When evening came, Kaldur and Robby went up to the Cobra Kai dojo. Inside, Miguel was there training with some new members: Eli, Demetri, and Aisha. Kaldur grinned when he saw them and introduced his friends to Robby. "Numbers are increasing already." Miguel proudly said to Kaldur. As Demetri began practicing his loquacious skills on Robby, a loud 'Quiet!' rose from the back. The students stopped, only Miguel and Kaldur were wearing knowing smiles. Johnny emerged from the back and started to look at the new trainees. His stern expression stopped when his gaze landed on Robby. Contrarily, Robby's expression turned sour upon seeing the man. Angrily, he turned to Kaldur. "I should have known better than to trust you." His scowl was met by Kaldur's look of genuine confusion, but Robby stormed out of the dojo before it could be seen. "Robby!" Johnny called after him. The man moved to try to stop the youth but stopped himself first. In that instant, he went from a confident sensei to an uncertain person. Kaldur followed Robby out, who turned around viciously once they were beyond the door.
"Was this some type of setup?" he questioned. "What are you talking about?" Kaldur asked him. Robby crossed his arms, "So, you're trying to convince me that this was entirely coincidental?" Kaldur nodded, "Considering I still have no idea what you mean, I am willing to wager that it is indeed a coincidence." The other boy visually analyzed him, and his glare eventually faded. "You really don't?" Kaldur shook his head in reply. Robby sighed, "That's my so-called dad in there. He's never been around, so I didn't expect to see him today." Kaldur nodded, understandingly, "I can certainly tell you that he had no intention of tricking you into coming." He paused for a moment and Robby sighed. "I can hear the 'but' coming. What are you about to say?" Kaldur started back up, "I was going to say that maybe, if neglect is what's caused you two to be distant, this could be a nice way of rectifying that." A frown formed on Robby's face. "If he wants us to be close, then he needs to do something about it. I don't plan on being the one to initiate." He crossed his arms, resolute and Kaldur's expression turned pensive. "If he initiated, would you be willing to join?" Robby shrugged and said, exasperated, "I don't know. I stopped imaging stuff like that a long time ago." He turned towards the street again. "I'm heading home, Kaldur. See you at work." Kaldur returned the farewell and went back to the dojo. When he returned, he saw a mildly confused-looking Miguel trying to help the new recruits with warmups. Kaldur joined him, to the other boy's relief. "Thanks." He told him. Together, they gave the students a hard workout.
By the end, Demetri was panting his heart out. "I…don't think…this…" he struggled to say through staggered breath. Aisha helped him finished, "I think what he's trying to say is that this isn't for him." An upward thumb was lifted by an almost limp arm. Eli looked a little disappointed, "You don't want to join the dojo?" Demetri shook his head, still leaned over his knees. After a moment, he was able to speak. "No, Eli, you four can enjoy this torture if you'd like, but I prefer the little joys of life. A long life too." Though still visibly saddened, Eli said nothing more. Aisha shook her head, amused, "Well, I enjoyed it. I'm glad I came." She said with a smile. Kaldur returned her smile and the group spoke for a little while longer before they started to leave. When they got to the door, Eli noticed that Miguel and Kaldur were not coming as well. "You two are staying?" he inquired. They nodded and Miguel said, "We're just going to check on Sensei Lawrence. Normally, he'd have been out here yelling at all of us the whole time. You'll get the full experience if you come back." Eli gave a small grin at the idea and left the building. The remaining two went to the back office to see Johnny. When they peeked their heads in, they saw an empty bottle of beer and another opened one in the man's hand. He looked almost ashamed when he saw them and put the drink away. Miguel went over to him.
"Sensei, what happened out there?" Miguel asked. Johnny considered trying to avoid the question, but the determined look on the youths' faces let him know the futility of that. A long sigh came before he spoke. "That was my son, Robby." he began, "I really haven't been the type of parent I should have been to him. I was just never around-I regret that, but I don't know how to fix it. It seems like every time I try, it never works." A moment of silence came, then Kaldur spoke. "It's a shame that he left before the session started. He could have used the karate training." Johnny's ears perked up and he sat up out of his seat. "Why? Is he okay?" Kaldur shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure. There were some guys he was having an issue with. That was actually why I was trying to get him to come here." The young man watched as the man's face tensed with thought and it was washed over with determination. Kaldur had to fight a smile as Johnny spoke next. "Maybe I could convince him to give me a shot-just so that he could learn some self-defense." A new pep came to Johnny's step as he left with the two and headed towards Robby's home. Miguel glanced at Kaldur, "Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that you figured that might end this way?" Kaldur smirked, "If they have a healthy enough foundation for their relationship, they should get a chance to have one."
With that, Kaldur wished Miguel a good evening and started on his way home. As he did, Johnny was arriving at Robby's. The man took a deep breath before knocking on the door. It took a while for it to be opened and he worried it never would. Reigniting his hope, Robby opened the door, quickly frowning once he saw the visitor. Before he could close it, Johnny stopped him. "I just want to talk. Please." He said, sincerely. Robby glared at him and peeked back inside the house. His mother had another 'guest' over that night. "I guess this beats trying to ignore her." He thought. The young man stepped outside, looking at his father, judgingly. Despite the harsh glare, Johnny did not lose his nerve. "I wanted to talk with you about maybe joining the dojo." Robby scoffed, "I'll pass. Karate is your thing." "But you were going to take a class before you saw I was there." Johnny added quickly. Robby opened his mouth to protest but could not think of an accurate rebuttal. His father continued, "It always helps to learn self-defense. Come and if you really don't think you're gaining anything from it, I won't try to persuade you again." His son seemed to consider the idea but then scowled. "You've never been involved before-" "Then let me change that. I want to be part of your life, Robby. Just give me a chance." A long, tense pause ensued as the youth studied the man for any signs of insincerity. Finding none, he glanced back towards the home. "When's the next class?" he asked. Johnny's face lit up, "Tomorrow at six." Robby walked over to the door, "I'll think about it." He reentered and a smile grew over Johnny's face. Excitedly, he returned to his own home.
As Kaldur neared his home, he started taking a detour. He slipped between buildings and picked up and dropped his pace, inconsistently. Finally satisfied, he took a little-known path back to where he lived. Just as he was about to reach the building, he heard a deep voice. "That was skillful maneuvering. Had I been someone else, it might have worked in making me lose your trail." Kaldur's hands went cold as he turned towards the sound. A large man stood a short distance from him, smiling contentedly. "Are you not going to ask me why I'm here?" Kaldur shook his head, "Why ask questions I already know the answer to?" The man's smile broadened, "Fair enough. So, if I'm the constant, the only question is what do you plan on doing? Have you finally thought about it and come to see things my way?" He took several strides to close the distance between them and Kaldur fought between wanting to go inside and not wanting to accidentally let him enter. The teenager decided on just backing away and the man looked into his eyes with scrutiny. While he did, his smile faded into a grimace. "You've not changed either." He said, a note of disappointment in his voice. The disappointment quickly turned to anger, and his voice sounded vicious as he spoke. "You would sooner waste your potential than join me in my pursuits." As his hands clenched to fists, Kaldur's did the same. The man took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself. "I am simply saying that we would be a good team, Kaldur'ahm." He said, through gritted teeth. Kaldur was unyielding, "You want me to execute your revenge." Anger flashed through the man's eyes, "I do not need you for my executions! I need you to understand why I'm doing this and come with me." Kaldur took a silent breath before straightening up, "Well, I neither do nor will."
Kaldur had anticipated what would happen next and dodged in time to avoid being punched. He was not quick enough to avoid a lightning-fast kick to the ribs. He tried to maneuver around several more attacks, being only occasionally successful in this. He sent a hard punch into the man's side, but it sent him back a small amount. This attack was countered with a blow to the head, blurring Kaldur's vision for a moment. Before it could properly clear, the attacker kicked his legs out from under him and hit him in the chest, making him hit the ground with a thud. Kaldur tried to do a sweep move while he was there, but the man jumped in time and sent another kick into him. The youth fought the urge to cry out in pain and quickly got back to his feet. The man came towards him again and Kaldur sent a punch towards his face, but his opponent side-stepped just in time to avoid the connection. In a flash, he grabbed Kaldur by the back of the neck and knocked his head into a building's wall. The dazed teenager tried to get back into a fighting stance, but he was seeing multiple versions of the same attacker. When the man spoke, the sound came in muffled through his ringing ears.
"I've been too lenient with you all this time." The cold voice sounded, "It's long past time that I take matters into my own hands. See you soon, Kaldur." He walked away, leaving the boy to spit out blood in peace. Kaldur painfully walked into his home and past the empty rooms. He cleaned the blood off himself, hands shaking as he did. He only realized the full extent of the situation. "He's back. He's officially back." He thought, nervously and miserably. "He knows I live here, but what else does he know about? How does he plan on taking control of things?" Questions upon questions piled themselves into his already throbbing head. "Why couldn't he just have been gone forever?"
The next day, Kaldur decided the simplest thing to do at school would be to play it cool about the cuts and bruises. After all, he was part of a karate dojo. Chances were that Demetri would be limping in just from the exercises alone. No one should really think twice about him. So, that was his plan, and it was working. He went through his day as he usually would. Kyler and his group took notice, but none of them said anything. When it came time for lunch, Kaldur's confidence faltered. "The others will know that this wasn't from karate. We didn't even spar last night." He thought, unhappily. He was without many good options. If he sat alone, that would draw more attention and the same would come if he tried to dismiss the marks; however, nothing good would come from telling them the story. Too soon for him to settle on a decision, he was motioned over by his friends. Aisha was sitting at the table this time too. Kaldur tilted his head downwards as he walked, quickly thinking. "I don't want to lie either, but what do I tell them?" Just as he anticipated, the group looked concerned when they saw him. Miguel nearly got out of his chair, "What happened?" "I just had an unfortunate encounter last night on my way back." Kaldur said, so smoothly that he impressed himself, "Perfect." He mused. Miguel's face was scrunched into a worried frown. "Are you okay?" Kaldur nodded, "I'm fine. The goal wasn't to kill, but I suppose I just overestimated myself. I might need some more training at the dojo." He spoke in a light enough tone to throw off suspicion, mostly. They were still unsure, but they did not press the matter further.
At the dojo that night, Demetri was, unsurprisingly, not present. Johnny, though not easy to convince about the nature of Kaldur's attack, resigned to dropping the subject. He had Miguel and Kaldur arrange punching bags and dummies while Aisha and Eli came in. Johnny's eyes lingered on the door a moment longer before he finally tore them away. The four stood at attention and their warmup began. As Johnny went past, checking form, he stopped at Eli, then looked at Aisha. He sighed, "There used to be a time when karate dojos brought in the best and only the best. Sadly, we're not in those times anymore." He declared, "But, even the best have to start off somewhere-normally cooler than this, though." Eli's head lowered a bit and Johnny frowned at him. "What? Are you just going to take that? One insult and you shrivel up?" Eli said nothing, fueling Johnny's annoyance. "I guess that's my answer." He crossed his arms, "If you don't have any fight in you, you're not suited for karate. I'll accept that I have losers in here right now, but I won't have punks too. Maybe it's that lip thing that's making you unable to speak." Something new came behind Eli's eyes and he spoke, "I don't know what you want us to say." "Just that you aren't a waste of my time." Johnny answered, "Can you do that?" Miguel leaned forward a little, "He did really well yesterday." Johnny rose a dismissing hand, "Wasn't asking you, Diaz. I want him to tell me." Eli looked at him, "I'm not a waste of time." Johnny looked into his eyes and walked away, "With that attitude, you are." Eli watched him walk off, hurt present in his eyes. Suddenly, the boy looked determined and went to grab his things. Johnny did not turn around as Eli left.
As Eli pushed out of the building, he brushed past someone. When Johnny turned around, he saw Robby. The teenager glanced at him and went to join the others on the mat. Johnny smiled, "So, we'll be working on punches now. Diaz, Kaldur, mind demonstrating?" Miguel and Kaldur went to the center of the mat, did quick bows, and proceeded to spar. Robby watched on, intrigued. When they concluded, Johnny had Miguel get a board. The sensei looked at the plank of wood before breaking it in half with a clean punch. He turned back around to his students. "This is our goal for the end of the week, but you'll need good form if you want to be successful." He went around, showing the two new pupils how to execute the move. "Bring it straight down." Johnny said, encouragingly, to Robby. A smile came over his face when the boy did it correctly. "Just like that." He beamed. The class was not overly long, and, to Johnny, it felt like it ended too soon. Just as Robby and Aisha started to get the hang of their side kicks, it was time to end. "All right, that's time." Johnny announced, more than a bit disappointed. With a trace of hope in his voice, he added, "Same time tomorrow." Aisha, Miguel, and Kaldur thanked Johnny, then started for the exit. Robby lingered on the mats and glanced at Kaldur, who nodded his head towards Johnny. Taking a breath, Robby, went over to his father.
"Was it okay?" Johnny asked. Robby shrugged, feigning nonchalance, "It wasn't bad." He paused, "I guess I might see if I can come by tomorrow." The boy noticed the real joy behind his father's eyes, to his own surprise. "Great, I'll see you then." Johnny started. An idea came to him, "Do you need a ride back? I could take you?" Robby looked uncertain, "I'm okay." Johnny's smile faded a bit, but he nodded understandingly. "All right. Maybe another time?" "Maybe." Robby replied, heading towards the door. With a wave, the two parted. Excitement bubbled in Johnny's stomach and he happily roundhouse kicked a dummy. As he lifted it back into place, he said, while grinning, "It'll be Robby doing that to you next time." The man then went to the back office and flipped through some bills, grimacing as he did. Johnny heard the sound of someone entering the building and stopped, going to check. "We're closed for tonight." He called, "If you're looking to sign someone up, though, we can get that taken care of." He went around the corner and saw a tall man on the other side of the mat. "Did you come to enroll your kid?" Johnny inquired. The man shook his head, "No, I don't have anyone new to enroll. I did come to pay for one of the students you already have, though." Johnny eyed his curiously, "Oh? Who?" A layered smile came across the other man's face. "Kaldur. He's still taking lessons here, right?" Johnny nodded, "He and I were working it out, though." The visitor raised his hand to stop him, "Nonsense. I'll take care of the expenses. After all," he began, taking out a checkbook, "I'm his father.