Author's Notes: If you've followed me here from 'Across Time and Space', welcome! If you haven't read the first 'Across Time and Space' yet and are starting here, go to my account and read at least the first 2 chapters of the original fic or this one will make absolutely no sense whatsoever! Plus, I'm a lazy arse who can't be bothered to type it all out again. Ahem. So here it is! The fic that tells the story from the very start about how Jac (me... basically. Let's be honest. I am self-insert trash!) first arrived in the world of Karate Kid. A quick note here, though. It's not "Jac" in this one but "Izzi" as I changed my name later on (which, if you've read the first fic, you'll know. It's going to feel so weird to use my old name again. Hoo boy).

One more thing. I MASSIVELY fucked up with the dates in the first fic! I arrived in late 1983, The Karate Kid movie takes place in 1984, I left in early 1985, came back in 1988 and the sequel will start in 1995. All clear? Good. Let's roll.

All Valley

I felt like I was falling through a wind tunnel. Not long now. Any second and...

Smack!

I landed heavily on my feet. Pain shot up both shins and I instantly fell over onto the asphalt.

"Ow ow ow!" I muttered, heaving myself up to sitting and rubbing my poor, completely new legs Travelling from one's own world to another for the very first time was always an uncomfortable experience. My avatar (an energy replica of my own body) had formed with a pretty considerable snap and I felt a bit dazed. Ok. Maintenance check time. I felt my body all over. My limbs seemed fine, exactly like mine in my own world. My arms too. I stood up, carefully. Yup. I could stand and move ok. I pulled a mirror (that I'd hopped worlds with) out of the pocket of my blue hoodie and looked at my face. From what I could tell, my face was fine too. My pixie-cropped dark blonde hair was a little dishevelled but, apart from that, I looked like my usual 15-year-old self. No doubt I'd find some sort of flaw later. There often were with avatars. An avatar was the world's best guess at how you should look in this world and some of the data was often scrambled, resulting in one eye being a different colour, freckles you didn't used to have, or a streak of hair that was a different shade to the rest. Trivial things that didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

I pocketed the little mirror and took a glance around. The parking lot was pretty busy with people walking this way and that, all heading towards the tournament hall. Good. I'd got my dates right. It was the All Valley Under 18's Karate Championship of 1983. A year before the movie's climax. No-one was paying any attention to me but that wasn't surprising. When you hop, you aren't visible to the inhabitants of that world until you've walked a meter from where you arrived to try and prevent panic, and I'd barely budged yet. I set off across the parking lot, trying my hardest to blend in, despite my very out-of-time appearance with particular short hairstyle. Maybe people would believe I was a boy as long as they didn't look at me too closely.

I followed a family of three, a mother, a father and a boy of about 10 with bowl-cut blond hair, into the tournament hall, attempting to look like a moody, teenage sibling who was hanging back. It seemed to work ok, even though the boy kept glancing back at me as we entered. He'd just got his dad's attention and said,

"Dad. There's a weird boy following us."

when I ducked into the stands and disappeared.

I knew who I was here to see and the security guards were not them. I found an empty seat about halfway up. Not a bad spot really. I could see everything from a fairly good vantage point without being up in the rafters.

There was a woman with brown hair and smiling eyes beside a man with a heavy moustache next to me. She looked nice enough, but I noticed after a few minutes that she was looking at me more than the mats below. Slowly, I turned my head and met her gaze, hoping that the eye contact would make her look away. No such luck.

"Hi." The woman said, cheerfully.

Unsure what to do, I sort of flicked my hand up in a half wave and turned my attention back to the mats, scanning the whole hall for the faces I knew so well but had never seen with my own eyes.

The woman wasn't finished with me.

"I'm Jill." She continued.

I nodded.

"Ah. Hey." I said. And went back to searching.

"Do you have someone in the tournament? A brother maybe? A friend?" Jill asked.

My eyes narrowed and I bit my lip. She was trying my patience.

"Friend." I replied simply.

"Oh? Who is it?"

Damn, this woman was nosey! I finally spotted Bobby in a sparring match with a guy I didn't recognise and pointed at him.

"Him." I said, simply. The woman raised her eyebrows.

"That's my son! You know Bobby?"

Oh... shit. Of all the people I could have sat down next to and it was this woman! I cringed slightly but nodded. I couldn't exactly back out of this now I'd started it. Jill leant over to her husband.

"Brian. This girl's friends with our Bobby!"

I pulled my hood up as Brian leant forward to see round his wife. Crap.

"Hi there. What's your name?" Brian asked in a booming sort of voice.

"Izzi." I mumbled.

"Nice to meet ya." Brian said, good naturedly.

I nodded.

"Nice to meet you too." I said, not looking at him. All I wanted was to sit and watch the tournament and find everyone. Now, thanks to sod's bloody law, I was in danger of getting embroiled into a lie I couldn't get out of, right out the gate.

"From England, huh?"

"Mm hm. I'm new around here."

"What part of England you from? You an exchange student?"

Luckily, Jill came to my rescue.

"Brian. Don't interrogate the poor thing. She's obviously a little shy." She smiled at me, clutched my arm for a second, then went back to watching the match.

Rich coming from you, I thought. But, hey. At least it made them both back off.

It took a few minutes but I eventually found everyone. My heart was skipping slightly. I'd starhopped for years (since I was about 11) but the feeling of being starstruck never faded when I first arrived and saw the characters for the first time. I watched their sparring matches and found I had a small smile playing around my face. I was paying the most attention to Johnny. Oh what a crush I'd had on him in the movie! He was quick, athletic, cute as hell. I was very glad I had my hoodie to hide in. He was doing well as I knew he would. Hell, I knew he would win this tournament but that didn't make it any less exciting.

The tournament reached the semis and I watched as Tommy defeated Daryl Vidal with a spectacular jump kick to tumultuous applause and cheers from the rest of the Cobra Kai members. I took a moment to glance around at the stands. I wondered which of the many of faces were Johnny and Tommy's mothers, fathers or whatever.

"Well, whatever happens now, the trophy goes, once more, to the Cobra Kai dojo!" The announcer was booming into his microphone. The crowd seemed to be split on this result as half cheered, rowdily, and the other half booed. I was in the cheering section, unsurprisingly.

I'd wondered what Cobra on Cobra sparring really looked like and it was not disappointing. I found myself oddly impressed by Tommy. It was Johnny I was here to see but I'd watched the movie so much, nothing came as a surprise. But Tommy. There was a weird and wild ferocity to him that was almost feral. His arms and legs were all over the place and his moves were strange and erratic. He was good for sure! But no match for Johnny. Tommy had ferocity. Johnny had finesse. Grace. Elegance. And above all, power! The score was two-two but, in a final roundhouse to the sternum, Tommy was down.

"AND THE WINNER OF THE ALL VALLEY UNDER EIGHTEEN KARATE CHAMPIONSHIP 1983 AND NOW TWO-TIME CHAMPION IS JOHN LAWRENCE OF THE COBRA KAI!" The announcer bellowed over the general uproar that took over the tournament hall. I clapped until my hands stung as I watched the familiar blond figure get handed his trophy. The other Cobras were going mad and swarmed Johnny to congratulate him and I could hear Tommy's signature yelling. Turns out his voice carried even further than the movie showed.

I grinned. It was worth the bumpy journey and the sore legs to watch the tournament. Getting out of here should be easier.

I stood up and went to leave the stand.

"Hey, Izzi! Wait a minute!"

Oh noooo! I looked behind me and Jill was standing and fumbling to pick up her bag and talk to me at the same time. I couldn't get pinned by this woman again.

"It was really nice meeting you!" I called. "I have to go. My mum said she'll pick me up outside!" With that, I ran down the steps, bumping into a few people on the way. I heard a few disapproving tuts and murmurs but it didn't bother me much. I wouldn't see these people again anyway. I was just crossing the lobby when

"Hey you!"

I froze. Some security guard guy came walking up to me. Oh great! He had that upright-crossed-arms-and-slightly-frowning look of pretty much every movie authority figure I had ever seen.

"Can I see your ticket?"

I swallowed and fumbled in my pocket, knowing damn well that I didn't have one. What do I do now?

"I er... I think I dropped it." I said, feebly.

"Uh huh. I'm sure you did." the security guard said, raising an eyebrow. "Come on kid. I have to-..."

"Izzi! There you are!"

Jill came trotting up with Brian striding along behind her.

"Is there a problem?" She asked the security guard, drawing herself up to her fullest height (which wasn't much).

"Is this kid with you, ma'am?" The security guard asked her.

"She's a friend of my son's. Bobby? Who made the semis?" Jill said, crossing her arms.

The security guard looked between us for a moment or two, weighing up the situation, seeming unwilling to bend. However, when Brian caught up with his wife and stood at his fullest (a good six foot or more!) the guard crumbled.

"Well then, I er... I guess it's all ok." He said. He scuttled off and I turned, smiling, to Jill.

"Thanks!" I exclaimed.

Jill smiled.

"Anything for a friend of our boy." Brian boomed.

There were a few moments of awkward foot-shifting on my part but, eventually,

"Look, I really do need to go." I said, apologetically this time.

"We can give you a lift to wherever you need, if you want. Where are you headed?" Brian asked.

Could I never escape this couple? I had no idea how to answer this one. I was saved from having to answer when Jill made a sudden dash forwards ("Sweetheart you were amazing!") and Brian's attention was diverted and he joined her.

Bobby and all of the other Cobras, minus Johnny, had exited the changing rooms through a side door in the lobby, carrying their gis in bags, jackets slung over their backs. I was a little disappointed not to see Johnny with them. However, seeing as I was now left to my own devices, I guessed I should probably make my escape.

I turned and made for the door.

"Hey, Izzi!"

Are you fucking kidding me right now?!

I turned, slowly. Sure enough, my worst fears were confirmed. Jill was waving me over to her, standing next to Bobby who was looking thoroughly confused. My whole brain was going into a panic but I couldn't very well starhop from here. There were too many people around. Jill, Brian, Bobby and the rest of the Cobras came striding over to me. The six of them suddenly looked very intimidating from this angle.

Bobby looked at me with a look of utter bemusement on his face.

"I've never met this girl, mom." He said, firmly.

"Maybe from school? She said she knew you. You said you knew him." Jill said, rounding on me.

Think of something, said my brain.

"I... He... I thought he was someone else." I said, lamely. "We were pretty high up. I guess I was wrong."

Jill shrugged good naturedly.

"We're all human. Well, maybe you boys could let her come out with you anyway. She's new here." She addressed all the Cobras as one.

"Mom..." Bobby muttered, embarrassed.

"Yeah no! I don't think so!" I said, my brain turning itself inside out at the prospect of hanging out with these boys that I viewed as celebrities. I was barely holding it together as it was. "They won't want me gatecrashing their party."

"We don't mind!" Tommy piped up. All the others turned to scowl at him. He shrugged. "Why not, guys?"

Jill smiled and patted Bobby on the back before wandering over to where Brian stood.

"You want that hanging out with us?" Dutch jerked a thumb at me. "Look at that hair. And the outfit! She looks like a guy."

I shot him a look. I had never liked Dutch.

Yeah, well, pardon me for not wearing my Sunday best, I thought. I looked down at my shapeless blue hoodie and skinny jeans which ended in purple doc martens. I hadn't planned on introducing myself. I was just there to watch the tournament.

"I dunno..." Tommy said, appraising me. "I kinda like the hair. Sorta... Jamie Lee-Curtis, right?"

Dutch snorted."If you say so, man." He shook his head and walked over to see Johnny who had just appeared out of the changing rooms, holding his massive trophy. Dutch, Bobby and Jimmy gave him hearty slaps on the back mingled with a bunch of incomprehensible congratulations. Tommy hung back with me.

There was silence for a moment as Tommy simply looked at me.

"You might want to go and congratulate your friend." I said, jerking my head over at Johnny and the others.

"Eh. I can thank him for kickin' my ass later." Tommy grinned. "We're just going to be hanging out at Johnny's girlfriend's place with a few guys from school. You wanna come?"

" I don't think Du-... your friend is too keen on the idea of a plus one." I said.

Tommy shrugged and rammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Dutch can be kind of a jerk." He looked me straight in the eye. "So, you coming to hang out or what?"

No way, said my brain. Out of the question! I never meant to get involved with the inhabitants of this world. Just to observe. I absolutely will not hang out with you!

"Sure." My mouth seemed to say without any input from my brain and I did a swift double take as Tommy grinned wider.

"Cool, then!" He said, brightly. "C'mon! I'll introduce you!" He gestured for me to follow and I couldn't very well refuse him at this point, so I followed, somewhat sheepishly.

We approached the assembled Cobras and I could already feel the blood rushing to my face which only doubled as Johnny looked up at me from under his immaculately swept fringe. My God, this boy was beautiful! I was having to bite my own tongue to try and keep control. In this world, he was just another guy. Just another student from the Cobra Kai dojo. I couldn't let on that, in my world, he was a legend of 80's cinema.

I must have been staring because Johnny scowled as he looked at me. I immediately became very interested in the shiny, white floor.

Dutch was standing with his arms crossed, looking at me with fairly obvious contempt.

"Hey, guys. Izzi's comin' with us. That cool?" Tommy asked.

Still staring at the floor, I didn't see the reactions but I heard Dutch snort again. My hackles rose.

"Whatever, man. I don't really care. You look after her." Said Johnny's voice. "Hey!" He got my attention and I looked up. "You can hang with us tonight seeing as you're new here but don't get used to it." With that, he adjusted his grip on his trophy and marched out of the building, followed by the other three Cobras.

Geez. Never meet your heroes.

"Nice guy." I said, sarcastically, to Tommy, who was still beside me.

"He's cool when you get to know him." Tommy said. "Come on. Bobby's dad is giving us a ride."