STARCROSSED: Anthony LaRusso (ON A HIATUS)

Chapter XXXVII: Wax On, Wax Off (aka Soap On, Crap Off)

At the Miyagi-Do dojo, the students were practicing, and Sam handed Demetri two sai. "You realize by giving me these you've dramatically increased my odds of being stabbed to death." Demetri quipped.

"Believe me, I'd rather be training to fight Tory. We have to work on these skills if we wanna win the tournament." Sam reminded Demetri.

"Okay, this is pretty cool." Anthony said as he and Daniel had arrived at the dojo.

"I thought you'd like it." Daniel smiled. He was glad that Anthony took a liking to Miyagi-Do.

"Well I mean, you never said I'd get to use weapons." Anthony said.

"You don't. Not yet. When Mr. Miyagi first showed me this place, I was like you. I didn't know what to make of it all. Definitely didn't appreciate it. I just knew I needed help defending myself. I'm not gonna lie to you, Anthony. Learning karate isn't easy. It takes a lot of work. Yeah. But listen, think of it like a video game. It might not be exciting at level one when you're learning the controls, but the more you play, the more skills you get, and before you know it, level 12. You're hooked. Plus, I'll give you some of the cheat codes along the way." Daniel explained.

"Come on." Daniel and Anthony had arrived in another area of the dojo, when he was trying to text his girlfriend Julia.

"Hey, what's the WiFi?" Anthony asked.

"What? There is no WiFi. Put that thing away. There are no distractions at Miyagi-Do. Just you, your heart, and your mind. So get ready to enter a world so much more exhilarating than anything you will ever see on that phone. Are you ready to begin this journey?" Daniel asked.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah. Oh my God." Anthony was disgusted at the bird poop on Mr. Miyagi's antique cars.

"As you can see, I forgot to put the covers on when I left last night." Daniel said.

"It's like a Jackson Pollock painting." Anthony said.

"Anthony, get ready for your first Miyagi-Do lesson. Today we call it "soap on, crap off." I'm gonna show you exactly how to do it, then you're gonna clean the cars while I help Mom at the dealership. How does that sound?" Daniel asked.

"Honestly?" Anthony said, but was cut off by Daniel.

"Remember, level one. Level one. I'll get the bucket. It's gonna be fun." Daniel assured Anthony, but he wasn't convinced.

"Jesus. This is disgusting." Anthony complained, and Amy and Chelsea showed up.

"C'mon, it won't that bad." Amy assured Anthony, who muttered, "Well, I might as well get started." He then grabbed the sponge and bucket and started cleaning up one of the cars.

Meanwhile, at the Cobra Kai dojo, Kreese and Silver put students in matches against each other. "Older Elswith, older Nichols." Kreese called out for Piper and Tory.

"You've seen a fight before, what's a weakness?" Kreese asked Tory, who answered, "Her left. She telegraphs her kicks."

"Then you know what to do this time." Kreese told his star student, who then walked to the mat with Piper. "Ais!" Kreese had the fight begin. Piper then started cartwheeling to Tory while sending her in kick in the middle of her moves.

"Just gonna dance or you gonna throw something?" Tory asked. She was getting bored since there wasn't any actual fighting.

"Why not both?" Piper asked.

"C'mon sis, you got this." Stella cheered for Piper, who sent her a kick and grabbed Tory, kicking her repeatedly afterward. At one point, the two girls fell to the mat, but Tory got up.

"We should do that again sometime." Piper admired Tory for her great skills.

"Don't get your hopes up." Tory quipped.

"Good one, Sensei Kreese. Who's next?" Silver was ready for another fight.