[color=silver][center][h2][color=0099aa]𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐭[/color][/h2] __________________________________________________[/center] It took weirdly long to die. Duncan had expected to pass out the second realization had hit him, but here he still was a second later, sitting, staring, waiting, stuck in a limbo that reeked of blood and guts. He barely recognized his name when he heard it shouted. He felt disconnected from everything around him, including his battered body. Sounds were muffled, colours dulled, and time slowed down as if in a dramatic scene right out of an action flick. The only unaffected sound was the feverish beat of his own heart, as it tried to desperately make up for the blood he was losing every breath - [i]if [/i]he still breathed. He wasn't sure if someone's body could just forget to breathe, but his was probably pretty close to doing that. It still didn't hurt, and that was scarier than any pain. Something collided with his side forcefully enough to send him flying, and it was that impact that snapped him back to reality. Sounds returned all at once, immensely loud; the growling of the beast as it shook itself free, Daisuke's shout and the subsequent grunt as he hit the ground next to him, Asahi, shouting as he tried to beat the monster with a stick. His heart, still there, still beating. And then came the pain. Curse word after another spilled from Duncan's throat, mixed with screams and words that even he couldn't understand. [color=0099aa]"Fuck, fuck, [i]fuck[/i], what the [i]fuck[/i]-" [/color] He held his abdomen - or tried to; all he grasped was a handful of guts, warm and slick with blood. They didn't look real. Or, no, maybe they were [i]too [/i]real. Too unlike what he'd seen in movies. How [i]wasn't[/i] he dead yet? Asahi's shouts died down, and Duncan realized where he was. On his side, lying on grass, a safer distance away now, with a worried Daisuke nearby. So Daisuke had been the one to tackle him. No! Why the fuck would he do that? Now the wolfbear was... [i]shit[/i]... Asahi's scrawny ass was all alone out there, he didn't stand a chance! Duncan moved an arm. Then another. The pain was horrid, burning, pulsating into every fibre of his being. But as long as he could feel at least that, he knew he wasn't dead. The fire in his gut was his very life itself. The adrenaline flowing through him was gone, used up, but he no longer needed it; now, his veins were filled with liquid fire. He stood, first wobbly, then not. Speaking was still difficult; there was blood in his throat, gushing out in between words. [color=0099aa]"Yo... Dai. I'm not... ready for the bench yet. Lemme... back on the field."[/color] If Daisuke said something, Duncan didn't hear it. All he could see, all he could hear was the goddamn wolfbear. He had to help Asahi. He didn't even know the dude that well, and yet Asahi had put himself in danger to save him. Goddamnit, trying to look all cool... he wasn't about to just owe his life to someone like him! Hell no. He'd make this even. More than. Duncan had no plan. He had no weapons. He didn't even have his guts where they belonged. But he did have his fire - and his legs. He was running before he knew it, moving faster than he had any right to. Every step stoked the fire, burning higher and higher, until Duncan's feet left the ground into a leap. He knew he could jump high. That's where he'd gotten his nickname from; his signature slam dunks. But this time, he was higher - and he came down with much more force and momentum, hands pressed together, elbow aimed straight at the wolfbear's neck. He'd crash down and pin it. Choke it. Wrestle it. Snap its neck. Whatever it took, as long as- [color=0099aa]"Don't just fucking stand there!" [/color]He shouted at Asahi, blood spilling from his mouth. It sounded like he was about to choke on it. [color=0099aa] [i]"Run!" [/i][/color] [/color]