Nine was in the lead, but Tek threw one of his chains at Nine, and it attached to her.
'A chain?!' Nine thought looking behind her.
She saw the chain, and Tek was borrowing some of her energy.
Nine exclaimed, "Oi! Not fair!"
Tek unreleased the chains, and his speed was on par with Nine, running beside her.
Duri and Seven were behind them, and Seven was pinching herself.
Duri asked her, "What the hell are you doing?"
"Trying to bring out my Spirit of Wrath form! I think!"
"For a race?!"
"Yes! I need to win!...Duri!"
"Heh?!"
"Punch me in the face right quick!"
"You want me to punch you in the face?"
"Yes! I wanna see if it'll trigger my Spirit of Wrath for-!"
Duri punched Seven across the cheek hard, sending her flying in the middle of the track field.
Seven sat up on one knee, but before she could stand all the way up, Duri dashed up to her again and punched her in the stomach.
Seven wheezed as she slid back a few feet on the ground.
Seven said, "What the fuck! That's overkill, Duri!"
Duri responded, "You said you wanted me to punch you, dummy!"
"Only once!"
Seven began to transform into her Spirit of Wrath form, with her hair turning white, her skin turning white, and purple tattoos all over her face, arms, and body.
Duri said, "Whoa.."
"Smell ya later."
Seven ran off, getting back in the race, everyone already finished the first lap.
Duri thought, 'So that's the Spirit of Wrath..is she trying to best me?!'
Everyone was still racing, mostly everyone was using their powers to win the race. Kazuma was in a full fire form, the same form he used to fight Tek in the exams, Jiyu had electric roller skates on that boosted her speed by a ton, Espen was riding on Shiryu's back because Shiryu mimicked Nine's speed, and Ren-Ren had teleported to the end goal with his katana.
Ren-Ren exclaimed with a creepy laugh, "HAHA! I WIN! YOU'RE ALL BENEATH ME!"
Sensei Kei was behind Ren-Ren, telling him, "You cheated! You're disqualified! Your win doesn't count!"
"Heh?! You wanna try rewording that?!"
"You-did-not-win! You cheated!"
"How?! Everyone else is using their powers!"
"You used teleportation! Really?!"
"Haha! Doesn't matter! I am the best! You are all commoner peasants!"
Espen, riding on Shiryu's back, said to Shiryu, "Run faster. I want my head to go berserk. I'll give you graham crackers later."
Shiryu answered, "That's…a bit of a hassle…don't ya think?"
"And apple juice."
"Yokai!" Shiryu started to run faster.
Nine, Tek, Seven, and Kazuma were in the lead, and some of the boys and girls in the class were fawning over Seven's Spirit of Wrath form:
"She looks so amazing in person!"
"So cool.."
"She looks even hotter!"
Seven said, "I'm soooo going to win!"
Tek responded, "I don't think so."
Tek tried to make one of his chains secretly attached to Seven so he could match her speed.
Before his chain could touch her, Duri came blasting through in his Titan form, knocking everyone in the air at the speed of light.
Duri made it to the finish, and he said, "Yeah! That's right! You all thought you could size me up?! Fools! I'll…I'll kill…I'll kill you all!!!"
Duri started to make his shadow sword form, and he was ready to attack all the students with a single sword blow.
But Ren-Ren teleported in front of Duri and he had Duri's headband in his head.
He was gonna put it on, but Duri grabbed Ren-Ren's arm and slung him across the field.
Ren-Ren sat up, saying, "The villainy attitude…so awesome..I'm learning..!"
Duri said, "Kill…kill…kill."
Duri took a step forward, and Kazuma was hanging onto Duri's leg.
Kazuma said, "Duri! This isn't you…I think! We're your friends!"
"Friends? I have none. Die! Human scum!"
Just then, Seven came blasting up to Duri and slamming the headband on his head.
Seven had tackled Duri to the ground, and they were on top of each other, sliding through the field.
All the classmates and Sensei Kei jogged over to them to make sure they were okay.
Duri and Seven were in their normal forms, and Seven was sitting right on top of Duri.
Duri said, "What happened? I remember I won the race and then all of a sudden..I don't know."
"You tried to kill us again, asssshole."
"Not on purpose, dumbass. Now get off of me."
Seven blushed, and she said, "I didn't even notice!"
Seven jumped off, and her and Duri got up at the same time.
Sensei Kei said to Duri, "Duri. I know how bad you wanted to win, but you were told to NEVER take off your headband in school."
Duri responded, "Gimme a break, will ya? And I've never been told that at all."
"You really haven't been informed?"
"Yes I'm positive. Maybe because…I'VE BEEN KNOCKED OUT FOR THE PAST 3 DAYS!"
"Okay, okay. Calm down, Duri. Well now you know not to take it off in school. That Titan form of yours is way too powerful and uncontrolled. Understood?"
"Whatever, gramps."
Kei smiled, "Great! Next activity is.."
Minutes later, the entire class was stretching out in the grass, and some were helping each other stretch.
Kazuma ran up to Duri, exclaiming, "Duri! Duri! Duri! Can I help you stretch?!"
Duri answered, "No."
Some girls were surrounding Tek, begging him to stretch with them.
"Please Tek!"
"Use those muscular hands on me!"
"Be my partner!"
Tek was stretching already while reading a small book, saying, "Partners? Don't make me laugh. None of you are worthy."
Seven and Nine were stretching side by side, pulling their arms and legs.
Nine said to Seven, "Oh goodness..I needed this."
Seven answered, "I definitely did. Every time I got in that Spirit of Wrath form, I get minor bruises and cramps out of nowhere."
"That's how the female heroine in a story always is. When they have a form they turn into, there's ALWAYS a repercussion or limit in having that form. Just like how the male lead is."
"Stop trying to break the fourth wall, Nine. You always do that."
"Haha! You know I can't help it! Like now, the one who is seeing what I'm saying has one hand on the screen and their other hand on their-."
Seven cover her ears, "BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! OKAY! OKAY!"
"What? I was gonna say on their pockets.."
Espen had Shiryu laying on his stomach, and she was stretching his body for him.
Shiryu whined, "But Espen…I can do it by…myself."
Espen answered, "I know you can. But I am doing this for you. Because I do it right. I don't want you pulling any muscles or getting cramps. You should be thanking me."
"But.."
"No. Just sit there and take heed to my words, brother."
Kazuma was stretching with excitement, going faster than ever.
"Oooo yeah! I am so pumped up!"
Ren-Ren said to him, "How are even able to do all that after using your full power to try and thwart me in a racing exhibition?"
"Because!"
"Yeah that explains a lot thank you."
"You're welcome!"
"I was being sarcastic. Did I sound villainy?"
"A little bit!"
"REALLY?!"
"YEP!"
"Tch. I may actually be able to call you my sidekick. Wanna be my sidekick for when I become a villain?"
"Is that good thing?"
"It's a great thing. You can have fame, money, and girlfriends! We as villains are tired of the heroes always taking the spotlight. We need to run them out and replace them with our kind!"
"Yeah..right.."
"So are you in?"
"Of course!"
"Really?!"
"Mhm!"
"Perfect. Now..hehe…now, we need Duri and Tek to become my subordinates."
Ren-Ren looked at Duri and Tek, and Duri instantly said, "Hell no."
Tek said to Ren-Ren, "You'd be a fool to ask me."
Ren-Ren turned around, "Rats. I'll get you two to worship me one day."
Duri looked to the left, and he saw Jiyu sitting on the ground, rubbing her hand. Her index finger was as sharp as a sword, and it resembled one too.
Duri stuck his head over Jiyu's shoulder, asking, "I seen that before."
Jiyu jumped shortly in fear, and she replied, "D-Duri.."
"I've seen your entire arm turn into blades during your fight against Nine in the exams. What's that all about?"
"Duri..C-can I tell you something..a s-secret?"
"Yep."
"Y-you can't tell anyone.."
"I won't."
"You're not actually persuading me, Duri."
"I can keep secrets. Hurry up and tell me."
"I feel like I can tell you this because you may be able to r-relate. But I'm…I'm a weapon.."
"..A weapon? What do you mean by that?"
Sensei Kei blew his whistle, and exclaimed, "20 minutes until it's lunch time! Go change and stand near the cafeteria like good children! Buh bye!"
Sensei Kei just walked away, and Duri said, "Like that? He just walks away. Such a great teacher."
Seven said, "Welp. I got somewhere to be during lunch time."
Nine replied, "Oo! Is it that-."
"Shhh. Shush. I have to get going now before I'm late."
"Oh right, right. SECRETS."
"I'm serious, Nine."
"Mhm mhm. Me too."
Seven started walking away, and so did Jiyu. But Jiyu left in more than a hurry. She was covering her hand up as she went away.
Espen said to Shiryu, "I promised you apple juice and graham crackers. We shall go get some now. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No…Espen."
"Great."
Then Espen asked the entire class, "Is anyone in pain?!"
They answered, "No."
Kazuma said to Duri, Tek, and Ren-Ren, "Guess what, bros?! We can register for the tournaments now!"
Duri answered with curiosity, "We can?"
"Yes! We can go during lunch and go get food after!"
"Are you paying for my food?"
"If you want!"
"Then I'll go with you."
"Great! What about you two, Ren-Ren and Tek?"
Ren-Ren answered, "Tch. As my sidekick and servant, I must oblige by your requests to make you more loyal to me. I will go."
"Yes! What about you, Tek?"
Tek had his head down with his arms folded, and he said, "Whatever. I'll go only because I don't know where the registration office is."
"This just got way better."
Nine walked into their conversation, and she said, "I'm tagging along too. I know where we can sit down and eat."
Duri asked, "Oh really? Where at then?"
"Poppy's eatery. Their food is the best."
"As long as my food is being paid for, I don't care."
Ren-Ren pointed his hand out to the distance, and said, "Yes! We shall embark on our journey! With you all as my slaves!"
Duri and Tek said, "Fuck no."
…
From a distance watching the class, Sensei Kei was standing beside Xenon.
Xenon had a toothpick in his mouth, saying, "So how are they doing?"
Kei answered, "They're pretty rowdy. Kinda like how you and Marshy were when you two blood hyenas were in my class."
"I wasn't that bad, old man."
"You always were smoking. Even being underage and smoking."
"What could I say? I was a badass. And still am."
"Mm. You and Marshy would always fight, and she would always kill you over and over again. With your head flopping all over the classroom floor."
"Those were the days, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. And the reason why she never got in trouble is because you can't die."
"Yep. A blessing and a curse. Born with no heart due to my bloodline and powers. Wanna trade powers? I'd love to fix shit."
"Haha. You always were funny. What brings you up here?"
"Came to check up on all your students. And I'm kinda bored. The students in your class had the biggest impact on the invasion a few days ago at the exams. Your students are powerful.
"I know they are. It's an honor. I have to deal with them like I dealt with you and Marshy."
"What? By making us try and tell stories to the entire class?"
"Ha! Maybe. Duri did it."
"Duri? Tch. That's unexpected. Considering how pissy he is all the time. I won't worry though. If you could deal with me and Marshy, then you can deal with anyone."
"They might not like me after I give them the homework tonight."
"Homework on the first damn day? Cruel ass old man. Old geezer."
"Tee hee. Their reactions are gonna be priceless."
…
[Tournament registration office]
A few minutes later, Duri, Tek, Ren-Ren, Kazuma, and Nine were standing outside of a large circular grey building with a grey circular rooftop. The building was 40 stories tall and 103 feet high.
Duri said, "The building is tall as hell for no reason."
Tek replied, "I'm thinking the same thoughts."
Kazuma went, "I love looking at this building!"
Ren-Ren uttered, "This is how I want my villain headquarters to look. But taller."
Nine smirked, "Sssss. Smell that? The smell of money and power! I have a nose for that kind of stuff."
Duri replied, "Elaborate please."
"Once we win tournaments, we'll get power, and even money if we're REAL lucky."
"Okay."
Kazuma exclaimed, "Let's go!"
They all walked into the building, and there was a bunch of students and people in there, trying to get in line.
Duri said, "A long ass line. Expected really."
Nine replies, "Want me to curbstomp them all?!"
"Sure. I'm with you."
Ren-Ren added, "Count me in! Hehe..hehe..hehe.."
Tek said, "Foolish behavior. Violence is not a way to get around everything. We can just simply move them. Like this."
Tek's chains grabbed everyone in line, and hoisted them up near the ceiling of that floor.
Nine said, "I prefer curbstomping better. I guess this is quicker."
Duri adds, "I preferred letting my shadow dragons devour everyone in here."
Ren-Ren says, "Aww. I wanted villainy violence. I could've sealed my name in here."
Kazuma says, "Ignoring all of that brutality, let's hurry and register!"
The people around said:
"Tek's doing this?"
"He's moving us out of the way!"
"He's with Duri!"
"There's Duri! The Titan! The hybrid Titan!"
"I still can't believe they all survived the exam invasion!"
Duri, Tek, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and Nine went up to different windows, and talked to someone behind that window in the wall.
Duri said to the man behind the window, "Oi. I'm here to register."
"Okay. We know your full name already. As soon as you came in through the door. All we need you to do is place your hand on this pad here."
Duri looked down, and the man slid a black tablet sized pad with red in the middle of it.
Duri inspected it cautiously, then put his hand on it. It burned hot as hell, and Duri moved his hand away fast.
"What the?! What is that?!"
Duri smashed his hand through the window, and grabbed the man by the collar, dragging him close.
Duri menacingly asked, "Oi..are you plotting on me..?"
"No I'm not. Please let go of me before I have to ban you from this building for an entire month. And I'll let Host Marshy know too."
Duri gritted his teeth, and he let go of the man.
"Whatever. So am I in or not?"
"Yep. You are now qualified to fight in tournaments. But you will pay for destroying this glass, and your friend will end up being punished somehow for using his powers here."
"Don't care. As long as I get to finally fight in tournaments, I can keep the promise I made to my first best friend. See ya, dickhead."
Duri started to walk away, and he walked out of the building as everyone looked at him. 3 minutes later, Tek, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and Nine walked out of the building.
Duri asked them, "How'd it go?"
Nine replied, "All of us are good! Couldn't wait any longer to bash heads in!"
Kazuma smiled, "I can't wait to display my fire to everyone!"
Ren-Ren grinned cunningly, rubbing his hands together, "When the crowd sees my tactics of victory in the arena, they'll all bow to my perfection. Hehe..hehe.."
Tek said, "..."
Nine then blurted out, "Okay! We have 20 minutes left! Time to eat!"
[Poppy's eatery]
(7 minutes later)
Duri and the group walked into the place, and there were girls dressed up as maids, serving people at different tables, taking orders and all.
Duri said, "This is something you would see in a manga. I'm digging it."
Kazuma grinned, "I was just about to say that!"
Tek asked Nine, "This is the type of place you eat at, Nine?"
"Nope. I don't eat here at all actually."
"What?"
Suddenly, they all saw Seven walking up to them, wearing a maid outfit, with her hair in two buns, and her cheeks blushing.
Seven said to them, "What..the FUCK are you doing here?"
Nine said in a sarcastic manner, "Oh? What ARE we doing here? Gee. I was planning to come here and eat, and they just followed me here."
"Lies. It's written all over your face."
Duri was staring at Seven, and Duri's face was red too.
Seven looked at Duri, then looked away.
"Whyyyy?" Seven said.
Duri said to Seven, "Oi. Do your job. Is this how you treat all your customers?"
Seven balled up her fists, "Don't…test..me."
Suddenly, Seven's manager walked up behind Seven, smiling, "Ooo! We have some famous guests in the building! Seven will definitely be your waitress! Seven, please guide them to a table!"
"But manager.."
"Noooo buts! Hehe, come on, this is great! Don't forget to smile, Seven!"
Seven rolled her eyes, saying to Duri and the group with a forced smile, "C-come on and follow me..y-ya shitheads..er I-I mean..right this way.."
Her manager said, "Wait! Before any of you move, Can I take a picture of you all and hang it up on the wall?!"
Kazuma smiled, "I love pictures! Let's take one!"
Ren-Ren said, "Get me a copy of the photo when we're done so I can draw blood all over it and rip the faces out and hang it on my wall so it can make me more of a villain."
Duri said to the manager, "Yeah, not happening."
Tek answered, "I don't do photos."
Nine put up a pose, pointing one of her fists forward, saying, "I'm ready. People will know I'm a menace to society when they see this picture. My fists always do the talking."
The manager said to Seven, "Get in there with them! Hehe, don't be so shy!"
She shoved Seven with a smile over beside Duri, and they all looked at the manager pulling her phone out to take a picture.
Duri and Tek tried to turn around and walk out of the building, but Kazuma stopped them, saying, "Please take this picture! I'll be sad if you don't."
Tek and Duri looked at each other, then they rolled their eyes, turning back around.
Duri said, "Fine, dammit. Let's get this over with."
Tek said, "Why am I doing this?"
Seven put her arm around Duri, while she was throwing up a middle finger, and Duri stuck a middle finger out to the camera with a menacing grin. Ren-Ren had his sword out and was looking at it, Kazuma was smiling brightly, leaning against Tek and Duri, and Nine was kneeling on the floor, with her fist full of lighting pointing at the floor. And Tek was reading his book.
The manager exclaimed, "Such creativity! I love it! I'm taking the picture in 3…2..One!"
She took the picture, and everyone was still in their pose.
A few minutes later, Duri, Tek, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and Jiyu were sitting at a table, looking at the group photo.
Duri said, "I look badass."
Tek says, "I'm the only one with etiquette."
Nine smirked, "Etiquette? Haha! Okay buddy. My pose is the most badass one! No offense Duri."
Kazuma remarked, "I might be photogenic, to be honest with everyone. I just love taking pictures."
Ren-Ren comments, "Now I..look like a real villain. My pose is so perfect and smart. Another victory for me."
Duri asked Nine, "To clear up the elephant in the room, why does Seven work here?"
"She doesn't want to borrow anymore money from her parents. So she's working during the lunches at school."
"Understandable, I guess. But were you trying to embarrass her? Hell, maybe she didn't want anyone knowing she worked here for an hour."
"No, I wasn't trying to. I mostly did this for you."
"ME? WHY?"
"In manga, the boy who visits the girl's workplace has a better chance with her."
"YOU'RE trying to set us up!"
"That's exactly what I'm doing. Stop being a pusssssy."
"I'm not, dumbass."
Immediately, a figure came up to their table, and said, "What would you like to eat for today?"
Duri and the group looked at the figure, and it was a 10 foot tall frog with a slim body, standing up right like a man, wearing a tuxedo.
Duri paused.
His second worst fear..was frogs.
He looked anxious, and Kazuma asked Duri, "Duri! Are you okay? What's the matter..? Oh…I remember.."
Tek said, "This isn't gonna be good."
Nine leaned back, "Ooo..I did not expect this to happen."
Duri said, "A fr..a frr..a fr..fr..a frog! A demon!"
Duri tackled the frog waiter across the floor, and held his face down.
Duri's eyes had red veins in them, and he held his shadow fist up, saying, "Die, goblin!"
Duri was about to land a blow, but he was interrupted by a little frog child that was standing like a human.
"Stop! That's my dad!"
Duri looked at the standing frog child with normal kid clothes on, and Duri said to him, "Ugh. Disgusting. A small goblin? I'll get rid of you quick."
Duri had his hand on his headband, ready to take it off.
But he was interrupted again.
"I don't think that will be necessary, young Duri."
Duri turned around, and saw a group of frog men of all colors, and they were standing together in the middle of the floor, wearing white suits.
The main frogman, his name was Croak. A.k.a "Frog pin". He was an orange frog with black spots all over him.
Duri stood up, and he was more nervous than ever.
Duri said, "W-w-who the h-hell are you…goblins?!"
Croak answered, "We have recently come to support our family member in his first job. But now he is being attacked for doing what he loves: being a waiter. We recently literally JUMPED him into our gang, and now he is a part of the frog mafia."
Duri replied, "No..you're crazy. This is all BATSHIT crazy. I must be dreaming. I barely have seen any of you talking animals and reptilians outside anymore."
"Of course you haven't. Ever since Harvest was making people go berserk with the beast blood, those rampaging people would do worse damage to the non humans. We have to stay safe, and keep our business under wraps. But now since the rampaging has slowed down tremendously, we can do what we want. And now..you will pay for hurting our family member.."
Duri said while sweat ran down his face, "Y-you must not know..w-who I am? And you clearly..don't know who my mother is."
"We are well aware Host Marshy is your mother. But she is hosting a tournament right now. She won't be able to save you."
Kazuma stood up saying, "Hey, there's no need for violence here. Also it's illegal to fight in safe zones."
Croak responded, "Silence, human fire boy. Human rules do not apply to us reptilians. If we take Duri down, our rep as the frog mafia will surely grow, expanding our merit which means good business."
Duri stepped back, "Please..d-don't croak..don't make that noise..don't…"
All the frogs croaked at the same time, and Duri dashed out the restaurant yelling.
Seconds later, Duri and the frog mafia were running in the city.
The frogs were large-jumping from building to building and car to car, throwing punches at Duri with their large frog fists.
Duri dodged the punches, and the punches smashed holes in buildings, cars, shops, and sidewalks.
Croak yelled to Duri, "Stay still!"
Duri replied, "Stop chasing me! Leave me alone!"
Behind them all, Kazuma, Tek, and Ren-Ren were after them.
Kazuma yelled, "We'll save you, Duri!"
Tek replied, "This is indeed crazy and random."
Nine said, "Yes! Action! Violence!"
Ren-Ren said, "Villain frogs? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"
Tek said to Ren-Ren, "Don't teleport over there yet. We don't know what they could do."
'Why am I even helping Duri and the rest of these fools? The hell's gotten into me?'
Croak and his gang of frogs were shooting their tongues at Duri, and Duri avoided them, letting them smash against things.
Duri explained, "I learned my lesson! Leave me alone! Don't touch me! And stop croaking!"
"Stay still so we can punish ya, ya damn brat!"
Down the block, Marshy was walking on the sidewalk with bags of groceries, heading to her car, singing, "♪ I can't wait for Duri, ♪ Duri please please please get up for meee. ♪ I got your favorite fooood!♪"
Duri yelled, "Leave me alone! Demons! Goblins! You even recruited baby demon goblin frogs! You sons of bitches!"
Croak responds, "Stay still when you're addressing me and my mafia, brat!"
Marshy saw, and Duri saw her.
They made eye contact, and Marshy dropped her bags, saying, "Am I dreaming?"
Duri screamed, "Marshy! There's goblins behind me!"
Duri zoomed behind Marshy, using her as a shield.
Croak shot his tongue over at Duri, but Marshy caught Croak's tongue, saying, "You dare…attack my son?"