Chapter 5

(20 minutes before)

The Cobras were still changing in the locker room as Johnny had been the first to step out into the field. He was leaning on a nearby basketball hoop , still brewing about what had happened the night before. Never did he expect to be confronted and to struggle that much in a fight. It was a damning blow to his ego, and it was consuming his thoughts. A fact not lost by his friends.

Bobby had been the first to approach him. "Feeling alright Johnny?"

"What do you think?!" snapped Johnny.

Bobby held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Relax, I was just asking.."

Realizing his temper flew up towards the wrong person, Johnny took a deep calming breath. "Sorry Bob. I-I just keep thinking about yesterday..."

Bobby nodded in understanding. "Look, I get it dude..but I just don't see the point in obsessing over it."

Johnny scoffed. "Yeah real for you to say man, we fought but I didn't beat him! "

Bobby knew Johnny well enough to try not to talk him out of something he sets his mind on. He sighed in resignation. "Alright fine...I'll go warm up near the bleachers then, see you in a bit."

In Johnny's mind, all he was thinking about was getting even with a prick called Daniel. Whether the next time they fought would take place in a ring or in the streets, he was going to get even.

While thinking such thoughts, he didn't even notice his other friend, Dutch. Much less the plan forming in his head.

Present

The soccer tryouts were currently underway in a classic shirts vs skins game. Daniel who had finally gotten possession of the ball was in the middle of trying to kick a goal in the net. He passes through one defender and proceeds to fake out another. Suddenly, just person came in between Daniel and the goal: Dutch. Concentrated, Daniel is still kicking the ball forward, Dutch commits to block.

"Hey Danielle!" Dutch mocks.

Feeling his frustration rising, Daniel chooses to ignore him. He then moves right and is close to making a successful shot when Dutch purposely falls and trips Daniel's leg from behind, making Daniel fall heavily on his knee.

'What the hell?!' Daniel thought. Taking a good look at his assailant, he remembered that he saw him the night before. He was one of Johnny's friends who looked all too eager when they fought, and he realized that's exactly what he was looking for right now! To provoke him and get him in trouble!

WHISTLE BLOW. Coaches and players come running closer to the scene.

The coach started walking towards them. "What's going on here?!" the coach yelled.

Thinking quickly, Daniel decides not to give in to the blatant provocation, and holds his hands up in a mock surrender. "Wait coach listen, I didn't do anything. He just attacked and tripped me down while I was just trying to get a goal, he started it."

"It's true Ted, ol' Dutch here pulled a dirty one again," the assistant coach agreed.

With the endorsement of his co-worker, the head coach nodded in acceptance.

"You're out of here, Dutch!" shouted the coach as he pointed to the direction of the lockers.

"Goddamn it!" whispered Dutch. His whole plan had been ruined. Expecting the new kid to start fighting , he didn't think he'd talk his way out.

Reluctantly, he let it go. But as he was walking out he turned around and gave Daniel a real dirty look. Daniel merely met his eyes with a defiant look and a slight smirk.

The Cobras were furious at the turn of events, and they ran and followed Dutch out the field. Johnny in particular , who had been watching this series of events unfold, was furious and had a few words to say to the one who started this.

The Cobras had grouped together in the locker room. They had begun to argue amongst themselves regarding Dutch's missed plan to get Daniel in trouble, which ended up backfiring embarrassingly. Johnny then came into the room.

"What was that?!" Johnny hissed at Dutch.

Dutch snickered. "Hehe, I just wanted to see how good the punk really was."

"Yeah, how'd that go?" Johnny sarcastically replied before getting serious again. "Listen, this is my fight , I'm the one who's gonna deal with him and I don't need any help."

"Aww.. you're saying I can't have my fun too?" Dutch mocked. Johnny shot him an annoyed glare. "I'm not joking man, this shit is personal!" Dutch then shrugged and took a swig of water from his bottle. Tommy merely sighed in acceptance.

"Johnny relax, I get it ," Bobby stated in all honesty. It all sounded more fair to him. He was never up for ganging up on a single person, preferring the circumstances to be fairer.

"Just know we got your back man ," Jimmy chimed in. "Cobra Kai for life!" Everyone else besides Johnny began chanting their own mantra.

Johnny's frustration turned into laughter. "Alright alright I got it, thanks guys. I swear, next time that prick's not gonna know what hit him!" After they all cheered at the proclamation, that soon became the end of it as soon as the rest of the class went inside to change.

A few hours later

"And then he was just standing there looking like a idiot after the coach made him leave!" said Daniel recalling the soccer tryout incident between him and Dutch to Freddy, who had been driving them both back to the complex in his car after school ended.

"No way!" replied Freddy as he struggled to contain his laughter while driving. "Damn I really wish I had stuck around. You don't really get to see that happen much with those guys, they don't get embarrassed like that."

Daniel chuckled. "Well, there's always a first." Freddy conceded at that as he pulled up to their building. Daniel then proceeded to get out the car. "Hey thanks for the ride again man, I appreciate it".

"No biggie, I'll catch you tomorrow. " He then sarcastically rolled his eyes. "I gotta go start my shift soon at Burger Joint." With that, Freddie drove away.

Daniel then made his way to his apartment. After settling everything down, he began to process what had happened today. Not only did it happen again yesterday, but he gotten into another incident with another Cobra Kai! He had been warned about messing with them, and it wasn't in his nature to do so. However, it's a whole other thing when they mess with him! Daniel wasn't a born pacifist by any means. If this kept happening, he'd have to take a more proactive approach to get them to back off.

All these thoughts began to frustrate and overwhelm him, until he found the perfect solution!

He then began to move around the furniture in his room. It was finally time to get into one of his favorite pasttimes: Karate Training! He excitedly changed into his old gi. It was finally time to get some practice in so as to stay in fighting shape and to help clear his thoughts, which he desperately needed to do.

Daniel decided to run some basic form drills to get the blood flowing. He took a deep calming breath and spread his legs into his stance, his bare feet settling on the carpet floor. He then performed a crisp jab with his right arm then brought it back to his side. He repeated that movement with both arms a few times, then would go back to his stance and a deep exhale. Then with a quick hip twist followed a perfectly executed sharp front kick. This was a basic form practice, something he had seen done plenty of times by his former master, and by extension, himself. The moves may have seemed complex, but he executed them with relative ease.

'Heh , still got it!,' thought Daniel. Already, he was already feeling clearer and satisfied that he got to find some time in the day to train. He was soon getting lost in the movement, when he heard a knock on the door!

He almost forgot..

The figure then spoke in a kind tone, complemented with a heavy Japanese accent. "Fix faucet," said the figure.

"Oh yeah come in ,Mr. Miyagi!"

Finally Mr. Miyagi comes in!

Sorry for the huge delay guys. Y'know this road of life thing can be stressful at times and unpredictable. I will do my best to get the next chapter out MUCH sooner. Hope you guys are still here hehe

So tell me what you guys think , leave a comment and let me know how I did. Stay safe guys!