LiliescanBeViolet01 - Quarantine is not fun, but its best to stay inside than get sick. I'm not really into Social Media, I mainly only use it for work.

Natalie Jarrett - Not sure about that, but I will put some thought into the idea and mull it over. At the very least I'd like to do some epilogue later in life chapters.

Karate Honor - He's Just the Worst

Marcia sat on her knees looking excited as she stared at the video screen before her. There were several cloaked figures on a television screen and in the center was a man. The Grandmaster of karate.

"Karate brings the essence of "ka", "ra", and "te" together in a circular balance of the elements."

Marcia along with the rest of the Karate students were enraptured by the classic tape.

"It is time for you to demonstrate all that you have learned about the "DUH's" of karate. Discipline. Ed-U-cation. And most importantly…"

"Honor…" Marcia whispered along with the video.

"I, Grandmaster of the "How To Karate" video series, am coming to your dojo in your town of...Echo Creek." Echo Creek being said by a crude voice over. "...to watch your top student perform. If Grandmaster deems them worthy, your dojo will be "How To"-certified!"

Sensei Brantley pauses the video stepping forward. "This is a great honor for our dojo. With Grandmaster's certification, we won't just be a mini-mall dojo anymore. We'll be a certified mini-mall dojo! The student I will choose to represent the school will be someone who has constantly impressed me with their dedication and commitment. Someone who has contributed so much to the dojo, who really puts the "ra" in karate."

Marcia smiled brightly looking like she was going to explode.

"I will let you know my decision by the end of the week," Sensei Brantley said

A young boy raises his hand, "Uh, sensei, it's Friday."

"Oh. Then it's Jeremy," Sensei Brantley said

"What?!" Marcia exclaimed wide-eyed

Jeremy was just as surprised as Marcia, gasping wide mouth.

"Anyway, great class today. You're all dismissed," Sensei Brantley said

Jeremy stood up laughing walking over to Marcia. "Oh, dear sweet Marcia. Is that dropped jaw for me! Ha! Of course, it is! Because I'm awesome! Don't worry I can always use a lady on my arm for the ceremony." Jeremy held up his arm. "This spot is specially reserved just for you."

"I can't believe he got picked over me," Marcia whispered

She fell onto her side curling up into a fetal position.

"My world is collapsing around me. What is right anymore?"

Marcia kept mumbling to herself while Jeremy started dancing around her.

Sensei Brantley had long gone home and was in the middle of watching TV while eating some cereal.

*BAM*

"Ah!"

Sensei Brantley jumped when the door to his room was kicked open and standing in the doorway was Marcia.

"Hey, little lady. What are you doing in my room?" Sensei Brantley questioned more confused than anything.

Marcia pulled out a boombox setting it down. She turned it in on and bowed to her Sensei. Sensei Brantley nods back in acknowledgment.

"Hajime."

Marcia strikes a fighter pose before she starts performing a series of karate moves, Sensei Brantley watching intently while still eating his cereal. Marcia did a flip with a kick and chopped three stacked boards in half.

The music died down and Marcia takes a deep breath before giving another bow.

"Whoa. That was amazing!" Sensei Brantley said

"...So is Jeremy still your choice to represent the dojo?" Marcia questions

"Oh, yeah, for sure. Jeremy," Sensei Brantley said

"What?! But why?! I broke, like, three boards!" Marcia exclaimed

"Marcia, I didn't pick Jeremy because he's better at karate. I picked him because of...you know, who he is as a person," Sensei Brantley said

Marcia let out a series of angered grumbles under her breath as she started to collect her broken board pieces.

"Who Jeremy is as a person is a jerk! As a person? Who do you think is a person?"

"Marcia, listen," Sensei Brantley said

"No, you listen! I'm ten times the person Jeremy is! You're making a huge mistake!"

Marcia had turned to face Sensei Brantley so fast that she ended up knocking over a figurine the man had on a desk. The figure crashes on the ground and sputters breaking.

Sensei Brantley let out a gasp before looking disappointedly at Marcia.

"You still have a lot to learn about honor."

Marcia frowned. "Fine." She said before taking her leave.

Marcia was going to get undeniable proof that Jeremy was not a worthy person whatsoever and took to spying and recording the bratty young boy. She was currently hiding out in a tree near Jeremy's home, her compact phone in hand, set on video record, poised and aimed right at his front door.

The door opened and out stepped Jeremy with two butlers at his side.

"Mom, next time you cut the crusts off, leave 'em in the bag! Just 'cause I don't want 'em on my sandwich doesn't mean I don't eat 'em later!" Jeremy shouted into the home.

"I'm sorry, my little cherub!"

Marcia followed Jeremy into town where he proceeded to pull a rather nasty, quite literally, on any unsuspecting individual that ventured his way. He had his butler place a hundred dollar bill on the ground, and covered it in a rainbow-colored goo that took the shape of poop. Jeremy took up shop on a bench with a bag of popcorn in hand.

A few minutes passed before Jeremy's first victim came by. A young bearded hipster wearing glasses walked by but did a backpedaled seeing the money on the ground.

"Is that...?"

"That's a hundred-dollar bill," Jeremy spoke as he ate his popcorn.

"Really?"

Jeremy nodded, "Yeah. That's a Benjamin."

"That's my favorite one. But it's got all that stuff on it."

"Yeah, it's a lot of stuff," Jeremy agreed

"You know how many vinyls I could buy with that? Three. I'm going in." The man got close to the money and finally got a whiff of the stuff on it. "Ew! Why does it smell like that?"

"Pretty rank, huh?" Jeremy smirked

"Well, maybe if I…" The guy tried again only to let out a gag.

"I'd start with the corner," Jeremy suggested

The man tried to follow Jeremy's advice peeling at the money's corners but it was stuck to the ground.

"Man! Somebody glued this to the ground!"

Jeremy put on a fake face of bewilderment. "Glue?"

"What kind of a sick joke is this?!"

"Try the other corner," Jeremy said

As the guy went for another corner of the money the glasses he was wearing fell off into the foul-smelling goo.

"My glasses. And it's my birthday!" He cried out

He tossed away his glasses before running off.

Jeremy watched the man without any ounce of sympathy or regret as he snaps his fingers.

"Uh, butler, refill."

Jeremy's butler walks up and scoops more of the goo onto the hundred-dollar bill.

Marcia watched from a bush frowning. "Shameful."

"Hey, Marcia, whatcha doing?"

Marcia was amazingly unfazed or startled as Star popped out of nowhere.

"Can't talk now. Busy collecting evidence here," Marcia said

Star let out an excited gasp. "Oh, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah. Sorry-sorry-sorry-sorry-sorry." She slid back down seeming to disappear back into the bush.

"Keep it up, Jeremy. You're giving me everything I need," Marcia mumbled

Star reappeared but this time upside down from a tree next to Marcia.

"Star? What are you doing?" Marcia questioned

"I'm just helping you out at the scene of the crime, collecting evidence," Star said

"It's not really a crime scene. I'm hiding in the bushes and recording all of Jeremy's bad behavior," Marcia said

"Oh, so you're like a...like a…" Star thought tapping her chin trying to find the right words. "Like a...like a creep."

"What? No, I'm not a creep. I've got lots of proof here, Star," Marcia said

"It's okay, Marcia. Wave that creep flag," Star said

"This isn't creepy! This is justice! I'm gonna show all this bad stuff to sensei, and then he'll have to change his mind about letting Jeremy represent the dojo," Marcia said

Marcia entered the dojo and froze seeing it being redecorated. Banners were hanging about the theme splayed on them was Jeremy. There was also a golden life-sized statue of the kid.

"Uhhhh…" Marcia said at a loss for words.

The dojos bleachers were already filled with people ready to view the upcoming ceremony.

Marcia walked past the statue and when she thought it couldn't get any worse she found the statue talking and making karate noises over and over again.

"Hey, sensei?" Marcia said

Sensei Brantley was busy hanging a Jeremy banner.

"Miss Diaz."

"There's something I need to show you," Marcia said, slowly pulling out her phone.

"If it's those pictures of the dog playing the harmonica, I've seen them. And they're excellent," Sensei Brantley said

"No, no, this is not that. It's about Jeremy," Marcia said

"Okay. What is it?" Sensei Brantley questioned facing the girl

Marcia flipped open her compact phone. "I wanna show you…" She trailed off seeing a banner, the word Honor proudly displayed. "How…"

"Well?" Sensei Brantley said

Marcia closed her phone putting it away. "How sorry I am. I shouldn't have overreacted the other day. You have every right to choose who you want to represent the dojo. And if you really think Jeremy is the best choice, then I can accept that."

"I appreciate your apology. It shows your noble spirit. You're like a lion or a really cool bird-lion."

A beeping went off and Sensei Brantley looked down at his watch.

"Oh, man! Grandmaster's gonna be here any minute!"

A chair behind Marcia swiveled around revealing a man sitting in it.

"Or...is Grandmaster already here?"

"Grandmaster!" Sensei Brantley exclaimed before bowing. "Thank you for coming."

"Do not thank Grandmaster. It is by the will of karate that Grandmaster is here," Grandmaster said

"That's the coolest sentence I've ever heard," Sensei Brantley said starry-eyed.

"Who have you chosen to represent your dojo?" Grandmaster asked

"Me!" Jeremy shouted exploding through one of his own banners. "Jeremy!"

He was wearing a decked out karate gi, along with a cape.

The audience cheered and clapped at the arrival of the boy.

"Yay! We love you, son!" Jeremy's mother cheered loudly

Marcia, who had taken a seat in the audience, grumbled but still clapped.

Jeremy bows to Sensei Brantley and Grandmaster, and the two men return the bow.

"I would like to express what a huge honor it is for all of you to watch me perform," Jeremy said as he whipped off his cape.

Music started to play as a live singer started to perform a song, solely dedicated to Jeremy.

"Jeremy is awesome. He's the best at everything he does."

Jeremy started to show off doing some karate moves, nothing impressive, and in some way a bit tacky and annoying. When Jeremy heard no applause or praises he stopped facing the audience.

"Ahem. Applause?" Jeremy said

Many of the audience members bore confused or perplexed looks as scattered applause sounded off amongst the people.

Satisfied Jeremy continued on, the singer also resuming his song.

"He's the greatest that ever was."

"Mom! Picture!" Jeremy shouted

Jeremy's mother appeared a camera in hand. "Yes, sweetie!" She exclaimed, snapping a picture of the boy.

The crowd's mood started to greatly shift in the negative, frowning and grumbling.

"What a jerk!"

"I cannot stand that boy!"

"Why'd you bring me here for our anniversary?"

"Man that kid is the worst."

Marcia whipped her head to the left finding Tom sitting next to her.

"Tom? When did you get here?" Marcia asked

"Been here the whole time," Tom said

"Why?" Marcia questioned

"Star invited me," Tom stated, pointing to Marcia's right.

Marcia turned her head, finding her blonde friend right next to her smiling.

"Star why'd you invite Tom?" Marcia asked

"Well you were being a creep Tom is sometimes a creep-"

"Hey!"

"I thought you two could creep out together," Star said

"I wasn't being creepy! I was collecting evidence! Evidence!" Marcia said

The karate atrocity continued on as Jeremy proceeded to beat up another one of Sensei Brantley's students, a yellow belt. He kicked the kid in the stomach causing him to fall to his knees grabbing his stomach.

Groaning and in pain, the kid tried to scoot back away from Jeremy.

"No, no. I'm not done," Jeremy said

Marcia growled and her eyes briefly contracted into slits. "Okay, that's it!" She stood up from her seat marching over to Sensei Brantley. "I'm sorry, sensei! I just can't accept this! Why did you pick Jeremy?"

"Because he brings so much to the dojo," Sensei Brantley said

"So much what?!" Marcia exclaimed

"Money, dude! His family's filthy rich. They give the dojo tons of cash. That's how I keep this place afloat. I really shouldn't be running a business," Sensei Brantley said

Marcia's anger is quickly washed away. "So, wait. You don't think he's a better person than me?"

Sensei Brantley scoffed, "No. Of course not. He's a toilet."

The two looked at Jeremy seeing him running around in circle chanting.

"Je-re-my! Je-re-my!"

"Why didn't you tell me this in the first place?" Marcia asked

"Because you and I are friends, and that's what friends do. They do hurtful things to each other without explaining why, because they know their friend will understand," Sensei Brantley said

Marcia raised a brow. "That's not how-Wait. We're friends?"

"Duh. You're my dojo bro. Wait, you're a girl dojo gal? No, dojo bro sounds cooler. Why else would I keep texting you to grab tacos?" Sensei Brantley said, pulling out his phone.

"You don't text me," Marcia said

Sensei Brantley looked down at his phone then back at Marcia. "Whose number is this then?"

"For the record, friends are upfront with each other," Marcia said

"Really? I gotta stop learning life lessons from children's shows. I'm still ignorant in the ways of friendship. Perhaps you could be my friendship sensei." Sensei Brantley said before he bowed at Marcia.

Marcia smiled bowing back. "I'd be honored."

Jeremy had continued to show off unaware that the audience was no longer paying attention to him. Loud snoring filled the dojo and everyone looked to the Grandmaster, who had his head back limply, snoring like a lawnmower.

The man let out a snort before sitting up. "Huh?! Yes! Ha-ha! Y-uh, yes. Yes, indeed, hi-yah indeed, yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. Uh, wonderful performance." He stood up and started clapping. "Just wow. Wow, all across the-"

"But I wasn't even done," Jeremy said

"Yes, uh, Grandmaster gets the gist. Punch, punch, kick, kick. Very good, William," Grandmaster said

Jeremy frowned. "It's Jeremy."

"This dojo has proven itself worthy of Grandmaster's certification."

Grandmaster approached a wall punching it, as he pulled away his fist the words "HOW TO KARATE GRANDMASTER CERTIFIED" were engraved in the wall and the audience cheered.

Sensei Brantley smiled before he threw an arm over Marcia's shoulder pulling her into a friendly hug. On the bleacher's Tom, spotting the two, abruptly stood up and took one step towards them before he was yanked back into his seat by Star.

"The wind of karate beckons once again. Grandmaster must go," Grandmaster said

Marcia and Sensei Brantley bow to the man, and the Grandmaster returns the gesture bowing back. When the two raise their heads they find the man gone.

"Huh? How did he do that?" Marcia said looking around

"Heh. Grandmaster is like the wind. He is not bound by physical constraints," Sensei Brantley said

He grabbed an empty picture frame and placed it around Grandmaster's certification.

"Looks good," Sensei Brantley said

"Sure does," Marcia agreed

She pulled out her phone and quickly texted something on it.

Sensei Brantley's phone dings and he pulls it out reading a new text.

"'Let's go grab some tacos?' Someone invited me to get tacos! You want to come, too?" Sensei Brantley asked Marcia.

Marcia let out a small sigh but smiled. "Sure. Oh, wait I'm gonna invite my friends."

"Yeah, the more the merrier!" Sensei Brantley smiled

"Star! Tom! We're getting tacos wanna join?" Marcia called across the dojo.

"Yes! Taco time!" Star cheered

She ran over hooking an arm with Marcia almost dragging the girl with her. Sensei Brantley was about to follow but paused when Tom appeared before him. He lifted three fingers and pointed them at his eyes, then pointed them at Sensei Brantley as he shifted to two fingers. The demon was making the universal "I'm watching you" signal before he slid away following the girls.

Sensei Brantley scratched his head confused before he smiled shrugging his shoulders and followed after the three.

The crowd had cleared out leaving just Jeremy and his butler.

"You want to go get some ice cream?" The Butler asked Jeremy.

Jeremy shakes his head no.

"No? You want to go glue some hundred-dollar bills to the ground?"

Jeremy nodded his head yes.

"Yeah? Okay."

He picked Jeremy up and carried him out.

After tacos Marcia found herself walking home with just Tom.

"Sooo…" Tom put his hands in pockets. "That Jeremy kid was a real hole huh?"

"Yeah and then some. But I did learn a valuable lesson from him. From now on I'm gonna be a better more honorable person and take the high road," Marcia said

"Hmm...Wanna go egg his house?" Tom asked

A few seconds passed before Marcia smiled a bit mischievously. "I can start taking the high road tomorrow! Let's go!"

She grabbed Tom's hand and pulled him down the street.