Theo LaRusso, the emancipated seventeen year old son of the All-Valley Champion and car salesman, Daniel LaRusso, shot up from the sofa, a beer can falling off his chest as he groggily walked into the kitchen of his apartment, seeing Camila eating cereal and Freddie passed out on the floor.

Camila and Freddie had been Theo's best friends since Freddie and Theo were in the sixth grade, Camila being in the grade below them. The two boys stuck up for her when she was getting bullied, and together they formed The Social Scum, that was their band name.

You had Theo, lead vocalist and guitarist, Camila, the bassist and Freddie the drummer, though they were desperately searching for a secondary guitarist.

"You look like shit," Camila scrunched her nose in disgust, watching Theo reach into the fridge and pull out a can of beer.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, the band had a massive drinking problem.

"I feel like shit too," Theo grumbled, kicking Freddie lightly in the ribs.

"It's 6:30 and you're drinking beer," said Camila, spooning more cereal into her mouth. Theo glanced into her dish, seeing beer mixed in.

"You're literally mixing Coors and fruit loops together," said Theo, grimacing as he flicked her forehead. Camila went to swat him but ended up dropping the bowl on Freddie's head, the contents spilling over Freddie, but the boy didn't budge.

"Are we sure he ain't dead?" Theo asked, placing his can on the counter.

"Nah, he's fine," Camila smirked, kicking Freddie. The boy groaned, confirming he was in fact alive. His two friends laughed, Theo stepping over the boy and walking into the bathroom and locking the door behind him.

By the time he was dressed and fed, it was time for school. Theo and Freddie looked the part of a Rock/Indie/Alt band. Theo wore black leather boots, black ripped skinny jeans, a black button up shirt with the tip three buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows with a black waistcoat left undone, while Freddie just wore black that complemented his crazy hair. Camila however, dressed like a preppy girl when she wasn't performing. Bright coloured jumpers and plaid skirts were her thing.

"Fucking door!" Theo said loudly, smashing his fist into it. At that moment, the three friends heard a clang and they turned to see their next door neighbour, Johnny Lawrence exiting his apartment with his trash in his hands.

"Morning, Johnny!" The three chorused in unison, smiling sweetly at the older man. The three friends had made friends with Johnny after they had moved into the apartment nearly two years ago, much against Johnny's will, but over time he grew to like them, especially when Camila would actually cook him food in exchange for alcohol.

"Morning,," Johnny chuckled, picking up his tool box and his trash. "Off to school?"

"Unfortunately," Freddie answered for them, getting a smile and a nod back from the older man. At that moment, the new neighbour walked up to the group as they continued on walking to their respective cars, well van for the band.

"Hey, I'm Miguel," the boy who appeared to be the trio's age said to them, walking up next to them. "My family and I just moved into 109," Johnny and Camila seemed to be the only ones to acknowledge Miguel, with Freddie being too tired and Theo just being antisocial.

"Great. More immigrants," Johnny scoffed, getting a snort from Theo and Freddie, and a light smack on the arm from Camila, telling him, to be nice. Johnny sent her a small glare, which Camila sent him one back.

"Be nice to him," she whispered, causing Johnny to scoff, shaking his head.

"Actually, we're from Riverside," said Miguel, shaking his head as he still followed them, not taking the hint. "Anyways, I was wondering if you were having trouble with your water pressure, cause' I know our sinks being weird right now and... oh, bottles goes in the blue bins," he told Johnny.

"Look, you're cute, but you're damn well annoying," Freddie snapped, throwing his bag in the back of the van next to Theo's and Camila's. Camila stuck her tongue out at Freddie as she called shotgun rolling down the window so she could still hear the ongoing conversation between them. Theo leaned on the drivers side, his arms folded.

"Yeah, what Freddie said," said Johnny, causing the trio to smirk slightly.

"You think Miguel is cute?" Theo raised a challenging eyebrow as he smirked.

"Shut up," he told the giggling band mates. "Listen, Menudo," he sighed, turning towards Miguel, the band trying to hide their laughs at how annoyed he looked. "I've lived in this shithole for over ten years, the group there for just over a year," he explained to Miguel, and the boy looked back at the three who nodded in unison. "The pipe's don't work, the fountain's full of piss."

"Don't forget the boiler," said Camila, causing the other two to nod.

"Or the holes in the floor," said Freddie.

"Or the cracks in the window," Theo added, causing Johnny to give Miguel the "I told you so eyes."

"The only good thing about living here is I only have to talk to them so they can cook me a decent meal in exchange for some off-brand alcohol so they can get drunk and high and have a good buzz," said Johnny, warranting chuckles from the band who nodded in agreement.

"He loves us really," said Camila, smirking as Johnny neither confirmed or denied the fact.

"Either way, nice knowing you," said Johnny, picking up his toolbox once more, waving goodbye at the band who waved back.

"You guys are in a band?" Miguel asked, eyeing the van.

"Don't happen to play guitar, do you?" Theo asked hopefully, the three band members groaning when he shook his head. "Well, anyway, here," Theo winked at him, throwing him a CD, 'The Social Scum' logo printed on it. "Covers and original songs."

"Check us out, and if you like it we're performing at the Midnight Haze on Friday," Camila winked at him, causing the Diaz boy to blush. "See you at school, new kid," said Camila, throwing up a peace sign as she connected her phone to the car speakers, 'There Is a Light That Never Goes,' by The Smiths playing loudly over the speakers as Theo pulled out 0f the apartment complex, the three band members singing loudly along to the song.

—————

"You got into another fight at school?" Theo asked as he saw Camila enter the apartment that night smelling of weed. Camila sighed, throwing her bag on the floor and flopping down on the sofa on top of her best friend, nuzzling her head into his neck. "Did Yasmin at least deserve it this time?"

"The little perky ass bitch always deserves it," Camila grumbled, sighing in content as Theo ran his fingers through her hair. "Where's Fred?"

"Looking for some inspiration to write a song," Theo explained, watching as Camila grabbed the TV remote and put on Friends, watching as a small smile appeared on her face.

"I was thinking you and I could go out and get pizza later?" Camila mumbled, still looking at the screen.

"Can't we just have it delivered?" Theo groaned.

"Come on, I want to try out my new fake ID," Camila sighed. Theo, Freddie and Camila were all in similar situations with family.

Theo, of course, didn't get along at all with his father though his stepmother was nice enough from time-to-time. Don't get him started on his half-siblings. Theo was the product of two old karate rivals in the heat of the moment. His mother had been the only girl to ever walk through the doors and train at Cobra Kai. She passed away when Theo was six, which ended with Theo meeting his father for the first time. He wished he was sent to live with his uncle or grandfather instead but no.

Daniel LaRusso still hated Theo's mother even though she was six feet under.

Camila on the other hand never knew her parents. Well, she knew who they was. They were fifteen and seventeen year old drug addicts when Camila's mother found out she was pregnant. After going to the first scan, Camila's mother couldn't go through with the abortion and instead gave birth four months later and left Camila in the hospital.

Camila bounced around the foster system all her life until she filed for emancipation when she was sixteen and moved in with the other two emancipated teens.

Freddie was different again. He came from a very religious and strict family, so imagine their shock when they found their son had overdosed on painkillers at the age of fourteen because he was so fucking depressed on how his parents controlled his life. The way he dressed, the music he listened to, the friends he made. Everything was controlled by them. Everything.

Freddie wanted to be just like Tommy Lee, his idol. The drugs and the booze was apart of Freddie because of Tommy.

When Theo told Freddie he was planning on emancipation and getting his own apartment, Freddie looked as if his whole world had just been made a better place. He filed for emancipation too, and the next thing you know The Social Scum became the only family they ever needed.

"Fine," the little trip to the local pizzeria only took thirty minutes. As Theo waited in the van with the pizza, he smiled as he saw Johnny walk out of the shop in the strip mall, sitting down on the wall a few feet away, but he didn't want to disturb him.

Johnny looked like he just wanted to be left alone, which Theo completely understood. As he scrolled through her Instagram, liking and commenting on a recent post from his friend, Moon, he heard yelling and glanced up, seeing some of his classmates walk out of the shop Camila had just entered. Kyler and his group of friends. Popular kids who Theo had hated with a fiery passion. As he looked closer, he noticed they were ganging up on Miguel, causing him to curse and get out of the car.

"Leave him alone, Kyler!" Theo said angrily as the boy tipped Pepto-Bismol over Miguel and sent a punch to his stomach, sending the boy to the ground.

"Oh, look, boys, the little emo kid is here," Kyler said sarcastically, causing his group to laugh. Theo rolled his eyes, his arms folded across his chest as he felt Johnny's and Miguel's eyes on him.

"Look, however much you might want to stay here and compare dick sizes with me and Miguel, just go home," he spat at them, clearly wounding their pride. "You're not tough, four on one? Pussies."

"The fuck you call us?" Brucks, Kyler's overweight best friend, asked him. As he got in Theo's face, Theo cursed in his head, throwing his head back and head butting him, causing the boy to groan as his nose broke. That set the boys off. Remembering some of the basic karate moves his mom once taught him, Theo got into a fighting stance as the group of boys circled him.

"Let's go, little dicks," Theo waved them forward. They all charged at the same time. He managed to duck and and punch Kyler in the face and then block a punch from Brucks and kick him in the stomach, but then he was grabbed by the two other boys who flung him into Miguel which sent them both into Johnny's car.

"Hey! Watch the car, man!" Johnny yelled angrily as he stood up.

"Who's this dude?" Kyler asked as Miguel made sure Theo was alright, which the boy nodded in reassurance as he stood up, pulling Miguel along with him.

At that moment, Camila walked out of the shop with a crate of twenty four bottles of Budweiser under her arm, but seeing the confrontation in front of her, she slowly backed away so she wouldn't be involved.

"Leave the dork and the loner alone," said Johnny, causing Theo to roll his eyes in annoyance.

"You see this guy? Eating his dinner at the mini-mart like a bum," one of Kyler's friends mocked Johnny, causing Theo to facepalm. He knew Johnny had been a karate champion in his teens, and probably wasn't afraid of getting into a fight with a bunch of teenagers now. Johnny had been his mother's best friend.

Theo eventually grew tired of his classmates mocking, and grabbed the one guy by the shoulder, spinning him around, kneeing him in the stomach and sending him into a stone pillar, knocking the boy out, leaving Kyler, Brucks and their other friend. Johnny groaned as he sent a pinning kick at Kyler, and he and Theo stood back to back as they fended them off.

"You're really starting to piss me off," said Theo to Brucks when he knocked out their other friend, leaving him and Johnny against Brucks and Kyler. Brucks' movements were slow and sloppy due to being overweight, and Theo used it to his advantage as he aimed a combination of punches and kicks to him before shoving him Johnny's way and he focused his attention on Kyler.

"You're dead," he seethed, and Theo let out a breathy laugh as he tasted the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He built up enough blood and spit and spat it down on Kyler's shoe, causing him to grunt as he connected two punches to Theo's head and stomach, and just as Theo blocked another incoming punch from Kyler, he was tackled to the floor by two police officers.

—————

"Should I really be getting a call at twelve in the night because your friends can't put together bail money for you?" Amanda LaRusso sighed as she and Theo exited the police station.

"Should've just let me rot in there then," Theo sassed back at his stepmom, apologising instantly to her. Amanda, despite her husband avoiding his own son like the plague, had always been kind to him.. "Look, thanks for help, Amanda, but I don't need it."

"Y'know, your dad was somewhat proud when I told him you used karate against four big dudes!" Amanda called out as Theo began walking away. "I mean, he went back to his old moody self when I told him you was fighting alongside his old karate friend using Cobra Kai, but you get the point!" Theo sighed, walking back over to Amanda, who smiled sarcastically at him. "Chinese before I drop you home?"

"Sounds good," Theo sighed, smiling as Amanda pulled him into a warm, motherly hug. "Thank you," he whispered into Amanda's shoulder, feeling the older woman squeeze him tighter.

—————

The next morning, after realising Theo had the apartment to himself, started blasting his music over his speakers as he danced along and cleaned the apartment. He was still in his shorts and tank top with yellow rubber gloves on when he heard a set of eager knocks on his front door, causing him to pause the music.

When he opened the door, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked between Johnny and Miguel, the latter staring at him with an excited face, but before Miguel could speak, Johnny covered his mouth with his hand and started talking.

"Look, I know LaRusso taught you all that pussy defence meditation bullshit," he began which caused him to laugh slightly. "But I'm reopening Cobra Kai, and I really think I could teach you more and help with the anger."

"Okay, one, my dad never taught me any pussy defence meditation bullshit, that was Mr. Miyagi for three months," said Theo, frowning at the thought of the old man who helped raise him until his passing. "And two, I thought Cobra Kai wasn't for anyone named LaRusso?" Theo asked, folding his arms and leaning against the doorway, smiling sarcastically as he quoted what Johnny told him a year ago.

"We've made a change in that decision," Johnny told him, glancing at Miguel who still stood there with Johnny's hand over his mouth. "So, you in?"

"Well at least let me get dressed, Sensei," he smirked, causing both Johnny and Miguel to smile.