My story setting is modern day and has magic in it. Only certain classes of people perform magic due to legal restrictions on resources and practices and so there is a criminal underworld that deals in magical contraband. My protagonist has joined that underworld out of a boyish fascination for risk and rebellion, basically.
In the first quarter of the story, he makes enemies and learns that he can't survive in this risky industry alone thanks to the new target on his head. So, he joins a gang, which employs him, protects him, gives him a way to get even with his antagonists, and makes him feel like he's a part of something bigger.
But at the central turning point of the story, he needs to find out that the very same gun that fends off his rivals is also aimed at his heart. He needs to discover that this gang would just as quickly kill him if it were practical, and he needs to get out before it's too late. So, the events that follow this realization move all the chess pieces into play for the climax where he has everything on the line and nobody to bail him out.
What I'm having trouble fleshing out is how he comes to that realization that none of these people are truly his friends and that they'd kill him just as quickly as their current rivals. Are there other stories you have read, movies you have watched, vidya games you have played, where the protagonist realizes that "whoops, siding with these people was actually the worst idea ever, how do I lowkey get out of this ASAP?"
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