COBRA KAI: The Way of the Fist (Prequel to "COBRA KAI: Clash of the Five Dojos")

CHAPTER 27: "1994 (TNKK 1994)."

It was now 1994. It had been ten whole years since Nariyoshi Miyagi found a perfect student to help him in the Karate War. And surprisingly, neither he nor Daniel LaRusso heard from Terry Silver, John Kreese, Cobra Kai or anyone from Kim Sung-Yung’s empire. But Nariyoshi didn’t think too much about that because today was the day of one of his old war buddies’, Jack Pierce’s funeral, all the way in Boston. Daniel stayed back in california. He picked a seat next to his friend’s widowed wife, Louisa Pierce. The funeral was emotionally hard for the both of them. Once it was over, Nariyoshi was invited to the Pierce residence for dinner. The two had dinner but were waiting for someone else to arrive. It was getting very late and finally, the person they were waiting for arrived at the house. It was a teenage girl and was Louisa’s granddaughter, Juile Pierce. 

She was a bit snarky to her aunt and a little disrespectful toward her niece. When Nariyoshi tried to introduce herself, Julie was rude to him as well. After she marched upstairs, Louisa apologized on her granddaughter's behalf but Nariyoshi told her that he understood. Julie lost her parents and she was upset about it. Nariyoshi decided that he would stay in Boston for a while and be there for the Pierce family. The next day, Nariyoshi drove Julie to her high school and told her that he was going to pick her up after. Julie walked through the halls and sat in her private spot in the green house. In the hallway, there was a group of hall monitors called the Alpha Elite. They kept the student body in line but to tell you the truth, they were the real jerks out of everyone there. The leader of the Alpha Elite, Ned Randall, separates from his friends Charlie, Gabe and Morgan when he spotted Julie through the window of the green house. She had earplugs on and didn’t notice him in front of her until he slammed the shelf next to her. “Morning, Juile. No, no, no. Those are bad for your ears.” Ned said, ripping the earplugs out of Juile’s ears. “Go to hell, Ned.” Julie snarled. Ned grabs Julie aggressively by her arms and gets all up in her face. “You’ve got two choices. One, I could take you down to the principal’s office and get you into a lot of trouble. Or two, I can take you to the docks, tomorrow night. Wouldn’t you like that, Julie?” Ned asked, rubbing Julie’s cheek. “Fuck off, asshole!” Julie growled, spitting in Ned’s face. Ned was about to pull his fist back and hit her but before he could do that, Ned’s boss, Colonel Paul Dugan, walked in on the scene. 

“What’s going on here, Ned?” Paul Dugan asked, seriously. “Colonel Dugan, sir. I caught this girl smoking cigarettes.” Ned answered, pulling out a box of cigarettes from his pocket. “I wasn’t smoking, you fucking asshole!” Julie yelled at Ned. Paul Dugan took the cigarettes and led Julie straight to the principal’s office. He told the principal what was going on and told him that if she screwed up again, that she would be expelled again. As he was telling him this, one of Paul Dugan’s students, Eric McGowen, was listening in on the conversation. He didn’t notice him though. Both Julie and Eric share eye contact before Julie is told to leave. Eric stepped in and told Paul Dugan that he would take her to her next class. Along the way, he tried building a conversation with her but all she did in return was disrespect him. She went to the restroom and Eric waited outside. While he was waiting, Ned saw Eric and walked up to him. “McGowen, right? Colonel Dugan told me you took Julie Pierce to her next class. Any problems?” Ned asked. “No.” Eric answered. “No? Good. Don’t forget that she’s mine.” Ned scoffed, before walking away. Eric ignored Ned and wondered what was taking her so long. He walked in and saw that she was nowhere to be seen. He also saw that the window was open and looks outside and noticed a metal ladder that goes to the roof. He climbs up top and sees Julie with a hawk on her arm. 

“Hey Angel. How is your wing? Feel any better?” Julie asked the hawk, who’s name was Angel. Julie then hears walking behind her and sees Eric. “What are you doing up here?” she asked, angry and nervously. “Where’d you get the hawk?” Eric asked. “She was shot in the wing and I’m taking care of her.” Julie said, seriously. She puts her back in her cage and marches toward Eric. “This is my secret, okay?” Julie said, with her anger rising. “Well, not anymore.” Eric smiled, turns around and heads for the ladder. Julie made threats to him but all he did was laugh or make jokes out of those threats she was making. “What are you going to do about Angel?” Julie asked, scared. “You’ll see.” Eric said, walking away. Julie growled in frustration and decided to follow Eric’s every move until the end of the school day.