STRIKE FIRST - A COBRA KAI STORY

C H A P T E R N I N E

It had been a while. Kreese had been put in prison, thankfully. Johnny had spent sleepless nights worried about him, so Rae was thankful he was detained. In the meantime, Johnny had both opened and closed a dojo, 'Eagle Fang Karate'. He had somehow managed to convince Rae to join that one, and oddly enough she enjoyed it. So her and Miguel were karate buddies. Speaking of Miguel, he had mysteriously disappeared at the All Valley tournament. The only trace of his remains was a note he left, saying he had gone to find his father.

That's where Rae was right now. Johnny, Robby (who was actually not as much of a dick as Rae had thought) and Rae were on a family bonding trip to find Miguel. Only Robby didn't know. Yet. Rae was sure her father would tell him, at least eventually.

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Robby and Rae were sat in the car. Johnny had gone for a quick pop-in at the local Mexican shop, leaving the two to communicate freely.

"Sooo. Tory." Rae began, breaking the awkward silence.

"What about her?" Robby asked, absolutely deadpan.

"She's nice, isn't she."

"Well, yeah. That's why I date her. Duh."

"Yeah, duh." Rae chuckled.

"Who're you dating anyway? What's his name, Demitri."

"Ew. Gross. He's my best friend."

"Yeah right, I saw you two dancing together."

"First off, that was platonic. Second, you should've been focusing on your girlfriend."

"I need to protect my little sister." Robby nudged Rae's shoulder playfully.

"Half sister. I'm clearly not related to your mom. And I'm only six months younger."

"You're like gen alpha."

"Quiet." Rae channelled her inner Johnny for that one.

"Hey, I'm just saying. Six months may not seem long to you, but it could mean different years, different decades, even different generations."

"Okay boomer."

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Before this chit-chat could escalate into a fight, Johnny approached the car. His hands were clasping onto two plastic bags, reflecting onto the man's red sunglasses.

"Got us some choice supplies for the next leg of our road trip." Rae's dad began, whilst unpacking the bags. There was a small glimmer of delight in his eye, and Rae knew Robby would likely destroy it. "Mexican Cokes."

"I think here they're just Cokes." Robby said, prompting a look of dismay from Rae.

"Mexican candy."

"Oh, cool. A bull. Pretty generic Mexican animal. Hey dad, maybe you could be a matador." Rae suggested.

"Huh?"

"No, they'd eat him alive." Robby laughed.

"Chicharróns." Johnny threw the bag of chips into the car before unveiling the final product he bought. "And just picked up this badass cell phone. It's got 60 minutos on it. That's, like, 300 American minutes."

That comment made the teenagers laugh. Rae smiled, knowing she wasn't the only one who didn't pay attention in Spanish. This told her that maybe she should.

"And I got you two a little something to say, 'Welcome to Mexico.'" He handed them both a bobblehead of what seemed to be a shiba inu wearing a sombrero. "Don't tell me it's offensive. We bought it in Mexico. It's their idea."