CHAPTER 18

Johnny charged at Daniel in a fit of rage. All of the resentment that Johnny had carried for 45 years came bubbling to the surface. The humiliation he felt at the hands of the man. The misery. Losing Alli… Losing the tournament… It was all Daniel's fault.

Johnny tackled Daniel to the ground, and he was about to pound Daniel when Daniel's old karate reflexes finally kicked in. He blocked Johnny's punches and kicked Johnny in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Daniel scrambled to his feet and the two men circled each other.

"Same old Johnny Lawrence, huh?" Daniel snapped. "You know, I actually thought for a moment that you grew up. Learned how to solve conflicts with your words rather than your fists. But no. You just can't let the past be the past. "

"Pretty rich coming from you, Larusso. Chopping Prices, Kicking the competition… is your life that sad that you still have to milk that one illegal victory you got 45 years later?" Johnny shot back. Daniel scowled.

"Hey, that win was fully legal! I beat you, fair and square." Daniel stated. Johnny shook his head.

"Illegal kick." He growled. "Hey, if you're so confident that you're better than me, why don't we settle this right now. Last man standing."

"You're on." Daniel snapped, getting into a fighting position. "Let's do this. Attack me. You know I'm not gonna strike first!"

"Fine by me." Johnny muttered, before charging at Daniel again.

At this point, Sam and Miguel walked into the room and their eyes widened when they saw the fight going on. The men didn't even notice the two young adults enter the room. They were too preoccupied at trying to tear each other limb from limb. Miguel and Sam winced as the two landed heavy blows at each other. Both were in their 60s, so their defense and reflexes weren't the best, so they were both getting hit A LOT.

"Oh, my God! Should we stop them?!" Sam cried as she watched Daniel land a kick to Johnny's stomach. Miguel turned to her.

"Stop them? Why would we do that? I'm just sorry we don't have popcorn." Miguel replied. Sam glared at him.

"Miguel!" She snapped. Miguel sighed and nodded.

"Fine." He murmured, and he stepped on the mat, easily pulling the two men apart. He was about ten times stronger than them so he wasn't too worried about getting hurt. When Johnny and Daniel were safely away from each other, they took in their surroundings and noticed their two kids standing there.

"What the hell is going on?" Johnny asked, completely at a loss as to why Sam and Daniel were even there, and why Sam and Miguel were standing next to each other. Miguel was still standing close to Johnny in case he tried to pounce again, and Sam was doing the same with her father. Although Sam's plan had worked to an extent - they had successfully gotten their fathers in the same room as one another - it had also backfired greatly when the two had started fighting.

"Look, guys…" Sam started. "It's really important to Miguel and I that you two sort out your issues, but since you both told us that you're never going to even set foot in the same room as the other, we needed a way to trick the two of you into meeting up."

"Wait, I thought you said you and Miguel were breaking up!" Daniel exclaimed. Miguel raised an eyebrow and looked at Sam, who blushed and shook her head.

"No, I, um… I'm sorry, dad. I needed you in the best mood possible before you met Johnny and that meant lying and telling you that we were breaking up."

"Wow, that... stings." Miguel remarked, drily.

"And you…" Johnny said, turning to Miguel. "We spent the entire day shooting targets with the Larussos' faces on them! You're telling me that was all a ploy to get me a good mood?!"

"Wait… what?!" Sam exclaimed, spinning around to face Miguel with an incredulous look on her face. Miguel shrugged.

"What? You told me to get him in a good mood!" Miguel said.

"Yeah, but… you didn't have to shoot me!" Sam stated.

"Hey, don't worry, I didn't kill you. I just shot you in the arms a bunch." Miguel said.

"Aww, I'm flattered." Sam remarked, sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Okay, whatever. We're getting off-topic. The point is, you guys actually have so much in common. You two are the only people in the Valley who actually care about Karate that much."

"Yeah, and it's honestly pretty sad that you two still harbor a grudge against each other from 45 years ago." Miguel remarked. "I mean put it this way. When your grudge started, Freddie Mercury was still alive. The Macintosh had first been released. The mobile phone weighed a kilo. Sam and I weren't even born for another 20 years! Is it too much to ask that 45 years later, you two are civil with each other long enough to get a drink?"

Johnny and Daniel glared daggers at each other for several long moments, before they relaxed a bit.

"Yeah, okay, fine. One drink." Johnny muttered. The four then started walking towards the door in silence, but Miguel decided to break it by talking.

"You know, I don't understand you guys' obsession with Karate. It's like one of the weakest Martial Arts." Miguel remarked. Simultaneously, both Johnny and Daniel stopped walking and slowly turned to Miguel, massive scowls on their faces.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that." Johnny said. Miguel shrugged.

"I'm serious. If you get into a street fight, your first instinct isn't about to be 'ooh, let me whip out the crane kick on this dude.'" Miguel stated.

"Seriously?!" Daniel exclaimed, turning to Johnny. "Have you been teaching him nothing all these years?"

Johnny shook his head.

"It's not that I didn't try. He just didn't listen." Johnny chuckled. Miguel smiled to himself. His plan was working. He was getting Daniel and Johnny to bond over the one thing they had in common.

"Miguel, you might want to back down. You're not going to win this argument." Sam laughed. "I've had this argument with my dad at least 10 times and I haven't won yet."

"That's right, you haven't, because Karate is the greatest sport in history. It's a sport about honor. Bravery. Courage. Strength." Daniel said.

"Really? Cause to me, Karate is a sport for people who are too weak to play any actual sport like football, and whose parents want a way to stop their child from getting bullied in high school." Miguel replied, eliciting a gasp and glare from Johnny and Daniel, and a snicker from Sam.

"Too weak? Okay, that's it. Miguel, me and you. Sparring. Right here. Right now." Johnny said, walking back towards the mat.

"Yeah, as much I hate to say this, I'm with Johnny on this one." Daniel said. "Add me to the queue to fight you next. Karate is so much more than you're making it out to be and you need to learn that."

Sam looked at Miguel and surreptitiously winked at him. She knew exactly what Miguel was doing, and it was actually working. He was slowly uniting Johnny and Daniel.

"Yeah, sure. Let's do it." Miguel said, stepping onto the mat and facing Johnny.

"Come on! Kick his ass, Johnny!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Hey, you know there were a couple of people who did Karate in SEAL training?" Miguel said.

"Really?" Johnny asked, intrigued. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah. Of course they all were so weak they either got kicked out or dropped out within the first month." Miguel finished cheekily. Johnny and Daniel scowled at him.

"Okay, let's get him." Johnny murmured. The two bowed and began sparring…

Although Johnny had more experience, he was in his 60s, whereas Miguel was in his physical prime. In addition, while being a handyman like Johnny required a little bit of strength, it was NOTHING compared to the physical strength and fighting skill required to be a SEAL. Needless to say, it was hardly a fair fight. The second Johnny had thrown his first punch, Miguel had locked onto his arm and flipped him to the mat, pinning him down and winking at him, before letting him up. The two went several rounds, but each round lasted less than ten seconds as Miguel easily beat Johnny.

"I'm telling you, Johnny. Krav Maga beats Karate any day." Miguel smirked. Daniel then stepped onto the mat.

"Okay, my turn." Daniel said, facing Miguel. "You know, Miguel? Karate isn't all about striking and kicking. It's about inner peace. That's why Johnny's style of Karate fails slightly."

"Uh huh. Just one thing though… if you're in a street fight, I don't think your attacker is going to let you sit down and meditate for a half hour before fighting you." Miguel stated.

As soon as the two bowed, Daniel started balancing on one leg, preparing for a crane kick. Miguel raised an eyebrow. He knew exactly what Daniel was doing. Before Daniel could pull off the move, Miguel rapidly swept Daniel's other leg, causing the man to fall backwards and onto the mat. Miguel held out a hand and helped him up.

"I told you. No Karate is going to save you in a street fight." Miguel remarked. Daniel stood back up and faced Miguel.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Daniel replied, and as Miguel threw a punch at Daniel, Daniel sent a blow to the bottom of Miguel's arm, causing Miguel's arm to spasm and fall limp beside him. Despite Miguel's best efforts, he couldn't move his arm, and his distraction gave Daniel the opportunity to immobilise the other one.

"What the hell? I can't move my arms!" Miguel exclaimed in a panic. Daniel kicked Miguel, who stumbled over and fell onto the floor. He was frantically trying to regain movement in his arms, and as Daniel stood over him triumphantly, Miguel slowly felt his arms begin to move again. Daniel helped him up, and Miguel looked at him, his eyes wide.

"See, Miguel. I told you. Karate always wins." Daniel replied.

"Wow, what in the world was that?!" Miguel asked, eagerly.

"That was one of the secret moves of Miyagi-Do Karate, the most powerful style of Martial Arts out there."

"Okay, I gotta admit. That was badass." Miguel remarked, before shaking out his shoulder and wincing. "Ow. That was so weird."

"If an enemy insists on war, then you take away their ability to wage it." Daniel replied. "Now, I don't know about you guys, but I could use that drink."

They all agreed and started walking out the room. As they were walking out, Sam strided over to Miguel and looked at him.

"I still can't believe you spent the day shooting targets with our faces on them! Like who does that?!"

"Hey, you told your dad we broke up! Tomato, tom-ah-to." Miguel shot back.

"Call it even?" Sam laughed. Miguel nodded and draped an arm around her.

"Deal…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Wait, wait, wait, let me get this straight… Johnny, you ran your then-girlfriend's stereo over with a motorcycle, just because she wasn't talking to you?" Miguel asked as the four of them sat at a bar later that night. The tension level between Johnny and Daniel had dropped quite a bit and Sam and Miguel were learning the unbiased story of everything that had happened between their dads during high school.

Johnny nodded and Miguel chuckled.

"Wow, you really were an asshole back then, huh?" Miguel remarked.

"See, Johnny! Even your own kid agrees!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Well, Dad, you weren't exactly a bundle of roses either. You said that you attacked Johnny's friends in the middle of a soccer game. And you sprayed water all over Johnny on Halloween." Sam stated.

"Hey! The water hose and the soccer game were the least of it! Johnny and his gang terrorised me the whole year!" Daniel cried.

"You know what my favourite part was? The fact that you guys genuinely thought that karate was the way to end your rivalry." Miguel stated. "Like you were basically asking for trouble!"

"Yeah, what's the big deal about Karate anyways? Why was it such a big thing back then?" Sam asked. Johnny and Daniel both smiled faintly.

"Back then, Karate in the Valley was like Football in Texas." Daniel said.

"Or like soccer in Ecuador." Johnny added, glancing at Miguel. Miguel raised an eyebrow and whistled.

"Wait… really? That's crazy." Miguel stated. "Football in Ecuador… it's like religion down there."

"That was Karate in the Valley." Daniel nodded. "It was beautiful. All of the different dojos. The competition. The atmosphere."

"Yeah, it really was." Johnny agreed. "That feeling of winning the All-Valley and lifting the trophy in the air… it's just the best feeling in the world."

"And I'm sorry, how is this more special than any other sport?" Miguel asked.

"Well, because Karate's for everyone. In football, you have to be big. In basketball, you have to be tall."

"Well that's not true. The best receiver in the NFL is only 5'11. And the NBA player Muggsy Bogues was only 5'3." Miguel said.

"Miguel, just… just… shut up, okay?" Johnny laughed. Miguel chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, so that was the best part about Karate. All ages, all genders, all ethnicities… it didn't matter. Everyone loved the sport."

"Hey, I have an idea." Sam said. "You guys should open one of those Karate schools together!"

"It's called a dojo." Daniel and Johnny said simultaneously.

"Why would we do that? We have nothing in common." Daniel said.

"Actually, you do. You two are the only people in the Valley who care this much about Karate." Miguel replied. "And you know? Maybe having such different approaches is a good thing. It's like in a SEAL platoon… in a platoon, you're not all going to be snipers. It's just 3 of us. The rest of the platoon are close quarters combat fighters, drivers, medics and everything in between. Different strengths are what create an unstoppable unit."

"Yeah, Johnny could teach the best of what he was taught as a kid, and dad, you could teach the best of what you learned." Sam continued. "And besides, you both are at retirement age so probably won't be working that much longer. This could be both of your next steps in life. Karate's been dead in the Valley since the two of you were in high school. Maybe you could bring it back."

Johnny and Daniel looked at each other and didn't say anything. Miguel and Sam could tell that they were both considering it.

"Well, while you both are stewing on that, Miguel and I are going to get the next round." Sam said, standing up and pulling Miguel towards the bar. He followed her and the two sat at the bar, ordering the drinks and chatting. Johnny and Daniel looked up and saw their kids.

"You know, I don't think they're breaking up anytime soon, no matter what we tell them about each other." Johnny remarked. Daniel sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, guess we're gonna have to learn how to live with each other eventually." Daniel replied. Johnny took a deep breath.

"Hey, um… for what's worth man, I'm really sorry for the shit I did to you back in high school." Johnny eventually murmured. Daniel's eyes widened. Never in a million years did he ever expect to hear the words 'I'm Sorry' escaping Johnny Lawrence's lips.

"It's… it's fine, man." Daniel replied. Johnny shook his head.

"No, it's not. I got too involved in Kreese's bullshit and I became an asshole to everyone around me. I just want you to know… Miguel's not like that. He's nothing like I was. Miguel wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Isn't he a Navy SEAL sniper? I think he's shooting a lot more than flies in his job." Daniel said. Him, like Mr. Miyagi, didn't approve of violence so he wasn't a huge fan of Miguel's job. Johnny shook his head.

"Maybe so, but he doesn't fight because he hates Afghanistan or Iraq or any of the shithole places he gets deployed to. According to him, and I quote, a true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."

"Miguel said that?" Daniel asked, surprised and impressed. Johnny nodded.

"Yup. He cares about family and people more than anything in the world. He fights to keep them safe. Trust me, he's a really great guy."

Daniel looked up and saw Sam and Miguel sitting and laughing at the bar, their hands intertwined. He saw how happy Sam looked. He had never seen her look so happy in her life. And, for the first time, he saw past the block he had made about Miguel due to Miguel's father, and he saw how genuine and sincere a person Miguel was. After all, despite the fact that Daniel had been the opposite of welcoming to him, Miguel had stuck around and kept trying to get Johnny and Daniel to get along. He must really care about Sam.

"I'm sure he is." Daniel replied. "And about what Sam said about us starting a dojo together someday in the future… would that be something you'd be open to?"

"Maybe. You?"

Daniel smirked before responding…

"Maybe…"