Chapter Text
The Miyagi-Do dojo had changed, which didn't surprise Terry since it had been over thirty years since he had last set foot upon it. Back then, it had been far too quiet for a karate dojo, with only the old man and his singular student. Now the place looked like pure chaos. Nothing like the order and discipline he and his oldest friend had been taught to keep.
John was intent on marching right in there to give them a piece of his mind about their unruly students, but Terry pressed a hand to his chest and stopped him. John had briefed him, but he wanted to assess the situation himself.
There was LaRusso, he looked just like he did in his car ads. He was leading a group of students through a set of movements which were more tai chi than karate. All that fire he had in his youth, it was all but snuffed out. That was, until he turned to yell at Lawrence to shut up.
Terry glanced at John and they exchanged a smirk.
"Hey man, I need to teach my students too, you know!" Johnny shot back.
"I know that, but would it kill you to do it a little more quietly?"
"Karate isn't quiet!"
Terry laughed softly to himself. "Your best student, huh?" he said to John.
"Hmm, he was," John said. "He's had his chances. Now come on."
Terry shook his head. "You know, I think there's a better way to handle this."
John frowned at him. "You backing out?"
"I wouldn't call it that."
"Then what would you call it?"
"A calculated retreat. At times essential in both war and business."
John raised his chin. Terry could see him thinking about it.
Terry tapped him on the shoulder and gestured towards his car. John took one more look at the bickering senseis, then followed him.
"You see, if we go in there with all guns blazing, we'll just push them closer together," Terry said, getting into the driver's seat. "And they'll be all the more eager to work together if we show them how united we are."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"It's obvious, isn't it? They're already at each other's throats. So…"
"Divide and conquer?"
"Exactly!" Terry said, grinning. He could see the possibilities already.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Oh, just leave it to me."
**
Over the next few days, Terry thought about LaRusso and he thought about Lawrence. Mostly he thought about Lawrence. There were plenty of sensible reasons why he shouldn't focus his efforts on LaRusso, him being unlikely to trust him a second time coming close to the top of the list, but truth be told, Terry was rather intrigued by the scruffy blond man in the ridiculous eagle t-shirt.
The eagle painted on the side of his van was even more ostentatious. Terry could easily imagine a younger man making such an artistic choice — Terry had made similar ones himself — but John had told him he only just opened his own dojo. What, was he having a mid-life crisis or something? Good. That would make him easier to talk into making further unwise decisions.
The first step of his plan was to orchestrate a meeting with Johnny Lawrence. The dojo was out, with LaRusso and students hanging around. And following him home to ambush him wouldn't give the impression Terry wanted to make right now.
But Johnny made it easy for him. The first time Terry followed him when he was leaving the dojo, he drove to a bar, alone. Perfect.
Terry took a space at the other end of the parking lot and waited a reasonable amount of time before going inside.
The bar was reasonably empty. Johnny was slumped on a bar stool, industriously shelling nuts. Terry strode up and took notice of what Johnny was drinking, a Coors Banquet, and ordered one for himself.
"Thanks," he said when the bartender brought his drink. "Hey, you know who owns that eagle van outside?"
Before the bartender could answer, Johnny whipped his head up and leveled Terry with a stare. "Ugh, you're about to tell me you backed into it, right?" There was a note of anger in his voice, but mostly resignation. This, along with the eagle and drinking so early in the day was starting to paint a picture for Terry. "That's about the last thing I need."
Terry shook his head. "No," he said. "I just liked it, is all." He raised his beer bottle.
Johnny's eyes drifted to the bottle, and he gave Terry a nod of acknowledgement.
Terry sidled a little closer, and took a sip of his beer. It was awful. "Where'd you get a thing like that done?"
"Oh, I know a guy," Johnny says, throwing a nut into his mouth and dropping the shell onto the pile in front of him.
"LaRusso Auto?"
Johnny wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, not that guy. I think I have his card someplace." He reached into his pocket and brought out a handful of crumpled up business cards and receipts. He dropped half of them on the bar and the other half scattered on the floor.
Terry bent to help him pick them up, and then Johnny went through them. "Look, I dunno, man. I thought I had it. He's over in Reseda someplace."
Terry nodded. "Nothing more American than an eagle, right?"
"Damn straight!"
"Almost as American as karate, yeah?" Terry said, and couldn't help but laugh.
Johnny laughed too. "Yeah."
"So, Eagle Fang Karate?"
Johnny smiled fondly. "Yeah. That's me. Us. I gotta admit we're kinda between locations right now, but I'm sure we'll get that sorted out before the All Valley Tournament."
Terry took another sip of his beer. He hesitated to bring it up so soon, but he couldn't be certain he'd get another opportunity this good. If Johnny was just going to walk into his trap so easily, who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth? "Well. It just so happens that I'm in the property business. Maybe I could help you out."
"Oh," Johnny said, narrowing his eyes. "You're one of those snakes."
Snakes? For a moment Terry was afraid that Johnny was onto him, but he didn't let his smile slip. "I'm afraid there's a lot of sons of bitches in my line of work."
Johnny snorted. "You can say that again."
"But not me. Naturally." He gave Johnny his best innocent look, then held out a hand. "Terry," he said.
"John Lawrence," he said, shaking Terry's hand. He had a nice firm grip. "Johnny."
"Nice to meet you, Johnny," Terry said. He let his eyes drop to Johnny's shirt. He had changed out of the eagle shirt he was wearing at the dojo and was now wearing a faded tour shirt. "Hey, Guns 'n' Roses! You know, one time I met Slash at a party."
"What? No way!" Johnny said, and as his eyes widened Terry felt himself instantly going up in Johnny's estimation. "What was he like, man?"
Terry laughed. "I have no idea. It was the eighties. And it was one of those parties."
"I get you," Johnny said, smiling. "Closest I ever got was seeing him on stage from the pit. Was pretty damn awesome though."
"I bet," Terry said. "Those were the days, right?"
"Yeah. The eighties were the best!" Johnny went to take a drink, but then shook his bottle. It was empty.
Terry signaled to the bartender to get him another.
Johnny smiled at him as he took his drink. This is almost too easy, Terry thought to himself. Johnny was easy to talk to, easy to please. It was almost a shame.
"You know what really boils my piss, man? The way you can only get decent music on the radio these days if you tune in to the oldies stations. Freakin' oldies? The eighties ain't oldies! Oldies stations should still be playing Elvis or some shit."
Terry shook his head. He remembered struggling to get into what he saw as the kids' music in the eighties that was so different to what he had grown up with, but he didn't want Johnny to think he was old and uncool. That would be counterproductive to his plan. Yeah. Damn, he really couldn't get caught up in wanting to get Johnny to like him. "Exactly. What is this world coming to?"
Johnny shook his head. "I dunno, man." He passed Terry a peanut.
Terry deliberately kept the conversation light and stuck to topics Johnny seemed to enjoy talking about: music, action movies, fast cars, hot babes, all while being careful not to reveal too much about himself. It was a terribly mundane conversation, but it was easy. Terry mentally filed away anything that sounded useful for driving a wedge between him and LaRusso. He kept the man supplied with Coors Banquets and Johnny didn't seem to notice that Terry was making the same one last.
Several hours passed quickly. By the end of it, Terry was already formulating a plan in his mind. Oh, he couldn't wait to tell John all about it. He'd be so pleased. If this succeeded, he could redeem himself in John's eyes and maybe actually earn his respect.
Earning Johnny's had been a breeze. He didn't detect any of the stubbornness or insubordination that John had told him about. Johnny had naturally accepted Terry as an equal.
Ha, what a sucker.