Living Next Door to the Dunphys (Modern Family)

A young man with dark blonde hair watched the world passing him by as he rode in the back of his parent's SUV. His green eyes moved back and forth as he took in the California sights.

"Ah, 2012 California… It's all downhill from here."

"Did you say something, Matt?" A woman with light brown hair said as she looked back from her spot in the passenger seat. Her name was Sasha Johnson.

"Ah, no. Just mumbling to myself!" Mathew Johnson quickly said, a panicked look on his face. "I was just saying how excited I am to explore California!" He said sarcastically.

"Alright, alright. I get it. I know that California is a big jump from Chicago, but I couldn't turn down that promotion." Jefferson Johnson said. He had brushed-back black hair and blue eyes. On his face was a full beard while a pair of black-rimmed glasses sat over his eyes.

With a grin on his face, Jefferson slowed the car to a stop at a red light. "Think of it like this, Matt. You'll get to experience new, exciting things here. After all, this is where several celebrities and movie stars live!"

"Don't forget the earthquakes and crime, too," Mathew said offhandedly, his attention back on the city streets. Eventually, the city streets eventually gave way to sprawling suburbs as his father entered a large neighborhood near Beverly Hills. "Then again, Chicago may be hard to beat when it comes to crime."

"Well, with your mom here now, California's crime rate will drop like a rock." Jefferson grinned at his wife, causing her to smack his arm playfully. A Los Angeles Police Department badge was clipped to her belt.

"Hah hah. Very funny," Sasha smiled as her eyes took in the several different homes. "It'll definitely be a big jump from the Chicago PD, that's for sure."

"You'll do great, Dear."

Seeing their attention off him, Mathew sighed in relief and leaned his head back.

That was close. Mathew thought. I gotta stop mumbling my thoughts.

Reaching into his pockets, Mathew pulled out his iPhone 5 and began to scroll through the internet with dissatisfaction. It's going to take a long time before the internet gets back to its 2025 counterpart. He thought as he browsed the few available apps and services the slowly rising internet had available—services such as YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.

With nothing interesting to see on his phone, Mathew sighed and placed it beside him. Even after sixteen years, nothing exciting or interesting has happened. Is this really what being reborn has to offer?! Mathew thought with growing frustration. Where is my cheat system or my special powers?! Hell, I'll even take some weak, boring abilities like a photographic memory or high intelligence so I could at least use my future knowledge to make a profit!

Sixteen years ago, Mathew Johnson, as he was now called, had been given a new chance at life after he had saved the life of a drowning child who got caught up in a flash flood. Unfortunately, he himself wasn't that strong of a swimmer and ended up drowning after getting that kid to safety—a genuinely heroic death.

Perhaps that was why he was given another chance at life. But like the novels he read in his past life, shouldn't he have gotten a system or some ability? Wasn't that how these reincarnated situations worked? But after sixteen years of living a new life with new parents, no such abilities or systems were granted to him. There wasn't even a grand adventure or a chosen role given to him, either. Just a simple and regular life.

Those novels and stories I used to read were full of shit.

Mathew blinked as the SUV came to a stop in front of a rather impressive two-story house. "We're here!" Sasha said happily as she and Jefferson stepped out of the car to look at their new home. Feeling stiff after the very long car drive, Mathew quickly got out as well and began stretching his limbs. As he stretched, his eyes scanned his new home.

"Not bad, Dad." Mathew whistled, impressed at the home. "Looks like that promotion was worth it. It's twice the size of our old place."

"I know, right? Working for Apple has its advantages." Jefferson proudly says with his hands on his hips. Sasha came up beside him and gave her husband a kiss. "I'm proud of you, Honey."

"Right on time. Looks like our stuff is here." Mathew looked down the street, where a large moving truck turned the corner. Seeing the truck, Jefferson waved the driver over, and the workers began to unload the Johnson family's boxes and furniture.

"Why don't you go pick out a room, Matt? That way, we can get your stuff to the right place." Sasha said with a smile. Mathew nodded and stepped inside his new home.

"Dang. It's even better from the inside." Mathew grinned and explored the two-story home. While large, the house wasn't massive. It didn't take long for Mathew to go from room to room. The master bedroom was located downstairs, while the other bedrooms were on the second level.

Finding a decently sized bedroom with a small bathroom, Mathew nodded and walked over to one of the windows. Lifting it up, he leaned out and looked around outside.

As Mathew was examining his surroundings, he paused when he saw a girl with long dark brown hair from the house next door. From the open window straight across from him, Mathew saw that she had a pair of glasses while her attention was focused on a book.

As if sensing someone watching her, the girl looked up from her book and met Mathew's gaze. He smiled and waved, "Hello!"

Startled, the girl jumped and fell back. Mathew raised an eyebrow and chuckled as he watched her scramble around.

She looks oddly familiar. Mathew thought with a raised eyebrow. He shook his head and dismissed the thought. Nah, that's not possible. I've never met anyone from California.

"Oh, uh, h-hello!" The girl said meekly. "Are you, um, moving in? I heard from my dad that we were getting some new neighbors."

"Yeah. My family and I just moved in today. I'm Mathew. Mathew Johnson. It's nice to meet you." Mathew smiled as he leaned on his window sill.

"I'm Alex, Alex Dunphy." Alex shyly smiled as she laid a hand on her window sill.

"Matt! Have you found a room yet? The movers need to know where to put your junk!"

Mathew heard his father yell from outside the house. Jefferson's voice was loud enough that Alex was able to hear what was said, causing her to look off to the side, where she could see a few boxes sitting on the front lawn of Mathew's new house.

"Sorry, I got to go. Maybe we can talk some more later?" Mathew pointed behind him with a small smile

"I'd love to! I-I mean, sure. That's cool with me." Alex tried to play it cool, but her initial excitement caused Mathew to chuckle.

Waving goodbye to his new neighbor, Mathew walked away from the window and headed downstairs. As he was halfway down the stairs, he paused. A look of confusion crossed his face.

"Alex Dunphy… Dunphy?" Mathew mumbled. "Sounds familiar. Where did I hear that name?"

"Matt!"

"Coming!" Mathew yelled. "Whatever. I'm sure it's nothing."

As Mathew headed outside to direct the movers to his new room, he missed a soft click from the back of his mind.

[Advancement System Loading… 10%, 20%, 30%…]

••o••o••o••

"Do you think we can hang my heavy bag in the garage?" Mathew asked his mom as they looked inside their new spacious garage. Sasha hummed as she looked at the roof of the garage. "There's not much space in here. Maybe we can set something up in the backyard?"

"Hm, maybe."

"Hello there, new neighbors!" Mathew and Sasha turned around to see a tall man with black hair smiling widely at them. From beside him walked a blonde woman with a more subdued, friendly smile. In her hands rested a plate of brownies wrapped in plastic wrap. "Welcome to the neighborhood! I'm Phil Dunphy, and this is my wife, Claire!"

"Hello! We hope you like brownies!" Claire smiled as Jefferson walked away from a box labeled 'Garage Stuff' and shook Phil's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Phil, Claire. Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm Jefferson Johnson. This is my wife, Sasha, and my son, Mathew." Jefferson said with a smile as Sasha walked over.

"Aw, thank you. These look delicious!" Sasha accepted the plate of treats.

Claire accepted the compliment, even though she had prepared a brownie mix to make the desserts, and all four adults began talking. Off near the garage, Mathew remained frozen as he stared at the Dunphy couple with slowly widening eyes.

"Phil… Claire?" Mathew mumbled as he took in the Dunphy couple's appearance. "Hold the phone. It can't be... Unless? No! But maybe."

"Matt! Don't be rude. Come introduce yourself." Jefferson waved him over. Numbly, Mathew walked over and introduced himself to the Dunphy's. "Ah, right, hello. I'm Mathew. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mathew. Nice shirt, by the way! I love Star Wars!" Phil grinned as he pointed at Mathew's Darth Vader graphic shirt. "Nothing beats the original trilogy, am I right?"

"There he goes," Claire whispered as she began to talk to Sasha and Jefferson.

"Uh, yeah? I mean, Yeah!" Mathew nodded, his body running on autopilot while his mind rebooted. "Not a fan of the prequel trilogy, Mr. Dunphy?"

"Call me Phil," Phil nodded with an excited smile. Mathew nodded. "I'm not saying I don't like the prequels, but they don't compare to the original three." Looking behind him, Phil waved over a young boy with brown hair, watching them all from behind the bushes and white fence that separated the homes. "Luke! Get over here and meet the neighbors. Oh! And bring Alex, too!"

"Okay," Luke begrudgingly said as he looked off behind him. "You heard him."

Following behind Luke was Alex. She quickly looked around the Jeffersons' front yard, where dozens of moving boxes lay. Quickly, her eyes settled on Mathew. She smiled shyly at him as she and Luke walked over to stand next to their father.

Holy shit. Holy shit! Mathew thought as he watched Luke and Alex walk toward him and Phil. I know why Alex seemed so familiar! Phil, Claire, and now Luke! They're all from that show Modern Family! Hold up, wasn't there someone else?

Within his mind, another soft click went missed as Mathew felt as if he was undergoing an out of body experience.

Despite what Mathew believed all his life, it seemed that he did, in fact, get reincarnated into a different world from his own original one.

A world where an old sitcom television show he barely remembered watching with one of his old girlfriends became his reality. He just didn't know it because he spent all his life in Chicago.

Seeing that the characters from Modern Family were real-life people in this world. Just what else could this world hold?

Does that mean I was destined to come here? To live in LA? But why? Mathew thought as he quickly exited his thoughts and reengaged with those in front of him.

"Hey there, Luke. I'm Mathew. But you can call me Matt." Mathew said quickly at the young, uninterested boy.

"Hello," Luke said with a sigh. Alex coughed behind her fist and gave her brother a look. Sighing again, Luke forced a smile on his face. "Hello!"

"I'll leave you three alone so you can get to know each other." Phil patted Luke and Alex's shoulders and walked off to chat with the other adults. "Have fun!"

"So, where are you from? Alaska? Texas? Oh! I've never met anyone from Canada before." Luke asked as he tried to guess where Mathew was from.

Mathew shook his head. "I'm from Chicago."

"The place with the shiny bean?"

"That's the one." Mathew chuckled as Luke saw his heavy bag lying on the ground next to the open garage door. "Nice! A boxing bag! Can I go hit it?" Luke asked in excitement. Quickly moving on from his original question. Nodding his approval, Mathew watched as Luke ran off and began raining wild punches to the heavy bag while he offered his own commentary.

"He throws a right and a left, and then another right!" Luke said as he continued throwing more awkward punches.

"Sorry about him," Alex had her hands behind her back. She and Mathew stood next to each other as they watched Luke. She noticed how she barely reached Mathew's shoulders.

"It's fine. That's how kids are." Mathew said.

"So… will you be attending Palisades High? I mean, that is the main high school for our district, after all," Alex said quickly, regretting her intrusive question as soon as it left her mouth. Mathew didn't seem bothered by it and nodded in response. "Yep, I'll be starting there next week."

"Transferring in the middle of the year is gonna be rough," Alex said with some sympathy as she crossed her arms in front of her. Mathew rubbed the back of his head and nodded. "I'm sure it wasn't easy leaving your old school and friends behind."

"Yeah. It was pretty tough. But my dad got this big promotion he couldn't afford to miss, so we had no choice but to move here." Mathew said with a sad smile as he thought back to the few friends he left.

While he was slightly sad that he wouldn't have any of his old friends around anymore, Mathew was anything but inflexible. "It's fine. I'll just make some new friends here."

"I see. Well, I could… be your friend." Alex shyly said as a slight blush brightened her cheeks. "Only if you want! I mean- I uh…"

"The way I see it, as window buddies, we're already friends, Alex." Mathew smiled as he watched Alex's face brighten up.

"Thanks, Mathew."

"My friends call me Matt."

Alex smiled widely and nodded. Happy to have made a new friend. A new cute friend, in her opinion.

••o••o••o••

The Dunphy family finally left after they and the Johnsons agreed to share dinner together once they settled in. Alex was a little reluctant to go after she and Mathew got to know each other a little more, which helped her realize that the both of them had similar tastes in fiction. It was after Mathew suggested they exchanged numbers so they could continue chatting over text that she relented and followed after her mother and father. Luke, being exhausted after stringing the heavy bag nonstop, dragged his feet back home.

With no more distractions, the Johnsons quickly got all of the boxes inside their new home and unpacked as much as they could before their dinner, which was some pizza Jefferson ordered, arrived. From there, they decided to call it a day and relaxed for the rest of the night. They would leave all the remaining unpacked boxes for the days to come.

Within his room, which was full of boxes, Mathew lay on his bed reading a Batman comic book under the light of his nightstand lamp. His eyes, however, remained still as his mind wracked itself over his current predicament.

"I'm in a world where characters from an old sitcom television show are as real as me," Mathew muttered as he looked up at the ceiling of his room. "Does this mean I'm now in a sitcom? Are people currently watching me?!"

Mathew dropped his comic and let out a nervous chuckle. "Hopefully not. I'd probably shoot myself if I were just someone's source of entertainment. Still, I guess being reincarnated in the world of Modern Family isn't that bad. I could have been reborn in the Walking Dead or some other Eldritch horror world."

Before Mathew could start thinking about what to do with his current situation, he heard a quick electronic hiss. Blinking, he watched as a game-like screen materialized before his eyes.

"No way… could it be?"

[The Advancement System has been fully downloaded!]

[With the Advancement System, the Host will be able to continuously increase his physical and mental prowess through continued hard work. Unlike normal people, all of the Host's efforts will not be lost over time and will only continue to stack as time goes on. This will allow the Host to grow beyond human limits and reach heights never before seen!]

"Hmm, in other words, as long as I work hard to accomplish something, my progress will continuously improve no matter what, and my results won't diminish regardless of how long a break I take between whatever I do. That's rather convenient." Mathew said thoughtfully as he wondered what possibilities this System had.

With his new System, Mathew now has the potential to increase his intelligence to super-genius levels continuously, provided he studies hard every day. Additionally, he can sharpen his current amateur boxing skills to a professional level if he dedicates himself to training. It wasn't limited to only that. He could pick up anything he wanted and quickly reach the levels on thought achievable by geniuses and prodigy's!

"Still, I'm sure it's not going to be that easy. Stuff like this never is." Mathew said as another window popped up in front of him.

[Another feature of the Advancement System is the Mystery Box reward system that will award the Host with any random Skill or Item once they complete a set task or event assigned by the System!]

"Hoh, Hoh! Now we're talking!" Mathew grinned as he couldn't help but wonder just what kind of mystery skills or items he could win from the Systems mystery boxes.

[As a thank-you gift for being the systems Host, here is a free Mystery Box from System!]

[You have (x1) Mystery Box available! Would you like to open it?]