Daniel followed Mr. Miyagi closely, staying half a step behind in what had long since become his usual position in any matter of uncertainty. Approaching the group of people and weaving their way through watching bystanders, Daniel was not surprised to see that it was, indeed, an out of balance confrontation. He was more than surprised, though, to see that Teddy was involved. Upon closer observation Daniel realized that he was seeing a repeat of what had almost happened on campus. The same guys, plus a couple who must have been their friends, taking turns throwing punches at Teddy, with the occasional humiliating shove thrown in for good measure. Teddy tried valiantly to defend himself, taking various stances and throwing the occasional punch or kick. Some landed, most not overly effective, but most of the blows were dodged or blocked. Daniel had been impressed with Teddy's Kata the previous week, but his fighting skills were weak and sloppy at best. Even the bullies' unskilled moves that relied more on strength than skill were more than a match for him and since Teddy was outnumbered several to one, it was clear to see he had little to no chance of coming out of the altercation pain free.

"That's them," Daniel whispered urgently to Mr. Miyagi as he followed the older man through the crowd. "Those ones there are from the school, they were the ones fighting him the other day. Those two must be their friends, I've never seen them," Daniel informed, pointing out the two guys who had apparently joined forces with Teddy's previous bullies.

Mr. Miyagi gave no sign that he heard and he stopped at the edge of the crowd, within feet of the fray. Daniel stepped up next to him just as Teddy to a fist to the bridge of his nose; Daniel winced at the very audible crack. Teddy was already on his way down when he took two more fists before he hit the grass. Two of the bruisers, as Daniel was beginning to think of the muscled bullies, reached down and pulled Teddy up. The smaller young man was barely conscious but that didn't seem to matter to his tormenters.

Daniel was torn. His first instinct had been to rush in as he had the last time, but he'd stopped himself short, expecting Mr. Miyagi to beat him to it. Daniel had long since become accustomed to Mr. Miyagi rushing to the defense of those more helpless and it was not in his character to have chosen not to this time. A curious glance at Mr. Miyagi and Daniel saw that his mentor was already staring at him, half expectantly. Daniel did not need the words to know that Mr. Miyagi expected him to be the one to step in and save the day this time. He also didn't need to be prodded.

Without taking the time to examine how he felt about this turn of events – there would be time for that later – Daniel pushed his way out of the crowd and into the circle they had formed. Recognition dawned on a couple of faces, anger on a couple of others, but it was easy to see that they all remembered Daniel from their earlier encounter. No words were exchanged. It seemed the bullies felt they needed to react quickly, remembering Daniel's ability from before. Two rushed him simultaneously, and both hit the ground also simultaneously, felled by almost harmless sweeps, with a kick to add emphasis. Their friends had hardly disturbed the grass when two others rushed Daniel, splitting to either side of him, while one of their unfamiliar friends eased in behind. Daniel took care of the sneaky one first, a back kick quickly dispatching him, before returning his attention to the other two, who looked at each other uncertainly.

For the first time, Daniel spoke. "We don't have to do this, guys," he said reasonably. He gave a small nod to Teddy, still hanging between the remaining two, on his feet only because they held him up. "Leave him alone and we can all walk away," he offered. It sounded good, but he honestly wasn't sure he wanted them to walk away. He was enjoying the adrenaline rush; however, it was far too easy to make it a fair or enjoyable challenge. Most of all, though, he felt a triumph that came with knowing he had the upper hand and was using it for a good purpose. He could tell these bullies to move along and expect to get what he wanted, while also knowing that if they chose not to, he could handle it. This was the first time in his life he'd experienced such a thing and he wondered if the reason Mr. Miyagi did it so often was because it was addicting.

No one spoke and Daniel smiled at the one who had advanced a couple of steps closer, almost daring the other young man to give him a reason. The blonde bully hesitated, thought twice about it and backed away. His hand on his friend's shoulder convinced his partner to follow his example.

It had taken less than a minute and Daniel was almost unsure of what to do when he went from being on the offense – another new thing for him - to having no opponents without much transition. Daniel had never had such an easy fight, if it could be called such a thing, and he'd never faced an opponent, either on the mat or otherwise, who had so easily given up.

Daniel snapped out of his momentary confusion when Mr. Miyagi stepped forward and knelt by the fallen victim. Teddy had been unceremoniously dropped without care when the two remaining bullies followed their cowed friends. The surrounding crowd was dispersing, some with disappointed mutterings that they'd been cheated from a good fight. Daniel spared only a disgusted glance at some of the retreating backs as he moved forward and knelt next to Mr. Miyagi.

Teddy was conscious but only barely. His face was bruised and already swelling, his nose and mouth bleeding. The young man groaned piteously and Daniel felt a stab of sympathy for him. He knew very well what it was like to be in Teddy's painful predicament and the memories were not so far removed that he couldn't empathize.

Mr. Miyagi was muttering quietly, a sound that had always meant comfort to Daniel. His hands gently explored first Teddy's head, under his hair, and then traveled the rest of his body looking for unseen injuries. Daniel watched quietly, waiting. After several minutes, Mr. Miyagi looked up at Daniel.

"Help Miyagi," he instructed, already pulling Teddy up to a sitting position, where he then slung a limp arm around his own shoulder. Daniel quickly moved around to Teddy's other side and followed his friend's example and within moments they had Teddy on his very unsteady feet. Held up only by the two supporting him, Daniel and Mr. Miyagi slowly trekked across the park, passing their own picnic blanket, and to the truck. They carefully maneuvered the injured boy into the seat, and Mr. Miyagi scooted in next to him on the passenger side.

"Daniel-San drive," Mr. Miyagi said and tossed the keys to Daniel, who caught them deftly. "Don't forget picnic," Mr. Miyagi reminded.

Daniel jogged back to their blanket and quickly gathered their things together, tossed it as a bundle into the back of Mr. Miyagi's truck, then climbed into the driver's seat and started the ignition.