boat."
Daniel smiled, raising his hands. "You've been upset lately. But look around. The water's calm. The weather's perfect. It's a beautiful day out. You've really gotta reach inside you."
Daniel curled his hand into a fist and clasped his other hand over it. "Tighten what makes you calm. And focus."
Lucas shook himself dry like a dog and Daniel covered his face. "Okay! Okay. Okay. Back on the bow."
Lucas did so and closed his eyes again.
His face was scrunched up in concentration.
"Don't anticipate when the boat might rock. Just keep your balance."
Lucas breathed. He waited. He was calm.
When the boat suddenly rocked, he wasn't stiff. Nor loose. So he automatically readjusted his stance to stay steady.
"Good. Keep doing your kata."
Lucas had to focus on the kata. His stance. When the boat might rock.
But all he did was stay calm. He reacted. And soon, nothing Daniel could do would throw him off his spot.
Daniel chuckled. "You're a natural. Sit back down. Got something that might make this fishing trip of ours a little shorter."
Lucas smiled. "What is it?"
Daniel opened the old tackle box he had and pulled out a very old green fish hook. "Here."
"What's this?"
"The same hook Mr. Miyagi once gave me after I learned what you just did. I was nineteen, just started college. And he liked the way I kept learning that same lesson. I want you to have it. Whenever you see it. Or even take your son fishing one day. You can pass on Mr. Miyagi's wisdom too."
Lucas stared at it blankly in his palm.
"Mr. Miyagi's karate does have something almost magical to it. It's true. It's other worldly. And soothing. Strange. And I agree it works. But, does Johnny Lawrence's karate have no merit at all?"
Daniel nodded without hesitation. "Everyone who ever trained in Cobra Kai was led down the wrong path. They turned into angry, violent, and hateful people. It's done nothing but spread violence and fear for as long as I've known it. You know Mr. Miyagi told me there was no such thing as bad students. Just bad teachers. Cobra Kai's teachers."
"Were the worst there was you told me." sighed out Lucas.
"Johnny might mean well. I'm sure he does. And maybe Robby can benefit from that. Hell, at his age, I would've loved to learn any karate from my dad just like he is. But there is nothing worse about how karate can be taught than Cobra Kai. Winning, is not all there is to life. There's something more important. Always."
Lucas nodded, understanding. "Balance."
"That's the secret to Miyagi-Do. To life. To everything in balance. Think about this lake. That flock of geese." Daniel pointed towards them. "The river down the lake. Everything. It's all in some sort of harmony. Those geese, and us. Eat the fish that are swimming around in this lake. The slowest or most gullible fish might get caught."
"But people have evolved past this winner take all, survival of only the fittest, world for the fittest mentality. That's what Miyagi-Do helps you do. To grow past being a power hungry, vicious, monster. Do you get that?"
"The best way to find yourself again. To let everything just be. Is with balance."
"Couldn't have put it better myself." Daniel smiled. "There's nothing more crucial, than balance. It comes from finding the good stuff in your life, searching deeply inside yourself, and that gives you balance."
Lucas smiled slightly. "I think our training is part of the good stuff."
"I think so too." Daniel smiled back.
…
Sighing, Daniel stood up, walking towards his wife's office.
He was curious as to what was going on from her side of LaRusso auto.
...
A/N:
I decided to get back into writing this because I even made potential missteps when it came to making this rewrite.
After I post the new chapter, I'll be explaining a recent review that came to light on the newest chapter of my latest story for my rewrite of the original series I wrote, because technically I have a third shot to refine some things. I'll be able to share that perspective with you all soon, so this story can be the best version of Luke's journey that it can be.
Either way, thank you all for reading, and I'll see you all in Book 2 - Chapter 1 of this series. Thank you.
Daniel LaRusso was struggling to focus on his work at the car dealership.
For days since the tournament he wondered:
What had happened with Lucas? Was he okay?
His family seemed more or less unchanged. Sam was a little more upset with Lucas after everything, but not more than what she'd mentioned. Amanda hardly had changed either, and Anthony if anything was happy he'd made a friend.
But Daniel started to wonder. And everything over the past year began to make a whole lot more sense.
As he shifted some inventory forms around his desk for LaRusso auto, he began to realize.
Lucas was often bruised in odd places, he could come up with strange excuses that always seemed to make sense. He was sometimes late to class for Miyagi-Do, and he had developed better striking form for karate far faster than he would've normally otherwise.
He shuddered at the thought of it, remembering his own training when he was shortly a Cobra Kai. Being forced to strike boards.
Lucas was being forced to hide his pain, and then lie about it. Something Daniel related to heavily, and brought up memories he otherwise didn't have.
...
On the same lake where Daniel would take Sam when she was troubled, a fourteen year old Lucas Schwarber fished with Daniel on a wooden boat.
"So. You finally managed to figure out that two legged kick huh?"
Lucas chuckled, patiently waiting for a fish to nibble on his line. "Yeah. I pulled off part of it skateboarding with Robby."
"He's still learning that Cobra Kai stuff from his father though?"
Lucas nodded slightly.
Daniel frowned. "What's the matter?"
"You considered Mr. Miyagi to be a father to you right?"
"The real one I had died when I was only eight."
Lucas glanced at Daniel. "The one I had. Couldn't even say goodbye to me when I flew into LAX from Denver at the beginning of last summer. I would see him practically once a month, maybe. He lived working in a hospital."
"What was his name again?"
"Greg Schwarber."
"So what's your point?"
"Robby's father probably didn't have the best relationship with him. I found him trying to steal from my beach club. I told him off for it, and it got him back in touch with Johnny."
Lucas raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Daniel. "Miyagi-Do might give balance. But there's nothing more balancing than getting to know your father."
Daniel said nothing.
"It sounds like you're speaking from personal experience to know what it's like to miss out on that."
Lucas said nothing.
It was impossible for him to say anything. Just as impossible to tell his other father figure and mentor, John Kreese, that he learned karate and about life under Daniel.
"My history with Cobra Kai. Is long, and complicated. But I meant nothing by it."
"Yeah."
"Luke." Daniel smiled.
He looked at him slowly. "Yeah?"
"Get on the bow of the boat."
Lucas scoffed. "What? We're fishing."
"Mr. Miyagi always taught me this when we were fishing. Get on the bow of the boat. It'll help you perfect balance. Trust me."
Lucas put his fishing rod down and stood on the bow of the boat.
"First kata."
"Mr. LaRusso-"
"First. Kata. Close your eyes. Breathe. Focus. Just how I taught you."
Lucas did so.
"What do you hear?"
"Those geese over there. Nothing else really."
"Listen deeper."
Lucas nodded.
"The boat's rocking slightly. Even if the water's calm."
"Good. Now, start doing the kata."
Lucas began to swivel his hands around with his eyes closed, and then Daniel rocked the boat as hard as he could.
Lucas instantly fell off and went right into the water.
Daniel began laughing as loudly as he could.
Lucas swam to the side of the boat and Daniel quickly pulled him back in.
"Why'd you do that!?" asked Lucas.
"The secret to Miyagi-Do Karate. Is never knowing when you might lose your balance. Mr. Miyagi could spend hours up on that bow meditating. I couldn't move him off it with a forklift. It has to do with your stance, how you measure the rocking of the boat."
Daniel smiled, raising his hands. "You've been upset lately. But look around. The water's calm. The weather's perfect. It's a beautiful day out. You've really gotta reach inside you."
Daniel curled his hand into a fist and clasped his other hand over it. "Tighten what makes you calm. And focus."
Lucas shook himself dry like a dog and Daniel covered his face. "Okay! Okay. Okay. Back on the bow."
Lucas did so and closed his eyes again.
His face was scrunched up in concentration.
"Don't anticipate when the boat might rock. Just keep your balance."
Lucas breathed. He waited. He was calm.
When the boat suddenly rocked, he wasn't stiff. Nor loose. So he automatically readjusted his stance to stay steady.
"Good. Keep doing your kata."
Lucas had to focus on the kata. His stance. When the boat might rock.
But all he did was stay calm. He reacted. And soon, nothing Daniel could do would throw him off his spot.
Daniel chuckled. "You're a natural. Sit back down. Got something that might make this fishing trip of ours a little shorter."
Lucas smiled. "What is it?"
Daniel opened the old tackle box he had and pulled out a very old green fish hook. "Here."
"What's this?"
"The same hook Mr. Miyagi once gave me after I learned what you just did. I was nineteen, just started college. And he liked the way I kept learning that same lesson. I want you to have it. Whenever you see it. Or even take your son fishing one day. You can pass on Mr. Miyagi's wisdom too."
Lucas stared at it blankly in his palm.
"Mr. Miyagi's karate does have something almost magical to it. It's true. It's other worldly. And soothing. Strange. And I agree it works. But, does Johnny Lawrence's karate have no merit at all?"
Daniel nodded without hesitation. "Everyone who ever trained in Cobra Kai was led down the wrong path. They turned into angry, violent, and hateful people. It's done nothing but spread violence and fear for as long as I've known it. You know Mr. Miyagi told me there was no such thing as bad students. Just bad teachers. Cobra Kai's teachers."
"Were the worst there was you told me." sighed out Lucas.
"Johnny might mean well. I'm sure he does. And maybe Robby can benefit from that. Hell, at his age, I would've loved to learn any karate from my dad just like he is. But there is nothing worse about how karate can be taught than Cobra Kai. Winning, is not all there is to life. There's something more important. Always."
Lucas nodded, understanding. "Balance."
"That's the secret to Miyagi-Do. To life. To everything in balance. Think about this lake. That flock of geese." Daniel pointed towards them. "The river down the lake. Everything. It's all in some sort of harmony. Those geese, and us. Eat the fish that are swimming around in this lake. The slowest or most gullible fish might get caught."
"But people have evolved past this winner take all, survival of only the fittest, world for the fittest mentality. That's what Miyagi-Do helps you do. To grow past being a power hungry, vicious, monster. Do you get that?"
"The best way to find yourself again. To let everything just be. Is with balance."
"Couldn't have put it better myself." Daniel smiled. "There's nothing more crucial, than balance. It comes from finding the good stuff in your life, searching deeply inside yourself, and that gives you balance."
Lucas smiled slightly. "I think our training is part of the good stuff."
"I think so too." Daniel smiled back.
…
Sighing, Daniel stood up, walking towards his wife's office.
He was curious as to what was going on from her side of LaRusso auto.
...
A/N:
I decided to get back into writing this because I even made potential missteps when it came to making this rewrite.
After I post the new chapter, I'll be explaining a recent review that came to light on the newest chapter of my latest story for my rewrite of the original series I wrote, because technically I have a third shot to refine some things. I'll be able to share that perspective with you all soon, so this story can be the best version of Luke's journey that it can be.
Either way, thank you all for reading, and I'll see you all in Book 2 - Chapter 1 of this series. Thank you.
Last edited:
Book 2 - Chapter 1
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MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter One: Not the Sensei he Was
…
"Fear does not exist in this dojo. Does it!?"
"No Sensei!" the class roared in unison.
"Pain does not exist in this dojo. Does it!?"
"No Sensei!"
"Defeat does not exist in this dojo. Does it!?"
"No Sensei!"
John Kreese stumbled along the streets of North Hollywood, California, a broken, unshaven, and tired man.
The most painful part of the memories from just a year prior was that they still seemed so long ago.
The trophies. The glory.
The fighters, the Cobra Kais, the boys. The boys.
The crowd was cheering at the top of their lungs. Hundreds of people roaring as Daniel sparred Johnny for the title of All Valley Under 18 Champion.
With a tremendous crash Daniel clattered to the ground from a sneaky and rule violating jab to his jaw. Johnny Lawrence kiai'd like a lion and struck with the speed and power of a Cobra Kai.
They were killers. Kreese could still hear his class roar with every strike like it was yesterday.
"Ais!"
"Kiai!"
"Ais!"
"Kiai!"
"Ais!"
"Kiai!"
Every karate tournament in Southern California feared Cobra Kai with a terror unlike any other.
Cobra Kai karate taught young men between the ages of twelve and seventeen how to be ferocious, tough, and merciless.
Unfortunately for John Kreese, bad news and disappointment on an answering machine, and overduebills, awaited him inside his dilapidated karate dojo.
But at least it was still a dojo.
…
June 2018
…
Now Lankershim's Cobra Kai dojo was a candle shop that also sold flowers. A flower shop run by a smiling woman wearing Pride Month t-shirts.
Decades later, John Kreese was largely the same man.
But he was older, much older.
Kreese sighed.
A flower shop employee spoke to Kreese.
"Hey! We've got a four for one special ending just next week."
If only John Kreese had the money or use for flowers these days.
Kreese merely walked past him, and slipped away into the passing crowd, just another homeless man in Los Angeles.
Moments later, a big rock, almost as large as a well sized brick, was thrown quickly through the windows of the flower shop that replaced Lankershim Boulevard's old premier Cobra Kai karate dojo from the 1980s.
A smirking John Kreese walked away, others shocked, not knowing where the rock came from, at least he'd have one happy memory from a very terrible month.
…
John Kreese found a park bench to sleep on that night.
"Hey."
A police officer tapped his nightstick on Kreese's chest.
"You gonna move or do I have to book you tonight? The station's holding cell is even less fun than this bench I promise you bud."
Kreese quietly shook his head and even nodded in respect to the officer. He merely tipped his cap and watched Kreese trudge off into the night. He could try to apply for a room at his old homeless center. But he'd picked one fight too many.
He walked around a bit aimlessly, and remembered what tiny Johnny Lawrence was like as a child.
A crying and sniveling boy when he was a blue belt. He wasn't a champion yet, he wasn't tough.
And now?
Kreese sat quietly on a small trash can, watching a tram pass through downtown Los Angeles aimlessly.
How could he have loved karate so dearly? To have the sport pass by him so quickly?
Kreese took out his wallet, still holding an expired driver's license from 1988, and checked all the money he had.
Forty two dollars in cash. A client of his, the last and only real one he'd had in years, had hired him for a few hundreds bucks a month. And now he was gone. After freelance construction work, he had actually had to beat his old boss to bits just to collect his wages, and what little they were combined with what he could scrounge and save up amounted to a total of two hundred and sixty four dollars and fifty four cents.
His entire life, he barely had enough in cash to afford a night or two at a local motel and a couple meals.
He went to a nearby train station and found that all his money would only get him as far as Indiana. The Chicago bus ride specifically, it was the first thing in the morning, was the cheapest and fastest option, and was offered to seniors at around two hundred and twenty three dollars.
Just enough.
Kreese shrugged. Anywhere but Los Angeles.
He had no reason to stay in the city anymore. No reason but very painful memories, estranged friends, and one very unhappy client, the last person to possibly ever pay John Kreese a semi-decent wage in cash.
Kreese was escorted out of the train station though, he didn't have the nicest look to him and it was closing quickly.
At one A'M, Kreese was able to find a quiet, and luckily empty dumpster to sleep behind in an alleyway where no one was around, Kreese had gotten adept after years of this to avoid ones that smelled too badly. And then he rested.
The next day, he'd go out east and try to find work or something.
Cars drove past as he closed his eyes.
He wanted to go anywhere, do anything, but stay in the Valley.
…
Daniel LaRusso however, did not live a miserable life without any food, money, or shelter of any kind.
He woke up in a luxurious home in Encino, with a beautiful wife sleeping next to his side in his king size bed, two children, and an entire award winning car dealership to his name.
His karate trophies were tucked away in his home dojo, which was oddly not in storage anymore.
Daniel woke up, made some coffee listening to the morning news on his iPhone, and then went to work.
His wife, Amanda, was helping him in the office, typing on the computer while Daniel quietly watched his morning customers enter the dealership.
"Well, would you look at that."
Daniel turned around and gazed at his wife.
"Lucas reapplied to be an intern." Amanda clicked her mouse.
Daniel shrugged. "I'll deal with it later."
Amanda looked at Daniel somewhat reproachfully. "You're gonna reject a 15 year old over a karate tournament?" she asked, half believing her own words.
"There's." Daniel sighed. "A lot more to it than that."
"I don't think there is." Amanda shrugged. "So he picked a different karate teacher than you. He still won last week."
"I promise you, if it was that simple, I'd have Luke back here working again."
"Honey." Amanda cleared her throat. "He was one of the best employees we had here in a while. He was diligent, proactive, smart, great customer service, always kind. I wish some of the adult employees were as mature as him sometimes."
Daniel's cousin Louie and a fellow LaRusso auto employee Anoush both were laughing at a bawdy internet meme on Louie's screen.
Amanda grimaced for a second. "I miss him more and more by the day."
"It's not just a karate tournament."
"Then what is it?" asked Amanda. "Honestly you never told me nor the kids why suddenly we couldn't talk to him."
Daniel opened his mouth but Amanda interrupted calmly.
"The full details."
"It's honestly not something I'd be able to forgive."
"He's fifteen," Amanda repeated. "What did he do?"
"He um." Daniel sighed.
Daniel grumbled before he left the office. "I'll take care of it later I promise, just, don't accept the application."
"Sure thing honey," Amanda muttered quietly.
The rest of the day, Daniel LaRusso mostly used karate as a gimmick to sell more cars.
Louie told mostly fake stories about Daniel using karate to get him out of sticky situations at bars, and how he even went to the All Valley Karate tournament just the month prior.
It was starting to be a very hot summer day, and the floor was looking very dirty.
Daniel noted how the lobby floor of LaRusso auto wasn't as shiny as he wanted it to.
The employee on duty was looking at his phone more often than he should've been. Even absurdly wealthy teenagers worked harder.
Daniel sighed and continued with his day.
He needed to visit an old friend.
…
Mr. Miyagi was buried in a very large cemetery near Orange County.
Daniel LaRusso refreshed the flowers near Mr. Miyagi's grave.
"Hey there."
Daniel did not receive a response. Not even from the wind.
"You always told me once about forgiveness. But you also told me something else, about."
Daniel sighed.
"About John Kreese."
"Eeeeyaaughh!"
John Kreese was trying to punch Mr. Miyagi through the mouth. He instead shattered his fist against the glass pane of a car window.
Instead of even knocking Kreese out for trying to hurt him, Mr. Miyagi instead honked him on the nose, and tossed him over while he was on his knees. Then he winked at Daniel.
His All Valley trophy still in his hand, Daniel limped while speaking to Miyagi.
"You could've killed him couldn't you?"
"Hai." Miyagi responded calmly.
"Well why didn't you then?"
"Because Daniel-san, for person with no forgiveness in heart, living even worse punishment than death." Miyagi said with a nod.
Daniel frowned.
"I had my first karate student in years. Someone who seemed to really enjoy and appreciate your lessons."
Daniel sighed.
"And he betrayed my trust. He knew John Kreese was a terrible person, among the worst around. And he wanted me to forgive him, to trust he was doing the right thing."
Daniel sighed, rubbing his eye.
"And I just feel lost. What am I gonna do with this kid?"
He shook his head.
"I know, I wasn't the easiest growing up. But how could someone seek my forgiveness after they knew who Kreese was and then lied to me about it?"
Daniel bowed his head from his kneeling position in front of Miyagi's grave.
When he returned to his car. He felt something strange looking back at his tombstone.
Daniel remembered when Miyagi had rehealed his bonsai, Miyagi told Daniel to do karate.
"His own way."
…
Cobra Kai OST: Bonsai Lessons
…
Daniel remembered his mother coming to this exact same home decades prior.
His mom had a car so beat up that he and she had to push it to take him and Ali Mills on a date to Golf 'N Stuff back in the 1980s.
He knocked on the door of the Mills Manor, the same house he used to pick up Ali from when he just moved to LA from New Jersey. Daniel even remember what Ali was like, and the day at the country club when he spilled spaghetti all over himself.
A much older father of Ali Mills answered the door, fixing his glasses.
"Oh hey Daniel." the two men shook hands. "Good to see you again. It's been a while, how can I help you?"
"I was hoping to talk to Lucas?"
"Oh sure. He's up in his room!" he turned. "Luke!"
He called up again.
"Luuuuke!"
Lucas was not the spitting image of his mother, Ali Mills at all, but rather a fair skinned, dark haired teenager with light blue eyes and a very deep voice.
"Yeah?" he leaned on the doorway, his grandfather standing just behind him.
"Can we talk?" Daniel asked with a small smile.
Lucas clearly didn't want to, but his grandfather nodded.
"Yeah." he sighed.
Lucas and Daniel sat in the large backyard of the Mills' home, watching a golden retriever running around.
They sat largely in silence for a moment, just looking at Lucas' pool.
"I have to admit. I thought you'd be happier after winning the forty ninth All Valley."
"You sure weren't happy for me."
Daniel was going to respond but then he paused.
Lucas shook his head, fixing a grey t-shirt. "How could you shut me out like that?"
"You knew what John Kreese was."
"You never told me everything about him."
"Because you weren't supposed to know," Daniel muttered. "Mr. Miyagi could forgive just about anyone. But John Kreese was one person he never let out of his sight."
Lucas scoffed. "But none of that was my fault."
"I know," Daniel said. "Which is why it pained me more than anything to have to give you the cold shoulder."
Lucas rolled his eyes.
"I know you're not a cruel person. I've only known you for a year, but you never gave me the impression you genuinely wanted to harm someone else."
Daniel fixed his spot on the lawn chair next to Lucas.
"You've got Ali's heart. That's for sure."
Lucas nodded a bit.
"You're just a very competitive person, and there's nothing wrong with that."
"Sure felt there was something wrong with it when I trained with you. It's like nothing made sense, I understood the karate techniques. But there was always some hidden meaning, some metaphor." Lucas' face twisted into a bit of anger. "Like I was messed up for wanting to compete."
"Mr. Miyagi always was against competing for sport." Daniel raised a finger. "But what he was truly against. Was karate being taught the wrong way, John Kreese, taught karate the wrong way."
Lucas merely listened in silence.
"Someone used to bully me pretty hard in highschool. But he was never that bad of a person all said and done. But his Sensei? Was the worst there is."
Daniel explained. "Unpredictable."
John Kreese swept a student off his legs in class for not paying attention, faking a massive punch to the nose.
"Violent."
John Kreese taught a teenage Bobby Brown to finish his opponent by striking his shoulder blade.
"And, yes. Genuinely cruel."
He choked a teenage Johnny Lawrence in the parking lot next to the All Valley arena for losing to Daniel minutes prior.
Daniel looked at Lucas. "What I mean to say is that I'm sure he was a fine Sensei to you. But he was dangerous."
"He could've changed."
"People like him don't change Lucas. Mr. Miyagi would've wanted me to never let you near that man."
Daniel stood up. "I'm sorry for everything that happened between us. But I promise you I'll forgive you entirely, as soon as you promise to never go near him again."
Lucas frowned, thinking to himself for a second.
"I know you don't like Miyagi-Do's philosophy. I know you barely had the patience for anything but the actual karate. But until I have that promise, I can't begin to trust you again. Even if you're just a kid."
Daniel and Lucas exchanged a small nod, and then he left his house.
…
I had to hide how badly I wanted to see Mr. LaRusso.
I had come to conclusion that Kreese was evil, he made bad people worse, or he allowed them to use their karate for whatever they wanted. Be it bullying, harassment, or just regular law breaking.
People like Kyler and for a long time, Tory, were enabled to create violence against people they didn't like. To hurt them, to attack them or mess with them just because. Johnny Lawrence was guilty of this in 1980s, and it showed with Tory's behavior during the second and third seasons of the show.
That was Kreese at his most Kreese-ness. I had seen a man tormented by war, who unlike Mr. Miyagi, didn't just forgive himself and others for what happened:
He blamed them.
John Kreese made it clear that at much as his philosophy could make me incredible strong, mentally, physically, and agility wise, in a fight or elsewhere in life. He had no forgiveness in him, mercy and forgiveness was as alien to him as anything else. I wouldn't be his student, someone to cultivate and respect until they could be better than you one day.
Since the day I met him, Kreese had made it clear I was just his instrument of revenge against LaRusso, to serve as a fix for the mistakes he himself made.
It was evident, with the lies I told myself and Daniel LaRusso, the pain I was hiding from the bruises and blood striking bricks and old boards, doing knuckle pushups on concrete, and learning the Way of the Fist.
Luckily I had realized sooner rather than later that the lines Johnny gave to his old class in Season 3 were real.
"Wanna stick with Kreese? Go ahead." said Johnny to a class who believed they'd failed him in the hallways of his old highschool. "Don't say I didn't warn you when your life ends up in the shitter."
Until now, my knowledge of the show had only served for my own personal gain. For my own power, for taking advantage of others, even those like John Kreese. I was done with that.
I was ready to embrace my flaws, and let go of my hatred. Mostly towards myself, towards a perfectionist, the person who flew in from Denver last year to make the Valley my kingdom. Well no more.
Johnny's assessment of Kreese was more than fair. Eli's hatred towards Demetri, his best friend since middle school was manipulated by Kreese, he was using his anger to turn him into someone he wasn't deep down. Towards someone who had no forgiveness in his heart, not even a little.
Someone like Kreese himself.
I was done with Cobra Kai, I felt so much shame that I think the only way I could forgive myself, was by studying the martial art that focused on harmony with everything around you:
Miyagi-Do karate.
...
John Kreese was more than ready to leave LA.
But he had one last thing to do.
He used the last bit of money he had to buy a train ticket, but before that he'd use the tiny fraction of cash he had left over to smoke a nice cigar, and reminisce.
Kreese walked into a small strip mall in Reseda that night just a mere couple of hours before he boarded his train to depart LA for good.
He paid a tubby Latino man working at a liquor store the last few dollars Lucas Schwarber had given to him to buy a cigar, and a lighter.
When he walked out, he began to smoke it looking over the parking lot.
He remembered Johnny Lawrence losing decades prior.
"What did you say?" a young middle aged John Kreese asked.
"I said I did my best!" roared Johnny, waving his second place trophy upwards.
"You're nothing, you lost, you're a loser!" Kreese countered, yelling back at him.
Johnny shook his head. "No, you're the loser man!"
"Oh I'm the loser huh?"
"Yeah."
Kreese swiped and broke Johnny's trophy in the blink of an eye, wood and bronze and all with his bare hands, throwing it aside. "Now who's the loser?" he challenged.
"You know you're really sick man!" A seventeen year old Johnny Lawrence said loudly, having no idea how his Sensei could treat him this way.
After several protests, the boys from Cobra Kai couldn't stop their Sensei.
He was choking Johnny Lawrence out like he was some Vietcong in a jungle who tried to kill him, not a teenager who just lost a karate tournament.
"How does second place feel now huh?"
"You're gonna kill him!" Bobby Brown's desperate pleas repeated themselves in Kreese's mind decades later. "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
Kreese kept smoking his cigar in silence.
The memory didn't remotely shake him. He barely even seemed to regret it when a group of highschool boys walked past.
He had no idea Johnny was enjoying a nice meal at home at his apartment with his son instead of eating his dinner from a strip mall liquor store.
One of them blew their vape in Kreese's direction before they walked into the liquor store. The old man just found it amusing, almost nodding as he chuckled quietly.
The leader of the group of boys was trying to buy beer from the man Kreese had just bought a cigar from.
He was a Korean teen followed by a redhead, a frizzy fat boy, and another pal of his.
"Lemme get a packet or Marlboros too bro." the frizzy fat boy put a pack of beers on the counter.
"Damn Brucks, feeling confident today are we?" asked his redheaded friend.
"You know it."
The man at the register could tell how fake his ID was.
"Are you sure about this," he asked. "Kyler?"
"Yeah my dude, I'm sure." he smiled widely.
A skinny Latino boy walked over, speaking in Spanish to get help buying something for his grandmother.
"Me puedes ayudar con algo? Necesito un poco de Pepto Bismol para mi abuela."
"Claro hermano. Este torpe no entiende como comparse un ID propio. Pija chiquita." he glanced between Kyler and the boy he was chuckling with, putting a bottle of Pepto Bismol a smiling Miguel quickly paid for on the counter.
Kyler didn't seem to appreciate this at all, and started shoving him outside of the store. The man behind the register didn't blink an eye. Seeing how the man behind the counter didn't question Miguel's order for even half a second, and even appeared to be making fun of him for, he took out that frustration on Miguel in seconds.
A commotion started, one that resulted in Kyler dumping Pepto Bismol all over him outside the liquor store.
Kreese didn't care at all, he kept smoking his cigar as if he was watching some daytime TV boredly.
The boys laughed and kept shoving him around, until eventually he was punched right in the gut.
"That's brute Ky!" the fat one said.
Kreese kept watching the scene calmly, continuing to smoke his cigar in silence.
The Latino boy caught his breath. "Man what the hell?"
"Freaking idiot!" Kyler picked him up by his shoulders. "You blow up my spot. You get taught!"
"Nice Ky! Show him who's boss!" another one of his friends said.
Kreese found it entertaining, he didn't even feel bad for him for a second, and then watched him get to his feet.
Out of desperation or rage, he tried tackling Kyler to the ground. It failed completely and the beating that ensued was equally one sided, but it greatly amused Kreese. He even seemed to remember fighting bullies behind the old diner he used to work at, fighting with just his wits and a trash can lid.
Except unlike Kreese, Miguel wasn't winning.
Kreese sighed, having seen enough. If he'd go home, he'd at least try to dish out No Mercy one last time.
"Alright alright alright. That's more than enough."
Everyone froze, Kyler's redheaded friend looked around. "Man what?" he said stupidly.
Kreese picked up the kid quietly. "Way to show some guts. What's your name?"
"Miguel." he coughed, Pepto Bismol still in his hair. "Just trying to get some medicine for my grandma."
Appreciating how he treated the elderly, being an older man himself, Kreese didn't feel pity for Miguel. Rather respected the lengths he was willing to go just to help her. If anything, it at least showed courage to fight when completely outmatched.
"Yo man this ain't none of your business." Kyler raised his eyebrows.
"Word." the fat kid 'Brucks' took a hit off the redhead's vape.
Kreese raised his eyebrows, turning slightly. "Look I enjoy dishing out a beating as much as the next guy. It's getting late, I've got a bus to catch. Why don't you all leave?"
"Or what?" asked Kyler.
He had no idea what sort of tree he was barking up, Kreese had held his temper before with grown adults. Why not do the same with a pack of teenage boys?
The retired Special Forces captain chuckled to himself.
No Mercy, that's why.
Kreese just realized what he was doing.
He wanted to properly beat someone down before he could leave the Valley all but consequence free in just a couple of hours. He'd be on a bus across the entire country by this time tomorrow.
"Or else."
Kyler and his friends acted scared, laughing at him.
"Come on." Kyler laughed. "Hit me with your best shot old man."
"Knock him over with your walker gramps!" taunted another one of Kyler's friends.
Kreese nodded slowly, looking away.
…
Cobra Kai OST: Strike First
…
Without warning or mercy, Kreese put Kyler into a wrist lock.
He gasped in pain, and then Kreese loudly cracked every bone in Kyler's wrist with a POP.
"There's my best shot. Never start a fight you can't finish," he growled with a grin.
Then Kreese put out his still lit cigar right on the skin of Kyler's cheek right beneath his eye, he roared in pain.
Kreese tossed Kyler aside and his three friends didn't know how to react.
Kyler was all but crying in pain from the snapped wrist he had, and Kyler roared orders wincing.
"Get 'im Brucks please!" he screamed.
"I got you man!"
Brucks was kicked right in the knee, Miguel could not believe his eyes.
A senior citizen was moving like some sort of ninja.
Kreese had no flexibility and far less physical strength than all three boys he was fighting.
But he had lived on the streets for decades, and served in Special Forces in Vietnam.
He could back kick, back fist, punch, pull. He was merciless, cold, and always struck first.
The redhead in Kyler's group took a knee directly to the groin as soon as he tried grabbing Kreese, the last one was headbutted to the ground.
Brucks attempted to punch Kreese with his back turned only to receive a back kick to the sternum for his troubles.
The boys couldn't touch him, Kreese could win the fight with his eyes closed.
He used the environment to his advantage, dragged Brucks by his face across a cement wall with a knee directly to his liver to finish him off.
When Kyler, blind with rage at having his wrist broken and humiliated, ran at Kreese to punch or grab him. Anything. He was thrown over Kreese's knee.
Kreese employed a classic karate hip throw and slammed Kyler onto the pavement as hard as he could.
He used another throw to throw the last two boys so hard together their foreheads collided at full speed.
John Kreese fought dirty, but he was facing four younger and stronger opponents, he had to use his techniques, use his environment, and properly leave a last reminder to the Valley he was sick of it.
Kreese picked up his cigar, twisting his shoe on the snapped wrist of Kyler.
He yelled in pain at the top of his lungs and then Kreese spat in front of him.
"Let this be a lesson. For the rest of your life. You start a fight, make sure you finish it."
The other boys were all bruised and beaten, shocked, rolling around on the floor in agony or simply knocked clean out. There was No Mercy left in John Kreese, and he'd taught the Valley one last lesson because he could get away with it:
And because it pleased him to spread pain.
…
Kreese might as well have knocked Kyler out for good measure, but left the boys there groaning on the ground quietly.
He smiled at himself, not even acknowledging Miguel when he slipped away into the night. What shocked Miguel more than anything was just how much Kreese had seemed to teach Kyler a lesson.
Miguel was unsure if he was scared of the man, or actually impressed, not knowing what to think having never met someone like him his entire life. Miguel might as well have not even been there, it was clearly just an excuse to beat Kyler and his friends livid.
Kyler looked like he wouldn't be able to use his left hand for anything for a few solid weeks, and Kreese was probably at least seventy years old from the looks of him.
He had beaten four young men ruthlessly admittedly but Miguel was shocked.
How could his savior be so merciless? He only seemed to be interested in him to instigate the fight.
Miguel then rubbed the Pepto Bismol at the top of his head.
"Whoa." he muttered to himself.
He then ran off home too before he could stand around awkwardly amidst Kyler and his friends. Miguel still didn't know whether to be terrified or impressed when he bought another can of Pepto Bismol and ran back home.
…
The following morning at 9 AM sharp, before he could board his bus, Kreese was stopped by two police officers.
"What'd I do?"
"Assault and battery of four minors. Turn and around and put your hands behind your back please."
Looking like he already knew the drill, Kreese complied with his demands and was read his rights.
Within a few hours, he was put within a holding cell, and Kreese sighed.
He was sure he timed his attack better.
There was no way the kids he attacked had wealthy connections right?
Kreese looked around the holding cell. It almost looked like a second home to him, extremely familiar.
However, after a few more hours, an officer swung by holding a clipboard.
"John Kreese?"
He stood up off the bench next to others in the holding cell.
"Yes?"
"You made bail, congratulations. I'll be taking you out for some paperwork in about fifteen minutes."
"Who was it?"
"Someone who clearly doesn't value a whole lot of money." the officer eyed Kreese up and down with disgust.
…
Walking out into the early June Southern California sun with increasingly aged eyesight, Kreese chuckled.
"I see you lost the ponytail."
He looked a little closer, still squinting with his hand raised.
"Do I know you?"
"Ali took me to one of your karate classes back in the day. She was still with Johnny back then."
Oddly, Kreese recognized him.
"Frank Mills?"
They shook hands. "Pleasure."
"Why'd you. I mean why would you-"
They spoke calmly on the front steps of the police precinct.
Frank explained. "I can manage to bring this whole thing down to a misdemeanor and get you off with half a year of community service."
"Really?"
"You broke a sixteen year old kid's hand John, injured three others. The least you can do is say thank you."
"No I mean, I still don't get any of this."
"I honestly never liked any of this karate nonsense. In fact, I'd pay to see it out of the Valley for good."
Kreese and Frank made eye contact for almost four seconds.
"You'd hate your own grandson's passion that much?"
"Oh please. Don't act like you ever cared about what these kids wanted."
Kreese squinted again. "You don't know them."
"I knew my own daughter, and Ali never liked you."
Kreese opened his mouth to retort but Frank spoke. "Officer Lin Davis told me you were about to board a Greyhound due for the east coast or something before you were brought in. Is that correct?"
"Actually, it was Chicago, but how does Lucas feel about this?"
"You won't talk to him ever again."
Kreese turned his head slightly. "And LaRusso, will he get the same treatment?"
"Daniel LaRusso doesn't beat children in strip mall parking lots."
"No, he prefers to lie to them and cheat them instead."
"And you're better?"
Kreese bit his lip, balling his fists.
"I was a better grandfather or father to him than you were or Ali's husband Greg ever were. You don't want to admit that, so you bail me out. Want to make a deal, to save your pride, try to decide for myself how I get to go out."
Frank loomed over Kreese, strangely, the retired doctor was taller. While he wasn't physically intimidating to Kreese at all, the retired doctor was put in a financially and legally superior position in every single way.
"I don't know who else you can turn to for help. Either that, or you'll have to figure out a way to find a single job here in the Valley to pay off what you owe me. I want Lucas to become a respected doctor here in the Valley at some point, and the best way to do that, is to write you out of the picture for good."
"I'm confused I take out a loan?"
"No," Frank said. "But I'll talk to the county and a minute or two later, and you might. I'm doing this to make sure you never come back, or never bother me ever again."
Kreese understood perfectly again. "So I take it I can get on that bus now?"
"I suggest you do."
"Afraid I can't now, I owe you a whole lot of money first."
Frank turned to watch Kreese start to leave the precinct steps.
"Where are you going?"
Kreese answered calmly. "Like you said. To find a job so I can pay you back," he said bitterly.
No matter what it cost him or the Valley, he would pay back his debt to Frank Mills. No matter what it cost anyone, he'd show the Valley one last time:
Revenge would never stop Kreese until he was six feet under.
…
…
…
A/N:
Hey everyone, new fic here of course.
Like season 1 of the show, the focus was heavily and almost exclusively on the adult characters until the audience became comfortable with and cared about the teen characters.
Lucas Schwarber, like always, is portrayed by Dylan Minnette in my mind whenever I write him. I don't know why, but he seems to fit the role rather well whenever I'm writing him. I won't spoil the pairing for him for this fanfic.
As for Frank and Olivia Mills, Ali's parents from the first karate kid film, I don't have actors in mind when I'm writing them except Ed Begley Jr. for Frank, I suppose the same ones Cobra Kai and the karate kid series gave us work fine. Anyway, I'm going to post that review I said I'd post before:
"I don't get this version. The original had some issues, some conflict felt unnecessary but mostly was organic - one thing leading to another. The conflict here seems artificially manufactured. Forced.
Doesn't seem like Miyagi-do fits because of Daniel - the constant turning everything on Lucas and not really helping him… Freezing Lucas out makes less sense in this version, even worse for Robby to do so - still pretty Zen so out of character to shove everything onto Lucas and really talk to him, just blame him as if it's easier. The grandfather dictating Lucas life is also for the worse - though either version forcing him to be a doctor wasn't great but at least doing so to make ends meet before made sense. Lucas doesn't act like an SI anymore, nor do we see his POV/thoughts, all 3rd person.
Don't see the point where things are - he quits there's no story, and Daniel so far has been a terrible Sensei. He'd do better with Bobby but seeing seem like he'll be involved this time.
I'll stick with the cobra Kai version."
My aim is to improve the pacing a bit to explain these changes a bit better, even if I think the review is off base and wrong in regards to what I actually portrayed in the story. I still believe this review is wrong, but the claims it makes won't make much sense because around 100,000 words worth of story happen between now and the point where they can say this. Either way, I want to write the best story that would make sense within the Netflix Cobra Kai universe, which is why I tone down the SI ness of Lucas as time goes on, it becomes less relevant as the characters stray into territory that is generally different than canon.
The main issue the review overlooks is that "sticking with Cobra Kai version" as if its better and makes more sense is...wrong in my opinion. Original Luke Schwarber was basically an unstoppable chick magnet that embodied No Mercy, despite being a generally level headed guy. The review also claims Robby as OOC which I do not think I ever do so, this Robby is far different than canon is still acts like him in my opinion. Feel free to give me your thoughts below.
Canon only really had a few issues, the constant bickering with Johnny and Daniel for almost six seasons straight. The teen drama was pretty weak in most areas, and most of the karate chose style over substance, which during actual competition has issues as with combat sports like boxing and others. I aim to fix all of them, as well as my own mistakes from what this review said, still wrong in most areas but giving room for thoughts, and where I believe I went wrong with the 'cobra kai version.'
This is the Miyagi-Do version.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all soon.
…
"Fear does not exist in this dojo. Does it!?"
"No Sensei!" the class roared in unison.
"Pain does not exist in this dojo. Does it!?"
"No Sensei!"
"Defeat does not exist in this dojo. Does it!?"
"No Sensei!"
John Kreese stumbled along the streets of North Hollywood, California, a broken, unshaven, and tired man.
The most painful part of the memories from just a year prior was that they still seemed so long ago.
The trophies. The glory.
The fighters, the Cobra Kais, the boys. The boys.
The crowd was cheering at the top of their lungs. Hundreds of people roaring as Daniel sparred Johnny for the title of All Valley Under 18 Champion.
With a tremendous crash Daniel clattered to the ground from a sneaky and rule violating jab to his jaw. Johnny Lawrence kiai'd like a lion and struck with the speed and power of a Cobra Kai.
They were killers. Kreese could still hear his class roar with every strike like it was yesterday.
"Ais!"
"Kiai!"
"Ais!"
"Kiai!"
"Ais!"
"Kiai!"
Every karate tournament in Southern California feared Cobra Kai with a terror unlike any other.
Cobra Kai karate taught young men between the ages of twelve and seventeen how to be ferocious, tough, and merciless.
Unfortunately for John Kreese, bad news and disappointment on an answering machine, and overduebills, awaited him inside his dilapidated karate dojo.
But at least it was still a dojo.
…
June 2018
…
Now Lankershim's Cobra Kai dojo was a candle shop that also sold flowers. A flower shop run by a smiling woman wearing Pride Month t-shirts.
Decades later, John Kreese was largely the same man.
But he was older, much older.
Kreese sighed.
A flower shop employee spoke to Kreese.
"Hey! We've got a four for one special ending just next week."
If only John Kreese had the money or use for flowers these days.
Kreese merely walked past him, and slipped away into the passing crowd, just another homeless man in Los Angeles.
Moments later, a big rock, almost as large as a well sized brick, was thrown quickly through the windows of the flower shop that replaced Lankershim Boulevard's old premier Cobra Kai karate dojo from the 1980s.
A smirking John Kreese walked away, others shocked, not knowing where the rock came from, at least he'd have one happy memory from a very terrible month.
…
John Kreese found a park bench to sleep on that night.
"Hey."
A police officer tapped his nightstick on Kreese's chest.
"You gonna move or do I have to book you tonight? The station's holding cell is even less fun than this bench I promise you bud."
Kreese quietly shook his head and even nodded in respect to the officer. He merely tipped his cap and watched Kreese trudge off into the night. He could try to apply for a room at his old homeless center. But he'd picked one fight too many.
He walked around a bit aimlessly, and remembered what tiny Johnny Lawrence was like as a child.
A crying and sniveling boy when he was a blue belt. He wasn't a champion yet, he wasn't tough.
And now?
Kreese sat quietly on a small trash can, watching a tram pass through downtown Los Angeles aimlessly.
How could he have loved karate so dearly? To have the sport pass by him so quickly?
Kreese took out his wallet, still holding an expired driver's license from 1988, and checked all the money he had.
Forty two dollars in cash. A client of his, the last and only real one he'd had in years, had hired him for a few hundreds bucks a month. And now he was gone. After freelance construction work, he had actually had to beat his old boss to bits just to collect his wages, and what little they were combined with what he could scrounge and save up amounted to a total of two hundred and sixty four dollars and fifty four cents.
His entire life, he barely had enough in cash to afford a night or two at a local motel and a couple meals.
He went to a nearby train station and found that all his money would only get him as far as Indiana. The Chicago bus ride specifically, it was the first thing in the morning, was the cheapest and fastest option, and was offered to seniors at around two hundred and twenty three dollars.
Just enough.
Kreese shrugged. Anywhere but Los Angeles.
He had no reason to stay in the city anymore. No reason but very painful memories, estranged friends, and one very unhappy client, the last person to possibly ever pay John Kreese a semi-decent wage in cash.
Kreese was escorted out of the train station though, he didn't have the nicest look to him and it was closing quickly.
At one A'M, Kreese was able to find a quiet, and luckily empty dumpster to sleep behind in an alleyway where no one was around, Kreese had gotten adept after years of this to avoid ones that smelled too badly. And then he rested.
The next day, he'd go out east and try to find work or something.
Cars drove past as he closed his eyes.
He wanted to go anywhere, do anything, but stay in the Valley.
…
Daniel LaRusso however, did not live a miserable life without any food, money, or shelter of any kind.
He woke up in a luxurious home in Encino, with a beautiful wife sleeping next to his side in his king size bed, two children, and an entire award winning car dealership to his name.
His karate trophies were tucked away in his home dojo, which was oddly not in storage anymore.
Daniel woke up, made some coffee listening to the morning news on his iPhone, and then went to work.
His wife, Amanda, was helping him in the office, typing on the computer while Daniel quietly watched his morning customers enter the dealership.
"Well, would you look at that."
Daniel turned around and gazed at his wife.
"Lucas reapplied to be an intern." Amanda clicked her mouse.
Daniel shrugged. "I'll deal with it later."
Amanda looked at Daniel somewhat reproachfully. "You're gonna reject a 15 year old over a karate tournament?" she asked, half believing her own words.
"There's." Daniel sighed. "A lot more to it than that."
"I don't think there is." Amanda shrugged. "So he picked a different karate teacher than you. He still won last week."
"I promise you, if it was that simple, I'd have Luke back here working again."
"Honey." Amanda cleared her throat. "He was one of the best employees we had here in a while. He was diligent, proactive, smart, great customer service, always kind. I wish some of the adult employees were as mature as him sometimes."
Daniel's cousin Louie and a fellow LaRusso auto employee Anoush both were laughing at a bawdy internet meme on Louie's screen.
Amanda grimaced for a second. "I miss him more and more by the day."
"It's not just a karate tournament."
"Then what is it?" asked Amanda. "Honestly you never told me nor the kids why suddenly we couldn't talk to him."
Daniel opened his mouth but Amanda interrupted calmly.
"The full details."
"It's honestly not something I'd be able to forgive."
"He's fifteen," Amanda repeated. "What did he do?"
"He um." Daniel sighed.
Daniel grumbled before he left the office. "I'll take care of it later I promise, just, don't accept the application."
"Sure thing honey," Amanda muttered quietly.
The rest of the day, Daniel LaRusso mostly used karate as a gimmick to sell more cars.
Louie told mostly fake stories about Daniel using karate to get him out of sticky situations at bars, and how he even went to the All Valley Karate tournament just the month prior.
It was starting to be a very hot summer day, and the floor was looking very dirty.
Daniel noted how the lobby floor of LaRusso auto wasn't as shiny as he wanted it to.
The employee on duty was looking at his phone more often than he should've been. Even absurdly wealthy teenagers worked harder.
Daniel sighed and continued with his day.
He needed to visit an old friend.
…
Mr. Miyagi was buried in a very large cemetery near Orange County.
Daniel LaRusso refreshed the flowers near Mr. Miyagi's grave.
"Hey there."
Daniel did not receive a response. Not even from the wind.
"You always told me once about forgiveness. But you also told me something else, about."
Daniel sighed.
"About John Kreese."
"Eeeeyaaughh!"
John Kreese was trying to punch Mr. Miyagi through the mouth. He instead shattered his fist against the glass pane of a car window.
Instead of even knocking Kreese out for trying to hurt him, Mr. Miyagi instead honked him on the nose, and tossed him over while he was on his knees. Then he winked at Daniel.
His All Valley trophy still in his hand, Daniel limped while speaking to Miyagi.
"You could've killed him couldn't you?"
"Hai." Miyagi responded calmly.
"Well why didn't you then?"
"Because Daniel-san, for person with no forgiveness in heart, living even worse punishment than death." Miyagi said with a nod.
Daniel frowned.
"I had my first karate student in years. Someone who seemed to really enjoy and appreciate your lessons."
Daniel sighed.
"And he betrayed my trust. He knew John Kreese was a terrible person, among the worst around. And he wanted me to forgive him, to trust he was doing the right thing."
Daniel sighed, rubbing his eye.
"And I just feel lost. What am I gonna do with this kid?"
He shook his head.
"I know, I wasn't the easiest growing up. But how could someone seek my forgiveness after they knew who Kreese was and then lied to me about it?"
Daniel bowed his head from his kneeling position in front of Miyagi's grave.
When he returned to his car. He felt something strange looking back at his tombstone.
Daniel remembered when Miyagi had rehealed his bonsai, Miyagi told Daniel to do karate.
"His own way."
…
Cobra Kai OST: Bonsai Lessons
…
Daniel remembered his mother coming to this exact same home decades prior.
His mom had a car so beat up that he and she had to push it to take him and Ali Mills on a date to Golf 'N Stuff back in the 1980s.
He knocked on the door of the Mills Manor, the same house he used to pick up Ali from when he just moved to LA from New Jersey. Daniel even remember what Ali was like, and the day at the country club when he spilled spaghetti all over himself.
A much older father of Ali Mills answered the door, fixing his glasses.
"Oh hey Daniel." the two men shook hands. "Good to see you again. It's been a while, how can I help you?"
"I was hoping to talk to Lucas?"
"Oh sure. He's up in his room!" he turned. "Luke!"
He called up again.
"Luuuuke!"
Lucas was not the spitting image of his mother, Ali Mills at all, but rather a fair skinned, dark haired teenager with light blue eyes and a very deep voice.
"Yeah?" he leaned on the doorway, his grandfather standing just behind him.
"Can we talk?" Daniel asked with a small smile.
Lucas clearly didn't want to, but his grandfather nodded.
"Yeah." he sighed.
Lucas and Daniel sat in the large backyard of the Mills' home, watching a golden retriever running around.
They sat largely in silence for a moment, just looking at Lucas' pool.
"I have to admit. I thought you'd be happier after winning the forty ninth All Valley."
"You sure weren't happy for me."
Daniel was going to respond but then he paused.
Lucas shook his head, fixing a grey t-shirt. "How could you shut me out like that?"
"You knew what John Kreese was."
"You never told me everything about him."
"Because you weren't supposed to know," Daniel muttered. "Mr. Miyagi could forgive just about anyone. But John Kreese was one person he never let out of his sight."
Lucas scoffed. "But none of that was my fault."
"I know," Daniel said. "Which is why it pained me more than anything to have to give you the cold shoulder."
Lucas rolled his eyes.
"I know you're not a cruel person. I've only known you for a year, but you never gave me the impression you genuinely wanted to harm someone else."
Daniel fixed his spot on the lawn chair next to Lucas.
"You've got Ali's heart. That's for sure."
Lucas nodded a bit.
"You're just a very competitive person, and there's nothing wrong with that."
"Sure felt there was something wrong with it when I trained with you. It's like nothing made sense, I understood the karate techniques. But there was always some hidden meaning, some metaphor." Lucas' face twisted into a bit of anger. "Like I was messed up for wanting to compete."
"Mr. Miyagi always was against competing for sport." Daniel raised a finger. "But what he was truly against. Was karate being taught the wrong way, John Kreese, taught karate the wrong way."
Lucas merely listened in silence.
"Someone used to bully me pretty hard in highschool. But he was never that bad of a person all said and done. But his Sensei? Was the worst there is."
Daniel explained. "Unpredictable."
John Kreese swept a student off his legs in class for not paying attention, faking a massive punch to the nose.
"Violent."
John Kreese taught a teenage Bobby Brown to finish his opponent by striking his shoulder blade.
"And, yes. Genuinely cruel."
He choked a teenage Johnny Lawrence in the parking lot next to the All Valley arena for losing to Daniel minutes prior.
Daniel looked at Lucas. "What I mean to say is that I'm sure he was a fine Sensei to you. But he was dangerous."
"He could've changed."
"People like him don't change Lucas. Mr. Miyagi would've wanted me to never let you near that man."
Daniel stood up. "I'm sorry for everything that happened between us. But I promise you I'll forgive you entirely, as soon as you promise to never go near him again."
Lucas frowned, thinking to himself for a second.
"I know you don't like Miyagi-Do's philosophy. I know you barely had the patience for anything but the actual karate. But until I have that promise, I can't begin to trust you again. Even if you're just a kid."
Daniel and Lucas exchanged a small nod, and then he left his house.
…
I had to hide how badly I wanted to see Mr. LaRusso.
I had come to conclusion that Kreese was evil, he made bad people worse, or he allowed them to use their karate for whatever they wanted. Be it bullying, harassment, or just regular law breaking.
People like Kyler and for a long time, Tory, were enabled to create violence against people they didn't like. To hurt them, to attack them or mess with them just because. Johnny Lawrence was guilty of this in 1980s, and it showed with Tory's behavior during the second and third seasons of the show.
That was Kreese at his most Kreese-ness. I had seen a man tormented by war, who unlike Mr. Miyagi, didn't just forgive himself and others for what happened:
He blamed them.
John Kreese made it clear that at much as his philosophy could make me incredible strong, mentally, physically, and agility wise, in a fight or elsewhere in life. He had no forgiveness in him, mercy and forgiveness was as alien to him as anything else. I wouldn't be his student, someone to cultivate and respect until they could be better than you one day.
Since the day I met him, Kreese had made it clear I was just his instrument of revenge against LaRusso, to serve as a fix for the mistakes he himself made.
It was evident, with the lies I told myself and Daniel LaRusso, the pain I was hiding from the bruises and blood striking bricks and old boards, doing knuckle pushups on concrete, and learning the Way of the Fist.
Luckily I had realized sooner rather than later that the lines Johnny gave to his old class in Season 3 were real.
"Wanna stick with Kreese? Go ahead." said Johnny to a class who believed they'd failed him in the hallways of his old highschool. "Don't say I didn't warn you when your life ends up in the shitter."
Until now, my knowledge of the show had only served for my own personal gain. For my own power, for taking advantage of others, even those like John Kreese. I was done with that.
I was ready to embrace my flaws, and let go of my hatred. Mostly towards myself, towards a perfectionist, the person who flew in from Denver last year to make the Valley my kingdom. Well no more.
Johnny's assessment of Kreese was more than fair. Eli's hatred towards Demetri, his best friend since middle school was manipulated by Kreese, he was using his anger to turn him into someone he wasn't deep down. Towards someone who had no forgiveness in his heart, not even a little.
Someone like Kreese himself.
I was done with Cobra Kai, I felt so much shame that I think the only way I could forgive myself, was by studying the martial art that focused on harmony with everything around you:
Miyagi-Do karate.
...
John Kreese was more than ready to leave LA.
But he had one last thing to do.
He used the last bit of money he had to buy a train ticket, but before that he'd use the tiny fraction of cash he had left over to smoke a nice cigar, and reminisce.
Kreese walked into a small strip mall in Reseda that night just a mere couple of hours before he boarded his train to depart LA for good.
He paid a tubby Latino man working at a liquor store the last few dollars Lucas Schwarber had given to him to buy a cigar, and a lighter.
When he walked out, he began to smoke it looking over the parking lot.
He remembered Johnny Lawrence losing decades prior.
"What did you say?" a young middle aged John Kreese asked.
"I said I did my best!" roared Johnny, waving his second place trophy upwards.
"You're nothing, you lost, you're a loser!" Kreese countered, yelling back at him.
Johnny shook his head. "No, you're the loser man!"
"Oh I'm the loser huh?"
"Yeah."
Kreese swiped and broke Johnny's trophy in the blink of an eye, wood and bronze and all with his bare hands, throwing it aside. "Now who's the loser?" he challenged.
"You know you're really sick man!" A seventeen year old Johnny Lawrence said loudly, having no idea how his Sensei could treat him this way.
After several protests, the boys from Cobra Kai couldn't stop their Sensei.
He was choking Johnny Lawrence out like he was some Vietcong in a jungle who tried to kill him, not a teenager who just lost a karate tournament.
"How does second place feel now huh?"
"You're gonna kill him!" Bobby Brown's desperate pleas repeated themselves in Kreese's mind decades later. "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
Kreese kept smoking his cigar in silence.
The memory didn't remotely shake him. He barely even seemed to regret it when a group of highschool boys walked past.
He had no idea Johnny was enjoying a nice meal at home at his apartment with his son instead of eating his dinner from a strip mall liquor store.
One of them blew their vape in Kreese's direction before they walked into the liquor store. The old man just found it amusing, almost nodding as he chuckled quietly.
The leader of the group of boys was trying to buy beer from the man Kreese had just bought a cigar from.
He was a Korean teen followed by a redhead, a frizzy fat boy, and another pal of his.
"Lemme get a packet or Marlboros too bro." the frizzy fat boy put a pack of beers on the counter.
"Damn Brucks, feeling confident today are we?" asked his redheaded friend.
"You know it."
The man at the register could tell how fake his ID was.
"Are you sure about this," he asked. "Kyler?"
"Yeah my dude, I'm sure." he smiled widely.
A skinny Latino boy walked over, speaking in Spanish to get help buying something for his grandmother.
"Me puedes ayudar con algo? Necesito un poco de Pepto Bismol para mi abuela."
"Claro hermano. Este torpe no entiende como comparse un ID propio. Pija chiquita." he glanced between Kyler and the boy he was chuckling with, putting a bottle of Pepto Bismol a smiling Miguel quickly paid for on the counter.
Kyler didn't seem to appreciate this at all, and started shoving him outside of the store. The man behind the register didn't blink an eye. Seeing how the man behind the counter didn't question Miguel's order for even half a second, and even appeared to be making fun of him for, he took out that frustration on Miguel in seconds.
A commotion started, one that resulted in Kyler dumping Pepto Bismol all over him outside the liquor store.
Kreese didn't care at all, he kept smoking his cigar as if he was watching some daytime TV boredly.
The boys laughed and kept shoving him around, until eventually he was punched right in the gut.
"That's brute Ky!" the fat one said.
Kreese kept watching the scene calmly, continuing to smoke his cigar in silence.
The Latino boy caught his breath. "Man what the hell?"
"Freaking idiot!" Kyler picked him up by his shoulders. "You blow up my spot. You get taught!"
"Nice Ky! Show him who's boss!" another one of his friends said.
Kreese found it entertaining, he didn't even feel bad for him for a second, and then watched him get to his feet.
Out of desperation or rage, he tried tackling Kyler to the ground. It failed completely and the beating that ensued was equally one sided, but it greatly amused Kreese. He even seemed to remember fighting bullies behind the old diner he used to work at, fighting with just his wits and a trash can lid.
Except unlike Kreese, Miguel wasn't winning.
Kreese sighed, having seen enough. If he'd go home, he'd at least try to dish out No Mercy one last time.
"Alright alright alright. That's more than enough."
Everyone froze, Kyler's redheaded friend looked around. "Man what?" he said stupidly.
Kreese picked up the kid quietly. "Way to show some guts. What's your name?"
"Miguel." he coughed, Pepto Bismol still in his hair. "Just trying to get some medicine for my grandma."
Appreciating how he treated the elderly, being an older man himself, Kreese didn't feel pity for Miguel. Rather respected the lengths he was willing to go just to help her. If anything, it at least showed courage to fight when completely outmatched.
"Yo man this ain't none of your business." Kyler raised his eyebrows.
"Word." the fat kid 'Brucks' took a hit off the redhead's vape.
Kreese raised his eyebrows, turning slightly. "Look I enjoy dishing out a beating as much as the next guy. It's getting late, I've got a bus to catch. Why don't you all leave?"
"Or what?" asked Kyler.
He had no idea what sort of tree he was barking up, Kreese had held his temper before with grown adults. Why not do the same with a pack of teenage boys?
The retired Special Forces captain chuckled to himself.
No Mercy, that's why.
Kreese just realized what he was doing.
He wanted to properly beat someone down before he could leave the Valley all but consequence free in just a couple of hours. He'd be on a bus across the entire country by this time tomorrow.
"Or else."
Kyler and his friends acted scared, laughing at him.
"Come on." Kyler laughed. "Hit me with your best shot old man."
"Knock him over with your walker gramps!" taunted another one of Kyler's friends.
Kreese nodded slowly, looking away.
…
Cobra Kai OST: Strike First
…
Without warning or mercy, Kreese put Kyler into a wrist lock.
He gasped in pain, and then Kreese loudly cracked every bone in Kyler's wrist with a POP.
"There's my best shot. Never start a fight you can't finish," he growled with a grin.
Then Kreese put out his still lit cigar right on the skin of Kyler's cheek right beneath his eye, he roared in pain.
Kreese tossed Kyler aside and his three friends didn't know how to react.
Kyler was all but crying in pain from the snapped wrist he had, and Kyler roared orders wincing.
"Get 'im Brucks please!" he screamed.
"I got you man!"
Brucks was kicked right in the knee, Miguel could not believe his eyes.
A senior citizen was moving like some sort of ninja.
Kreese had no flexibility and far less physical strength than all three boys he was fighting.
But he had lived on the streets for decades, and served in Special Forces in Vietnam.
He could back kick, back fist, punch, pull. He was merciless, cold, and always struck first.
The redhead in Kyler's group took a knee directly to the groin as soon as he tried grabbing Kreese, the last one was headbutted to the ground.
Brucks attempted to punch Kreese with his back turned only to receive a back kick to the sternum for his troubles.
The boys couldn't touch him, Kreese could win the fight with his eyes closed.
He used the environment to his advantage, dragged Brucks by his face across a cement wall with a knee directly to his liver to finish him off.
When Kyler, blind with rage at having his wrist broken and humiliated, ran at Kreese to punch or grab him. Anything. He was thrown over Kreese's knee.
Kreese employed a classic karate hip throw and slammed Kyler onto the pavement as hard as he could.
He used another throw to throw the last two boys so hard together their foreheads collided at full speed.
John Kreese fought dirty, but he was facing four younger and stronger opponents, he had to use his techniques, use his environment, and properly leave a last reminder to the Valley he was sick of it.
Kreese picked up his cigar, twisting his shoe on the snapped wrist of Kyler.
He yelled in pain at the top of his lungs and then Kreese spat in front of him.
"Let this be a lesson. For the rest of your life. You start a fight, make sure you finish it."
The other boys were all bruised and beaten, shocked, rolling around on the floor in agony or simply knocked clean out. There was No Mercy left in John Kreese, and he'd taught the Valley one last lesson because he could get away with it:
And because it pleased him to spread pain.
…
Kreese might as well have knocked Kyler out for good measure, but left the boys there groaning on the ground quietly.
He smiled at himself, not even acknowledging Miguel when he slipped away into the night. What shocked Miguel more than anything was just how much Kreese had seemed to teach Kyler a lesson.
Miguel was unsure if he was scared of the man, or actually impressed, not knowing what to think having never met someone like him his entire life. Miguel might as well have not even been there, it was clearly just an excuse to beat Kyler and his friends livid.
Kyler looked like he wouldn't be able to use his left hand for anything for a few solid weeks, and Kreese was probably at least seventy years old from the looks of him.
He had beaten four young men ruthlessly admittedly but Miguel was shocked.
How could his savior be so merciless? He only seemed to be interested in him to instigate the fight.
Miguel then rubbed the Pepto Bismol at the top of his head.
"Whoa." he muttered to himself.
He then ran off home too before he could stand around awkwardly amidst Kyler and his friends. Miguel still didn't know whether to be terrified or impressed when he bought another can of Pepto Bismol and ran back home.
…
The following morning at 9 AM sharp, before he could board his bus, Kreese was stopped by two police officers.
"What'd I do?"
"Assault and battery of four minors. Turn and around and put your hands behind your back please."
Looking like he already knew the drill, Kreese complied with his demands and was read his rights.
Within a few hours, he was put within a holding cell, and Kreese sighed.
He was sure he timed his attack better.
There was no way the kids he attacked had wealthy connections right?
Kreese looked around the holding cell. It almost looked like a second home to him, extremely familiar.
However, after a few more hours, an officer swung by holding a clipboard.
"John Kreese?"
He stood up off the bench next to others in the holding cell.
"Yes?"
"You made bail, congratulations. I'll be taking you out for some paperwork in about fifteen minutes."
"Who was it?"
"Someone who clearly doesn't value a whole lot of money." the officer eyed Kreese up and down with disgust.
…
Walking out into the early June Southern California sun with increasingly aged eyesight, Kreese chuckled.
"I see you lost the ponytail."
He looked a little closer, still squinting with his hand raised.
"Do I know you?"
"Ali took me to one of your karate classes back in the day. She was still with Johnny back then."
Oddly, Kreese recognized him.
"Frank Mills?"
They shook hands. "Pleasure."
"Why'd you. I mean why would you-"
They spoke calmly on the front steps of the police precinct.
Frank explained. "I can manage to bring this whole thing down to a misdemeanor and get you off with half a year of community service."
"Really?"
"You broke a sixteen year old kid's hand John, injured three others. The least you can do is say thank you."
"No I mean, I still don't get any of this."
"I honestly never liked any of this karate nonsense. In fact, I'd pay to see it out of the Valley for good."
Kreese and Frank made eye contact for almost four seconds.
"You'd hate your own grandson's passion that much?"
"Oh please. Don't act like you ever cared about what these kids wanted."
Kreese squinted again. "You don't know them."
"I knew my own daughter, and Ali never liked you."
Kreese opened his mouth to retort but Frank spoke. "Officer Lin Davis told me you were about to board a Greyhound due for the east coast or something before you were brought in. Is that correct?"
"Actually, it was Chicago, but how does Lucas feel about this?"
"You won't talk to him ever again."
Kreese turned his head slightly. "And LaRusso, will he get the same treatment?"
"Daniel LaRusso doesn't beat children in strip mall parking lots."
"No, he prefers to lie to them and cheat them instead."
"And you're better?"
Kreese bit his lip, balling his fists.
"I was a better grandfather or father to him than you were or Ali's husband Greg ever were. You don't want to admit that, so you bail me out. Want to make a deal, to save your pride, try to decide for myself how I get to go out."
Frank loomed over Kreese, strangely, the retired doctor was taller. While he wasn't physically intimidating to Kreese at all, the retired doctor was put in a financially and legally superior position in every single way.
"I don't know who else you can turn to for help. Either that, or you'll have to figure out a way to find a single job here in the Valley to pay off what you owe me. I want Lucas to become a respected doctor here in the Valley at some point, and the best way to do that, is to write you out of the picture for good."
"I'm confused I take out a loan?"
"No," Frank said. "But I'll talk to the county and a minute or two later, and you might. I'm doing this to make sure you never come back, or never bother me ever again."
Kreese understood perfectly again. "So I take it I can get on that bus now?"
"I suggest you do."
"Afraid I can't now, I owe you a whole lot of money first."
Frank turned to watch Kreese start to leave the precinct steps.
"Where are you going?"
Kreese answered calmly. "Like you said. To find a job so I can pay you back," he said bitterly.
No matter what it cost him or the Valley, he would pay back his debt to Frank Mills. No matter what it cost anyone, he'd show the Valley one last time:
Revenge would never stop Kreese until he was six feet under.
…
…
…
A/N:
Hey everyone, new fic here of course.
Like season 1 of the show, the focus was heavily and almost exclusively on the adult characters until the audience became comfortable with and cared about the teen characters.
Lucas Schwarber, like always, is portrayed by Dylan Minnette in my mind whenever I write him. I don't know why, but he seems to fit the role rather well whenever I'm writing him. I won't spoil the pairing for him for this fanfic.
As for Frank and Olivia Mills, Ali's parents from the first karate kid film, I don't have actors in mind when I'm writing them except Ed Begley Jr. for Frank, I suppose the same ones Cobra Kai and the karate kid series gave us work fine. Anyway, I'm going to post that review I said I'd post before:
"I don't get this version. The original had some issues, some conflict felt unnecessary but mostly was organic - one thing leading to another. The conflict here seems artificially manufactured. Forced.
Doesn't seem like Miyagi-do fits because of Daniel - the constant turning everything on Lucas and not really helping him… Freezing Lucas out makes less sense in this version, even worse for Robby to do so - still pretty Zen so out of character to shove everything onto Lucas and really talk to him, just blame him as if it's easier. The grandfather dictating Lucas life is also for the worse - though either version forcing him to be a doctor wasn't great but at least doing so to make ends meet before made sense. Lucas doesn't act like an SI anymore, nor do we see his POV/thoughts, all 3rd person.
Don't see the point where things are - he quits there's no story, and Daniel so far has been a terrible Sensei. He'd do better with Bobby but seeing seem like he'll be involved this time.
I'll stick with the cobra Kai version."
My aim is to improve the pacing a bit to explain these changes a bit better, even if I think the review is off base and wrong in regards to what I actually portrayed in the story. I still believe this review is wrong, but the claims it makes won't make much sense because around 100,000 words worth of story happen between now and the point where they can say this. Either way, I want to write the best story that would make sense within the Netflix Cobra Kai universe, which is why I tone down the SI ness of Lucas as time goes on, it becomes less relevant as the characters stray into territory that is generally different than canon.
The main issue the review overlooks is that "sticking with Cobra Kai version" as if its better and makes more sense is...wrong in my opinion. Original Luke Schwarber was basically an unstoppable chick magnet that embodied No Mercy, despite being a generally level headed guy. The review also claims Robby as OOC which I do not think I ever do so, this Robby is far different than canon is still acts like him in my opinion. Feel free to give me your thoughts below.
Canon only really had a few issues, the constant bickering with Johnny and Daniel for almost six seasons straight. The teen drama was pretty weak in most areas, and most of the karate chose style over substance, which during actual competition has issues as with combat sports like boxing and others. I aim to fix all of them, as well as my own mistakes from what this review said, still wrong in most areas but giving room for thoughts, and where I believe I went wrong with the 'cobra kai version.'
This is the Miyagi-Do version.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all soon.
Book 2 - Chapter 2
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MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Two: The Sensei He Was
…
John Kreese found Terry Silver's home to be as luxurious as he remembered, but was surprised when a woman answered the door.
"Um. Hello?"
"Yes." Kreese said quietly. "I'm looking for Terry Silver, I'm an old friend of his."
"Really? Terrance never mentioned you."
Kreese smiled lightly at the woman with curly hair and a slight accent. "Well I promise you, he'll remember me."
The woman shook Kreese's hand. "Well I'm Cheyenne, Terry's partner. And your name?"
"John."
"Honey I think Jinko's is actually too busy this time of, even I can't get a reservat-"
Silver froze, seeing Kreese stand on his front porch.
"Tion."
Cheyenne kept smiling. "So it seems he does remember you."
"Can we talk?" Kreese nodded. "Terrance?"
Silver slowly nodded.
…
The two shared some iced cognac on Silver's back porch.
"I don't see you in over thirty years, and the first thing you ask me for is help?"
Kreese sighed. "Quite frankly I'm in deep. You remember my old champion, Johnny Lawrence?"
"Hard to forget." Silver smiled slightly before sipping from his glass.
"He had an old girlfriend, Ali Mills-"
"Yes, the blonde girl. Hard to forget her too, caused all that trouble."
Kreese did not appreciate how Silver cut him off, judging by Silver's tone, he blamed Kreese for what he just described. Kreese nodded and spoke lightly. "Her father wants me out of the Valley for good, bailed me out of prison yesterday."
"What did you get in prison for?" asked Silver.
Kreese shrugged. "A small disagreement."
Silver smiled at this quietly. "Doesn't sound so small."
"Anyways. I owe him well over a hundred thousand all said and done." Kreese muttered.
Silver nodded. "And you want me to cover you?"
"I want to repay the debt I've always owed you, Terry," Kreese said. "I can and will do it on my own this time."
Silver grinned widely. "Make a superstar karate team, like we were supposed to."
"We had a chance, back in the 80s. Those boys, if you'd only met them-"
"Don't, guilt trip me." Silver threatened quietly. "You said you handled the training, and I handled the bills. That was all, so don't act like you had everything under control."
Kreese frowned, leaning on the railing of Silver's back porch. "I wasn't."
"So, you want me back in the game or some nonsense?"
Kreese shook his head. "I want your support in opening a new Cobra Kai dojo. I get our name back on its feet, and I promise you, you'll get your money back."
"You want a loan? When you're already massively in debt?"
Kreese was silent for about twenty seconds, as if he had something very deep he needed to admit to who previously was his best friend.
His only real friend.
Kreese glanced down at this glass quietly. "I've been ready to die for some time now Terry," he muttered calmly. "There's nothing more painful than having an old dream die twice. But I'll give anything for a third try, just one more chance."
Silver seemed deeply pensive over this, and after a quick moment he spoke.
"What do you mean a third try?"
"Recent events have drawn me into conflict with Ali Mills' family, I had a chance to train a student beyond Johnny's original two All Valley title limit. This kid of hers was-" Kreese scoffed. "Unlike anyone I've ever trained, he was on the same level of Johnny Lawrence, except already used to competitive sports and used to martial arts when I met him. The kid took the All Valley Golden trophy with a year of training consisting of loading dock sparring and conditioning. No real mats, no real training partners, nothing like that."
"Yeah I think I read a small article in the paper about someone breaking almost every All Valley record in their first attempt. And you feel you have a debt to settle with them? Even after everything that happened?"
Kreese spoke in a low, furious, but oddly calm voice. "With every cell in my body."
"What happened between you two? Why'd he leave your tutelage?"
"He walked away from being a Cobra Kai without even blinking after we had a disagreement."
"And why not reach out to him again, try clear things up?" Silver put his hands in his expensive sports jacket trousers and shrugged a bit. "You know, figure things out with a good old fashioned heart to heart?"
"I had nothing to apologize for. And even if I did." Kreese mumbled. "Mercy is for the weak."
"Oh...." Silver chuckled, rubbing his face. He clapped his hands together slightly and muttered. "Damnit Johnny, it's a little too late for us to be doing this again but. Screw it, I'm too curious to see how it goes if you try again."
Kreese raised an eyebrow.
"Okay. I'll set you up at the cheapest location I can find. Probably someplace in Reseda, getting it licensed and operational. All told, probably seventy-five grand or maybe even twice that much depending on how things roll out given that the city has so many barriers on new and small businesses." Silver nodded to himself. "I'm not doing this for old time's sake, this is the last favor I'll ever give you John so you can be out of my hair for good. Don't expect another one, unlike last time, this is a loan. So it damn well better work out, because the last time we spoke like this. It failed."
"I won't fail."
"You better not. I'm in this solely as a businessman this time, I expect to hear nothing at all from you. No more favors, no more bailouts or loans. I set up this dojo, you win, make back some money. And then we'll never hear from each other again."
Kreese gave a ponytail-less Silver a slight nod, finished his cognac, and began to leave.
What truly impressed Silver was that Kreese was so obsessed with this idea of revenge, that he didn't even question or doubt Silver's decision to treat this like a simple business transaction. During the 1980s when Kreese wanted revenge again, he seemed grateful that Silver was willing to go so far for him.
And now? Kreese didn't even mutter his thank you.
Silver turned around, looking at Kreese over his shoulder. "What the hell made you want to come back to this mess? Hatred? Spite? Revenge?"
Kreese needed about a few seconds to think.
"A kid."
"The kid you mentioned?"
"He taught me the kids of the Valley aren't as soft as I once thought."
"If he's that special? Why go this far for revenge?"
Silver didn't really care that Kreese didn't respond.
…
After two more days living on the streets, Kreese was contacted by Silver and was given a home and a place to work, which were the same location.
In the very same Reseda strip mall where Kreese beat Kyler and his friends, John Kreese reopened the Cobra Kai dojo without a single student to its name.
There were no exposed wires, the mirrors were clean, John Kreese was seventy one years old and owed almost three hundred thousand dollars to two much wealthier and respected men, Terry Silver and Frank Mills.
Now all he had to do was pay it all back. Even if he run the most successful karate school in the world, he would never be able to pay it all back.
Frank had made it clear that for bailing him out of jail, he wanted him to have nothing to do with Lucas' life. A bit tricky given that the dojo was meant to serve as a way to find students to make a go for the same title he already took, but he could figure that out later. Terry's loan was a cold reminder that even his old war buddy, the last person in the world who'd want to help him out unconditionally:
Terry Silver wanted nothing to do with him after all that happened.
And Kyler Park's parents had already reached out through mail after the Cobra Kai dojo opened.
John Kreese began to staple fliers and papers promoting his dojo all over Reseda, eventually, he began to staple them to telephone poles near a particular apartment complex.
"Hey!"
Kreese turned, recognizing Miguel who hopped off his bicycle.
"Hey you're, you're that guy!"
Kreese didn't even grimace. "Yes. I'm that guy," he said dryly.
"You're opening up a karate school?" Miguel checked the paper.
"It's called a dojo," Kreese said.
"I never really did karate, my mom was always against contact sports."
Kreese could tell.
Miguel smiled widely, showing his braces. "I wanted to thank you for the other day. It was pretty brutal but-"
"Life is brutal son." Kreese stapled the last paper to the telephone pole and kept walking, completely ignoring Miguel. "There's no need for thanks."
Miguel caught up to him. "Wait up I mean. I think what you did is pretty cool all things considered."
"I appreciate it." Kreese did not sound at all like he did so, barely blinking an eye.
Miguel held the flyer out to Kreese. "Think you can give me a shot? I see you need new students."
"And why would I do that?" Kreese said.
The first impression he got from Miguel was that as scrappy as he was, he had no real idea how to fight. He could barely land anything solid on Kyler, even without any training, his courage alone lacked some merit.
"Because I can pay?" Miguel shrugged. "Because it might be fun, and I need it. Don't you need students too?"
Kreese looked around the mostly empty street next to Miguel's apartment complex.
"So you really want to try?" Kreese gathered he had no idea what actual Cobra Kai training under him entailed.
"Yeah!" said Miguel.
"Fine then."
Kreese smiled maliciously and Miguel smiled widely too, Kreese patted Miguel's shoulder and began to walk off in the direction of the dojo.
Johnny Lawrence was taking the trash out when he saw this, and almost was going to do something when he hesitated, shaking his head.
…
Kreese stood in front of Miguel in a sleeveless black GI, Miguel was silent and wearing gym shorts and an old and baggy Naruto t-shirt.
Miguel didn't know what to do until Kreese finally spoke.
"You ready to begin?"
"Yes."
"You have to say. Yes Sensei."
"Er." Miguel felt awkward. "Yes Sensei?"
"Great," Kreese said.
Kreese hit Miguel directly in the solar plexus with his elbow and then swept him off his feet with a one handed hip throw. Even as a senior, Kreese was that strong and quick, this had all taken about two seconds.
Miguel groaned on the mat, wincing, his air knocked completely out of him twice.
"First lesson!" barked Kreese. "You have to strike first!"
Miguel could barely nod, barely able to get up.
Kreese pointed down to Miguel. "Mental toughness is one thing. But you have to be smart. Aware! Vigilant. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Sensei." Miguel groaned painfully, wheezing.
Miguel slowly stood up after catching his breath and Kreese spoke.
"You do not wait for the enemy to attack," Kreese said. "You hit him first, always. Is that understood?"
Miguel leaned over, nodding. "Yes, Sensei."
Miguel tried to remove something stashed in his shorts.
"Weakness does not e-"
When he pulled out his inhaler from his pocket, Kreese froze, saying nothing.
"What is that?"
Miguel used his inhaler, speaking quickly. "I have asthma, and I need this to-"
"Asthma? Like a disability?"
"Er. Yeah. Have you never heard of asthma?"
Kreese tilted his head slightly.
"Sorry, have you never heard of asthma, Sensei?"
"No. In my day you were just called what you were. Weak."
Miguel was shocked when Kreese smacked his inhaler right out of his hand and against the wall.
"Uh, Sensei, what're you-"
"You see those trophies over there?"
Miguel nodded, and assumed correctly they were from decades ago when Kreese started running Cobra Kai.
"People misunderstand champion hood all the time." Kreese said calmly, squinting at Miguel. "You don't just get into physical shape. You get into mental shape. To become a Cobra, you have to think like a fighter, and stop being a civilian."
"Civilian?"
"Regular thinking is that having an inhaler is acceptable. You think like a soldier? In war, there is no chance for weakness, you can lose your life."
Miguel was confused, looking around at the dojo a bit and then at Kreese. "My life? But this is just karate training, not-
"This training is about more than just karate!" Kreese pointed back to the black words on the wall. "Again, the first lesson of Cobra Kai is to strike first. It's about life, not just fighting. Your enemies are everywhere and in everything, so you have to be ready for anything. There is no time or place for you to draw an inhaler, in the middle of a real fight."
Kreese flicked his nose towards the broken inhaler Miguel had next to the wall. "A champion never won a thing breathing from a tiny plastic cup. And at Cobra Kai, you train to be a champion. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sensei but, I have a condition. A doctor prescribed me that inhaler-"
"I said. Is that understood?"
Miguel nearly took a step back.
Kreese spoke slowly. "I don't care if it takes you a day. Or a week, or a month, or a year. Or the rest of your life. But unless you no longer have lungs, you will train and fight like a normal person. So you're either a Cobra Kai, and a winner." Kreese glanced at the door. "Or you need an inhaler, and a loser, and I'll be happy to escort you out. Is that understood?"
Miguel felt more fear than he ever did in his life knowing what Kreese did to four boys much larger and stronger than him just on his own.
However, he kept his composure and nodded.
"Yes Sensei."
"Good. Knuckle pushups, go."
"Until when?"
"Until you feel like you're gonna puke. Bathroom's in the back."
Miguel's first reaction was fear, but according to Kreese's lesson, he was supposed to overcome his limits.
Even if it hurt. A lot.
…
For almost two hours, John Kreese exclusively trained Miguel's cardio.
He made him do pushups on his knuckles and Kreese did actually have to stand next to the door when Miguel nearly threw up.
Then, he really did.
Proud of him without showing it for not giving up, Kreese nodded and gestured back to the mat.
After Miguel caught his breath, he started to run laps around the mat until parts of it were splattered with his sweat.
Panting and leaning over, wincing, feeling like he was passing out, Miguel groaned.
"What's the next drill?"
"We're done for the day."
Miguel watched Kreese retreat into his office with a nod.
Miguel caught his breath and walked over, soaked in sweat to Kreese's office.
"But you never taught me any actual karate Sensei." he panted out.
Kreese sat in his desk chair, slicing open the end of a cigar.
"Do you not trust what I'm doing kid?"
"Sort of Sensei?" asked Miguel. "I get stamina is important, but that can't be the only part of karate."
Kreese nodded slightly, lighting his cigar and leaning on his office desk on his elbows. "So you want a karate lesson?"
"Yes, of course, that's why I'm here!"
Kreese nodded a bit. He looked at Miguel plainly. "Stop talking so much and listen to what I say. And I guarantee, I promise, you'll learn Cobra Kai karate. Technically, you already did."
"What do you mean?"
"In Cobra Kai, you have to let go of fear. Embrace your strength, you will never be able to do that until you stop needing a little cup to keep breathing. Today we're focusing on removing that weakness, you overcome that. And you'll be ready to strike."
Miguel understood this a bit, not enough to nod in agreement, but enough to not question Kreese. Until he wondered just who all those trophies belonged to.
"Don't take this the wrong way Sensei but, who have you trained?"
"Two All Valley Under 18 Karate champions."
Miguel's eyes widened, knowing that title had to be important. "Really? What were they like?"
Kreese looked around the dojo. "It's getting late kid, you should get home."
"Shouldn't you too?"
Kreese slightly widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows. "What did I say about talking too much?"
"Er. Sorry Sensei."
Miguel bowed quickly and Kreese nodded his head back slightly.
Miguel left the dojo on his bicycle, and Kreese smoked his cigar in silence.
…
John Kreese remembered the days when Johnny Lawrence was sixteen years old.
Shortly after winning his first All Valley trophy, Kreese took the team to every karate tournament he could find in southern California.
Bobby, Jimmy, Tommy, Dutch, and the rest of the dojo went in black and sleeveless gold rimmed karategis to compete.
There were several tournaments, hosted by local karate dojos either in highschool gyms or actually in their own dojos, but none were as large as the All Valley, nor were they ever in a place as large as the All Valley Sports Arena.
Eventually, Johnny actually lost one tournament, and was given a second place trophy.
John Kreese was curious as to how Johnny would respond since it was the first time since he sparred with Darryl Vidal two years prior that he had lost.
Johnny was looking at his trophy sadly when he refused to place it in on the entrance glass cases by the Cobra Kai karate dojo on Lankershim and Magnolia.
"Not feeling too great son?"
Johnny shook his head. "Why should I? I lost."
Kreese explained quietly. "Even I couldn't have won that match."
"What're you talking about?"
"Whether intentionally or not, the judging was terrible." Kreese shrugged. "It just happens in karate."
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
"Because like I said, it happens in karate."
Johnny was confused. "So, you let me lose?"
"No."
Kreese put a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "I will only ever be upset, when I know you could've won the match and you didn't try your best. Defeat, does not exist in this dojo, but some victories are just out of grasp."
"But, winning is what Cobra Kai is all about. We're champions."
"Champions don't lose, and you didn't lose today." Kreese tapped a finger on the center of Johnny's chest. "When you lose for real, and you shouldn't have. I'll let you know. Is that understood, Mr. Lawrence?"
"Yes Sensei." he handed the trophy to Kreese.
Kreese gave a nod and Johnny left the dojo to go talk to his friends outside the Lankershim dojo about their Sensei.
Who for once, actually let someone accept second place. But Kreese didn't, not deep down.
He didn't put it in front entrance, but instead, in his office, as a constant reminder of Johnny's desire to improve.
Kreese walked past the picture of Kim Sun-Yung and all his trophies Cobra Kai had collected, and shook his head in disappointment at what he had told his student.
It would have to be put up to him, to never let his students fail.
"Defeat, does not exist." he muttered.
…
Blowing smoke decades later in his newer office instead of his older one, as he puffed on his cigar, John Kreese wondered how he'd react knowing what he knew now back then.
Cobra Kai had lost so many times by now that he wondered how to treat Miguel, how to teach the dojo moving forward. Even Lucas' victory lacked what Kreese wanted, because he wanted nothing to do with Kreese anymore.
He could try to change that, but he knew him. When his mind was made up, there was very little Kreese could do to change that. He was as stubborn as Ali used to be sometimes, from what he gathered from Johnny.
Stuck up to eyebrows deep in debt, and with only one asthmatic student to his name, Kreese bared his knuckles and looked at them quietly.
After some thought, Kreese chose the determining factor to teach his karate. How he'd have to grow his name.
"No mercy." he muttered to himself.
…
…
…
A/N:
In Season 4, Terry Silver eventually does help out John Kreese the best he can. I wish I wasn't spoiling the show so much but the latest season, Season 6, came out a month and a half ago.
Anyway, Silver does his damndest to make sure Cobra Kai is successful. Both teaching and bankrolling the dojo with high tech equipment and gear. But the circumstances during that season were far different. Kreese already had a dojo with fighters with the likes of Tory and Robby and Eli, not to mention Miguel had won the All Valley and joined Cobra Kai recently before then. My point is, Kreese has nothing but empty promises and bad memories to give Silver, unlike during Season 4 when he genuinely just needed a partner to teach.
I do believe he'd react different when seeing Kreese even if he could pull the 'I saved your life in Vietnam' card. As shown by the end of Season 4, Silver can only let him play the guilt card for so long before he doesn't view Kreese's friendship as favorable to him. He's just that sort of person.
Anyway, you won't be seeing Terry Silver at all for like, another two season's worth of fanfiction in equivalency to the show? Thank you all for reading, and stay safe.
…
John Kreese found Terry Silver's home to be as luxurious as he remembered, but was surprised when a woman answered the door.
"Um. Hello?"
"Yes." Kreese said quietly. "I'm looking for Terry Silver, I'm an old friend of his."
"Really? Terrance never mentioned you."
Kreese smiled lightly at the woman with curly hair and a slight accent. "Well I promise you, he'll remember me."
The woman shook Kreese's hand. "Well I'm Cheyenne, Terry's partner. And your name?"
"John."
"Honey I think Jinko's is actually too busy this time of, even I can't get a reservat-"
Silver froze, seeing Kreese stand on his front porch.
"Tion."
Cheyenne kept smiling. "So it seems he does remember you."
"Can we talk?" Kreese nodded. "Terrance?"
Silver slowly nodded.
…
The two shared some iced cognac on Silver's back porch.
"I don't see you in over thirty years, and the first thing you ask me for is help?"
Kreese sighed. "Quite frankly I'm in deep. You remember my old champion, Johnny Lawrence?"
"Hard to forget." Silver smiled slightly before sipping from his glass.
"He had an old girlfriend, Ali Mills-"
"Yes, the blonde girl. Hard to forget her too, caused all that trouble."
Kreese did not appreciate how Silver cut him off, judging by Silver's tone, he blamed Kreese for what he just described. Kreese nodded and spoke lightly. "Her father wants me out of the Valley for good, bailed me out of prison yesterday."
"What did you get in prison for?" asked Silver.
Kreese shrugged. "A small disagreement."
Silver smiled at this quietly. "Doesn't sound so small."
"Anyways. I owe him well over a hundred thousand all said and done." Kreese muttered.
Silver nodded. "And you want me to cover you?"
"I want to repay the debt I've always owed you, Terry," Kreese said. "I can and will do it on my own this time."
Silver grinned widely. "Make a superstar karate team, like we were supposed to."
"We had a chance, back in the 80s. Those boys, if you'd only met them-"
"Don't, guilt trip me." Silver threatened quietly. "You said you handled the training, and I handled the bills. That was all, so don't act like you had everything under control."
Kreese frowned, leaning on the railing of Silver's back porch. "I wasn't."
"So, you want me back in the game or some nonsense?"
Kreese shook his head. "I want your support in opening a new Cobra Kai dojo. I get our name back on its feet, and I promise you, you'll get your money back."
"You want a loan? When you're already massively in debt?"
Kreese was silent for about twenty seconds, as if he had something very deep he needed to admit to who previously was his best friend.
His only real friend.
Kreese glanced down at this glass quietly. "I've been ready to die for some time now Terry," he muttered calmly. "There's nothing more painful than having an old dream die twice. But I'll give anything for a third try, just one more chance."
Silver seemed deeply pensive over this, and after a quick moment he spoke.
"What do you mean a third try?"
"Recent events have drawn me into conflict with Ali Mills' family, I had a chance to train a student beyond Johnny's original two All Valley title limit. This kid of hers was-" Kreese scoffed. "Unlike anyone I've ever trained, he was on the same level of Johnny Lawrence, except already used to competitive sports and used to martial arts when I met him. The kid took the All Valley Golden trophy with a year of training consisting of loading dock sparring and conditioning. No real mats, no real training partners, nothing like that."
"Yeah I think I read a small article in the paper about someone breaking almost every All Valley record in their first attempt. And you feel you have a debt to settle with them? Even after everything that happened?"
Kreese spoke in a low, furious, but oddly calm voice. "With every cell in my body."
"What happened between you two? Why'd he leave your tutelage?"
"He walked away from being a Cobra Kai without even blinking after we had a disagreement."
"And why not reach out to him again, try clear things up?" Silver put his hands in his expensive sports jacket trousers and shrugged a bit. "You know, figure things out with a good old fashioned heart to heart?"
"I had nothing to apologize for. And even if I did." Kreese mumbled. "Mercy is for the weak."
"Oh...." Silver chuckled, rubbing his face. He clapped his hands together slightly and muttered. "Damnit Johnny, it's a little too late for us to be doing this again but. Screw it, I'm too curious to see how it goes if you try again."
Kreese raised an eyebrow.
"Okay. I'll set you up at the cheapest location I can find. Probably someplace in Reseda, getting it licensed and operational. All told, probably seventy-five grand or maybe even twice that much depending on how things roll out given that the city has so many barriers on new and small businesses." Silver nodded to himself. "I'm not doing this for old time's sake, this is the last favor I'll ever give you John so you can be out of my hair for good. Don't expect another one, unlike last time, this is a loan. So it damn well better work out, because the last time we spoke like this. It failed."
"I won't fail."
"You better not. I'm in this solely as a businessman this time, I expect to hear nothing at all from you. No more favors, no more bailouts or loans. I set up this dojo, you win, make back some money. And then we'll never hear from each other again."
Kreese gave a ponytail-less Silver a slight nod, finished his cognac, and began to leave.
What truly impressed Silver was that Kreese was so obsessed with this idea of revenge, that he didn't even question or doubt Silver's decision to treat this like a simple business transaction. During the 1980s when Kreese wanted revenge again, he seemed grateful that Silver was willing to go so far for him.
And now? Kreese didn't even mutter his thank you.
Silver turned around, looking at Kreese over his shoulder. "What the hell made you want to come back to this mess? Hatred? Spite? Revenge?"
Kreese needed about a few seconds to think.
"A kid."
"The kid you mentioned?"
"He taught me the kids of the Valley aren't as soft as I once thought."
"If he's that special? Why go this far for revenge?"
Silver didn't really care that Kreese didn't respond.
…
After two more days living on the streets, Kreese was contacted by Silver and was given a home and a place to work, which were the same location.
In the very same Reseda strip mall where Kreese beat Kyler and his friends, John Kreese reopened the Cobra Kai dojo without a single student to its name.
There were no exposed wires, the mirrors were clean, John Kreese was seventy one years old and owed almost three hundred thousand dollars to two much wealthier and respected men, Terry Silver and Frank Mills.
Now all he had to do was pay it all back. Even if he run the most successful karate school in the world, he would never be able to pay it all back.
Frank had made it clear that for bailing him out of jail, he wanted him to have nothing to do with Lucas' life. A bit tricky given that the dojo was meant to serve as a way to find students to make a go for the same title he already took, but he could figure that out later. Terry's loan was a cold reminder that even his old war buddy, the last person in the world who'd want to help him out unconditionally:
Terry Silver wanted nothing to do with him after all that happened.
And Kyler Park's parents had already reached out through mail after the Cobra Kai dojo opened.
John Kreese began to staple fliers and papers promoting his dojo all over Reseda, eventually, he began to staple them to telephone poles near a particular apartment complex.
"Hey!"
Kreese turned, recognizing Miguel who hopped off his bicycle.
"Hey you're, you're that guy!"
Kreese didn't even grimace. "Yes. I'm that guy," he said dryly.
"You're opening up a karate school?" Miguel checked the paper.
"It's called a dojo," Kreese said.
"I never really did karate, my mom was always against contact sports."
Kreese could tell.
Miguel smiled widely, showing his braces. "I wanted to thank you for the other day. It was pretty brutal but-"
"Life is brutal son." Kreese stapled the last paper to the telephone pole and kept walking, completely ignoring Miguel. "There's no need for thanks."
Miguel caught up to him. "Wait up I mean. I think what you did is pretty cool all things considered."
"I appreciate it." Kreese did not sound at all like he did so, barely blinking an eye.
Miguel held the flyer out to Kreese. "Think you can give me a shot? I see you need new students."
"And why would I do that?" Kreese said.
The first impression he got from Miguel was that as scrappy as he was, he had no real idea how to fight. He could barely land anything solid on Kyler, even without any training, his courage alone lacked some merit.
"Because I can pay?" Miguel shrugged. "Because it might be fun, and I need it. Don't you need students too?"
Kreese looked around the mostly empty street next to Miguel's apartment complex.
"So you really want to try?" Kreese gathered he had no idea what actual Cobra Kai training under him entailed.
"Yeah!" said Miguel.
"Fine then."
Kreese smiled maliciously and Miguel smiled widely too, Kreese patted Miguel's shoulder and began to walk off in the direction of the dojo.
Johnny Lawrence was taking the trash out when he saw this, and almost was going to do something when he hesitated, shaking his head.
…
Kreese stood in front of Miguel in a sleeveless black GI, Miguel was silent and wearing gym shorts and an old and baggy Naruto t-shirt.
Miguel didn't know what to do until Kreese finally spoke.
"You ready to begin?"
"Yes."
"You have to say. Yes Sensei."
"Er." Miguel felt awkward. "Yes Sensei?"
"Great," Kreese said.
Kreese hit Miguel directly in the solar plexus with his elbow and then swept him off his feet with a one handed hip throw. Even as a senior, Kreese was that strong and quick, this had all taken about two seconds.
Miguel groaned on the mat, wincing, his air knocked completely out of him twice.
"First lesson!" barked Kreese. "You have to strike first!"
Miguel could barely nod, barely able to get up.
Kreese pointed down to Miguel. "Mental toughness is one thing. But you have to be smart. Aware! Vigilant. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Sensei." Miguel groaned painfully, wheezing.
Miguel slowly stood up after catching his breath and Kreese spoke.
"You do not wait for the enemy to attack," Kreese said. "You hit him first, always. Is that understood?"
Miguel leaned over, nodding. "Yes, Sensei."
Miguel tried to remove something stashed in his shorts.
"Weakness does not e-"
When he pulled out his inhaler from his pocket, Kreese froze, saying nothing.
"What is that?"
Miguel used his inhaler, speaking quickly. "I have asthma, and I need this to-"
"Asthma? Like a disability?"
"Er. Yeah. Have you never heard of asthma?"
Kreese tilted his head slightly.
"Sorry, have you never heard of asthma, Sensei?"
"No. In my day you were just called what you were. Weak."
Miguel was shocked when Kreese smacked his inhaler right out of his hand and against the wall.
"Uh, Sensei, what're you-"
"You see those trophies over there?"
Miguel nodded, and assumed correctly they were from decades ago when Kreese started running Cobra Kai.
"People misunderstand champion hood all the time." Kreese said calmly, squinting at Miguel. "You don't just get into physical shape. You get into mental shape. To become a Cobra, you have to think like a fighter, and stop being a civilian."
"Civilian?"
"Regular thinking is that having an inhaler is acceptable. You think like a soldier? In war, there is no chance for weakness, you can lose your life."
Miguel was confused, looking around at the dojo a bit and then at Kreese. "My life? But this is just karate training, not-
"This training is about more than just karate!" Kreese pointed back to the black words on the wall. "Again, the first lesson of Cobra Kai is to strike first. It's about life, not just fighting. Your enemies are everywhere and in everything, so you have to be ready for anything. There is no time or place for you to draw an inhaler, in the middle of a real fight."
Kreese flicked his nose towards the broken inhaler Miguel had next to the wall. "A champion never won a thing breathing from a tiny plastic cup. And at Cobra Kai, you train to be a champion. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sensei but, I have a condition. A doctor prescribed me that inhaler-"
"I said. Is that understood?"
Miguel nearly took a step back.
Kreese spoke slowly. "I don't care if it takes you a day. Or a week, or a month, or a year. Or the rest of your life. But unless you no longer have lungs, you will train and fight like a normal person. So you're either a Cobra Kai, and a winner." Kreese glanced at the door. "Or you need an inhaler, and a loser, and I'll be happy to escort you out. Is that understood?"
Miguel felt more fear than he ever did in his life knowing what Kreese did to four boys much larger and stronger than him just on his own.
However, he kept his composure and nodded.
"Yes Sensei."
"Good. Knuckle pushups, go."
"Until when?"
"Until you feel like you're gonna puke. Bathroom's in the back."
Miguel's first reaction was fear, but according to Kreese's lesson, he was supposed to overcome his limits.
Even if it hurt. A lot.
…
For almost two hours, John Kreese exclusively trained Miguel's cardio.
He made him do pushups on his knuckles and Kreese did actually have to stand next to the door when Miguel nearly threw up.
Then, he really did.
Proud of him without showing it for not giving up, Kreese nodded and gestured back to the mat.
After Miguel caught his breath, he started to run laps around the mat until parts of it were splattered with his sweat.
Panting and leaning over, wincing, feeling like he was passing out, Miguel groaned.
"What's the next drill?"
"We're done for the day."
Miguel watched Kreese retreat into his office with a nod.
Miguel caught his breath and walked over, soaked in sweat to Kreese's office.
"But you never taught me any actual karate Sensei." he panted out.
Kreese sat in his desk chair, slicing open the end of a cigar.
"Do you not trust what I'm doing kid?"
"Sort of Sensei?" asked Miguel. "I get stamina is important, but that can't be the only part of karate."
Kreese nodded slightly, lighting his cigar and leaning on his office desk on his elbows. "So you want a karate lesson?"
"Yes, of course, that's why I'm here!"
Kreese nodded a bit. He looked at Miguel plainly. "Stop talking so much and listen to what I say. And I guarantee, I promise, you'll learn Cobra Kai karate. Technically, you already did."
"What do you mean?"
"In Cobra Kai, you have to let go of fear. Embrace your strength, you will never be able to do that until you stop needing a little cup to keep breathing. Today we're focusing on removing that weakness, you overcome that. And you'll be ready to strike."
Miguel understood this a bit, not enough to nod in agreement, but enough to not question Kreese. Until he wondered just who all those trophies belonged to.
"Don't take this the wrong way Sensei but, who have you trained?"
"Two All Valley Under 18 Karate champions."
Miguel's eyes widened, knowing that title had to be important. "Really? What were they like?"
Kreese looked around the dojo. "It's getting late kid, you should get home."
"Shouldn't you too?"
Kreese slightly widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows. "What did I say about talking too much?"
"Er. Sorry Sensei."
Miguel bowed quickly and Kreese nodded his head back slightly.
Miguel left the dojo on his bicycle, and Kreese smoked his cigar in silence.
…
John Kreese remembered the days when Johnny Lawrence was sixteen years old.
Shortly after winning his first All Valley trophy, Kreese took the team to every karate tournament he could find in southern California.
Bobby, Jimmy, Tommy, Dutch, and the rest of the dojo went in black and sleeveless gold rimmed karategis to compete.
There were several tournaments, hosted by local karate dojos either in highschool gyms or actually in their own dojos, but none were as large as the All Valley, nor were they ever in a place as large as the All Valley Sports Arena.
Eventually, Johnny actually lost one tournament, and was given a second place trophy.
John Kreese was curious as to how Johnny would respond since it was the first time since he sparred with Darryl Vidal two years prior that he had lost.
Johnny was looking at his trophy sadly when he refused to place it in on the entrance glass cases by the Cobra Kai karate dojo on Lankershim and Magnolia.
"Not feeling too great son?"
Johnny shook his head. "Why should I? I lost."
Kreese explained quietly. "Even I couldn't have won that match."
"What're you talking about?"
"Whether intentionally or not, the judging was terrible." Kreese shrugged. "It just happens in karate."
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
"Because like I said, it happens in karate."
Johnny was confused. "So, you let me lose?"
"No."
Kreese put a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "I will only ever be upset, when I know you could've won the match and you didn't try your best. Defeat, does not exist in this dojo, but some victories are just out of grasp."
"But, winning is what Cobra Kai is all about. We're champions."
"Champions don't lose, and you didn't lose today." Kreese tapped a finger on the center of Johnny's chest. "When you lose for real, and you shouldn't have. I'll let you know. Is that understood, Mr. Lawrence?"
"Yes Sensei." he handed the trophy to Kreese.
Kreese gave a nod and Johnny left the dojo to go talk to his friends outside the Lankershim dojo about their Sensei.
Who for once, actually let someone accept second place. But Kreese didn't, not deep down.
He didn't put it in front entrance, but instead, in his office, as a constant reminder of Johnny's desire to improve.
Kreese walked past the picture of Kim Sun-Yung and all his trophies Cobra Kai had collected, and shook his head in disappointment at what he had told his student.
It would have to be put up to him, to never let his students fail.
"Defeat, does not exist." he muttered.
…
Blowing smoke decades later in his newer office instead of his older one, as he puffed on his cigar, John Kreese wondered how he'd react knowing what he knew now back then.
Cobra Kai had lost so many times by now that he wondered how to treat Miguel, how to teach the dojo moving forward. Even Lucas' victory lacked what Kreese wanted, because he wanted nothing to do with Kreese anymore.
He could try to change that, but he knew him. When his mind was made up, there was very little Kreese could do to change that. He was as stubborn as Ali used to be sometimes, from what he gathered from Johnny.
Stuck up to eyebrows deep in debt, and with only one asthmatic student to his name, Kreese bared his knuckles and looked at them quietly.
After some thought, Kreese chose the determining factor to teach his karate. How he'd have to grow his name.
"No mercy." he muttered to himself.
…
…
…
A/N:
In Season 4, Terry Silver eventually does help out John Kreese the best he can. I wish I wasn't spoiling the show so much but the latest season, Season 6, came out a month and a half ago.
Anyway, Silver does his damndest to make sure Cobra Kai is successful. Both teaching and bankrolling the dojo with high tech equipment and gear. But the circumstances during that season were far different. Kreese already had a dojo with fighters with the likes of Tory and Robby and Eli, not to mention Miguel had won the All Valley and joined Cobra Kai recently before then. My point is, Kreese has nothing but empty promises and bad memories to give Silver, unlike during Season 4 when he genuinely just needed a partner to teach.
I do believe he'd react different when seeing Kreese even if he could pull the 'I saved your life in Vietnam' card. As shown by the end of Season 4, Silver can only let him play the guilt card for so long before he doesn't view Kreese's friendship as favorable to him. He's just that sort of person.
Anyway, you won't be seeing Terry Silver at all for like, another two season's worth of fanfiction in equivalency to the show? Thank you all for reading, and stay safe.
Book 2 - Chapter 3
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Chapter Three: Miyagi-Dojo
…
Cobra Kai OST: Miyagi-Do
…
Lucas Schwarber opened the front door to the Mills Manor.
"You here to lecture me again?" he asked tiredly.
Daniel shook his head slightly. "Come with me."
Daniel drove Lucas for a bit in his ostentatious car to an abandoned home.
The entire property was a dilapidated mess, no one had lived there in decades. All the old cars had covers on them, and there wasn't one part of the property that wasn't run down.
"Wait a minute, is this?" Lucas closed the passenger side to the car after Daniel parked on the front yard's gravel. "Is this where I think it is?"
"Yup. Welcome to Miyagi-Do," said Daniel.
"Why am I here?"
Daniel smiled at him, walking closer to him. "You wanted an internship? Well, here's your internship."
"A karate internship?"
Daniel shook his head. "No."
Lucas looked around the property as Daniel spoke. "This was Mr. Miyagi's home at one point, and it will be yours too now. You will spend every single day of the rest of your summer if necessary bringing this property back to life. To what it once looked like."
Lucas squinted, looking at the cans of paint and soap everywhere. "Wait. You want me doing basic kata again?"
"Among other things."
"I'm an All Valley champion." chuckled Lucas. "I know every form, every move in Miyagi-Do. The spinning hands, the fly catching counter, everything. Why am I doing fundamentals again?"
"Because you broke your own fundamentals. Miyagi-Do's fundamentals."
Daniel nodded to Lucas slightly.
"Trust."
Lucas looked away.
"I know you and your parents have a, complicated relationship. And you have an even more complicated one with John Kreese."
He was looking down at his shoes.
"But the most essential part of Miyagi-Do, is the promise. The promise that you'll trust my teachings, you'll trust what you can learn. Without that, none of the karate matters. None of what you do, or practice here, matters."
Lucas met Daniel's eyes.
"I promise I'll leave Cobra Kai behind. You-"
"I can't trust that. Trust takes time to build." Daniel looked around Mr. Miyagi's house. "And you've got a long road ahead of you, you better get started."
Lucas nodded and walked to the front porch, about to open the traditional sliding wooden door.
"Oh no." Daniel chuckled. "You won't be going in there for a long time."
"Until when?"
"Until you've made it clear you've properly appreciated what I can teach you. You're an incredible fighter Lucas, you know the physical side of karate in and out." Daniel winced for a moment. "But I'm here to properly give you morals, teach you about life. That was Miyagi-Do's essence, it was never about fighting."
Lucas was confused. "But you said no one could do it like I could."
"Yup, no one could win an All Valley as young or as well as you did. But there's something you have to know."
A teenage Daniel was walking along the beach in an orange towel, speaking to Miyagi about the crane kick. "Could you teach me?"
"First learn stand. Then learn fly, nature rule Daniel-san, not mine."
Daniel echoed his old mentor to Ali's son. "First learn stand, then learn fly."
"What in the world does that mean?"
"You gotta be patient and observant. Then, everything will make sense."
Daniel turned around and began to drive back to LaRusso Auto. "If you go inside that house before I tell you, I won't ever let you near Miyagi-Do again Luke."
Lucas froze, but still picked up the paint can and paint brush as Daniel drove back.
When Daniel returned, he found Lucas wearing a tank top with his jacket tied around his waist, he was kneeling, practicing Paint the Fence.
Daniel smiled as he parked the car and remembered his own teenage years as Mr. Miyagi taught him to Paint the Fence as well.
Lucas' hand went up, and down, breathing in, and out.
The June sun was sweltering and hot, Lucas spent hours painting the entire fence line just the Miyagi-Do way.
Daniel reminisced, of the Pact he made with Mr. Miyagi, of his first months learning karate.
Lucas was a completely different teenager entirely, and Daniel knew this, but he watched Lucas closely as he painted and painted.
The brush strokes were careful and long and thick. Lucas knew the kata extremely well, the trick was to keep the hand steady and to be calm and precise.
It took two days almost, but Lucas painted both sides of Mr. Miyagi's fence line, and he was only a fraction of the way through reviving the entire property back to its former glory.
…
Lucas put the finishing touches on the last fence board and then sat back down.
Daniel would always pop in every few hours to check in on his progress, occasionally bringing snacks and food.
"Good job."
Lucas sat on the front porch of Mr. Miyagi's home, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
He took the half sandwich and water bottle Daniel handed to him, and then offered a piece back.
Daniel didn't accept it.
Instead, he spoke. "You went into the house didn't you?"
"No."
"You did."
"No I didn't, I swear."
Daniel watched Lucas closely again, he didn't flinch or get angry or scared, he merely raised his hands and shook his head.
Lucas watched as Daniel stood up and went inside his old mentor's house.
After a moment, he returned and spoke, sitting back down to him.
There was silence between the two for a moment.
"You listened to me."
Lucas nodded a bit, hiding how shocked he was that Daniel could just tell. "Maybe."
"If you were inside the house, what would you want to see?"
"Pictures. Just, of what it was like for you to be with Mr. Miyagi when you were a kid."
Daniel shifted where he sat on the front porch next to Lucas.
"I'm curious though. I know you're so defensive about it because of what happened between us, but still, how come I can never go in?"
Daniel spoke calmly. "I technically never brought anyone here."
"Really?"
"Mr. Miyagi trained Sam a little bit when she was very young at the home dojo. But this place, this place was special."
Lucas and Daniel then silently sat together as Lucas finished his sandwich.
Daniel spoke. "You absorb the techniques of Miyagi-Do better than I've ever seen them. But I aim to teach you to trust, to trust me, to trust the way life can just be sometimes."
Lucas listened.
"What Mr. Miyagi taught me ironically helped me deal with his passing more than anything else."
"Life can happen, but that's alright."
Daniel glanced at Lucas.
"Yes. Life can happen."
A bird twittered above, when it fluttered from branch to branch above Mr. Miyagi's home.
"You lying to me about Kreese hurt." admitted Daniel. "But not as much as you lying to me to begin with."
Daniel frowned. "I know Cobra Kai can have its, attraction. Believe me, everyone wanted to be a Cobra Kai when I was in high school."
Daniel squinted at Lucas, who nodded. "But you have to sacrifice a part of yourself for power. Always. Especially that kind, don't lose who you are Luke, because I thought you did, I almost lost trust in you for good."
He said nothing.
"I still don't know if you're ready to join Miyagi-Do again yet. But I'll give you this, I do recognize how much you truly seem to care these days."
"Thank you Mr. LaRusso."
"I'll let you spend some time again with Anthony and Sam. Besides, you've earned it."
Lucas then smiled.
…
Daniel and Lucas walked inside the LaRusso home where Amanda was fixing her earring.
"Hey honey, we gotta go now. The Robinsons are already there." Amanda smiled quickly. "Hey, Lucas. Long time no see."
"Hey Mrs. L." Lucas smiled back slightly. "Already, where?"
"The annual summer party at the country club. I think your grandparents are coming, I'll let them know you're not going." said Daniel.
Amanda looked at Daniel. "It almost sounds like you forgot."
"Uh. Something came up, can we get going?"
Already playing a game on his iPad, Anthony waddled past. "Hey Luke."
He nodded to him and Amanda spoke to Lucas. "It was nice seeing you again, Sam's up in her room."
"She's not coming with us?"
"Her friends are coming over." said Amanda.
As Anthony walked to the car Amanda and Daniel had a hurried discussion in the hallway of their front yard.
"Are you sure it's a good idea leaving two teenagers alone together?" asked Daniel.
Amanda scoffed. "Oh please, I don't think anything will happen considering what's happened."
…
Lucas walked up to Sam's room, where she was wrapping up a video call with her friends.
She looked up with a frown to see Lucas in her bedroom door frame.
"Hey."
Sam nodded a bit. "Hey. What have you been up to lately?"
"Your dad gave me an internship again."
"Nice," Sam said flatly. "What's it like?"
"Plenty of yardwork."
Sam was confused. "Yardwork?"
"Oh um." Lucas sighed quickly. "How have you been? Haven't seen you since the start of summer."
"Just been hanging out with Moon and Yas, they're coming over in a second."
Sam tutted.
"Speaking of which, can you help me with something?"
"Sure."
…
Sam and Lucas were setting up snacks and drinks in the LaRusso's backyard pool area.
"So you're having company?"
"Yup." Sam kept her back turned to Lucas, wearing a pink swimsuit beneath a long white t-shirt.
Lucas took a beer out of the ice cooler Sam had. "Ah. Bold I see."
"Don't give me that look, I'm not the only one lying to my dad."
Lucas tossed the beer back inside the ice cooler. "Gotta get some more chips," he mumbled, walking back towards the kitchen.
"Sorry I mean."
Lucas frowned. "I know what you meant Sam, it's all good."
Sam let Lucas come back with more chips in a large plastic bowl and then spoke to him. "So, we're good?"
He ignored the question with his own. "Trying to impress someone?" Lucas tapped the ice cooler with his bare foot. "A guy maybe?"
Sam looked away, holding her arms. "Kyler?" asked Lucas.
"It's none of your business."
"It's cool if you are, he's great at wrestling. He's funny too."
"Stop it."
Lucas chuckled. "I'm just messing with you, the beers don't bother me."
Sam checked her phone. "Moon just pulled up."
Four members of West Valley High school's cheer squad entered the LaRusso's backyard all in bikinis.
Yasmine, Moon, and two other girls, Mackenzie and Lindsay all walked in, clearly good friends with Sam already.
Lucas sat there awkwardly checking his phone while sitting on a couch by the pool.
"Oh my gosh Luke, where have you been all summer?"
Surprised Moon was acting like they were friends, Lucas smiled. "Um. Doing, stuff, for. An internship, it's with Sam's dad."
"Sounds awesome."
Lucas and Moon talked and Lucas noted out of the corner of his eye that Sam was still wearing her white top.
Was Sam shy over her body? He didn't truly mind, but he noted it fast.
Lucas took off his tank top quickly. "I'm gonna just, hop in the pool really quick." he said wearing swim trunks he brought with him from home.
Before Moon could react, Lucas jumped into the LaRusso's pool using a trampoline.
"Guess he got nervous." Yasmine sat down next to Moon on the couch laughing. "Nice abs though."
The two girls giggled and chatted, and Sam awkwardly joined, sitting next to them.
Eventually, Rory, Kyler, Brucks, and a few other of his friends joined the party.
Kyler's face had a burn mark on it and his wrist was in a very tight cast. His other friends were injured too.
Lucas was still running laps like crazy in Sam's pool until eventually, he stopped.
He got out of the pool and Sam walked over, holding a towel.
"Hey. Getting tired yet?"
Lucas laughed. "A little bit."
"Hope you don't mind that Kyler came over."
"Not at all," he said instantly, wrapping the towel around his shoulders.
Brucks burped loudly, sitting in a pool floatie with a black eye. "Yo Schwarber, catch man!"
Lucas barely missed an ice cold beer can to the face.
Brucks and Rory laughed with each other and Lucas nodded. "Thanks dude."
He cracked open the beer can and took a sip.
"Mackenzie had something she wanted to show you on her phone Sam." Moon appeared with a kind smile, and Sam left the side of the pool to join her other friends.
"So." Moon slipped her bare legs into the pool next to Lucas. "Anything else going on this summer besides your internship?"
"It might sound kinda nerdy. But Eli and Demetri and I have been working on a few Lego sets as well as coding a few video games."
Moon laughed, holding a plastic red cup she sipped from. "That sounds awesome actually!"
"Really?"
"Yeah." Lucas gulped, struggling to take his eyes off Moon's perfectly tanned body in a purple bikini. "Can you do me a favor?" Moon smiled, then holding her phone.
"Sure."
"Can you do a flip into the pool for me?"
Lucas nodded and put his beer down.
He then did a back flip off the trampoline into a flying kick that made the whole party cheer.
Both Rory and Brucks high fived him. "Nice man!"
Moon chuckled, handing Lucas his towel when he left.
"That was great, perfect for my Insta. How come you don't follow me?"
Sam began to take notice from nearby, chatting with a few of the other girls.
"Uh. I don't really use Instagram except to promote my stuff for karate."
"You should try it, put yourself out there more." Moon giggled and then pushed Lucas' shoulder slightly, and the two laughed together.
Sam tried laughing with Kyler and pushing his shoulder too when he came by to make gross pool related humor, and he just found it odd.
Sam took a deep breath and then spoke. "Hey Luke, want to race in my pool?"
"Heck yeah I do!" Moon seemed perfectly enthusiastic about the idea too.
Sam looked ready to take her shirt off and race Lucas in her bikini. His eyes even seemed to widen in anticipation.
Before they could though, Daniel LaRusso appeared.
"Alright. Party's over."
He saw Rory exiting the pool. "Is that my swimsuit? Are you all, wearing my swimsuits?"
Lucas was quietly exiting the pool area as quietly as he could.
As Sam and Daniel began to speak, Daniel raised his voice over the leaving teenagers. "Lucas, Mills, Schwarber!" he enunciated each word perfectly.
He turned around slowly.
"Don't think I didn't see you, we'll talk later." Daniel slightly raised an eyebrow.
Lucas winced, turning back around and leaving awkwardly.
"Who are all these people?" asked Daniel.
"My friends." Sam crossed her arms. "I thought you and Mom would be out until later tonight."
"I mean-" Daniel sighed. "Just, clean this all up."
Sam nodded and began to do so before he and Amanda spoke in their kitchen.
…
Daniel frowned. "So I guess something did happen."
"It's not like he and Sam were in the pool together-"
"Don't! Even put that image in my head." Daniel shook his head, rubbing his temples.
Amanda sighed. "Look Sam wants to abandon her old look from middle school. All her friends are cheerleaders, I know how vicious teen girls can be. I think it's healthy for her to fit into that crowd."
"Maybe that old look would be great. Science, karate. Just like Luke, and he gets along perfectly with those kids."
"He doesn't, he used to beat them all up." Amanda deadpanned as Daniel winced painfully at the memory. "And so now Luke does karate again?" Amanda leaned on her kitchen island marble.
Daniel looked away with a slight groan.
"Is that where you were today?"
"Is that wrong?"
"No," said Amanda. "Just that the last time you did karate with him you ended up yelling swear words during a tournament. Never seen you like that before."
"I just want Sam to be safe, teen boys aren't much better than teen girls sometimes."
Amanda laughed. "Don't need to remind me about that either. Just, accept the changes our daughter is going through. You went through the same ones."
Amanda began to put a dish away from the sink. "Maybe spending so much time with Lucas will make you appreciate what it was like to be young once."
Daniel nodded, looking away.
…
Daniel entered Sam's room when she was done video chatting with Moon and Yas and spoke.
"I'm sorry about earlier."
"Don't be," Sam said. "I shouldn't have thrown a party without telling you first."
"Is there a reason why beer was involved?"
Sam frowned. "Not really. It's just." she passed her hand through her hair, brushing it back behind her ear. "Kyler's been having a rough time lately. He got jumped by some homeless guy at a strip mall and-"
"Wait, what the hell happened?"
"I have no idea. All I know is that it took place in Reseda, and now his parents are having some kind of legal trouble with a place called Cobra Kai."
Daniel's eyes widened, as if he was having very violent flashbacks.
"Dad, are you okay?" asked Sam.
Daniel blinked rapidly. "I got to, I got to go."
Sam then watched her father almost run out of her room, she hadn't ever seen him like this.
…
John Kreese nodded with pride at Miguel Diaz, doing knuckle pushups on the mat.
"And up!"
Miguel exploded upwards off his knuckles, sweat dripping off his head.
"Good. And up!"
He bounced upwards again, even managing to land with both feet and both knuckles on the mat once more.
"Perfect that makes fifty five. Aaand, time."
Miguel panted.
"You're improving, good work Diaz."
"Thank you Sensei." he exasperated.
Miguel answered a call from his mother.
They chatted in Spanish for a moment and then Kreese spoke.
"Who was that?"
"My mom, wants me to pick up some groceries on my way back home."
Kreese raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't your father help?" he asked, turning around to start stacking mats away.
"I actually um." Miguel cleared his throat. "Never met him so."
Kreese froze with his back turned to Miguel.
"Did you ever um, meet yours or." Miguel tutted. "Sorry I shouldn't ask."
Kreese mumbled. "You did well tonight son. Go home and get some rest."
"Yes Sensei."
The bell to Reseda's strip mall Cobra Kai karate dojo rang.
"I see old habits die hard."
Kreese turned to look at Daniel.
Miguel stood there awkwardly.
"Old habits include working for a living LaRusso," Kreese muttered. "Not all of us can enjoy lofty car dealerships floating on a silver cloud."
"Didn't know old habits included beating up kids out there." Daniel nodded over his shoulder towards the liquor store nearby.
Kreese nodded towards Miguel. "They were beating up a helpless Mr. Diaz here, now I have to teach him the way of the fist to protect himself."
Miguel smiled awkwardly. "Hi." he waved.
Daniel turned towards Kreese.
"Didn't know you ever protected kids from bullies. Being one yourself."
"You never knew me very well anyway kid." Kreese smirked at Daniel, Miguel added to the sentiment.
Daniel turned towards Miguel now. "Look I'm sorry you got mixed up in this. But if you want to know what an absolute monster this person is, ask someone named Johnny Lawrence what he'd do to his students."
Daniel took a deep breath. "If you want to learn true karate, you can always learn for free at Miyagi-Do."
"Miyagi-what?" Miguel was confused, balling his fists and nearing Daniel.
His Sensei stuck a hand out, stopping Miguel. Kreese inched towards Daniel.
Neither man batted an eye.
"You made a mistake coming here. I opened this place so I can make enough money for legal counsel against the Parks in the assault of their son. But I assure you, I won't have Johnny fighting my battles for me anymore."
Daniel nodded a bit. "You're in for a rude awakening, I promise."
"Anytime LaRusso, anywhere." he chuckled. "Any challenge you have, I'll match it."
Daniel shook his head and left.
Miguel turned to Kreese. "What was that about a Johnny Lawrence?"
"You can find out on your own, I don't really care." Kreese glanced at Miguel before he began to walk to the backroom of the dojo.
Miguel raised an eyebrow and Kreese began to finish speaking. "Again, go home kid. It's been a long day."
Miguel picked up his bicycle outside the Cobra Kai strip mall dojo and began to ride home. "Who in the world is Johnny Lawrence?" he mumbled to himself.
…
…
…
…
Cobra Kai OST: Miyagi-Do
…
Lucas Schwarber opened the front door to the Mills Manor.
"You here to lecture me again?" he asked tiredly.
Daniel shook his head slightly. "Come with me."
Daniel drove Lucas for a bit in his ostentatious car to an abandoned home.
The entire property was a dilapidated mess, no one had lived there in decades. All the old cars had covers on them, and there wasn't one part of the property that wasn't run down.
"Wait a minute, is this?" Lucas closed the passenger side to the car after Daniel parked on the front yard's gravel. "Is this where I think it is?"
"Yup. Welcome to Miyagi-Do," said Daniel.
"Why am I here?"
Daniel smiled at him, walking closer to him. "You wanted an internship? Well, here's your internship."
"A karate internship?"
Daniel shook his head. "No."
Lucas looked around the property as Daniel spoke. "This was Mr. Miyagi's home at one point, and it will be yours too now. You will spend every single day of the rest of your summer if necessary bringing this property back to life. To what it once looked like."
Lucas squinted, looking at the cans of paint and soap everywhere. "Wait. You want me doing basic kata again?"
"Among other things."
"I'm an All Valley champion." chuckled Lucas. "I know every form, every move in Miyagi-Do. The spinning hands, the fly catching counter, everything. Why am I doing fundamentals again?"
"Because you broke your own fundamentals. Miyagi-Do's fundamentals."
Daniel nodded to Lucas slightly.
"Trust."
Lucas looked away.
"I know you and your parents have a, complicated relationship. And you have an even more complicated one with John Kreese."
He was looking down at his shoes.
"But the most essential part of Miyagi-Do, is the promise. The promise that you'll trust my teachings, you'll trust what you can learn. Without that, none of the karate matters. None of what you do, or practice here, matters."
Lucas met Daniel's eyes.
"I promise I'll leave Cobra Kai behind. You-"
"I can't trust that. Trust takes time to build." Daniel looked around Mr. Miyagi's house. "And you've got a long road ahead of you, you better get started."
Lucas nodded and walked to the front porch, about to open the traditional sliding wooden door.
"Oh no." Daniel chuckled. "You won't be going in there for a long time."
"Until when?"
"Until you've made it clear you've properly appreciated what I can teach you. You're an incredible fighter Lucas, you know the physical side of karate in and out." Daniel winced for a moment. "But I'm here to properly give you morals, teach you about life. That was Miyagi-Do's essence, it was never about fighting."
Lucas was confused. "But you said no one could do it like I could."
"Yup, no one could win an All Valley as young or as well as you did. But there's something you have to know."
A teenage Daniel was walking along the beach in an orange towel, speaking to Miyagi about the crane kick. "Could you teach me?"
"First learn stand. Then learn fly, nature rule Daniel-san, not mine."
Daniel echoed his old mentor to Ali's son. "First learn stand, then learn fly."
"What in the world does that mean?"
"You gotta be patient and observant. Then, everything will make sense."
Daniel turned around and began to drive back to LaRusso Auto. "If you go inside that house before I tell you, I won't ever let you near Miyagi-Do again Luke."
Lucas froze, but still picked up the paint can and paint brush as Daniel drove back.
When Daniel returned, he found Lucas wearing a tank top with his jacket tied around his waist, he was kneeling, practicing Paint the Fence.
Daniel smiled as he parked the car and remembered his own teenage years as Mr. Miyagi taught him to Paint the Fence as well.
Lucas' hand went up, and down, breathing in, and out.
The June sun was sweltering and hot, Lucas spent hours painting the entire fence line just the Miyagi-Do way.
Daniel reminisced, of the Pact he made with Mr. Miyagi, of his first months learning karate.
Lucas was a completely different teenager entirely, and Daniel knew this, but he watched Lucas closely as he painted and painted.
The brush strokes were careful and long and thick. Lucas knew the kata extremely well, the trick was to keep the hand steady and to be calm and precise.
It took two days almost, but Lucas painted both sides of Mr. Miyagi's fence line, and he was only a fraction of the way through reviving the entire property back to its former glory.
…
Lucas put the finishing touches on the last fence board and then sat back down.
Daniel would always pop in every few hours to check in on his progress, occasionally bringing snacks and food.
"Good job."
Lucas sat on the front porch of Mr. Miyagi's home, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
He took the half sandwich and water bottle Daniel handed to him, and then offered a piece back.
Daniel didn't accept it.
Instead, he spoke. "You went into the house didn't you?"
"No."
"You did."
"No I didn't, I swear."
Daniel watched Lucas closely again, he didn't flinch or get angry or scared, he merely raised his hands and shook his head.
Lucas watched as Daniel stood up and went inside his old mentor's house.
After a moment, he returned and spoke, sitting back down to him.
There was silence between the two for a moment.
"You listened to me."
Lucas nodded a bit, hiding how shocked he was that Daniel could just tell. "Maybe."
"If you were inside the house, what would you want to see?"
"Pictures. Just, of what it was like for you to be with Mr. Miyagi when you were a kid."
Daniel shifted where he sat on the front porch next to Lucas.
"I'm curious though. I know you're so defensive about it because of what happened between us, but still, how come I can never go in?"
Daniel spoke calmly. "I technically never brought anyone here."
"Really?"
"Mr. Miyagi trained Sam a little bit when she was very young at the home dojo. But this place, this place was special."
Lucas and Daniel then silently sat together as Lucas finished his sandwich.
Daniel spoke. "You absorb the techniques of Miyagi-Do better than I've ever seen them. But I aim to teach you to trust, to trust me, to trust the way life can just be sometimes."
Lucas listened.
"What Mr. Miyagi taught me ironically helped me deal with his passing more than anything else."
"Life can happen, but that's alright."
Daniel glanced at Lucas.
"Yes. Life can happen."
A bird twittered above, when it fluttered from branch to branch above Mr. Miyagi's home.
"You lying to me about Kreese hurt." admitted Daniel. "But not as much as you lying to me to begin with."
Daniel frowned. "I know Cobra Kai can have its, attraction. Believe me, everyone wanted to be a Cobra Kai when I was in high school."
Daniel squinted at Lucas, who nodded. "But you have to sacrifice a part of yourself for power. Always. Especially that kind, don't lose who you are Luke, because I thought you did, I almost lost trust in you for good."
He said nothing.
"I still don't know if you're ready to join Miyagi-Do again yet. But I'll give you this, I do recognize how much you truly seem to care these days."
"Thank you Mr. LaRusso."
"I'll let you spend some time again with Anthony and Sam. Besides, you've earned it."
Lucas then smiled.
…
Daniel and Lucas walked inside the LaRusso home where Amanda was fixing her earring.
"Hey honey, we gotta go now. The Robinsons are already there." Amanda smiled quickly. "Hey, Lucas. Long time no see."
"Hey Mrs. L." Lucas smiled back slightly. "Already, where?"
"The annual summer party at the country club. I think your grandparents are coming, I'll let them know you're not going." said Daniel.
Amanda looked at Daniel. "It almost sounds like you forgot."
"Uh. Something came up, can we get going?"
Already playing a game on his iPad, Anthony waddled past. "Hey Luke."
He nodded to him and Amanda spoke to Lucas. "It was nice seeing you again, Sam's up in her room."
"She's not coming with us?"
"Her friends are coming over." said Amanda.
As Anthony walked to the car Amanda and Daniel had a hurried discussion in the hallway of their front yard.
"Are you sure it's a good idea leaving two teenagers alone together?" asked Daniel.
Amanda scoffed. "Oh please, I don't think anything will happen considering what's happened."
…
Lucas walked up to Sam's room, where she was wrapping up a video call with her friends.
She looked up with a frown to see Lucas in her bedroom door frame.
"Hey."
Sam nodded a bit. "Hey. What have you been up to lately?"
"Your dad gave me an internship again."
"Nice," Sam said flatly. "What's it like?"
"Plenty of yardwork."
Sam was confused. "Yardwork?"
"Oh um." Lucas sighed quickly. "How have you been? Haven't seen you since the start of summer."
"Just been hanging out with Moon and Yas, they're coming over in a second."
Sam tutted.
"Speaking of which, can you help me with something?"
"Sure."
…
Sam and Lucas were setting up snacks and drinks in the LaRusso's backyard pool area.
"So you're having company?"
"Yup." Sam kept her back turned to Lucas, wearing a pink swimsuit beneath a long white t-shirt.
Lucas took a beer out of the ice cooler Sam had. "Ah. Bold I see."
"Don't give me that look, I'm not the only one lying to my dad."
Lucas tossed the beer back inside the ice cooler. "Gotta get some more chips," he mumbled, walking back towards the kitchen.
"Sorry I mean."
Lucas frowned. "I know what you meant Sam, it's all good."
Sam let Lucas come back with more chips in a large plastic bowl and then spoke to him. "So, we're good?"
He ignored the question with his own. "Trying to impress someone?" Lucas tapped the ice cooler with his bare foot. "A guy maybe?"
Sam looked away, holding her arms. "Kyler?" asked Lucas.
"It's none of your business."
"It's cool if you are, he's great at wrestling. He's funny too."
"Stop it."
Lucas chuckled. "I'm just messing with you, the beers don't bother me."
Sam checked her phone. "Moon just pulled up."
Four members of West Valley High school's cheer squad entered the LaRusso's backyard all in bikinis.
Yasmine, Moon, and two other girls, Mackenzie and Lindsay all walked in, clearly good friends with Sam already.
Lucas sat there awkwardly checking his phone while sitting on a couch by the pool.
"Oh my gosh Luke, where have you been all summer?"
Surprised Moon was acting like they were friends, Lucas smiled. "Um. Doing, stuff, for. An internship, it's with Sam's dad."
"Sounds awesome."
Lucas and Moon talked and Lucas noted out of the corner of his eye that Sam was still wearing her white top.
Was Sam shy over her body? He didn't truly mind, but he noted it fast.
Lucas took off his tank top quickly. "I'm gonna just, hop in the pool really quick." he said wearing swim trunks he brought with him from home.
Before Moon could react, Lucas jumped into the LaRusso's pool using a trampoline.
"Guess he got nervous." Yasmine sat down next to Moon on the couch laughing. "Nice abs though."
The two girls giggled and chatted, and Sam awkwardly joined, sitting next to them.
Eventually, Rory, Kyler, Brucks, and a few other of his friends joined the party.
Kyler's face had a burn mark on it and his wrist was in a very tight cast. His other friends were injured too.
Lucas was still running laps like crazy in Sam's pool until eventually, he stopped.
He got out of the pool and Sam walked over, holding a towel.
"Hey. Getting tired yet?"
Lucas laughed. "A little bit."
"Hope you don't mind that Kyler came over."
"Not at all," he said instantly, wrapping the towel around his shoulders.
Brucks burped loudly, sitting in a pool floatie with a black eye. "Yo Schwarber, catch man!"
Lucas barely missed an ice cold beer can to the face.
Brucks and Rory laughed with each other and Lucas nodded. "Thanks dude."
He cracked open the beer can and took a sip.
"Mackenzie had something she wanted to show you on her phone Sam." Moon appeared with a kind smile, and Sam left the side of the pool to join her other friends.
"So." Moon slipped her bare legs into the pool next to Lucas. "Anything else going on this summer besides your internship?"
"It might sound kinda nerdy. But Eli and Demetri and I have been working on a few Lego sets as well as coding a few video games."
Moon laughed, holding a plastic red cup she sipped from. "That sounds awesome actually!"
"Really?"
"Yeah." Lucas gulped, struggling to take his eyes off Moon's perfectly tanned body in a purple bikini. "Can you do me a favor?" Moon smiled, then holding her phone.
"Sure."
"Can you do a flip into the pool for me?"
Lucas nodded and put his beer down.
He then did a back flip off the trampoline into a flying kick that made the whole party cheer.
Both Rory and Brucks high fived him. "Nice man!"
Moon chuckled, handing Lucas his towel when he left.
"That was great, perfect for my Insta. How come you don't follow me?"
Sam began to take notice from nearby, chatting with a few of the other girls.
"Uh. I don't really use Instagram except to promote my stuff for karate."
"You should try it, put yourself out there more." Moon giggled and then pushed Lucas' shoulder slightly, and the two laughed together.
Sam tried laughing with Kyler and pushing his shoulder too when he came by to make gross pool related humor, and he just found it odd.
Sam took a deep breath and then spoke. "Hey Luke, want to race in my pool?"
"Heck yeah I do!" Moon seemed perfectly enthusiastic about the idea too.
Sam looked ready to take her shirt off and race Lucas in her bikini. His eyes even seemed to widen in anticipation.
Before they could though, Daniel LaRusso appeared.
"Alright. Party's over."
He saw Rory exiting the pool. "Is that my swimsuit? Are you all, wearing my swimsuits?"
Lucas was quietly exiting the pool area as quietly as he could.
As Sam and Daniel began to speak, Daniel raised his voice over the leaving teenagers. "Lucas, Mills, Schwarber!" he enunciated each word perfectly.
He turned around slowly.
"Don't think I didn't see you, we'll talk later." Daniel slightly raised an eyebrow.
Lucas winced, turning back around and leaving awkwardly.
"Who are all these people?" asked Daniel.
"My friends." Sam crossed her arms. "I thought you and Mom would be out until later tonight."
"I mean-" Daniel sighed. "Just, clean this all up."
Sam nodded and began to do so before he and Amanda spoke in their kitchen.
…
Daniel frowned. "So I guess something did happen."
"It's not like he and Sam were in the pool together-"
"Don't! Even put that image in my head." Daniel shook his head, rubbing his temples.
Amanda sighed. "Look Sam wants to abandon her old look from middle school. All her friends are cheerleaders, I know how vicious teen girls can be. I think it's healthy for her to fit into that crowd."
"Maybe that old look would be great. Science, karate. Just like Luke, and he gets along perfectly with those kids."
"He doesn't, he used to beat them all up." Amanda deadpanned as Daniel winced painfully at the memory. "And so now Luke does karate again?" Amanda leaned on her kitchen island marble.
Daniel looked away with a slight groan.
"Is that where you were today?"
"Is that wrong?"
"No," said Amanda. "Just that the last time you did karate with him you ended up yelling swear words during a tournament. Never seen you like that before."
"I just want Sam to be safe, teen boys aren't much better than teen girls sometimes."
Amanda laughed. "Don't need to remind me about that either. Just, accept the changes our daughter is going through. You went through the same ones."
Amanda began to put a dish away from the sink. "Maybe spending so much time with Lucas will make you appreciate what it was like to be young once."
Daniel nodded, looking away.
…
Daniel entered Sam's room when she was done video chatting with Moon and Yas and spoke.
"I'm sorry about earlier."
"Don't be," Sam said. "I shouldn't have thrown a party without telling you first."
"Is there a reason why beer was involved?"
Sam frowned. "Not really. It's just." she passed her hand through her hair, brushing it back behind her ear. "Kyler's been having a rough time lately. He got jumped by some homeless guy at a strip mall and-"
"Wait, what the hell happened?"
"I have no idea. All I know is that it took place in Reseda, and now his parents are having some kind of legal trouble with a place called Cobra Kai."
Daniel's eyes widened, as if he was having very violent flashbacks.
"Dad, are you okay?" asked Sam.
Daniel blinked rapidly. "I got to, I got to go."
Sam then watched her father almost run out of her room, she hadn't ever seen him like this.
…
John Kreese nodded with pride at Miguel Diaz, doing knuckle pushups on the mat.
"And up!"
Miguel exploded upwards off his knuckles, sweat dripping off his head.
"Good. And up!"
He bounced upwards again, even managing to land with both feet and both knuckles on the mat once more.
"Perfect that makes fifty five. Aaand, time."
Miguel panted.
"You're improving, good work Diaz."
"Thank you Sensei." he exasperated.
Miguel answered a call from his mother.
They chatted in Spanish for a moment and then Kreese spoke.
"Who was that?"
"My mom, wants me to pick up some groceries on my way back home."
Kreese raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't your father help?" he asked, turning around to start stacking mats away.
"I actually um." Miguel cleared his throat. "Never met him so."
Kreese froze with his back turned to Miguel.
"Did you ever um, meet yours or." Miguel tutted. "Sorry I shouldn't ask."
Kreese mumbled. "You did well tonight son. Go home and get some rest."
"Yes Sensei."
The bell to Reseda's strip mall Cobra Kai karate dojo rang.
"I see old habits die hard."
Kreese turned to look at Daniel.
Miguel stood there awkwardly.
"Old habits include working for a living LaRusso," Kreese muttered. "Not all of us can enjoy lofty car dealerships floating on a silver cloud."
"Didn't know old habits included beating up kids out there." Daniel nodded over his shoulder towards the liquor store nearby.
Kreese nodded towards Miguel. "They were beating up a helpless Mr. Diaz here, now I have to teach him the way of the fist to protect himself."
Miguel smiled awkwardly. "Hi." he waved.
Daniel turned towards Kreese.
"Didn't know you ever protected kids from bullies. Being one yourself."
"You never knew me very well anyway kid." Kreese smirked at Daniel, Miguel added to the sentiment.
Daniel turned towards Miguel now. "Look I'm sorry you got mixed up in this. But if you want to know what an absolute monster this person is, ask someone named Johnny Lawrence what he'd do to his students."
Daniel took a deep breath. "If you want to learn true karate, you can always learn for free at Miyagi-Do."
"Miyagi-what?" Miguel was confused, balling his fists and nearing Daniel.
His Sensei stuck a hand out, stopping Miguel. Kreese inched towards Daniel.
Neither man batted an eye.
"You made a mistake coming here. I opened this place so I can make enough money for legal counsel against the Parks in the assault of their son. But I assure you, I won't have Johnny fighting my battles for me anymore."
Daniel nodded a bit. "You're in for a rude awakening, I promise."
"Anytime LaRusso, anywhere." he chuckled. "Any challenge you have, I'll match it."
Daniel shook his head and left.
Miguel turned to Kreese. "What was that about a Johnny Lawrence?"
"You can find out on your own, I don't really care." Kreese glanced at Miguel before he began to walk to the backroom of the dojo.
Miguel raised an eyebrow and Kreese began to finish speaking. "Again, go home kid. It's been a long day."
Miguel picked up his bicycle outside the Cobra Kai strip mall dojo and began to ride home. "Who in the world is Johnny Lawrence?" he mumbled to himself.
…
…
…
Book 2- Chapter 4
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Chapter Four: A Very Specific Reason
…
Cobra Kai OST: Lay it Down - Ratt
…
Miguel Diaz grew an appreciation for hard rock and working out after a few weeks of Cobra Kai karate training with John Kreese.
"Again!"
Miguel had to pushups as slowly as he could on his knuckles inside the dojo.
"Again!"
"Up! Down! Up!" Miguel winced. "Down!"
"Up. And down, up, and down," said Daniel LaRusso quietly.
Lucas was painting the outside of Mr. Miyagi's house with blue paint with up and down brush strokes.
"Can I practice some actual kata now?" he asked.
"No." Daniel sipped his coffee as Lucas almost fell off his ladder.
"Whoa! Whoa. I'm okay." he said, stabilizing it quickly.
For the last weeks of summer, Lucas trained the basics of Miyagi-Do karate specifically, and it was all chores.
He had to clean all the bird droppings off Miyagi's old cars, he had to sand and pain his old fishing boat, and paint his house top to bottom.
And only then, was he finally allowed to give the entire fence line a new paint job.
He had to replace the old punching bag, sand the decks, wash the windows.
Lucas did not feel like a karateka.
Miguel felt like he was in the best shape of his life.
He'd work out so much that even in his own room, his grandmother Rosa thought he was up to other physical activities.
But he had grown stronger. Much stronger.
Almost threatening to pull his dentist's teeth out when he accompanied him to his office, Kreese helped Miguel and had his braces removed a bit early but without actual orthodontic harm.
Miguel's cardio finally got into shape, and his muscles began to grow, noticeably so.
Within time, his mother Carmen just suspected he began to work out in his own enough, but John Kreese was proud of him.
The clock was ticking on his bills, even with Miguel learning the first punches and kicks of Cobra Kai karate, as he went to school for his first day.
…
After a month and a half of strength and cardio training with John Kreese, Miguel went to West Valley High School.
A rather wealthy public high school in the San Fernando Valley.
He locked up his bicycle, and went to the locker he was assigned for orientation across the hall from several girls.
"New kid alert." Yasmine, a blonde, shared a locker with Moon and Sam, said before smiling to them.
"Dang he's cute." another cheerleader said before closing her locker.
Miguel put his books away and went to his first period class.
Not even seeing him, Lucas went to his own locker where three boys were chatting.
A tall and skinny teen named Demetri, a shy boy with a cut on his lip named Eli, and a brown haired teenager with a long sort of bowl cut named Robby.
"Sup champ?"
Robby and Lucas bumped shoulders.
"You're still on about that karate stuff?" Demetri and Lucas nodded to each other.
Robby squinted a little. "It's pretty badass, you should try it."
"No thank you."
Eli spoke in a small voice. "I think it could be worth a shot."
"Leave the face punching to the tough guys," Demetri opened his locker with a slight sigh. "Which we are not. They are. We should just stick to Dungeon Lord and Lego sets where we belong."
"Don't forget," Lucas spoke. "Demetri and Eli! Binary brothers!"
Robby chuckled with him, and it did a good job of cheering up Eli and Demetri a bit.
The four walked off, and Miguel started his day going to his first classes for freshman year.
…
During lunch, Sam sat with Yasmine, Moon, and other cheerleaders.
Lucas sat with Demetri, Robby, and Eli, and Miguel didn't know where to sit.
Kyler, Brucks, Rory and their friends sat together.
Eventually, Miguel found a spot.
"Can I sit here?"
"No man!" the curly haired kid then chuckled. "It's cool. I'm Mitch, this is Bert and Aisha."
"Sup."
Miguel sat down with a smile. "Hey I'm Miguel, I moved in from Riverside a little bit ago."
He took his jacket off and Mitch's eyes widened. "Dang dude! What gym do you go to?"
"Oh, it's called Cobra Kai. It's a karate dojo."
Mitch scoffed. "You do karate?"
"It can help with confidence and stuff." Miguel gave a braces free smile. "Sensei Kreese is tough but he makes me tough, he's awesome."
He handed Mitch a flyer.
"You know what?" Mitch nodded. "Alright man. I'll check it out."
Bert was a tiny freshman with glasses. "Does it really work?"
"You won't know until you try it."
Even Aisha seemed interested, a girl with short curly hair and glasses was very curious to try the class.
A few cafeteria tables away, Lucas chatted with his friends.
The boys chuckled.
"You're spending your afternoons doing unpaid gardening work just to get close to Sam's dad?" asked Robby, sipping some water from a plastic bottle. "That's a lot of work just to go for a chick."
Lucas sighed. "Keep forgetting who your dad is bro."
"No, but seriously," Demetri said. "I honestly respect it. She might treat Eli like hell, but man, Yasmine could walk on my spine in her high heels any day of the week."
Lucas smiled. "You're such a cuck it's actually funny 'metri."
The boys all laughed again, except Demetri, even Eli cracked a smile.
…
Later that day, Lucas was done waxing a yellow De Luxe for what seemed like the millionth time.
Daniel exited his car. "Hey Luke. How's it going?"
"Hey Mr. LaRusso. Just putting the finishing touches on the Banana mobile."
"Yeah. This car had some great memories, one time, I took your mother out for a ride with it."
Lucas winced. "Yeah, I'd rather not hear about that one."
"Trust me, it was a very PG experience."
"I um, still don't care."
Daniel chuckled. "I can respect that. Now look, I wanted to show you this new balancing technique you might like, it's part of the third kata."
Lucas' eyes lit up hopefully. "Can we practice it inside the house?"
"Mm. Not yet."
The can of wax Lucas was holding dropped to the gravel beneath him.
Daniel watched as Lucas was walking to his bicycle.
"Where are you going?"
"Look at this place. Look at it."
Daniel sighed. "Luke you-"
"Look at it!"
He did.
Mr. Miyagi's home was perfectly maintained.
The grass, the fence boards, the porch, the paint and wax of every car and inch of Mr. Miyagi's house looked like it wasn't one day old.
Lucas might as well have taken a picture of it in it's prime and replicated it with his own hands.
"What more, do you want?"
"You know what it is."
"You want me to grow patient? It's the middle of August, and I've been taking care of every inch of this place like it was my own! How much more patient do I have to be to gain your trust? I've had enough of this."
Lucas clicked his bicycle helmet under his chin.
"Hold on now-"
"I made the wrong choice."
Daniel was surprised. "You'd rather train with Kreese?"
"I'd rather train with no one!" said Lucas. "Both you and him are messed up man! All this karate stuff is pointless, and just stupid. You're both just interested in it to get back at each other, to resolve old history. If you cared about teaching me, you'd trust me by now. It's been over two months of this and I haven't said a word!"
"Lucas, listen to me."
He began to ride off on his bicycle.
"Luke wait!"
Daniel shook his head, watching him leave out of Mr. Miyagi's front yard.
…
At Cobra Kai, Bert, Mitch, and Aisha entered, watching Miguel practice the round kick and the jab punch on a Bob dummy on the mat.
"Whoa." Bert was impressed by the Cobra on the wall and all the trophies.
Kreese turned with his arms crossed. "These must be the new recruits you mentioned, Mr. Diaz. Welcome in, take your shoes off, step onto the mat."
He looked at Aisha strangely. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Um. To try the class?"
"I don't train girls," he said calmly.
Miguel was surprised.
Aisha was too. "Well. Why not?"
"Same reason there weren't any women when I was in the army. They're not meant to fight, pure and simple."
"You do know women do karate right?" asked Aisha.
"Not at Cobra Kai," Kreese said simply. "Thanks for coming."
"Sensei can I talk to you in your office?"
Kreese obliged Miguel.
…
"Look at her Diaz. Any plumper and she'd be a pumpkin." scoffed Kreese.
"Sensei she needs our help. And she'll pay and train hard, what's the problem?"
"The problem is there's a reason I never bothered to train girls. Girls bring problems, as a matter of fact, they were the reason for the dojo's downfall to begin with."
Miguel's expression changed. "Hold up, what?"
"My point is," Kreese looked aside, waving a hand to avoid the old history. "I'd be wasting my time."
Miguel sighed. "Just give her one chance, if not, let her go."
Kreese nodded repeatedly, after some thought.
…
He bowed back onto the mat with Miguel.
"Because I like to spoil my top student." Kreese grumbled, looking aside at Miguel. "I've decided to give you a shot, whether or not it seems like a waste of time. But I'll test you."
Mitch, chubby and curly haired, chuckled at this while Bert nudged him.
Aisha frowned. "So what's the test?"
"To strike first, you have to learn how to strike. And you won't learn how to strike until you learn how to take a strike. To condition his lack of mercy, and your strength. Mr. Diaz will kick you."
Both Miguel and Aisha were surprised.
"Hard. Directly in the rib cage."
"Do I have to?" asked Miguel.
"You're barely learning the first two lessons, so it's a little early to move on to the third." Kreese nodded towards the words in black ink on the white wall of his dojo of 'No Mercy'. "But it's still necessary. Fighting stance, ais!"
Miguel kiai'd quickly, getting into his front stance in front of Aisha.
Aisha's eyes widened. "Uh, wait-"
"Round kick, aii!"
Miguel roared and his entire foot slammed at full power near Aisha's liver.
Mitch and Bert winced and gasped for Aisha, she collapsed to the mat trying to collect her air.
"See?" Kreese shrugged. "Waste of my time."
Miguel seemed to feel a little bad for her, until Aisha got back up and hit Miguel with a shoulder tackle.
It was intentionally meant to hurt as well, and it slammed Miguel to the mat, clearly knocking the wind right out of him.
Still standing and smirking, Aisha brushed herself off, still panting quietly.
Chuckling, John Kreese nodded.
"You passed." he said to her.
Miguel shook his head, standing up and speaking. "Good job Aisha," he grunted quietly.
Kreese then moved back as if he wanted to observe. "Alright then. Mr. Diaz, warm them up."
"Yes Sensei."
…
Kreese looked at the four sweat soaked teenagers quietly. "Nice work. Payment's due by the end of the month. Hundred bucks flat, preferably cash."
He then went to his office silently.
"Was that it?" Mitch winced, his face covered in sweat. "Just cardio?"
"Trust me, he'll teach you the actual karate after your stamina is good." assured Miguel. "I only moved on to learning strikes after my first few classes."
"Why don't I just go to a regular karate place where they teach me the moves right away?" asked Mitch.
"Cause he trains champions. Sensei Kreese trains winners, and winners only."
Aisha leaned up, panting quietly. "Are you sure?"
Miguel smiled, looking at the door of Kreese's office with pride.
"More sure than anything else in my life."
…
After Aisha, Bert, and Mitch were done chatting with Miguel, they left the dojo.
"Perfect, you did perfect with Robinson today."
Miguel turned to see John Kreese standing there.
He shook his head. "I let my guard down, let her tackle me to the mat, Cobras don't do that."
"No," Kreese admitted. "But that was my fault really. In a real situation, you would've busted her rib cage. Bone and all."
"Isn't that a bit extreme?"
"Cobra Kai, is always ready for the extreme."
Miguel liked that, nodding with a slight smile.
Kreese beckoned Miguel closer to him, approaching the Bob dummy.
"Demonstrate the Cobra strike."
"Yes Sensei."
Miguel made his approach, the lunge with his fist prepared, and the bite, the actual strike itself that made contact.
"Good. But it lacks something else, something that makes the strike matter."
Miguel listened.
Kreese spoke. "To tap into your full potential. You can't exclude any emotions in your body when you attack. You're not fighting to tap your opponent and run away, no. You're here, to strike through your opponent. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sensei."
"Demonstrate."
Miguel took a deep breath and tried hitting the dummy in the face with anger.
Whatever it was, it wasn't working.
Kreese explained. "Look. You have to reach the very root of all of your anger, all of your frustrations. Everything you've ever doubted about yourself to become a Cobra Kai. Demonstrate."
"I just, I can't."
"Aren't there things that make you angry? That Park kid I taught a lesson to this summer. Doesn't he make you angry?"
"I've seen him at school but he didn't bother me."
Kreese sighed. "Inside every person lives a Cobra. I promise you, yours is there."
Miguel nodded, thinking as he looked at the dummy.
Kreese walked behind Miguel, speaking quietly. "Think of your father. He never met you right?"
"No."
"How does that make you feel?"
"I don't know. Confused?"
"No. It should make you angry."
Miguel nodded, exhaling widely.
"You deserve to be mad Mr. Diaz." Kreese looked at Miguel. "Those friends of yours you brought in have potential. But if you want to truly reach your fullest, to be their leader, to be everything you wanted. A champion and more, be angry. You deserve it."
"Aiiii!"
Kreese was surprised at how well Miguel absorbed the lesson.
In one blow, Miguel launched off his back foot, his right and onto his left in a karate lunge.
He placed his hand on the dummy's shoulder and then transferred all of his weight and momentum into a reverse punch to the face.
Miguel had hit the dummy so hard he dented its rubber chin.
Kreese fixed it in seconds but spoke, pointing to the mark Miguel left.
"That." Kreese kept pointing to the dummy's face. "Is the cornerstone of traditional karate. None of this bouncy screeching ballet nonsense, karate is bone smashing, nose crunching, knuckle dusting strikes and sweeps. Keep up the good work Mr. Diaz."
Miguel bowed his head and Kreese nodded back. "Thank you Sensei."
"Remember. One technique, one knockout."
"Yes, Sensei."
…
Lucas answered the door to his house already knowing it was Daniel.
"I'm not changing my mind, I've quit karate."
"I refuse to believe you'd make a decision like that so fast."
"Well believe it."
Daniel frowned. "Let me just show you one thing. One thing then I'll stop trying."
"I doubt it's nothing I haven't seen before."
"Just, please, listen to me. Let me show you."
Lucas agreed reluctantly.
…
They returned to Miyagi-Do, Lucas was not surprised.
"Not that way."
Lucas was however surprised when they didn't go into the front entrance.
"This way."
Daniel led Lucas past a formal tatami mat and Kanji calligraphy.
Then, he opened a door, and showed Lucas the room in Miyagi-Do where Mr. Miyagi lived.
It had pictures of his old wife, old war medals, everything.
Daniel considered himself lucky Lucas had his back turned to him, because he had shed a small and silent tear at the sight.
"I don't go in here." Daniel broke the silence between them.
A part of Daniel's soul resided in the room, Lucas could feel it by just how much of Mr. Miyagi's presence he felt. He could see old notes he had written to Daniel during his first weeks of training, and other pamphlets, books, pictures and other things he clearly owned.
"Ever."
Lucas turned, silent, and pale, setting down a small Okinawan drum.
Daniel frowned. "I was testing your patience the same way Mr. Miyagi trained mine. I didn't realize I was going too far."
"You weren't. You didn't have to do this. This is clearly super personal and I-"
"Lucas you are one of a kind. Not just as a karateka," said Daniel. "You are a one of a kind person. You helped make a difference in my life, helped me reconnect to the time when I just met your mother and Mr. Miyagi."
Lucas looked away.
"Your mother helped me through one of the toughest times of my life. I was missing New Jersey, I was getting beaten up, bullied, and thrown off cliffs on my bike. And Ali was there for me." Daniel smiled. "I want you to know, that I will always be there for you too. Not just to teach you karate, for anything."
Lucas smiled back. "Thank you."
"Well don't thank me yet."
Daniel walked over to an old cabinet and pulled out a lotus headband, Lucas could tell this was once his.
"This thing is a little too old to wear consistently. But, it is part of a promise."
Just like Mr. Miyagi did to him, he wrapped it around Lucas' head. "Swear, to always obey my teachings. First listen, and then do."
"First listen. Then do. I swear."
"Excellent."
They bowed to one another.
"Why do all this?"
Daniel smiled, shrugging a bit. "Why not? You've earned my trust again, so long as you swear to always learn. I'll always teach. The same promise I made to my teacher once, you can make to me. And now," he looked around the room a bit. "I feel like you're really getting what this all means."
"I swear it Mr. LaRusso. I swear I'll uphold everything you've taught me."
And then Daniel and Lucas hugged.
…
It was pretty clear to Samantha LaRusso that her suspicions the past few months were correct when she saw her father returning home late again.
Lucas was once more her father's student.
"Are you training Lucas in Miyagi-Do again?" she asked that evening in the LaRusso's kitchen when Amanda and Anthony were in their bedrooms.
Daniel froze.
"Uh. Um yes, I am."
Sam asked calmly. "Why?"
"Because he's-"
"A liar." Sam crossed her arms. "He lied to you, he went behind your back, and then you forgave him."
"You don't know the full story." Daniel was confused. "W-Wait, are you mad at him?"
"No, I'm mad at you!" said Sam. "You need to tell me right now how you could trust him again."
"Don't you trust him now all of a sudden?"
"Maybe as friends," Sam answered. "But with Miyagi-Do? That's a bad idea."
"And why's that? Mr. Miyagi was all about forgiveness."
Sam neared Daniel around the kitchen island. "Dad he was your only student for over a year, he- He made us think he wanted to be our friends. When the whole time he was using you to win the All Valley. I mean if he was only training with just Kreese all along at least he was being honest about it."
"Did I ever tell you the full story about John Kreese?"
"You told me enough, Lucas knew how bad Cobra Kai was, that much I do know."
Daniel thought for a moment, and then put away a few dishes and then turned to face his daughter.
"Sam, I'm only going to tell you this once. But there's a very specific reason why I've forgiven Lucas."
She listened.
"I've never told anyone this. But Lucas grew up without a father." Sam was surprised but Daniel explained. "Yes, Greg Schwarber is alive, but he wasn't really there for him. And neither was Ali sort of. What he's shown me in these past few weeks, is that as wrong as he was for what he did. He proved to me he needed me to be there for him."
He admitted something quietly with complete lack of shame. "Maybe in the same way I still need him, he's that unique of a student."
Sam nodded quietly, blinking slowly.
"Mr. Miyagi was more than a karate teacher to me, he taught me about life. To even think for a second that Lucas would seek him for guidance on anything. That really pains me." Daniel looked around his kitchen. "When I came back from Okinawa with Mr. Miyagi I started to have a really rough time. And, even after I knew what Cobra Kai was, I became its student."
Sam was speechless.
"I was only a few years older than Luke is now when that happened." Daniel shook his head slowly. "Sam, I can't fault Lucas for making the same mistake, not when he spent the last two months doing exactly as I said. He lost his temper a little recently but, so did I at his age."
Sam looked aside and then at her father. "So, why did you never tell me this?"
"Because I wasn't proud of it, no one should be. But I can tell you this now, because you need to realize why I did what I did with Luke."
"Thanks for telling me, dad."
"You're welcome."
Sam said goodnight to her father, and it made her think.
And think a lot.
…
…
…
…
Cobra Kai OST: Lay it Down - Ratt
…
Miguel Diaz grew an appreciation for hard rock and working out after a few weeks of Cobra Kai karate training with John Kreese.
"Again!"
Miguel had to pushups as slowly as he could on his knuckles inside the dojo.
"Again!"
"Up! Down! Up!" Miguel winced. "Down!"
"Up. And down, up, and down," said Daniel LaRusso quietly.
Lucas was painting the outside of Mr. Miyagi's house with blue paint with up and down brush strokes.
"Can I practice some actual kata now?" he asked.
"No." Daniel sipped his coffee as Lucas almost fell off his ladder.
"Whoa! Whoa. I'm okay." he said, stabilizing it quickly.
For the last weeks of summer, Lucas trained the basics of Miyagi-Do karate specifically, and it was all chores.
He had to clean all the bird droppings off Miyagi's old cars, he had to sand and pain his old fishing boat, and paint his house top to bottom.
And only then, was he finally allowed to give the entire fence line a new paint job.
He had to replace the old punching bag, sand the decks, wash the windows.
Lucas did not feel like a karateka.
Miguel felt like he was in the best shape of his life.
He'd work out so much that even in his own room, his grandmother Rosa thought he was up to other physical activities.
But he had grown stronger. Much stronger.
Almost threatening to pull his dentist's teeth out when he accompanied him to his office, Kreese helped Miguel and had his braces removed a bit early but without actual orthodontic harm.
Miguel's cardio finally got into shape, and his muscles began to grow, noticeably so.
Within time, his mother Carmen just suspected he began to work out in his own enough, but John Kreese was proud of him.
The clock was ticking on his bills, even with Miguel learning the first punches and kicks of Cobra Kai karate, as he went to school for his first day.
…
After a month and a half of strength and cardio training with John Kreese, Miguel went to West Valley High School.
A rather wealthy public high school in the San Fernando Valley.
He locked up his bicycle, and went to the locker he was assigned for orientation across the hall from several girls.
"New kid alert." Yasmine, a blonde, shared a locker with Moon and Sam, said before smiling to them.
"Dang he's cute." another cheerleader said before closing her locker.
Miguel put his books away and went to his first period class.
Not even seeing him, Lucas went to his own locker where three boys were chatting.
A tall and skinny teen named Demetri, a shy boy with a cut on his lip named Eli, and a brown haired teenager with a long sort of bowl cut named Robby.
"Sup champ?"
Robby and Lucas bumped shoulders.
"You're still on about that karate stuff?" Demetri and Lucas nodded to each other.
Robby squinted a little. "It's pretty badass, you should try it."
"No thank you."
Eli spoke in a small voice. "I think it could be worth a shot."
"Leave the face punching to the tough guys," Demetri opened his locker with a slight sigh. "Which we are not. They are. We should just stick to Dungeon Lord and Lego sets where we belong."
"Don't forget," Lucas spoke. "Demetri and Eli! Binary brothers!"
Robby chuckled with him, and it did a good job of cheering up Eli and Demetri a bit.
The four walked off, and Miguel started his day going to his first classes for freshman year.
…
During lunch, Sam sat with Yasmine, Moon, and other cheerleaders.
Lucas sat with Demetri, Robby, and Eli, and Miguel didn't know where to sit.
Kyler, Brucks, Rory and their friends sat together.
Eventually, Miguel found a spot.
"Can I sit here?"
"No man!" the curly haired kid then chuckled. "It's cool. I'm Mitch, this is Bert and Aisha."
"Sup."
Miguel sat down with a smile. "Hey I'm Miguel, I moved in from Riverside a little bit ago."
He took his jacket off and Mitch's eyes widened. "Dang dude! What gym do you go to?"
"Oh, it's called Cobra Kai. It's a karate dojo."
Mitch scoffed. "You do karate?"
"It can help with confidence and stuff." Miguel gave a braces free smile. "Sensei Kreese is tough but he makes me tough, he's awesome."
He handed Mitch a flyer.
"You know what?" Mitch nodded. "Alright man. I'll check it out."
Bert was a tiny freshman with glasses. "Does it really work?"
"You won't know until you try it."
Even Aisha seemed interested, a girl with short curly hair and glasses was very curious to try the class.
A few cafeteria tables away, Lucas chatted with his friends.
The boys chuckled.
"You're spending your afternoons doing unpaid gardening work just to get close to Sam's dad?" asked Robby, sipping some water from a plastic bottle. "That's a lot of work just to go for a chick."
Lucas sighed. "Keep forgetting who your dad is bro."
"No, but seriously," Demetri said. "I honestly respect it. She might treat Eli like hell, but man, Yasmine could walk on my spine in her high heels any day of the week."
Lucas smiled. "You're such a cuck it's actually funny 'metri."
The boys all laughed again, except Demetri, even Eli cracked a smile.
…
Later that day, Lucas was done waxing a yellow De Luxe for what seemed like the millionth time.
Daniel exited his car. "Hey Luke. How's it going?"
"Hey Mr. LaRusso. Just putting the finishing touches on the Banana mobile."
"Yeah. This car had some great memories, one time, I took your mother out for a ride with it."
Lucas winced. "Yeah, I'd rather not hear about that one."
"Trust me, it was a very PG experience."
"I um, still don't care."
Daniel chuckled. "I can respect that. Now look, I wanted to show you this new balancing technique you might like, it's part of the third kata."
Lucas' eyes lit up hopefully. "Can we practice it inside the house?"
"Mm. Not yet."
The can of wax Lucas was holding dropped to the gravel beneath him.
Daniel watched as Lucas was walking to his bicycle.
"Where are you going?"
"Look at this place. Look at it."
Daniel sighed. "Luke you-"
"Look at it!"
He did.
Mr. Miyagi's home was perfectly maintained.
The grass, the fence boards, the porch, the paint and wax of every car and inch of Mr. Miyagi's house looked like it wasn't one day old.
Lucas might as well have taken a picture of it in it's prime and replicated it with his own hands.
"What more, do you want?"
"You know what it is."
"You want me to grow patient? It's the middle of August, and I've been taking care of every inch of this place like it was my own! How much more patient do I have to be to gain your trust? I've had enough of this."
Lucas clicked his bicycle helmet under his chin.
"Hold on now-"
"I made the wrong choice."
Daniel was surprised. "You'd rather train with Kreese?"
"I'd rather train with no one!" said Lucas. "Both you and him are messed up man! All this karate stuff is pointless, and just stupid. You're both just interested in it to get back at each other, to resolve old history. If you cared about teaching me, you'd trust me by now. It's been over two months of this and I haven't said a word!"
"Lucas, listen to me."
He began to ride off on his bicycle.
"Luke wait!"
Daniel shook his head, watching him leave out of Mr. Miyagi's front yard.
…
At Cobra Kai, Bert, Mitch, and Aisha entered, watching Miguel practice the round kick and the jab punch on a Bob dummy on the mat.
"Whoa." Bert was impressed by the Cobra on the wall and all the trophies.
Kreese turned with his arms crossed. "These must be the new recruits you mentioned, Mr. Diaz. Welcome in, take your shoes off, step onto the mat."
He looked at Aisha strangely. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Um. To try the class?"
"I don't train girls," he said calmly.
Miguel was surprised.
Aisha was too. "Well. Why not?"
"Same reason there weren't any women when I was in the army. They're not meant to fight, pure and simple."
"You do know women do karate right?" asked Aisha.
"Not at Cobra Kai," Kreese said simply. "Thanks for coming."
"Sensei can I talk to you in your office?"
Kreese obliged Miguel.
…
"Look at her Diaz. Any plumper and she'd be a pumpkin." scoffed Kreese.
"Sensei she needs our help. And she'll pay and train hard, what's the problem?"
"The problem is there's a reason I never bothered to train girls. Girls bring problems, as a matter of fact, they were the reason for the dojo's downfall to begin with."
Miguel's expression changed. "Hold up, what?"
"My point is," Kreese looked aside, waving a hand to avoid the old history. "I'd be wasting my time."
Miguel sighed. "Just give her one chance, if not, let her go."
Kreese nodded repeatedly, after some thought.
…
He bowed back onto the mat with Miguel.
"Because I like to spoil my top student." Kreese grumbled, looking aside at Miguel. "I've decided to give you a shot, whether or not it seems like a waste of time. But I'll test you."
Mitch, chubby and curly haired, chuckled at this while Bert nudged him.
Aisha frowned. "So what's the test?"
"To strike first, you have to learn how to strike. And you won't learn how to strike until you learn how to take a strike. To condition his lack of mercy, and your strength. Mr. Diaz will kick you."
Both Miguel and Aisha were surprised.
"Hard. Directly in the rib cage."
"Do I have to?" asked Miguel.
"You're barely learning the first two lessons, so it's a little early to move on to the third." Kreese nodded towards the words in black ink on the white wall of his dojo of 'No Mercy'. "But it's still necessary. Fighting stance, ais!"
Miguel kiai'd quickly, getting into his front stance in front of Aisha.
Aisha's eyes widened. "Uh, wait-"
"Round kick, aii!"
Miguel roared and his entire foot slammed at full power near Aisha's liver.
Mitch and Bert winced and gasped for Aisha, she collapsed to the mat trying to collect her air.
"See?" Kreese shrugged. "Waste of my time."
Miguel seemed to feel a little bad for her, until Aisha got back up and hit Miguel with a shoulder tackle.
It was intentionally meant to hurt as well, and it slammed Miguel to the mat, clearly knocking the wind right out of him.
Still standing and smirking, Aisha brushed herself off, still panting quietly.
Chuckling, John Kreese nodded.
"You passed." he said to her.
Miguel shook his head, standing up and speaking. "Good job Aisha," he grunted quietly.
Kreese then moved back as if he wanted to observe. "Alright then. Mr. Diaz, warm them up."
"Yes Sensei."
…
Kreese looked at the four sweat soaked teenagers quietly. "Nice work. Payment's due by the end of the month. Hundred bucks flat, preferably cash."
He then went to his office silently.
"Was that it?" Mitch winced, his face covered in sweat. "Just cardio?"
"Trust me, he'll teach you the actual karate after your stamina is good." assured Miguel. "I only moved on to learning strikes after my first few classes."
"Why don't I just go to a regular karate place where they teach me the moves right away?" asked Mitch.
"Cause he trains champions. Sensei Kreese trains winners, and winners only."
Aisha leaned up, panting quietly. "Are you sure?"
Miguel smiled, looking at the door of Kreese's office with pride.
"More sure than anything else in my life."
…
After Aisha, Bert, and Mitch were done chatting with Miguel, they left the dojo.
"Perfect, you did perfect with Robinson today."
Miguel turned to see John Kreese standing there.
He shook his head. "I let my guard down, let her tackle me to the mat, Cobras don't do that."
"No," Kreese admitted. "But that was my fault really. In a real situation, you would've busted her rib cage. Bone and all."
"Isn't that a bit extreme?"
"Cobra Kai, is always ready for the extreme."
Miguel liked that, nodding with a slight smile.
Kreese beckoned Miguel closer to him, approaching the Bob dummy.
"Demonstrate the Cobra strike."
"Yes Sensei."
Miguel made his approach, the lunge with his fist prepared, and the bite, the actual strike itself that made contact.
"Good. But it lacks something else, something that makes the strike matter."
Miguel listened.
Kreese spoke. "To tap into your full potential. You can't exclude any emotions in your body when you attack. You're not fighting to tap your opponent and run away, no. You're here, to strike through your opponent. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sensei."
"Demonstrate."
Miguel took a deep breath and tried hitting the dummy in the face with anger.
Whatever it was, it wasn't working.
Kreese explained. "Look. You have to reach the very root of all of your anger, all of your frustrations. Everything you've ever doubted about yourself to become a Cobra Kai. Demonstrate."
"I just, I can't."
"Aren't there things that make you angry? That Park kid I taught a lesson to this summer. Doesn't he make you angry?"
"I've seen him at school but he didn't bother me."
Kreese sighed. "Inside every person lives a Cobra. I promise you, yours is there."
Miguel nodded, thinking as he looked at the dummy.
Kreese walked behind Miguel, speaking quietly. "Think of your father. He never met you right?"
"No."
"How does that make you feel?"
"I don't know. Confused?"
"No. It should make you angry."
Miguel nodded, exhaling widely.
"You deserve to be mad Mr. Diaz." Kreese looked at Miguel. "Those friends of yours you brought in have potential. But if you want to truly reach your fullest, to be their leader, to be everything you wanted. A champion and more, be angry. You deserve it."
"Aiiii!"
Kreese was surprised at how well Miguel absorbed the lesson.
In one blow, Miguel launched off his back foot, his right and onto his left in a karate lunge.
He placed his hand on the dummy's shoulder and then transferred all of his weight and momentum into a reverse punch to the face.
Miguel had hit the dummy so hard he dented its rubber chin.
Kreese fixed it in seconds but spoke, pointing to the mark Miguel left.
"That." Kreese kept pointing to the dummy's face. "Is the cornerstone of traditional karate. None of this bouncy screeching ballet nonsense, karate is bone smashing, nose crunching, knuckle dusting strikes and sweeps. Keep up the good work Mr. Diaz."
Miguel bowed his head and Kreese nodded back. "Thank you Sensei."
"Remember. One technique, one knockout."
"Yes, Sensei."
…
Lucas answered the door to his house already knowing it was Daniel.
"I'm not changing my mind, I've quit karate."
"I refuse to believe you'd make a decision like that so fast."
"Well believe it."
Daniel frowned. "Let me just show you one thing. One thing then I'll stop trying."
"I doubt it's nothing I haven't seen before."
"Just, please, listen to me. Let me show you."
Lucas agreed reluctantly.
…
They returned to Miyagi-Do, Lucas was not surprised.
"Not that way."
Lucas was however surprised when they didn't go into the front entrance.
"This way."
Daniel led Lucas past a formal tatami mat and Kanji calligraphy.
Then, he opened a door, and showed Lucas the room in Miyagi-Do where Mr. Miyagi lived.
It had pictures of his old wife, old war medals, everything.
Daniel considered himself lucky Lucas had his back turned to him, because he had shed a small and silent tear at the sight.
"I don't go in here." Daniel broke the silence between them.
A part of Daniel's soul resided in the room, Lucas could feel it by just how much of Mr. Miyagi's presence he felt. He could see old notes he had written to Daniel during his first weeks of training, and other pamphlets, books, pictures and other things he clearly owned.
"Ever."
Lucas turned, silent, and pale, setting down a small Okinawan drum.
Daniel frowned. "I was testing your patience the same way Mr. Miyagi trained mine. I didn't realize I was going too far."
"You weren't. You didn't have to do this. This is clearly super personal and I-"
"Lucas you are one of a kind. Not just as a karateka," said Daniel. "You are a one of a kind person. You helped make a difference in my life, helped me reconnect to the time when I just met your mother and Mr. Miyagi."
Lucas looked away.
"Your mother helped me through one of the toughest times of my life. I was missing New Jersey, I was getting beaten up, bullied, and thrown off cliffs on my bike. And Ali was there for me." Daniel smiled. "I want you to know, that I will always be there for you too. Not just to teach you karate, for anything."
Lucas smiled back. "Thank you."
"Well don't thank me yet."
Daniel walked over to an old cabinet and pulled out a lotus headband, Lucas could tell this was once his.
"This thing is a little too old to wear consistently. But, it is part of a promise."
Just like Mr. Miyagi did to him, he wrapped it around Lucas' head. "Swear, to always obey my teachings. First listen, and then do."
"First listen. Then do. I swear."
"Excellent."
They bowed to one another.
"Why do all this?"
Daniel smiled, shrugging a bit. "Why not? You've earned my trust again, so long as you swear to always learn. I'll always teach. The same promise I made to my teacher once, you can make to me. And now," he looked around the room a bit. "I feel like you're really getting what this all means."
"I swear it Mr. LaRusso. I swear I'll uphold everything you've taught me."
And then Daniel and Lucas hugged.
…
It was pretty clear to Samantha LaRusso that her suspicions the past few months were correct when she saw her father returning home late again.
Lucas was once more her father's student.
"Are you training Lucas in Miyagi-Do again?" she asked that evening in the LaRusso's kitchen when Amanda and Anthony were in their bedrooms.
Daniel froze.
"Uh. Um yes, I am."
Sam asked calmly. "Why?"
"Because he's-"
"A liar." Sam crossed her arms. "He lied to you, he went behind your back, and then you forgave him."
"You don't know the full story." Daniel was confused. "W-Wait, are you mad at him?"
"No, I'm mad at you!" said Sam. "You need to tell me right now how you could trust him again."
"Don't you trust him now all of a sudden?"
"Maybe as friends," Sam answered. "But with Miyagi-Do? That's a bad idea."
"And why's that? Mr. Miyagi was all about forgiveness."
Sam neared Daniel around the kitchen island. "Dad he was your only student for over a year, he- He made us think he wanted to be our friends. When the whole time he was using you to win the All Valley. I mean if he was only training with just Kreese all along at least he was being honest about it."
"Did I ever tell you the full story about John Kreese?"
"You told me enough, Lucas knew how bad Cobra Kai was, that much I do know."
Daniel thought for a moment, and then put away a few dishes and then turned to face his daughter.
"Sam, I'm only going to tell you this once. But there's a very specific reason why I've forgiven Lucas."
She listened.
"I've never told anyone this. But Lucas grew up without a father." Sam was surprised but Daniel explained. "Yes, Greg Schwarber is alive, but he wasn't really there for him. And neither was Ali sort of. What he's shown me in these past few weeks, is that as wrong as he was for what he did. He proved to me he needed me to be there for him."
He admitted something quietly with complete lack of shame. "Maybe in the same way I still need him, he's that unique of a student."
Sam nodded quietly, blinking slowly.
"Mr. Miyagi was more than a karate teacher to me, he taught me about life. To even think for a second that Lucas would seek him for guidance on anything. That really pains me." Daniel looked around his kitchen. "When I came back from Okinawa with Mr. Miyagi I started to have a really rough time. And, even after I knew what Cobra Kai was, I became its student."
Sam was speechless.
"I was only a few years older than Luke is now when that happened." Daniel shook his head slowly. "Sam, I can't fault Lucas for making the same mistake, not when he spent the last two months doing exactly as I said. He lost his temper a little recently but, so did I at his age."
Sam looked aside and then at her father. "So, why did you never tell me this?"
"Because I wasn't proud of it, no one should be. But I can tell you this now, because you need to realize why I did what I did with Luke."
"Thanks for telling me, dad."
"You're welcome."
Sam said goodnight to her father, and it made her think.
And think a lot.
…
…
…
Book 2 - Chapter 5
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Chapter Five: Esqueletos
…
"Como va el karate?"
Miguel Diaz was eating dinner with his grandmother Rosa, and his mother Carmen.
Miguel nodded, swallowing after chewing. "Good, overall pretty good."
"I'm still not approving of any violence, but if it's safe, then it's fine." Carmen muttered.
Miguel smiled. "Well, no one ever really gets injured."
"Digame cuando conseguis una novia con el karate."
Miguel chuckled at his Yaya's question about girlfriends.
"What Halloween costume do you want?" asked Carmen.
"Uh, Sensei Kreese already chose one for all of us."
"Ooh, a group costume?"
"Sort of, we'll all be wearing the same thing and he said it might've been a tradition. He knew his old students used to wear it, so he suggested it."
Carmen smiled. "Well tell him we appreciate it."
After dinner, Carmen muttered under her breath.
"Coño." She realized she forgot how overflowing her trash can was. "Miggy, sacas la basura?"
He nodded, exiting his room, with his headphones in. "Uhh, yes ma."
…
Outside, Miguel was throwing away the garbage when he found Johnny doing the same.
Before they walked past each other, Johnny spoke. "Wait. Hey kid."
He took his headphones out. "Yeah?"
"I saw you walking off with an old guy a few months back. Short hair, sorta tall."
"What about him?"
"You still keep in touch with him?"
Miguel nodded. "Yeah. He's my karate Sensei."
Johnny looked around the apartment complex. "We need to talk."
…
Since it was dark out, cars with their headlights on drove past the street nearby.
"Wait, you're Johnny Lawrence?"
"Yup." Johnny sipped his Coors Banquet as Miguel drank soda. "Guess we're neighbors."
"So, you used to be Sensei's student."
Johnny sighed. "Wish I wasn't. I gotta tell you something about your Sensei."
"I'm getting the feeling I'm not going to want to hear this."
"Well, you need to. I was part of the team in the 80s, and got into all sorts of trouble back in the day with my buds. They were good times."
Miguel was now happier to listen.
"One night out with them, I met this girl, her name was Ali Mills, we went out for a bit, madly in love. Later, we broke up, and this kid from Jersey popped up."
Miguel kept listening.
"To make a long story short, I end up fighting this kid at the All Valley karate tournament."
"Cause of the girl?"
"Cause we hated each other." Johnny shrugged and wiped the beer off his lip. "Tons of other reasons too."
"Like?"
"Doesn't matter. The point is, I lost, Cobra Kai held the All Valley title for two years, and I lost my final match. Now, John Kreese never liked losing of course. But he always was hard on me for losing matches in general. Very hard."
Miguel watched him calmly.
"After I lost that title bout, he damn near killed me."
Johnny's eyes were almost bulging out of his head as John Kreese choked him.
Johnny pointed slightly. "If it wasn't for that Jersey kid's Sensei."
Miyagi freed Johnny from Kreese's grasp, pushing him aside.
"I might've died."
Miguel finished his soda quietly.
"Look, guys like that don't change. He was a dirtbag then, and he probably is one now. People like him, aren't worth the risk of trusting."
"You really think Cobra Kai can't change?"
Johnny shrugged. "It was a shit idea to begin with. That's why I run my own karate dojo with Robby called Steel Eagle."
"Robby Keene?"
"He's my son."
Miguel's eyes widened.
"We train on our own mostly, don't have enough money to open up our own place. But Robby made it to the semis at the last All Valley. We get to enjoy the karate without any of the nasty history, and I get to train my kid."
Miguel nodded. "Why would you get back into karate in the first place then?"
Johnny explained. "Ali's kid got me back into it after he moved here from Denver last year."
Miguel threw away the soda can in the nearby garbage dumpster. "Thanks. For, everything."
Johnny merely nodded in response.
…
A new student, with braided corn rows and long hair, was slammed onto the mat at the Cobra Kai dojo.
Miguel had hit him with a round kick and a back fist.
"Fine work Mr. Diaz."
"I appreciate it Sensei, thanks."
Kreese could tell Miguel was off but had no idea why.
Aisha patted the new student's shoulder when he sat down next to her, everyone sitting cross legged around the mat. "Good hustle Edwin."
"Thanks." he muttered grumpily.
Kreese stepped into the middle of the mat. "Does anyone else want to challenge Mr. Diaz? He only has a few more months of experience than the rest of you." Kreese sighed. "Fear does not exist here everyone." he added.
Bert looked at Mitch, Aisha was still sore after her last spar with Miguel minutes prior.
"Alright. I suppose a few dozen laps will clear your heads. Ais!"
…
After their runs, Miguel stayed after class.
Edwin, Bert, Aisha, and Mitch all left after practicing forward strikes, and Kreese spoke to Miguel.
"Everything alright Diaz?"
Miguel shrugged, stuffing his dirty clothes into his gym bag.
"Everything's fine."
"Doesn't sound like it."
He sighed.
"Turns out Johnny Lawrence lives in my building." he stood up and looked Kreese in the eye. "Told me what you did the night he lost the tournament."
Kreese was frozen for a moment.
"How could you do that to him?"
Kreese looked aside, and then back at Miguel. "I went overboard."
"You think?"
"But it's important to note." Kreese raised his voice slightly, standing on the mat in his instructor's GI. "That Cobra Kai was and still is all I'll ever have."
"What are you talking about?"
Kreese rubbed his face.
"Look after I got back home from 'Nam, I didn't find anything else for work but to teach karate. That still stands today. Miyagi and LaRusso, they shot down any hope I ever had to make Cobra Kai reach superstardom."
Miguel frowned, listening.
"The boys deserved it, they deserved that chance. They had, a very bright future ahead of them." Kreese shook his head a bit. "What does Miyagi deserve, for shooting that future down?"
"But Johnny Lawrence was only what. Seventeen, what did he deserve?"
"Son you have to understand. That night was the end of Cobra Kai for me, the end of my life it felt. Without the dojo, I had nothing."
Miguel glanced towards the backroom. "Is that why you live here?"
Kreese nodded slightly. "For now."
"Explain."
"That scuffle with Kyler Park set me back a lot of money, I also owe money to someone who helped open this place. Even if I teach two full classes full time, I'll have to work for the rest of my life to pay them back."
Miguel was surprised. "You think that's worth it?"
"No price is too small to pay for victory."
Miguel nodded slightly.
Kreese approached him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I've trained the best, watched the best win. And you're better than the best son, not just when it comes to karate. You'll go farther than Johnny Lawrence or I ever did."
"Cobra Kai changes your life. For the better, for the better." insisted Kreese. "Ask yourself kid, were you the same person you were when you first joined?"
Miguel knew the answer.
"No Sensei."
"Ask yourself who you want to be based on what you know. I know you'll make the right choice."
Miguel bowed slightly and Kreese bowed back, then, Miguel left.
…
At West Valley High School the next day, Counselor Blatt was holding a mandatory bullying PSA in the cafeteria that no one really cared about.
"Remember, it's important that all our costumes at the Halloween dance, and words to our classmates, are all politically and sensitively correct. A mountain lion is always wary of another's safe space."
Kyler smirked from his table, texting Sam at her table with Yasmine and Moon as well as other cheerleaders.
Sam checked her phone as Counselor Blatt continued speaking into her microphone.
You look so hot today!
Sam frowned, texting without looking back at Kyler.
Please don't hit me up like that, it makes me uncomfortable.
Kyler was confused at the message, texting back quickly.
Gurl, what?
Sam then blocked his number immediately and Kyler could even see her use her phone from a distance to see her do it.
There was a reason for it, and the reason sat just a few tables away.
Lucas Schwarber was sitting bored wearing a black USA Karate sweatshirt chatting very quietly with a smiling Robby Keene. Eli Moskowitz and Demetri Alexopolous sat with them, all four boys chuckling as silently as they could at their table.
Sam caught herself looking in Lucas' direction more than once, and then Counselor Blatt spoke.
"It's important to be courteous and kind to each other, even online. A hurtful word can be just as bad through Instagram or Snapchat, as it might be in person."
Yasmine rolled her eyes, she and Moon were still on their phones, not listening at all.
Lucas got a text from Sam right then and there.
I like your sweatshirt
thanks sam
He smiled at her from afar with a thankful nod, returning to his muttered conversation with Robby without another text.
Sam squinted at him, was that it? Where was his compliment in return?
After the assembly, classes resumed.
Miguel and Demetri were lab partners for Biology, and sat with Samantha as they filled out a crossword puzzle to practice for a quiz for Mr. Palmer's class.
"Hey."
"Hey you must be Sam, you just switched periods right?"
"Mhm."
Demetri was pathetically shy when talking to girls, he even rubbed the spot on his elbow when Sam brushed past his arm.
Sam flipped through her notes, filling out the puzzle quietly. "Soo…boring assembly right?"
"Nah. I think it's super important to know the safe spaces and trigger warnings for every single person in the entire school."
Sam laughed quietly at this. "And your name?"
"Miguel. It's nice to meet you."
Sam smiled looking back down at her paper, and she knew Yasmine and her friends were right.
Miguel had noticeably strong arms beneath his long sleeved shirt and looked better ever since starting karate. He just radiated genuine confidence, especially when sitting next to Demetri.
"Miguel, what do you like to do in your free time?"
"The usual. Anime, working out." Miguel shrugged. "Karate."
"I used to love doing karate with my dad. What moves do you know?"
"Just the basics, the roundhouse, the straight punch. My Sensei only likes teaching the fundamentals first."
Sam chuckled. "Mine was the exact same way."
Demetri let them chat for the entire class.
They walked out talking to each other.
"So, I got your Insta?"
Miguel nodded. "Yup, I'll see you around."
"See ya."
Sam smiled as Miguel walked off, and saw how he and Aisha nodded to each other when they crossed paths in the hallway.
"Hey. Haven't heard from you lately."
Aisha hid her disappointment in seeing Sam. "Hey." she faked a smile.
"So, you know Miguel."
"Yeah, we've been in the same karate dojo ever since the start of the semester. You know, we could always use another girl."
Sam nodded and cleared her throat. "Yeah, I think I'm well and truly done with karate."
"You'd rather spend your time with Yasmine?"
Nearby, her and Moon appeared to be exclusively taking selfies together by their lockers every given second.
Sam frowned looking back from them to Aisha. "Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing? It's probably a better idea than hanging out and being friends with only guys."
Aisha brushed right past Sam.
"Wait-"
Aisha was already well and truly gone and Sam sighed.
She was confused why Aisha had even nudged her out of the way a little. Being physically aggressive was something that really confused Sam.
…
The DJ for the night at West Valley High School's Halloween dance had been slipped a five dollar bill and stopped playing electronic samples.
He played 80s music ballads including Thriller by Michael Jackson, and the gym loved it.
Miguel, Bert, Aisha, Edwin, and Mitch all showed up wearing skeleton onesies through the smoke machine.
"Fuck yeah," Miguel muttered, Mitch chuckling and nodding to him with a fist bump.
Yasmine snickered when Aisha walked past out of earshot. "Isn't she a little too fat to be a skeleton?"
Moon laughed, she Yasmine, and Sam all wore skimpy Lakers girl's' uniforms with matching pom poms.
Lucas walked by with Robby, Lucas had dressed up looking like an actual doctor, and Robby wore Maverick from Top Gun's outfit with an authentic pilot's helmet hanging on his shoulder.
"Sup."
Sam smiled as she instantly stopped frowning from what Yasmine had said. "Hey! I like your costume."
"Thanks, authentic right?" asked Lucas.
"Very authentic," Moon said. "Is that a real stethoscope?"
"It is indeed. These used to be my Gramps' real scrubs too."
Eli, wearing a surgeon's outfit and Demetri a Necromancer's costume both listened shyly to the conversation.
"Feel free to read my heart rate anytime."
Yasmine screeched and laughed, practically tumbling over Moon as the two giggled shrilly at Moon's joke.
Sam's friends were making her frown more and more often it seemed to her.
"It was a joke it was a joke, I swear." Moon saw the wide eyed and surprised expression on Lucas' face.
"Um. Enjoy the dance ladies." Lucas nodded as Robby followed him away from the girls in Laker girls costumes.
"Thanks!" chirped Yasmine.
Sam held her arm shyly as Yasmine muttered lowly to Moon. "Man he is sooo yummy."
"Damn I know." Sam watched Moon say before they kept dancing.
Kyler shook his head, he and his friends all dressed up as pirates for the night. "This 'some bullshit man," he said after seeing all of this.
…
The night continued, and the songs turned from classic to modern pop.
Eventually, Lucas made his way over to Sam and the two began to dance together.
"Hey doc, wassup?"
"Not much, your costume is kinda." Lucas cleared his throat. "Revealing, in a good way."
Sam laughed behind her hand. "Thanks, I'm glad you like it."
"Are any of your parents chaperoning tonight?"
Sam shook her head. "No! Thank god, could you imagine."
Lucas chuckled. "Your dad's cool honestly."
"Not at something like tonight, I promise, he can be so embarrassing."
Sam could see here and there as they danced that he not only stole glances at her, but the bodies of her friends, Yasmine and Moon.
Between the dark lights and colors of the Halloween dance, it was hard to tell exactly, but she could see the feeling was reciprocated.
Sam was feeling a bit tired of the uncertainty, and before she knew it, she grabbed Lucas by the hand and was leading him away from the dance and toward Mr. Palmer's empty classroom for Biology.
"What are you doing?" asked Lucas.
"I want to show you something!"
Sam could feel her heart racing.
Was this what he wanted? Could her friends stop flirting with or looking at him for more than five seconds!?
Eventually, she led Lucas inside Mr. Palmer's classroom and opened a closet door.
"Wow."
"What do you think?"
"It's, amazing."
Sam had made a DNA helix out of Lego and had stored it for the weekend in Palmer's classroom.
"Easy A right?"
Sam chuckled at Lucas' response. "Definitely. I mean, you're talking to the biggest fan of Legos so."
Sam brushed her hair behind her ear shyly. "Thanks."
Lucas was curious. "Was this, really what you wanted to show me?"
"Yeah." Sam exhaled quickly. "I just, had to get away from the dance for a second. Aisha's sorta mad at me right now, and Yas and Moon make things even harder."
"I get the feeling."
They could hear the muted music of the Halloween dance behind them as they stood in silence alone together.
"Hey Sam."
"Yeah?" she turned to him.
"I'm gonna try something, if you don't like it. Tell me."
She nodded.
Lucas embraced Sam tightly and then kissed her.
They began to make out for a moment, and then leaned slightly against the open closet door.
…
In the hallway outside, Mitch was drinking from a water fountain as Miguel followed him. "Man, why is it so hard to pick up chicks in a skeleton costume?"
Miguel shrugged. "Guess you must be trying too hard."
Mitch began to go on and then Miguel could see Sam and Lucas together through the classroom door's window.
Mitch's voice brought him down to Earth again. "Miguel? Hey, you good man?"
"I'm, I'm fine."
He was not.
…
Sam began to breathe rapidly, feeling more nervous than she ever felt in her life when she felt the cold metal of Lucas' stethoscope brush the open patch on her chest through her Laker's girl uniform.
Lucas then rubbed the skin of Sam's bare legs and she almost gasped for a second. The feeling was almost too much, it woke her up completely.
Sam broke away and spoke. "Hey, Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you do this, like," she spoke shyly. "With anyone else?"
"No."
"Not Moon or Yas? Or anyone else on Cheer?"
"No one but you. I mean, you're the second person I've ever kissed."
Sam nodded.
"And you?"
Sam shrugged. "You're my first kiss," she said very shyly.
"Am I doing well?" Lucas smiled, playing with the yellow ribbon in Sam's curly hair.
Sam pushed his hand aside lightly deflecting it and the question. "Luke, you swear you don't make out with anyone else?"
"No. Why is that hard to believe?"
"It just is, sorry."
Lucas felt a bit insulted. "Hold on, you- You mean. You know what?"
He raised his hands and moved away turning around, then walking away out of the classroom and back towards the dance.
"Hey!" said Sam.
The door to Mr. Palmer's classroom closed.
Sam frowned, fixing her hair with a sad frown before she was left alone in the room.
…
Lucas returned to the dance to see Miguel flirting and dancing with Moon.
Lucas knew it was him, all the other people in skeleton costumes clearly looked different even with the onesie.
Moon was also giggling and speaking his name occasionally.
Lucas shook his head, and Sam was also not happy at the sight when she returned from the classroom.
"Where did you go man?" asked Robby wearing aviator shades
"None of your business. What have you been up to?"
"Currently failing to ask Daenerys Targaryen to dance," said Demetri quietly. "Three, times, over."
All three girls in dragon queen costumes were dancing by themselves nearby the snack table.
Lucas chuckled, turning to them.
"Hey ladies!" They listened to Lucas. "Respectfully speaking. My boys need dance partners, is that okay?"
They smiled and agreed and Eli stayed hidden behind his mask. "Wait, I don't-" he muttered shyly.
"Well there you guys, it's that easy." Lucas chuckled before pushing Eli in their direction.
Robby did not need any encouragement while Demetri winced and inched himself painfully in their direction.
Lucas sighed, turning around to shake his head while Moon appeared, serving herself some punch.
"Whoo! All that dancing sure breaks a sweat." she said.
"I see you've met Miguel Diaz."
"You know him?"
Lucas shrugged. "I know of him."
"How- What does that mean?" asked Moon blankly. "There's no need to be jealous, you could've just asked me to dance earlier."
Lucas scoffed. "Who says I'm jealous?"
"You clearly sound like it."
"That's not even." Lucas shook his head, turning around. "Like-"
A few Halloween dance members gasped, Lucas had accidentally bumped into and spilled punch right on Miguel.
"Crap," Lucas said genuinely. "Sorry man, didn't see you there."
"Miguel!"
The boy in the skeleton outfit and slightly ruined makeup walked off towards the bathroom.
"Luke." Moon said reproachfully.
"What, it was an accident."
A few of the Cobra Kais walked off in Miguel's direction after a short moment.
…
Miguel was trying to fix his makeup but it was looking completely ruined.
He sighed, his costume was finished, and he began to take it off.
Miguel heard Kyler's voice as he chatted with Brucks, Rory, and their other friend in the locker room nearby.
"Can't believe Sam ghosted you like that man. You were just days away from bone city." Brucks said stupidly.
Kyler sighed. "I know dog, all that hard work for nothing."
"What hard work? You were gonna pull that stupid grandmother's necklace bit that got you tons of tail over in East Valley."
"Whatever man."
Miguel could hear his knuckles crack beneath his costume.
Kyler heard someone walking towards them.
"Oh shit, hey Rhea."
"Still using that nickname huh?" he smiled. "Even though we all know what happened that night?"
Kyler's smirk turned to a frown.
"How's your wrist?"
"What, you want some payback fool?" asked Kyler dumbly.
Miguel mercilessly struck Kyler first and hard the moment he and his friends stood up from around the locker room.
Right in the jaw, he popped him with the same reverse punch Kreese taught him.
He was hit so hard he flew back and hit the metal red locker behind him with a BANG.
Miguel didn't stand there frozen afterward, he took advantage of Brucks, Rory and their pal's surprise and kept striking.
He hit Brucks with a fully powered round kick directly in his round belly, making him keel over.
It was at that point that Rory knew he'd either be next and have to save his friends or face the same fate, so he picked up a nearby lacrosse stick and swung it directly at Miguel's head.
It landed clean on his temple, bruising and disorienting him, knocking him against the wall.
"Nice man!" Brucks wheezed, trying to get his wind back after it was knocked clean out of him.
Before they could recover and gang up on Miguel, three other boys entered the bathroom.
"Yo man what the fuck!?" Mitch saw the scene.
Bert had no idea what he was going to do, but Edwin just had to crack his knuckles under his white gloves and skeleton onesie to announce his presence.
"Oh shit!"
A few seconds later, Kyler wisely decided it would be best to flee the scene, and he and his friends tussled with the Cobra Kais for a second before they ran.
"You alright dude?"
Miguel clapped Mitch's hand, and he nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." he winced, rubbing the bruise on the side of his head. "That was close."
"Anytime, what the hell happened?"
"Just striking first."
Miguel then realized Kreese's lessons had saved both himself and his friends from humiliation.
"Niiice." Mitch nodded. "Why'd you run off in the first place? The dance was getting tight."
"Aw, some nonsense. Some guy knocked punch over me, ruined my costume."
"Well, we were only gonna wear it tonight anyways. Come on, the party's still going."
Miguel then joined his friends back at the Halloween dance, and he even forgot he was supposed to be dancing with Moon for a second.
He smiled and the Cobra Kais just had a good time together, as Bert realized Miguel was not in the best mood and they cheered him up.
"So who knocked that punch over you?" asked Mitch, awkwardly doing the robot.
Miguel shrugged. "We'll worry about it later."
"And I saw your roundhouse on Brucks man, it was brutal. No mercy, nice!"
"Yeah." Miguel smiled widely. "No mercy."
...
...
...
…
"Como va el karate?"
Miguel Diaz was eating dinner with his grandmother Rosa, and his mother Carmen.
Miguel nodded, swallowing after chewing. "Good, overall pretty good."
"I'm still not approving of any violence, but if it's safe, then it's fine." Carmen muttered.
Miguel smiled. "Well, no one ever really gets injured."
"Digame cuando conseguis una novia con el karate."
Miguel chuckled at his Yaya's question about girlfriends.
"What Halloween costume do you want?" asked Carmen.
"Uh, Sensei Kreese already chose one for all of us."
"Ooh, a group costume?"
"Sort of, we'll all be wearing the same thing and he said it might've been a tradition. He knew his old students used to wear it, so he suggested it."
Carmen smiled. "Well tell him we appreciate it."
After dinner, Carmen muttered under her breath.
"Coño." She realized she forgot how overflowing her trash can was. "Miggy, sacas la basura?"
He nodded, exiting his room, with his headphones in. "Uhh, yes ma."
…
Outside, Miguel was throwing away the garbage when he found Johnny doing the same.
Before they walked past each other, Johnny spoke. "Wait. Hey kid."
He took his headphones out. "Yeah?"
"I saw you walking off with an old guy a few months back. Short hair, sorta tall."
"What about him?"
"You still keep in touch with him?"
Miguel nodded. "Yeah. He's my karate Sensei."
Johnny looked around the apartment complex. "We need to talk."
…
Since it was dark out, cars with their headlights on drove past the street nearby.
"Wait, you're Johnny Lawrence?"
"Yup." Johnny sipped his Coors Banquet as Miguel drank soda. "Guess we're neighbors."
"So, you used to be Sensei's student."
Johnny sighed. "Wish I wasn't. I gotta tell you something about your Sensei."
"I'm getting the feeling I'm not going to want to hear this."
"Well, you need to. I was part of the team in the 80s, and got into all sorts of trouble back in the day with my buds. They were good times."
Miguel was now happier to listen.
"One night out with them, I met this girl, her name was Ali Mills, we went out for a bit, madly in love. Later, we broke up, and this kid from Jersey popped up."
Miguel kept listening.
"To make a long story short, I end up fighting this kid at the All Valley karate tournament."
"Cause of the girl?"
"Cause we hated each other." Johnny shrugged and wiped the beer off his lip. "Tons of other reasons too."
"Like?"
"Doesn't matter. The point is, I lost, Cobra Kai held the All Valley title for two years, and I lost my final match. Now, John Kreese never liked losing of course. But he always was hard on me for losing matches in general. Very hard."
Miguel watched him calmly.
"After I lost that title bout, he damn near killed me."
Johnny's eyes were almost bulging out of his head as John Kreese choked him.
Johnny pointed slightly. "If it wasn't for that Jersey kid's Sensei."
Miyagi freed Johnny from Kreese's grasp, pushing him aside.
"I might've died."
Miguel finished his soda quietly.
"Look, guys like that don't change. He was a dirtbag then, and he probably is one now. People like him, aren't worth the risk of trusting."
"You really think Cobra Kai can't change?"
Johnny shrugged. "It was a shit idea to begin with. That's why I run my own karate dojo with Robby called Steel Eagle."
"Robby Keene?"
"He's my son."
Miguel's eyes widened.
"We train on our own mostly, don't have enough money to open up our own place. But Robby made it to the semis at the last All Valley. We get to enjoy the karate without any of the nasty history, and I get to train my kid."
Miguel nodded. "Why would you get back into karate in the first place then?"
Johnny explained. "Ali's kid got me back into it after he moved here from Denver last year."
Miguel threw away the soda can in the nearby garbage dumpster. "Thanks. For, everything."
Johnny merely nodded in response.
…
A new student, with braided corn rows and long hair, was slammed onto the mat at the Cobra Kai dojo.
Miguel had hit him with a round kick and a back fist.
"Fine work Mr. Diaz."
"I appreciate it Sensei, thanks."
Kreese could tell Miguel was off but had no idea why.
Aisha patted the new student's shoulder when he sat down next to her, everyone sitting cross legged around the mat. "Good hustle Edwin."
"Thanks." he muttered grumpily.
Kreese stepped into the middle of the mat. "Does anyone else want to challenge Mr. Diaz? He only has a few more months of experience than the rest of you." Kreese sighed. "Fear does not exist here everyone." he added.
Bert looked at Mitch, Aisha was still sore after her last spar with Miguel minutes prior.
"Alright. I suppose a few dozen laps will clear your heads. Ais!"
…
After their runs, Miguel stayed after class.
Edwin, Bert, Aisha, and Mitch all left after practicing forward strikes, and Kreese spoke to Miguel.
"Everything alright Diaz?"
Miguel shrugged, stuffing his dirty clothes into his gym bag.
"Everything's fine."
"Doesn't sound like it."
He sighed.
"Turns out Johnny Lawrence lives in my building." he stood up and looked Kreese in the eye. "Told me what you did the night he lost the tournament."
Kreese was frozen for a moment.
"How could you do that to him?"
Kreese looked aside, and then back at Miguel. "I went overboard."
"You think?"
"But it's important to note." Kreese raised his voice slightly, standing on the mat in his instructor's GI. "That Cobra Kai was and still is all I'll ever have."
"What are you talking about?"
Kreese rubbed his face.
"Look after I got back home from 'Nam, I didn't find anything else for work but to teach karate. That still stands today. Miyagi and LaRusso, they shot down any hope I ever had to make Cobra Kai reach superstardom."
Miguel frowned, listening.
"The boys deserved it, they deserved that chance. They had, a very bright future ahead of them." Kreese shook his head a bit. "What does Miyagi deserve, for shooting that future down?"
"But Johnny Lawrence was only what. Seventeen, what did he deserve?"
"Son you have to understand. That night was the end of Cobra Kai for me, the end of my life it felt. Without the dojo, I had nothing."
Miguel glanced towards the backroom. "Is that why you live here?"
Kreese nodded slightly. "For now."
"Explain."
"That scuffle with Kyler Park set me back a lot of money, I also owe money to someone who helped open this place. Even if I teach two full classes full time, I'll have to work for the rest of my life to pay them back."
Miguel was surprised. "You think that's worth it?"
"No price is too small to pay for victory."
Miguel nodded slightly.
Kreese approached him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I've trained the best, watched the best win. And you're better than the best son, not just when it comes to karate. You'll go farther than Johnny Lawrence or I ever did."
"Cobra Kai changes your life. For the better, for the better." insisted Kreese. "Ask yourself kid, were you the same person you were when you first joined?"
Miguel knew the answer.
"No Sensei."
"Ask yourself who you want to be based on what you know. I know you'll make the right choice."
Miguel bowed slightly and Kreese bowed back, then, Miguel left.
…
At West Valley High School the next day, Counselor Blatt was holding a mandatory bullying PSA in the cafeteria that no one really cared about.
"Remember, it's important that all our costumes at the Halloween dance, and words to our classmates, are all politically and sensitively correct. A mountain lion is always wary of another's safe space."
Kyler smirked from his table, texting Sam at her table with Yasmine and Moon as well as other cheerleaders.
Sam checked her phone as Counselor Blatt continued speaking into her microphone.
You look so hot today!
Sam frowned, texting without looking back at Kyler.
Please don't hit me up like that, it makes me uncomfortable.
Kyler was confused at the message, texting back quickly.
Gurl, what?
Sam then blocked his number immediately and Kyler could even see her use her phone from a distance to see her do it.
There was a reason for it, and the reason sat just a few tables away.
Lucas Schwarber was sitting bored wearing a black USA Karate sweatshirt chatting very quietly with a smiling Robby Keene. Eli Moskowitz and Demetri Alexopolous sat with them, all four boys chuckling as silently as they could at their table.
Sam caught herself looking in Lucas' direction more than once, and then Counselor Blatt spoke.
"It's important to be courteous and kind to each other, even online. A hurtful word can be just as bad through Instagram or Snapchat, as it might be in person."
Yasmine rolled her eyes, she and Moon were still on their phones, not listening at all.
Lucas got a text from Sam right then and there.
I like your sweatshirt
thanks sam
He smiled at her from afar with a thankful nod, returning to his muttered conversation with Robby without another text.
Sam squinted at him, was that it? Where was his compliment in return?
After the assembly, classes resumed.
Miguel and Demetri were lab partners for Biology, and sat with Samantha as they filled out a crossword puzzle to practice for a quiz for Mr. Palmer's class.
"Hey."
"Hey you must be Sam, you just switched periods right?"
"Mhm."
Demetri was pathetically shy when talking to girls, he even rubbed the spot on his elbow when Sam brushed past his arm.
Sam flipped through her notes, filling out the puzzle quietly. "Soo…boring assembly right?"
"Nah. I think it's super important to know the safe spaces and trigger warnings for every single person in the entire school."
Sam laughed quietly at this. "And your name?"
"Miguel. It's nice to meet you."
Sam smiled looking back down at her paper, and she knew Yasmine and her friends were right.
Miguel had noticeably strong arms beneath his long sleeved shirt and looked better ever since starting karate. He just radiated genuine confidence, especially when sitting next to Demetri.
"Miguel, what do you like to do in your free time?"
"The usual. Anime, working out." Miguel shrugged. "Karate."
"I used to love doing karate with my dad. What moves do you know?"
"Just the basics, the roundhouse, the straight punch. My Sensei only likes teaching the fundamentals first."
Sam chuckled. "Mine was the exact same way."
Demetri let them chat for the entire class.
They walked out talking to each other.
"So, I got your Insta?"
Miguel nodded. "Yup, I'll see you around."
"See ya."
Sam smiled as Miguel walked off, and saw how he and Aisha nodded to each other when they crossed paths in the hallway.
"Hey. Haven't heard from you lately."
Aisha hid her disappointment in seeing Sam. "Hey." she faked a smile.
"So, you know Miguel."
"Yeah, we've been in the same karate dojo ever since the start of the semester. You know, we could always use another girl."
Sam nodded and cleared her throat. "Yeah, I think I'm well and truly done with karate."
"You'd rather spend your time with Yasmine?"
Nearby, her and Moon appeared to be exclusively taking selfies together by their lockers every given second.
Sam frowned looking back from them to Aisha. "Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing? It's probably a better idea than hanging out and being friends with only guys."
Aisha brushed right past Sam.
"Wait-"
Aisha was already well and truly gone and Sam sighed.
She was confused why Aisha had even nudged her out of the way a little. Being physically aggressive was something that really confused Sam.
…
The DJ for the night at West Valley High School's Halloween dance had been slipped a five dollar bill and stopped playing electronic samples.
He played 80s music ballads including Thriller by Michael Jackson, and the gym loved it.
Miguel, Bert, Aisha, Edwin, and Mitch all showed up wearing skeleton onesies through the smoke machine.
"Fuck yeah," Miguel muttered, Mitch chuckling and nodding to him with a fist bump.
Yasmine snickered when Aisha walked past out of earshot. "Isn't she a little too fat to be a skeleton?"
Moon laughed, she Yasmine, and Sam all wore skimpy Lakers girl's' uniforms with matching pom poms.
Lucas walked by with Robby, Lucas had dressed up looking like an actual doctor, and Robby wore Maverick from Top Gun's outfit with an authentic pilot's helmet hanging on his shoulder.
"Sup."
Sam smiled as she instantly stopped frowning from what Yasmine had said. "Hey! I like your costume."
"Thanks, authentic right?" asked Lucas.
"Very authentic," Moon said. "Is that a real stethoscope?"
"It is indeed. These used to be my Gramps' real scrubs too."
Eli, wearing a surgeon's outfit and Demetri a Necromancer's costume both listened shyly to the conversation.
"Feel free to read my heart rate anytime."
Yasmine screeched and laughed, practically tumbling over Moon as the two giggled shrilly at Moon's joke.
Sam's friends were making her frown more and more often it seemed to her.
"It was a joke it was a joke, I swear." Moon saw the wide eyed and surprised expression on Lucas' face.
"Um. Enjoy the dance ladies." Lucas nodded as Robby followed him away from the girls in Laker girls costumes.
"Thanks!" chirped Yasmine.
Sam held her arm shyly as Yasmine muttered lowly to Moon. "Man he is sooo yummy."
"Damn I know." Sam watched Moon say before they kept dancing.
Kyler shook his head, he and his friends all dressed up as pirates for the night. "This 'some bullshit man," he said after seeing all of this.
…
The night continued, and the songs turned from classic to modern pop.
Eventually, Lucas made his way over to Sam and the two began to dance together.
"Hey doc, wassup?"
"Not much, your costume is kinda." Lucas cleared his throat. "Revealing, in a good way."
Sam laughed behind her hand. "Thanks, I'm glad you like it."
"Are any of your parents chaperoning tonight?"
Sam shook her head. "No! Thank god, could you imagine."
Lucas chuckled. "Your dad's cool honestly."
"Not at something like tonight, I promise, he can be so embarrassing."
Sam could see here and there as they danced that he not only stole glances at her, but the bodies of her friends, Yasmine and Moon.
Between the dark lights and colors of the Halloween dance, it was hard to tell exactly, but she could see the feeling was reciprocated.
Sam was feeling a bit tired of the uncertainty, and before she knew it, she grabbed Lucas by the hand and was leading him away from the dance and toward Mr. Palmer's empty classroom for Biology.
"What are you doing?" asked Lucas.
"I want to show you something!"
Sam could feel her heart racing.
Was this what he wanted? Could her friends stop flirting with or looking at him for more than five seconds!?
Eventually, she led Lucas inside Mr. Palmer's classroom and opened a closet door.
"Wow."
"What do you think?"
"It's, amazing."
Sam had made a DNA helix out of Lego and had stored it for the weekend in Palmer's classroom.
"Easy A right?"
Sam chuckled at Lucas' response. "Definitely. I mean, you're talking to the biggest fan of Legos so."
Sam brushed her hair behind her ear shyly. "Thanks."
Lucas was curious. "Was this, really what you wanted to show me?"
"Yeah." Sam exhaled quickly. "I just, had to get away from the dance for a second. Aisha's sorta mad at me right now, and Yas and Moon make things even harder."
"I get the feeling."
They could hear the muted music of the Halloween dance behind them as they stood in silence alone together.
"Hey Sam."
"Yeah?" she turned to him.
"I'm gonna try something, if you don't like it. Tell me."
She nodded.
Lucas embraced Sam tightly and then kissed her.
They began to make out for a moment, and then leaned slightly against the open closet door.
…
In the hallway outside, Mitch was drinking from a water fountain as Miguel followed him. "Man, why is it so hard to pick up chicks in a skeleton costume?"
Miguel shrugged. "Guess you must be trying too hard."
Mitch began to go on and then Miguel could see Sam and Lucas together through the classroom door's window.
Mitch's voice brought him down to Earth again. "Miguel? Hey, you good man?"
"I'm, I'm fine."
He was not.
…
Sam began to breathe rapidly, feeling more nervous than she ever felt in her life when she felt the cold metal of Lucas' stethoscope brush the open patch on her chest through her Laker's girl uniform.
Lucas then rubbed the skin of Sam's bare legs and she almost gasped for a second. The feeling was almost too much, it woke her up completely.
Sam broke away and spoke. "Hey, Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you do this, like," she spoke shyly. "With anyone else?"
"No."
"Not Moon or Yas? Or anyone else on Cheer?"
"No one but you. I mean, you're the second person I've ever kissed."
Sam nodded.
"And you?"
Sam shrugged. "You're my first kiss," she said very shyly.
"Am I doing well?" Lucas smiled, playing with the yellow ribbon in Sam's curly hair.
Sam pushed his hand aside lightly deflecting it and the question. "Luke, you swear you don't make out with anyone else?"
"No. Why is that hard to believe?"
"It just is, sorry."
Lucas felt a bit insulted. "Hold on, you- You mean. You know what?"
He raised his hands and moved away turning around, then walking away out of the classroom and back towards the dance.
"Hey!" said Sam.
The door to Mr. Palmer's classroom closed.
Sam frowned, fixing her hair with a sad frown before she was left alone in the room.
…
Lucas returned to the dance to see Miguel flirting and dancing with Moon.
Lucas knew it was him, all the other people in skeleton costumes clearly looked different even with the onesie.
Moon was also giggling and speaking his name occasionally.
Lucas shook his head, and Sam was also not happy at the sight when she returned from the classroom.
"Where did you go man?" asked Robby wearing aviator shades
"None of your business. What have you been up to?"
"Currently failing to ask Daenerys Targaryen to dance," said Demetri quietly. "Three, times, over."
All three girls in dragon queen costumes were dancing by themselves nearby the snack table.
Lucas chuckled, turning to them.
"Hey ladies!" They listened to Lucas. "Respectfully speaking. My boys need dance partners, is that okay?"
They smiled and agreed and Eli stayed hidden behind his mask. "Wait, I don't-" he muttered shyly.
"Well there you guys, it's that easy." Lucas chuckled before pushing Eli in their direction.
Robby did not need any encouragement while Demetri winced and inched himself painfully in their direction.
Lucas sighed, turning around to shake his head while Moon appeared, serving herself some punch.
"Whoo! All that dancing sure breaks a sweat." she said.
"I see you've met Miguel Diaz."
"You know him?"
Lucas shrugged. "I know of him."
"How- What does that mean?" asked Moon blankly. "There's no need to be jealous, you could've just asked me to dance earlier."
Lucas scoffed. "Who says I'm jealous?"
"You clearly sound like it."
"That's not even." Lucas shook his head, turning around. "Like-"
A few Halloween dance members gasped, Lucas had accidentally bumped into and spilled punch right on Miguel.
"Crap," Lucas said genuinely. "Sorry man, didn't see you there."
"Miguel!"
The boy in the skeleton outfit and slightly ruined makeup walked off towards the bathroom.
"Luke." Moon said reproachfully.
"What, it was an accident."
A few of the Cobra Kais walked off in Miguel's direction after a short moment.
…
Miguel was trying to fix his makeup but it was looking completely ruined.
He sighed, his costume was finished, and he began to take it off.
Miguel heard Kyler's voice as he chatted with Brucks, Rory, and their other friend in the locker room nearby.
"Can't believe Sam ghosted you like that man. You were just days away from bone city." Brucks said stupidly.
Kyler sighed. "I know dog, all that hard work for nothing."
"What hard work? You were gonna pull that stupid grandmother's necklace bit that got you tons of tail over in East Valley."
"Whatever man."
Miguel could hear his knuckles crack beneath his costume.
Kyler heard someone walking towards them.
"Oh shit, hey Rhea."
"Still using that nickname huh?" he smiled. "Even though we all know what happened that night?"
Kyler's smirk turned to a frown.
"How's your wrist?"
"What, you want some payback fool?" asked Kyler dumbly.
Miguel mercilessly struck Kyler first and hard the moment he and his friends stood up from around the locker room.
Right in the jaw, he popped him with the same reverse punch Kreese taught him.
He was hit so hard he flew back and hit the metal red locker behind him with a BANG.
Miguel didn't stand there frozen afterward, he took advantage of Brucks, Rory and their pal's surprise and kept striking.
He hit Brucks with a fully powered round kick directly in his round belly, making him keel over.
It was at that point that Rory knew he'd either be next and have to save his friends or face the same fate, so he picked up a nearby lacrosse stick and swung it directly at Miguel's head.
It landed clean on his temple, bruising and disorienting him, knocking him against the wall.
"Nice man!" Brucks wheezed, trying to get his wind back after it was knocked clean out of him.
Before they could recover and gang up on Miguel, three other boys entered the bathroom.
"Yo man what the fuck!?" Mitch saw the scene.
Bert had no idea what he was going to do, but Edwin just had to crack his knuckles under his white gloves and skeleton onesie to announce his presence.
"Oh shit!"
A few seconds later, Kyler wisely decided it would be best to flee the scene, and he and his friends tussled with the Cobra Kais for a second before they ran.
"You alright dude?"
Miguel clapped Mitch's hand, and he nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." he winced, rubbing the bruise on the side of his head. "That was close."
"Anytime, what the hell happened?"
"Just striking first."
Miguel then realized Kreese's lessons had saved both himself and his friends from humiliation.
"Niiice." Mitch nodded. "Why'd you run off in the first place? The dance was getting tight."
"Aw, some nonsense. Some guy knocked punch over me, ruined my costume."
"Well, we were only gonna wear it tonight anyways. Come on, the party's still going."
Miguel then joined his friends back at the Halloween dance, and he even forgot he was supposed to be dancing with Moon for a second.
He smiled and the Cobra Kais just had a good time together, as Bert realized Miguel was not in the best mood and they cheered him up.
"So who knocked that punch over you?" asked Mitch, awkwardly doing the robot.
Miguel shrugged. "We'll worry about it later."
"And I saw your roundhouse on Brucks man, it was brutal. No mercy, nice!"
"Yeah." Miguel smiled widely. "No mercy."
...
...
...
Book 2 - Chapter 6
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Chapter Six: No Mercy
…
"Miggy this karate seems dangerous."
Miguel rubbed the bruise on his temple with a sigh. "It was because of my karate that I didn't get beat up."
"All I know is you shouldn't be getting in fights." said Carmen kindly, Miguel's mother.
Carmen ignored her mother's approval of the karate in Spanish and then Miguel spoke in English.
"Sensei Kreese helped me, I gained friends, strength, confidence."
"And I am so happy for you mi hijo," said Carmen. "But even if you didn't get hurt, this Mr. Kreese does not seem like a safe man or a good mentor."
"You don't know him ma. Without him, I'd be a nobody getting picked on every day at school!" Miguel left the couch.
"Miggy!"
Miguel walked to his bedroom and closed the door.
Carmen turned to Rosa, her mother, who spoke.
"Es la edad." she shrugged.
Carmen silently agreed that it was just Miguel's age, nothing odd.
…
The next day at West Valley High School, Miguel chatted with Sam at her locker.
"Hey."
Sam smiled. "Heyy…"
"I guess the Halloween dance was kind of weird huh?"
"Yeah, lots of fun costumes," Sam said with a smile, closing her locker.
Miguel cleared his throat. "Your boyfriend spilled some punch on me."
"Luke's not my boyfriend," Sam said before she shrugged, fixing her backpack on her shoulders. "And besides, it was an accident right?"
"Yeah totally. Can we um, hang out in the library after school?" asked Miguel. "We can go over some Bio stuff together."
"That sounds awesome but." Sam winced. "I actually have something I needed to do later."
"Fine."
Sam frowned. "What happened to your face?"
"I bumped my head on a cabinet moving boxes around for my Yaya." Miguel said.
"Oh." Sam didn't buy it at all. "Look, we can hang out some other time."
Miguel was hiding his disappointment. "Yeah, sure."
"See you in class?"
"Yeah." Miguel smiled and nodded back before Sam walked off.
She waved at Lucas in the hall with a smile as she walked down it.
Miguel squinted with one eye at this, balling his fists.
"Sup man?"
Mitch and Bert appeared, Edwin had his nose stuck in a book.
"El Serpiente!" Mitch punched Miguel's shoulder. "You kicked Kyler's ass last Friday man!"
Bert nudged him strongly, looking around the hall.
Mitch cleared his throat, lowering his voice. "I mean. You kicked Kyler's ass last Friday!"
Miguel chuckled. "Thanks Mitch. I honestly couldn't have done it without you guys."
"Maybe you could've," said Mitch. "You had some balls to go up against all four of them, but I couldn't take that risk."
Miguel smiled, sounding like he felt better about his day so far. "I appreciate it a ton."
The Cobra Kai boys then left the hall.
…
Sam felt a little uncomfortable.
She was wearing her clothes for PE, gym shorts and a grey West Valley Mountain Lions t-shirt.
Moon, Yasmine, and a girl with sandy light brown hair, freckles, and glasses were all sitting behind a plastic white table on a basketball court with a mat out.
Yasmine and Moon smiled, giving her the thumbs up.
A young African American woman in her twenties with a tennis visor sat behind the table as well with a clipboard.
"Usually we don't hold tryouts this late in the semester, but a spot recently opened up as Judy Rubenthal broke her ankle." the coach said, clicking her pen. "First up, Fernanda Wilson."
The girls all tried out one by one and it was then Sam's turn.
It was clear she had no formal training in tumbling, gymnastics, or any sort of cheer, but still possessed more than enough athleticism to learn.
"Thank you all for your time ladies," the coach said. "After convening with my captains, we'll tell you who stayed and who did not."
…
"Runner up. Maisie Thomas."
The coach smiled. "And first seed, Samantha LaRusso!"
Everyone on the cheer squad, well over sixteen girls all cheered.
Several girls grumpily got off the mat and left, leaving Sam to join her first practice.
Moon and Yasmine screeched, embracing their friend.
Sam smiled and the cheer practice began.
Sam learned how competitive the cheer team actually was, that there was a lot of technique, timing, and in some cases, team work that was involved.
The practice lasted about two hours, and by the end of it, Sam actually had enjoyed herself.
She had only really done one extra curricular, which was karate with her father, and she hadn't done it since she was eight and over eight years prior, so this was new and fun for her.
…
Sam found that she enjoyed the company of all the girls on the cheer team.
She was already friends with Moon and Yasmine, but the rest were fun albeit sometimes superficial and crass girls.
Lindsay Martin was a Captain, in Sam's year, and had her locker right next to Sam's in the girl's locker room.
Mackenzie Chu wasn't Captain but a junior, and had still competed in cheer since she was young. Her parents were wealthy tech company executives from Korea who had roots in Irvine stretching back decades.
Sam didn't feel nervous or uncomfortable around the girls, on the contrary, the cheer team made her feel at home.
Sighing, Yasmine took off her West Valley High School cheer uniform, put it into her locker, and slipped beneath the shower.
Her and Lindsay chatted quietly, washing themselves down with soap and hot water.
"What a practice," Moon muttered, rubbing her sore legs and back.
"Wait, your dad has that car dealership, right? He, kicks the competition?" asked Mackenzie, fixing her bra before putting a clean shirt on.
Sam nodded. "Uh huh."
"Clever." Mackenzie chuckled.
Yasmine walked over after drying herself off with a towel and wearing just short shorts and a bra, rummaging through her locker. "You did very well for your first day."
Sam smiled. "Thanks!"
"Cheer is not for the faint of heart," Moon said darkly, making Sam and Yasmine chuckled.
Mackenzie tossed her long jet black hair back. "You know that guy who always wears karate stuff? Hangs around that kid with the lip?"
"Luke?" asked Sam. "What about him?"
"Are you dating him?" she asked, rubbing lip stick on using a small hand mirror to help.
Sam froze. "Uh…why do people keep thinking that?"
"Cause you two totally ran off together at the dance," Yasmine muttered. "You acted like I didn't notice since I was Snapping about Fuglisha."
Moon frowned, hiding the upset look on her face when she knelt to put a jacket on out of her locker.
"Really?" Mackenzie gasped, turning around slightly. "Spill!"
Lindsay picked her backpack up. "It's not your business guys, just leave her alone." she said, starting to leave.
"Let her speak for herself damn it," Yasmine said jokingly, the girls chuckling together quietly. "Seriously, how'd it go?"
Lindsay scoffed, leaving. "Later."
Moon waved to her as Sam shrugged. "I don't know, it went. Fine."
"Okay then." Mackenzie put her makeup away, tucking the makeup mirror into her pocket.
"Well I mean, he's a pretty good kisser."
"Daaaamn!" Yasmine laughed.
Mackenzie nodded. "Alright then." she smiled a bit.
Sam realized that slipped out faster than she meant to.
"Fuglisha." Sam frowned at Mackenzie's chortle. "That's pretty clever. Man, is that why everyone started calling her cheeto pig?"
"You could tell it was her in that skeleton costume." Yasmine shrugged.
Sam quietly walked out.
…
"The timing on that little bitch's story." Aisha was stretching on the mat of Cobra Kai.
Mitch shrugged. "So then just walk up to her and break her fake ass nose."
"I can't," said Aisha. "She made sure to post it when everyone had already left the dance. It's like she knew I couldn't do anything about it when I got back to school and all the teacher's were around."
"Fall in."
Kreese walked out, and everyone stood up, paying attention.
Only a thin boy named Dieter had joined the dojo after hearing about the Halloween dance locker room fight, making Kreese's total number of students six.
Kreese spoke quietly, looking at his line of karatekas calmly.
"In this dojo, earning your white belt means you've proven you're a true Cobra Kai. Class, please welcome the first white belt in Cobra Kai since a very long time. Miguel Diaz."
He walked out from the backroom quietly in a white Cobra Kai GI.
Miguel took his spot and Aisha smiled and nodded to him.
"He showed no mercy to a group of people who bothered him." said Kreese with pride. "Let it be known. Every single one of you holds that right."
Mitch smiled and nodded. "If an ant gets on your food." Kreese shrugged. "Feel free to squish it. No mercy." he added, squinting at the class.
"Begin."
Miguel warmed everyone up with forward strikes and then got to work.
Kreese trained everyone in sparring, grappling, and striking form.
After an hour and a half of training, everyone was sweaty and tired, but still strong.
"Dismissed. Ais!"
Everyone bowed to Kreese and he nodded his head back.
…
Kreese was organizing paperwork on his office desk when Miguel walked in.
"Sensei?"
"What can I do for you Mr. Diaz?"
"I had a question."
"Go right ahead."
Miguel sighed. "I like this um, person at school. She's super funny, and cute, and smart. But there's, a problem."
Kreese looked around his office. "Do I seem like the authority on these things?"
"No. But I didn't have anyone to ask."
"What about your friends?"
Miguel spoke very quietly. "None of them ever had a girlfriend before so."
Kreese hid his smile and tiny chuckle when he spun around in his desk chair to put away some papers in a metal cabinet.
He turned around as Miguel spoke. "Have you ever-"
"What's your question? Speak frankly son, you're very clear on what my duties as a Sensei are to you."
Miguel nearly gulped for a second.
"There's someone else, someone I know this person likes. What do I do about them?"
"Why do you ask me?"
"You seem to know how to handle threats pretty well."
Kreese was actually flattered, but hid it with a small wipe of his face and scratch at his stubble.
"What did I tell you at the beginning of class today?" Kreese pointed out to the mat from his office window.
Miguel shrugged. "No mercy."
"Precisely. If someone threatens you, or something you want. You take care of them." Kreese then picked up a cigar, bouncing it in Miguel's direction with his elbow on his office desk. "But like always, fight smart. Not hard Mr. Diaz."
"Thank you Sensei."
Miguel turned around and Kreese spoke out, cutting his cigar end off.
"If you ever ask me about romance again, I swear. I'll have you run laps around the mat until you black out."
Miguel smiled with his back turned, chuckling quietly. "Yes Sensei."
…
The next day at school, Sam walked in with a newfound confidence being part of West Valley High School's cheer team.
It was dress day, Friday, and all the football players had to wear a button up and nice jeans or slacks and in some cases a tie. And all the cheer leaders had to wear their full cheer uniform.
Sam enjoyed the attention but could hide her shyness by always being near the other girls on cheer in the halls, Moon, Lindsay, or Yasmine.
Maybe now Lucas would notice her instead of her friends. Maybe now she could forget about everything that happened with Aisha.
Sam's smile on her face froze.
Mackenzie was talking to Lucas in the hallway.
He was sitting on a bench near a water fountain with his pals, Robby and Eli.
Lucas was leaning back, hands in his pockets. When Mackenzie took her phone out of her jacket pocket, he took a quick glance at Mackenzie's bare thighs.
Sam practically melted away.
However, it seemed like a perfectly casual conversation with an odd smile and chuckle.
Lucas could see Sam walking in his direction but the bell rang for the first period before he could react.
…
Miguel Diaz found a sign up form for volunteers to help run West Valley High's soccer games.
There, he saw Lucas Schwarber's name and phone number listed.
Miguel looked up, thinking of something.
…
Sam found Lucas and Daniel talking in Daniel's dining room.
"Hey." Daniel turned towards his daughter. "Planned on joining us earlier today?"
"Sorry, think cheer's my new hobby. Not ready to go back to karate yet."
Daniel smiled. "That's fine, I think Anthony needs help with his homework."
Lucas looked touched that Daniel trusted him enough to leave him downstairs alone with his daughter.
"Sup." Lucas threw a carrot Daniel had cut into his mouth, chewing on it quietly.
"Hey there."
"Everything good, with you?" Lucas asked quietly.
"Yeah, yeah everything's fine."
They stood there silently, looking around the kitchen.
"I know we haven't talked since the dance. I went off kinda in a huff, and honestly that wasn't cool of me."
"Really?"
Lucas nodded. "You clearly thought I was lying to you, and even though you were wrong. You had a point. I do flirt a lot, maybe I should try to a little less."
"It's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"You realized your mistake."
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
He saw Amanda's car pull into the driveway.
"I'll help your mom unload some groceries."
Sam smiled back, the sentiment was appreciated warmly.
She noticed Lucas had left his phone on the counter and received an odd Whatsapp text.
MackTheKnife: Last night was so fun!
The text was followed by some very suggestive emojis.
Sam looked up, blinking rapidly and then helping Amanda with the groceries.
…
At dinner, Lucas could tell Sam was off for some reason.
Hadn't they recovered from the post Halloween dance awkwardness?
It wasn't until he returned to his house at the Mills Manor that he realized the text on his phone.
Someone was trolling him, the number had blocked him when he responded to it. And judging from Sam's sudden change at around the time the text was sent, she had seen it.
Lucas began to squint in thought. Who in the world would want to make it seem like someone was messing around with him?
Lucas shrugged, tossing his phone away.
…
The next week at school, Lucas found out pretty quickly who it was.
Sam gave him the cold shoulder at every turn, and someone was chatting up Moon, doing his best to make her giggle while playing it cool.
Lucas was nudged out of the way when leaning over at a water fountain by him.
"No mercy man." Miguel muttered.
Lucas was confused, and then saw him walk off to flirt with Moon again.
She giggled loudly at what she said and he looked away.
How could he have been lucky enough that Sam saw it at just that time? It was sheer luck.
Lucas shook his head away and merely ignored it all, moving on through his day.
…
That afternoon in the girl's locker room, Sam eyed Mackenzie with a bit more scorn, but she ultimately didn't say or do anything.
"So um." Sam cleared her throat. "How crucial are nudes when you're flirting with a guy?"
"So crucial," Yasmine muttered.
"They're a nightmare." Mackenzie groaned.
Lindsay rolled her eyes, folding her sweaty clothes into her gym bag. "Sexts are everything when you're starting to know someone romantically."
"Really?" asked Sam.
"Definitely," Mackenzie said. "Boys will generally ask for them as soon as you show interest, and the best thing you can do is tease them."
Sam could tell Mackenzie really knew what she was talking about.
"Word of advice," Yasmine said. "Don't send, but keep him waiting for one to drop."
"But what if you really like him that way?" Sam was confused.
"Then you make him wait even more," said Moon with a chuckle. "Guys are dumb that way, they're more interested the less you show them. At first anyway."
"Yes! You reel them in little by little, until you're sure they're genuine about you." Mackenzie shrugged. "Then you show them a little something. But almost nothing."
The girls stopped gossiping about one topic to transition into another.
Sam generally found herself happy with them, except with Mackenzie.
…
Karate Kid OST: The Pact
…
Lucas was practicing kata with Daniel.
"One."
They breathed in, moving their hands around.
"And two."
Lucas breathed in and out, their kata was almost like a guided meditation but with karate.
"And one, and two."
Lucas then began to hammer in old nails, and practiced paint the fence and wax on wax off.
Daniel smiled, walking up to him. "Nice work."
"Thanks Mr. L."
"Everything alright at school?"
"Um. School's fine, just, some stuff happened."
Daniel and Lucas sat down on the front porch of Mr. Miyagi's house and he told him everything.
"So. This Miguel kid, he wanted to make Sam jealous of you?"
"Pretty much."
"Because you spilled punch all over him?"
Lucas nodded. "Also because I think he might be jealous."
Daniel laughed. "Cobra Kai has not changed."
"The thing is. I know it's not him, it's. It's-"
"Kreese."
Lucas was silent.
Daniel shook his head. "That man is just awful. He turns people's pain into other's. Hatred is like a disease, it can't stop if you spread it around."
"So what am I supposed to do? Sam doesn't care about the truth, and I don't want to give Miguel more reasons to hate me."
Daniel sighed. "You know, the best fights are the ones that are stopped before they happen. Our karate is special, you train, so you don't have to fight."
"Exactly."
"Lucas you're going to find that a lot of the conflicts in your life can be resolved with proper communication and honesty. John Kreese never cared about that."
Lucas frowned.
"I know you thought he cared about you, but he doesn't care about anyone. He would use your weakness, your vulnerability, and add it to his own strength. He preys on what people want to become, building their trust, and then he hurts you when you don't live up to what he wanted."
Lucas nodded. "Yeah."
"Hey." he put a hand on his shoulder. "My advice is this. Do nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing. Engaging with Kreese's behavior is dangerous, you're giving him what he wants by giving his student any attention."
Lucas understood. "Alright then."
"The philosophy of Miyagi-Do is what I need you to understand most. You already learned the actual karate very quickly, there are very few applications of the kata left for you to perfect. But the essence."
Lucas watched Daniel pretend to hold a small seed. "The core of who you are is still growing. It's like, your future is still undecided."
Lucas nodded.
"But all you need to do is trust your instincts, trust what I've taught you. And you'll grow into what you were meant to be."
Lucas smiled. "So it's like, I'm a seed. And, Miyagi-Do are my roots?"
"And the stem and leaves will be your life and decisions." Daniel smiled. "See, you're getting the lesson already."
"Well how do I practice the lesson?"
"Do you want me to show you?"
Lucas nodded.
…
The two spent the night trimming bonsai and talking about life.
About Daniel's experiences in highschool, how it was like to raise a family, and his advice for Lucas growing up.
Lucas had a lot to say, but above all, he listened.
He was absorbing everything Daniel was telling him, about Miyagi-Do, the LaRusso Auto dealership, about everything he wanted to know.
The core of what Lucas understood was that Miyagi-Do, or rather what Daniel wanted for him, was trust.
Trust above all.
…
In his room, Lucas texted Sam.
hey, wyd rn?
Sam almost leaped off her computer doing homework to text Lucas, laying on her stomach on her bed to tap away on her phone.
nothin wbu
i was just about to heat up dino nuggets
Lucas chuckled at the fire emojis Sam sent him.
im sorry if I was acting weird earlier this week. School's been odd and stuff
you were acting weird earlier?
Sam smiled at her phone screen, relieved Lucas was fine.
anyways, where are you rn?
laying on my bed, texting u
can i see?
Sam leaned up and noticed some of her cleavage was visible in the selfie of her smiling she was about to send.
Was that what Lucas wanted right now? She was mainly trying to go off the advice everyone on the cheer squad gave her.
Lucas saw the selfie and loved it instantly, making Sam glow when she saw the heart on it appear.
i love your hair! your earrings look nice as hellll
Lucas tapped his finger on his mouth, thinking.
can I see a bit more?
Sam texted her response angrily, and much faster than she meant to.
why, don't you have Mack to hit up for that?
It was at that point that Lucas left Sam on read, and the two rubbed their faces in their own bedrooms.
"So stupid!" Sam threw her phone into her pillow, cupping her own face.
"Such an idiot!" Lucas grunted in frustration.
It appeared awkwardness was a stable state for the two.
Luckily for Sam, the messages she shared with Miguel were far sweeter and kinder and never strayed from platonic jokes through Instagram.
…
…
…
…
"Miggy this karate seems dangerous."
Miguel rubbed the bruise on his temple with a sigh. "It was because of my karate that I didn't get beat up."
"All I know is you shouldn't be getting in fights." said Carmen kindly, Miguel's mother.
Carmen ignored her mother's approval of the karate in Spanish and then Miguel spoke in English.
"Sensei Kreese helped me, I gained friends, strength, confidence."
"And I am so happy for you mi hijo," said Carmen. "But even if you didn't get hurt, this Mr. Kreese does not seem like a safe man or a good mentor."
"You don't know him ma. Without him, I'd be a nobody getting picked on every day at school!" Miguel left the couch.
"Miggy!"
Miguel walked to his bedroom and closed the door.
Carmen turned to Rosa, her mother, who spoke.
"Es la edad." she shrugged.
Carmen silently agreed that it was just Miguel's age, nothing odd.
…
The next day at West Valley High School, Miguel chatted with Sam at her locker.
"Hey."
Sam smiled. "Heyy…"
"I guess the Halloween dance was kind of weird huh?"
"Yeah, lots of fun costumes," Sam said with a smile, closing her locker.
Miguel cleared his throat. "Your boyfriend spilled some punch on me."
"Luke's not my boyfriend," Sam said before she shrugged, fixing her backpack on her shoulders. "And besides, it was an accident right?"
"Yeah totally. Can we um, hang out in the library after school?" asked Miguel. "We can go over some Bio stuff together."
"That sounds awesome but." Sam winced. "I actually have something I needed to do later."
"Fine."
Sam frowned. "What happened to your face?"
"I bumped my head on a cabinet moving boxes around for my Yaya." Miguel said.
"Oh." Sam didn't buy it at all. "Look, we can hang out some other time."
Miguel was hiding his disappointment. "Yeah, sure."
"See you in class?"
"Yeah." Miguel smiled and nodded back before Sam walked off.
She waved at Lucas in the hall with a smile as she walked down it.
Miguel squinted with one eye at this, balling his fists.
"Sup man?"
Mitch and Bert appeared, Edwin had his nose stuck in a book.
"El Serpiente!" Mitch punched Miguel's shoulder. "You kicked Kyler's ass last Friday man!"
Bert nudged him strongly, looking around the hall.
Mitch cleared his throat, lowering his voice. "I mean. You kicked Kyler's ass last Friday!"
Miguel chuckled. "Thanks Mitch. I honestly couldn't have done it without you guys."
"Maybe you could've," said Mitch. "You had some balls to go up against all four of them, but I couldn't take that risk."
Miguel smiled, sounding like he felt better about his day so far. "I appreciate it a ton."
The Cobra Kai boys then left the hall.
…
Sam felt a little uncomfortable.
She was wearing her clothes for PE, gym shorts and a grey West Valley Mountain Lions t-shirt.
Moon, Yasmine, and a girl with sandy light brown hair, freckles, and glasses were all sitting behind a plastic white table on a basketball court with a mat out.
Yasmine and Moon smiled, giving her the thumbs up.
A young African American woman in her twenties with a tennis visor sat behind the table as well with a clipboard.
"Usually we don't hold tryouts this late in the semester, but a spot recently opened up as Judy Rubenthal broke her ankle." the coach said, clicking her pen. "First up, Fernanda Wilson."
The girls all tried out one by one and it was then Sam's turn.
It was clear she had no formal training in tumbling, gymnastics, or any sort of cheer, but still possessed more than enough athleticism to learn.
"Thank you all for your time ladies," the coach said. "After convening with my captains, we'll tell you who stayed and who did not."
…
"Runner up. Maisie Thomas."
The coach smiled. "And first seed, Samantha LaRusso!"
Everyone on the cheer squad, well over sixteen girls all cheered.
Several girls grumpily got off the mat and left, leaving Sam to join her first practice.
Moon and Yasmine screeched, embracing their friend.
Sam smiled and the cheer practice began.
Sam learned how competitive the cheer team actually was, that there was a lot of technique, timing, and in some cases, team work that was involved.
The practice lasted about two hours, and by the end of it, Sam actually had enjoyed herself.
She had only really done one extra curricular, which was karate with her father, and she hadn't done it since she was eight and over eight years prior, so this was new and fun for her.
…
Sam found that she enjoyed the company of all the girls on the cheer team.
She was already friends with Moon and Yasmine, but the rest were fun albeit sometimes superficial and crass girls.
Lindsay Martin was a Captain, in Sam's year, and had her locker right next to Sam's in the girl's locker room.
Mackenzie Chu wasn't Captain but a junior, and had still competed in cheer since she was young. Her parents were wealthy tech company executives from Korea who had roots in Irvine stretching back decades.
Sam didn't feel nervous or uncomfortable around the girls, on the contrary, the cheer team made her feel at home.
Sighing, Yasmine took off her West Valley High School cheer uniform, put it into her locker, and slipped beneath the shower.
Her and Lindsay chatted quietly, washing themselves down with soap and hot water.
"What a practice," Moon muttered, rubbing her sore legs and back.
"Wait, your dad has that car dealership, right? He, kicks the competition?" asked Mackenzie, fixing her bra before putting a clean shirt on.
Sam nodded. "Uh huh."
"Clever." Mackenzie chuckled.
Yasmine walked over after drying herself off with a towel and wearing just short shorts and a bra, rummaging through her locker. "You did very well for your first day."
Sam smiled. "Thanks!"
"Cheer is not for the faint of heart," Moon said darkly, making Sam and Yasmine chuckled.
Mackenzie tossed her long jet black hair back. "You know that guy who always wears karate stuff? Hangs around that kid with the lip?"
"Luke?" asked Sam. "What about him?"
"Are you dating him?" she asked, rubbing lip stick on using a small hand mirror to help.
Sam froze. "Uh…why do people keep thinking that?"
"Cause you two totally ran off together at the dance," Yasmine muttered. "You acted like I didn't notice since I was Snapping about Fuglisha."
Moon frowned, hiding the upset look on her face when she knelt to put a jacket on out of her locker.
"Really?" Mackenzie gasped, turning around slightly. "Spill!"
Lindsay picked her backpack up. "It's not your business guys, just leave her alone." she said, starting to leave.
"Let her speak for herself damn it," Yasmine said jokingly, the girls chuckling together quietly. "Seriously, how'd it go?"
Lindsay scoffed, leaving. "Later."
Moon waved to her as Sam shrugged. "I don't know, it went. Fine."
"Okay then." Mackenzie put her makeup away, tucking the makeup mirror into her pocket.
"Well I mean, he's a pretty good kisser."
"Daaaamn!" Yasmine laughed.
Mackenzie nodded. "Alright then." she smiled a bit.
Sam realized that slipped out faster than she meant to.
"Fuglisha." Sam frowned at Mackenzie's chortle. "That's pretty clever. Man, is that why everyone started calling her cheeto pig?"
"You could tell it was her in that skeleton costume." Yasmine shrugged.
Sam quietly walked out.
…
"The timing on that little bitch's story." Aisha was stretching on the mat of Cobra Kai.
Mitch shrugged. "So then just walk up to her and break her fake ass nose."
"I can't," said Aisha. "She made sure to post it when everyone had already left the dance. It's like she knew I couldn't do anything about it when I got back to school and all the teacher's were around."
"Fall in."
Kreese walked out, and everyone stood up, paying attention.
Only a thin boy named Dieter had joined the dojo after hearing about the Halloween dance locker room fight, making Kreese's total number of students six.
Kreese spoke quietly, looking at his line of karatekas calmly.
"In this dojo, earning your white belt means you've proven you're a true Cobra Kai. Class, please welcome the first white belt in Cobra Kai since a very long time. Miguel Diaz."
He walked out from the backroom quietly in a white Cobra Kai GI.
Miguel took his spot and Aisha smiled and nodded to him.
"He showed no mercy to a group of people who bothered him." said Kreese with pride. "Let it be known. Every single one of you holds that right."
Mitch smiled and nodded. "If an ant gets on your food." Kreese shrugged. "Feel free to squish it. No mercy." he added, squinting at the class.
"Begin."
Miguel warmed everyone up with forward strikes and then got to work.
Kreese trained everyone in sparring, grappling, and striking form.
After an hour and a half of training, everyone was sweaty and tired, but still strong.
"Dismissed. Ais!"
Everyone bowed to Kreese and he nodded his head back.
…
Kreese was organizing paperwork on his office desk when Miguel walked in.
"Sensei?"
"What can I do for you Mr. Diaz?"
"I had a question."
"Go right ahead."
Miguel sighed. "I like this um, person at school. She's super funny, and cute, and smart. But there's, a problem."
Kreese looked around his office. "Do I seem like the authority on these things?"
"No. But I didn't have anyone to ask."
"What about your friends?"
Miguel spoke very quietly. "None of them ever had a girlfriend before so."
Kreese hid his smile and tiny chuckle when he spun around in his desk chair to put away some papers in a metal cabinet.
He turned around as Miguel spoke. "Have you ever-"
"What's your question? Speak frankly son, you're very clear on what my duties as a Sensei are to you."
Miguel nearly gulped for a second.
"There's someone else, someone I know this person likes. What do I do about them?"
"Why do you ask me?"
"You seem to know how to handle threats pretty well."
Kreese was actually flattered, but hid it with a small wipe of his face and scratch at his stubble.
"What did I tell you at the beginning of class today?" Kreese pointed out to the mat from his office window.
Miguel shrugged. "No mercy."
"Precisely. If someone threatens you, or something you want. You take care of them." Kreese then picked up a cigar, bouncing it in Miguel's direction with his elbow on his office desk. "But like always, fight smart. Not hard Mr. Diaz."
"Thank you Sensei."
Miguel turned around and Kreese spoke out, cutting his cigar end off.
"If you ever ask me about romance again, I swear. I'll have you run laps around the mat until you black out."
Miguel smiled with his back turned, chuckling quietly. "Yes Sensei."
…
The next day at school, Sam walked in with a newfound confidence being part of West Valley High School's cheer team.
It was dress day, Friday, and all the football players had to wear a button up and nice jeans or slacks and in some cases a tie. And all the cheer leaders had to wear their full cheer uniform.
Sam enjoyed the attention but could hide her shyness by always being near the other girls on cheer in the halls, Moon, Lindsay, or Yasmine.
Maybe now Lucas would notice her instead of her friends. Maybe now she could forget about everything that happened with Aisha.
Sam's smile on her face froze.
Mackenzie was talking to Lucas in the hallway.
He was sitting on a bench near a water fountain with his pals, Robby and Eli.
Lucas was leaning back, hands in his pockets. When Mackenzie took her phone out of her jacket pocket, he took a quick glance at Mackenzie's bare thighs.
Sam practically melted away.
However, it seemed like a perfectly casual conversation with an odd smile and chuckle.
Lucas could see Sam walking in his direction but the bell rang for the first period before he could react.
…
Miguel Diaz found a sign up form for volunteers to help run West Valley High's soccer games.
There, he saw Lucas Schwarber's name and phone number listed.
Miguel looked up, thinking of something.
…
Sam found Lucas and Daniel talking in Daniel's dining room.
"Hey." Daniel turned towards his daughter. "Planned on joining us earlier today?"
"Sorry, think cheer's my new hobby. Not ready to go back to karate yet."
Daniel smiled. "That's fine, I think Anthony needs help with his homework."
Lucas looked touched that Daniel trusted him enough to leave him downstairs alone with his daughter.
"Sup." Lucas threw a carrot Daniel had cut into his mouth, chewing on it quietly.
"Hey there."
"Everything good, with you?" Lucas asked quietly.
"Yeah, yeah everything's fine."
They stood there silently, looking around the kitchen.
"I know we haven't talked since the dance. I went off kinda in a huff, and honestly that wasn't cool of me."
"Really?"
Lucas nodded. "You clearly thought I was lying to you, and even though you were wrong. You had a point. I do flirt a lot, maybe I should try to a little less."
"It's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"You realized your mistake."
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
He saw Amanda's car pull into the driveway.
"I'll help your mom unload some groceries."
Sam smiled back, the sentiment was appreciated warmly.
She noticed Lucas had left his phone on the counter and received an odd Whatsapp text.
MackTheKnife: Last night was so fun!
The text was followed by some very suggestive emojis.
Sam looked up, blinking rapidly and then helping Amanda with the groceries.
…
At dinner, Lucas could tell Sam was off for some reason.
Hadn't they recovered from the post Halloween dance awkwardness?
It wasn't until he returned to his house at the Mills Manor that he realized the text on his phone.
Someone was trolling him, the number had blocked him when he responded to it. And judging from Sam's sudden change at around the time the text was sent, she had seen it.
Lucas began to squint in thought. Who in the world would want to make it seem like someone was messing around with him?
Lucas shrugged, tossing his phone away.
…
The next week at school, Lucas found out pretty quickly who it was.
Sam gave him the cold shoulder at every turn, and someone was chatting up Moon, doing his best to make her giggle while playing it cool.
Lucas was nudged out of the way when leaning over at a water fountain by him.
"No mercy man." Miguel muttered.
Lucas was confused, and then saw him walk off to flirt with Moon again.
She giggled loudly at what she said and he looked away.
How could he have been lucky enough that Sam saw it at just that time? It was sheer luck.
Lucas shook his head away and merely ignored it all, moving on through his day.
…
That afternoon in the girl's locker room, Sam eyed Mackenzie with a bit more scorn, but she ultimately didn't say or do anything.
"So um." Sam cleared her throat. "How crucial are nudes when you're flirting with a guy?"
"So crucial," Yasmine muttered.
"They're a nightmare." Mackenzie groaned.
Lindsay rolled her eyes, folding her sweaty clothes into her gym bag. "Sexts are everything when you're starting to know someone romantically."
"Really?" asked Sam.
"Definitely," Mackenzie said. "Boys will generally ask for them as soon as you show interest, and the best thing you can do is tease them."
Sam could tell Mackenzie really knew what she was talking about.
"Word of advice," Yasmine said. "Don't send, but keep him waiting for one to drop."
"But what if you really like him that way?" Sam was confused.
"Then you make him wait even more," said Moon with a chuckle. "Guys are dumb that way, they're more interested the less you show them. At first anyway."
"Yes! You reel them in little by little, until you're sure they're genuine about you." Mackenzie shrugged. "Then you show them a little something. But almost nothing."
The girls stopped gossiping about one topic to transition into another.
Sam generally found herself happy with them, except with Mackenzie.
…
Karate Kid OST: The Pact
…
Lucas was practicing kata with Daniel.
"One."
They breathed in, moving their hands around.
"And two."
Lucas breathed in and out, their kata was almost like a guided meditation but with karate.
"And one, and two."
Lucas then began to hammer in old nails, and practiced paint the fence and wax on wax off.
Daniel smiled, walking up to him. "Nice work."
"Thanks Mr. L."
"Everything alright at school?"
"Um. School's fine, just, some stuff happened."
Daniel and Lucas sat down on the front porch of Mr. Miyagi's house and he told him everything.
"So. This Miguel kid, he wanted to make Sam jealous of you?"
"Pretty much."
"Because you spilled punch all over him?"
Lucas nodded. "Also because I think he might be jealous."
Daniel laughed. "Cobra Kai has not changed."
"The thing is. I know it's not him, it's. It's-"
"Kreese."
Lucas was silent.
Daniel shook his head. "That man is just awful. He turns people's pain into other's. Hatred is like a disease, it can't stop if you spread it around."
"So what am I supposed to do? Sam doesn't care about the truth, and I don't want to give Miguel more reasons to hate me."
Daniel sighed. "You know, the best fights are the ones that are stopped before they happen. Our karate is special, you train, so you don't have to fight."
"Exactly."
"Lucas you're going to find that a lot of the conflicts in your life can be resolved with proper communication and honesty. John Kreese never cared about that."
Lucas frowned.
"I know you thought he cared about you, but he doesn't care about anyone. He would use your weakness, your vulnerability, and add it to his own strength. He preys on what people want to become, building their trust, and then he hurts you when you don't live up to what he wanted."
Lucas nodded. "Yeah."
"Hey." he put a hand on his shoulder. "My advice is this. Do nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing. Engaging with Kreese's behavior is dangerous, you're giving him what he wants by giving his student any attention."
Lucas understood. "Alright then."
"The philosophy of Miyagi-Do is what I need you to understand most. You already learned the actual karate very quickly, there are very few applications of the kata left for you to perfect. But the essence."
Lucas watched Daniel pretend to hold a small seed. "The core of who you are is still growing. It's like, your future is still undecided."
Lucas nodded.
"But all you need to do is trust your instincts, trust what I've taught you. And you'll grow into what you were meant to be."
Lucas smiled. "So it's like, I'm a seed. And, Miyagi-Do are my roots?"
"And the stem and leaves will be your life and decisions." Daniel smiled. "See, you're getting the lesson already."
"Well how do I practice the lesson?"
"Do you want me to show you?"
Lucas nodded.
…
The two spent the night trimming bonsai and talking about life.
About Daniel's experiences in highschool, how it was like to raise a family, and his advice for Lucas growing up.
Lucas had a lot to say, but above all, he listened.
He was absorbing everything Daniel was telling him, about Miyagi-Do, the LaRusso Auto dealership, about everything he wanted to know.
The core of what Lucas understood was that Miyagi-Do, or rather what Daniel wanted for him, was trust.
Trust above all.
…
In his room, Lucas texted Sam.
hey, wyd rn?
Sam almost leaped off her computer doing homework to text Lucas, laying on her stomach on her bed to tap away on her phone.
nothin wbu
i was just about to heat up dino nuggets
Lucas chuckled at the fire emojis Sam sent him.
im sorry if I was acting weird earlier this week. School's been odd and stuff
you were acting weird earlier?
Sam smiled at her phone screen, relieved Lucas was fine.
anyways, where are you rn?
laying on my bed, texting u
can i see?
Sam leaned up and noticed some of her cleavage was visible in the selfie of her smiling she was about to send.
Was that what Lucas wanted right now? She was mainly trying to go off the advice everyone on the cheer squad gave her.
Lucas saw the selfie and loved it instantly, making Sam glow when she saw the heart on it appear.
i love your hair! your earrings look nice as hellll
Lucas tapped his finger on his mouth, thinking.
can I see a bit more?
Sam texted her response angrily, and much faster than she meant to.
why, don't you have Mack to hit up for that?
It was at that point that Lucas left Sam on read, and the two rubbed their faces in their own bedrooms.
"So stupid!" Sam threw her phone into her pillow, cupping her own face.
"Such an idiot!" Lucas grunted in frustration.
It appeared awkwardness was a stable state for the two.
Luckily for Sam, the messages she shared with Miguel were far sweeter and kinder and never strayed from platonic jokes through Instagram.
…
…
…
Book Two - Chapter 7
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Chapter Seven: Miyagisms
…
Lucas typically found that between Encino and around Van Nuys where Mr. Miyagi lived was too far to use his bicycle to ride to.
So, in the mean time, he learned from Daniel LaRusso how to drive.
"You drive like your mom." Daniel chuckled.
"Is that a compliment?" he asked, braking before a stop light.
"It is," Daniel said. "One time, she crashed one of Mr. Miyagi's favorite cars."
"So then how is that a compliment?"
Daniel sighed. "Because admittedly, the brakes were shot and Ali'd been warning me for months."
"You let my mom drive a car without brakes?"
Daniel frowned. "I was stubborn at the time and didn't want to admit she was right. It was why we broke up at the time."
"So if she hadn't crashed that car. I might not have even been born?"
"You're asking me if I'd be your dad?" asked Daniel calmly.
"Well no I'm just." Lucas pulled into the street next to Mr. Miyagi's house. "Asking a hypothetical."
They began to leave Daniel's luxurious car when he asked. "As long as we're asking hypotheticals. Do you have feelings for my daughter?"
Lucas froze. For a fifteen year old he was rather concise, but failed to be so at the moment.
Daniel chuckled, patting Lucas' shoulder. "It's fine, let's get to work."
They walked to Mr. Miyagi's backyard and he spoke. "Today's task is simple."
Daniel waved a hand to the pond full of real koi. "Catch a fish."
"Excuse me?"
"Without fishing rods or any equipment of any sort." said Daniel. "Miyagi-Do karate, as per Okinawan tradition, prides itself on only needing open hands to complete tasks."
Daniel spoke and Lucas listened. "Kara means open, and te, hand. Karate. You will use your open hand, to catch a fish by day's end."
Lucas took a long sigh.
"Fine."
"I'll leave you to it."
"Where are you going?" asked Lucas.
"To help Amanda with paperwork. It's inventory day."
"Shouldn't I be there?"
Daniel shook his head with a smile. "No. Your internship is served best here, good luck."
Daniel left Lucas alone in Mr. Miyagi's backyard, and he began to fish with his bare hands.
After several minutes, he had no luck at all.
Lucas glanced towards Mr. Miyagi's home with a mutter. "Hope I'm making you proud my man." he then rolled his eyes.
…
Yasmine muttered, her fake nail tapping Sam's phone screen. "Hm."
"So?"
Yasmine, Moon, and Sam were all sitting together in a cafe booth.
"Hm," Yasmine repeated.
Yasmine kept scrolling through Sam's texts until she reached the bottom.
Yasmine nodded, putting Sam's phone down and sliding it to her across the table.
"Yeah." said Yasmine quietly. "He's definitely interested. Very interested."
"Did I mess up? He hasn't texted me in almost a week and I know he sees my dad like almost every day for karate."
Moon shrugged. "Guys will ghost when things get awkward. I do the same, it's no big deal."
"Look you screwed up when you brought up Mackenzie," said Yasmine. "For all you know nothing actually happened."
"But hasn't she been flirting with him?" Sam asked.
Moon rolled her eyes. "Yeah but it's not like you two are together."
Yasmine was looking at her sitting directly on her left, sipping her boba.
"What?" Moon shrunk in her seat a little.
Sam looked at Yasmine. "What should I do?"
"The best way to get a guy's attention is to play the flirt game." Yasmine said. "Flirt here with one person, flirt with another. And then, flirt with him."
"You mean talk to other people?"
Yasmine smiled. "You know who's hot? Miguel Diaz."
Moon took a casual and quick sip of her iced tea.
"Yeah so?" asked Sam.
"Ask him out," Yasmine said. "Or, better yet. Hit him up, see when he asks you out."
"Wait." Moon paused. "Miguel hasn't asked you out yet?"
"No. Should he have?"
Moon and Yasmine spoke over each other, saying "No!" and "Yes!" respectively.
"Wait." Sam looked at Moon. "Why shouldn't he have yet?"
"Because you're clearly still interested in Luke." Moon shrugged, frowning.
"See? This is exactly what I'm talking about." Yasmine said. "Miguel's probably thinking the same thing. You show interest in just him, and Luke will come running with his tail between his legs."
Yasmine pouted, making a frowny face.
"But isn't that dishonest? I really want to be with Luke, Miguel's pretty cool but I just met him."
"So?" scoffed Yasmine. "Boys are dumb like that, they'll only show maximum interest when you stop caring. Besides, guys have dated like that for ages, nothing wrong if it's your turn."
Moon squinted, slightly rubbing the back of her head. "Um, have you ever given any thought as to if this blows up in your face? And Lucas legitimately gets sick of you flirting with both him and Miguel?"
"Why would he? He knows Mack is just messing with him?" Yasmine said.
"Yeah but if I knew a guy was talking to another girl just to piss me off and get me interested again," muttered Moon. "I'd just bail."
"Luke's desperate, trust me. I bet all he can think about when he's at karate is you." Yasmine turned from Moon to look across the booth table at Sam. "Again, des, per, ate." Yasmine enunciated clearly.
…
"Come on!"
Lucas splashed the water of Mr. Miyagi's pond angrily as he roared.
He did squats, practiced kata, and trimmed the grass of Mr. Miyagi's backyard lawn a little. Anything to get his mind clear, the entire time staring at the pond trying to figure out how to catch a fish with his bare hands.
It seemed no matter how hard he tried, the koi fish always moved around at the last second, he could barely get close.
"This is such bullshit." he muttered with his sleeves rolled up.
…
Amanda sipped her coffee in the LaRusso Auto head office.
"You left him alone at your childhood home?" asked Amanda.
"I've done it all summer too, nothing new." Daniel shrugged while watching Anoush sell a Kia to a newly wed couple from his office window.
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "But you knew he couldn't have done it on his own. Why torture him?"
"That's the lesson Mr. Miyagi taught me," Daniel said. "Sometimes, you just have to ask for help."
"Honey." Amanda winced. "Sometimes I feel like you create your problems on your own."
"What are you talking about?"
"This Cobra Kai nonsense." sighed out Amanda. "Don't get me wrong, John Kreese sounds like a nut case. But his students are all a bunch of kids, and can be reasoned with. Maybe talking to them all could solve things."
"Not even Johnny Lawrence has changed since high school. Why would teenagers change?"
"Johnny came up with his own dojo for the last All Valley." corrected Amanda. "It was just him and his son, not some deranged gang of violent psychopaths."
Daniel frowned. "I thought we were talking about Lucas."
"I don't think metaphorical lessons are what's meant for him. Trimming bonsai, washing cars, nailing fence boards. He's been doing chores for the past five months, you need to accept he's a very competitive person."
Daniel listened.
"Didn't Mr. Miyagi teach you actual karate at some point?"
"Amanda I-" Daniel frowned. "I taught Lucas the moves. He learned pretty much all of them already."
"In only a year?"
"What he could've he more than learned." summarized Daniel. "But this kind of training is just as important as the rest."
"Maybe if you'd accept his competitiveness instead of trying to squash it he'd grow more. And you could grow more as a teacher." Amanda shrugged, clicking and working on paperwork for the LaRusso Auto dealership. "I don't know. That's just me."
Daniel nodded silently but still left the office to try the popcorn offered to customers.
"Hey cus look at this nonsense."
Louie walked up to Daniel and showed him a yellow paper John Kreese was using the advertise his dojo.
Strike like a Cobra - The Real All Valley Champions
"Can you believe this freaking guy? Acting like you're some sorta fake?"
"I'm sure that's not what he meant," said Daniel.
"Then what did he mean?" asked Louie.
Daniel shrugged. "I really just don't care."
"You don't?"
"No."
"Sometimes I feel like this Zen thing you got going for you, is what lets this asshole think he can get away with shit like this." Louie handed Daniel the flyer and then walked off.
Daniel held the yellow paper in his hand, showing two pictures of John Kreese extending a fist forward and of an unknown karateka in a white Cobra Kai GI and belt breaking a board with a round kick.
Daniel shook his head, sighing and then throwing the paper away.
…
Daniel returned to Miyagi-Do to see Lucas completely wet, he had gotten into the pond himself.
He watched silently, Lucas was struggling to even get his hands or feet close to the fish.
"You okay?"
"Having some." Lucas splashed wildly, even trying to smack a koi out of the water to hopefully get it to land anywhere on the grass nearby. "Trouble here."
"Need some help?"
"Nope!" said Lucas.
Daniel watched carefully.
"Although, that's the lesson isn't it?" Lucas kept his back turned to Daniel. "You help me, and I trust you?"
Daniel wasn't even that surprised Lucas had learned the lesson mostly on his own, he was just surprised at Lucas' refusal to get out of the pond water.
Lucas turned, shaking his head. "What was the point of the lesson? Trust? Respect?"
Daniel muttered calmly. "Humility." he glanced away.
"Well that's the thing, humility isn't something you're supposed to try at. If it doesn't come naturally, it's not humility now is it?"
Lucas then walked out of the pond soaked from head to toe.
He used a towel and spoke. "I'd appreciate an awkward car ride home so I can wash up please."
Daniel nodded in thought as Lucas walked off toward his car.
…
Lucas stayed completely silent on the drive between Mr. Miyagi's house and the Mills Manor in Encino.
"You did well."
"Thanks," Lucas said dryly.
"No I mean, for telling me when I was wrong."
"It honestly almost never happens so." Lucas smiled down at his lap.
"Thanks but," Daniel chuckled. "You're right. I shouldn't have forced you to try to ask for help."
"I honestly needed it, the only way I was gonna catch one of those damned fish was with a net of some kind or another person."
"Lucas the reason why I tell you to learn to stand before you can fly applies to more than just the crane kick. It applies to life."
Lucas listened.
"You have to learn all the aspects of Miyagi-Do to make sure you're prepared. Mr. Miyagi taught me to respect him, myself, and the time it took to grow and learn. Without that, I never could've raised a family, started my own business."
Daniel smiled and Lucas smiled back. "Or met you."
Lucas nodded a tiny bit in thought. "Mr. Miyagi shaped you."
"More importantly, I shaped him," said Daniel. "He never had a son before, and through that I think I made him a happier person."
Lucas smiled again.
"You have to realize that Luke." Daniel said. "Karate, just like anything you do. Doesn't lie in the achievements or the prizes or the titles. It lies inside of you, it starts with you, and what you do. It's faith, faith in yourself."
"Strong roots."
"Exactly."
Lucas nodded to himself.
…
At West Valley the next day, the Lucas and his friends chatted together.
"What do you think that all means?"
"That you should probably find a new Karate Sensei," Robby said.
The boys all chuckled together next to their lockers, even Lucas broke a smile.
"I'm serious, faith in myself? How can I ever have faith in just myself when I'm not even old enough to drive a car?"
"Dude, you have to take it with a grain of salt." said Robby. "He just wants you trust everything he teaches you. You're his only student, your dojo technically isn't open."
Demetri shrugged. "You've spent so much time with him at this point of course he'd trust you right? I think he is worried about you and Sam though."
Eli nudged him and Robby turned to him.
"Can you two give us a second?'
The Binary Brothers walked off, and Robby spoke to Lucas.
"The offer still stands man," said Robby, leaning on his locker. "Anytime you want to train with me and my dad. Just ask."
"I don't think I'm ready to become a, Steel Eagle just yet."
Robby chuckled. "Luke my dad's competed for years, he helped me reach the semis of the All Valley in just my first competition. I've never seen him as excited to see anyone fight as much as he saw you fight."
Lucas nodded and Robby scoffed. "Almost makes me jealous man."
"Thanks dude."
"Just train one time with us. You tell me almost every week about how weird Miyagi-Do is, I get you're tight with Sam's dad but. You can drop the charade, learn how to fight." Robby squinted. "We'd kick so much ass together."
Lucas smiled a little at the idea and then Robby turned. "Besides."
Dieter, Miguel, Edwin, Mitch, and the other Cobra Kai boys were all chatting nearby.
"Someone needs to put those guys in their place. At the rate they're growing, they'll have a full team ready for the All Valley next May. It's a historic occasion, the fiftieth anniversary, we can't let them win."
"You'll always lose a fight if you look for one."
"That's what I'm talking about man," said Robby. "You need to look at what's right in front of you. Stop with this Dalai Lama stuff." Lucas kept listening as he watched Miguel chat with his friends. "You let him come between you and Sam, he made her think the wrong thing about you."
Lucas glanced back at Robby. "His Sensei tried to kill my dad. These people are messed up man, they're just messed. Up."
"So what do you want to do?"
"Join Steel Eagle, help grow the dojo. And-"
"Then what?" asked Lucas. "Get into a turf war with the Cobra Kais over a girl and some bullshit texts? That's literally letting them drag us down to their level."
"Which is what I'm saying! Don't let them have an opportunity to keep messing with you."
Lucas spoke quietly and calmly to Robby. "You're my best friend man, but against Cobra Kai? You do not Strike First."
"Luke, you could end this whole thing with one conversation."
Lucas sighed.
"Tell them. Tell them you were Kreese's student, tell them you chose to train with Mr. L and my dad, and they'll realize they messed up."
"I shouldn't have told you about any of that. But look," Lucas shook his head. "The worst they've done so far is fake a text. They wouldn't listen to me."
"So they swoop all the hot girls around and you just take that?"
Lucas walked off.
"Hey!" said Robby.
…
Miguel sat down next to Demetri and Sam in Mr. Palmer's Biology class.
"Afternoon guys."
"Hey." Sam smiled while Demetri merely kept taking notes.
Miguel spoke to Sam quietly taking a seat next to her. "You catch that Dodger's game?"
"Not really. I'm more into basketball."
"That's why you picked a Laker's girl outfit on Halloween?"
Sam nodded. "Yup. I get courtside seats all season."
"Nice. I've, I mean. My family's never really had the money to go to a basketball game so, I'm sure it's probably fun."
Sam smiled at Miguel slightly. "Do you wanna go with me?"
"W-What?"
"Do you wanna go to a Laker's game with me? My dad hasn't really used the tickets in a minute so I think we'd both have fun."
Miguel smiled brightly. "Definitely. Sounds great to me."
Mr. Palmer began class and both Sam and Miguel had smiles on their faces doing their assignments.
…
Cheer practice at West Valley High School consisted mainly of stretching, followed by several minutes of practicing synchronized cheers, dances, and tumbling.
By the end of it, the girls were all sweaty, sore, and tired after nearly an hour of a half of non stop practice.
Sam, Lindsay, and Mackenzie all were sharing a metal shower machine that sprayed hot water in different directions as they talked happily.
The girls all had pearly white smooth skin, and long perfect curves and hair. After rubbing hot water and soap on themselves for a few minutes they dried up put on underwear and an assortment of clean gym clothes and then chatted amongst themselves in the locker room.
Sam fixed her hair using a mirror Mackenzie let her borrow. "Miguel and I are going to a Lakers game."
"Very nice." Yasmine chuckled, starting to apply makeup to her face. "Taking my advice will get you very far I'm sure."
"Remember," Mackenzie said. "No matter how cute he is, don't let him get far at all on a first date."
Moon froze at the statement, she was already getting to leave and appeared upset at what Sam said for a moment.
"Honestly it's weird, the two cutest guys I can think of around here both take karate." Mackenzie chuckled.
"What's the name of Miguel's karate dojo?" wondered Sam.
"No clue." Yasmine popped her lips, as she was done with her lipstick. "I swear, this karate trend makes no sense at all. There's a guy in every one of my classes who joined."
"How can people like a trend sooo dumb?" Lindsay groaned.
"Give it some time," said Mackenzie. "And people will definitely forget about it."
"I think I have an essay I forgot to finish for English due," Moon said, putting her backpack over her shoulder.
"You sure you're not coming to our usual spot?" Lindsay asked.
Moon shook her head. "Sorry I can't."
Everyone waved to her and Mackenzie muttered. "Wonder what has her in such a hurry. I'm pretty sure Moon has a C in English."
"No idea." said Yasmine.
Sam appeared to know, however.
She wasn't fooled at all for a fleeting second.
…
Lucas and Eli were the highest scoring sophomores in their Honors World History class.
They regularly competed for top grades on tests and projects and everyone knew were the best of friends.
Eli wasn't chatty in class at all, and Lucas appeared to be the only person he talked to in fifth period World History class.
The teacher was a very old man with glasses and a long beard, who spoke in the driest voice.
"Alright class today we're gonna be learning about the Industrial Revolution."
After the most boring lecture possible, he assigned groups of three for a project.
"Hey." Moon smiled, walking over to the two boys.
"Hey." Lucas nodded as Eli shrunk into his seat, sticking his nose instantly into a book.
Lucas spoke quietly. "I think we've got it covered, no need to meet up with us or anything."
Moon was surprised. "Don't need a top cheerleader to waste her time with icky nerds."
Moon was shocked and almost insulted. "What?"
"I'm saying that Eli and I can get an easy A."
"I'm sure you two can but I want to help too." said Moon. "I actually read the textbook."
"Really?" Lucas looked apologetic. "Sweet!"
"Yeah." Moon frowned, glancing at her phone as the class discussed together in groups of three.
"I mean, I didn't." Lucas cleared his throat. "Anyway. I think I'll make a group chat with you and Eli, and we can knock this out in one weekend."
"That sounds fine but um." Moon cleared her throat. "I was actually thinking we could all go to my place to do the project."
"That sounds fine too." said Lucas. "And I'm sorry for-"
"Don't worry about it. Please."
The two chuckled awkwardly and began writing down ideas for their assigned Industrial Revolution project.
…
Later that week on a Friday evening, Eli and Lucas went to Moon's house.
It was a luxurious home that could easily host a back to school party at the end of a summer, but for the night it was a place where Moon, Lucas, Eli all spent hours writing, drawing, and researching.
It had taken an entire afternoon, but they were sure they completed all the steps necessary.
"Alright." Lucas snapped his laptop shut, rubbing eyes. "Looks good to me."
Eli said among the few words he had all day. "I think my mom's here."
"Well hey man, I'll see you-"
Eli rushed out of the house and Moon's living room.
Lucas and Moon were well aware of how shy he was around girls.
Moon chuckled, nodding in the direction of Eli's flight. "He's pretty cute you know. Is he seeing anyone?"
"Not really. Are you?"
"Nope."
"You don't have some giant super quarterback boyfriend?"
Moon chuckled. "That's flattering but no, I'm not seeing anyone."
Lucas checked his phone. "I should probably get going soon."
"Great work on the project though." Moon smiled.
She curled her hand slightly around his arm, inching closer to him on the couch. "I really appreciate all your help."
"Thanks." Lucas noticed this but didn't say anything.
"I got some new indica my mom gave me for my birthday. Wanna try it?"
"Is that weed?"
Moon smiled. "Yup!"
Lucas nodded, looking around Moon's living room in thought.
"Okay, sounds good to me."
…
Moon and Lucas spent the next two hours smoking marijuana together, watching random things on her couch, eating snacks, and making out.
Moon snuggled with him beneath a blanket.
"So that project was fun." said Moon.
Lucas laughed, speaking in a slightly deeper voice now after all the weed he had smoked with her. "It really was."
Moon giggled, rubbing her nose against her chin. "Did you have fun?" she asked.
"I did, but I have to be back home in a bit for dinner with my grandparents."
"There's gotta be something I can do to convince you to stay."
Lucas sighed when Moon pecked his cheek. "That sounds fun but yeah I really do have to go soon."
Moon climbed onto Lucas' lap, the blanket falling off them for a moment. "Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Sam asked out Miguel to make you jealous."
Lucas' expression changed instantly. "I'm sorry what?" he blinked repeatedly as if slapped.
"She did. I didn't actually think she'd be that petty but she was 'cause you ghosted her for a week." Lucas stayed frozen when Moon kissed his chin and neck for a moment, resting her head against his shoulder. "Sam sucks dude, you deserve better."
"Thanks."
Lucas shook his thoughts away and then he spoke.
"Hey Moon."
"Yeah?" she closed her eyes, nuzzling against his body.
"Do you know what it means to have faith in yourself?"
"Speaks for itself doesn't it?"
Lucas shook his head. "No but actually."
"Hm." Moon sighed. "I think I do."
"What is it?"
"You have to only do the first thing that comes from your heart. It's how I live my life actually." Moon picked up a blunt and lit it, then sharing it with Lucas.
Lucas smoked it as well and nodded slightly. "So, the first thing from my heart?" he coughed quietly.
"Definitely." said Moon.
…
"Promise you won't get worried?"
Daniel nodded, crossing his arms and watching Lucas the next day. "I promise."
Lucas removed the wooden board and the bonsai atop the pond in Mr. Miyagi's backyard.
Daniel watched curiously and quietly.
Lucas then stood up on the edge of the pond, turned around, and closed his eyes.
Daniel's eyes widened when Lucas plunged back first into the pond water.
Several water droplets flew about, a koi fish's tail even appeared to fling about for a moment, and there was an inordinate amount of splashing.
Then there was some silence after all the aquatic chaos. Daniel was worried, the pond wasn't dangerous at all for him, but he was wondering just what in the world Lucas had planned.
When Daniel neared the pond, a hand was raised upwards.
A victorious fist clenching a koi within it.
…
A towel over his shoulder, Lucas was driven home by a very happy Daniel.
"Even Mr. Miyagi would've been surprised." Daniel said. "You're still all wet behind the ear."
Lucas sighed. "Thanks."
"How'd you do it?"
"I don't know, it sounds dumb but eh. I followed my heart."
Daniel laughed quietly. "Sounds like you followed my lessons the right way."
"Again, thanks."
"I met this kid named Miguel last night, Sam introduced us, they went out to see the Laker's game."
Lucas turned away. "Cool, good for them," he said, despite him hiding the fact he didn't feel that way at all.
"What? You're upset?"
"I've got dates of my own lined up Mr. L, I don't think Sam ever liked me that much."
"Alright then." Daniel said, unconvinced on both accounts.
For the rest of the car ride, neither said a word, Lucas too deep in thought, and Daniel unable to break the silence.
…
…
…
…
Lucas typically found that between Encino and around Van Nuys where Mr. Miyagi lived was too far to use his bicycle to ride to.
So, in the mean time, he learned from Daniel LaRusso how to drive.
"You drive like your mom." Daniel chuckled.
"Is that a compliment?" he asked, braking before a stop light.
"It is," Daniel said. "One time, she crashed one of Mr. Miyagi's favorite cars."
"So then how is that a compliment?"
Daniel sighed. "Because admittedly, the brakes were shot and Ali'd been warning me for months."
"You let my mom drive a car without brakes?"
Daniel frowned. "I was stubborn at the time and didn't want to admit she was right. It was why we broke up at the time."
"So if she hadn't crashed that car. I might not have even been born?"
"You're asking me if I'd be your dad?" asked Daniel calmly.
"Well no I'm just." Lucas pulled into the street next to Mr. Miyagi's house. "Asking a hypothetical."
They began to leave Daniel's luxurious car when he asked. "As long as we're asking hypotheticals. Do you have feelings for my daughter?"
Lucas froze. For a fifteen year old he was rather concise, but failed to be so at the moment.
Daniel chuckled, patting Lucas' shoulder. "It's fine, let's get to work."
They walked to Mr. Miyagi's backyard and he spoke. "Today's task is simple."
Daniel waved a hand to the pond full of real koi. "Catch a fish."
"Excuse me?"
"Without fishing rods or any equipment of any sort." said Daniel. "Miyagi-Do karate, as per Okinawan tradition, prides itself on only needing open hands to complete tasks."
Daniel spoke and Lucas listened. "Kara means open, and te, hand. Karate. You will use your open hand, to catch a fish by day's end."
Lucas took a long sigh.
"Fine."
"I'll leave you to it."
"Where are you going?" asked Lucas.
"To help Amanda with paperwork. It's inventory day."
"Shouldn't I be there?"
Daniel shook his head with a smile. "No. Your internship is served best here, good luck."
Daniel left Lucas alone in Mr. Miyagi's backyard, and he began to fish with his bare hands.
After several minutes, he had no luck at all.
Lucas glanced towards Mr. Miyagi's home with a mutter. "Hope I'm making you proud my man." he then rolled his eyes.
…
Yasmine muttered, her fake nail tapping Sam's phone screen. "Hm."
"So?"
Yasmine, Moon, and Sam were all sitting together in a cafe booth.
"Hm," Yasmine repeated.
Yasmine kept scrolling through Sam's texts until she reached the bottom.
Yasmine nodded, putting Sam's phone down and sliding it to her across the table.
"Yeah." said Yasmine quietly. "He's definitely interested. Very interested."
"Did I mess up? He hasn't texted me in almost a week and I know he sees my dad like almost every day for karate."
Moon shrugged. "Guys will ghost when things get awkward. I do the same, it's no big deal."
"Look you screwed up when you brought up Mackenzie," said Yasmine. "For all you know nothing actually happened."
"But hasn't she been flirting with him?" Sam asked.
Moon rolled her eyes. "Yeah but it's not like you two are together."
Yasmine was looking at her sitting directly on her left, sipping her boba.
"What?" Moon shrunk in her seat a little.
Sam looked at Yasmine. "What should I do?"
"The best way to get a guy's attention is to play the flirt game." Yasmine said. "Flirt here with one person, flirt with another. And then, flirt with him."
"You mean talk to other people?"
Yasmine smiled. "You know who's hot? Miguel Diaz."
Moon took a casual and quick sip of her iced tea.
"Yeah so?" asked Sam.
"Ask him out," Yasmine said. "Or, better yet. Hit him up, see when he asks you out."
"Wait." Moon paused. "Miguel hasn't asked you out yet?"
"No. Should he have?"
Moon and Yasmine spoke over each other, saying "No!" and "Yes!" respectively.
"Wait." Sam looked at Moon. "Why shouldn't he have yet?"
"Because you're clearly still interested in Luke." Moon shrugged, frowning.
"See? This is exactly what I'm talking about." Yasmine said. "Miguel's probably thinking the same thing. You show interest in just him, and Luke will come running with his tail between his legs."
Yasmine pouted, making a frowny face.
"But isn't that dishonest? I really want to be with Luke, Miguel's pretty cool but I just met him."
"So?" scoffed Yasmine. "Boys are dumb like that, they'll only show maximum interest when you stop caring. Besides, guys have dated like that for ages, nothing wrong if it's your turn."
Moon squinted, slightly rubbing the back of her head. "Um, have you ever given any thought as to if this blows up in your face? And Lucas legitimately gets sick of you flirting with both him and Miguel?"
"Why would he? He knows Mack is just messing with him?" Yasmine said.
"Yeah but if I knew a guy was talking to another girl just to piss me off and get me interested again," muttered Moon. "I'd just bail."
"Luke's desperate, trust me. I bet all he can think about when he's at karate is you." Yasmine turned from Moon to look across the booth table at Sam. "Again, des, per, ate." Yasmine enunciated clearly.
…
"Come on!"
Lucas splashed the water of Mr. Miyagi's pond angrily as he roared.
He did squats, practiced kata, and trimmed the grass of Mr. Miyagi's backyard lawn a little. Anything to get his mind clear, the entire time staring at the pond trying to figure out how to catch a fish with his bare hands.
It seemed no matter how hard he tried, the koi fish always moved around at the last second, he could barely get close.
"This is such bullshit." he muttered with his sleeves rolled up.
…
Amanda sipped her coffee in the LaRusso Auto head office.
"You left him alone at your childhood home?" asked Amanda.
"I've done it all summer too, nothing new." Daniel shrugged while watching Anoush sell a Kia to a newly wed couple from his office window.
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "But you knew he couldn't have done it on his own. Why torture him?"
"That's the lesson Mr. Miyagi taught me," Daniel said. "Sometimes, you just have to ask for help."
"Honey." Amanda winced. "Sometimes I feel like you create your problems on your own."
"What are you talking about?"
"This Cobra Kai nonsense." sighed out Amanda. "Don't get me wrong, John Kreese sounds like a nut case. But his students are all a bunch of kids, and can be reasoned with. Maybe talking to them all could solve things."
"Not even Johnny Lawrence has changed since high school. Why would teenagers change?"
"Johnny came up with his own dojo for the last All Valley." corrected Amanda. "It was just him and his son, not some deranged gang of violent psychopaths."
Daniel frowned. "I thought we were talking about Lucas."
"I don't think metaphorical lessons are what's meant for him. Trimming bonsai, washing cars, nailing fence boards. He's been doing chores for the past five months, you need to accept he's a very competitive person."
Daniel listened.
"Didn't Mr. Miyagi teach you actual karate at some point?"
"Amanda I-" Daniel frowned. "I taught Lucas the moves. He learned pretty much all of them already."
"In only a year?"
"What he could've he more than learned." summarized Daniel. "But this kind of training is just as important as the rest."
"Maybe if you'd accept his competitiveness instead of trying to squash it he'd grow more. And you could grow more as a teacher." Amanda shrugged, clicking and working on paperwork for the LaRusso Auto dealership. "I don't know. That's just me."
Daniel nodded silently but still left the office to try the popcorn offered to customers.
"Hey cus look at this nonsense."
Louie walked up to Daniel and showed him a yellow paper John Kreese was using the advertise his dojo.
Strike like a Cobra - The Real All Valley Champions
"Can you believe this freaking guy? Acting like you're some sorta fake?"
"I'm sure that's not what he meant," said Daniel.
"Then what did he mean?" asked Louie.
Daniel shrugged. "I really just don't care."
"You don't?"
"No."
"Sometimes I feel like this Zen thing you got going for you, is what lets this asshole think he can get away with shit like this." Louie handed Daniel the flyer and then walked off.
Daniel held the yellow paper in his hand, showing two pictures of John Kreese extending a fist forward and of an unknown karateka in a white Cobra Kai GI and belt breaking a board with a round kick.
Daniel shook his head, sighing and then throwing the paper away.
…
Daniel returned to Miyagi-Do to see Lucas completely wet, he had gotten into the pond himself.
He watched silently, Lucas was struggling to even get his hands or feet close to the fish.
"You okay?"
"Having some." Lucas splashed wildly, even trying to smack a koi out of the water to hopefully get it to land anywhere on the grass nearby. "Trouble here."
"Need some help?"
"Nope!" said Lucas.
Daniel watched carefully.
"Although, that's the lesson isn't it?" Lucas kept his back turned to Daniel. "You help me, and I trust you?"
Daniel wasn't even that surprised Lucas had learned the lesson mostly on his own, he was just surprised at Lucas' refusal to get out of the pond water.
Lucas turned, shaking his head. "What was the point of the lesson? Trust? Respect?"
Daniel muttered calmly. "Humility." he glanced away.
"Well that's the thing, humility isn't something you're supposed to try at. If it doesn't come naturally, it's not humility now is it?"
Lucas then walked out of the pond soaked from head to toe.
He used a towel and spoke. "I'd appreciate an awkward car ride home so I can wash up please."
Daniel nodded in thought as Lucas walked off toward his car.
…
Lucas stayed completely silent on the drive between Mr. Miyagi's house and the Mills Manor in Encino.
"You did well."
"Thanks," Lucas said dryly.
"No I mean, for telling me when I was wrong."
"It honestly almost never happens so." Lucas smiled down at his lap.
"Thanks but," Daniel chuckled. "You're right. I shouldn't have forced you to try to ask for help."
"I honestly needed it, the only way I was gonna catch one of those damned fish was with a net of some kind or another person."
"Lucas the reason why I tell you to learn to stand before you can fly applies to more than just the crane kick. It applies to life."
Lucas listened.
"You have to learn all the aspects of Miyagi-Do to make sure you're prepared. Mr. Miyagi taught me to respect him, myself, and the time it took to grow and learn. Without that, I never could've raised a family, started my own business."
Daniel smiled and Lucas smiled back. "Or met you."
Lucas nodded a tiny bit in thought. "Mr. Miyagi shaped you."
"More importantly, I shaped him," said Daniel. "He never had a son before, and through that I think I made him a happier person."
Lucas smiled again.
"You have to realize that Luke." Daniel said. "Karate, just like anything you do. Doesn't lie in the achievements or the prizes or the titles. It lies inside of you, it starts with you, and what you do. It's faith, faith in yourself."
"Strong roots."
"Exactly."
Lucas nodded to himself.
…
At West Valley the next day, the Lucas and his friends chatted together.
"What do you think that all means?"
"That you should probably find a new Karate Sensei," Robby said.
The boys all chuckled together next to their lockers, even Lucas broke a smile.
"I'm serious, faith in myself? How can I ever have faith in just myself when I'm not even old enough to drive a car?"
"Dude, you have to take it with a grain of salt." said Robby. "He just wants you trust everything he teaches you. You're his only student, your dojo technically isn't open."
Demetri shrugged. "You've spent so much time with him at this point of course he'd trust you right? I think he is worried about you and Sam though."
Eli nudged him and Robby turned to him.
"Can you two give us a second?'
The Binary Brothers walked off, and Robby spoke to Lucas.
"The offer still stands man," said Robby, leaning on his locker. "Anytime you want to train with me and my dad. Just ask."
"I don't think I'm ready to become a, Steel Eagle just yet."
Robby chuckled. "Luke my dad's competed for years, he helped me reach the semis of the All Valley in just my first competition. I've never seen him as excited to see anyone fight as much as he saw you fight."
Lucas nodded and Robby scoffed. "Almost makes me jealous man."
"Thanks dude."
"Just train one time with us. You tell me almost every week about how weird Miyagi-Do is, I get you're tight with Sam's dad but. You can drop the charade, learn how to fight." Robby squinted. "We'd kick so much ass together."
Lucas smiled a little at the idea and then Robby turned. "Besides."
Dieter, Miguel, Edwin, Mitch, and the other Cobra Kai boys were all chatting nearby.
"Someone needs to put those guys in their place. At the rate they're growing, they'll have a full team ready for the All Valley next May. It's a historic occasion, the fiftieth anniversary, we can't let them win."
"You'll always lose a fight if you look for one."
"That's what I'm talking about man," said Robby. "You need to look at what's right in front of you. Stop with this Dalai Lama stuff." Lucas kept listening as he watched Miguel chat with his friends. "You let him come between you and Sam, he made her think the wrong thing about you."
Lucas glanced back at Robby. "His Sensei tried to kill my dad. These people are messed up man, they're just messed. Up."
"So what do you want to do?"
"Join Steel Eagle, help grow the dojo. And-"
"Then what?" asked Lucas. "Get into a turf war with the Cobra Kais over a girl and some bullshit texts? That's literally letting them drag us down to their level."
"Which is what I'm saying! Don't let them have an opportunity to keep messing with you."
Lucas spoke quietly and calmly to Robby. "You're my best friend man, but against Cobra Kai? You do not Strike First."
"Luke, you could end this whole thing with one conversation."
Lucas sighed.
"Tell them. Tell them you were Kreese's student, tell them you chose to train with Mr. L and my dad, and they'll realize they messed up."
"I shouldn't have told you about any of that. But look," Lucas shook his head. "The worst they've done so far is fake a text. They wouldn't listen to me."
"So they swoop all the hot girls around and you just take that?"
Lucas walked off.
"Hey!" said Robby.
…
Miguel sat down next to Demetri and Sam in Mr. Palmer's Biology class.
"Afternoon guys."
"Hey." Sam smiled while Demetri merely kept taking notes.
Miguel spoke to Sam quietly taking a seat next to her. "You catch that Dodger's game?"
"Not really. I'm more into basketball."
"That's why you picked a Laker's girl outfit on Halloween?"
Sam nodded. "Yup. I get courtside seats all season."
"Nice. I've, I mean. My family's never really had the money to go to a basketball game so, I'm sure it's probably fun."
Sam smiled at Miguel slightly. "Do you wanna go with me?"
"W-What?"
"Do you wanna go to a Laker's game with me? My dad hasn't really used the tickets in a minute so I think we'd both have fun."
Miguel smiled brightly. "Definitely. Sounds great to me."
Mr. Palmer began class and both Sam and Miguel had smiles on their faces doing their assignments.
…
Cheer practice at West Valley High School consisted mainly of stretching, followed by several minutes of practicing synchronized cheers, dances, and tumbling.
By the end of it, the girls were all sweaty, sore, and tired after nearly an hour of a half of non stop practice.
Sam, Lindsay, and Mackenzie all were sharing a metal shower machine that sprayed hot water in different directions as they talked happily.
The girls all had pearly white smooth skin, and long perfect curves and hair. After rubbing hot water and soap on themselves for a few minutes they dried up put on underwear and an assortment of clean gym clothes and then chatted amongst themselves in the locker room.
Sam fixed her hair using a mirror Mackenzie let her borrow. "Miguel and I are going to a Lakers game."
"Very nice." Yasmine chuckled, starting to apply makeup to her face. "Taking my advice will get you very far I'm sure."
"Remember," Mackenzie said. "No matter how cute he is, don't let him get far at all on a first date."
Moon froze at the statement, she was already getting to leave and appeared upset at what Sam said for a moment.
"Honestly it's weird, the two cutest guys I can think of around here both take karate." Mackenzie chuckled.
"What's the name of Miguel's karate dojo?" wondered Sam.
"No clue." Yasmine popped her lips, as she was done with her lipstick. "I swear, this karate trend makes no sense at all. There's a guy in every one of my classes who joined."
"How can people like a trend sooo dumb?" Lindsay groaned.
"Give it some time," said Mackenzie. "And people will definitely forget about it."
"I think I have an essay I forgot to finish for English due," Moon said, putting her backpack over her shoulder.
"You sure you're not coming to our usual spot?" Lindsay asked.
Moon shook her head. "Sorry I can't."
Everyone waved to her and Mackenzie muttered. "Wonder what has her in such a hurry. I'm pretty sure Moon has a C in English."
"No idea." said Yasmine.
Sam appeared to know, however.
She wasn't fooled at all for a fleeting second.
…
Lucas and Eli were the highest scoring sophomores in their Honors World History class.
They regularly competed for top grades on tests and projects and everyone knew were the best of friends.
Eli wasn't chatty in class at all, and Lucas appeared to be the only person he talked to in fifth period World History class.
The teacher was a very old man with glasses and a long beard, who spoke in the driest voice.
"Alright class today we're gonna be learning about the Industrial Revolution."
After the most boring lecture possible, he assigned groups of three for a project.
"Hey." Moon smiled, walking over to the two boys.
"Hey." Lucas nodded as Eli shrunk into his seat, sticking his nose instantly into a book.
Lucas spoke quietly. "I think we've got it covered, no need to meet up with us or anything."
Moon was surprised. "Don't need a top cheerleader to waste her time with icky nerds."
Moon was shocked and almost insulted. "What?"
"I'm saying that Eli and I can get an easy A."
"I'm sure you two can but I want to help too." said Moon. "I actually read the textbook."
"Really?" Lucas looked apologetic. "Sweet!"
"Yeah." Moon frowned, glancing at her phone as the class discussed together in groups of three.
"I mean, I didn't." Lucas cleared his throat. "Anyway. I think I'll make a group chat with you and Eli, and we can knock this out in one weekend."
"That sounds fine but um." Moon cleared her throat. "I was actually thinking we could all go to my place to do the project."
"That sounds fine too." said Lucas. "And I'm sorry for-"
"Don't worry about it. Please."
The two chuckled awkwardly and began writing down ideas for their assigned Industrial Revolution project.
…
Later that week on a Friday evening, Eli and Lucas went to Moon's house.
It was a luxurious home that could easily host a back to school party at the end of a summer, but for the night it was a place where Moon, Lucas, Eli all spent hours writing, drawing, and researching.
It had taken an entire afternoon, but they were sure they completed all the steps necessary.
"Alright." Lucas snapped his laptop shut, rubbing eyes. "Looks good to me."
Eli said among the few words he had all day. "I think my mom's here."
"Well hey man, I'll see you-"
Eli rushed out of the house and Moon's living room.
Lucas and Moon were well aware of how shy he was around girls.
Moon chuckled, nodding in the direction of Eli's flight. "He's pretty cute you know. Is he seeing anyone?"
"Not really. Are you?"
"Nope."
"You don't have some giant super quarterback boyfriend?"
Moon chuckled. "That's flattering but no, I'm not seeing anyone."
Lucas checked his phone. "I should probably get going soon."
"Great work on the project though." Moon smiled.
She curled her hand slightly around his arm, inching closer to him on the couch. "I really appreciate all your help."
"Thanks." Lucas noticed this but didn't say anything.
"I got some new indica my mom gave me for my birthday. Wanna try it?"
"Is that weed?"
Moon smiled. "Yup!"
Lucas nodded, looking around Moon's living room in thought.
"Okay, sounds good to me."
…
Moon and Lucas spent the next two hours smoking marijuana together, watching random things on her couch, eating snacks, and making out.
Moon snuggled with him beneath a blanket.
"So that project was fun." said Moon.
Lucas laughed, speaking in a slightly deeper voice now after all the weed he had smoked with her. "It really was."
Moon giggled, rubbing her nose against her chin. "Did you have fun?" she asked.
"I did, but I have to be back home in a bit for dinner with my grandparents."
"There's gotta be something I can do to convince you to stay."
Lucas sighed when Moon pecked his cheek. "That sounds fun but yeah I really do have to go soon."
Moon climbed onto Lucas' lap, the blanket falling off them for a moment. "Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Sam asked out Miguel to make you jealous."
Lucas' expression changed instantly. "I'm sorry what?" he blinked repeatedly as if slapped.
"She did. I didn't actually think she'd be that petty but she was 'cause you ghosted her for a week." Lucas stayed frozen when Moon kissed his chin and neck for a moment, resting her head against his shoulder. "Sam sucks dude, you deserve better."
"Thanks."
Lucas shook his thoughts away and then he spoke.
"Hey Moon."
"Yeah?" she closed her eyes, nuzzling against his body.
"Do you know what it means to have faith in yourself?"
"Speaks for itself doesn't it?"
Lucas shook his head. "No but actually."
"Hm." Moon sighed. "I think I do."
"What is it?"
"You have to only do the first thing that comes from your heart. It's how I live my life actually." Moon picked up a blunt and lit it, then sharing it with Lucas.
Lucas smoked it as well and nodded slightly. "So, the first thing from my heart?" he coughed quietly.
"Definitely." said Moon.
…
"Promise you won't get worried?"
Daniel nodded, crossing his arms and watching Lucas the next day. "I promise."
Lucas removed the wooden board and the bonsai atop the pond in Mr. Miyagi's backyard.
Daniel watched curiously and quietly.
Lucas then stood up on the edge of the pond, turned around, and closed his eyes.
Daniel's eyes widened when Lucas plunged back first into the pond water.
Several water droplets flew about, a koi fish's tail even appeared to fling about for a moment, and there was an inordinate amount of splashing.
Then there was some silence after all the aquatic chaos. Daniel was worried, the pond wasn't dangerous at all for him, but he was wondering just what in the world Lucas had planned.
When Daniel neared the pond, a hand was raised upwards.
A victorious fist clenching a koi within it.
…
A towel over his shoulder, Lucas was driven home by a very happy Daniel.
"Even Mr. Miyagi would've been surprised." Daniel said. "You're still all wet behind the ear."
Lucas sighed. "Thanks."
"How'd you do it?"
"I don't know, it sounds dumb but eh. I followed my heart."
Daniel laughed quietly. "Sounds like you followed my lessons the right way."
"Again, thanks."
"I met this kid named Miguel last night, Sam introduced us, they went out to see the Laker's game."
Lucas turned away. "Cool, good for them," he said, despite him hiding the fact he didn't feel that way at all.
"What? You're upset?"
"I've got dates of my own lined up Mr. L, I don't think Sam ever liked me that much."
"Alright then." Daniel said, unconvinced on both accounts.
For the rest of the car ride, neither said a word, Lucas too deep in thought, and Daniel unable to break the silence.
…
…
…
Book 2 - Chapter 8
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Chapter Eight: Fear Does Not Exist
…
Aisha Robinson hated Yasmine on a daily basis, and it was hard not to.
Every day at school she had to be reminded of why she was called 'cheeto pig.'
One day she walked up to her at her lunch table and spoke to her.
"I know this is you." Aisha showed the video making fun of her on her phone.
Mackenzie, Sam, Moon, and the other cheerleaders stopped chatting.
Yasmine shrugged. "You got any proof?"
"Don't need any. I just want to say you're disgusting."
"At least I'm not fugly."
Mackenzie chuckled with a few of the others, Sam and Moon looked uncomfortable.
Miguel turned around in his chair sitting at a table nearby with the rest of Cobra Kai. "Why don't you go fuck yourself?"
A few people laughed and 'Ooh'd"
Lucas smirked from nearby, munching on a french fry while watching everything with Demetri, Robby, and Eli.
Yasmine barely glanced at Miguel. "I'm not scared of you just cause you have a little karate gang now." she turned to Aisha with a smirk. "You can try to scare me all you want and it won't change anything. None of the guys you hang out or any others would want to touch you with a ten foot pole."
Aisha was chuckled at and embarrassed, before quickly returning to her table with Miguel.
Robby muttered to Lucas. "Think we should do something?"
"Nah man, this'll be interesting." Lucas kept snacking as if the entire thing was his favorite film.
…
"Ais!"
Kreese watched his best students spar on his mat with crossed arms.
Despite being his friend a girl, Miguel had to try harder than he did with anyone else when he was sparring with Aisha. Aisha was faster and stronger than everyone else in Cobra Kai, as well as the most skilled.
Aisha and Miguel circled each other, and Aisha struck first, baiting a counter with a jab and then catching Miguel on the temple with her heel with perfect timing but extra aggression almost knocking Miguel down.
Wearing white GIs, Dieter and Edwin raised red flags.
Miguel was reeling, huffing quietly.
"Point, hook kick." Kreese muttered calmly as Aisha bowed to accept the score. "Two one. Continue."
Miguel was the one to apply pressure now, trying a spinning back kick that nearly caught Aisha but missed by two inches.
Aisha circled Miguel, then spun underneath a round kick to the temple Miguel sent to her head to clinch hard, break while still grabbing Miguel by the lapel of his GI, and then try to punch him quite hard in the jaw.
Miguel quickly dodged, clinching hard again.
"Break."
Aisha and Miguel refused to listen, still at close range.
"Break!" Kreese said louder seeing the teens were ignoring him. "Stop."
Miguel and Aisha returned to their lines.
He spun a finger in the air and tapped his lips to indicate a penalty, Dieter and Edwin agreed by raising a flag upwards in front of them.
"Warning to both of you." Kreese said quietly. "Gotta listen to my orders. Ready!? Ais!"
Miguel faked, dodged, countered, and was first on the next score.
He timed a round kick to Aisha's back as soon as he made her own round kick miss and countered.
"Stop!" barked Kreese.
Aisha clenched her jaw, silently furious, but fuming.
"Two two. Ready!? Fight!"
Aisha made it too obvious when she was trying to score and what she was trying to do, despite her skill, Miguel was able to time her as well as bait her into situations she had to fail in.
Aisha roared as she missed her jabs, Miguel circled her around the ring before calmly countering with his rear hand with ease.
"And stop!"
Aisha was fuming again.
"Three two. Winner, Diaz."
Miguel was barely finished bowing to Kreese before Aisha shoulder tackled him to the ground.
Kreese merely watched the ensuing struggle with crossed hands without a word.
Aisha tried pummeling Miguel and he managed to pull her off him.
When Miguel was able to stand back up without sustaining any serious damage and Aisha tried to continue to engage, then Kreese spoke.
"Enough!"
That was enough to get Aisha to freeze.
"Robinson, my office."
"Yes Sensei!" Aisha panted, rubbing her rib cage.
Kreese waited until she was out of earshot to speak to the boys.
"This is very important."
Mitch, Bert, and the other Cobra Kais all listened.
"Diaz won his sparring match, but it was clear Robinson was out for blood. This doesn't often happen at tournaments, but a very important aspect of karate is awareness. Never take your eyes off your opponent, whether bowing or anything. Until you leave the ring or a confrontation, do not leave your guard down. Understood?"
"Yes Sensei!"
"Dismissed."
Miguel was still woozy from the spar. "It's not fair, if I don't hold back, I look bad since she's a girl."
Kreese barely smirked. "It's funny."
"What?"
"You weren't holding back." Kreese turned to walk to his office.
…
"Sensei, I was-"
"Save it." Kreese sat down at his office.
He crossed his hands on his desk. "Diaz beating you isn't enough to set you off like that. What's going on with you today?"
"I'm supposed to leave everything going on with me at the door when we practice." Kreese raised an eyebrow as Aisha sat in front of him.
"But you didn't. Now tell me, is something going on with your parents? Something at school?"
Aisha shook her head. "I um. Someone's been harassing me online, calling me fat and ugly. But I know who it is."
Kreese nodded. "And what have you done about it?"
"Everything." Aisha said exasperated. "Talked to teachers, her friends. But it changes nothing, why is nothing working?"
Kreese squinted at Aisha. "Let me tell you a little story."
"Okay."
"When I was young, my mother was ill."
"How sick?"
"Gravely."
Aisha fixed her glasses quietly.
"She refused help, denied what everyone knew. Her condition got worse and worse, until one day. It took her life."
Kreese sighed. "I always wondered what I could've done differently, and the answer is simple. Act. Life will always present challenges to you, the consequences may be severe if you don't act sometimes. But never as bad as if you do. Is that understood?"
"You're telling me to kick her ass."
Kreese scoffed. "I'm telling you to make it clear to this person either she will stop. Or you will stop her. Is that understood?"
Aisha nodded. "Yes Sensei."
Aisha was dismissed with a wave of Kreese's hand and she paused in his doorway of the Reseda strip mall dojo office.
"Sensei Kreese?"
He turned with a nod from filing a few papers.
"I think I might hurt her pretty badly. And a friend of mine will never forgive me for it."
Kreese looked at Aisha calmly. "And I will never forgive you if you let someone hurt you and get away with it. You're a champion Ms. Robinson, show your strength. Accept the consequences, and learn that they may fear you today. But never make fun of you tomorrow."
Aisha nodded.
…
The next day at school, Lucas Schwarber was uneasy.
He kept his eye on Aisha Robinson all day during a few of their classes together, and then before lunch in the hallway, it happened.
"Hey Yasmine!"
Everyone chatting in the hall stopped.
Yasmine stopped applying makeup using her locker mirror, Mackenzie, Sam, and Moon froze.
"Stop cyberbullying me, or I'm gonna stop you." Aisha said plainly, looking right at Yasmine's eyes.
Yasmine froze too. "Uh. I already said I don't know what you're talking about."
"You heard me."
Lucas was chuckling at a joke Eli told him shyly before exiting his class, seeing the scene.
The girls were about to start arguing before Lucas walked up inbetween them. "Yas, we all know it's you, cut the shit. Stop, it's messed up."
"It is her." someone else in the hall said as a few muttered in agreement.
Miguel piped up, a few Cobra Kais were watching. "Stay out of this man."
Yasmine laughed. "Now he's right. It was me, I'm sorry, and I'm done."
She turned away, closed her locker and began to leave before muttering under her breath.
"Done with Fuglisha that is."
The hallway laughed for a second and that was it for Aisha.
In half a second, she turned her around and broke Yasmine's nose with one solid straight punch.
She screamed, bleeding, and holding her nose.
"Aisha what the hell!?" shrieked Sam.
Lucas was shocked and surprised, a few others were as well.
Demetri had only seen that and spoke. "I'm gonna go get a teacher." he patted Lucas' shoulder and ran.
Miguel had an eyebrow raised in Lucas' direction, disturbing him a little bit.
…
Following Aisha's subsequent suspension for three days, West Valley High School never said the words 'Cheeto Pig' or 'Fuglisha' again.
However, everyone looked at both Aisha and Cobra Kai with both fear and respect. Since it was known that Yasmine was a bully.
Lucas found Yasmine sitting quietly on her phone near the gym where she was sitting out from cheer practice.
"Doesn't look too bad."
Yasmine sniffled, wiping her eyes still. "Liar."
Lucas chuckled. "I'm sorry about the spaghetti thing last year and tossing it over you, I-"
"No no. I was totally messed up for-"
"Look. Everyone's still a little shaken up over what happened. The important thing is that I don't think anyone will be cyberbullying anyone ever again." Yasmine smiled as Lucas sat down next to her. "But, why did you do that?"
"I don't know, because I thought it'd be funny?"
"You don't seem like the kind of person to fuck with someone that much just for kicks."
"Are you saying I'm messed up?"
Lucas nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying."
Yasmine scoffed. "Well, I'm not."
Lucas nodded again quietly.
"I'm not!"
Lucas sighed. "I'm sure it's pretty personal."
Yasmine took a deep breath. "Yeah."
"You look like you could use some cheering up."
"Maybe I could."
"What say you to mini golf?" asked Lucas.
Yasmine scoffed. "I thought you were into Moon."
"Nah we're just friends."
"And Sam?"
"We're just neighbors."
"Awfully flirtatious neighbors."
The two chuckled together.
"Yas I genuinely just want to hang out as friends, not a date. It'd be good for us."
Yasmine nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great."
"Your nose doesn't look that great by the way."
"Thanks." Yasmine said dryly as Lucas nodded to her and walked off.
…
…
…
A/N:
Hey guys, month long hiatus but I'm back. Not to spoil anything, but next chapter will include a fight at Golf 'N Stuff's arcade. Besides that, I'm hoping to see some more reviews if you can spare the time to give me your guys' thoughts? I'd really appreciate it, positive or negative, I want to hear honest feedback for how I'm doing and where the fic's going.
Anyway, stay safe out there guys and see you soon.
…
Aisha Robinson hated Yasmine on a daily basis, and it was hard not to.
Every day at school she had to be reminded of why she was called 'cheeto pig.'
One day she walked up to her at her lunch table and spoke to her.
"I know this is you." Aisha showed the video making fun of her on her phone.
Mackenzie, Sam, Moon, and the other cheerleaders stopped chatting.
Yasmine shrugged. "You got any proof?"
"Don't need any. I just want to say you're disgusting."
"At least I'm not fugly."
Mackenzie chuckled with a few of the others, Sam and Moon looked uncomfortable.
Miguel turned around in his chair sitting at a table nearby with the rest of Cobra Kai. "Why don't you go fuck yourself?"
A few people laughed and 'Ooh'd"
Lucas smirked from nearby, munching on a french fry while watching everything with Demetri, Robby, and Eli.
Yasmine barely glanced at Miguel. "I'm not scared of you just cause you have a little karate gang now." she turned to Aisha with a smirk. "You can try to scare me all you want and it won't change anything. None of the guys you hang out or any others would want to touch you with a ten foot pole."
Aisha was chuckled at and embarrassed, before quickly returning to her table with Miguel.
Robby muttered to Lucas. "Think we should do something?"
"Nah man, this'll be interesting." Lucas kept snacking as if the entire thing was his favorite film.
…
"Ais!"
Kreese watched his best students spar on his mat with crossed arms.
Despite being his friend a girl, Miguel had to try harder than he did with anyone else when he was sparring with Aisha. Aisha was faster and stronger than everyone else in Cobra Kai, as well as the most skilled.
Aisha and Miguel circled each other, and Aisha struck first, baiting a counter with a jab and then catching Miguel on the temple with her heel with perfect timing but extra aggression almost knocking Miguel down.
Wearing white GIs, Dieter and Edwin raised red flags.
Miguel was reeling, huffing quietly.
"Point, hook kick." Kreese muttered calmly as Aisha bowed to accept the score. "Two one. Continue."
Miguel was the one to apply pressure now, trying a spinning back kick that nearly caught Aisha but missed by two inches.
Aisha circled Miguel, then spun underneath a round kick to the temple Miguel sent to her head to clinch hard, break while still grabbing Miguel by the lapel of his GI, and then try to punch him quite hard in the jaw.
Miguel quickly dodged, clinching hard again.
"Break."
Aisha and Miguel refused to listen, still at close range.
"Break!" Kreese said louder seeing the teens were ignoring him. "Stop."
Miguel and Aisha returned to their lines.
He spun a finger in the air and tapped his lips to indicate a penalty, Dieter and Edwin agreed by raising a flag upwards in front of them.
"Warning to both of you." Kreese said quietly. "Gotta listen to my orders. Ready!? Ais!"
Miguel faked, dodged, countered, and was first on the next score.
He timed a round kick to Aisha's back as soon as he made her own round kick miss and countered.
"Stop!" barked Kreese.
Aisha clenched her jaw, silently furious, but fuming.
"Two two. Ready!? Fight!"
Aisha made it too obvious when she was trying to score and what she was trying to do, despite her skill, Miguel was able to time her as well as bait her into situations she had to fail in.
Aisha roared as she missed her jabs, Miguel circled her around the ring before calmly countering with his rear hand with ease.
"And stop!"
Aisha was fuming again.
"Three two. Winner, Diaz."
Miguel was barely finished bowing to Kreese before Aisha shoulder tackled him to the ground.
Kreese merely watched the ensuing struggle with crossed hands without a word.
Aisha tried pummeling Miguel and he managed to pull her off him.
When Miguel was able to stand back up without sustaining any serious damage and Aisha tried to continue to engage, then Kreese spoke.
"Enough!"
That was enough to get Aisha to freeze.
"Robinson, my office."
"Yes Sensei!" Aisha panted, rubbing her rib cage.
Kreese waited until she was out of earshot to speak to the boys.
"This is very important."
Mitch, Bert, and the other Cobra Kais all listened.
"Diaz won his sparring match, but it was clear Robinson was out for blood. This doesn't often happen at tournaments, but a very important aspect of karate is awareness. Never take your eyes off your opponent, whether bowing or anything. Until you leave the ring or a confrontation, do not leave your guard down. Understood?"
"Yes Sensei!"
"Dismissed."
Miguel was still woozy from the spar. "It's not fair, if I don't hold back, I look bad since she's a girl."
Kreese barely smirked. "It's funny."
"What?"
"You weren't holding back." Kreese turned to walk to his office.
…
"Sensei, I was-"
"Save it." Kreese sat down at his office.
He crossed his hands on his desk. "Diaz beating you isn't enough to set you off like that. What's going on with you today?"
"I'm supposed to leave everything going on with me at the door when we practice." Kreese raised an eyebrow as Aisha sat in front of him.
"But you didn't. Now tell me, is something going on with your parents? Something at school?"
Aisha shook her head. "I um. Someone's been harassing me online, calling me fat and ugly. But I know who it is."
Kreese nodded. "And what have you done about it?"
"Everything." Aisha said exasperated. "Talked to teachers, her friends. But it changes nothing, why is nothing working?"
Kreese squinted at Aisha. "Let me tell you a little story."
"Okay."
"When I was young, my mother was ill."
"How sick?"
"Gravely."
Aisha fixed her glasses quietly.
"She refused help, denied what everyone knew. Her condition got worse and worse, until one day. It took her life."
Kreese sighed. "I always wondered what I could've done differently, and the answer is simple. Act. Life will always present challenges to you, the consequences may be severe if you don't act sometimes. But never as bad as if you do. Is that understood?"
"You're telling me to kick her ass."
Kreese scoffed. "I'm telling you to make it clear to this person either she will stop. Or you will stop her. Is that understood?"
Aisha nodded. "Yes Sensei."
Aisha was dismissed with a wave of Kreese's hand and she paused in his doorway of the Reseda strip mall dojo office.
"Sensei Kreese?"
He turned with a nod from filing a few papers.
"I think I might hurt her pretty badly. And a friend of mine will never forgive me for it."
Kreese looked at Aisha calmly. "And I will never forgive you if you let someone hurt you and get away with it. You're a champion Ms. Robinson, show your strength. Accept the consequences, and learn that they may fear you today. But never make fun of you tomorrow."
Aisha nodded.
…
The next day at school, Lucas Schwarber was uneasy.
He kept his eye on Aisha Robinson all day during a few of their classes together, and then before lunch in the hallway, it happened.
"Hey Yasmine!"
Everyone chatting in the hall stopped.
Yasmine stopped applying makeup using her locker mirror, Mackenzie, Sam, and Moon froze.
"Stop cyberbullying me, or I'm gonna stop you." Aisha said plainly, looking right at Yasmine's eyes.
Yasmine froze too. "Uh. I already said I don't know what you're talking about."
"You heard me."
Lucas was chuckling at a joke Eli told him shyly before exiting his class, seeing the scene.
The girls were about to start arguing before Lucas walked up inbetween them. "Yas, we all know it's you, cut the shit. Stop, it's messed up."
"It is her." someone else in the hall said as a few muttered in agreement.
Miguel piped up, a few Cobra Kais were watching. "Stay out of this man."
Yasmine laughed. "Now he's right. It was me, I'm sorry, and I'm done."
She turned away, closed her locker and began to leave before muttering under her breath.
"Done with Fuglisha that is."
The hallway laughed for a second and that was it for Aisha.
In half a second, she turned her around and broke Yasmine's nose with one solid straight punch.
She screamed, bleeding, and holding her nose.
"Aisha what the hell!?" shrieked Sam.
Lucas was shocked and surprised, a few others were as well.
Demetri had only seen that and spoke. "I'm gonna go get a teacher." he patted Lucas' shoulder and ran.
Miguel had an eyebrow raised in Lucas' direction, disturbing him a little bit.
…
Following Aisha's subsequent suspension for three days, West Valley High School never said the words 'Cheeto Pig' or 'Fuglisha' again.
However, everyone looked at both Aisha and Cobra Kai with both fear and respect. Since it was known that Yasmine was a bully.
Lucas found Yasmine sitting quietly on her phone near the gym where she was sitting out from cheer practice.
"Doesn't look too bad."
Yasmine sniffled, wiping her eyes still. "Liar."
Lucas chuckled. "I'm sorry about the spaghetti thing last year and tossing it over you, I-"
"No no. I was totally messed up for-"
"Look. Everyone's still a little shaken up over what happened. The important thing is that I don't think anyone will be cyberbullying anyone ever again." Yasmine smiled as Lucas sat down next to her. "But, why did you do that?"
"I don't know, because I thought it'd be funny?"
"You don't seem like the kind of person to fuck with someone that much just for kicks."
"Are you saying I'm messed up?"
Lucas nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying."
Yasmine scoffed. "Well, I'm not."
Lucas nodded again quietly.
"I'm not!"
Lucas sighed. "I'm sure it's pretty personal."
Yasmine took a deep breath. "Yeah."
"You look like you could use some cheering up."
"Maybe I could."
"What say you to mini golf?" asked Lucas.
Yasmine scoffed. "I thought you were into Moon."
"Nah we're just friends."
"And Sam?"
"We're just neighbors."
"Awfully flirtatious neighbors."
The two chuckled together.
"Yas I genuinely just want to hang out as friends, not a date. It'd be good for us."
Yasmine nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great."
"Your nose doesn't look that great by the way."
"Thanks." Yasmine said dryly as Lucas nodded to her and walked off.
…
…
…
A/N:
Hey guys, month long hiatus but I'm back. Not to spoil anything, but next chapter will include a fight at Golf 'N Stuff's arcade. Besides that, I'm hoping to see some more reviews if you can spare the time to give me your guys' thoughts? I'd really appreciate it, positive or negative, I want to hear honest feedback for how I'm doing and where the fic's going.
Anyway, stay safe out there guys and see you soon.
Book 2 - Chapter 10
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MiyazakiFan18
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Chapter Ten: Golf 'N Stuff
…
Yasmine was playing Galaga on an old gaming cabinet at Golf 'N Stuff while Lucas leaned on it, eating Dipping Dots out of a cup with a plastic spoon.
"I meant to ask. Why is everyone at school obsessed with karate? At least so many of the guys, I don't get it at all."
"Not everyone can spend their free time with manicures and cheer Yas."
She glared at him for a moment.
Lucas was happy to see the smile on her face for a moment. "No but really, karate is about more than the actual martial arts. It's about building character."
"Then what sort of character is your karate about?"
Lucas shrugged. "Miyagi-Do is mostly about harmony. Peace, you learn to fight so you don't fight. It's always smarter to run than actually fight."
He looked aside, still explaining. "It really is about finding the defensive aspect of karate, not competing, not fighting for sport. Just, making sure you need to defend yourself when the time comes. Not being there when the crowds cheer and all the hooplah surrounds."
Yasmine began to laugh. She started to laugh and laugh and laugh.
"What?" Lucas chuckled nervously.
"Luke that's literally the exact opposite of you. It seems like you joined karate in the first place just for the clout. You won that big tournament just so you could get a bunch of attention right? And if not, it seems like this Miyagi-Do thing is like, the polar opposite of you as a person."
Lucas was about to protest but froze.
He looked like he saw a ghost.
Doug Rickenberger, a teen with dark hair and a tough build had turned around the corner at the end of the line of video game machines at Golf 'N Stuff.
He was walking with several Cobra Kai members.
Mikey, as well as a few others of Kreese's top students.
Lucas gripped Yasmine's hand, speaking calmly. "We need to go."
"Wh-What, but we were having so much-" Yasmine yelped suddenly.
Lucas turned and tucked her out of sight between a Galaga and Ms. Pac Man machine.
"Why are we hiding?" Yasmine whispered.
Yasmine's eyes grew, the close proximity between her and Lucas led to certain comfort from both of them.
Lucas whispered back. "To avoid a fight."
The two were looking at each other in a minute bit of privacy, their noses almost touching, before Lucas left the small spaces between all the gaming machines.
Lucas held Yasmine's hand again and she followed him out of the arcade for a moment before Lucas bumped directly into Mitch.
He turned, grinning.
"Hey Schwarber, fine date you picked up."
Lucas refused to let go of Yasmine's hand. "She's not my date."
"Right." Mitch chuckled, the rest of Cobra Kai drew near. "You know Aisha had every right to crack your fake ass nose Yas."
"No one has that right." Lucas said, earning a small look from Yasmine.
"Correction. You get to decide for yourself who deserves a proper ass beating."
Lucas laughed quietly. "That's John Kreese talking, not you Mitch."
"That's who talking?" asked Yasmine.
A bit surprised Lucas knew their Sensei's name, Mitch still ignored it and shrugged. "Then maybe he's right."
"Karate isn't like, a weapon dude. That's fucked up if you think you can solve all your problems by hitting people."
"It's better than enabling a cyber bully." Mitch stared at Yasmine angrily. "Right?"
She looked aside shamefully before Lucas spoke up again. "I don't have time for this."
They began to leave together and then a few Cobra Kais physically stood in their way.
"You know we came up with our own name to give you and mess with you the same way you messed with Aisha, Yas."
Mitch smiled. "Voldemort."
Mikey smirked too. "No nosed bitch."
Lucas then just shoved Rickenberger out of the way and started to run out of the arcade.
The Cobra Kais followed, and a Golf 'N Stuff employee looked confused in their direction.
"The heck?" Chris squinted at the scene.
…
At some point during the chase, Lucas and Yasmine got separated, he looked around an old laser tag room confused.
"Yas?" he called out.
"Fake bitch must've figured out you weren't worth it. Figures." Mitch entered the sectioned off part of the arcade with six other Cobra Kais.
Lucas only seemed to be focused on Mikey and Rickenberger, as if they appeared to be the only real threats.
"What do you want man?"
"To teach you a lesson. You keep trying to swoop Miguel's chicks, you're so desperate for 'tang you take out Yasmine for a date the moment she cyberbullies someone into striking back." he said.
Lucas sighed. "She just got her nose broken, she deserved to get cheered up. Everyone does. You all have that chance too."
Mitch shook his head with a chuckle. "You're such a liar Schwarber. You always wear karate gear, you got first place at last year's All Valley. You claim to know everything about karate, but you don't."
"Well maybe it's time someone taught it to you."
Mitch smirked and cracked his knuckles, walking forward only to throw a jab punch that resulted in him getting elbowed in the jaw for.
After a knee was thrown to his sternum, Lucas threw a groaning Mitch aside.
Lucas raised his voice before the other boys could act. "I promise you, I know more about Cobra Kai than any of you."
Surprised again Lucas knew this much when no one at their school had ever really talked about their karate dojo, the Cobra Kais paused.
"It isn't right, you don't create peace by hitting people." Lucas muttered.
Rickenberger and Mikey looked at each other for a moment.
"This is all fucked up. You're here to prove something to Yas she already learned, trust me. Nothing good comes of violence, I've been where you're all at. I promise you, it leads nowhere."
Lucas seemed to be getting through to them before all of a sudden Mitch had recovered and shoulder tackled Lucas to the ground.
He fell right onto his chin on the arcade floor.
"Yeah!" Mitch roared stupidly. "Mess with us? Yeah!?"
"Dude I think you busted his lip."
It looked a bit funny to the other Cobra Kais and suddenly, the look on Lucas' face changed.
He wasn't calm anymore, he was mad.
…
OST: Robot Rock - Daft Punk
…
Lucas wiped the bit of blood off his mouth slowly, nodding a bit.
Every Cobra Kai there could tell he was accepting their challenge out of rage.
Mitch stupidly walked right into another counter, this time a spinning wheel kick to the jaw.
The heel of Lucas' shoe connected right on Mitch's jaw, sending him flying to the ground.
Mikey and his friend attacked at the same time, Lucas elbowed Mikey in the jaw while dodging the other's punch. Grabbing a wild kick from Mikey, Lucas threw them together, their heads colliding.
Lucas rushed forward leaping off his back leg in a classic karate jab punch. His fist collided at full speed into Rickenberger's jaw, interrupting his front kick.
Lucas instantly spun around into a leg sweep to kick a rushing Cobra Kai's leg.
He staggered for a moment, and Lucas jumped upwards out of his spin to connect with a spinning round kick to the temple.
Lucas had knocked him clean out.
Before Mikey and Mitch could recover, Lucas was merciless in disabling his opponents. Through the low lights of the closed laser tag room, Lucas snapped one of their wrists, he couldn't even tell because of how mad he was.
However, Mitch shoulder tackled Lucas again to not receive the same fate.
Lucas was using the exact same moves as all of his opponents.
The jab, the reverse punch, the hook kick, the round kick and back kick, as well as the leg sweep. All of them knew Cobra Kai, but Lucas knew it far better than all of them.
The difference was that Lucas had to fight much smarter as he was outnumbered heavily. He had to move quicker, cleaner, counter more decisively.
There was no Miyagi-Do here, no flashy hand movement, just simple dodging, punching, and kicking.
Lucas used his elbows, his knees, he wasn't even thinking. He was just striking.
He would strike through his opponent's attacks, interrupting their combinations, using their numbers to their disadvantage. Making them hit each other quickly and then moving away.
Lucas should've lost this fight quickly, instead he struck first, and hard.
Rickenberger threw a round kick leading into a spinning hook kick, both directly to the head.
Lucas leaned back from both to dodge only to be tied up for a moment as Mitch pinned his arms behind his back.
As Rickenberger managed to land a solid punch to Lucas' ribs and jaw, he struggled.
Lucas managed to shake his head and regain his senses as Rickenberger panted, preparing a third strike.
Lucas quickly shifted left and right to both dodge and squirm a bit out of Mitch's grasp.
Rickenberger's fist and feet flew harmlessly by his head as Lucas then used hikite, or the karate fist pull back to the hip to damn near break Mitch's floating ribs.
He gasped, walking backwards before Lucas grunted in rage.
He struck Mitch directly in the eye as hard as he could with a back fist and then another elbow to the jaw. This time, the blow was so clean and hard, Mitch's whole head rocked up and he was out cold.
Rickenberger socked Lucas in the back of the head, making him spin for a second.
He dodged randomly by ducking when he hit the arcade wall. Both Rickenberger and another Cobra Kai ganged up on Lucas when he covered up.
Lucas was able to recover from the stagger quickly enough to quickly grab Rickenberger's foot when he tried to go for a front kick to Lucas' chest.
He rolled under his friend's punch to sweep Rickenberger's rear leg, sending him flying hard to the ground before Lucas hit his friend instantly with a jab before he could blink, much less counter.
Lucas was just that fast. He all but teleported across the ground of the arcade with a point karate style jab so hard and so quick he punched the lights of the Cobra Kai he hit the second he hit his chin.
The remaining three Cobra Kais were enraged with Lucas.
Two were helping Mikey nurse a snapped wrist and could've easily left the fight but decided to stay instead.
Mikey was able to fight through his pain and merely kicked and wildly used his other hand to fight.
Fighting three boys his age all at once, the brawl turned bloody.
Lucas had to fight fast and hard again, and he had bruises and blood all over his knuckles, shoes, and elbows.
He rolled like a boxer, boxing and weaving, his hands strapped to his temples.
Lucas checked kicks off his shins to counter with his own. He kicked knees, headbutted, again throwing his opponents together to interrupt attacks by landing his own.
By the end of it, he had taken a few hits and almost was cornered a few times but it was over.
A helpless Mikey was smacked at full speed directly into his pals by a round kick to the head.
He tumbled over his friends like bowling pins and Lucas then started to knock them clean out. He kneed Mikey right in the head, Lucas threw his arm like a knife hand, using a haito, or open hand strike to one of Mikey's friend's mouth.
All the sweat on their head flew for a moment before they fell to the ground.
Roaring, Lucas twisted into a back kick to catch the last Cobra Kai's solar plexus at full power. The wind knocked completely out of him, he fell, wheezing.
Lucas spun and connected with another back fist, this time upon the temple, sending the Cobra Kai flying back.
He defeated Mikey, Rickenberger, Mitch, and four of their friends all on his own. He was bruised, bloodied, but standing.
Lucas panted, limping out of the arcade, leaving them all there.
…
Kreese held Mitch's face, pushing it away in disgust.
Mikey's wrist was in a cast, his knee was also in bad shape. Mitch's entire face had been all but rearranged from the fight he picked, and Rickenberger was suffering a shoulder, head, and neck injury from how hard Lucas had swept him to the ground.
Their other four friends weren't in much better shape.
Miguel merely stood there, his arms crossed wearing his Cobra Kai GI.
Kreese shook his head. "You're all pathetic."
"We were sure we could've won this fight." Mitch lifted his chin, almost pouting.
"Yeah I'll bet." Kreese sighed. "Who was it?"
"Luke Schwarber." muttered Mikey quietly.
Kreese looked away. "I did tell you I don't respect point fighting. But that doesn't mean a point fighting champion can't handle himself. When you all recover, I'll let you come back to the team, for now, go home, rest."
Mitch was surprised. "What're you going to do?"
"What any good Sensei should. Protect his students."
…
"Hello there Daniel."
Daniel LaRusso was quietly doing some paperwork for LaRusso Auto in his office when John Kreese walked into his office, wearing a trench coat.
Daniel reached for the phone instantly as if he was going to call the police but Kreese chuckled. "Don't worry I'm just here to talk."
"Never took you for the diplomatic type."
"I'm not. I prefer good old fashioned violence to take down my enemies. As does your student."
Daniel looked confused.
"What? You haven't heard? He beat down seven of my students all on his own, and I heard he was just a bit scratched up and had a limp."
Daniel shook his head. "That's not like Lucas."
"No? Perhaps you don't know him as well as you think you did."
"So what're you here for?"
"What I wanted the last time we talked like this. Retribution, some sort of answer for the pain of my students."
Daniel shrugged. "I can't give that to you."
"I want some sort of answer. Right now. Or I promise you, things will get ugly."
Daniel looked at the door, and then the knuckles Kreese was baring.
Between starting a fight with John Kreese in his own dealership, probably meaning a serious loss of his reputation, or working out some sort of deal with him. The choice was clear.
"What do you want?" asked Daniel calmly from his desk.
Kreese leaned both of his hands on the chair opposite to where Daniel was sitting.
"A rematch."
"You want me to fight Johnny?" Daniel asked boredly with a snort.
"I want your student to fight mine. Anywhere, anytime."
"Yeah, you're known to fight a bit dirty." Daniel smirked. "Miyagi-Do is not about fighting."
"Then how do you suggest we settle this?"
"Same way we did last time. A tournament, I'll meet you there with bells on."
Kreese inhaled loudly. "Gladly." he growled out.
He then left the office in a huff.
"Who was that guy?" Amanda brushed past Kreese.
"Just some nutjob."
Amanda did not believe her husband at all, but did not inquire further.
…
Kreese sighed loudly, sitting on his desk the next day in the office of the Reseda strip mall dojo.
Miguel entered Kreese's office curiously. "What?"
"Cobra Kai has been banned from competition." Kreese sighed. "It seems the only way I can ever ask to return to compete is to ask for an appeal."
He looked over at Miguel. "How did this, Lucas Schwarber ever manage to stumble upon Rickenberger and the others at that arcade?"
"Coincidence." Miguel shrugged.
"No." Kreese gestured to his office door and Miguel closed it.
Miguel approached and Kreese spoke calmly. "You're going to tell me the truth right now. I know you well enough to know when you're lying."
Miguel frowned. "I um, wanted revenge on Schwarber."
"For?"
"He's the guy I've been telling you about."
Kreese chuckled, crossing his arms. "So instead of facing him yourself. You send your friends to do your dirty work for him."
Miguel couldn't respond.
"You're many things Mr. Diaz." said Kreese. "But a liar and a coward aren't one of them. The future of this dojo will be decided in the next couple months. No more hiding, no more lies, no more weakness. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sensei."
"When you want to take down your rival. You fight him like you mean it, only this time, it won't be from afar. It'll be up close."
"And. Where will that be?"
Kreese nodded slightly to the poster on the wall of the dojo. The All Valley tournament, the fiftieth anniversary.
"Go warm up the class."
"Yes Sensei."
…
The members of the All Valley Karate tournament committee were Daryl, an African American man who was the announcer at tournaments, Ron, a bald man with glasses, and an Asian man named George, a woman named Sue, and a few other people sitting at a few tables.
John Kreese entered and knocked at the open door.
"Hello?"
"Hi there." Ron said calmly. "How can we help you?"
"I'm here for an appeal. My dojo has been banned from competition at the All Valley."
"Banned?" George laughed. "Barely anyone competes anymore, why would we ban anyone?"
"And your name?" asked Sue.
"John Kreese." Daniel LaRusso said, entering the room, "And I assure you, he has in fact been banned."
Kreese quietly watched Daniel take an open seat at the committe table, patting Ron on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry um, I thought that Senseis weren't allowed to organize the tournament." said Kreese.
"Daniel LaRusso has closed Miyagi-Do since the 1980s sir." assured Ron. "There's no funny business going on here."
"Mm." Kreese smiled. "That's not what I heard."
"I'm sorry?" George looked confused, glancing at both Kreese and Daniel.
"Using karate Mr. LaRusso taught him, a student of his you all might know well named Lucas Schwarber has assualted several of my own students." Kreese said calmly. "So I am quite sure that Miyagi-Do is in fact, very open."
"What?" Ron chuckled in surprise, looking at Daniel. "What is this, how come we're the last to know of this?"
"I promise you, these are all lies. My karate does not lie in violence. And this man, is a liar." Daniel pointed towards Kreese.
Kreese shrugged, sitting down in front of the committe. "I have nothing else left to offer anyone but karate. I merely wish to return my dojo to competition, as a send off for my service to this country."
"I think we need to look up some archives." Sue muttered, the rest of the committee agreed.
…
After blowing the dust off some old files, Ron spoke calmly.
"It seems that you were banned from competition by Mr. Pat Johnson, organizer of this committee, himself. After you were accused of quote, unsportsmanlike conduct completely unberefit, of the noble tradition of karate." said Ron.
"That was over thirty years ago." Kreese said. "I promise, I am no longer that person."
"Really?" asked Daniel. "Because I swear, just this past year he-"
"I'm sorry." George said. "Is it really true that Lucas Schwarber is your karate student?"
"I just train him on my own, Lucas hasn't officially returned to competition under Miyagi-Do." he responded.
"Really?" asked Sue. "We need to hear that from himself." she added, as the other committee members nodded in agreement.
Daniel bit his lip angrily as he saw Kreese smirk at him. "Otherwise." added Sue. "You technically are a competing Sensei, and you shouldn't be here."
"I should still have a voice." Daniel insisted.
"You should." Ron agreed. "Just not on the council."
Daniel sighed, standing up to fix his tie. "Fine."
He took a seat near to Kreese, across the aisle of empty chairs.
Ron sighed, fixing his glasses and continuing. "Mr. Kreese I understand this incident was over thirty years ago, but I need to know. What exactly happened?"
Before Daniel could say anything Kreese spoke. "I no longer associate at all with Mr. Barnes or Mr. Silver."
"Silver and him go way back." Daniel chuckled.
Kreese continued. "I want to give my kids a chance to prove themselves."
"Which kids?"
"Kids of all sorts. Kids bullied by people from the privileged lifestyle Mr. LaRusso represents." Kreese said calmly. "I want a safe and fair environment for these kids to face their bullies, and to show their strength. Their growth. I've watched my students really grow into their own. As young men and women, into the karatekas, and people I could be proud of." Daniel rolled his eyes and Kreese continued. "The All Valley could really benefit from seeing the strength Cobra Kai can give. It's an essential aspect of this town's history, especially in martial arts."
Ron and Sue looked at each other, without words the council all appeared to be in agreement.
George cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I speak for all of us Mr. Kreese. Regardless of your current attempt to change your dojo and return for the better. You are someone this council's founder itself decided should be removed from competition."
"It's still a badass name for a dojo." Daryl shrugged.
George raised his gavel, and with a clack of it, Kreese shook his head and looked aside as Daniel smiled.
"I think I can speak for Pat Johnson when I can say a rematch is due on the mat."
"Mr. Schwarber." Ron instantly recognized him. "It's wonderful to see you actually at the arena again."
Daniel turned, shocked to see Kreese was right, Lucas was bruised a bit around his face.
"Glad to be here."
"And. Why are you here?" asked Sue.
"To ask for Mr. Kreese's reinstatement." Lucas said.
Ron was utterly confused. "And why would you ever do that?"
"Because once I was Mr. Kreese's student."
The committee was confused and muttered amongst themselves.
"Wait." George was confused. "So, the karate you used when you won last year's All Valley. That was Mr. Kreese's karate?"
"Precisely. As well as my own combined with Daniel LaRusso's."
Utterly frustrated, Daniel looked aside and hid his face in his hands that Lucas was willing to tell the committe all at once this.
Daryl said the obvious. "I think that changes everything then."
"Well not necessarily." Ron added, nodding to Lucas. "Let's see what Mr. Schwarber has to say."
"Yes, I became the Valley's youngest and quickest champion. And I have to side with my current Sensei, and agree that John Kreese is very much the same man he was when he was banned."
Daniel instantly seemed to smile at a disappointed Kreese.
"He's cruel, and a cheater, liar, and dishonest. But he can bring something that this tournament hasn't seen in a while. Some actually kickass karate."
The smirk battle between Daniel and Kreese continued directly across from and behind Lucas.
"Reinstate Cobra Kai please. You all need to sell tickets to make a profit, or this tournament can't even be run. Kicks sell tickets."
Ron shook his head. "From everything you're telling us, Mr. Kreese will desecrate this tournament. Why would you even want to compete against him again?'
"Because I want to prove again I can become this Valley's champion. No matter who wants to fight me." Lucas said calmly.
"Yeah that's not enough." George looked around, fixing the papers of Kreese's ban on the table.
"Nope." Sue shook her head.
Ron sighed. "It's really not."
"Now hold on." said Daryl, pointing a pen at Lucas. "How far are you willing to endorse Cobra Kai?"
"I will drop out of competing at this next All Valley if John Kreese is not in it."
"Now that really does change everything now doesn't it?" Daryl chuckled.
"Okay then." Ron looked around a nodding All Valley tournament committe table, there was not even a need for discussion considering the amount of the public's interest in Lucas' karate. "In that case. Congratulations Mr. Kreese, welcome back to the All Valley."
Daniel threw his hands up in the air and shook his head, clenching his jaw and looking like he wanted to swear and throw something, as Kreese smiled and bowed his head. "Thank you."
George clacked his gavel twice and like that, Cobra Kai was back in competition.
"And now." Ron picked up a clipboard, as Lucas', Kreese's, and Daniel's attention instantly turned to him. "On to our next and final order of business for our yearly meeting. The rule and affiliation change for our entire tournament."
"I'm sorry what?" Daniel was shocked.
Both Lucas and Kreese were also completely bewildered.
…
Cobra Kai OST: Globo-Kai
(Last Minute of track)
…
"For the past fifty years, the All Valley has been Tang Soo Do affiliated, using the same outdated and inefficient rules for karate competition. Meanwhile." Ron shrugged. "The rest of the world has caught up."
Sue sighed, checking her clipboard. "Even here in the Valley, other dojos have found a new, similar, but new way to compete in karate."
"The USANKF, or, USA national karate-do federation." Ron fixed his glasses. "Has backing from the international olympic committee, karate might even get to the olympics. We've reached out to them, and they agreed to include us."
Daniel and Lucas, and then even Kreese and Daniel looked confused at each other.
"It's time for the All Valley to evolve, and more importantly, grow." Ron said. "We need more tickets, and for years, we've been excluding all sorts of dojos from competition just because we refused to reform. Well no longer."
Sue spoke. "Mr. Schwarber, you are without a doubt the best fighter we've ever seen in All Valley Under 18 karate, but you've never seemed to test yourself against competitors from other styles. Some of which are essentially yours."
In Santa Clarita, karatekas practicing on traditional tatami under a flag of the traditional Goju-Ryu fist were doing kata together. There were rows of karatekas all wearing white GIs and black belts moving simultaneously, young men and women between the ages of thirteen and seventeen.
"Mr. Kreese your karate has evolved as well, far from where you began it too decades ago."
Kreese crossed his arms and squinted as George spoke.
"From what we understand, your karate is based heavily in traditional Shotokan."
Wearing only red footguards and gloves, near Huntington Beach, two boys sparred under the watchful eye of a Sensei, a short man in a karategi with crossed arms.
"Here they more or less have the same style, it's merely evolved greatly."
They exchanged punches, kicks, sweeps, the very same techniques John Kreese had taught vigorously for decades on Lankershim avenue.
"Whethere you're ready or not. The future is here." said Ron. "It's a big world out there for competitive karate, and it's time to step into it."
George clacked his gavel, and All Valley history was made for the second time in only one year.
…
…
…
…
Yasmine was playing Galaga on an old gaming cabinet at Golf 'N Stuff while Lucas leaned on it, eating Dipping Dots out of a cup with a plastic spoon.
"I meant to ask. Why is everyone at school obsessed with karate? At least so many of the guys, I don't get it at all."
"Not everyone can spend their free time with manicures and cheer Yas."
She glared at him for a moment.
Lucas was happy to see the smile on her face for a moment. "No but really, karate is about more than the actual martial arts. It's about building character."
"Then what sort of character is your karate about?"
Lucas shrugged. "Miyagi-Do is mostly about harmony. Peace, you learn to fight so you don't fight. It's always smarter to run than actually fight."
He looked aside, still explaining. "It really is about finding the defensive aspect of karate, not competing, not fighting for sport. Just, making sure you need to defend yourself when the time comes. Not being there when the crowds cheer and all the hooplah surrounds."
Yasmine began to laugh. She started to laugh and laugh and laugh.
"What?" Lucas chuckled nervously.
"Luke that's literally the exact opposite of you. It seems like you joined karate in the first place just for the clout. You won that big tournament just so you could get a bunch of attention right? And if not, it seems like this Miyagi-Do thing is like, the polar opposite of you as a person."
Lucas was about to protest but froze.
He looked like he saw a ghost.
Doug Rickenberger, a teen with dark hair and a tough build had turned around the corner at the end of the line of video game machines at Golf 'N Stuff.
He was walking with several Cobra Kai members.
Mikey, as well as a few others of Kreese's top students.
Lucas gripped Yasmine's hand, speaking calmly. "We need to go."
"Wh-What, but we were having so much-" Yasmine yelped suddenly.
Lucas turned and tucked her out of sight between a Galaga and Ms. Pac Man machine.
"Why are we hiding?" Yasmine whispered.
Yasmine's eyes grew, the close proximity between her and Lucas led to certain comfort from both of them.
Lucas whispered back. "To avoid a fight."
The two were looking at each other in a minute bit of privacy, their noses almost touching, before Lucas left the small spaces between all the gaming machines.
Lucas held Yasmine's hand again and she followed him out of the arcade for a moment before Lucas bumped directly into Mitch.
He turned, grinning.
"Hey Schwarber, fine date you picked up."
Lucas refused to let go of Yasmine's hand. "She's not my date."
"Right." Mitch chuckled, the rest of Cobra Kai drew near. "You know Aisha had every right to crack your fake ass nose Yas."
"No one has that right." Lucas said, earning a small look from Yasmine.
"Correction. You get to decide for yourself who deserves a proper ass beating."
Lucas laughed quietly. "That's John Kreese talking, not you Mitch."
"That's who talking?" asked Yasmine.
A bit surprised Lucas knew their Sensei's name, Mitch still ignored it and shrugged. "Then maybe he's right."
"Karate isn't like, a weapon dude. That's fucked up if you think you can solve all your problems by hitting people."
"It's better than enabling a cyber bully." Mitch stared at Yasmine angrily. "Right?"
She looked aside shamefully before Lucas spoke up again. "I don't have time for this."
They began to leave together and then a few Cobra Kais physically stood in their way.
"You know we came up with our own name to give you and mess with you the same way you messed with Aisha, Yas."
Mitch smiled. "Voldemort."
Mikey smirked too. "No nosed bitch."
Lucas then just shoved Rickenberger out of the way and started to run out of the arcade.
The Cobra Kais followed, and a Golf 'N Stuff employee looked confused in their direction.
"The heck?" Chris squinted at the scene.
…
At some point during the chase, Lucas and Yasmine got separated, he looked around an old laser tag room confused.
"Yas?" he called out.
"Fake bitch must've figured out you weren't worth it. Figures." Mitch entered the sectioned off part of the arcade with six other Cobra Kais.
Lucas only seemed to be focused on Mikey and Rickenberger, as if they appeared to be the only real threats.
"What do you want man?"
"To teach you a lesson. You keep trying to swoop Miguel's chicks, you're so desperate for 'tang you take out Yasmine for a date the moment she cyberbullies someone into striking back." he said.
Lucas sighed. "She just got her nose broken, she deserved to get cheered up. Everyone does. You all have that chance too."
Mitch shook his head with a chuckle. "You're such a liar Schwarber. You always wear karate gear, you got first place at last year's All Valley. You claim to know everything about karate, but you don't."
"Well maybe it's time someone taught it to you."
Mitch smirked and cracked his knuckles, walking forward only to throw a jab punch that resulted in him getting elbowed in the jaw for.
After a knee was thrown to his sternum, Lucas threw a groaning Mitch aside.
Lucas raised his voice before the other boys could act. "I promise you, I know more about Cobra Kai than any of you."
Surprised again Lucas knew this much when no one at their school had ever really talked about their karate dojo, the Cobra Kais paused.
"It isn't right, you don't create peace by hitting people." Lucas muttered.
Rickenberger and Mikey looked at each other for a moment.
"This is all fucked up. You're here to prove something to Yas she already learned, trust me. Nothing good comes of violence, I've been where you're all at. I promise you, it leads nowhere."
Lucas seemed to be getting through to them before all of a sudden Mitch had recovered and shoulder tackled Lucas to the ground.
He fell right onto his chin on the arcade floor.
"Yeah!" Mitch roared stupidly. "Mess with us? Yeah!?"
"Dude I think you busted his lip."
It looked a bit funny to the other Cobra Kais and suddenly, the look on Lucas' face changed.
He wasn't calm anymore, he was mad.
…
OST: Robot Rock - Daft Punk
…
Lucas wiped the bit of blood off his mouth slowly, nodding a bit.
Every Cobra Kai there could tell he was accepting their challenge out of rage.
Mitch stupidly walked right into another counter, this time a spinning wheel kick to the jaw.
The heel of Lucas' shoe connected right on Mitch's jaw, sending him flying to the ground.
Mikey and his friend attacked at the same time, Lucas elbowed Mikey in the jaw while dodging the other's punch. Grabbing a wild kick from Mikey, Lucas threw them together, their heads colliding.
Lucas rushed forward leaping off his back leg in a classic karate jab punch. His fist collided at full speed into Rickenberger's jaw, interrupting his front kick.
Lucas instantly spun around into a leg sweep to kick a rushing Cobra Kai's leg.
He staggered for a moment, and Lucas jumped upwards out of his spin to connect with a spinning round kick to the temple.
Lucas had knocked him clean out.
Before Mikey and Mitch could recover, Lucas was merciless in disabling his opponents. Through the low lights of the closed laser tag room, Lucas snapped one of their wrists, he couldn't even tell because of how mad he was.
However, Mitch shoulder tackled Lucas again to not receive the same fate.
Lucas was using the exact same moves as all of his opponents.
The jab, the reverse punch, the hook kick, the round kick and back kick, as well as the leg sweep. All of them knew Cobra Kai, but Lucas knew it far better than all of them.
The difference was that Lucas had to fight much smarter as he was outnumbered heavily. He had to move quicker, cleaner, counter more decisively.
There was no Miyagi-Do here, no flashy hand movement, just simple dodging, punching, and kicking.
Lucas used his elbows, his knees, he wasn't even thinking. He was just striking.
He would strike through his opponent's attacks, interrupting their combinations, using their numbers to their disadvantage. Making them hit each other quickly and then moving away.
Lucas should've lost this fight quickly, instead he struck first, and hard.
Rickenberger threw a round kick leading into a spinning hook kick, both directly to the head.
Lucas leaned back from both to dodge only to be tied up for a moment as Mitch pinned his arms behind his back.
As Rickenberger managed to land a solid punch to Lucas' ribs and jaw, he struggled.
Lucas managed to shake his head and regain his senses as Rickenberger panted, preparing a third strike.
Lucas quickly shifted left and right to both dodge and squirm a bit out of Mitch's grasp.
Rickenberger's fist and feet flew harmlessly by his head as Lucas then used hikite, or the karate fist pull back to the hip to damn near break Mitch's floating ribs.
He gasped, walking backwards before Lucas grunted in rage.
He struck Mitch directly in the eye as hard as he could with a back fist and then another elbow to the jaw. This time, the blow was so clean and hard, Mitch's whole head rocked up and he was out cold.
Rickenberger socked Lucas in the back of the head, making him spin for a second.
He dodged randomly by ducking when he hit the arcade wall. Both Rickenberger and another Cobra Kai ganged up on Lucas when he covered up.
Lucas was able to recover from the stagger quickly enough to quickly grab Rickenberger's foot when he tried to go for a front kick to Lucas' chest.
He rolled under his friend's punch to sweep Rickenberger's rear leg, sending him flying hard to the ground before Lucas hit his friend instantly with a jab before he could blink, much less counter.
Lucas was just that fast. He all but teleported across the ground of the arcade with a point karate style jab so hard and so quick he punched the lights of the Cobra Kai he hit the second he hit his chin.
The remaining three Cobra Kais were enraged with Lucas.
Two were helping Mikey nurse a snapped wrist and could've easily left the fight but decided to stay instead.
Mikey was able to fight through his pain and merely kicked and wildly used his other hand to fight.
Fighting three boys his age all at once, the brawl turned bloody.
Lucas had to fight fast and hard again, and he had bruises and blood all over his knuckles, shoes, and elbows.
He rolled like a boxer, boxing and weaving, his hands strapped to his temples.
Lucas checked kicks off his shins to counter with his own. He kicked knees, headbutted, again throwing his opponents together to interrupt attacks by landing his own.
By the end of it, he had taken a few hits and almost was cornered a few times but it was over.
A helpless Mikey was smacked at full speed directly into his pals by a round kick to the head.
He tumbled over his friends like bowling pins and Lucas then started to knock them clean out. He kneed Mikey right in the head, Lucas threw his arm like a knife hand, using a haito, or open hand strike to one of Mikey's friend's mouth.
All the sweat on their head flew for a moment before they fell to the ground.
Roaring, Lucas twisted into a back kick to catch the last Cobra Kai's solar plexus at full power. The wind knocked completely out of him, he fell, wheezing.
Lucas spun and connected with another back fist, this time upon the temple, sending the Cobra Kai flying back.
He defeated Mikey, Rickenberger, Mitch, and four of their friends all on his own. He was bruised, bloodied, but standing.
Lucas panted, limping out of the arcade, leaving them all there.
…
Kreese held Mitch's face, pushing it away in disgust.
Mikey's wrist was in a cast, his knee was also in bad shape. Mitch's entire face had been all but rearranged from the fight he picked, and Rickenberger was suffering a shoulder, head, and neck injury from how hard Lucas had swept him to the ground.
Their other four friends weren't in much better shape.
Miguel merely stood there, his arms crossed wearing his Cobra Kai GI.
Kreese shook his head. "You're all pathetic."
"We were sure we could've won this fight." Mitch lifted his chin, almost pouting.
"Yeah I'll bet." Kreese sighed. "Who was it?"
"Luke Schwarber." muttered Mikey quietly.
Kreese looked away. "I did tell you I don't respect point fighting. But that doesn't mean a point fighting champion can't handle himself. When you all recover, I'll let you come back to the team, for now, go home, rest."
Mitch was surprised. "What're you going to do?"
"What any good Sensei should. Protect his students."
…
"Hello there Daniel."
Daniel LaRusso was quietly doing some paperwork for LaRusso Auto in his office when John Kreese walked into his office, wearing a trench coat.
Daniel reached for the phone instantly as if he was going to call the police but Kreese chuckled. "Don't worry I'm just here to talk."
"Never took you for the diplomatic type."
"I'm not. I prefer good old fashioned violence to take down my enemies. As does your student."
Daniel looked confused.
"What? You haven't heard? He beat down seven of my students all on his own, and I heard he was just a bit scratched up and had a limp."
Daniel shook his head. "That's not like Lucas."
"No? Perhaps you don't know him as well as you think you did."
"So what're you here for?"
"What I wanted the last time we talked like this. Retribution, some sort of answer for the pain of my students."
Daniel shrugged. "I can't give that to you."
"I want some sort of answer. Right now. Or I promise you, things will get ugly."
Daniel looked at the door, and then the knuckles Kreese was baring.
Between starting a fight with John Kreese in his own dealership, probably meaning a serious loss of his reputation, or working out some sort of deal with him. The choice was clear.
"What do you want?" asked Daniel calmly from his desk.
Kreese leaned both of his hands on the chair opposite to where Daniel was sitting.
"A rematch."
"You want me to fight Johnny?" Daniel asked boredly with a snort.
"I want your student to fight mine. Anywhere, anytime."
"Yeah, you're known to fight a bit dirty." Daniel smirked. "Miyagi-Do is not about fighting."
"Then how do you suggest we settle this?"
"Same way we did last time. A tournament, I'll meet you there with bells on."
Kreese inhaled loudly. "Gladly." he growled out.
He then left the office in a huff.
"Who was that guy?" Amanda brushed past Kreese.
"Just some nutjob."
Amanda did not believe her husband at all, but did not inquire further.
…
Kreese sighed loudly, sitting on his desk the next day in the office of the Reseda strip mall dojo.
Miguel entered Kreese's office curiously. "What?"
"Cobra Kai has been banned from competition." Kreese sighed. "It seems the only way I can ever ask to return to compete is to ask for an appeal."
He looked over at Miguel. "How did this, Lucas Schwarber ever manage to stumble upon Rickenberger and the others at that arcade?"
"Coincidence." Miguel shrugged.
"No." Kreese gestured to his office door and Miguel closed it.
Miguel approached and Kreese spoke calmly. "You're going to tell me the truth right now. I know you well enough to know when you're lying."
Miguel frowned. "I um, wanted revenge on Schwarber."
"For?"
"He's the guy I've been telling you about."
Kreese chuckled, crossing his arms. "So instead of facing him yourself. You send your friends to do your dirty work for him."
Miguel couldn't respond.
"You're many things Mr. Diaz." said Kreese. "But a liar and a coward aren't one of them. The future of this dojo will be decided in the next couple months. No more hiding, no more lies, no more weakness. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sensei."
"When you want to take down your rival. You fight him like you mean it, only this time, it won't be from afar. It'll be up close."
"And. Where will that be?"
Kreese nodded slightly to the poster on the wall of the dojo. The All Valley tournament, the fiftieth anniversary.
"Go warm up the class."
"Yes Sensei."
…
The members of the All Valley Karate tournament committee were Daryl, an African American man who was the announcer at tournaments, Ron, a bald man with glasses, and an Asian man named George, a woman named Sue, and a few other people sitting at a few tables.
John Kreese entered and knocked at the open door.
"Hello?"
"Hi there." Ron said calmly. "How can we help you?"
"I'm here for an appeal. My dojo has been banned from competition at the All Valley."
"Banned?" George laughed. "Barely anyone competes anymore, why would we ban anyone?"
"And your name?" asked Sue.
"John Kreese." Daniel LaRusso said, entering the room, "And I assure you, he has in fact been banned."
Kreese quietly watched Daniel take an open seat at the committe table, patting Ron on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry um, I thought that Senseis weren't allowed to organize the tournament." said Kreese.
"Daniel LaRusso has closed Miyagi-Do since the 1980s sir." assured Ron. "There's no funny business going on here."
"Mm." Kreese smiled. "That's not what I heard."
"I'm sorry?" George looked confused, glancing at both Kreese and Daniel.
"Using karate Mr. LaRusso taught him, a student of his you all might know well named Lucas Schwarber has assualted several of my own students." Kreese said calmly. "So I am quite sure that Miyagi-Do is in fact, very open."
"What?" Ron chuckled in surprise, looking at Daniel. "What is this, how come we're the last to know of this?"
"I promise you, these are all lies. My karate does not lie in violence. And this man, is a liar." Daniel pointed towards Kreese.
Kreese shrugged, sitting down in front of the committe. "I have nothing else left to offer anyone but karate. I merely wish to return my dojo to competition, as a send off for my service to this country."
"I think we need to look up some archives." Sue muttered, the rest of the committee agreed.
…
After blowing the dust off some old files, Ron spoke calmly.
"It seems that you were banned from competition by Mr. Pat Johnson, organizer of this committee, himself. After you were accused of quote, unsportsmanlike conduct completely unberefit, of the noble tradition of karate." said Ron.
"That was over thirty years ago." Kreese said. "I promise, I am no longer that person."
"Really?" asked Daniel. "Because I swear, just this past year he-"
"I'm sorry." George said. "Is it really true that Lucas Schwarber is your karate student?"
"I just train him on my own, Lucas hasn't officially returned to competition under Miyagi-Do." he responded.
"Really?" asked Sue. "We need to hear that from himself." she added, as the other committee members nodded in agreement.
Daniel bit his lip angrily as he saw Kreese smirk at him. "Otherwise." added Sue. "You technically are a competing Sensei, and you shouldn't be here."
"I should still have a voice." Daniel insisted.
"You should." Ron agreed. "Just not on the council."
Daniel sighed, standing up to fix his tie. "Fine."
He took a seat near to Kreese, across the aisle of empty chairs.
Ron sighed, fixing his glasses and continuing. "Mr. Kreese I understand this incident was over thirty years ago, but I need to know. What exactly happened?"
Before Daniel could say anything Kreese spoke. "I no longer associate at all with Mr. Barnes or Mr. Silver."
"Silver and him go way back." Daniel chuckled.
Kreese continued. "I want to give my kids a chance to prove themselves."
"Which kids?"
"Kids of all sorts. Kids bullied by people from the privileged lifestyle Mr. LaRusso represents." Kreese said calmly. "I want a safe and fair environment for these kids to face their bullies, and to show their strength. Their growth. I've watched my students really grow into their own. As young men and women, into the karatekas, and people I could be proud of." Daniel rolled his eyes and Kreese continued. "The All Valley could really benefit from seeing the strength Cobra Kai can give. It's an essential aspect of this town's history, especially in martial arts."
Ron and Sue looked at each other, without words the council all appeared to be in agreement.
George cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I speak for all of us Mr. Kreese. Regardless of your current attempt to change your dojo and return for the better. You are someone this council's founder itself decided should be removed from competition."
"It's still a badass name for a dojo." Daryl shrugged.
George raised his gavel, and with a clack of it, Kreese shook his head and looked aside as Daniel smiled.
"I think I can speak for Pat Johnson when I can say a rematch is due on the mat."
"Mr. Schwarber." Ron instantly recognized him. "It's wonderful to see you actually at the arena again."
Daniel turned, shocked to see Kreese was right, Lucas was bruised a bit around his face.
"Glad to be here."
"And. Why are you here?" asked Sue.
"To ask for Mr. Kreese's reinstatement." Lucas said.
Ron was utterly confused. "And why would you ever do that?"
"Because once I was Mr. Kreese's student."
The committee was confused and muttered amongst themselves.
"Wait." George was confused. "So, the karate you used when you won last year's All Valley. That was Mr. Kreese's karate?"
"Precisely. As well as my own combined with Daniel LaRusso's."
Utterly frustrated, Daniel looked aside and hid his face in his hands that Lucas was willing to tell the committe all at once this.
Daryl said the obvious. "I think that changes everything then."
"Well not necessarily." Ron added, nodding to Lucas. "Let's see what Mr. Schwarber has to say."
"Yes, I became the Valley's youngest and quickest champion. And I have to side with my current Sensei, and agree that John Kreese is very much the same man he was when he was banned."
Daniel instantly seemed to smile at a disappointed Kreese.
"He's cruel, and a cheater, liar, and dishonest. But he can bring something that this tournament hasn't seen in a while. Some actually kickass karate."
The smirk battle between Daniel and Kreese continued directly across from and behind Lucas.
"Reinstate Cobra Kai please. You all need to sell tickets to make a profit, or this tournament can't even be run. Kicks sell tickets."
Ron shook his head. "From everything you're telling us, Mr. Kreese will desecrate this tournament. Why would you even want to compete against him again?'
"Because I want to prove again I can become this Valley's champion. No matter who wants to fight me." Lucas said calmly.
"Yeah that's not enough." George looked around, fixing the papers of Kreese's ban on the table.
"Nope." Sue shook her head.
Ron sighed. "It's really not."
"Now hold on." said Daryl, pointing a pen at Lucas. "How far are you willing to endorse Cobra Kai?"
"I will drop out of competing at this next All Valley if John Kreese is not in it."
"Now that really does change everything now doesn't it?" Daryl chuckled.
"Okay then." Ron looked around a nodding All Valley tournament committe table, there was not even a need for discussion considering the amount of the public's interest in Lucas' karate. "In that case. Congratulations Mr. Kreese, welcome back to the All Valley."
Daniel threw his hands up in the air and shook his head, clenching his jaw and looking like he wanted to swear and throw something, as Kreese smiled and bowed his head. "Thank you."
George clacked his gavel twice and like that, Cobra Kai was back in competition.
"And now." Ron picked up a clipboard, as Lucas', Kreese's, and Daniel's attention instantly turned to him. "On to our next and final order of business for our yearly meeting. The rule and affiliation change for our entire tournament."
"I'm sorry what?" Daniel was shocked.
Both Lucas and Kreese were also completely bewildered.
…
Cobra Kai OST: Globo-Kai
(Last Minute of track)
…
"For the past fifty years, the All Valley has been Tang Soo Do affiliated, using the same outdated and inefficient rules for karate competition. Meanwhile." Ron shrugged. "The rest of the world has caught up."
Sue sighed, checking her clipboard. "Even here in the Valley, other dojos have found a new, similar, but new way to compete in karate."
"The USANKF, or, USA national karate-do federation." Ron fixed his glasses. "Has backing from the international olympic committee, karate might even get to the olympics. We've reached out to them, and they agreed to include us."
Daniel and Lucas, and then even Kreese and Daniel looked confused at each other.
"It's time for the All Valley to evolve, and more importantly, grow." Ron said. "We need more tickets, and for years, we've been excluding all sorts of dojos from competition just because we refused to reform. Well no longer."
Sue spoke. "Mr. Schwarber, you are without a doubt the best fighter we've ever seen in All Valley Under 18 karate, but you've never seemed to test yourself against competitors from other styles. Some of which are essentially yours."
In Santa Clarita, karatekas practicing on traditional tatami under a flag of the traditional Goju-Ryu fist were doing kata together. There were rows of karatekas all wearing white GIs and black belts moving simultaneously, young men and women between the ages of thirteen and seventeen.
"Mr. Kreese your karate has evolved as well, far from where you began it too decades ago."
Kreese crossed his arms and squinted as George spoke.
"From what we understand, your karate is based heavily in traditional Shotokan."
Wearing only red footguards and gloves, near Huntington Beach, two boys sparred under the watchful eye of a Sensei, a short man in a karategi with crossed arms.
"Here they more or less have the same style, it's merely evolved greatly."
They exchanged punches, kicks, sweeps, the very same techniques John Kreese had taught vigorously for decades on Lankershim avenue.
"Whethere you're ready or not. The future is here." said Ron. "It's a big world out there for competitive karate, and it's time to step into it."
George clacked his gavel, and All Valley history was made for the second time in only one year.
…
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