VIRTUAL AEROBICS; eli moskowitz

22. {back in black}

"class, we have a visitor." johnny had ordered them to fall in. now, he and the man were stood in the front of the class, "this is mr kreese. he's just an observer. pretend like he's not even here."

"that's going to be slightly hard." aisha whispered to her other friend in the class.

gioia glanced at her and nodded in agreement.

"mr diaz, warm them up." johnny ordered, "sushi, over here."

the blonde girl stepped forward and stood beside her sensei, watching miguel lead the class.

"fighting positions!" the diaz boy ordered, "front kick. yuh."

"yuh!"

"forward strike, yuh!"

"yuh!"

"side jab, yuh!"

"yuh!"

instead of doing the karate move, the class dabbed. gioia chuckled to herself while the students laughed loudly.

"what the hell was that?" johnny questioned, infuriated by their jokes.

"we're just messing around." miguel shrugged, "we have 11 and a half months until the next all valley."

"yeah, besides, we already know how to kick ass." hawk agreed, a grin on his face.

they all nodded in agreement, which made their sensei even more enraged.

"oh, yeah, really, huh?" johnny tested, "so you know everything. there's nothing left to learn, huh?"

aisha began giggling, catching johnny's attention, "what's so funny, miss robinson?" he asked her.

"i'm sorry, sensei, you just wouldn't understand." she shook her head.

"try me."

"it's a snake-doo." aisha stated.

"what's a 'snake-doo'?" johnny inquired, falling right into her trap.

the class began making hissing noises while making a snake gesture with their arms. johnny looked appaled while mr kresse seemed unimpressed.

"quiet!" the man yelled it was clear he had enough, "5:00 a.m - tomorrow morning. corner of fulton and raymer. you don't show, and you're off the team. class dismissed."

gioia winced at the man's harshness as everyone's happy faces fell.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

the next morning, at 5 am sharp, the dojo was gathered in the local cement ground. johnny had given them orders: carry the dry cement bags, add water or mix the cement. luckily, gioia had the simple task of using the hose.

"don't add too much water." johnny told the girl, "you wanna make it nice and thick."

"sensei, why are we mixing cement?" miguel panted from exhaustion, he had been stirring the thick, grey substance.

johnny shook his head, "no questions. all right. keep stirring." he demanded before moving over to kresse.

"eli, do you mind?" gioia said in between coughs.

"what?"

"the dry cement dust keeps getting in my mouth." she told him.

he gave her a look, "well, close it." the boy grumbled.

"how am i going to breathe?" gioia sassed.

"through your nose." hawk shrugged, clearly not in the mood.