Pre-Parade

Dojo Day Afternoon

The gang stood around Jack who'd placed a single board on a pair of cinder blocks. "Alright, guys, stand back." He broke the board, crossing his arms smugly.

They looked at him with unimpressed expressions. "What's the big deal, Jack? You've done that a thousand times." Jerry said voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Wait for it." He blew on the blocks, causing them to come crumbling down.

"Woah." They awed.

Eddie looked the most impressed. "Man, I'd give you a million bucks if you could do that to my cello. Players don't play the cello," he said popping his collar.

"Well you're not a player," Milton said mocking his friend's actions.

"I will be when I get rid of that dang cello. I'm going to get a smoothie." Eddie walked out leaving the others in confusion.

Rudy's shouting and the ruckus he was making from inside of his office increased their confusion. "No. NO! Don't you die on me! IT'S NOT YOUR TIME!"

"What's going on in there?" Milton asked.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Rudy's toilet's clogged again."

The sensei came out of his office, dressed as though he belonged on a fisherman's boat except for the hard hat and plunger. "Poor Myrtle. I almost lost her. Twice I had to plunge her back to life."

"How do you know if the toilet's a boy or a girl?" Jerry asked curiously.

"You take the top off the tank, you reach your arm in and feel around-"

"Stop!" Milton cried out traumatized. "I think I'd rather hear about this in an awkward conversation with my father!"

"Rudy, focus! The new owner of the mall is gonna be here any minute," Kim tells him getting them back on track.

"Hey! You guys gotta check this out!" Eddie called out waving some pamphlets around. The crew walked over, hoovering over his shoulders to read the paper. "These brochures are all over the place. This new owner's making some big changes."

Kim gazed over the pamphlet. "Wow, they finally moved the baby changing area out of the food court. And if you ask me, that was a big step in the right direction." She wafted her hand in front of her face. They all nodded in agreement to that.

"No way! They're bringing in a Captain Corndog!"

Jerry snatched the paper away. "Oh snap! That's a classy joint! My sister got married in a Captain Corndog. The captain walked her down the plank himself."

"Look at that huge new parking lot!" Milton pointed out.

"Wait a minute, where's our dojo?" Rudy asked gesturing to the lack of dojo information in the brochure.

"There's a parking lot where our dojo should be."

"Woah."

Still in shock of the news, they cleaned up the cinder block rubble and Rudy changed into a more appropriate get up. The kids were kept busy with training while Rudy made introductions with the new owner, Mr. Turner and his son Arthur.

Asa was helping Milton with the bo staff when her attention was caught by Arthur waving to his father. "I'll just be out here with the gang!"

"Hey, I'm Jack. How ya doing?" Jack greeted politely, holding his hand out for a shake.

Arthur's "good boy" façade dropped once his father was out of hearing range. He turned snarky, glaring around at the place. "So what do you losers do all day around this dump? Sit around and pretend to know karate?" He flailed his arms in mockery.