Power of Friendship

“Your friends aren’t yours” the cold voice declares.

The eldritch man sneered and circled me to block me from standing with those I trusted. I attempted to look into the eyes of the friends I had many adventures with, but they refused to share a single glimpse. I felt my heart turn cold as I realized the man wasn’t lying and my breath shuttered with tinges of fear.

“Why?” was all I could ask as the friends did nothing as this man freely walked around.

“Simple; you believe everyone has good in their heart. It’s the first thing you said to me when you found me. This bothered me a lot because you do not understand cruelty like I do.” The man intervened in the conversation and reformed into a purple reflection of myself, except covered in twisted scars.

“This is ridiculous. We need to stop this guy and stop giving him attention, come on” I urged as my friends watched the madman continue to circle me like a shark. I continue to try and meet their eyes yet they hang their heads.

“I was like you, but this world chewed me up and spat me out to rot.” the man said with such a bitter sting. “I don’t need to tell you my sob story, I hate this world and am going to rebrand it to the excellence I deserve. I will become the savior.”

The man deformed into a taller figure with a crown and looked towards the color-splashed night sky glittered with stars. He peers out the large window and releases an obsessive laugh.

“We- I will stop you and never let you distort the galaxy further” I claimed as I gripped the thunderblade and felt the white magic whirr with sparks.

“I haven’t answered your question yet. I wanted to study you because you wanted to be this good-hearted ‘hero’, so I paved the way for you to rise to perceived greatness” the man chucked as he continued to pace.

“I had these actors study you while adventuring just to humor you. Anyone would’ve figured out these were fake friends. It only takes someone who craves attention and validation to fall for strangers who support every little thing you do.”

I felt my skin turn cold and my head fill with clouded anxiety as the reality settled in. I sheathed my blade as my eyes bounced across the floor and my chest tightened with dread. I looked to see my “friends” aim their weapons towards me with apathetic eyes. I felt the fiber of my being shutter as this was my first time making eye contact with people I considered friends who carried such a cold and dull gaze.

“Good, you’re getting it. You see, Vapor, there are no heroes or villains, we are all horrible and disfigured. So, here is what is going to happen. You can either use your potential of greatness for my cause, or-“ the man continued to ramble on but I decided to take action.

I leaped backward towards the window and smashed through it into the high altitude of the night sky. I exhaled as I felt the wind screech in my face and I felt my chest suffocate in anxiety. Sparks emitted from my body as if I were a firework descending from the sky. I reached for my sword and attempted to begin glyphing a spaghetti portal through the air, but I instead felt a sizzling splosh onto my grip, instinctually jolting the sword away. I looked upwards to see the assassin frog girl I trusted as a friend descend the sky with her acidic blade.

The frog girl punctured my shoulder with her sizzling yellow blade and all I could do was yell in pain. I looked towards the frog woman to see a maddening stare of hatred in those glowing yellow eyes.

“I have never seen that look before” I groaned as I attempted to relinquish her blade.

“I’ve always hated you, and this is finally justice for the weeks of enduring pain” she croaked

I attempted to reach for my blade as it dangled in the air alongside our descent onto the pavement. The frog gives a crazed smile as she slowly begins to turn the acidic blade to melt the flesh away in my shoulder. I yelled and kicked out of instinct, but I was beginning to feel the poison burn throughout my body.

“Funny. We met by you saving my life to now, where I get to end your life. Isn’t life cruel? Especially for someone who cannot fathom the idea of losing his only friends?” she sneers once again with a crazed glare.

I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly as I reached for the blade with just my fingertips. I continued to slow down and exhale my thundering heart as the electricity pulses throughout my body. I opened my eyes and felt the electricity spark through my body as we both descended closer towards the ground.

“You want to know what’s funny?” I asked with a newfound vigor as my body charged and emitted electric pulses. “The best part about being betrayed is your mind never forgets and my lightning curse grows stronger every time I get blindsided”

“You’re an idiot, lightning isn’t going to save you” she sneered as she began to push the blade further.

“No, but a sword will” I retorted as I immediately snatched the blade and slashed the frog girl. Her grip blasted off me from the force of the lightning and I quickly flipped over to face the rising ground. I tore the acidic sword out of my shoulder with a grunt and began glyphing a spaghetti portal once again. Once the electric glyph was complete, I slashed with my blade and flew into the quantum spaghetti portal. I rocketed out of the opening of the portal and into a big pool of jelly. I watched as the excess electricity cracked through the sticky substance before I was rejected from the substance into the air.

After landing on my feet and sitting on the ground, I dropped the acidic sword and released a frustrating sigh.

“Those friends were fake, and the worst part is I knew.”