CHAPTER 9
"You've all trained hard before in your respective dojos! You've gotten faster. Stronger. Tougher." Johnny shouted. The 6 of them were in the forest at dawn the next day and the four kids were about to start the Cobra Kai half of training. "You've all done your best. You're ready for this tournament, am I right?"
"YES, SENSEI!" The four kids yelled.
"WRONG!" Johnny shouted, hurling his beer can at Miguel, and it bounced off his head, causing him to glare at Johnny, annoyed. "Your best is shit! If you want to win this fight, you've gotta give me better than your best. Which is why from now on, you're gonna get my worst. Do you understand?"
"YES, SENSEI!" The four kids yelled. At that moment, the infamous cement truck pulled up to their spot on the edge of the forest and the driver stepped out. Johnny walked over to him.
"Thanks, Cutter. I'll take it from here." He said. Cutter fistbumped him and then looked over and saw the four teenagers. He glared at Johnny.
"Seriously? Kids? Again?" He spat.
"Hey, you want your bar tab paid off or not?" Johnny snapped. Cutter put his hands up.
"Look, you get caught, you take the heat." He said, and he walked away. Johnny then turned to the four teenagers.
"You think winning your respective fights in the school fight gives you the right to goof off? Well, I got news for you. Winning one fight don't mean squat." Johnny growled, looking straight at Daniel as he said it. Daniel rolled his eyes. "A true champion never stops training! You gotta keep moving forward… or else you could get stuck exactly where you are. It's like the cement in this truck. If that drum doesn't start turning, the cement inside will harden and get stuck. Is that what you want to happen to you?!"
"NO SENSEI!"
"Good." He nodded. "Diaz, Robinson, you two have done this before. The four of you are going to climb up, get inside and make it spin!"
Miguel and Aisha started walking towards the cement truck but Demitri and Sam stayed rooted to the spot in shock and horror.
"Johnny, you can't be serious!" Daniel exclaimed. "They'll… they'll die!"
"Look, you asked me to train you my way, so Larusso jr., Mouth, you can either GET IN THE DAMN TRUCK, or I'm out!" Johnny spat. Slowly, Demitri and Sam also shuffled towards the truck. Miguel was the first to clamber into the cement truck and he and Aisha couldn't help but grin as they watched the looks of pure fear in the eyes of Demitri and Sam as they stepped inside too.
"Ugh, this is weird." Demitri remarked as he trudged around in the cement that had gathered to the bottom of the truck."
"Not to mention extremely dangerous." Sam pointed out. Miguel sighed.
"Sam… shut up." He growled, glaring at her. She scowled back at him and the four students put their hands on one side of the truck, preparing to push.
"Well, don't just stand there! You wanna get stuck! Push!" Johnny shouted. Miguel nodded.
"Come on, guys. Let's do it." Miguel stated. The four of them hurled themselves at the side of the cement truck but despite the force they were pushing with, it wouldn't move.
"LET'S GO, GUYS! MOVE IT!" Johnny bellowed from outside.
"I hope your sensei knows what he's doing." Sam turned and said to Miguel as they pushed. Miguel shrugged.
"Don't worry. Johnny always knows what he's doing. Well… 50% of the time. He's drunk the other 50." Miguel replied.
"Gee, that's reassuring." Sam remarked, sarcastically. Miguel chuckled and the two of them actually smiled at each other for the first time in what seemed like a millennium. Meanwhile, outside, Daniel was getting increasingly worried as the mixer was yet to move.
"Johnny, this seems dangerous." Daniel stammered as he started to walk towards the truck to stop the exercise. Johnny held him back though.
"Don't worry. I got this." He growled, before shouting into the truck… "LET'S GO, GUYS! MOVE IT!"
Meanwhile, the cement mixer was finally starting to spin under the strain of the four tenagers. They were all finally working in unison, and that's what put them over the edge and started spinning the mixer. Soon, the mixer was spinning at full speed and the teenagers grinned at each other.
"You should all be proud of yourselves." Johnny said as he helped hose the four teenagers down after the drill. "I know I'm proud. Diaz, Robinson, Mouth, your parents would be proud, too, if you told them what we did here today, WHICH WE WON'T! You pushed forward like champions. Never stopping. Never being satisfied. Never giving up. And if you keep pushing and keep moving forward, you're gonna go to places you never even dreamed of. You know how you did that, right? You worked together. In unison. Harmony. That's why I want the four of you to spend practically every moment with each other! Eat together, win together, sleep together, win together, lose together! You're a team, and working as a team is the only way you're gonna beat Cobra Kai!"
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So that's exactly what they did over the course of the next few months. They didn't just become a team. They became more of a family. All 6 of them spent most of their time at the Larusso house, and Miguel became much, much closer with both Demitri and Sam. In fact, the two of them had quickly become his two closest friends. Demitri and Miguel had become brothers, there was no other way to put it. They fought like brothers. Messed with each other like brothers. Bonded like brothers. The same had happened between Sam and Aisha. The four of them had an insane amount in common. The only problem with their current arrangement was that Amanda didn't know that they were practising karate. Their cover story about why the 6 of them were around so often was that it was a 'study group' to help them prepare for college applications. Thankfully, that excuse seemed to fool her, made more believable by the fact that they were all nerds.
One morning, Miguel was sitting in the living room of the Larusso house, watching a Chargers game on TV.
"What hell are you doing, running at 3rd and 15?!" Miguel shouted at the TV. "Pass it! Pass it!"
"You know, if I were you, Miguel, I'd be more concerned with passing the SATs." Demitri said as he walked into the room with a bundle of books in his arms.
"Yeah, and if I were you, I'd get a red nose and a set of big floppy shoes and call it a day." Miguel responded. Demitri rolled his eyes.
"Laugh now, but in 10 years, I'll be a successful lawyer and you'll be asking people if they want extra ketchup." Demitri replied. Miguel glared at him.
"Demitri, if you paid attention in class like I do, you'd know you can't study for an aptitude test." Miguel remarked. "You either have it… like me, or you don't… like you."
"Yeah right." Demitri rolled his eyes. "And in kindergarten, they told me it didn't make a difference where you put the round peg. Next thing I knew, I was in the back of the class with the guy who ate paste. Never again! I'm studying all weekend!"
"Mitri, that is not normal, man. What kind of fool works night and day?" Miguel asked. At that moment, Daniel walked into the room, his briefcase in his hand.
"Boy, do I have a lot of work to do this weekend. I'm going to be working night and day!" Daniel exclaimed as he walked past them. Miguel looked at Demitri and laughed.
"Hey, I just went through my practice test again and I just shaved seven seconds off my time. Do you know how valuable that is?" Demitri argued. Miguel sarcastically clapped his hands.
"Woah, Nellie! Very good! You're gonna get a gold star on your chart right next to "put away toys" and "stayed dry through the night."" Miguel remarked, patting Demitri on the head.
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Soon, the day of the SAT rolled around and Samantha was being chased through the house by an extremely obnoxious Demitri. She entered the kitchen where Daniel and Aisha were eating breakfast.
"Demitri, would you quit it?" Sam snapped.
"Quit, from the Latin, Quietare. To be at rest or satisfied." Demitri recited.
"He's been doing this all morning." Sam grumbled to Aisha. "It's really irritating."
"Irritate. From the Latin, Irritate. To excite or stimulate." Demitri recited.
"Okay, Demitri, that's enough." Aisha stated.
"Aisha, your SATs are this morning. Demitri's just trying to be prepared." Daniel said, trying to calm down the annoyed children.
"Prepare. From the Latin, Preparare. To make ready." Demitri recited.
"Demitri… shut up." Daniel said, eventually.
"Shut up. From the big man. Mr. Larusso." Aisha joked. Suddenly, the back door swung open and Miguel burst into the kitchen, singing to himself.
"My grandma and your grandma." He sang. Sam smiled and sang with him.
"Sitting by the fire!" They sang together. "My Grandma told your Grandma, she gonna set your flag on fire!"
"Come on, Sam, come here!" Miguel exclaimed, pulling out a skipping rope from his bag. Sam laughed and ran over to him. The two of them started jumping rope as they sang.
"We're talkin' about hey now! Hey now! Hey now! Hey now!" They sang as they jumped the rope. Daniel stood up, annoyed, and Miguel walked over to him.
"Come on, Mr. Larusso, do it with me now!" Miguel exclaimed. "Talkin' bout Hey Now…"
Daniel, however, didn't jump, and it caused Miguel to be inches away from Daniel's angry face.
"Is this how you prepare for a test?" Daniel snapped.
"Well… yeah, sort of." Miguel laughed. "See, what it was is because we're going to be sitting down for a long time, I thought I'd do something to get my blood flowing."
"Come on, guys. We'd better be going." Demitri said. "I want to get there early so I can get my pick of the pencils!"
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So the SAT came and went. Everyone temporarily forgot about it. That was until Miguel came walking into the Larusso house, a bunch of envelopes in his hands.
"Yo, yo, yo! Mail call!" Miguel announced. "Junk mail, bills, SAT scores. Bills. Jesus, you guys have a lot of bills." Miguel remarked. Demitri, who was sitting on the couch with Daniel, Johnny, Aisha and Sam, leapt to his feet.
"Did you say SAT scores?" He asked. Miguel nodded.
"Yeah." He replied.
"Give me mine." He said, snatching an envelope clean out of Miguel's hands. Miguel raised an eyebrow.
"Yo, Demitri, unless your scores are right next to the pool cleaning bill, I think you got the wrong envelope." Miguel remarked. Demitri blushed and Miguel handed him his envelope. "You know, I don't care what these results say. You're a dumb young man."
Demitri rolled his eyes. Miguel then handed Sam and Aisha their respective envelopes. They all opened their envelopes at the same time, and Aisha and Sam smiled.
"I got a 150." Aisha stated.
"I got a 138." Sam said. "Demitri, what about you?"
"Yes! Yes! I got a 172!" Demitri exclaimed. "I'm smart. I'm brilliant! I'm the most intelligent person who ever lived!"
"That is really good, Demitri. All of you, great stuff." Daniel congratulated them. "Miguel, what about you?"
"Um… I got a 98." Miguel said, quietly. Demitri started laughing hysterically at him. Miguel didn't lash out at him. He just looked down.
"Mouth, that's enough." Johnny snapped.
"Miguel, a 98 is… a pretty good reason to take the test again." Daniel said.
"I'd be happy to help you out." Demitri said. "I am in the 90th percentile."
Miguel snatched the grade sheet from Demitri and looked at it.
"Let me see that." He growled. He then compared his scores to Demitri's and he realised something. His eyes widened. "You said you got a 172? Huh? I beat you, buddy!"
Demitri looked at the papers and his eyes widened.
"You got 220? That's impossible!" Demitri shouted.
"Oh, the 98 is my percentile!" Miguel exclaimed. Demitri then realised something in horror.
"But… but then, that means that…" Demitri stammered. Miguel started laughing hysterically in the exact same mocking way Demitri did.
"I'm the most intelligent guy in the world! You know, Demitri, you're gonna love drivin' those big rigs, man."