Living Next Door to the Dunphys (Modern Family)

The ride home was a tense one. Mathew had expected his mother to yell or admonish him for what he did. But the most she did was look at him with disappointment and pride. An odd mix, in his opinion.

Thankfully, it seemed that the massive support and gratitude from Jay and Gloria helped cool down Sasha's motherly worry and subsequent officers' rage at the fact her son was assaulted in broad daylight.

While it was true that the bag could have been replaced, Mathew told Sasha he had to act after he heard Gloria's cry at her stolen ultrasound baby pictures. Hearing this, Gloria almost cried once more. She then both praised and thanked Mathew for his heroic efforts.

While not as open with his emotions, Jay still expressed much gratitude to Mathew. The man had promised to find Mathew a position in his company. It was the least he could do, he had said. That was on the condition that his mother gave him the okay.

Once they all went their separate ways, Mathew could do nothing but wait for his mother's reaction as she drove him home.

Dead man walking here. Mathew thought as Sasha finally pulled up to their home.

After turning off the engine, the two of them sat in the car.

The air was thick with tension, no words breaking the silence.

"Why, Mathew? Why did you do that? I taught you better than to throw yourself into danger." Sasha's voice finally broke the tense silence, her disappointment palpable. Her grip on the steering wheel was unyielding, her knuckles turning white.

That's a good question. It's something I've been wrestling with the entire ride home. Mathew's brow furrowed. Was it because I wanted to help Jay and Gloria? Or was it because I desired the mystery box even more?

"I... don't know," Mathew said after a brief moment of silence. "I guess I didn't think about it, but I just helped. I'm sorry, mom."

Hearing his response, Sasha sighed. "Don't apologize for helping others, Mathew. What you did was a good thing, but the danger was very real. One wrong move, one slip, and you could have been stabbed. You could have even been killed." Her voice became a whisper as she continued, "Promise me—promise me that you won't do anything like that ever again."

"...I promise." Mathew sincerely said.

"Good... I'll be home later tonight," Sasha said as Mathew stepped out of the vehicle. She gave him a small, tired smile. "I need to go talk to the man who hurt my son."

Mathew chuckled softly, a warm smile spreading across his face as he waved goodbye to Sasha, who was backing out of the driveway in her black sedan. He stood there, rooted to the spot, watching intently until her vehicle turned the corner and vanished from view. Once she was out of sight, a heavy sigh escaped his lips, evaporating into the cool evening air.

He felt a mix of relief and emptiness settle in as silence enveloped him. With a touch of hesitation, he brushed his fingers lightly against the bandage on his cheek, his frown deepening as he recalled the incident that led to this reminder of pain. The fabric felt rough against his skin, grounding him in the moment while thoughts of the day's events replayed in his mind.

"I got hurt... again." He said with disappointment as he walked into his house. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into his room and stared at his recently acquired Rocky Balboa poster with a deep fire burning behind his green eyes. "What am I doing? I'm dragging my feet. I have to-no! I need to lock in and get my shit together!"

Wordlessly, Mathew redeemed his recently won mystery box. In a quick flash of light, a gift box floated in the air in front of him. Once in his hands, he ripped the bow off the box.

[You have won: Shawn Spencer's Observational Abilities!]

[Skill: Observation: 83]

"Shawn Spencer? Isn't that guy from that old show I used to watch? What was it called? Right, Psych!"

[Your Perception has improved by 15 points!]

"Wow! Did the skill give my current stats a small boost? Convenient."

Unlike the intense, throbbing pain he endured when acquiring Ludwig Dieter's intricate lock-picking skills, Mathew now felt merely a sharp, fleeting pang in his head.

He pondered if the intensity of pain he would receive from each new skill seemed to correlate with the complexity of the skill he gained, as if each new ability carried its own weight of mental strain.

"I'd hate to find out the level of pain from winning a skill with a lot of moving parts. Like wing chun or something like medical knowledge." Mathew shivered in horror at the mere thought. "Still, Shawn Spencer's observational capabilities were no joke. Heck, I could become an incredible detective with this alone."

He had wanted to test out his new observational skill, but knowing his room inside out, nothing new stood out.

"Whatever. I'll test it out tomorrow at school," Mathew said as he began throwing a small rubber basketball in the air.

Now that he was in the safety of his room, his mind thought back to his fight with the would-be thief.

While he was busy dodging the man's knife slashes, Mathew still remembered the quick system notifications of his boxing skill leveling up quickly. At the time, he didn't have the time to wonder why that was the case.

"Was it because my life was in danger? Is the secret to leveling up my skills by actively pushing them to the max?" Mathew caught his ball and squeezed it. "But when I was sparring against Jason, my points didn't grow like today. Wait. My spar. Could it be because it was a spar and not a real match?"

Mathew dropped his ball and spun to his computer. After waking it up from its sleep, his fingers typed away on his keyboard. After a few minutes of searching the internet, he found what he was looking for.

On his computer screen flickered a vibrant advertisement for an upcoming California Junior Boxing Tournament, set to take place in sunny San Diego in just five months. While not a prestigious event on the national stage, the tournament was dedicated to showcasing the talents of young boxers from across California.

A tournament was the ideal opportunity for him to challenge his system and foster exponential growth. While Mathew could have taken to the streets to pick fights with local thugs, he preferred to avoid such a high-risk endeavor for just a few extra points.

With a growing excitement, Mathew scrolled through the ad's website.

"Now then... where do I sign up?"

While Mathew searched for the events sign-up sheet, he was unaware of the attention he was getting from the local news and a quickly growing YouTube video.

The video was of his earlier confrontation with the thief who tried to steal Gloria's purse and was captured by those recording the encounter. The local news praised him for his bravery, while those on YouTube left dozens of comments and likes over his actions.

Eventually, those closest to Mathew were shocked to see him in such a dangerous situation.

Natalia's respect for him grew as she watched him smash his fist into the thief's side repeatedly.

Jess and Cece were left in shock at seeing his cheek be cut.

Nick, Schmidt, Coach, and Winston were all cheering him on while he grabbed the thief's wrist and landed a punch in his face.

Claire, Phil, Mitchell, and Cameron stood in awe as Jay and Gloria called them to retell the events. Admittedly, as they told the story, they made Mathew's actions sound grander than they were.

Haley and Alex were left speechless as they watched the fight on Haley's phone while Luke cheered on his coach and friend.

In his room, oblivious to it all, Mathew grunted in annoyance as he was killed while playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. His boxing tournament entry form has already been submitted a while ago.

"Come on! …I hate this map."