The Strength of Friendship

by SuperNeos2

AU. Logan has been abandoned by his friends upon entering High School. He's the outcast and target for bullying. He wants a friend more than anything. Will he get one or fall to the darkness of his heart? Watch as Logan battles against his inner demons and against a group of strange individuals who are interested in him and his special gene. Lomille, JoXOC, Kucy

11. The Trials of Friendship

Disclaimer: Own OC, not BTR or anything else

Chapter 11- The Trials of Friendship

3 days ago:

Cole and Michael infiltrated Frankie's apartment building, heading for their targets Frankie Wilson and Logan Mitchell. Cole had a plan to ensure the awakening of the boy's gene and to recruit at least one of them into the organization that was Saikou Ninnin.

Michael used one of his bolts from his crossbow to pick the lock on the door, gently opening it so it didn't awaken the boys that they were supposed to kidnap. He and Cole walked in and found the two boys sleeping on the couch, looking rather hurt.

Perfect.

"This is just too easy," Cole said as he scooped Logan up and tossed him over his shoulder, the genius stirring a little at the slight movement.

"I love you Camille." He mumbled under his breath, loud enough for Cole to hear him.

"Hey Mike, you hear that?" he asked.

Michael rolled his eyes "Yes Cole, Logan has a crush on a girl throw a party," he said sarcastically as he tossed Frankie over his shoulder.

"I didn't mean what I said Jo, I love you and want to be with you." The young boy stirred, Michael sighing at Frankie's words.

"These boys must've had an interesting night." He said as he and Cole walked out into the night with Frankie and Logan on their shoulders.

Present:

Frankie stirred as he opened his eyes to see that he wasn't in his house. He was in a dirty room at a, what he assumed to be, dock. He looked to see his buddy Logan next to him starting to awake too, why were they here? What the hell was going on?

He was going to find out?

The room was empty except for a few rats, specks of dirt and dust and him and Logan.

"Logan, where are we?" Frankie asked the boy, who jumped in surprise at hearing his voice.

Logan looked around really quick to see that he was with Frankie at a location that was not his house. He remembered going to sleep on Frankie's couch and now they woke up here? What happened and who brought them here?

"I don't know Frankie; it just seems to be a dirty room with nothing in it." He observed as he stood up, groaning as he did. His back was sore from the hard wooden floor of the room and could've sworn he felt a few splinters in it.

Frankie followed suit with his friend, standing up and cracking his knuckles "I don't care, I'm gonna bust us out of here!" he exclaimed as he charged the door and slammed his shoulder in it, knocking himself back at the force of the collision.

Logan rushed to his friend's side "You shouldn't do that, don't you see the movies? The villain will come and reveal themselves soon." He said, remembering a few movies that had the same type of conflict and scenario that the two of them were in at the moment.

Frankie frowned "I'm not gonna wait, I'm busting us out now!" he yelled and made another attempt to bust the door down, only to be knocked back again.

"I was going to open the door Frankie, so impatient," a cold voice called as the door opened and stood a man with brunette hair and a crossbow.

"WHO ARE YOU!" Frankie demanded to know, pointing a finger at him.

"My name is of no importance to you, what I came here to know is if you guys value your friendship with each other?" he asked, getting a confused look from Frankie and Logan.

"Yes we do," Logan said.

"Well, we'll see about that, follow me." He commanded as he jerked his head toward the door and walked, Frankie and Logan following him at a safe pace.

After a minute of silent walking, Logan spoke up "Aren't you going to tell us why you kidnapped us?" he asked, getting no response from the mysterious man.

"Answer him." Frankie demanded a bolt landing in his shoulder. Logan gasped as the man held his crossbow in one hand, his head still facing forward and walking.

'I didn't even see him move.' Logan thought as Frankie pulled the bolt from his shoulder and threw it back at the guy, who caught it and placed it back on his side.

"Shut up and keep walking," he growled, Frankie and Logan keeping up pace with him now, not wanting to get shot by the guy.

They walked until they made it into another room, which was not all that different from the one that Logan and Frankie awoke in, only this one had a table with a few vials with a strange purple liquid in it.

The man walked to the table and leaned on it and reached in his pocket. Frankie and Logan tensed, waiting for him to pull out a weapon but he didn't pull out what they were expecting.

He pulled out a coin.

"Frankie, your heads, Logan, your tails," he told them as he flipped it and the boys watched the coin flip and flip in the air, not wanting to know why the man was doing this but were also curious as to why he kidnapped them in the first place.

Finally the coin came back down and landed in the man's hand, it came out heads.

"Frankie, drink the poison," the man commanded, pointing his finger to the vial.

Frankie and Logan gulped, poison? Why did the man want them to drink it, actually why did he want FRANKIE to drink it?

"HELL NO!" he yelled outraged to the man.

In a flash, the man had Logan pinned against the wall, knife to throat and a cold stare. Frankie couldn't even register what just happened when the man had Logan pinned to the ground, the knife still resting on his throat.

The man stared at him "Drink it…or I'll kill your friend," he offered, a smirk starting to grow on his face. "It's either you or him."

Frankie gulped "Won't the poison kill me?" he asked, sweat starting to roll down his face.

The man shrugged "Maybe, or maybe not. Drink and find out for yourself, if not then…well, your friend here will die."

Logan looked at Frankie as best he can "Don't drink it; I can't watch the only friend I have left die in front of me. Forget about me, just run and get away from here," he said.

Frankie gave his friend a sympathetic look "But, I won't be able to live with myself if I let you die when there was a chance to save you," he said, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

Logan gave him a smile, blood was starting to come out from the pressure the knife had on his neck "I won't mind dying; it'll give me an escape from the pain that I been feeling for a long time. I love you Frankie, you became my friend, the only one who defended me from the bullies, the one who showed me kindness when everyone showed me nothing but hatred, please don't drink it I beg you."

Frankie shook his head slowly "No, my death will be the thing that opens everyone's eyes and make them treat you better," he reached for the vial, despite Logan yelling at him not to "You're my best friend Logan, don't forget me," and with that, Frankie put the vial to his lip and gulped the poison down.

"NOOOOO!" Logan yelled, the man's mouth was twitching while he saw Logan's reaction.

Flashback:

"Take the beating like a man" Kendall challenged as he kept slamming his fist into Logan's body, trying to find a vulnerable spot to hit.

"No" Logan said barely above a whisper as he felt blow after blow connecting with his body. He didn't really feel pain anymore, only anger. Angry that his friends abandoned him, angry that they thought they could treat him like this and angry that they acted like they were NEVER FRIENDS AT ALL.

By now a crowd of students, including James and Carlos, had formed and were cheering Kendall on.

"Kick his ass Kendall" James called with his hands cupped over his mouth to make his voice seem louder against the crowd.

"Show that nerd who rules the school" Carlos called.

Logan again felt angry seeing James and Carlos there and acting like if there was nothing wrong with what was going on with him and Kendall. He wanted to get up and stand up for himself, but knew that it would make things worse and he was outnumbered with everyone else.

"WHAT THE HELL" an unfamiliar voice shouted out amongst the crowd. Everyone turned their head to see a freshman wearing the school's hockey jersey, one similar to the one Kendall, James and Carlos wore, so they knew he was on the team. He had brown hair that was spiked up in the front and he looked PISSED.

Kendall seemed to have an idea on who he was "Hey, you're the new kid who was accepted on a full 4 year hockey scholarship here right" he asked, only getting a nod from the other kid. "The principal said that there would be a new player" he said, the kid only glaring at him.

"What the hell is going on" he asked him, turning his look to the kid beaten on the floor. His parents bloodied forms flashed across his mind for a bit before focusing back to the kid in front of him. He was wearing the same hockey jersey he was, Minnesota High written on the front in white and a picture of a hockey stick and puck in the middle. His dirty blond hair was held down and his green eyes held a disgusting satisfaction in them, no doubt from beating on the other kid.

Kendall pointed to the bloodied Logan "Meet the biggest nerd in school Logan Mitchell. I'm the captain of our hockey team Kendall Knight and these are your teammates James Diamond" he pointed to the brown hair boy "and Carlos Garcia" he pointed to the black hair boy.

"Why are you beating on him" he asked, eyeing Kendall ready for him to slip up giving him the answer.

"He bumped into me" was all he said making Frankie raise his eyebrow in confusion as he looked back and forth between Kendall and Logan, his fist balling in anger.

"Did he apologize" Frankie asked, struggling to hold in his emotion of anger, not wanting to get kicked out on the first day.

Kendall blinked before shrugging "He did, but he should have never done it in the first place" he said to try and get his new teammate to see what he was doing as it seemed he was defending Logan. They couldn't have that, that would make him unpopular and they didn't want any unpopular kids on the team.

"THAT'S NO REASON TO BEAT HIM" Frankie yelled, his anger rising with every word this idiot was telling him. "HE APOLOGIZED, THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH REASON TO NOT BEAT HIM. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM HIM" he was gritting his teeth at this point, trying to contain himself.

Logan looked in awe at this new kid who didn't even know him. Someone was actually defending him from Kendall; someone was trying to stop the hurt.

Flashback end:

He was going to lose his friend, the one who defended him on that day, the day where they were connected, the day where his life became bearable.

Frankie waited and waited and waited, but nothing happened. He looked all over his body to see if something had changed but nothing happened to him on the outside. He didn't feel anything happening to him on the inside either, wasn't poison supposed to do something to your body?

He looked to the man and glared "Wasn't I supposed to die or something?" he asked, watching as the man's mouth twitched.

Soon, the man exploded into a roar of laughter, getting raised eyebrows and confused looks from Frankie and Logan. The man took a deep breath and calmed down "No, that wasn't poison. It was a lie so that I can make this much more suspenseful than it would've been if I didn't tell you it was poison. That was just grape juice," he explained, getting off of Logan to go and drink one of the vials himself.

He set it down and faced them again "See, nothing. It was a test, one of the many tests you will face here today. We know what you guys are and want your gene to be awakened so we can use you for our personal use." He explained.

Logan walked toward Frankie and looked to the man with a raised eyebrow "Wait, we?" he asked.

"Yes, there are more people in my group, although between us I hate them all and want to kill them, but I can't," he said.

"Why?" Frankie asked.

"Because we're the same, and lookie here, here is the only female member of our group," he introduced dramatically and sarcastically as the door opened and an attractive brunette with an AK-47 attached to her back entered.

She rolled her eyes "Shut up Michael, you're not funny or clever by doing that," she said, casting him a glare as she did.

The man, now identified as Michael, glared back "Fuck Jackie, I didn't want them to know about my name," he said, smirking after a second "Wait, I just told them your name, sorry woman."

She reached for her gun as he reached for his crossbow, but stopped as she remembered why she came here in the first place, she looked to their fellow, well…something, and smirked "Follow me, your next test awaits you." She said as she walked out.

Frankie looked to Logan, who looked back to him and sent a silent message to each other asking if they should follow her or make a run for it.

"I would follow her if I were you, she can get pretty bitchy if you don't listen to her," Michael advised.

Just then a barrage of bullets came flying through the door, taking it off of the hinges. Logan tackled Frankie to the floor before they could become swish cheese and watched as Michael took the full brunt of the bullets.

They were relieved until they saw Michael simply look out the door, no doubt to Jackie, in boredom, not even winded or even in pain. To him, it's like he didn't even get an entire clip of bullets loaded into his chest in the first place.

'What kind of people are we dealing with?' Logan and Frankie thought in unison as Michael flipped Jackie the bird from his spot.

"You just wasted an entire clip of bullets," he told her.

Jackie stuck her head through and glared at him before glaring at Frankie and Logan "FOLLOW ME NOW!" she bellowed, this time Logan and Frankie rushed out the door behind her, waiting to see what she had in store for them.

Michael watched in amusement as the two ran out the door to Jackie, both looked freaked out of their mind, not that he can blame them. He sat there and watched as his chest repaired itself, the holes that Jackie put in closed up and appeared as if they weren't there in the first place.

He sighed "Every time I say something to her she pumps led into me…bitch." He mumbled before disappearing in a black aura, all traces of his presence were gone.

Jackie led the confused boys down the corridor, all three were silent, the only sound coming from their footsteps and the water that dripped from the ceiling onto the floor. Logan looked to Frankie but Frankie didn't look back, his gaze completely focused on the brunette that was leading them to possibly their death or something far worse.

Jackie walked to another door and kicked it open, the door almost falling off from the force of her kick. Logan walked in first to see that there was a hole in the wall, with glass on the ground in front of it and continued inside the hole. He narrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he took the image of the glass into his mind.

Frankie walked in after him and looked at the glass too. This was really confusing the hell out of him, why was there glass on the floor? What was coming next? Michael said that they would face tests today, was the glass one of the tests too?

Jackie looked toward the two boys "Since Frankie did the first trial, Logan here will do the second," she said calmly, pointing to the glass that was on the floor in front of them.

Logan gulped, hands trembling significantly. He could hear the voice of his inner self telling him to run, but didn't hear it as he was frozen in fear "What do I have to do?" he asked slowly, voice cracking every now and then.

Jackie took her AK and pointed it over the glass "Simple, crawl through the tunnel on the glass." She said in a no big deal type of voice.

Frankie and Logan paled at what she just said. Crawl on glass? That was diffidently dangerous; Logan could die if the glass goes in too deep.

Then again, maybe it was a trick. Yeah, like how the supposed poison was only grape juice. Maybe the glass wasn't real and was harmless. These people were scaring him and Frankie, trying to get them to turn on each other to save their own ass.

Logan grinned "Okay, no big deal," he said, skipping over to the glass. Frankie grinned too, but neither noticed Jackie's smirk growing on her face. These idiots were playing into her hands; they were going to see just how far they were willing to go to get them to unleash the gene that rested inside of them.

These trials were really only meant for Logan. Frankie already had his gene awakened when he saw his parents die right in front of him, the red and black eyes were really not that hard to miss. The anger and killing intent that Frankie held in his eyes that day was just intriguing; maybe he was a Super Saikou Ninnin or something along those lines.

She watched as Logan went to the glass and got on his stomach, that stupid fucking grin never leaving his or Frankie's face. Michael must've given them a false sense of fear; his trial was idiotic in her opinion. Michael was actually an idiot in her opinion as well, never taking things seriously and taking the easy way out for everything that they did…

She would thank him for that later as it was working out nicely for her.

'Stupid bitch,' his words came back, making her glare at the wall. Maybe she wouldn't thank him after all.

Logan moved his arm on the glass, not prepared for the glass going through his skin and into his arm, almost piercing his vein.

His scream echoed as Frankie looked in horror at the blood rushing out Logan's arm, the genius had tears flowing down his face. His eyes changed and lunged at Jackie, not caring if she was a girl. All he cared about was beating her for what just happened to Logan.

He was kicked into the wall by Jackie, the 'bitch' placing the AK by his throat.

"Nice attempt, but don't try it again if you want to live," she warned, Frankie growling but his eyes didn't change.

She looked back to Logan, who was still clutching his arm "You get going now or I'll kill your friend here."

Logan glared at her, his left arm covering the blood covered right one "This is fucking nuts!" he spat, shocking Frankie as Logan rarely cursed, he only heard him curse once and that was when Jo and Camille's plan was found out.

Jo, he just couldn't get her out of his head. He should hate her, after all she lied to him and destroyed him, well not really destroyed him but hurt him in a very bad way, he should want her out of his life and head forever but he just couldn't.

Maybe he loved her; maybe he didn't mean all those things he said to her about her being a bitch and what not.

Flashback to Party:

"YOU FUCKING BITCH. I GAVE MY HEART TO YOU AND YOU WERE JUST FUCKING WITH ME THE ENTIRE TIME. YOU KNOW THE PAIN I HAVE IN ME AND YOU STILL WENT ALONG WITH THIS? FUCK YOU" he yelled, Jo gasping in shock and hurt.

"It's not like that…" she tried to explain. Frankie's body started to shake, whether from anger or hurt, they didn't know.

"SHUT UP, DON'T LIE TO ME YOU BITCH. YOU KNEW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE DOING AND WAS JUST DICK RIDING WHOEVER HIRED YOU TO DO THIS. DON'T TELL ME BECAUSE I DON'T FUCKING CARE RIGHT NOW. YOU WENT WAY TOO FAR BY DOING THIS TO ME AND YOU COULD'VE STOPPED. BUT YOU INSTEAD DECIDE TO HURT ME" he yelled louder, his voice was starting to crack the windows as his body started to get a red aura that was barely visible.

"I'm sorry…" Jo cried.

"NO YOUR NOT. IF YOU WERE SORRY YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE. I HATE YOU, YOU FUCKING TWAT" he spat; tears were now visible in his eyes and Jo's, although Jo's were more visible.

End of Flashback:

Just thinking about the tears that she had in her eyes made Frankie's heart ache, she genuinely looked sad and hurt by what he said.

If he made it out of this, he would talk to her about what happened.

Logan watched as Jackie's AK rose and took that as his sign to keep going or Frankie will get shot. He knew she wasn't bluffing as she opened fire on her own comrade when he said one negative thing about her; imagine what she'll do to her 'enemy'.

Again, why were they forcing them to do this? What was the whole point of these trials as Michael called them? Well, no matter what they were, they were going to finish it and demand answers from the assholes that kidnapped them.

Let's hope they weren't too badly outnumbered.

He gulped again and crawled into the tunnel, the glass impaling him in his arms and legs in various spots.

Jackie grabbed Frankie by the throat "Let's wait for your friend at the finish line," she said, dragging the boy out the room toward another one.

Logan's eyes were filled with tears as the boy felt the razor sharp glass impale him in all vulnerable spots on his arms and legs. This hurt, this hurt a lot and he didn't know why he was being forced to do this. Sure they'll kill Frankie if he doesn't, but why the whole trials thing in the first place?

Did they meet these guys before and did something to them that made them hate Frankie and Logan?

He didn't know but would figure it out…if he survived this glass crawling that is.

He kept moving, images of Frankie filling his head. His friend's life was in his hands and there was no way he was going to fail him, no matter what. Not after the way Frankie helped him.

"You shouldn't let people make fun of you or treat you like crap Logan, if you do then your doing what they want" he explained as he started to spin the notebook on his finger out of boredom.

"I'm not tough like you" he tried to explain but Frankie cut him off

"I'm NOT tough; I just say whatever I feel like. That just means that I'm a free spirit and I express my feelings" he said with a smirk on his face.

"To me you're tough and I admire that. I wish I can be as strong as you, but I can't" he said with his head bowed in sadness and in shame.

"This may sound weird but you can never 'can't' be something" he said a little unsure of himself as it sounded weird to him. "What I mean is that you can be whatever you want and nothing can stop you from doing it, not even these bullies who harass you." he smiled "Until you get the confidence to stand up for yourself I'll be here and even after that. You're my friend and I'm not going to abandon you no matter what" he explained as he clapped Logan on the shoulder and stared at his eyes as he spoke his words to him.

Logan looked in awe at his friend and simply nodded while holding in his tears of joy "Thank you Frankie" he thanked and the said boy laughed.

"Like I said yesterday, it's fine to cry" he said.

Logan kept going and didn't stop; sure he was getting dizzy as he was losing a lot of blood from all of the holes that were being made as a result of the glass going in and out. He could've sworn he heard a vein pop but passed it off as a hallucination as he would be dead by now if that was the case.

After what felt like an eternity, he saw another hole in the distance and crawled to it with the little strength he had left and saw Frankie and Jackie before passing out from blood loss.

Jackie sighed before starting to patch the young boy up, closing off the holes that now covered his arms and legs by stitching them shut, he still had some use after all, he can't die yet.

Frankie glared at her "You stupid bitch," he growled, waiting for Jackie to pull out a weapon on him. This girl was fucking crazy in his opinion, making Logan crawl on razor sharp glass just to save his life. He didn't want his friend to suffer just to save him.

Just then, a blond guy with blue eyes opened the door and his eyes widened upon seeing Logan unconscious on the floor. He looked to Jackie horrified "Jackie, what the hell?" he screeched, his M3 shotgun bouncing up and down as he did.

Jackie rolled her eyes, picked Logan up and handed him to the newcomer of the jackasses who kidnapped Frankie and Logan "He's just unconscious Sean, no need to freak out over nothing," she said before giving Frankie a small smirk "Have fun Wilson." She said before vanishing in a black smoke, gone just like Michael had done.

Sean looked to Frankie, fixing Logan so he was hanging off his shoulder "Follow me," he said, Frankie following without saying a word. This new guy seemed nicer than the other two he met. Michael was an emo while Jackie was a bitch, but this guy seemed to be more at peace with himself then the two of them were.

He followed Sean to another room, a table with rubbing alcohol, a knife and a metal rod with a flamethrower rested on the table. Frankie thought about using that flamethrower to burn this newcomer but decided against it as it probably wouldn't work and he was holding on to Logan still.

Sean set Logan down against the wall and leaned on it himself "I don't like to give people false hope, so I'll say it like it is," he pointed to the table "Use those items I placed on the table to cut off your finger, you can pick which one."

Frankie could've sworn his eyelids snapped off from how fast his eyes snapped open. He looked to the items and back to Sean at a speed that wasn't traceable "Let me guess, do it or you'll kill Logan," he said, still trying to process the fact that he will have to cut off his finger.

Sean shrugged "Maybe not me, but my partners sure will kill him. Just do it and you guys can leave a lot faster, it'll make everything easier for you and me." He said in all honesty, not one trace of venom or dark intentions in his voice.

Frankie blinked at the sheer honesty of the man and gulped, his hands slowly moving for the alcohol that rested on the far end of the table. He grabbed it and slowly opened the lid and dumped the liquid on his left hand, he was right handed and hadn't decided what finger to cut off yet.

He set it down and glanced toward Sean, who pulled his shotgun off his back and pointed it to the still unconscious Logan, who stirred when the weapon came in contact with his skin.

Frankie glared at him, but didn't say anything, instead taking the flamethrower and adjusted the metal rod so it was hanging off the edge and pointed it to the wall, toward Sean but away from Logan.

He fixed the flamethrower and pointed it to the rod, hoping that some of the flames will catch on Sean and burn him, if only a little bit. If it did happen, he could just say that it was an accident.

He turned it on and watched as the flames set the top of the rod on fire, well not really on fire but it was burning it a lot. He waited a second and turned it off, disappointed that some of the small flicks of flames did not touch Sean in anyway. He took the knife that was sitting there watching him intently, waiting for him to pick it up and placed the cold piece of metal over his pinky finger, the sharp edge placed tightly against the tip of his finger.

He started to think that this was fucking nuts, that maybe this was just a sick joke that was being recorded somewhere and everyone was watching him and Logan go through hell and back just to make it to the next trial to risk their lives again.

He took a deep breath and turned to Sean "Cover his ears, this is gonna be loud," he warned, the blond covering Logan's ears as Frankie brought the knife down, his finger flying off and blood spraying all over the room like a garden hose.

"FUCKKKKKKKKKK!" he screamed as he fell to the floor, clutching his finger stump tightly to try and stop the bleeding, the rod never even crossing his mind. He just laid there; screaming like someone who just found out someone they loved had been killed. Frankie compared the two and concluded that this was more painful. Sure his parent's deaths fucked him up big time, but this was more painful physically.

Even with Sean covering his ears, Logan woke up to see Frankie lying on the floor clutching his hand, yelling louder then Logan thought was even possible. He wanted to talk, but his body wouldn't move, like if his body wasn't getting any blood through it and can't move a single part of his body. (This happened to me a few times; I try to move but can't and have to put a shitload of effort to move my hand so I can get up)

He saw Frankie grab a rod and slammed it on his finger, the smoke from the heat of the rod rising up as it came in contact with Frankie's skin. He wondered why he did it but when his hand moved he got his answer and boy was he not expecting this.

Frankie didn't have 5 fingers on his hand.

He heard the screams turn to whimpers and locked eyes with Frankie. They couldn't talk as another guy, this time with black hair with a ponytail, came in with a sword resting on his waist. He grinned when he saw the finger of Frankie on the floor, completely abandoned by its former owner. This new guy picked it up and bit it, taking the tip of it clean off.

He spat it back out "Disgusting," he mumbled.

'Yeah, says the guy who bit the finger in the first place,' Logan thought with a glare to the new man.

"Take them Danny, maybe your trial will be a little better for them." Sean said as he vanished like Jackie and Michael did, leaving the three alone.

Danny kicked Frankie in the ribs, forcing the boy to stand up, his hand still covering his finger. Danny waved his hand and like magic, two duel disks from the anime Yu-Gi-Oh appeared with decks inside them.

"I know you two used to play this game, now I won't move you as we are very close to the outside now and that is where the final trial will take place. For now play and give me a good show," he said, leaning against the wall.

"Oh yeah, whenever you lose points, you'll get burned by the flamethrower here." He said, grabbing the weapon as he did.

Frankie and Logan exchanged looks before activating the machines.

"We can't hold back Frankie, if we do then there is no telling what this guy is going to do,"

"I know Logan; give me your best shot."

Frankie: 4000

Logan: 4000

"I'll go first" Logan said as he drew a card "I summon Troop Dragon in defense mode (700 ATK, 800 DEF) and place one card in facedown. I end my turn" he said and Frankie smiled.

"That's it, well I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode (1600 ATK, 1400 DEF) and now I'll attack your Troop Dragon" he said as he pointed to the dragon and Sparkman shot out a bolt of electricity and the dragon was destroyed.

Logan grinned "You see when my dragon is destroyed I get to summon another one from my deck" he said as another one appeared causing Frankie to frown

"I end my turn" he said as Logan drew another card and smirked at what he drew.

"I'm about to show you true terror. I play my facedown card Call of the Haunted, this allows me to bring a monster back from my graveyard and I choose Troop Dragon" he said as the dragon came back. "I now sacrifice my 2 dragons to summon out the one and only…" he said as his 2 dragons disappeared in flames and merged together in one big line of fire. Jo was confused as to what he was summoning, but Frankie had a good idea and his suspicions were confirmed when Logan finished "…Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400 ATK, 2000 DEF)" he roared as the legendary dragon appeared. "Now attack Sparkman, Inferno Fire Blast" he shouted as the dragon shot a fireball at Sparkman and destroyed the monster causing some of the flames to burn Frankie's shirt.

"AHHH" he shouted as he was pushed back by the flame,

Frankie: 3200

Frankie grabbed his chest in pain "Hey what gives" he asked Logan as he stood back up

Frankie growled and drew his card "I draw and play Dark Fusion, thanks to this card I fuse Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200 ATK, 800 DEF) and Elemental Hero Clayman (800 ATK, 2000 DEF) to make…Evil Hero Infernal Sniper (2000 ATK, 2500 DEF) in defense mode" he said as the 2 heroes fused to make a darker hero. Frankie slid a card in the slot "I place a facedown and end my turn" he said as the card appeared on the field facedown.

Jo smiled at what he was doing 'Great, Infernal Sniper has more defense points than Red Eyes' attack points and on Frankie's Standby Phase it does 1000 points of damage. He has a chance' she thought and Logan grinned.

"Your monster can't protect you from my Red Eyes' attack" he said and Frankie frowned

"Why not" he asked and Logan held up a card called Inferno Fire Blast.

"Because this time his attack is an actual card, when I have a Red Eyes on my field and I play this card you lose life points equal to my dragons attack points" he said as Red Eyes prepared another fireball and Frankie gulped

'This is gonna hurt' he thought as the blast from the dragon and Danny's flamethrower blasted him simultaneously and Logan gasped at seeing his new condition: the blast gave him a second degree burn that covered most of his chest

"FRANKIE" Logan screamed at the fallen boy.

Frankie: 800

Logan felt tears coming to his eyes as he took a look at Frankie's condition "I am so sorry Frankie, I don't want to hurt you but I don't have a choice," he said with a tear rolling down at the end and Frankie stood up, ignoring the intense pain in his chest.

"Well now it's my turn pal and thanks to my Sniper's effect you lose 1000 life points" he said and the monster shot out rockets towards Logan and it hit him dead-on.

Logan: 3000

"And now I play Pot of Greed and draw 2 more cards. Then I play Foolish Burial, which allows me to throw a monster from my deck to the grave yard and I choose Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500 ATK, 3850 DEF). I summon Elemental Hero Stratos in attack mode (1800 ATK, 300 DEF) and thanks to his effect I can chose an elemental hero or evil hero and add it to my hand and I chose Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600 ATK, 1800 DEF). I play Double Summon, which allows me to summon another monster to my field, I sacrifice Stratos to summon Edge in attack mode and before you freak out let me explain. Since you have a monster on your field, I can summon him with one sacrifice" Frankie explained as Stratos faded and Edge took his place. Frankie smirked as he switched Sniper to Attack mode "Now I switch Sniper to Attack mode and I'll have Edge attack your Red Eyes" Frankie said as Edge destroyed the dragon in one sweep.

Logan: 2800

"And now Sniper attack him directly"

Logan: 800

Frankie smiled "What do you know in one turn, I just evened out the playing field" he said as he activated his last card "Last but not least I play Gold Sarcophagus which allows me to pick a card from my deck and remove it from play, but in 2 turns it gets added to my hand and I chose Dark Calling and end my turn" he said as a golden box appeared and a card slipped inside.

Logan growled at how in one turn, Frankie managed to turn the whole duel around "You want to play games then fine. I activate Monster Reincarnation and I discard a card to get a monster back and I chose Red Eyes, then I summon Red Eyes Black Chick (800 ATK, 600 DEF) and thanks to his effect, I sacrifice him to summon Red Eyes and then sacrifice him to summon Red Eyes Darkness Dragon (2400 ATK, 2000 DEF)" Logan said in one breath as a darker form of Red Eyes Black Dragon appeared. "This is Red Eyes Darkness Dragon and thanks to his effect, he gains 300 attack points for every dragon in my graveyard" he said with a grin as Red Eyes' attack points rose to 3900.

Frankie stared in awe "3900 attack points" he gasped out and Logan grinned and pointed to Sniper.

"RED EYES DARKNESS DRAGON, END THIS" he shouted

"I ACTIVATE HALF OR NOTHING, THANKS TO THIS YOU CHOOSE TO EITHER END YOUR BATTLE PHASE OR CUT YOUR MONSTERS STRENGTH IN HALF" he said as Logan thought it over.

"I chose to cut my monsters strength in half" he said as Red Eyes' strength fell to 2700 and the fireball hit Sniper and the flame burned half of the bottom left of Frankie's pants.

"AHHHHHHH" he screamed as he fell facedown on the platform.

Frankie: 100

"No, this duel is mine. I activate the magic card Time Jump (fake card), what this card does is jump one turn in the duel" he said with as big a grin as he could and Logan raised an eyebrow.

"What's the point?"

"The point is that now I can take my Dark Calling from Gold Sarcophagus and now I use it to fuse Sniper and Valkyrion from my graveyard to summon Evil Hero Dark Gaia (? ATK, ? DEF)" he said as the new hero appeared and Logan raised his eyebrows

"THAT'S it, THAT'S the monster you put your hope into" he asked and Frankie smiled

"Yep because his attack points are the sum of the 2 monsters I used to fuse it" he said as Dark Gaia's points rose to 5500, causing Logan to gasp and Frankie to hesitate.

"I can't do it, I won't hurt you Logan, this is killing me," he cried, dropping the cards as he did.

Logan gave his friend a reassuring smile "It's alright Frankie, do it, attack and win…just one more trial and we can go home," he said.

Frankie smiled back, although it was forced "Thanks Logan, I'm sorry," he said as the attack hit Logan, the poor boy being burned in more places then he thought possible.

"AHHHHHHH!" he yelled as the double dose of fire burned him.

Logan: 0

Frankie: 100

As Logan's points hit 0, the monsters, cards and the disks disappeared and left the three alone again, only Frankie and Logan in worst pain than they ever were in their whole life. Danny sighed and strolled over, popping out a small bag of pills and shoved them down the boys throats. Jackie was good for something alright and that was medicine, Frankie and Logan were stable now from the flames for at least a few hours.

He grabbed them by the necks and dragged them to the exit right next to where they already were, an anchor with two chains attached covered the small pier where they were being dragged to.

Danny attached them to each of the chains and dropped a knife in front of each of them before moving away, making space for the arrival of their leader: Cole.

Cole stood in the middle, a switch in his hand and saw that they were getting rather a lot of attention. Cops were surrounding the pier as they heard a yell and a passing jogger saw that there were flames coming out of the building. Also, there was no doubt in his mind that Frankie and Logan's duel had attracted attention from the explosions that happened when they clashed now and then.

He turned to the two boys "Okay, I won't bullshit and give a long speech, so fight until one of you is unconscious. The victor will be freed while the other one can take a swim with the fishes and sharks down there." He said, watching as the two boys had a hard time standing up.

"One of you will die here, question is…who?" Cole asked as he went to give lovely information to the nice policemen.

The friends locked eyes again as they looked to the knives and then each other. Both bent down and clutched the handle of their respective knife tightly, not wanting to do this. Almost as if Cole sensed their hesitation, he clicked the switch and both boys were shocked from electricity that was traveling down the chain that they were attached too.

"Fight or I'll just kill you both," he warned.

Frankie and Logan were too tired and exhausted to say anything, so simply gave each other a sad glance as the two ran, knife in hand.

Logan and Frankie clashed with the knives, trying to hit the other boy although they didn't want to do it and Logan got a hit on Frankie, shocking the boy as he gritted his teeth in pain from the electricity that shocked him.

Logan was crying "I'm sorry," he apologized, watching as Frankie fought unconsciousness and stood back up, clashing with his friend again and got a hit on Logan, who fell to the ground in a thud as he felt the electricity zap him.

He cried out as he and Frankie charged knives in hand tightly.

"I think I'm starting to like Jo" Frankie admitted to Logan, who grinned at him.

"Someone's in love" he teased, getting a light hearted glare from his friend. Logan laughed and smacked his chest "I'm just messing with you Frankie. I think I'm starting to like Camille more then I ever did" he said.

Frankie raised an eyebrow "Didn't you say you had a crush on Jo" he asked, a little jealously and anger slipping in his voice.

Logan shrugged "I did but, it was just because she was pretty. It doesn't go beyond that to be perfectly honest with you" he said, getting a nod from his friend.

"Well, I say that things are looking up for you" Frankie told Logan with a small smile and a clap on the back. He saw how Logan was completely different from the boy he saw getting beat up when he first came to school and was happy for the change that was happening.

Logan smiled and nodded back at his friend "Yeah, I guess it is" he said.

Classroom:

Frankie felt Jo run her hand through his hair "Hey cutie" she greeted as she ran the other hand down his chest, knowing that she was feeling his pecks and muscles.

He took a sideways glance to Logan and saw that he was beat red as Camille copied Jo's moves onto him. Okay, something was up for sure.

He decided to be a gentleman and greet her back "Hi" he said with a smile as he took in her appearance. Her hair was in a messy bun, which gave her a more breathtaking look than before. Her eyes were filled with happiness and they were also cheery, which meant that something good must've happened to her before. To sum it all up, he thought she was beautiful.

"I need to ask you something" Jo said as she moved her hands back and Camille had done the same. Poor Logan looked like a tomato in Frankie's eyes.

"What is it" Frankie asked with his eyebrows raised. What could he possibly answer for her?

"What kind of girls do you like" Jo asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Okay, why did she want to know that?

"Well…" Frankie stammered, not really sure what to say. "I like girls who are sweet, funny and who have a cheery personality and a will to help others" he answered, noticing that Jo beamed for some reason.

"What about you Logan, what girls do you like" Camille asked him as he stuttered at the sudden question.

"I like girls who are kind, funny and can make me smile whenever I'm with them" he answered trying to flash a smile, which was lost in his embarrassed face.

Camille cooed "That's so cute Logan" she said as she ran a finger down his face, the 'nerd's' face getting more red than before.

Lunchroom:

"It's not that, its just…never mind. I'll be happy to be your boyfriend" he said with a smile. Wow, two days here and now he has the sexiest girl in school as his girlfriend. Frankie guessed if you suffered early in your life then later amazing things will happen.

Jo pulled her new 'boyfriend' into a hug "Oh great, I'm so happy" she said, seeing Camille give her a thumbs up and saw the guys nod in satisfaction as they were walking by, she gave herself a pat on the back for completing the hardest step in one day.

Camille pouted to Logan "Will you be my boyfriend Logan" she asked in the same cute way that Jo had done to Frankie, knowing what his answer is going to be.

"Sure" he said with a smile. These past two days were just heaven to him. He had 2 new friends in Frankie and Jo, he wasn't getting bullied anymore and now he has a girlfriend, just amazing.

Jo wrapped her arms around Frankie's right one "What an amazing and weird day" she commented, getting a nod from her 3 companions.

"Yep"

Lunchroom, again:

"So Logan, you miss your dad lately" James asked, pretty much catching Logan off guard with that.

Logan's face softened "I miss him everyday, why are you asking me that" he asked, suspicion hearable in his voice. Frankie turned his gaze to Logan confused and shocked. Why didn't he tell him that his dad was dead? Didn't he trust him enough? Well, it was only Day 3 of their friendship and he didn't exactly blurt out that he has no parents to him either, so he had no right to talk.

James shrugged "I don't know, just thought I see how you're doing with that" he said. His smile turned into a smirk "Or are you happy that your dad is gone from your life and glad that someone popped a bullet into him" he asked sickly.

Jo and Camille gasped "JAMES" they shouted in disbelief.

Logan glared "Take…that…back" he growled, his head starting to pound really hard. He could feel the anger pulsing through him, just waiting to come out.

"Hey it's an honest question. He was at a restaurant when he was killed right? Some say that it was a midget who did it" he asked again, glad that he was getting Logan all fired up with rage.

Frankie blinked as that sounded so familiar to him for some reason. "James man, back off that's not cool" he glared at the pretty boy. James was going too far with this conversation.

"Back off Wilson, I bet your parents don't even care for you" he spat. He hated it when people talk down on him and tried to stop him from doing what he wanted. It was part of the reason why he abandoned Logan when they started school. He was a goody two shoes that tried to ruin all of James' fun by telling him that 'This is not right' or 'This is not cool'.

"JAMES, TAKE THAT BACK" Jo shouted at her friend, glaring at him with all the hatred that she could muster. No one talked bad about HER Frankie, wait…HER Frankie? Was she really developing feelings for him?

"YOU…SCUMBAG" Frankie shouted, eyes back to red and black with the look of murder in them. His head was hurting and he felt the urge to kill, like he did with the murderer and the kid at his old school. Unlike before, NOW he had canine fangs and his hair was moving up to the point it defied gravity.

"HOW DARE YOU" Logan shouted too, eyes all black with anger. His head was pounding like a drum and he looked to see his fingernails starting to grow out wider, almost like claws.

James looked ready to shit his pants. He didn't expect THIS to happen, Logan and Frankie ready to pounce and to kill him. He looked to Carlos for support, who was frozen in shock. He turned to Jo and Camille, who were watching their 'boyfriends' with horrified and scared looks. He turned to the rest of the kids in the lunchroom, who back away from the scene going on in front of them.

Logan took a step to pounce but Camille grabbed his hand. The nails cut through her skin like a razorblade but she didn't cry or hiss in pain. Logan turned the look to her, which softened upon seeing her.

"Don't do it Logie, please" she begged, tears flowing down her face.

Jo grabbed Frankie's hand as well "Sweetie, don't do something you'll regret" she begged, pulling him closer to her into a hug of comfort. She didn't like to see him like this; she didn't want to see him all pissed and angry at someone.

Frankie calmed down and his features all returned to normal. He looked to see Camille holding Logan and his appearance caught Frankie's attention. He didn't see that his eyes changed like they did before when he got pissed at Wayne-Wayne. There his eyes were a light black (is that even a color) but now they were a dark black color. Kind of like how his used to be.

OH SHIT!

"Sorry guys, James just has a tendency to say stuff he doesn't mean" Carlos said when he saw Frankie and Logan ready to kill him. The whole ordeal was scary to him and he couldn't believe what he saw.

James nodded frantically "Yeah guys that was way out of line of me to say. Hey, to show that I'm sorry how about you guys come to my party on Friday night" he offered.

Frankie and Logan's anger vanished and nodded "Yeah sure" they said in perfect unison.

After the truth came out:

Frankie led Logan to his house and sat him down on the couch. Logan had not stopped crying once since they left the party, he was really hurt now.

"I thought it was getting better" he said, burying his face into Frankie's shoulder.

"I thought so too buddy, I thought so too" he replied and watched as his friend cried himself to sleep and joined him, thinking about Jo's betrayal.

The friends pierced each other…NOT!

Well, Frankie hit Logan, the genius released his knife and let a smile cross his face as he fell backward 'I'll never forget you Frankie,' he thought as he fell unconscious, electricity zapping him in almost every spot imaginable.

Frankie had one eye closed as he witnessed his friend fall back, sacrificing himself to save him. Logan valued their friendship so much that he gave it all to show how much he cared for him. Frankie saw a key land on the space that was farthest from him and Logan and saw that the anchor was going to fall soon. He looked to Logan and made a dash, or limp, to the key, ready to release the chain.

He grabbed it as the anchor fell, dragging Logan and him to the ocean below, his hand tightly holding the key.

"FRANKIEEEE!" he heard a familiar voice yell and saw Jo and her friends rushing to them, all looked tired from the running.

"TAKE MY HAND!" Carlos yelled, his hand stretched forward. Frankie reached but it didn't work, him and Logan were dragged to the ocean.

"NOOOOOO FRANKIE/LOGAN!" Jo and Camille yelled, falling on their knees in front of the spot where Logan and Frankie were dragged to.

Frankie felt the water enter his nose, eyes and just about everywhere else as he swam to Logan. He gave his friend a smile as the key entered the slot and he was free. He watched as Logan got farther and farther away, his smile never leaving his face.

'You're my best friend Logie, and I'll never forget you' was his final thought as Logan vanished from sight.

Logan had resurfaced.

Jo and everyone were shocked as Logan came through the water, coughing violently as he did. Kendall jumped in and grabbed the boy, guiding him to the others.

"Where's Frankie?" James asked, Kendall closing his eyes and shaking his head. "DAMN IT!" James yelled furiously as he pulled his hair tightly, some of it coming out.

Jo closed her eyes and put her hands in her skirt pocket, pulling out a few bobby pins. She reopened them and jumped in, going after Frankie. She was going to save him no matter what…

Or die with him.

"NO JO!" Camille yelled as she held Logan's head in her arms, watching as her best friend dove into the ocean.

Jo kept swimming down until she saw his face, all wet from the water and some blood coming out some wounds he had on his body. She grabbed the pins and placed them into the slot on Frankie's chains, trying to pick the lock to get him free. She only had three and she couldn't afford to fail.

She failed on the first two and could feel the third one about to crack; her eyes had tears ready to flow out but saw the chain break and Frankie free. She grinned and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him up, the two of them heading back to their friends.

They broke through the water and saw the surprised looks on everyone's faces as they came back up.

Jo didn't waste anytime and grabbed Frankie by the side of the face and crashed her lips into his, the boy being awfully shocked and confused as to why she did that. She broke for air after 5 minutes "I'm so sorry Frankie about what happened and me deceiving you but I want you to know that I love you so much and want you to give me a chance," she begged, tears flowing down her face.

Frankie didn't have the strength to smile, so simply nodded "I forgive you and I love you too." He said, sending happy chills down Jo's spine as they kissed again.

The jackasses, ummm Saikou Ninnin's, watched as they saw Frankie's eyes now completely bloodshot red after he broke contact with Jo and Logan's eyes red and black when he opened them for a minute before being brutally attacked by Camille's lips.

They grinned and turned to one another 'Mission Complete'.

End of Chapter 11 of The Strength of Friendship.

SHIT, Suspense and a lot of shit went down here.

Jankie and Lomille are kinda fixed now and soon the guys will apologize to Frankie and Logan.

As for Frankie and Logan's knife fight, its only the first fight between them and more shit is going to happen soon, the most important being how badly these trials fucked Frankie and Logan up and the real goal of The Saikou Ninnin's, who I will call 'The Fearsome Five' from now on.

Have a nice day :)

Next Time: The Aftermath of the Trials