The Battle: Hearts or Friendship?

Chapter 5: The Plan of Revenge

!TW! Mention of killing or death, mention of injuries, nightmares

(Clown's POV)

As I came back to the living room, I thought, who to go after first? Maybe not Subz and Vitalasy yet, I already killed Subz and Vitalasy's probably already trying to kill me. Maybe Zam would be the easiest? I sighed in frustration. I doubt there will be an end to having people going after me every single day anytime soon, especially Vitalasy. I wished I knew how many people I was really going up against, since it would give me a better view of how I need to prepare. I heard noises coming from Branzy's room, but it must've been him moving around, because no locks of silver white hair had poked out from around the corner. I continued to plan, eventually deciding it would be easiest to go after Prince Zam for now. I suddenly felt a wave of sleepiness wash over me. I looked at the time. 11:36 P.M. It was getting late, so I headed to bed.
I walked down the hallway, past Branzy's door, and to my room, at the very end of the hall. I checked in my bathroom mirror to do my nightly handsomeness check, and to also check my injuries. I couldn't see many of them, as they were covered by wraps and bandages that were put on earlier. But I could still see that I had red marks and small scars all over my body. I grimaced at the sight, but let my expression soften, knowing they would heal eventually. As I climbed into bed, I let myself drift off to sleep as I thought about my master plan.

(Branzy's POV)

I was somewhere that was filled with a cloudy haze. And through that cloudy haze, emerged three shadowy figures. I couldn't make out their faces, or clothes, or anything. I didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, they were walking closer, surrounding me. I tried to scoot as far away from them, but they kept getting closer as I kept moving back.
"Don't you recognize us, Branzy?" One of the shadowy figures said, its voice bouncing around the haze as they moved closer again.
I shuddered as I told the figures, "S-s-stay away from me! Stop!"
A smile appeared on the figure's faces, and as they stepped forward again, one stood out from the others. I immediately knew who the shadowed figure wearing a crown was, and they confirmed my guess as they were revealed.
"Zam?" I said in a high voice.
Prince Zam came out of the shadow with a wide smile on his face.
"Branzy, Branzy, Branzy..." he leered with a chilling tone. "You shouldn't have betrayed us."
"I promise- I promise you I didn't!!" I told them as I tried again, to back away.
One of the other figures smiled as he also walked out. "Ohh, but you did betray us, Branzy. You know what you've done, don't you?" He said, stepping forward and revealing himself. It was Vitalasy. The other figure must've been Subz, his normal purple particles hovering around him as usual.
"Vitalasy, Subz, Zam. We can talk about this!" I told them.
"See, but there's the problem, I don't think we can just... talk about that," Vitalasy said, as he stepped even closer, Subz's purple particles rapidly swirling around him. There was only a few feet between me and Vitalasy.
"You see, when it comes to betrayals, we deal with those things very quickly, don't we?" Vitalasy said, pulling out his sword.
"WAIT! Wait! Please, Vitalasy we can talk about this!!" I pleaded, trying to find a way out of this.
"Well, I don't think we will, because we don't like traitors," Vitalasy said, a thin line replacing his eerie smile. He stepped forward again.
"Goodbye, BranzyCraft." And he swung his sword down.

I gasped for air. I couldn't feel anything, or see anything. Was I really dead? No, I still had lives... I would have 9... but what was happening? I heard a noise, but the only thing I hoped was that it wasn't Vitalasy, Subz, or Zam. Two strong arms wrapped around me, and I squirmed around, trying to get out of the person's grasp, but they wouldn't let go. I thrashed my body around as much as I could, hitting the person, until I heard a familiar voice.
"Branzy! Stop it! It's me!" The voice said, slowly dragging me out of my daze.
                  "Clown?"
                  "Are you alright, Branzy?" The voice asked.
I didn't want to answer, so I opened my eyes, to find a shadowed and concerned face staring at me, or rather a clown mask.
"Is that you Clown?" I asked to the darkness.
"Yes, it's Clown," he grunted. "Are you okay?" He let go of me, and then I realized what had happened.
"Y-yeah, I think so," I replied. I couldn't tell his expression, but he was curled up next to me, holding his arms and chest. "Are you okay?" I asked him.
"Yeah, other than you thrashing and punching me on my arms, I would say I'm okay." Clown said.
"Oh my, I- I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to hit you Clown!"
"It's okay, I'm fine, the pain will go away later. But what was with all the thrashing earlier? What happened? I heard you screaming, so when I came to check on you, you were thrashing everywhere and you were murmuring something. It sounded like you kept saying, "no" or something like that." Clown told me.
                 "I... I don't know why." I looked down, cheeks flushed a hue of pink.
                 "Probably just a nightmare, but what happened? You can tell me about it, if you want." Clown said softly.
I shuddered as I told him, "I think I- I had a nightmare about the three of them..."
"What are the three? Who are the three?" Clown asked.
"Zam, Subz, and Vitalasy. I was in like this cloudy place and there were shadowy figures... and when they walked out from the shadows, it was them... And then they told me that I shouldn't have betrayed them- I tried to stop them, but I couldn't. And then Vitalasy killed me..." I said between hiccups.
Clown seemed to stiffen at the mention of Vitalasy.
"Vitalasy-he killed you?" Clown said.
"Yeah... I think so," I replied shakily.
But sure enough when I looked down at my forearm, there were still 10 hearts. I noticed Clown's arm prominently featured 11 hearts, a former heart of Subz's beside his other hearts.
"Well, he didn't kill you, it looks like. But never mind that. You were going to betray me?"Clown asked me.
"No! I wouldn't ever betray you Clown! I wouldn't betray my friend! Besides you would instantly kill me if I ever did!" I hastily replied.
Clown looked away as he said, "But aren't Vitalasy and Subz your friends?"
"No, I wasn't planning on becoming their friend, really. They just kind of came up to me on the first day, and just made me their friend. Ever since, they've just included me in their doings." I told Clown. He seemed to stiffen up again.
"I wanted to be your friend, Clown. I had a choice in that. But with Vitalasy and Subz, I didn't really have a choice." I admitted.
Clown turned back to me as he said, "I believe you, Branzy. Don't worry about the three of them. I wish you didn't have to deal with this in the beginning of Lifesteal, especially as a newer player..." He seemed to have a distant look, as if he was thinking about something, as he added, "I'm just glad you're okay, I'll tell you my plan tomorrow, or rather later today." He looked at the clock on the nightstand. It read 2:37 A.M.
                  "Just... get some rest, I'll see you later Branzy." Clown says, yawning. He closed the door, leaving me in the darkness alone with my thoughts. The darkness seemed to keep shifting. Was something there, or was I just losing my mind and going insane? I shifted back to my thoughts, thinking about what just happened. Why were Vitalasy, Subz and Zam in my dream? Was this a warning for me? Was I doing something wrong? Clown didn't even seem worried at all, just concerned... but Clown was the deadliest here, and he was concerned? I let myself mull over these thoughts for a while, until I looked at the clock again. 2:57 A.M. Whether I would be able to get sleep was beyond me, but I decided to give it a try for at least a few hours of sleep. As I laid back down on the bed, I only thought of the moments ahead in this server. And with that, i slowly drifted off to sleep, and blacked out.

IT'S DONE!
I'm very sorry that this one took soooo long. Been busy with irl stuff, but hope you enjoy this long chapter!
N1ghtP1erc3... out.
(1510 words)