VIRTUAL AEROBICS; eli moskowitz

49. {devon lee, protégé}

"thanks, kid." johnny nodded, changing his mood with her.

"as long as you're happy, i'm happy." miguel told his mother.

"we are."

"we're very happy."

"cool." miguel nodded. "uh, can i get my water bottle now?"

"yes." carmen approved.

the boy got up from his seat. "come on, gio."

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"listen up, nerds. today's gonna be a world of pain." johnny spoke to his students. "now everyone fall in. we have a new member joining us today."

as if on cue, a dark-haired girl in freshman year of west valley high entered the warehouse. this was the girl from debate bert had been fawning over. while gioia was at the mini mart being mentally tortured by silver, the rest of her team went to the debate club where johnny met his new student.

"this is devon lee, our new female competitor." johnny introduced her.

"hi." the girl waved. "my pronouns are she/her."

"the only pronouns we accept in this dojo are sensei and student."
johnny told her.

"those are nouns." devon corrected him.

"oh, i'm sorry." johnny nodded in understanding. "i think what i meant to say is quiet!"

"that's an imperative." she mumbled.

"get in line. today's lesson is about cheating. at eagle fang karate, we don't believe in fighting dirty. cobra kai doesn't follow the same rules." johnny told them.

cobra kai.

terry's offer quickly plagued gioia's mind.

"so we have to be ready for any dirty trick they throw at us."

"like when chong li threw dirt into van damme's eyes in bloodsport." devon referenced.

"exactly." johnny beamed. "looks like someone did their prep work."

"and i saw the sequels too. not to mention delta force, billy jack, the octagon, and lady dragon." devon listed. "cynthia rothrock is a beast."

"hell yeah, she is!" johnny agreed.

gioia had no idea what they were talking about, but she was glad johnny had someone to geek out with.

"i saw last dragon." mitch tried to include himself into the conversation, as per usual.

"shut the hell up, penis breath!" johnny silenced him.

miguel and gioia snickered at johnny's quick change of attitude towards his students.

"everyone, get ready, i'm gonna put you through the wringer." johnny revealed. "except for you, diaz. up here with me."

"what?" miguel's face morphed into confusion.

"the tournament's around the corner. can't afford you getting hurt. this is gonna get a little dangerous. you be co-sensei today. sound good?" johnny explained to him and he sadly nodded.

gioia raised her eyebrow at johnny's exclusion of her friend. the blond man noticed her expression and spoke up.

"look, i don't want you to get hurt either, sushi." johnny told her. "any of you, i guess. but miguel-"

"i got it." gioia cut him off.

"okay, everybody. get ready. let's begin!

∙ ~εïз~ ∙