Looking For Trouble

John and the others walk through the streets of New York, talking and laughing about what just happened with Duke and his boys.

"It all happened so fast, one minute they were standing, the next they were on the ground, unconscious." Miguel says.

"Yeah, seriously that was amazing." Melissa says.

Rhea then turns and smiles at John.

"Yeah; that was really incredible." Rhea says.

John smiles

"Thanks."

As the two smile at each other, Melissa notices this and smirks.

"I think I'm gonna head home. Hey Miguel, walk with me?" Melissa asks.

Miguel is confused for a moment, then nods realizing what she's doing.

"John boy, do you mind taking my, very cute and single, friend home please."

John chuckles while Rhea blushes.

"I think I can handle that." John says.

"Good. See you two tomorrow." Melissa says while her and Miguel walk away.

As they are left alone, John and Rhea continue to walk together.

"That was subtle." Rhea says.

John smiles

"I don't mind." John says.

Rhea blushes, brushing her hair back with a smile. The two then start to walk with each other.

"So how did you learn how to fight like that?" Rhea asks.

John doesn't answer for a moment, getting flashes of himself laughing with an old man.

"Back in Hong Kong, there was this guy, his name was Sifu Kwok. He taught me everything he knew." John says.

"Well he did a good job. What's Hong Kong like?"

"It's a lot like New York actually. Crowded, a lot of buildings, bright lights. The only difference is, people here speaks English."

Rhea chuckles.

"I want to go there some day. Get out of this place. Travel, see the world." Rhea says.

John smiles.

"Tired of New York?" John asks.

Rhea snickers.

"More like I'm tired of the people in New York." Rhea says.

"Yeah, that was the problem I had with Hong Kong. That's why I had to leave." John says.

"You think you'll ever go back?" Rhea asks.

John thinks for a moment.

"I'd like to. But I'm not sure if I can. Let's just say- I burned a lot of bridges." John says.

"Trust me, I get it. I've burned my fair share of bridges. But they can always be rebuilt." Rhea says with a smile.

John smirks.

"Not in this case, I don't think." John says.

John notices that Rhea is shivering and takes off his jacket.

"Here. You seem cold." John says.

"Oh no, I'll be fine. I don't want to put you out like that." Rhea says.

John laughs.

"Trust me, I'll be fine. Please, take it." John says.

Rhea smiles, taking the jacket. As she puts it on, she notices a few scars on his arms but doesn't ask about them.

After a few more hours of talking, the two make it to Rhea's doorstep.

"Welp, this is me. Thank you for walking me home." Rhea says.

John smiles.

"It was my pleasure." John replies.

The two share a smile and as Rhea is about to walk inside, she stops turns back around.

"Do you- I don't know, maybe want to do something like this again. Only this time, we call it- a date?"

John grins when he hears this.

"I'd like that." John says.

Rhea smiles

"Great. Well I'll see you tomorrow then." Rhea says.

"Can't wait." John says.

Rhea heads inside as John walks down the steps with a big smile on his face.

Meanwhile, an embarrassed and angry Duke storms into a bar and walks over to his older brother Reilly, whose playing pool with his boys. Reilly sees his little brother beaten up and is confused.

"The fuck happened to you?" Reilly asks.

"Some fucking new kid snuck up on us, beat the crap out of us." Duke answers.

This annoys Reilly, taking a sip of his drink and throwing his glass down to the ground.

"Ok. I'll take care of it." Reilly says.

The next day, as John walks down the hallway in school, he looks into the music room and sees a piano. He slowly approaches it, putting his hand on the keys and starts to remember a young woman playing it for him when he was a little boy. Melissa then runs into the room in a hurry.

"John! You gotta come quick, Miguel's in trouble."

John drops his backpack and follows Melissa.

Meanwhile as two guys hold back Rhea from helping, both Duke and Reilly pin Miguel to a wall, interrogating him.

"We won't ask you again, where's John Wei at?" Reilly demands to know.

Miguel is visibly terrified but doesn't give up his friend.

"Listen fatty, if you want to keep your teeth you'll tell us where he is." Duke says.

"Looking for me?" A voice says.

Everyone looks up and sees John walking towards them. The Stronghold brothers let's go of Miguel and them and their boys turn to face him. Rhea and Melissa rushes to Miguel's side, making sure he's alright.

"Damn right we're looking for you. Now, I understand how punchable my baby brother is, but the only person who gets to kick his ass is me." Reilly says.

John smirks.

"Well, maybe if your brother wasn't such a prick, he wouldn't have gotten the shit kicked out of him. But judging by the sight of you, I'm guessing that just runs in the family." John says.

This angers Reilly.

"Let's see how cocky you are after we break your fucking legs." Reilly says.

"You can try, just don't hurt yourself." John says.

One of Reilly's boys rushes in, causing John to respond with a roundhouse kick and a spinning hook kick to the face, dropping him instantly. Another rushes him from behind, but gets hook kicked in the face. John dodges a punch, then lands a front kick, launching the young man into the lockers. Another throws a punch, but John catches his punch, winks, then lands a stepping stool kick.

He then sits on one of the unconscious thugs and smirks, asking for more. This makes Rhea and the other students in the hallway cheer while Duke and Reilly are stunned for a moment. As a few of his boys get back up, they and Reilly pull out knives to threaten him. John smirks, getting back to his feet and prepares to fight somemore.

One of the thugs on his left rushes in, swinging his knife, but John easily parrys the attack and lands a left cross to his face. Another thug from behind tries to stab into John's upper back, but he quickly redirects the attack and traps his arm, spinning him around and landing a front kick. Two thugs rushes at him, causing John to land a front kick to one's chest and a Cresent kick to the other ones face.

Reilly then gets involved, going to stab John while he's distracted by his boys, but John parries the attack into a wrist lock, then lands a spinning side kick on another thug rushing at him. Reilly swings the knife around, but John easily avoids it, then lands a back fist to the side of his face. He quickly lands a sidekick to a thugs face, and a back kick to another. One of the thugs try to grab him from behind, but John lands an axe kick past his shoulder, knocking him out.

Reilly rushes in again, getting hit in the face with an elbow. As John stands infront of him, asking for more from him, Reilly swings his knife one more time, but John performs an overhead block into an elbow break. While Reilly screams on the ground in pain, John knocks him with an axe kick.

As John takes down everyone without a scratch, Duke is trembling with fear. John looks in his direction and starts walking towards him, causing Duke to be terrified. As Duke cowers in fear, John walks past him to greet his friends.

"We better get going, before we're late." John says with a smile.

They all nod, a little taken back by this, but still follows him, while Duke is left alone with the unconscious thugs.