A/N: I was debating whether or not I should write another chapter between Chapter 5 (The All Valley) and "Ace Degenerate." And I've decided to just skip to the start of "Ace Degenerate" and go from there. But I will go into some detail in relation to how Jason spends his summer up until "Ace Degenerate" starts. If that makes sense. Feel free to read the chapter and tell me what you think about it. I copied some of the fight in this chapter and the aftermath of it from Dontatme420. If parts of this chapter seem similar to something other people have written, I apologise.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Karate Kid movies, Cobra Kai or anything else that I might reference.
Ace Degenerates
Jason spent the summer working for Silver, training, hanging out with Claire and her friends, hanging out with Aisha and hanging out with Sam and her newfound friends.
Claire, Demetri, Eli and Aisha were nice. Even if it felt like he didn't have too much in common with them. Demetri even tried to teach Jason how to code. Which was a disaster.
Sam seemed like a nice person, but Jason wasn't too sure about her newfound friends. Yasmine was kind of a bitch and Moon was basically a hippie-Valley Girl hybrid, which was fine in small doses.
And then there was Kyler and his friends. Jason's initial impression of them hadn't been favourable. But that had changed over the time that he got to know them. Mostly.
It wasn't much of a stretch to say that Jason was only hanging around Kyler and his friends because he happened to know Sam. But he didn't say where he knew Sam from. Mainly because there wouldn't be a much of a point in doing so.
He knew that Kyler and Sam were kind of testing the waters, and he wasn't exactly interested in either Yasmine or Moon.
Which left Claire and Aisha. He saw Claire as more of a friend and he'd been getting to know Aisha.
His phone rang, and he answered it.
"Yo! Lurch! You want to hang with me and the guys? And maybe score some beers or something?" Kyler asks.
Jason nods. "Sure. I don't really have anything else to do today. Why not."
"Awesome. Hey, is your house the one with the kickass car in front of it? The Dodge Viper or whatever?" Kyler remarks.
Jason nods again. "It's the house with the Dodge Viper outside. You won't miss it."
"Cool. Later, Lurch." Kyler hangs up.
Jason was about to say that he didn't appreciate being called "Lurch."
But it was too late.
He goes to grab his wallet and keys along with his phone.
Jason walks down the stairs of his house into the living room.
He is about to turn on the TV, but he gets a text from Kyler. Instead of a phone call.
K: Yo, Lurch! We're almost outside your house!
J: Cool. But do you have to call me "Lurch?"
K: It's just a nickname.
J: Fine.
K: Don't be so sensitive.
J: Whatever.
Jason walks outside and closes the door behind him.
A Jeep pulls up outside of his house.
He assumes that it's Kyler's Jeep. Or that it belongs to one of the other guys.
They're blasting music at full volume and the windows are down.
"Come on! Get in!" Brucks yells over the music.
Jason opens a door to the backseats of the Jeep and gets in.
He buckles his seatbelt.
"What's up?" Rory asks.
Jason shrugs. "Not much. My summer job is going pretty well, though."
"You work for some rich guy, right?" Alan asks.
Jason nods. "Yep."
"We're going to drive to Rory's house. And then we're going to get some beers. I know a spot that could hook us up." Kyler cuts across the conversation.
Jason tilts his head to one side. "You talking about that strip mall in Reseda?"
"How'd you know about that?" Kyler wonders.
Jason thinks of a convincing answer. "I've driven past it a few times. Don't worry about it."
"Sure thing." Kyler turns his attention back to the road.
Jason drifts in and out of the conversations that they're having while they drive to Rory's house.
Mainly because he's content to just listen to things for the time being.
….
Johnny's day was going from bad to worse.
The woman who had asked him to set up a TV in one of the rooms in her house didn't even tell him where in the room she wanted the TV until he had already set up. Trying to explain that he would have repeat the same process in order to set up the TV on the right wall went badly.
And, there was a very good chance that he would lose his job as a handyman.
Because his boss, Mike, had called him to deliver the bad news.
"I didn't call her a bitch! I said she was bitching at me! Yes, there's a difference! Wait, you're firing me because of that bitch?!" Johnny was practically shouting.
He could hear Mike's voice on the other end of the phone. "Yeah. I'm firing you. Sorry."
"Yeah, well, the job sucked anyway! And you still owe me a paycheque!" Johnny hangs up.
He walks back to his Pontiac Firebird and opens the door to the driver's seat before getting in.
It's a good thing that he'd left it unlocked, because he wasn't in the mood to unlock it again and get back inside.
He turns on the radio.
There is a familiar commercial that just happens to be playing. "At LaRusso Auto, we kick the com…"
Johnny turns off the radio almost immediately.
He has heard that stupid commercial so many times that he has almost lost count.
Johnny starts the car and drives off, leaving a cloud of dust behind him.
He could really use a drink.
At least there were plenty of bars and liquor stores that he could go to in order to get a drink. So, that was something.
….
After spending a few hours hanging out at Rory's house and eating junk food, everybody piled into Kyler's Jeep in order to buy beers.
They pull up to an empty parking space and get out after fully stopping the Jeep.
"Yo, Brucks! Get the light beer this time! Gotta cut weight for the meet!" Kyler yells.
Brucks pats Kyler on the back. "Hundo P, son!"
"You know it!" Kyler gives Brucks a high five.
They walk past a homeless looking blonde guy sitting near a Pontiac Firebird of all things and Rory blows smoke from his vape at him.
Jason could have sworn that the homeless looking blonde guy was looking at him like he knew him from somewhere.
He walked into the bodega after the others.
"What's the beer situation like?" Alan asks.
Jason looks in the fridge. "It's looking pretty good. There's Coors Banquets, there's Coronas, there's Budweiser's and Modelo. Along with some other stuff."
"Just get the Coronas, Lurch." Kyler replies.
Jason gets a pack of Coronas out of the fridge.
He almost gets in Kyler's face. "I keep telling you not to call me Lurch."
"Yeah, whatever. Oh, and get the Coors as well." Kyler orders.
Jason grabs the Coors from the fridge.
Brucks grabs a pack of Bud from the fridge as well.
They walk up to the cash register.
A Hispanic teenager pays for a bottle of Pepto-Bismol and turns to walk out. He turns to look at them just as he walks out.
"I'm going to need to see some ID." The cashier says.
Jason is about to take out a fake ID when the Hispanic teenager says something. "ID? They don't look 21."
"What did you say?" Kyler asks.
The Hispanic teenager keeps on going. "They probably go to my high school."
"Beat it." The cashier practically points to the door.
Kyler gets in the Hispanic teenager's face. "What the hell?"
"I…" The Hispanic teenager starts.
Kyler looks pretty pissed off. "He thought we were in college!"
"I didn't know you were trying to buy beer! I'm sorry!" The Hispanic teenager exclaims.
Kyler grabs the Hispanic teenager and throws him through a bush.
The Hispanic teenager lands on grass.
Jason steps between Kyler and the Hispanic teenager. "We can go and get beer somewhere else. Just let him go."
"Or what, Lurch?" Kyler asks.
Jason gets in Kyler's face. "I told you not to call me Lurch."
"I don't give a shit! Just get out of my way!" Kyler shoves Jason.
Jason watches as Kyler walks over to where the Hispanic teenager had been pushed and picks up the bottle of Pepto-Bismol.
Kyler looks at the bottle. "Someone's got diarrhoea."
"Come on, give it back. It's for my grandma. She's not feeling well." The Hispanic teenager begs.
Brucks has an idea. "Maybe we should call him Rhea."
"Just leave him alone. We can always go and buy beer somewhere else." Jason says.
Brucks rolls his eyes. "Just shut up already, Lurch!"
Kyler is about to open the bottle of Pepto-Bismol and dump it on the Hispanic teenager.
Jason walks up to Kyler and knocks the bottle of Pepto-Bismol out of his hands almost as soon as Kyler opens it.
A lot of the Pepto-Bismol lands on Kyler instead of the Hispanic teenager.
Kyler shoves Jason again after attempting to get the Pepto-Bismol out of his clothes and hair. "What the hell, Lurch?!"
"I said leave him alone. And stop calling me Lurch." Jason shoves Kyler back.
The Hispanic teenager mutters something under his breath. "Asshole."
"What did you say, Rhea?" Kyler asks, almost ignoring Jason.
Jason watches as Kyler pushes past him and walks to the Hispanic teenager.
The Hispanic teenager has a fearful look in his eyes. "I didn't say anything!"
Kyler is about to punch the Hispanic teenager in the stomach, but Jason manages to catch Kyler's arm.
"You're really starting to piss me off, Lurch!" Kyler snarls.
Jason shoves Kyler, sending him backwards. "I told you not to call me that!"
"You're dead!" Kyler goes to punch Jason only for the punch to be blocked.
Jason punches Kyler in the gut.
He looks at the Hispanic teenager. "Come on! Get out of here! I can take these guys!"
Kyler recovers and stands back up.
"Why the hell are you defending him?" Kyler asks.
Jason shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe it's because he doesn't deserve to be picked on or attacked just for making a mistake."
"What's your problem?! He's getting away! Brucks, get him!" Kyler yells.
Brucks moves quicker than Jason has seen him move over the last few weeks and shoves the Hispanic teenager just as he starts running.
The Hispanic teenager hits the Pontiac Firebird and falls.
"Did I say you could leave, Rhea?" Kyler asks.
The homeless looking blonde guy gets up to his feet. "HEY! Watch the car!"
"Who the hell is that?" Rory asks.
The homeless looking blonde guy looks at the Hispanic teenager and Jason. "Just leave the dork and the idiot alone!"
Jason looks at the homeless looking blonde guy before looking back to Kyler and his group.
"What?" Kyler looks at Brucks.
Rory snorts derisively. "Look at this asshole. Eating his dinner at the mini-mart like a bum."
"Oh shit." Jason mutters under his breath.
He isn't sure if he should just cut and run or stay and see what happens.
In the end, he decides to stay.
Kyler looks at the homeless looking blonde guy like he recognises him from somewhere. "Hey! I think I know this guy! That's the jerk off who cleaned my dad's septic tank!"
"That would explain why he smells like shit!" Brucks exclaims while waving his arms up and down in an exaggerated way.
The homeless looking blonde guy sighs. "You're pissing off the wrong guy on the wrong day."
"Really?" Kyler looks at him.
The homeless looking blonde guy nods. "Yeah."
"Get out of here, loser!" Kyler shoves the homeless looking blonde guy.
Brucks, Rory and Alan all laugh at the homeless looking blonde guy while Jason gets into a fighting stance.
The homeless blonde guy does something that surprises Jason.
He jumps into the air, swings his leg and kicks Kyler in the head.
Jason watches as Kyler goes down in a heap.
The homeless looking blonde guy looks like he might have pulled a muscle, because he grunts in pain and grabs his groin.
Jason has to fight back the urge to laugh.
The homeless looking blonde guy looks over at him. "You going to help me fight these jack holes or are you just going to stand there?"
"I might as well help. Because it's not like I'm going to be on their Christmas card list or whatever after tonight." Jason replies.
The homeless looking blonde guy is about to say something, but is interrupted by Rory charging at him.
Jason watches as the homeless looking blonde guy kicks Rory in the chest.
Alan runs at Jason.
Jason blocks a punch from Alan and counters with punches to the face and head before following up with a punch to his stomach.
Brucks and Kyler look at each other before charging at Jason and the homeless looking blonde guy respectively.
Jason blocks punches and kicks from Brucks before sweeping his legs out from under him and driving his knees into Brucks' stomach.
The homeless looking blonde guy kicks Kyler in the face again.
Alan gets back up to his feet and tries to attack the homeless looking blonde guy.
The homeless looking blonde guy blocks everything that Alan is throwing at him before sweeping his legs and kicking him.
Brucks gets back up to his feet and lunges at the homeless looking blonde guy.
Jason watches as the homeless looking blonde guy kicks Brucks in the stomach and shoves him to the ground.
He looks at the homeless looking blonde guy. "God damn. You've got some moves for a wino."
"You're not too bad yourself, kid. And I'm going to pretend that you didn't just call me a wino." The homeless looking blonde guy says.
The Hispanic teenager is watching the fight unfold with an awestruck expression. "Holy shit! How are you two doing that?!"
Kyler gets up and tackles the homeless looking blonde guy to the ground before punching him in the ribs and putting him in a headlock.
"What's the matter? Having trouble breathing?!" Kyler asks.
The homeless looking blonde guy manages to fight his way out of Kyler's grip and lands a couple of punches on him.
Jason can see that Kyler, Brucks, Rory and Alan look kind of beat to shit. They obviously weren't expecting someone who looked homeless to put up much of a fight. If any.
The homeless looking blonde guy looks at them with disgust. "Is that all you pussies have got? Seriously?"
Jason notices that Kyler, Brucks, Rory and Alan are about to charge at them again.
He's about to defend himself when a hand grabs his arm from out of nowhere.
"Calm down, kid! It's okay, kid! You're safe!" The voice is belonging to a cop.
Jason notices that the homeless looking blonde guy had gotten tackled to the ground by a different cop and handcuffed.
He tries to explain the situation. "No, wait! You don't understand! They attacked him first!"
"Did he try and hurt you?" The cop asks, ignoring his protests.
Jason shakes his head. "No. But… I did kind of see the whole fight happen."
He's not sure if the cop realises that he's not exactly telling the whole truth, but it doesn't matter.
The cops go around taking statements from everybody, even the Hispanic teenager.
When the Hispanic teenager gives his statement, the cops tell Kyler and his group to go home. They also tell Jason and the Hispanic teenager to go home as well.
"Let's go, Ky." Brucks walks to Kyler's Jeep.
Kyler is about to follow him but he glowers at Jason first. "You'd better watch your back, Lurch."
"Oh, I'm so scared!" Jason remarks sarcastically.
Jason watches as they get into the Jeep and drive off.
It wasn't like he would have been welcome back into the Jeep, anyway.
Especially not when he'd helped the homeless looking blonde guy beat them up.
Jason looks and can see the homeless looking blonde guy being driven away in a police car.
The Hispanic teenager walks towards his bike.
Jason almost runs after him. "Hey, wait!"
"What do you want?" The Hispanic teenager asks.
Jason puts his hands up in a defensive gesture. "I just wanted to see if you were okay."
"Well, I would have gotten Pepto poured over me if you weren't here. So, thanks for that. I guess? Some friends you've got though." The Hispanic teenager says.
Jason shakes his head. "Well, they're not my friends. And I don't think they're going to be my friends after this."
"I guess not. Especially not after you helped that guy out." The Hispanic teenager answers.
Jason shrugs. "Yeah. You're probably right. So, what's your name?"
"My name's Miguel Diaz. I just moved here from Riverside." Miguel replies.
Jason smiles slightly. "I'm Jason. Jason Kreese. And, I've kind of always lived in the Valley all my life. I don't think I've been anywhere else in California, let alone leaving the country."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Miguel asks.
Jason nods. "Yeah. I've been in worse fights. Don't worry about it."
"I bet you have." Miguel smiles slightly.
Jason looks at Miguel. "So, who was that homeless looking guy?"
"Oh, him? He's my neighbour. He called me an "immigrant" and "Menudo" when I tried to introduce myself to him. So, he wasn't particularly polite. Or welcoming." Miguel replies.
Jason chuckles a little. "I bet. I don't think he seems like the polite type."
"Did he know you from somewhere? Because he kind of looked like he did?" Miguel asks.
Jason shrugs. "Maybe. I guess that I'm pretty easy to recognise. Or something like that."
"Yeah. I think I'd better go. My mom and my Yaya are probably wondering where I am." Miguel says.
Jason has an idea. "Why don't I buy you another bottle of Pepto? I promise not to pour it on anybody."
Miguel agrees to that suggestion.
They walk back into the bodega.
Jason buys a soda and another bottle of Pepto.
They walk back outside into the night.
"Thanks for the Pepto." Miguel says.
Jason smiles. "Don't worry about it. I guess I'll see you around."
"For sure. Hey, wait, what's your number?" Miguel asks.
Jason takes Miguel's phone and keys in his number before handing it back to him. "Here you go."
"How'd you learn to fight like that?" Miguel asks.
Jason isn't quite sure how to answer that question. "It's complicated."
"What's complicated about it?" Miguel asks.
Jason sighs. "Oh boy. The person who taught me how to fight like that is supposed to be dead. Well, either that or people would prefer it if he was dead."
"Okay. Try and explain it to me. Just so I understand." Miguel answers.
Jason tries to explain as best he could. "I didn't really have a family as a kid because my dad is in prison and my mom abandoned me when I was a kid. I get visited in juvie by a family friend who makes me an offer I can't refuse. Then, my long-lost grandpa shows up almost out of nowhere and teaches me how to fight so I can work for the aforementioned family friend. But I don't think that street fighting is the only thing my formerly long-lost grandpa wants me to do. I mean…. There are probably tournaments or something out of movies like Never Back Down or Undisputed."
"I haven't really seen those movies. But maybe? Your long-lost grandpa showing up is kind of complicated." Miguel understands what Jason is taking about.
Jason agrees. "Yeah. It's complicated."
"Well. I'd really better get going. See you." Miguel walks over to his bike.
Jason watches as Miguel gets on his bike and cycles away.
He walks back to the area outside the bodega and sits down.
First things first, he would finish his soda before deciding whether or not to call someone to pick him up out of Sam, Claire or Aisha or just calling an Uber.
Calling an Uber would remove the obvious drawback of having to explain that he had gotten into a fight with Kyler and his group because they basically picked a fight with someone who looked homeless and he'd intervened to stop Kyler from pouring Pepto-Bismol onto Miguel.
He decides to just call the Uber.
….
Spending the night in a jail cell was a familiar way of ending the night for Johnny.
Tonight, was different, though.
He teamed up with some punk kid to protect another kid from being picked on.
There was something almost poetic about that.
But he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
His thoughts were interrupted by a cop calling him.
"You want your phone call? I don't think you got one. Then again, this isn't your first night in a jail cell, is it?" The cop remarked.
Johnny nods. "I'll take my phone call."
The cop passes him a phone, much to his surprise.
Johnny manages to key in the number and dials it.
He holds the phone to his ear.
"Hello? Who's this? You do realise what time it is, right?" He could hear Bobby's voice on the other end of the line.
Johnny takes a breath. "Hey, Bobby. It's Johnny. I'm in a bit of jam and I was wondering if you could bail me out."
"Are you in jail? I thought we'd talked about this." Bobby says.
Johnny sighs. "Yeah. We did. Violet was there. How's the family?"
"They're asleep. Which is probably for the best. So, what happened this time?" Bobby asks.
Johnny thinks of an answer. "There were these kids outside a mini-mart. They were harassing this Hispanic kid who's my neighbour or something before another kid kind of intervenes. The Hispanic kid kind of hits my car. And then they get into a fight with me and the other kid, who kind of looked familiar."
"A kid? You mean Jason? Right?" Bobby says.
Johnny's eyes widen. "Jason? That's his name? And how did you find out that he was a Kreese?"
"I kind of had a suspicion that he was. But that's not the point." Bobby answers.
Johnny looks over at the cop. "So, what is the point?"
"You can't keep doing this forever. I know that you protected that kid, but you really have to learn to pick your battles. And I'm saying that as a friend. Well…" Bobby starts.
Johnny understands. "Maybe. You're one of the few friends I've got. So, are you going to bail me out or not?"
"Sure. If Sid doesn't bail you out first, that is." Bobby answers.
Johnny lets out a breath. "Sid's kind of all the family I've got. Apart from Shannon, who hates my guts. And Robby."
"How is Robby, by the way?" Bobby asks.
Johnny isn't sure how to answer. "He's…. I don't know. I haven't really been in his life all that much recently. It was nice talking to you. Even if you weren't going to bail me out."
"Thanks. I'll tell Violet and Claire you were asking about them. Good night, Johnny." Bobby hangs up.
Johnny passes the phone back to the cop.
He decides to get some rest while he waits for Sid to bail him out.
Because he really needed it.