Chapter 83 : Happy Birthday!

[Duri and Marshy's house]

Ellie was running through the entire house, looking at everything, saying, "This is cool. This is nice. This is cool. This is super fucking cool. This is nice."

As Duri and Marshy stood there watching her, Ellie rushed up to Duri and started picking in his ear, and then ran off, "Hahahaha!"

Duri scoffed, "You bastard!"

Marshy laughed, leaning on Duri while she laughed more and more.

Marshy said, "Aww, this is gold!"

Duri answered, "No. It's not. Is she going to school with me when it starts back up again?"

"Of course she is. That'll keep her out of trouble."

"Wait, so I'm a babysitter now?! No way! Noooo way! Mom!"

"Aww, Duri. You're telling me you won't watch over her? What if something were to happen to her? What would you do?"

"She can handle herself."

"And if she can't?"

"…Fuck. I'll be there. Plus she's my way of finding out if Jae is actually alive, so yeah I gotta make sure she's safe at all times. Thanks. I shall protect her."

"No problem-."

Duri dashed off, running upstairs after Ellie.

Ellie was about to step on a pencil on the floor as she was running, and Duri swooped in and swiped the pencil off the floor, exclaiming, "Don't worry, asshole! I'll protect you!"

"Um…thanks?"

Ellie ran somewhere else, and she almost smashed through the wall, but Duri stopped her, saying, "Whoa! Look out! Don't wanna run into that wall! Be careful dear Ellie. I have to protect you at all times."

"Duri! I get it! I fucking get it!"

Ellie started running somewhere else, and when she ran near the bathroom, she almost tripped over inside by running too fast, and Duri zipped in and caught her before she could fall, grabbing her arm.

Duri said, "Don't worry, Ellie. I'll cherish you forever. Please, do not leave my side. I have to protect you."

Ellie replied, "D-Duri..what the hell's gotten into you? I mean..I appreciate the kindness.."

Out of nowhere, Marshy came up and tackled Duri to the floor, putting him in a tight headlock, saying, "Huhhh?! You wanna be sarcastic now?! Do ya?!"

Duri answered, "Yeah, no shit!"

"Watch your bratty mouth!"

"You never say anything about me cursing before!"

"I have to put on face in front of new people! You know how parents are! You know, they act different around other people and you're just like, 'Whaaaat?'"

"I hate that! And I hate when you do it!"

"I've never done it before!"

"Until now!"

Ellie stared at them both wrestling, and Ellie grinned, and she started laughing hysterically.

Duri and Marshy stopped, and they looked at her while tilting their heads.

Ellie laughed more, "Sorry, sorry. I like to laugh at shit. Especially shit that's funny. But you two have the weirdest son and mother relationship ever, haha! I like it! We're gonna have so much fun together! Right?!"

Duri said, "Denied."

"Damn you bastard! Go die!"

"Heh?! Wanna say that again?!"

"I'll say it a million times over!"

[Duri's room]

(15 minutes later)

Ellie was running all through Duri's room, picking up everything she saw. She was looking through all of his clothes, and she said, "Cool shit!"

Duri had a straight face, sitting on his bed with his arms folded.

Ellie rushed over to a bookshelf, and she started looking at his manga and American comic collection.

Ellie asked, "What the hellllll are these? What kind of books are these? They have…pictures of people!"

Duri answered, "It's called a graphic novel."

"Let me borrow some! Bitch!"

"That was unnecessary."

"Shhhh. No more talking from you."

"I get that you're excited, but you might wanna calm your hyper ass down."

"Nope."

Ellie walked past Duri's closet, and she stopped as she looked through a crack in the closet door.

"Hm?"

She opened the door all the way, and she saw a familiar outfit hanging in the closet.

Ellie reached inside, and she pulled out a small bloody white outfit that was in a onesie style.

Ellie pulled it out, and she held it upward, inspecting it.

"You..kept this?"

Duri answered, "Yup."

"This is what we were all wearing when Zabel invaded us. Why keep something like this? Doesn't it remind you of what happened?"

"Everything reminds me of what happened that day. Having that outfit is just motivation for me unless I lose motivation."

"You're weird. And strange. They both kinda mean the same thing I guess."

Ellie turned around, and she saw Duri's journal under his bed.

Ellie jumped to it with a smile, "Duri has a diary!!!"

Duri dashed past it, and he snatched it up before Ellie could get to it.

Ellie said, "Dammit!"

Before Ellie could blink, Duri had already hid the journal, and he was sitting on the bed.

Ellie looked at Duri, and squinted.

She got up close to him, saying, "Gimme."

Duri answered, "No. Move away or I'll kill you."

"Gimme the book. I know it's a diary. Probably filled with your lewd thoughts!"

"No it's not."

"Gimme."

"No."

"Gimme!"

"No!"

"Fine! I'll just tell Marshy that you were planning on leaving to go to the Arcane realm tonight."

"Heh?! How do you know I wanted to do that? But not now though..just in general?"

"Because I wanna do the same thing. But if you don't let me read it, I'll lie on you."

"You know Marshy has good hearing, right? And a good sense of smell and all that. She's basically a dog."

"Really? Bullshit."

"Seriously."

"I'll test it."

Ellie whispered silently, "Marshy, you are an awesome and badass lady."

From downstairs, Marshy replied with a loud voice, "Thank you, Ellie!"

Upstairs, Ellie gasped while covering her mouth, "Ohhhh.."

Duri replied, "Told ya. Dumbass."

"She's so cool!"

Ellie jumped on Duri's bed and sat down.

She asked Duri, "What was Marshy like when you first saw her?"

"Mean as shit. Annoying as hell. She got mad because I took her bagels that became mine when I touched it last. But as the years went by, we began to bond. She watched over me like a real mother, she was always there for me. She never left me. Her and grandfather Mifu. We've been through a lot together, a lot of battles and a lot of near death experiences with people who tested us. And now, I can say that I love that damn woman. My mother."

Ellie was shedding tears, nodding, "Ohmigod, Ohmigod, Ohmigod..you're so passionate!"

"I'm serious! I'll kill you!"

"Mhmmm. You're a softy."

"I'm not. Ask the bad guys I've slaughtered."

"That's dark."

"Like our childhood."

"Touché. Oi! I wanna compete in a tournament."

"You can't now."

"Why the hell not?! I wanna go! I wanna go! I wanna go! I wanna go!"

"You can't! Idiot!"

"Whyyy?!"

"Ever since the Kin invasion, everything was almost destroyed. People with rebuilding powers are rebuilding everything, and the Titans are just now helping with the rebuilding. We'll be reminded when the tournaments are back up again. Plus you have to register and wait for the next exams since you're going to be new at the school. New school people HAVE to take the exams."

"Damn. Okay. Guess I'll wait."

"Great."

"No! Why would I want to wait to compete in a tournament?! I don't wanna do exams! Too long!"

"Life isn't fair, honestly. YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO WAIT!"

"Dammit!! Well, I'm tired now. Falling from another realm to another has been a drag. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night."

"Goodnight, nerd."

"You're the nerd actually."

"Mhmm. I'm gonna so goodnight to Marshy."

Ellie smirked, and she jumped out of the bed, and left the room, going downstairs.

She saw Marshy in the kitchen, and she said to her, "Goodnight, Marshy!"

Marshy responded, "You're going to bed already? It's not even really nighttime yet."

"I know, I know. I'm just tired from everything that's happened today."

"I guess I understand brat language. Haha, alright. Goodnight, Ellie. And we're glad to have you here."

"I am too. And before I go…why were you so quick to adopt me? Adoption is like, a BIG deal."

"I did it so I could be responsible for you. To tell you the truth, during these times on earth, and the fact that you are related to this Zabel deal, you're going to get into a lot of shit. Hope you're ready for it."

"I am. Wholeheartedly. I'm gonna kill that sick fuck. He killed people close to me..I've cried over that for a very long time. So yeah, I'd say I'm more than ready."

"That's what I like to hear. You know, about you being ready and all. Definitely not about the shadow people being slaughtered. Yeah."

"Haha! You're funny. Goodnight!"

(Nighttime)

Duri was laying in his bed, looking up at the ceiling. All he could think about was Kin, his battle with Kin, meeting Ellie again, and Jae.

Duri kept trying to sleep, but the thoughts kept bombarding him.

Duri started to walk back and forth in the room, trying to loosen up a bit. He even did one handed pushups, he even took his headband off, and then started putting it back on, turning into his Titan form and then turning back regularly again.

Duri was laying back in the bed, and his thoughts were simmering down, his was breathing heavily, and he was out of breath.

But, Duri was under the blanket, saying, "Too damn hot."

He took the covers off, but then he said, "Too cold."

Duri stuck one leg out of his blanket and kept one leg in, saying, "Yeah this is it."

Duri began to think about everything else again, then sat up shaking his head.

He clenched his fists, and said, "Damn it all."

He punched himself in the face with a shadow punch, and he knocked himself out, falling asleep instantly with a smile on his face.

He snored, and Ellie was outside of his room, watching Duri through a crack in the door.

She looked down at the floor, thinking, 'He must have a lot on his mind. Me too. Maybe I should copy him.'

Ellie was back in her room, sitting on her bed, and she made her fist into a shadow, and she held it upward, closing her eyes.

Ellie said, "I never did this before. Damn it all."

Ellie punched herself in the face, and she was knocked out too with a smile on her face.

Outside standing in the yard, Marshy was with Tetsuya.

Tetsuya asked Marshy, "They bonding okay?"

Marshy answered, "It's going good."

"So she was a part of the Shadow realm invasion a few years back, has she shown any type of rebellion or hostile acts towards you?"

"Come on, Tetsuya. She's not like how Duri was when we first met him."

"I'm just trying to make sure. Since children who experience dark situations tend to be on the malicious side of the field."

"Some of them handle it differently. You know that. Duri took time developing his character, so I assume Ellie has done the same while she was away."

"Sorry. Maybe I'm just on edge because of all that's happening or has already happened. You're housing TWO shadow people now. I'm glad you are though, Mifu would've been proud."

"Yeah, he would've. Any news on Harvest? Or anything?"

"Kedarah and Hanako have raided the last abandoned church that has been luring women there to create hybrid soldiers for Reborn. Sith and Chaos have raided a lab where they are purposely distributing the mythic beast blood to people, promising some of them power and such. We believe there's more labs out there, so Sith and Chaos are gonna keep looking…after Duri's birthday."

"Thank you. I'm gonna sleep now."

Marshy turned around and started walking away, and Tetsuya called out, "Oi, Marshy."

Marshy looked at Tetsuya.

Tetsuya continued, "You're doing a good job."

"Ha…you guys are too. We're Hosts for a reason."

"Damn right."

[Unknown Island]

(Morning time)

Duri opened his eyes, and he was laying on a beach, with the sun right on his face.

Duri's eyes got big, and he jumped up to his feet, looking around him and seeing nothing but land and huge bodies of water.

"Whaaaaaat the fuuuuuck?!"

Duri pulled out his phone, and it had no service, he was trying to call Marshy.

"What the hell is going on?! Hello?!"

Duri thought, 'Calm down. Calm down. I'll just get into my shadow form and fly away. But how will I get back?! Wait, I have the ability to know where any building is on the planet, I'll just mark a place near where I live, and head there! Haha!'

Duri was about to change into his shadow form, but smoke started to rise around him.

Duri looked left and right, thinking, 'Hoh? Smokescreens? Someone's here with me. I gotta disarm them…literally.'

Duri spun one time real fast, and a shot of wind shot out, knocking all the smoke away from him.

Duri couldn't believe his eyes. Standing in front of him, were: Seven, Tek, Kazuma, Espen, Shiryu, Ren-Ren, Ellie, Nine, Jiyu, Hosts Tetsuya, Marshy, Xenon, Sith, Kedarah, Chaos, Hanako, and Roga the cat.

They all said, "Happy birthday, Duri!"

Tek was the only one who didn't say it.

Duri looked at them all, shocked and frozen, he didn't know what to say.

Duri said, "I've..I've seen this before."

They said, "Hm?"

"On a movie once. These explorers went on an island, and when they got there, their loved ones were there too but they were only hollow images, hiding inside of them were demons. You ALL ARE ISLAND DEMONS!"

"Huh?! No!"

Duri was going into his shadow form, saying, "I'm totally dreaming! Dreaming of going against Island demons! I'll take you all on!"

"This isn't a dream!"

Duri had a shadow sword in his hand, and he dashed forward ready to attack, yelling, "Die! Island demons!"

Ren-Ren rushed in with his Katana, and he pressed it against Duri's shadow sword.

"Duri! It's me! Fool! Peasant! This isn't a dream!"

Duri responded, "Ew! Ugh! You even sound like them! Die, demons!"

Out of nowhere, Seven was in her Spirit of Wrath form, and she slapped Duri across the face.

Duri immediately went out of his shadow form, saying, "Oh shit. This is real! Today's my birthday?"

Seven turned back to normal, saying, "Yes!"

"Oops. You guys lucked out. I was about to turn all of you into kabobs."

Kazuma rushed in, "Happy birthday, Duri!"

Duri nodded, "How old am I?"

Xenon answered, "Sixteen. Brat."

"Hoh? YOU'RE here?"

"Since you're sixteen, you can start smoking cigarettes. Here, I brought an extra pack."

Everyone yelled, "No!!!"

Nine zoomed in, putting her arm around Duri, "Happy birthday, little brother."

Duri said, "You're faster than usual."

Ellie jumped in, saying, "Back off, five! He's my sibling!"

Nine answered, "My name is Nine. And no, I claimed him first."

"I knew him longer!"

"And?"

"He belongs to me."

"No! I'll curbstomp you!"

"Please do! Whatever that means!"

Seven brushed in, "Duri doesn't belong to anyone, but me."

Ellie and Nine yelled, "Hell no!"

Kedarah then rushed in, "Um! Duri is my teddy bear! I'll be the only one spoiling him!"

"No!"

Duri said, "Stop yanking me around, fools!"

Tek, Ren-Ren, Kazuma, Espen, Jiyu and Shiryu watched from the side.

Tek: "Ironic."

Ren-Ren: "Only peasants have a harem. Hmph!"

Espen: "Ren-Ren, are you jealous?"

Ren-Ren: "What?! No! Me? Jealous of commoners? No!"

Kazuma: "I can't believe Duri's birthday is today! Awesome!"

Jiyu: "I'm glad I was invited. This is gonna be fun!"

Tek: "Being at a rival's party has never been before. I'm making history."

Kazuma asked Tek, "How did you get here anyway?"

"Xenon's ax."

"Oh. Cool!"

Tetsuya floated above everyone with Roga the cat on his shoulder, "Alright. The party will now commence."

Chaos said, "I hope we play tag. I love tag."

Sith said to Chaos, "Child."

"You can never be too old to play tag."

"You're not even old. Tag is for wussies! Hehehe!"

"Nopeee!"