Post by Duncan Ryder on Apr 10, 2022 16:15:42 GMT -5
It was late morning and Duncan was finishing getting his kit bag together to head to the gym. Sure, he wasn’t feeling like he really needed to put the work in to take on a team of WaLuigi’s, handicap or not, but he was little over a month away from his shot at Joey Crash and the Final Boss title and like he had been saying going into his match with Kat Jones, this was going to be all about momentum. All ahead full. He’d won that match, he remained undefeated in 2022 and was going to ride that wave all the way to the gold.
He was in somewhat of a zone thinking about it as he stuffed a water bottle and a towel into his bag and so the knock at the door made him visibly jump as it snapped him back to the room. The only thought that ran through his mind then was, who the heck is knocking on my door at 11am? Without calling ahead or even texting. The most likely explanation was that it was some kind of psychopath. Still though, Duncan decided to answer the door. We all have to go someday right?
He opened the door. It wasn’t a psychopath there to murder him but looking at the figure in the hallway made him think that the coming minutes would be less painful if it were. Standing in his doorway was Emily Simms.
“Emily, hi,” Duncan said, surprised, “what’re you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you, and since you don’t answer my calls or return my texts and you avoid me at shows it seems turning up on your doorstep is the only way to do it,” said Emily irritably.
“How did you even know I’d be here? You could have been waiting out there for hours, you should have text me first.”
“If I’d text you first I could have guaranteed you wouldn’t be here. Best to take my chances.”
“Touche,” Duncan conceded, “um, do you want to come in?”
“Better than having this conversation in the hallway don’t you think?”
Duncan nodded lightly and took a step back and to the side, holding his arm up to beckon Emily inside. Emily stepped past him and Duncan gently closed the door behind her. When he turned back around she was right there, only a foot away making fierce eye contact.
“So…” Duncan began but was quickly and decisively cut off.
“We need to talk Duncan, I saw your promo for the Fuck Addiction event. I understand so much more about you now Duncan, but why didn’t you just tell me what was going on in your head? Do you think that little of me that you think I’d run away screaming or something? That’s exactly it, isn’t it? You’re afraid I’m going to walk away from you just like she did?”
Duncan was left stunned speechless for several seconds. He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs as if he had just been punched in the face.
"Wow, so we're just going to jump right into this feet first are we?" he said, stalling. He stepped past Emily towards the kitchen door then paused. "Do you want a drink? I have, uh, water."
"No," Emily snapped at him, then added, "thank you," seemingly as an afterthought.
Duncan disappeared into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a glass of water in his hand. He took a sip and leant heavily against the door frame.
"Sorry, what was the question again?"
"Seriously?"
Duncan sighed, he wasn't sure what he was hoping to achieve with that one. "I, uh, you know I didn't pour my guts out in that interview so I could be attacked for it. Kind of a dick move if you ask me."
“Are you kidding me? You’re deflecting Duncan, why won’t you just talk to me? I thought we were friends?”
Emily folded her arms across her chest and looked up at Duncan.
"Yeah I thought we were too but then you start throwing L words around like it's no big deal and I just…" he looked away halfway through the sentence, not able to hold Emily's passionate gaze. Then he trailed off, not knowing where that sentence was even going.
Tears began to well up in Emily’s eyes and slowly fell down her cheeks.
“You have no idea how hard it was for me to tell you that Duncan! You’re the first person since..”
Emily’s voice trailed off; she too was unsure of what to say and how much to tell. Duncan met her gaze briefly and saw the tears and immediately felt like crap.
“You are the first person since Liam passed away that I’ve said those words too. You have no idea how hard it was for me to say it Duncan. I was scared for your life, I was afraid I was going to lose you too and I don’t think my heart could stand it”
Duncan shook his head again, a confused frown scrunching up his face. "Wait, who's Liam?"
Emily took a deep breath, wiped away her tears and waited a moment to compose herself before she spoke again.
“Liam was my fiance…We met back just after I turned eighteen. He was twenty eight. We met and fell in love quickly.”
Emily took another deep breath trying to calm herself down but it wasn’t helping and she was afraid she might have a panic attack.
“We moved in together and he proposed, we were planning the wedding one night with some help from his mom. We had ordered dinner and Liam left to pick it up…His mom and I were talking about venues and all of the typical bridal stuff that we didn’t realize Liam had been gone for a long time, much longer than it should have taken to pick the food and get back home. I…I tried calling his cell phone but there was no answer, it went right to voicemail. I was getting ready to go out looking for him when there was someone at our door ringing the doorbell.”
Emily got really choked up and had to take a couple of minutes to try and compose herself before she continued.
“”There were two police officers standing there asking if they had the right address for Liam Henderson. The police told us there had been an accident. On Liam’s way back home from picking up dinner, he had been t-boned in the middle of an intersection. He was pronounced dead at the scene”
Duncan, who had been leaning heavily, stood up respectfully as the story went on. He took a step forward, intending to comfort her but hesitated and stepped back. "Wow, Emily, I…" he said, "I'm sorry you went through that. I can't imagine…" he trailed off again, lost for words.
“Liam died shortly before I turned twenty three. I joined Cali Grapps a little less than a year later and soon after that you and I met. You were the first man since Liam that I could see myself falling in love with…I am still so angry with Larry and company over what they did to you. I was afraid I was going to lose you too, Duncan."
"Emily I, I was mad at Larry too and, about Liam, I get it. I think anyway. Our situations aren't the same I know and maybe I'm wrong, maybe I don't understand, maybe I can't but, I'm sorry but it doesn't change anything. I still can't be who you want me to be." Duncan slumped back against the door frame again, as if the effort of speaking was physically exhausting for him.
Emily eyed the door, she was wishing she had never come and opened herself up like this…
“Is it because of her? Are you still in love with her Duncan?”
"Who?"
"Don't mess with me Duncan, you know who. The woman you talked about in the interview. The one whose name you wouldn't say."
"Her? Am I still in love with her? What kind of question is that?"
“An important one.”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean I don’t know?”
“How can you not know?”
“OK, fine! Yes, I am! Is that what you wanted me to say? Yes I’m still in love with her.”
A wounded silence fell between them. Duncan could see tears forming once again in Emily’s eyes but she was fighting to hold them back. She looked away from him. When she spoke again her voice was soft and sorrowful.
“Do you still see her? Still speak to her?”
Duncan shook his head, “No, not since the day she broke up with me.”
“That was over five years ago, Duncan. She has been a world away for five years. She has made it clear that you and her are over and yet you still give her your love. But me, standing right here…”
Duncan stood up straight again and walked towards her. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the words but hesitating. He put his hand on her upper arm then said, “Emily I have been in love twice in my life. Once, when it ended, it destroyed me. It sent me to a dark place I am only now fighting out of and I feel like I’m balanced on the edge of a knife. Like so much as a strong breeze could knock me off and send me tumbling all the way back down again. I don’t want that to happen. I can’t let that happen.”
There was a pause. “And the other time?”
Duncan let his arm fall away from Emily's back down to his side. He took a purposeful step back. "I'm afraid to find out."
Emily looked up at him, "are you saying-?"
"I'm not saying anything. I can't."
"But-"
"Don't. I'm clinging on by my fingertips as it is. You understand?"
"I," Emily said and took a step forward so she could lay a hand on Duncan's chest, "I think I do."
Duncan took a step back and Emily withdrew her hand.
She looked up at Duncan, her cheeks were tear stained as she spoke softly.
“Good luck Duncan,” She said and left.
The minute she was gone Duncan let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding and suddenly the urge to work out was no longer there.
“Emily, wait,” Duncan said as he pulled open the door and stepped out into the hall just as the elevator doors closed. Hanging his head for a moment, he closed the door, rested his back up against it and slid down to the floor.
Shepard knew it wasn't going to be easy, tracking a single Salarian who had made a career of not being found across the expanse of the galaxy. On top of that he was assailed every step of the way, either by the salarian's allies hoping to keep Shepard away from their leader or by more shadowy agents working to keep him from an even higher goal. It didn't matter though, what he was doing was too important and no matter how many came for him, no matter the numbers they brought to bear, Shepard fought them, he overcame and he kept pressing forwards.
"Yeah, no, yeah I don't get it either….you're right, it is irresponsible to let a pregnant woman compete in a wrestling event….I don't get how people can object to saying that either…yeah, exactly….like what if I said I was going to wrestle Joey Crash with a newborn infant duct taped to my torso?...Exactly! I swear people will object to literally anything if you're the one that says it….wait, no, don't hang up….because if you remember I called you and all we've done is talk about your thing…yeah, Johnny I'm a bit confused about this address you've sent me."
We pan out from Duncan, dressed in casual jeans and t-shirt with a black zip-up Level Up hoodie, talking on his cellphone and see that he's stood in a park. It's a nice day and around him people are sat on the grass, playing with dogs or throwing footballs around.
"...what am I confused by? It's a park Johnny, what am I doing here? I assume this wasn't just some elaborate plot to make me get some fresh air and vitamin D…Where? I don't see, no, wait…"
We pan around and spot a large cluster of stalls with colourful canvas roofs.
"So this is what?...A farmer's market? Why am I going to a farmer's market?...Yes Johnny, we've established, I am vegan now…so I endorse vegetables?...Hard to argue with that logic. Sure, I'll let you know how it goes."
Duncan hangs up and walks towards the market.
We fade down then back up, looking through the camera at Duncan now walking towards us between the rows of stalls packed with fresh produce, jars of jams and chutneys or artisanal bread and confectionery.
"Hi, I'm Level Up Wrestling's Duncan Shepard. Whether I'm battling bad guys in the ring or in deep space I have to make sure I keep my body in tip top shape. That's why I only eat the best in organic, locally sourced produce which I buy here at the Indianapolis city farmer's market."
Screenwipe edit and we're in front of a stall stocked with fruit.
"Come down and grab a basket of apples from the Taylor Family Farm stall…"
Screenwipe to another stall.
"You won't find fresher bread than that made by the Turtledove Bakery…"
Screenwipe.
"And it goes great with any of the great range of jams and preserves made by Mrs. McCarthy and her team."
Screenwipe to a stall overflowing with a wide assortment of root vegetables.
"Pascowytz farms grows the absolute greatest squashes," Duncan says, picking up a butternut squash, weighing it up in his hand and then presenting it for the camera.
"Speaking of squashes, tune into Level Up EXP 23 coming from the Old National Events Plaza just down the road in Evansville, Indiana. There you'll see the greatest squash in Level Up wrestling history as I team up with temporary Final Boss Champion Joey Crash to battle four members of the WaLuigi World Order."
Duncan reaches over the stall and grabs three more squashes of different shapes, sizes and varieties.
"It's not going to be a surprise to anyone that the two top guys in the company right now are going to have no problem turning any number of WaLuigi's into…"
Duncan drops one of the squashes and stomps on it.
"Mush. What you're going to tune in for though is the display of wrestling prowess from me that'll leave no doubt that when it comes to me and Joey Crash I'm stronger, faster, more agile and more skilled. I'm going to prove I'm the whole package head and shoulders above him and when the time comes, at Doom on May 10th, I'll be the one walking out the new Final Boss Champion."
Duncan drops the three remaining squashes on the ground in a row. As he speaks he stomps the three of them to pull next to the first.
"At EXP 23 I'm going to paint a picture of my victory. The ring is going to be my canvas, the WaLuigi World Order…"
Duncan crouches down and dips his fingers into the orange vegetable mush. "...will be the paint and Joey Crash will be nothing but a gawking tourist in a gallery marveling at art unlike anything he could ever create."
Duncan stands up and turns back to face the stallholders.
"Sorry, I'll clean this up. How much do I owe you for those?"
"Mr. Ryder?" a voice calls from behind the camera.
Duncan looks back around, "yeah, yeah I know. Do it again and stick to the script. Send me a copy of that one though please."
He was in somewhat of a zone thinking about it as he stuffed a water bottle and a towel into his bag and so the knock at the door made him visibly jump as it snapped him back to the room. The only thought that ran through his mind then was, who the heck is knocking on my door at 11am? Without calling ahead or even texting. The most likely explanation was that it was some kind of psychopath. Still though, Duncan decided to answer the door. We all have to go someday right?
He opened the door. It wasn’t a psychopath there to murder him but looking at the figure in the hallway made him think that the coming minutes would be less painful if it were. Standing in his doorway was Emily Simms.
“Emily, hi,” Duncan said, surprised, “what’re you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you, and since you don’t answer my calls or return my texts and you avoid me at shows it seems turning up on your doorstep is the only way to do it,” said Emily irritably.
“How did you even know I’d be here? You could have been waiting out there for hours, you should have text me first.”
“If I’d text you first I could have guaranteed you wouldn’t be here. Best to take my chances.”
“Touche,” Duncan conceded, “um, do you want to come in?”
“Better than having this conversation in the hallway don’t you think?”
Duncan nodded lightly and took a step back and to the side, holding his arm up to beckon Emily inside. Emily stepped past him and Duncan gently closed the door behind her. When he turned back around she was right there, only a foot away making fierce eye contact.
“So…” Duncan began but was quickly and decisively cut off.
“We need to talk Duncan, I saw your promo for the Fuck Addiction event. I understand so much more about you now Duncan, but why didn’t you just tell me what was going on in your head? Do you think that little of me that you think I’d run away screaming or something? That’s exactly it, isn’t it? You’re afraid I’m going to walk away from you just like she did?”
Duncan was left stunned speechless for several seconds. He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs as if he had just been punched in the face.
"Wow, so we're just going to jump right into this feet first are we?" he said, stalling. He stepped past Emily towards the kitchen door then paused. "Do you want a drink? I have, uh, water."
"No," Emily snapped at him, then added, "thank you," seemingly as an afterthought.
Duncan disappeared into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a glass of water in his hand. He took a sip and leant heavily against the door frame.
"Sorry, what was the question again?"
"Seriously?"
Duncan sighed, he wasn't sure what he was hoping to achieve with that one. "I, uh, you know I didn't pour my guts out in that interview so I could be attacked for it. Kind of a dick move if you ask me."
“Are you kidding me? You’re deflecting Duncan, why won’t you just talk to me? I thought we were friends?”
Emily folded her arms across her chest and looked up at Duncan.
"Yeah I thought we were too but then you start throwing L words around like it's no big deal and I just…" he looked away halfway through the sentence, not able to hold Emily's passionate gaze. Then he trailed off, not knowing where that sentence was even going.
Tears began to well up in Emily’s eyes and slowly fell down her cheeks.
“You have no idea how hard it was for me to tell you that Duncan! You’re the first person since..”
Emily’s voice trailed off; she too was unsure of what to say and how much to tell. Duncan met her gaze briefly and saw the tears and immediately felt like crap.
“You are the first person since Liam passed away that I’ve said those words too. You have no idea how hard it was for me to say it Duncan. I was scared for your life, I was afraid I was going to lose you too and I don’t think my heart could stand it”
Duncan shook his head again, a confused frown scrunching up his face. "Wait, who's Liam?"
Emily took a deep breath, wiped away her tears and waited a moment to compose herself before she spoke again.
“Liam was my fiance…We met back just after I turned eighteen. He was twenty eight. We met and fell in love quickly.”
Emily took another deep breath trying to calm herself down but it wasn’t helping and she was afraid she might have a panic attack.
“We moved in together and he proposed, we were planning the wedding one night with some help from his mom. We had ordered dinner and Liam left to pick it up…His mom and I were talking about venues and all of the typical bridal stuff that we didn’t realize Liam had been gone for a long time, much longer than it should have taken to pick the food and get back home. I…I tried calling his cell phone but there was no answer, it went right to voicemail. I was getting ready to go out looking for him when there was someone at our door ringing the doorbell.”
Emily got really choked up and had to take a couple of minutes to try and compose herself before she continued.
“”There were two police officers standing there asking if they had the right address for Liam Henderson. The police told us there had been an accident. On Liam’s way back home from picking up dinner, he had been t-boned in the middle of an intersection. He was pronounced dead at the scene”
Duncan, who had been leaning heavily, stood up respectfully as the story went on. He took a step forward, intending to comfort her but hesitated and stepped back. "Wow, Emily, I…" he said, "I'm sorry you went through that. I can't imagine…" he trailed off again, lost for words.
“Liam died shortly before I turned twenty three. I joined Cali Grapps a little less than a year later and soon after that you and I met. You were the first man since Liam that I could see myself falling in love with…I am still so angry with Larry and company over what they did to you. I was afraid I was going to lose you too, Duncan."
"Emily I, I was mad at Larry too and, about Liam, I get it. I think anyway. Our situations aren't the same I know and maybe I'm wrong, maybe I don't understand, maybe I can't but, I'm sorry but it doesn't change anything. I still can't be who you want me to be." Duncan slumped back against the door frame again, as if the effort of speaking was physically exhausting for him.
Emily eyed the door, she was wishing she had never come and opened herself up like this…
“Is it because of her? Are you still in love with her Duncan?”
"Who?"
"Don't mess with me Duncan, you know who. The woman you talked about in the interview. The one whose name you wouldn't say."
"Her? Am I still in love with her? What kind of question is that?"
“An important one.”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean I don’t know?”
“How can you not know?”
“OK, fine! Yes, I am! Is that what you wanted me to say? Yes I’m still in love with her.”
A wounded silence fell between them. Duncan could see tears forming once again in Emily’s eyes but she was fighting to hold them back. She looked away from him. When she spoke again her voice was soft and sorrowful.
“Do you still see her? Still speak to her?”
Duncan shook his head, “No, not since the day she broke up with me.”
“That was over five years ago, Duncan. She has been a world away for five years. She has made it clear that you and her are over and yet you still give her your love. But me, standing right here…”
Duncan stood up straight again and walked towards her. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the words but hesitating. He put his hand on her upper arm then said, “Emily I have been in love twice in my life. Once, when it ended, it destroyed me. It sent me to a dark place I am only now fighting out of and I feel like I’m balanced on the edge of a knife. Like so much as a strong breeze could knock me off and send me tumbling all the way back down again. I don’t want that to happen. I can’t let that happen.”
There was a pause. “And the other time?”
Duncan let his arm fall away from Emily's back down to his side. He took a purposeful step back. "I'm afraid to find out."
Emily looked up at him, "are you saying-?"
"I'm not saying anything. I can't."
"But-"
"Don't. I'm clinging on by my fingertips as it is. You understand?"
"I," Emily said and took a step forward so she could lay a hand on Duncan's chest, "I think I do."
Duncan took a step back and Emily withdrew her hand.
She looked up at Duncan, her cheeks were tear stained as she spoke softly.
“Good luck Duncan,” She said and left.
The minute she was gone Duncan let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding and suddenly the urge to work out was no longer there.
“Emily, wait,” Duncan said as he pulled open the door and stepped out into the hall just as the elevator doors closed. Hanging his head for a moment, he closed the door, rested his back up against it and slid down to the floor.
Shepard knew it wasn't going to be easy, tracking a single Salarian who had made a career of not being found across the expanse of the galaxy. On top of that he was assailed every step of the way, either by the salarian's allies hoping to keep Shepard away from their leader or by more shadowy agents working to keep him from an even higher goal. It didn't matter though, what he was doing was too important and no matter how many came for him, no matter the numbers they brought to bear, Shepard fought them, he overcame and he kept pressing forwards.
"Yeah, no, yeah I don't get it either….you're right, it is irresponsible to let a pregnant woman compete in a wrestling event….I don't get how people can object to saying that either…yeah, exactly….like what if I said I was going to wrestle Joey Crash with a newborn infant duct taped to my torso?...Exactly! I swear people will object to literally anything if you're the one that says it….wait, no, don't hang up….because if you remember I called you and all we've done is talk about your thing…yeah, Johnny I'm a bit confused about this address you've sent me."
We pan out from Duncan, dressed in casual jeans and t-shirt with a black zip-up Level Up hoodie, talking on his cellphone and see that he's stood in a park. It's a nice day and around him people are sat on the grass, playing with dogs or throwing footballs around.
"...what am I confused by? It's a park Johnny, what am I doing here? I assume this wasn't just some elaborate plot to make me get some fresh air and vitamin D…Where? I don't see, no, wait…"
We pan around and spot a large cluster of stalls with colourful canvas roofs.
"So this is what?...A farmer's market? Why am I going to a farmer's market?...Yes Johnny, we've established, I am vegan now…so I endorse vegetables?...Hard to argue with that logic. Sure, I'll let you know how it goes."
Duncan hangs up and walks towards the market.
We fade down then back up, looking through the camera at Duncan now walking towards us between the rows of stalls packed with fresh produce, jars of jams and chutneys or artisanal bread and confectionery.
"Hi, I'm Level Up Wrestling's Duncan Shepard. Whether I'm battling bad guys in the ring or in deep space I have to make sure I keep my body in tip top shape. That's why I only eat the best in organic, locally sourced produce which I buy here at the Indianapolis city farmer's market."
Screenwipe edit and we're in front of a stall stocked with fruit.
"Come down and grab a basket of apples from the Taylor Family Farm stall…"
Screenwipe to another stall.
"You won't find fresher bread than that made by the Turtledove Bakery…"
Screenwipe.
"And it goes great with any of the great range of jams and preserves made by Mrs. McCarthy and her team."
Screenwipe to a stall overflowing with a wide assortment of root vegetables.
"Pascowytz farms grows the absolute greatest squashes," Duncan says, picking up a butternut squash, weighing it up in his hand and then presenting it for the camera.
"Speaking of squashes, tune into Level Up EXP 23 coming from the Old National Events Plaza just down the road in Evansville, Indiana. There you'll see the greatest squash in Level Up wrestling history as I team up with temporary Final Boss Champion Joey Crash to battle four members of the WaLuigi World Order."
Duncan reaches over the stall and grabs three more squashes of different shapes, sizes and varieties.
"It's not going to be a surprise to anyone that the two top guys in the company right now are going to have no problem turning any number of WaLuigi's into…"
Duncan drops one of the squashes and stomps on it.
"Mush. What you're going to tune in for though is the display of wrestling prowess from me that'll leave no doubt that when it comes to me and Joey Crash I'm stronger, faster, more agile and more skilled. I'm going to prove I'm the whole package head and shoulders above him and when the time comes, at Doom on May 10th, I'll be the one walking out the new Final Boss Champion."
Duncan drops the three remaining squashes on the ground in a row. As he speaks he stomps the three of them to pull next to the first.
"At EXP 23 I'm going to paint a picture of my victory. The ring is going to be my canvas, the WaLuigi World Order…"
Duncan crouches down and dips his fingers into the orange vegetable mush. "...will be the paint and Joey Crash will be nothing but a gawking tourist in a gallery marveling at art unlike anything he could ever create."
Duncan stands up and turns back to face the stallholders.
"Sorry, I'll clean this up. How much do I owe you for those?"
"Mr. Ryder?" a voice calls from behind the camera.
Duncan looks back around, "yeah, yeah I know. Do it again and stick to the script. Send me a copy of that one though please."
Feb. '22 - Jul. '22
2022
2021/2022
Jun '21 - Jul '22