A/N: I was planning to just skip ahead to Halloween, but I was worried that I might rush things. So, here's the first of two (filler) chapters. And, I am going to be changing some things in comparison to the original version of this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Karate Kid movies, Cobra Kai or anything else that I might reference.

Moving Targets

Today was Friday.

And, today would be the day when Johnny finally goes and sees Robby.

While there wasn't much distance between Reseda and North Hills, he had allowed distance to build up between himself and Robby over the last decade or so.

Johnny didn't really drink too much the night before, so he woke up feeling pretty refreshed as opposed to being hungover.

He got dressed and walked out of his bedroom.

Johnny made a breakfast that consisted primarily of fried bologna and hot sauce.

He ate in relative silence.

There were a lot of things for him to think about.

Like talking to Tommy a few days ago.

Nobody really knew how much time Tommy had left. He could die today or he could die a year from now. Or longer, if he was lucky.

But it was still terminal.

So, it couldn't be fixed.

And he would have to accept that along with Bobby and Jimmy.

When he was finished eating, he cleans his plate and washes up.

Johnny walks over to the fridge and takes out a Coors Banquet.

He sits down and thinks about what he was going to say to Robby.

Johnny finishes his beer and goes to get another one.

He has thought about what he was going to say to Robby, but he wasn't quite sure if Robby would listen to him.

That thought gets pushed down deep in his mind.

Bobby was right.

He had to make an effort to fix things with Robby before it really was too late.

Johnny opens the second Coors Banquet and takes a drink.

He realises that he should have bought a notepad or something else he could write on as well as a pen.

Johnny finishes the second Coors Banquet and continues to think about what he's going to say to Robby.

It would be a good idea to get something to eat in order to soak up the two beers on the way to seeing Robby.

So, that's exactly what Johnny does.

He grabs his keys and opens the door to his apartment before closing it.

It's a short walk to his Pontiac Firebird and he unlocks it before getting in the driver's seat.

He turns on the radio as he drives off, hopping between stations until he finds a station that plays music he likes.

Johnny was certain that he'd have enough time to talk to Robby before he went to school. Or if he was going to school.

The drive from Reseda to North Hills was relatively short, but Johnny could feel time elongating as he drove.

He put that feeling down to nerves and kept on driving.

….

Jason parked the Dodge Viper and got out of it before taking his backpack from the backseat.

He locks the car.

Jason notices Sam standing outside the entrance to West Valley High that he'd practically parked outside of.

He hadn't spoken to Sam since Miguel had tried to talk to her.

And that was a couple of days ago.

"Hey, Jason." Sam says.

Jason wasn't sure if that was meant as a friendly greeting or not.

He gives her a slightly confused look. "Hi? Is this about what happened a few days ago? I didn't even lay a hand on Kyler in the cafeteria. Even though I could have totally kicked his ass. Again."

"The fight at my party didn't have an ending. My dad showed up just when it was about to end. But that's beside the point. You can't just go around making enemies." Sam answers.

Jason resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Seriously? You heard Kyler call me "Lurch," right? And you heard him call Miguel "Rhea?" Kyler's an asshole. And defending him isn't going to change that."

"I'm not defending him. All I'm saying is that you can't go around making enemies. Especially not when you're outnumbered." Sam retorts.

Jason rolls his eyes. "I might be outnumbered, but I'm not outgunned. And I've been training for the last few weeks, if not longer. I can take them."

"Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Sam wonders.

Jason shrugs. "Kind of. You can tell Kyler that he'll be eating his meals through a straw for at least a month if he decides it's a good idea to pick on any of my friends again. Or, better yet, I could just tell him that myself. Because it would be a lot better than me and him circling around each other."

"And then what? You'll get into another fight with him? What will that solve? You really need to pick your battles. Because you don't want to end up with a reputation as a hothead." Sam replies.

Jason does kind of understand where she's coming from. "You're right about that. I'm still kind of the new kid. Even if I've got a good group of friends already."

"Well, I'm glad that we've reached an understanding, then." Sam has a slight smile on her face.

Jason smiles back. "I think we have."

"I'll see you around. Don't be a stranger." Sam says.

Jason watches as Sam turns around and walks into West Valley High.

He waits until she's already walked in before he walks in himself.

Jason walks over to his locker and grabs a few things out of it.

He sees Miguel at his locker and walks over to him.

"Hey, Jason!" Miguel exclaims.

Jason smiles. "Hey, Miguel!"

"My mom and my yaya are really looking forward to meeting you. They're really happy that I've managed to make friends. I'm guessing you're going straight to my place after training today, right?" Miguel asks.

Jason nods. "Yeah. If that's okay with you."

"It is. My mom and yaya won't mind if you're early. In fact, they'd probably prefer that." Miguel answers.

Jason leans against a locker. "Great. I can give you a lift back to your place if you want."

"That would be great. Thanks. I think my bike can fit in the back of your car." Miguel says.

Jason thinks about it. "I think it probably can."

"Awesome." Miguel looks happy.

They talk a bit more before eventually walking to their homeroom class.

Neither of them wanted to be late.

Mainly because they didn't want to make a habit of being late or risking making a bad impression.

….

Johnny parked the Pontiac Firebird outside of the apartment building where Robby and Shannon were currently.

He gets out of the car and opens the door of the building.

When he walks in, he notices stairs and an elevator.

He decides to take the elevator.

Johnny presses the button for the top floor as the elevator doors close behind him.

The elevator reaches the top floor of the building in a matter of seconds.

He walks out of the elevator as soon as the doors open.

Johnny passes by someone in the hallway, but the other person doesn't notice him.

He walks to the door of Robby and Shannon's apartment and knocks.

There is music coming from the other side of the door.

But it stops.

Johnny can hear footsteps until they stop and the door opens.

"What the hell do you want?" Robby asks.

Johnny is a little caught off guard by Robby's hostility.

He takes a step back. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. And, aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Well, I'm doing fine. And I don't see any point in learning a bunch of useless crap that I probably won't need for the rest of my life. Mom is okay with me not going to school. So, you can go." Robby replies.

Johnny watches as Robby starts to close the door.

He takes a couple of steps forward and puts his foot in the path of the door.

Robby stops his attempt at closing the door on Johnny.

Johnny leans on the wall. "I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you as much as I would have liked."

"But you were there for Claire? Even though she's not your child?" Robby retorts.

Johnny sighs. "I've probably said it before, but I'm sorry. I should have been there for you more. Ask your mom why she didn't want me to be around for you. If you can drag her from whatever bar she's in."

"Don't talk about her like that." Robby almost squares up to Johnny.

Johnny holds up his hands. "Alright. Well… I'm sorry for bothering you. You obviously have everything under control, so you don't need me."

He puts his hands down and walks away.

Johnny doesn't bother to turn around, because he knows that Robby has gone back into his apartment.

He wonders if it would be worth going to whatever bar Shannon is in and talking to her.

Johnny thinks about it and ultimately decides against it.

Besides, he had other things to do.

….

Jason was standing in the lunch line and noticed Aisha standing by herself.

"You don't have to sit by yourself at lunch. You can sit with me and my friends." Jason offers.

Aisha is pretty grateful. "Thanks, Jason. I appreciate it."

"No problem." Jason replies.

Aisha gets her lunch before Jason does, but she waits for Jason to get his lunch.

Jason gets his lunch and walks over to her.

Aisha follows Jason over to where Miguel, Claire, Demetri and Eli are sitting.

She introduces herself to the group. "Hi. I'm Aisha."

"I'm Miguel." Miguel introduces himself first.

Claire is next to speak up. "I'm Claire."

"I'm Demetri, and this is Eli. He's not very talkative." Demetri introduces himself and Eli.

Jason sits down. "I think that's everybody."

"Thanks. You really didn't have to invite me over to sit with you guys." Aisha looks a little embarrassed.

Jason shakes his head. "It's no trouble. Really. And you're free to sit with us."

"Thanks." Aisha isn't as embarrassed anymore. Or at all.

They eat lunch and talk until it's time for them to go their next classes.

The first week of school had gone by pretty quickly.

Jason had managed to build himself a pretty solid group of friends. Which was a definite plus.

….

Jason, Miguel and Claire arrived at the dojo at roughly the same time.

Miguel put his bike in the back of Jason's car before noticing that Sensei's car was parked in a space near the door of the dojo.

"That's weird. Sensei usually shows up after we do." Miguel says.

Jason looks at the Pontiac Firebird. "Yeah. But it's not like he's keeping to that strict a schedule or routine. I don't think he has any job apart from being a Sensei. So, he can just do what he wants."

"The door is probably unlocked if Sensei's here." Miguel walks towards the door.

He opens the door and walks into the dojo.

Jason and Claire walk into the dojo after Miguel.

They see Sensei standing in the middle of the room.

There is something covered by a large cloth that is over by one of the walls.

Claire looks at it before looking back to Sensei. "So, what exactly is under there, Sensei?"

"You'll find out after you've warmed up, Brown." Sensei replies.

Jason and Miguel are both wondering what's underneath the cloth, but they don't say anything.

Sensei continues. "Start your warmups. I'll explain things after that."

Jason, Miguel and Claire start their warmups.

Sensei observes their warmups in relative silence, at least in comparison to the last few days.

The warmups continue until they stop, or Sensei calls a stop to them.

"I think that's enough. You're wondering what exactly is under this cloth, right? It's time for me to show you." Sensei says.

Jason, Miguel and Claire watch as Sensei walks over to the thing that's covered by the cloth.

Sensei takes the cloth off and the thing that was covered by it turns out to be a baseball pitching machine.

Miguel is the first, or only, person to say anything. "Is that a baseball pitching machine, Sensei?"

"Well done, Diaz. Hitting inanimate objects, breaking boards and sparring might be good ways to train but they're not the same as actually dealing with a moving target. Because an opponent could come at you from anywhere. So, you have to be ready for anything." Sensei answers.

Jason kind of understands. "So, you're going to see if we're really ready for anything?"

"Exactly, Kreese." Sensei takes what looks to be a remote out of his pocket.

Claire looks at the remote. "Who's going to go first? Because I don't mind going first."

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, Brown, but I'm going to let Kreese go first. He's got the most experience out of the three of you."

Jason walks in front of the pitching machine after Sensei gives him a signal.

He gets into a fighting stance. "What now, Sensei?"

"This." Sensei presses the button on the remote.

The pitching machine launches a baseball right at Jason.

He manages to deflect the baseball, but it goes into the wall.

Jason winces a little. "I guess I'm paying for that. Right, Sensei?"

"You're damn right. Let's try that again." Sensei answers.

He presses the button again.

The pitching machine launches another baseball at Jason.

This time, he's able to deflect the ball away.

The baseball goes to the ground.

Jason gets back into a fighting stance.

Sensei is almost impressed. "Not bad, Kreese. Try and use your legs this time!"

Sensei presses the button for a third time.

The pitching machine launches another baseball at Jason.

He kicks it away, and it stops short of going into the wall.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it." Jason has a big smile on his face.

Sensei presses the button again. "That's where you're wrong, Kreese. Losing focus like that in a fight could be the difference between winning that fight or losing it. You have to concentrate!"

Jason just about manages to deflect the baseball.

"Do we get any padding? Or did you just not bring any?" Jason asks.

Sensei facepalms. "Oh shit. I knew I forgot something."

"Are we getting padding today or at some point in the future?" Miguel asks.

Sensei scratches his head. "Um. I'll get padding before your next training session, Diaz."

He presses the button again for the fifth time.

The pitching machine launches another baseball at Jason.

Jason manages to punch it away in time.

"Am I done, Sensei?" Jason asks.

Sensei nods. "You're done with that drill, Kreese. I think you're starting to get the hang of it. Let's see how Diaz and Brown will do."

"Yes, Sensei!" Jason bows and walks off to one side.

Miguel is next up.

Jason and Claire watch as Miguel deflects baseballs.

One or two of the baseballs actually hit Miguel because he's not able to deflect them in time.

Claire is the last person to have baseballs launched at her.

And she does reasonably well.

Sensei looks impressed with what he's seen. "Good work, everybody. You did better than I thought you would. But there's always room for improvement. Work on your punches and kicks. And maybe do some sparring or something if you feel up to it."

Jason, Miguel and Claire work on their punches and kicks before Miguel and Claire spar.

Miguel manages to win, but Claire doesn't make it easy for him.

Jason gives Sensei the money he needs to get the wall fixed before leaving with Claire and Miguel.

"Well, that was different." Claire says.

Jason nods. "Yeah. I didn't expect Sensei to launch baseballs at us."

"But you did pretty well, though." Claire replies.

Miguel doesn't say anything. Mainly because he wants to observe Jason and Claire's conversation.

Jason smiles. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I could really use a drink. Do you and Miguel want to get sodas with me?" Claire offers.

Jason nods his head again. "Sure. What do you think, Miguel?"

"Oh. Sure. A soda would be great." Miguel is a bit surprised, but goes along with it.

Jason grins. "Fantastic."

They walk into the bodega and buy sodas.

Jason walks outside first, with Miguel and Claire following behind him.

They hang out and drink their sodas near the dojo.

"I'll see you on Monday." Claire walks over to her car and unlocks it before getting inside it.

Jason smiles. "I'll see you on Monday."

"See you Monday." Miguel adds.

They watch as Claire drives away in her blue Volkswagen Beetle.

Jason unlocks the Dodge Viper and gets in the driver's seat while Miguel gets into the passenger seat.

He starts the car. "Do you want to listen to the radio?"

"Sure." Miguel replies.

Jason turns on the radio and turns up the volume as they drive off.

It was a short drive from the dojo to where Miguel lived.

And it went by fairly quickly.

….

Jason parked the Dodge Viper outside of Miguel's apartment.

He gets out of the car along with Miguel.

Miguel walks up to the door of the apartment and knocks.

Jason stands behind Miguel.

The door opens.

Standing in the doorway is a woman who is more than likely Miguel's mom.

"Hey, Mom." Miguel says.

The woman smiles. "Hi, Miggy. And this must be Jason, right?"

"Yep." Jason replies.

The woman realises that she forgot to introduce herself. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself sooner. I'm Carmen, by the way. Come on in."

Carmen walks back into the apartment.

Miguel walks in, followed by Jason.

"You need any help in the kitchen?" Miguel asks.

Carmen shakes her head. "Your yaya and I can cook. Don't worry about it."

"Oh. Okay." Miguel says.

Carmen goes into the kitchen, where an older woman is preparing food.

Jason looks into the kitchen. "Who's she?"

"My yaya. The kitchen is pretty much her area." Miguel explains.

Jason understands. "Oh."

"My room's just over here." Miguel walks over to his room and opens the door.

Jason watches as Miguel walks into his room before following him.

There are posters on the walls of the room and a desk that had a laptop on it with a chair just underneath it.

Jason looks around the room. "Cool room."

"Thanks." Miguel says.

Jason smiles. "You're welcome. I'm sorry that you weren't able to talk to Sam, by the way."

"It wasn't your fault. Kyler and Brucks just got in the way. I'm sure that I'll get another chance to ask her out." Miguel answers.

Jason thinks about it. "I don't know about that. I think her and Kyler are going steady. Even though I can't imagine what she sees in him. The guy's a dick and his friends are obnoxious."

"Yeah. I hope I'm not putting you on the spot, but… You like Claire, right?" Miguel asks.

Jason looks embarrassed. "Well. Yeah. Kind of. It's not something that I think about. Me and her, I mean."

"Oh. Well. I think she likes you, too. You guys would make a pretty good couple, actually." Miguel remarks.

Jason raises an eyebrow at this statement. "Really?"

"Yeah. You both do karate. And you're second-generation Cobra Kai." Miguel replies.

Jason looks a little confused. "What does that have to do with anything? And how did you find out that Claire's dad was in Cobra Kai?"

"It's almost like you were fated to meet each other. And, I kind of guessed that Claire's dad was in Cobra Kai. Sensei doesn't say it, but that's why he knows who Claire was before she joined Cobra Kai. Oh, and Sensei is still good friends with Claire's dad." Miguel replies.

Jason scratches his head. "I have met Claire's dad before."

"Cool. Would you mind giving me your thoughts on something?" Miguel asks.

Jason nods. "Sure."

"Great." Miguel says.

Jason watches as Miguel walks over to his laptop and turns it on.

He leans over Miguel's shoulder. "So, what are you going to show me?"

"It's a website for Cobra Kai. You'll see it soon enough." Miguel replies.

Jason watches as Miguel enters the password for his laptop and clicks on a few things.

He looks at Miguel's laptop again. "That's pretty good. But I'm probably not the best judge of what makes a good website."

"Thanks. But I probably would need to work on it a bit more before I show it to Sensei." Miguel says.

Jason looks at Miguel again. "You're welcome."

"While I was making the website, I saw ads for something called the Sekai Taikai. I guess it's some kind of tournament. But we probably won't be competing in it." Miguel adds.

Jason thinks about it. "I think you might be right. The All Valley is the most realistic target for now."

"For sure. I just brought up the Sekai Taikai because I thought it'd be interesting. And, I wasn't sure if Sensei knew about it or not." Miguel remarks.

Jason nods. "Oh. Well, I'm not sure that Sensei knows about the Sekai Taikai."

Miguel is about to say something, but he's interrupted by a knock on the door to Miguel's room.

"Dinner's ready!" Carmen announces.

Jason and Miguel follow Carmen to the dining area of the apartment, which is between the kitchen and what would be the living room.

They sit down just as Miguel's Yaya, Rosa, is dishing up food.

Carmen helps as well, so Rosa doesn't have to do all the work herself.

Jason looks at his plate. "I don't want to be rude, but what are the green things?"

"They're plantains." Carmen replies.

Jason smiles. "Cool. I've never had plantains before, so…."

"Don't worry about it. But I am glad that you're going to at least try them." Carmen interjects.

Jason nods. "Yeah."

They start eating after Carmen asks Miguel to say grace.

Jason doesn't say it at that moment, but he really appreciated Miguel and his family making him feel welcome.

It also showed how their friendship had progressed.

Which was also good.