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"THIS IS THE WORST THING THAT COULD'VE HAPPENED TO US." Johnny exclaimed, his voice laced with frustration as he looked down at the letter detailing the tournament's new changes. His eyes narrowed at the words printed on the page, "Skills competition, bullshit. Kata isn't karate; it's dancing. What's this crap about a girl's decision? Thought they were all about women's lib."
Charlie stood nearby, arms crossed, her head tilting in Johnny's direction with each word that spilled from his mouth. "They ought to man up and take a punch like the rest of us."
Johnny shook his head, and put the letter away from his face before pointing towards his daughter, "At least we know you'll have the girl's division in the bag."
"I, uh . . . " Charlie hesitated. She straightened slightly, the thought forming in her mind. Sure, she was confident enough to reach the finals on her own, but a backup would be helpful if things went sideways, "I think I'd feel more confident if we had another girl on the team."
"What?" Johnny's eyes widened, "You already know you can beat them, we don't need any more girls."
"And what if I get injured?" Charlie shot back, using her hands to gesture, "You'd double your chances of winning the girl's division if we had another female student."
Johnny fell silent, his brow furrowing as he contemplated her words. After a moment, he relented, "Fine. Do any of you know any girls?"
A silence settled over the group, each member exchanging sheepish glances. Johnny sighed, shaking his head, "Of course you don't know any girls."
Then, an idea sparked in his mind as he turned back to Charlie. "What about that blondie who always hangs around? Ally or something?"
"Alyssa. And she said she didn't want to do karate anymore," Charlie replied firmly, her tone leaving no room for negotiation which she knew Johnny would try have at, "I'm not asking her. She's done with it, and I'm not going to drag her back into this."
Bert raised his arm for a suggestion, "There's this girl from the debate team."
"Debate team?" Johnny raised an eyebrow, a mocking grin creeping onto his face. "We need killers, not more nerds. All right, go run some laps. Maybe it'll jog your memories."
As the group began to jog, Charlie and Miguel lagged behind. Johnny called out after them, "Try not to breathe too much; there's some black mold in the corner."
"Look, sensei. I-i know things got heated at miyagi-do, but with these new changes, I think having Sam on our team would really help." He began, before looking at his best friend, "It would help Charls too. Maybe if you could talk to Mr. Lar-"
"I have nothing to say to him," Johnny interrupted before Miguel could get his word in, "We're better off without him. It's time for us to take care of our own business. We'll find another girl, don't worry. All right, now get running."
