The Gift of a Friend
Inspired by: Matthew West's The motions and Demi Lovato's Gift of a friend
The finale bell of the day rang and the students of Norrisville poured out of the classrooms like an avalanche in to the hallways. In no time, almost everyone had already left and gone home. A teen with dark purplish hair, step out of a classroom with a slightly glum expression on his face. A boy with orange/ginger hair ran up to him. "Cunningham! There's a monster attacking out there!" he exclaimed.
A black and blue ninja was attempting to fight it but was losing. They were thrown into the wall of the school. "Ow..." she mumbled holding her head. "Where is he?" she thought to herself.
The other boy sighed. "Of course there is." he replied and walked down the hallway. The boy looked around and saw no one around besides them and ran to catch up. "Rachel's out there and she's losing!" he exclaimed.
Rachel was slammed into the wall again and she was hurting.
"...Aw man." the other blurted out and slip into a blind spot and put on a mask that suddenly wrapped black and red ribbons around his body, revealing a ninja suit. The ginger boy waited.
Rachel looked up at the supposed monster she was fighting and it smirked at her. It was her exact height and everything except no ninja suit and jet black hair with red eyes and fangs. It was her dark self. "Great..."Rachel mumbled before getting slammed into the wall at least three more times.
The ninja pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it down and appeared behind the dark Rachel. "Ninja headlock!" he snapped as he restrained her.
She tried to get free but couldn't. She made her hand glow with this dark black light and she put it over where the spiral on his ninja suit was and then the light disappeared as well as the spiral for a moment but then it returned but it was a bit darker than usual.
Rachel was clutching her head. Dark Rachel smirked and disappeared. The ninja stepped back. "What the juice?!" he exclaimed and then looked at Rachel. "You alright?" he asked her. "My head hurts really bad..." she replied getting up. "Sorry for being late." he said. Rachel smiled. "It's fine." she replied.
She was really sore from hitting the wall so much. The ginger boy, Howard walked up. The ninja seemed a little distracted, not really noticing Howard. Howard looked at him. "Hey ninja-" he said startling Randy. The spiral seemed to be getting darker slowly turning black.
Rachel wondered off. Randy whipped his head around to look at Howard. "What the- hey Howard." he replied. Howard looked at him. "Was something bothering you earlier?" he asked. Everyone had left and Rachel took her mask off. Randy was about respond but then stopped as a blank expression washed over his face for a second then he took off his mask. "Oh yeah there was..." he replied.
Howard looked at him. "Want to talk about it?" he asked. Rachel was laying down cause she hurt all over. Randy shrugged. "It's...nothing too serious." he replied. Rachel fell asleep. "Are you sure Cunningham?" Howard asked. Randy suddenly had an annoyed look on his face. "Look Howard, I said it was nothing!" he yelled.
Howard looked at him sort of surprised by his sudden change in attitude. "Fine, Cunningham! You don't have to snap at me!" He yelled back and stomped off. "Whatever!" Randy shot back and turned around and walked away. Rachel was asleep on a bench and Nomi appeared in front of Randy. "What was that about?!" he demanded.
Randy glared at Nomi. "What?!" he replied. Nomi glared at him. "What is wrong with your attitude?!" He demanded. Rachel woke up cause of the yelling. "My attitude is JUST fine, thanks!" Randy snapped back at Nomi. Nomi growled and disappeared. Rachel looked over. "Jeez, what's his problem?" Randy mumbled as he walked.
Rachel looked up at him. Randy headed home. Rachel followed him from a distance. Randy looked over his shoulder and saw Rachel following him and he started to walk faster. Rachel stopped and watched him. Randy continued to walk down the sidewalk and stormed into his house. Rachel was curious of what was wrong.
Randy walked into kitchen and sat down at the table. Rachel used a smoke bomb to appear in her room. She sat down and healed herself. Randy noticed something wasn't right with himself. Suddenly he got a headache, stopping him from exploiting the problem any further. Rachel laid in bed.
She hoped Randy was okay. Randy got up and went outside. Dark Rachel was nearby. Rachel fell asleep. Randy walked down the yard and sighed. Dark Rachel saw him and smirked. Randy looked back at his house and then over the fence. She started to walk towards the forest. Randy looked over and saw her but thought she was Rachel. "Hmm, what is she doing out there?" he whispered and went and followed her from a safe distance.
She continued to walk into the forest. She made sure he was following her. Randy followed her deeper into the forest. She finally led him so deep into the forest and hid. Randy stopped and looked around. "...Rachel...Rachel?!" he called out. She was sitting in the tree behind him and smiled. "Have fun trying to find your way out ninja." she said before disappearing. Randy turned around and saw nothing there but trees. "You gotta be kidding me." he mumbled.
Rachel walked down stairs to look for Randy. "Randy?" she called and there was no reply. Randy was trying to go back the same direction he came but he was just getting himself more lost. "Well this is wonk." he said to himself.
Dark Rachel was still watching. "Don't you wish you hadn't yelled at Howard and Nomi? I doubt Rachel would even come find you. You've somewhat lost all your friends. You thought you could do it alone, but it just makes it harder when you do. You thought you didn't need help, but isn't so hard to walk on your own?" she said hoping that the darkness she had used on him would make these words sting and burn.
Randy stopped and stiffened in his tracks; he clutched his hands into a fist then began to feel a tear steep out of his eye. "Lost and defenseless, you left the ninja mask at home. I could, no wait, WILL easily kill you. For no one cares for you anymore. No one wants you. You are nothing; Nomi can easily get a new ninja. You just happened to be chosen." she snarled at him. She kept throwing harmful insults at him till he finally fell to hands and knees.
Rachel was trying to find him. Randy had his eyes closed tightly and was trembling as he started to cry. She smirked. Rachel was running towards them. "You're useless and weak. You're no hero." she said. Randy sniffled and wiped some of the tears away from his face. "Maybe she's right..." he thought to himself. "No one would notice or even care if you suddenly disappeared." she said and Rachel ran into the forest still searching. "Join me and you won't be so invisible. Either join me or die." she said.
Randy felt something dark trying to block him from making the right decision and he stood up. "...W-where are you?!" he bellowed. She appeared in the tree. "I'm right here." she replied. Rachel was almost there. Randy stepped back and glared at her. "After all that you think I'm going to join you!?" he asked. "Sooner or later you will." she replied and tackled him and pinned him to a tree and held him there about to kill him. Rachel was in the trees. Randy looked at her with one eye closed and kicked her, hoping she would let go. She didn't care. She was going to either kill him or make him like her.
Rachel came out of nowhere and tackled her making her drop Randy on the ground. Randy groaned and looked up and saw Rachel fighting. "Leave him alone!" She exclaimed and continued to fight but lost and was beaten badly and was thrown to the ground beside Randy. "Rachel!" Randy exclaimed in shock and sat up looked at Rachel's dark self. She smirked. "I WILL MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NO MORE FRIENDS." She said aiming a fireball at Rachel who was out cold.
"No!" Randy cried out and shoved Rachel out of the way, trying to shelter her. Dark Rachel glared at him. "Move!" She demanded. Randy looked at her, his eyes were red from crying. "... No!" he shot back. Dark Rachel growled. Rachel slightly moaned and quickly pulled Randy down as dark Rachel almost burned him. "Whoa- Rachel, you alright?" Randy asked looking at her. She softly nodded. "Yeah." She replied.
Dark Rachel aimed at them. Randy glanced over seeing Dark Rachel aiming at them. "Brace yourself." he whispered to Rachel as he tried to carefully scooped her up and hid behind a tree. Rachel closed her eyes gripping him. Dark Rachel engulfed them in fire. Randy squinted his eyes and saw the flames surrounding them. Rachel held onto him tight. Dark Rachel smirked. "Join me and I'll spare you." she said. "Answer is NO!" Randy replied as he threw himself backwards through the flames, holding Rachel close.
Dark Rachel growled. She made the fire burn hotter and stronger. Rachel winced. "Aaah!" Randy exclaimed and stumbled to his knees. The fire was burning them alive. Rachel coughed cause of the smoke. Randy felt the heat overwhelming them and painfully dived through the fire again with Rachel and hit the ground running. Rachel winced in pain. Dark Rachel continued to throw fireballs at them. Randy had sweat dripping down his forehead as he ran forward, dodging behind trees. They were both burned badly.
Rachel was still coughing. Randy leaned against a tree and gasped for air. Dark Rachel used a spell to make them unable to get out of the forest. Randy was tired and sore and weakly looked at Rachel. Rachel looked up at him weakly as well. They were burned and covered in smoke. Randy sat down and gave a small cough. "I'm sorry..." Randy muttered. "Sorry for what?" Rachel asked softly. Randy sighed. "For going into the forest in the first place." he replied. "It's fine. I forgot my mask…" she replied. "...I did too." Randy said sadly.
Dark Rachel watched them. Randy looked up and could barely see the sky. "We got to get out of here." he whispered. Rachel nodded and looked around for an exit. Randy looked as well but still stayed close to Rachel. Rachel couldn't find an exit. The fires were getting closer. "...This is not good." Randy said and then looked at Rachel. Rachel looked at the fires and weakly got up. She took a step towards them. "Rachel, what are you doing?" Randy asked.
"I can go into ninja rage without my suit so maybe I can make an opening so you can get out." She replied. She walked closer and went into ninja rage and made a small opening but only one could slip through. "Randy! Quick, get through." She exclaimed. Randy slid through the gap she made and tumbled to the ground. She looked at him and quickly tossed something else through. "Randy, I can't get through there and it's closing! I can try to make it!" she said and attempted to jump through but dark Rachel grabbed her and made her fall into the fire. Rachel screamed.
"Rachel!" Randy cried out and tried to get her out. The fire kept him from reaching her and Rachel passed out and was burning. Randy flipped his hood over his head as he quickly stepped back and then forcefully went into the fire and pulled Rachel out, then fell to the ground in pain. Rachel wasn't breathing. Dark Rachel watched. Randy looked at Rachel and noticed. He then got back up and began to do CPR on her, doing chest compressions. Rachel still wasn't breathing and her heart had stopped. She had died.
Randy sat back and stared at her, tears begin to roll down his cheeks. "No...This can't be happening." he whispered. Dark Rachel smirked and appeared in a tree like the Cheshire cat. "It's your fault she's dead, I mean she came to find you and ended up dead." she said. Randy looked down then glared at her. "...Because of you." he hissed. She just smirked. "I suggest you run before I do the same to you." she said still in the tree.
The thing Rachel had thrown through had landed in his hoodie pocket. Randy didn't want to leave Rachel and put his hand in his hoodie pocket and pulled something out. It was her locket. Randy looked at it for a moment still sniffling then opened it up. It had a picture of Rachel and her family one on side and one the other a picture of him and her at the prom. Randy closed the locket and put it back. "...I can't believe this..." he sniveled.
Dark Rachel just smirked and left. Flare looked for Rachel and Randy. Randy sat there, devastated, hurt and weak. They were out of the forest and Flare had finally found them. "Randy!" She exclaimed as she flew over but as soon as she saw Rachel she stopped. "Is she?" She asked and Randy just slowly nodded, not even looking up.
"If we can get her to a hospital then maybe she'll live." She offered and Randy looked up at her. "It's worth a shot I guess but I don't have my ninja mask…" he replied sadly. Flare dropped his and Rachel's ninja masks on to the ground in front of him. "You do now. Come on, we shouldn't waste time. I can sense she's not completely dead yet." She told him. Randy nodded and carefully placed Rachel on the ground in front of him and slid the mask on.
The ninja suit wrapped around him and he picked up Rachel and threw a smoke bomb to the ground appearing at the hospital. "Please, take her. She got caught in the middle of one of my fights and there was fire so she got burned very badly." Randy begged in his ninja suit and they took Rachel to the emergency room.
Flare looked at Randy who just sighed and disappeared with a smoke bomb and took his mask off and entered again and waited. He had his hood on trying to hide his burns.
The doctors were trying to save Rachel but nothing they were trying was working until another doctor walked in and told the others to leave and called Randy to come in there with him. Randy approached the room and opened the door.
The doctor smiled softly at him as the door swung shut. "So your Nomi's newest student?" he asked and Randy was startled by this question. "Wh-What? Wh-who's Nomi?" he asked, trying to hide it. The doctor chuckled. "It's alright. I was the ninja once too." He replied. "May I see the mask?" he asked.
Randy wasn't sure if he should trust him. "Um…" he mumbled and the doctor smiled. "My name is Conner. Nomi and I were close friends." He explained and Randy found the Nomicon had appeared in his bag and he took it out and placed it on the ground and Nomi appeared. "Hello Conner. It's nice to see you again." He spoke, kindly.
Conner smiled as they hugged each other for a moment then Conner turned to Randy. "Please, if you want your friend to live then I need the mask." He spoke and Randy handed it to him. Conner slid it on and it wrapped around him and he started some of the healing spells he had learned over the years. Randy watched with hopeful eyes and Nomi tried to help the best he could.
Once they were done they backed up a bit and Conner took the mask off and handed it back to Randy. Randy slowly approached the bedside and held Rachel's hand. "Please Rachel, don't leave me… I need you." He whispered to her and squeezed her hand slightly and the loosened the grip.
They waited for any sign of life but about an hour passed and nothing had happened. Randy looked down sadly but his hand still holding her hand and thought he felt her hand move slightly and he looked up and he felt a slight squeeze on his hand with very little strength.
Randy smiled as Rachel gasped for breath and her eyes fluttering open. "R-Randy?" she asked and Randy carefully squeezed her hand. "Yes? I'm here." He replied. "You said you need me." She spoke quietly her voice was quite weak. "Yes. I do need you." He replied only to receive a smile from Rachel. "Well that's good, because I need you too." She replied smiling. "Because if there was only one thing I could ever have, I would have chosen the Gift of a Friend."