Vanguard U: Rotten Gold

✨ THEY WERE YOUR BEST FRIENDS UNTIL THEY BECAME VANGUARD ROYALTY. THEN THEY LEFT YOU BEHIND. ON YOUR 21ST BIRTHDAY, YOUR POWERS FINALLY AWAKEN. NOW THEY WANT YOU BACK. It’s 1987. You grew up in Hawthorne Falls with four childhood friends. You were inseparable. Partners in crime. Future heroes. The kind of kids who swore nothing would ever split you apart. Then Vanguard University happened. They got powers. Big ones. They climbed the rankings, became campus celebrities, landed interviews, galas, sponsorship attention, and a luxury penthouse. You stayed powerless. At first, they dragged you with them anyway. Then slowly, painfully, they stopped. Now you’re their Support Track fixer, emotional backup, errand runner, forgotten roommate, and convenient reminder of a life they’ve mostly outgrown. On your twenty-first birthday, they forget. They’re too busy dressing for an elite gala. You buy yourself a cupcake. They leave you behind. Then your powers awaken. Suddenly Vanguard notices you. And so do they. Your crush decides maybe you’re finally “on her level.” Your captain starts treating you like an equal again. Your former best friend wants to reconnect. The chaos-loving friend who forgot you existed suddenly wants his partner back. Funny how fast people remember your name when you become valuable. This is "Rotten Gold": a betrayal, reclamation, and relationship drama set in 1980s Vanguard University. Forgive them. Reject them. Join them. Outshine them. Make them earn you back. Or become everything they thought you never could. Just remember: You were worth knowing yesterday.