Losing
The cherry blossoms falling from the trees around Duncan Harris did little to distract him as he ran to his destination.
Clutching his katana blade, he narrows his eyes at the four mongolian soldiers charging straight at him.
He couldn't honestly say that he was expecting a full out invasion of the Japanese island of Tsushima while he and his friends were traveling there. Spices were the reason why they, and by extension every other group of Europeans travel to Asia.
As he went on to fight the soldiers, all he could really think about was how his friends could be in danger. He and Wolf managed to escape, but Yangzi, Bex, and Mia ended up getting captured by the empire.
He and Wolf won't rest until they find them either alive or dead.
As Duncan kills the last attacking soldier, feeling a small amount of guilt because it really hasn't been that long since he first killed somebody, he looks in front of him to see a fifth attacker.
This one is stronger than the others, he can tell. Bulkier and wearing some kind of heavy armor.
"You are not from this land, are you?" He hears the man speak in weirdly fluent english.
"My friends and I have traveled here all the way from the other side of the world." He says to the Mongul commander. "I don't know how or why this war is happening, but as soon as I rescue everybody, we're getting the hell away from here!"
He sees the commander slowly shake his head.
"If the people you came with aren't with you, then they're most likely dead."
He then pulls out two katana blades that he carries at his sides. Holding one in each hand.
"Do not mourn for them, for you shall be seeing them again very soon."
Duncan smirks as he raises his sword, fearlessly charging at his enemy.
"BRING IT ON!"
As it starts getting to the good part however, that was when Duncan woke up from his dream.
He takes a second to look over the familiar place he calls his room. He then sighs. It's not 1274. It's 2020.
And like so many other people right now, he's getting really sick of it.
"Are you kidding me, Bex!? You put the milk in FIRST!?"
Duncan is playing online with his friends, listening to their conversation as they speak from their headsets. He couldn't help but feel bored as he feels like he's listening to the same thing over and over again for the past few months.
Bex continues her argument with Yangzi.
"Yangzi! Yangzi! If I pour the milk on TOP of the cereal, it would get soggy faster! I don't want that!"
"What's not to like about soggy cereal!?" Yangzi argues back. "That is what the milk is FOR!"
"Hey guys?" Says Wolf, joining the conversation.
"WHAT!?" Shouted Yangzi and Bex.
"Have you ever tried… eating cereal WITHOUT the milk. That's what I do when I eat it."
That shut everybody up. Including the employees at Best Buy that Wolf is staying at.
They stay silent for a little while longer before Duncan decides to speak up.
"Wolf, you make me feel happy that I even HAVE milk to go with my cereal."
"Uh-huh." "Yep." Yangzi and Bex agree. Yangzi then notices a notification on his screen and speaks up.
"YO! DUNC! It looks like Mia wants to join in on our chat!"
That caught Duncan's attention as he sat up straight. Nobody has spoken to Mia in over a week.
"Oh my god! Yangzi, how's my hair look!?"
"It looks like you just got out of bed. Same as always." Truthfully answered Yanzi. "Accepting her call…"
As he accepts Mia's call, everybody then goes to video chat. Only for them to slightly regret doing so once everybody sees her for the first time in a while.
Her clothes were all wrinkled up and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Maybe that's because she hadn't. "Hey guys." She calmly says.
"WHOA!" Said Duncan as he scoots his chair back a little. The year 2020 has really been taking a toll on his crush.
"Hey Mia." He hears Yangzi try to talk. "So… uh… You've been to any fun protests lately?"
Mia slowly shakes her head. "Bold of you to think I was out there protesting… I mean… I was GOING to… but…"
At this point; Duncan, Yangzi, Bex, and Wolf move closer to their screens; becoming more interested in what Mia was doing.
"Have any of you seen the show 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine?'" She continues.
Duncan immediately answers her question. "Yeah… we all used to watch it together every week at my house… two years ago…"
For a split second, he thinks to himself. Two years ago. It was 2018. Sure, Mia's family hadn't moved into Oakdale yet, but it was still an enjoyable year for Duncan and his friends.
It wasn't just all those nights he spent with his friends that made 2018 so enjoyable to him, it was also the way his family was treating him.
Jing, for starters, didn't have any romantic feelings towards him. She acted a lot like back when he met her for the first time when she wasn't even half a year old.
It was really sad that her real parents had their lives tragically cut short by a fatal car accident.
Thankfully Jing wasn't in the car when it happened, she was already being looked over by Duncan's parents. When the horrible news made it to them, one thing led to another and then the baby that they were originally going to look after for only three hours, became the newest member of the Harris family.
It was what they would have wanted. Their house was only located directly to the left of the Harris's anyway.
In addition, Duncan's parents: Jack and Annie Harris, mostly left him and Kimberly alone in their rooms most of the time, but now they're on his case with the whole thing about adulthood and responsibility and stuff.
Everything was happier back then; Duncan concludes.
Virus or no virus.
Protests or no need for protests.
He continues to listen to Mia.
"I never watched the show. Never had a reason to. But when I saw that there were many people online not wanting to have the show CANCELED, I decided to watch one episode before joining a protest that was going on in Boston. One episode then turned to two, then five, then twelve…"
Mia waves a hand over her face, showing off her changed look.
"Next thing I knew, I was re-watching episodes I watched already to mentally prepare myself to watch the next one."
Duncan rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, it's a good show. Hey listen guys, I think I'm gonna have to leave early. There's… something I gotta do, okay? I'll see ya."
He then hears Mia speak out. "Wait! Duncan! That's not all I-"
Duncan clicked off of the chat, not really caring about what Mia has to say to him. She can just text him later.
After some time has passed, Duncan's father, Jack Harris, barges into his room with a smile on his face.
He says the iconic line.
"Are you winning, son!?"
Duncan however, does not share the same happiness that his dad is feeling. Jack sees him leaning one arm on the window while staring outside and not on his phone or his computer like he had expected him to.
"Dad…" Says Duncan. "I always thought that being stuck in my room all day was everything I ever wanted. I just didn't think that it would all get so… boring so fast. There's just no way to entertain myself much anymore. Even talking to my friends doesn't make me happy!"
Jack looks at his son with a look of concern. "Son… I…"
"Like what am I supposed to do all day?" Duncan continues. "Write fanfiction? I couldn't write a hundred, let alone a thousand words for Mr. Mitch for my midterms."
Jack crosses his arms, looking even more concerned. "That was… that was your history class."
Just imagine how poorly Duncan was doing in his english class. Where there's more writing that's expected of him.
Duncan continues. "Now I just sit around all day listening to Juice WRLD and Post Malone. Like, I'm losing it."
He then turns around to face his dad. Jack could see that the look on his face was one he hoped never to see. He's going to need Annie's help on this one.
"What was the question you asked me earlier? Am I winning?" Duncan gives a short chuckle.
"This thing I'm going through. Whatever it is… It feels more like losing."
Yeah, Comic Con showed a clip for the second season of Duncanville, so I felt like I had to write something in return. Literally all I did here was connect a few bits and pieces scattered in my mind and then write to see what happens.
Like, I wanted to do something involving an augment with cereal and milk and came across a video by Chaz Smith. I also wanted to do something with 'Are you winning, son?'
Yeah, this is a re-upload requested by Narwhalpuppy. Also, here's a little extra because I feel like it.
Thanks for reading!
Duncan couldn't believe what he was seeing. Years at space academy couldn't prepare him for what he was seeing right now.
Now as an astronaut, he's now seeing the Earth in all it's natural beauty for the very first time. Only it looked nothing like every picture he's ever seen.
Quite the opposite, actually. He shuts his eyes real tight to make sure he wasn't hallucinating or anything like that.
After accepting that his vision was accurate, he finally speaks.
"Wait... it's all... It's all upside down!"
All the continents and all the islands are where they should be. Except for the fact that they're on the wrong hemisphere unlike he was taught ever since he was a little kid. Just like everyone else.
Behind him his partner, Tristan Branch, pulls out a handgun and points it to the back of Duncan's head. With a calming voice, he says to him.
"Always has been..."
As he shoots the gun, it stayed silent. Because sound doesn't travel in space.