Later that night, Johnny was watching Iron Eagle, mixing booze and RC Cola.
"A bunch of things must have gone wrong if you're listening to this," Chappy's voice speaks encouragingly to Doug from a cassette tape. "Whatever happened, I know you must be real scared. Right now, you're probably filled with all the doubts in the world. But I'm gonna tell you something, Dougie. God doesn't give people things He doesn't want 'em to use. And He gave you the touch."
Johnny remembers training in the Cobra Kai dojo and taking on Daniel LaRusso at the 1984 All Valley Karate Championship.
"It's a power you have inside you," Johnny had flashes of fighting the group of teenagers at the mini mart, "down there where you keep your guts, boy. It's all you need to blast your way in and get back what they took from you."
Then, Iron Eagle faded into a commercial for LaRusso Auto. "Banzai!" Daniel greeted happily on screen; his hands extended. Johnny was violently jolted from his memories of the past, blinking owlishly at the TV. "Daniel LaRusso here for LaRusso Auto," the camera pans to show Daniel walking in front of a line of cars, "bringing you specials on all our inventory."
Johnny tried to change the channel, but the remote wouldn't work.
"We have excess of Jeep Grand Cherokees priced to go."
He banged the remote on the air of the chair he was sitting in.
"Get a lease for only..." Daniel trails off as the words '$439/month' appear on screen. "Nah. Make that..." he strikes downward and the words change to '$339/month.' Daniel nods, "Yes, we are chopping prices on all of our Hondas, Nissans, Acuras, and Audis." He rapidly blocks upwards, downwards, to the left, and to the right causing several prices to lower. "So come visit any of our locations in Tarzana, Woodland Hills, North Hollywood, or Sherman Oaks."
Johnny rapidly bangs the remote on the arm of the chair until it flies out of his hand.
"And as always, every customer leaves with their very own bonsai tree," Daniel holds up a bonsai. "LaRusso Auto Group. We kick the competition."
Johnny grabs a glass bottle and hurls it at the TV causing the screen to shatter. Then, he quickly grabs his keys, hurrying out of his apartment to his car. He starts the car, turning on the radio as he does, and "Head Games" by Foreigner plays. The tires squeal as he accelerates out of the parking lot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnny sips from a bottle of liquor in a brown paper bag as he maneuvers around a car.
Daylight, alright!
"Whoo!" A younger Johnny shouts as he and his friends come to a stop on their motorbikes.
Johnny smiles to himself as he takes another sip.
I don't know
I don't know if it's real
Images of a young blonde girl smiling flash in his mind before images of Anastasia smirking at him replaces the girl's image.
Been a long night,
and something ain't right
Johnny beams, but it quickly fades as memories of Ali playing soccer with Daniel fills his mind accompanied by flashes of Anastasia's distraught face at the comment that Sid had made about her earlier.
You won't show
You won't show how you feel
No time
YOU ARE READING
Muscle Memory
FanfictionCrossposted on AO3 under Shelb253947 When Anastasia moves to the San Fernando Valley half way through college, she wouldn't have believed in the idea that she'd bump into a down on his luck, former karate champion, Johnny Lawrence. She definitely wo...
