"Jerry, dude, why aren't you training?" Jack asked when they entered the dojo to find Jerry playing some game called Smack-a-Genie. "Your black belt test is in a couple of days. You know how important this is to Rudy. There isn't anywhere he'd rather be."
"I'm outta here!" Rudy announced happily as he entered the restaurant.
"Impeccable timing as always," Azalea snorted.
"Headed to Beijing for two weeks," Rudy told them smugly, "Karate Magazine just named me Sensei of the Year."
"What about our test?" Milton asked him.
"What test?" Rudy asked him.
"Our belt ranking test," Milton reminded him.
"Oh! Oh, that test," Rudy remembered with an awkward laugh, "Of course. I take belt ranking very seriously. Milton is going for his blue-"
"Brown," Milton corrected pointedly.
"Brown," Rudy repeated, "And Jerry is going for his green-"
"Black," Jerry corrected.
"Black," Rudy quickly said, "That's why Jeff-"
"Jack," Jack looked offended.
"Jack will be giving you your test while I'm in Japan," Rudy finished.
"China," Azalea deadpanned.
"Whatever," Rudy yelled before he turned smug again, "You guys, you know what the best part about being named Sensei of the Year is?"
"You finally get the recognition you deserve," Jack suggested.
Rudy scoffed, "No. I get to rub it in Ty's face. I just called him at his new job at Roll-A-Rubs and he is on his way over now."
The door opened at Ty entered, "Roll-A-Rubs mobile massage. I'm looking for, uh, Harry Bunz. Harry Bunz? I need Harry Bunz!"
The guys laughed and Azalea rolled her eyes at their immaturity. "What's so funny?" Ty asked, "I want Harry Bunz!"
☆★☆
Azalea and Jack entered the dojo to see Jerry on the floor doing push ups while shouting, "Nine-hundred and ninety-nine. One thousand!" He panted loudly while standing up, "Try to keep up Milton."
"Jerry the dojo has windows," Azalea reminded him, "We could see you do your fake spray bottle thing."
"I can't believe you think that," Jerry said in offence.
Azalea picked up the spray bottle and sprayed him in the face, "Can you believe it now?"
"Jerry, you are the most physically gifted guy in the dojo," Jack told him, sick of Jerry not taking this seriously.
"I'm right here," Milton reminded them.
"Sorry," Jack told him before turning back to Jerry.
"Don't worry, Milton," Azalea patted him on the shoulder, "You are the most mentally gifted one."
"But you also need discipline and focus if you want to get your black belt," Jack continued, "Dude, before I came to this dojo I was just a skate punk who didn't take karate seriously."
"You may not remember this," Milton added, "But before I came to the dojo, I was kind of a nerd."
"Yeah, before," Azalea gave him a playful smirk, "And I was amazing before I came to the dojo."
"Yeah, but before you met Jack you were a little - what's the word I'm looking for?" Milton said thoughtfully.
"Uptight?" Jerry suggested.
"Thanks," Azalea smiled sarcastically.
"The point is," Jack returned to the subject, "You have a real shot here. I'm not gonna let you blow it. So, to help you train you for your belt test I managed to convince one of the best and best-looking black belts to stop make sarcastic comments and actually help you guys."
"Gary from Super Kicks?" Milton and Jerry gasped hopefully.
"See - they deserve nothing more than my sarcastic comments," Azalea narrowed her eyes at the boys. "Now - listen up. Normally I try to not tell other people what to do-"
"Yeah, sure," all the boys scoffed.
"Remember that I am the youngest black belt in the state," Azalea told them, "Now, let's begin with Jerry. For your black belt test you are gonna fight off three attackers at once - so now I'm gonna show you how it's done and remember the most important thing to think about is - I was twelve when I did this so I will always be more accomplished than the rest of you."
"And humble," Jack muttered, a teasing smirk on his face.
"All right," she looked at three other black belts that they had called to the dojo for practice, "Come at me guys."
She bowed and the match began. The first guy ran at her and she flipped him over before the other two attacked. It took her less than fifteen seconds to have all three lying on the floor in defeat.
"Wow!" Jerry exclaimed, "If I have to do that to get my black belt I'm gonna have to train harder than I've ever trained before."
"I told you fear is the best teaching method," Azalea smirked at Jack who wrapped his arms around her waist.
"That was hot," he told her.
"I know."
☆★☆
Jack neared the dojo after having grabbed a snack at Phil's to hear music coming out of the building. Having his suspicions about what it was he entered to find a party in full swing inside.
"He's not gonna fail us, he's our boy," Jerry said in what Jack assumed was an attempt to calm Milton. "So let's crank up the music and-"
Jerry backed into Jack's chest and when he realised who it was he yelled, "and crank it right back down, people!"
Jack looked at Jerry angrily before motioning for the DJ to turn off the music. "I had nothing to do with this," Milton promised them, "I was sucked into this tawdry shuffle that was a nightmare of flailing arms and swaying hips. Oh, and mother help me! I liked it!"
After his little monologue Milton stormed away. "Jerry," Jack said, "You are wasting my time and Zalee's. Where is Zalee?"
Azalea stormed into the dojo ready to murder Jerry, "You left me waiting in the park for the past two hours," she hissed at him, "I thought maybe you got attacked by that crazy lady."
"What crazy lady?" Jerry frowned.
"Me!" Azalea snapped, "Because you left me waiting in the park for the past two hours." She tried to attack him but Jack held her back. That's when she noticed all the other people in the dojo and her anger only increased. "LISTEN UP EVERYBODY!" she said loudly so everyone could hear her, "The party is over. Get out!"
"It's clear you are not ready," Jack told Jerry, "I'm cancelling your test and suspending you from the dojo."
"Wh-" Jerry tried to say but Jack continued.
"You don't deserve to wear a black belt," he untied the black belt Jerry had tied around his waist and Jerry's pants fell off.
Jack and Azalea walked over to the smoothie bar where they would wait until everyone had left so they could teach Milton who actually deserved their attention.
"You may be able to shut this party down and kick me out!" Jerry shouted after them, "But you will not take my dignity! I will walk out of here with my head held high!" Jerry fell over because his pants were at his feet.
"Not a single part of you is held high."
☆★☆
Jerry had absolutely no idea what the hell was happening. He had been so angry with Jack that he decided to play a game of Smack-a-Genie followed by wishing that Jack had never come to the dojo.
And now it seemed like he never had.
Rudy had called him his favourite black belt before revealing that he was actually a masseuse. So Rudy wasn't a sensei anymore because Jack never came to the dojo which meant that he couldn't help them win that first tournament so they lost the dojo.
Milton looked like the 70s had thrown up at him and apparently the most school-oriented person Jerry knew had dropped out of school because he couldn't handle the bullies - because Jack wasn't there to help him.
Jack and Kim were both Black Dragons - and they were complete assholes. And apparently they were together which just seemed wrong to Jerry because he couldn't see Jack with someone other than Azalea.
And that's who he and Milton were looking for at the moment. After Jack and Kim had left him hanging by his collar in the restaurant and Milton had come over to save him he told the boy that they needed to find Azalea because if there was one person that could help him it was her.
"There she is," Milton pointed at Azalea who sat inside the library at school, "Man, I haven't been here in a while."
Jerry looked at him strangely before walking over to the red haired girl. "What do you want, Jerry?" she asked without looking up from her book, "I'm busy."
Jerry observed her closely in an attempt to see what had changed about her and he couldn't quite pin-point it. "I need your help," Jerry told her.
Azalea looked up from her book, "Sure, my calendar is in my bag - if you can find a few minutes when I'm not doing something else I will be able to help you."
Jerry picked up the calendar and skimmed through the pages. Azalea literally had every minute planned from when she woke up Monday morning until she got to bed Sunday night. She even had an hour planned in every week to plan the next.
"This can't wait," Jerry told her.
"Neither can this," Azalea told him.
"Well, if you help me with my problem your problems won't exist anymore," Jerry said, "Because this you won't exist anymore."
Azalea looked at him like he had grown a second head. After a few moments of silence she eventually said, "You've got thirty seconds."
Jerry went into an explanation, "So you and Jack were training me for my black belt test and I didn't take it seriously and then I threw a party and Jack got so mad he suspended me from the dojo so I kind of made a wish that he never came fo the dojo in the first place and now in a masseuse, Milton dropped out of school, Jack and Kim are Black Dragons, you are back to being a total control freak and you and Jack aren't together."
Jerry said it all in one breath and when he was done Azalea looked even more confused than before. "Are you talking about Jack Brewer?" she asked in disbelief.
"That was all you got from that?" Jerry asked her.
"You said a lot of crazy things," Azalea shrugged, "But me dating Brewer was by far the craziest thing. I have standards you know."
Jerry sighed. He should have known Azalea would have been difficult to convince. She didn't believe in anything that wasn't scientifically proven after all.
"Can you just please help me with something," Jerry said, "I promise that if you do I won't ever disturb you again but if you don't I won't leave you alone until you help me."
Azalea gritted her teeth, "What do you want my help with?"
"We need to sneak into Ty's dojo so I can get the high score on his Smack-a-Genie machine and wish things back," Jerry told her.
"Of course," Azalea muttered, "and afterwards we can fly to Neverland and have dinner with Captain Hook."
☆★☆
"Hey, what are you two freaks doing here?" Jack sneered when Milton and Jerry entered the dojo from the front door.
"Uh, we are just running by a very special promotion," Jerry lied, setting up three massage chairs, "Free massages to a very select group of clientele."
"Yeah, teachers, soldiers, ice skaters, bullies and evil senseis," Milton continued. Meanwhile no one noticed how Azalea who had climbed in through Ty's open office window on the second floor quietly crawled down the stairs and hid, ready to protect the boys if something went south. Despite having lost the dojo her and Rudy practiced a lot so she would at least be able to hold back Jack and Kim long enough for the two to flee.
"Yes!" Ty yelled. "I'm an ice skater." He got strange looks from his students so he added, "and an evil sensei."
The three of them sat down. "So just remain calm, relax, and no matter what you hear, keep looking down," Jerry said calmly while Azalea tiptoed over to take over from Jerry left for the machine.
Some music started to play loudly causing Azalea o send a glare towards Jerry, not understanding why she had agreed to this. "What's that pounding noise?" Kim raised her head when Jerry started playing but Milton pushed it back down again.
"Uh - that's - the sound of relaxation knocking at your doors," Milton lied, "Just let it in, hon."
All three Black Dragons released some strange noises when they got massaged and when Milton realised this they were screwed. Azalea found herself getting pushed to the side while Milton used the trio like his drums.
It ended when Jack screamed in pain and Milton shouted, "Thank you Seaford!"
"Hey, that loser is playing our game," Jack said when he saw Jerry at the machine and of course Milton bolted.
"Okay, this is going to hurt," Azalea muttered to herself, "Jerry, you got one minute," she told him, taking a protecting stance in front of Jerry who continued to play.
"If it isn't Seaford's own teacher's pet," Jack mocked.
"If it isn't Seaford's own disappointment," Azalea mocked back, "oh, and his disappointment of a sensei and bitch of a girlfriend."
Kim released a scream before attacking Azalea who blocked her punch. Despite training with Rudy at times Azalea definitely wasn't at her best and fighting off there black belts at once was proving to be a challenge. Especially when one of them was Jack Brewer.
Ty and Kim she did manage to get to the floor but Jack was ruthless and he definitely didn't care about rules when he fought. Azalea let out a cry of pain when he caught her by the hair and used that to hold her still before kicking her in the stomach, sending her flying to the floor.
"I was right," she muttered, gasping for air, "It did hurt."
Now it was all up to Jerry to fight of the three black belts while finishing the game. To Azalea it was all pretty much a blur because she was too concentrated on catching her breath. But in the end it was just Jerry and Jack who eventually managed to throw the former up at the game.
"Winner! New high score! What is your wish?" the machine asked just as Jack lifted him up by the collar.
"I wish thinks got back to the way they were!"
☆★☆
"Jerry? Hey, Jerry, get up, man," Jack sat crouched down next to the unconscious Jerry, "Jerry? Jerry-"
"No! No! No!" Jerry yelled when he woke up, standing up and backing back in panic, "Please don't. Wait-" he panted while pointing at the wall. "Jack's picture is on the wall. And I'm not a black belt. And Milton - Milton, you don't have a lame haircut - Well, you do, but it's a different lame haircut. And Azalea - you don't hate Jack anymore," he pointed to the arm Jack had wrapped around her waist, "I'm home."
"Okay, Jerry, you need to take it easy," Azalea told him, "You were out for a while."
"And how is my haircut lame?" Milton asked, looking offended.
"Jack," Jerry said seriously, "Dude, I'm sorry I took you for granted. Look, from this moment on, I'm gonna take this black belt test seriously. You know - because of you all of our lives are a lot better."
"Speak for yourself," Ty cut in, "You haven't been massaging Harry Bunz all day."
☆★☆
"Jerry, you have trained hard these past two weeks," Jack told Jerry as he was about to take his test, "You can do this," he gave him a fist bump, "I believe in you."
Jack bowed to him and then the test began. Jack, Azalea and a third guy was the black belts he needed to defeat and after a minute he did just that when he took down Azalea and Jack in a single move.
"Yay!" Milton cheered, stepping forward only for Jerry to kick him too. "Hey, I was just watching."
"Congratulations, Jerry," stepped forward with Jerry's new black belt, "You are now a black belt."
"Thank you, sensei," Jerry bowed to him and then the two hugged.
"Look at you, man," Jack smiled, "I'm so proud of you."
"Sometimes I feel like the third-wheel in their relationship," Azalea snorted.
___________
Azalea's Outfit