Chapter 57 : Brawl Spot Mafia

One of Croak's subordinates yelled, "Boss!"

The frog subordinate cut Croak's tongue off with his sharp skinned fist so he could be free from Marshy's grasp.

The subordinate said, "Boss! Are you okay?! Frogpin! Croak!"

Croak responded, "I am fine."

Marshy said to Croak, "Why are you chasing my baby Duri?"

Croak answered, "Your blood hyena son attacked one of my family members! He needs to be dealt with!"

"Dealt with…you say?"

"..."

Marshy grinned in conniving gesture, "Dealt with…as in...kill him?"

"..No. I, Croak, leader of the frog mafia, challenge your son to a one on one brawl! Without the use of powers!"

"Why?"

"He attacked our family member!"

Duri smiled to Croak, "Haha! What a bunch of dumbasses! There's no way Marshy will let you fight me! Bunch of stupids! Goblin demon monsters!"

Marshy stood there for a second in silence.

Then she said, "Okay. He'll fight. When and where?"

Duri exclaimed, "What?!"

Croak smiled, "Hahahaha! We'll fight…at…THE BRAWL SPOT!"

Croak's subordinates exclaimed:

"The boss is gonna fight!"

"Oh no! Not the BRAWL SPOT!"

"The boss has never lost there!"

Croak continued to say to Marshy and Duri, "Tonight at 7 o' clock human time. We'll all be waiting."

Marshy smiled, "Okay, great! We'll be there. Now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind and massacre you all with my Excalibur."

Croak scoffed, "Hmph. We'll be taking our leave. Don't wuss out of the fight either, Duri."

Duri responded, "Go to hell."

The frog mafia left, leaving Duri and Marshy together. But coming towards them was Tek, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, Nine, Seven, and Seven's manager.

Duri said to Marshy, "Marshy…whyyyy the HELL did you-."

Marshy used her fast speed to tackle Duri to the ground, and she was hugging him tight.

"Duri! Duri! Duri! Duri! You're actually awake! Why didn't you call me?!"

Duri struggled to say, "Marshy..you're choking me."

"Whyyy didn't you call me?!"

"Ack! Because! I had met up with the Titans! And I was already running late to school!"

"They didn't fight you did they? I know how they are, especially the Beast Titan. I've met them. I'll kill them all."

Duri lied, "No they didn't!"

Marshy stood up with Duri, and hugged him again.

"I'm sorry for what happened between us before the exams. I should've listened to you."

"Forget it. That shit is 3 days old now. It's alright I guess."

"Duri."

"What?"

Marshy punched Duri in the chest, and Duri wheezed loudly. Duri crashed backwards almost hitting a building, but Duri caught him by the throat.

Duri asked, "What the hell-?! What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to make sure this isn't a dream. And I'm trying to make sure you are the real Duri and that I'm not being fucked with."

"I thought this was all a dream too! Like seriously, the FROG MAFIA?!"

"The real Duri would know what to do in this situation. Most people would be scared and wouldn't dare hit me when I'm choking them…but Duri ISN'T."

Duri looked Marshy in her eyes, and he closed his fist.

Duri thought, 'She's actually convinced that this can't be real. I gotta do it..'

Duri went in his full shadow form, and he punched Marshy in the cheek.

There was a loud thud and boom throughout the city, and Marshy slid back a little from the blow.

Duri said, "Sorry but not sorry Marshy, but you asked for that."

Kazuma said, "Whoa!"

Ren-Ren adds, "We all seeing the same thing, right?"

Tek says, "He hit her.."

Nine comments, "They have a weird mother and son relationship."

Seven implied, "All this HAD to happen on my first day. Imagine."

Marshy looked at Duri, saying, "That punch…was better than the last time we sparred, Duri."

Duri was back to his normal form, replying, "Ya think so?"

"And what was that form?"

"Shadow form ONE. Ever since I had awakened my Titan powers, I've been able to do a lot more shit."

"Now you know you're training wasn't in vain, Duri."

"Yeah. At first I thought it was. But now I know."

"Sorry I punched you. Just hadda make sure this was real and you were real."

"We'll I'm very much real. Maybe you could've asked me something that no one else knows. Like they do in movies."

"That's boring."

"HOLD UP!"

"Hm?"

"Why did you set me up to fight that Frog mafia boss?!"

"Oh that? Hahaha! Two reasons. One: There's things you have to do on your own for a change because you're getting older, your birthday is next week. I won't always be there for you if something were to happen to me. Two: You've been afraid of frogs since you were a child, we need to conquer that fear. And I'm gonna help you."

"Help me?! I might go berserk and kill something."

"We're going to avoid that. It'll be fine. And it's kinda exciting. I thought this would be a fun celebration for you waking up before your birthday as well."

"Ugh, I don't get you, Marshy."

Seven's manager galloped over to Duri and Marshy, exclaiming, "Oooh that was so awesome!"

Marshy and Duri replied, "Get lost."

"No no, I'm Seven's manager! And since Seven is associated with you two, this will definitely flourish my business!"

Seven's manager had long, thick and wavy green hair, yellow eyes, freckles, and she always wore white. Her name was Yenny.

Seven asked Yenny, "So I'm not fired?"

"Haha of course not. In fact, you get a raise. Since you are affiliated with Marshy and Duri. This means good money will come to the eatery. Since they'll know we had Duri and Marshy in our establishment, people would wanna come check it out."

"Wow. Uh..thanks."

"Also! Marshy, Duri..I have a flower and plants shop up the road from here. You two should check it out sometime."

Duri answered, "Flowers are for sissies."

Marshy said to Yenny, "I'll think about it. For now, they have to get back to school. I'll drive all of you."

Kazuma smiled, "Yes! We get to ride in the same car as Duri and Marshy!"

Tek said, "...Guess it wouldn't hurt hitching a ride. But this is only happening once. I can't be distracted anymore."

Nine went, "Ooo! Marshy can I race your car?! That'll kick ass!"

Seven bowed slightly, "Thank you, Host Marshy. Seems like I'm the only one with manners."

Yenny said, "Come back again!"

(A few minutes later)

Marshy dropped them all off at the front of the school, and all the students out there were going back to class.

They all got out of the car, but Duri stayed in.

They said thank you to Marshy, besides Tek.

Marshy said to them, "No problem. Get to class now, brats."

Duri sat in the front seat waiting, and Marshy looked at him.

Marshy said, "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

Marshy looked at Duri for a little while longer, and she started having memories of Duri being dead, memories of Duri in his Titan form, memories of Duri fighting Ferrow, memories of her and Duri holding back Ferrow's supernova blast together, and memories of Duri bloodied up and bruised up in the exam invasion.

Duri said to Marshy, "In reality…I didnt think I was going to wake up. When Ferrow got me during the exams, I thought it was over. Zabel came to me when I was almost done for, he wanted me to take the headband off to beat Ferrow. Seeing Zabel up close again already made me pissy. So much shit happened; Then, seeing you again, made everything better. I'm just glad we survived."

"I am too. Even though Mifu is dead. I can't be too sad, because he's not suffering anymore. And he entrusted me with you ever since you arrived on Earth. I can't fail him at all. And I can't fail you as a mother. Your real mother."

"Yeah. Still can't believe it. It happened out of nowhere."

Marshy instantly grabbed Duri's head, and laid it on her chest, giving him a warm hug. Duri didn't like hugs, but the warm heat from Marshy's hug tugged at him.

Duri placed his hand on Marshy's back, barely hugging her back.

Marshy said, "We're strong as hell, we're gonna be okay."

"I hope so."

A few seconds later, Duri was walking back to his classroom, and all of his classmates were already sitting down.

Sensei Kei asked Duri, "Annndddd why are you late?"

"I was being chased by the fucking frog mafia."

The class laughed, but Sensei Kei wasn't laughing.

He said, "Duri I have a serious question."

"What do you want?"

"Are you on that…STUFF?"

"What..STUFF? Like drugs?"

"Yes."

"I have a serious question."

"What is it?"

"Can I hurt you?"

"It is prohibited to kill or fight on school grounds. And you cannot make threats toward the teachers or staff here."

"How about after school?"

"That should work. What time?"

"Whenever I feel like showing up at your doorstep in my Titan form, nerd."

"Ahh boo hoooo."

Kazuma blurted out, "It's true! He really was chased by the frog mafia!"

Nine sighed, "Yah we were there. It should be on social media any minute now."

Duri started walking to his seat, and Sensei Kei said to the class, "Alright! The school day is almost over, I have placed you all in groups of three, and act out as explorers scouting a new area. And you will perform you acting in front of the entire class. Since we are gonna start our classes off with world history lessons, we should do this activity to get a good feel and grip on it, to really immerse ourselves in the shoes of those who actually were explorers."

The entire class said, "Huhh?!"

Duri exclaimed, "I already embarrassed myself once by getting up and telling a story today, and now you want me to go back up and become an actor? Yeah fuuuck that!"

Tek complained while reading his book, "I'll pass."

Seven said, "Oh brother. I hate acting. Lameeee."

Kazuma exclaims, "Yes!"

Then, Shiryu was eating graham crackers, saying, "Acting..? But this isn't…acting school…"

Espen added, "If acting is what we must do, we must do what we are told."

Jiyu said, "I u-used to b-be an actor..in a commerical w-when I was little."

Someone in the class asked Jiyu, "Oh really? What commercial?"

"A m-milk commercial.."

"Hey teacher! Let Jiyu do this work for us! She was an actor!"

"H-hey!"

Some more of the class complained, and Sensei Kei called out, "Everyone calmmmm down. Breathe in and breathe out. Come on do with me. Breathe in…and breathe out."

The class breathed in, and then they breathed their air right back out.

Duri said, "This is dogshit."

Sensei Kei grinned, "Yeah that's it. I should've been more specific, but this project isn't dude until friday afternoon, which is in four days in the afternoon before school ends. You all will have all morning tomorrow to practice with your assigned groups. But for now until it is time to go home, I will call out your groups, and you will all write down your ideas on how you want your scene playing out as explorers. Your homework is to do research on some of the famous explorers, and then write down their biography and accomplishments on a sheet of paper. You have to do at least 4 of 5 of them. I will be grading them first thing in the morning. Then tomorrow night, you will resesrch 4 more famous explorers. Each night this week you will repeat this process. This will help all of you in creating your scenario. Now, for the assigned groups.."

The class started to whispered among themselves, saying:

"I hope I'm paired up with you!"

"I hate when teachers assign groups."

"I'm surprised we don't have assigned seats."

Sensei Kei informed the class, "First group: Kyoto, Himiko, and Ayashi. Second group: Duri, Seven, and Tek. Third group : Kazuma, Jiyu, and Shiryu. Fourth group: Nine, Espen, and Ren-Ren. Fifth group.."

He continued to call out groups; Duri, Tek, and Seven were staring at each other.

Duri said, "Tch. Seriously?"

Tek replied, "I'm not happy about it either. Still, I'll still get more of the work done than you."

"Hehh? Ya think so, ya chain using bastard?"

"I know so. Birthmark boy."

"Idiot. I know for a fact I can get more of the project done than you."

"I bet your writing skills are mediocre."

"Definitely not. Yours is. I'm better than you. I'm an actual Titan!"

"Good for you. Is that supposed to mean something to me? Is that supposed to mean your writing is perfect?"

"You…"

Seven said to the both of them, "GROUP project. There is no competition, duuuumies. Unless you two wanna do the project yourselves and I can kick my feet up on my desk and add some more designs to my skateboard."

Duri said to Seven, "I bet I can ride faster than you."

"YOU'RE CHALLENGING ME NOW? I'M NOT INVOLVED IN YOU TWO'S RIVALRY!"

"Staring at me is considered a challenge."

Seven blushed, looking away, saying, "I-I'm not even staring at you! You're delusional, dude."

Duri looked back at Tek, and Tek was already starting the homework.

Duri said, "Aye! That's cheating!"

Tek answered, "I can name five explorers off the top of my head. Giving a full biography and achievements of each one."

"L-liar! You're just writing random shit!"

"Imagine writing random stuff on a sheet of homework paper. Hmph. I have you beat, hybrid."

Duri gritted his teeth, and he responds, "I'll show you.."

Duri reached in his bag, and pulled out a sheet of paper, slammed it on the desk, and started jotting down words.

'Okay so…there's that one guy who explored America..then that other guy..dammit! I can only think of one person. I can't let Tek beat me in this. I have to write down stuff that looks smart and history like, and then when I get home, I'll make a new sheet with the real history people on them.'

Tek looked at Duri's paper, and said, "Yeah that's definitely smart."

Duri let his thoughts get to him, and Duri kept writing, "Tek is a dumbass, Tek is a dumbass, Tek is a dumbass, Tek is a dumbass."

Seven watched them both write fast, saying, "Are we like, gonna talk about the ACTING part now?"

Tek replied, "I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I've never acted or written a story before."

Duri said, "I got something."

"What?"

"We arrive on land, and there's a bunch of frogmen, and then we battle over that land to see who found it first."

"Huh?"

Seven said, "I don't know if Sensei Kei will allow something that violent. Plot has potential though."

Tek says, "Not everything is about violence, Duri."

Duri responded, "Violence is all I know. Makes it funner."

For the next hour, the entire class was working, trying to come up with ideas and dialogue for their script and scene.

Finally, the bell rang, and it was time for everyone to go home.

Sensei Kei yelled out, "Okay! Make sure you do the homework! And brain use those BRAINS of yours to come up with some ideas for your scenes! See you brats tomorrow!"

Everyone started packing up, but Kazuma was the first to have all of his stuff ready.

Kazuma asked Duri, "So what are your plans for today, Duri?"

Duri answered, "Eh. I don't know. Get into a fight with the frog mafia leader. OH SHIT! I FORGOT I HAD TO! I DON'T WANT TO! I HATE FROGS!"

Tek chuckled, "Imagine being afraid of frogs."

Duri told him, "Shut up! Chain boy! Dumbass!"

Ren-Ren said to Duri, "If you want us to go with you on this journey, then allow us. My katana can shred anything. Even weak frog villains that are not on my level."

Espen said, "I could trap that frog man in my domain."

Shiryu says, "I could..steal his..frog powers or whatever..and use them…against him."

Nine grinned, "Oh! Let me go! I'll use my lightning and puncture a hole through his face!"

Jiyu said nervously, "I-I could br-bring water..for you Duri if you g-get thirsty.."

Seven was on her phone, and she said, "Bastard almost destroyed my place of work with those wide ass jumps. Lemme' at' em."

Duri responded to everyone, "No. I mean, I guess I acknowledge your hospitality, but I'm not letting any of you come with me. It's nothing personal..well yeah it's kinda personal. You people have homework to do. Do that."

Duri walked out of the classroom, and they all watched him.

Tek watched him, and then he thought, 'I should get going too…I'm too close to finding my uncle's whereabouts.'

Nine asked Seven, "Hey, Seven, wanna hit up the mall today?"

Seven answers, "Again?"

"Yes."

"Of course I will. I'm gonna skate through the entire mall."

(7 hours later)

[Duri and Marshy's house]

[Backyard]

The sky was dark, and the creatures of the night manifested their howling into the air.

Duri was standing on his head, with Marshy holding a baby frog in front of his face.

Marshy said, "Don't look at the frog."

Duri replied, "HOW?! IT'S RIGHT THERE IN MY FACE!"

"Stop looking at it."

Duri looked away from it, but then he looked right back at it.

The frog croaked, and Duri yelped, spinning on one hand, swung his right foot around, and tried to kick the frog out of Marshy's hand.

Marshy moved her hand away, making Duri miss his attack.

Marshy said, "Get back in position."

Duri replied, "Marshy."

"You're about to be 16 years old. Time to man up. How are you gonna man up when you can't even surpass the fear of frogs?"

"They're just ugly and scary looking!"

"Stop looking at it. Dale Carnegie once said: 'Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it. That is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.' Duri, even if you're scared of the frog or anything else, fighting it is a way to conquer it. Otherwise your own fear will consume you. Do you understand me?"

"...It's easy for you to say."

Marshy sighed, "Guess it can't be helped."

"Huh?"

Marshy threw the frog on Duri's chest, and Duri yelled.

Marshy said, "Don't move. That frog has power. If you move, that frog will blast a hole in your chest."

"WHY WOULD YOU THROW SOMETHING LIKE THIS ON ME?"

"To make you understand how quickly your own fear can destroy you if you do not conquer it. Look at the frog now."

Duri was sweating, and he slowly looked down at the frog's eyes.

The frog croaked, and Duri sweated even more.

Marshy was walking circles around Duri, saying, "That frog was born just how we were. It had parents, parents who loved each other and created a child. And that frog on your chest is just a baby one. It doesn't mean any harm."

"H-how do I know it doesn't mean any harm? It keeps fucking staring into my soul! I'm gonna have to go Titan mode."

"No! Don't. Think. I am your real mother, I've raised you, and loved you for all these years. The frog has been given the same treatment. What if you two are alike?"

Duri said, "...Alike? With a goblin demon?"

"Would you protect it if it's in danger? I know..you have a knack for protecting…even though you don't like being called a hero."

"Would I..?"

"You know what eats frogs?"

"What eats frogs?"

Suddenly, a 12 foot black anaconda snake bursted from underground with orange eyes and a long tongue and sharp teeth.

It looked straight at the baby frog, and went to eat it with venom squirting out of its fangs.

Duri held onto the baby frog, and did a 360 jump over the anaconda.

Duri was still holding the frog in his left hand, and he gathered shadow energy around his right fist, and he punched the anaconda on the top of the head, crushing its head flat, splattering blood everywhere, and making its body crash to the ground.

Duri landed feet first on the ground, and he said, "That thing almost ate me!"

Marshy smiled, "It wasn't targeting you. It wanted the frog. And you protected it."

"Huh? No I didn't..oh. I did. Oi..wait a second. I moved, and my chest didn't explode."

"Maybe I lied about the frog having powers. Tee hee."

"Marshy…"

"But look and see what you did!"

"Why..did I protect this miniature goblin demon..?"

"You don't want your fears to overcome you..and eventually destroy you. You promised your best friend that you would become the strongest to ever live, would the strongest being to ever live let a frog determine his fate?"

"Fuck no."

"Okay then. And you should know that you're tougher than a frog. You are nearly impossible to defeat. But you aren't invincible or unbreakable. You're on your way to becoming the strongest. And the first step to that is conquering your fears.'

"Alright…let's go."

[THE BRAWL SPOT]

(10 MINUTES LATER)

The Brawl spot was an open field with a dark brown platform, and there were trees on fire surrounding it. But those trees did not burn.

There were at least 50 people out there, and 70 of Croak's frog mafia members.

They chanted:

"Where's the coward?! Where's the coward?! Duri is a coward! Duri is a coward!"

"I bet Duri is at his house peeing his pants and sucking his thumb!"

"I know right! Haha! Croak is scary! Scared Duri shitless! That's why he ain't here!

Croak was standing in the middle of the platform, and he saw the humans surrounding him. Some were in suits, those were important people.

Croak thought, 'Defeating Duri in front of my contacts tonight will give me some good connections; it will prove to everyone that I am a worthy and capable business partner. Able to handle heat, and destroy the toughest of flames. That shall advance my mafia. And my family. But where..is Duri?'

Some people were convinced that Duri wasn't gonna show, and they mocked him again.

But suddenly, someone from the crowd exclaimed, "Look! He actually made it!"

Croak and everyone else looked forward, and they saw Duri approaching with Marshy. Duri was shirtless, and he was wearing black sweatpants with red and white busted sneakers, and he had write wrap around his fists.

Duri's heart pounded, and he said, "I'm ready to… beat the shit outta you!"

Croak grinned, "Oh? So you actually showed up, brat?! Let's not waste anymore time!"

Croak took off his large coat, and he had four frog arms, he grew yellow horns out of his head, and his skin was getting rough and spiky, his teeth got sharper, and his tongue got longer.

The crowd said:

"The boss is dashing first!"

"Duri is done for!"

"The boss has changed into his ultimate form!"

Croak said to Duri, "Don't disappoint me, Duri! Bring the heat!"

Duri smashed his fists together, replying, "Bring it, bitch!"