Runaways - Eddsworld AU

Chapter 1

  "Hah!  Oh, that party was WILD!"  Rose exclaimed.  "Boy, it's been a while since I've gotten that drunk.  It makes me feel young again!"
     John chuckled, "Tell me about it!"  The couple continued to laugh together as they stumbled down the sidewalk to their house.  On their way, John noticed a little shack down the road that wasn't there before.  There was a large, poorly made sign in front of it that read "free fortune telling".  The entire place was really trashy on the outside, he got a kick out of it.
     "Ah, one of those fake-ass 'fortune tellers' decided to waste people's time around here," he pointed out to his wife.  "Whaddaya say we mess around with them a little bit?  It's what they get for lying to people."
     "Ah, that would be the perfect way to end the night!" Rose laughed.  "I'm in!"  The two walked into the shack, which was a lot nicer on the inside.  It was very dark and spacious, the room only being illuminated by a small old lady with a glowing crystal ball.  The lady perked up when she saw John and Rose walk in.
     "Hello, hello.  Welcome, my name is Miss Beryl.  Have you two come in for a reading?"  She smoothly greeted them with.  The couple did not return her tone.
     "Pft, are you seeing this?"  John chuckled.  "She's got one of those fake crystal balls and everything!"
    Rose laughed along.  "Aw, that's great!  Where'd you pick that up from, the costume store?"
     Miss Beryl tried to stay polite with them.  "If you don't believe in my power, you are more than welcome to leave.  I am not one to be messed with," she warned.
     "What power? The power to waste people's time?"  John joked. 
     Rose nodded.  "Yeah, totally like you're not messing with everyone that passes by with your 'fortune telling' rubbish."
      "Ah, classic drunk youngsters.  This will be your final warning," Miss Beryl nearly snapped.  The negative energy in the room was strong, but the two didn't seem to notice or care.  They continued to laugh.
     "Oh, you're real funny Miss barrel roll or whatever your name is!"  Rose chuckled.  "Any-who, John, how about we get going?  I think we've had our fu-" the entire room suddenly lit up in a bright purple, all coming from Miss Beryl's crystal ball.  A cold breeze circulated around and caused everything in the room to gently swing. 
     "I warned you twice not to disparage me or my magic, now you must pay!"
Miss Beryl shouted.  She lowered her tone to seem more lighthearted, though she made it clear she was still unhappy. "You two have been trying for a baby recently, right?  Well.. I shall curse you to give birth to a creature of your worst nightmares!  With this creature, the worst of luck shall follow."  The bright light and swirling breeze stopped abruptly and so did her anger.  "Well.. have fun."  They both left in silence.  Rose was beginning to take her seriously, while John was still completely unamused.
     "John, I'm thinking she might be serious," Rose trembled.  "How did she know we've been trying for a baby?  Plus, if she was telling the truth, our dreams could be ruined.."
     John put an arm around her.  "Don't worry your pretty little head about it, Rosie.  You know those curses and stuff are all made up."
     "But what if they're not?  Maybe she was serious the whole time.."
     "Listen, if you're that worried, how about we try again?  I'm sure we're both too tuckered out for that tonight, but how does tomorrow sound?"
     Rose thought about it for a moment.  "Hm.. well.. you know what, sure.  We've been wanting to have a baby ever since we fell in love, after all.  I shouldn't break that dream over some made-up curse."
     John gave her a pat on the back as they arrived home.  "That's the spirit!  Well, why don't we get some shut-eye?  It's past midnight."
     "Sounds good.  Night, John."
     The next day went exactly as planned.  They tried harder than ever for a child and after years of attempts, it finally worked.  They couldn't possibly be happier.  By now, the whole memory of the curse that was put on them completely disappeared from their minds from all the excitement.  Well, this was until they got their sex-determining ultrasound.
     "So, how's the baby doing?  Is it a boy or a girl?"  Rose asked excitedly.  The doctor on the other hand didn't seem very excited.
     "Well.. first of all, it's a boy.  Secondly, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but your child.. doesn't seem entirely human."  She pulled up the ultrasound photo and showed it to the couple.  They both gasped. 
     "Looks like she was serious," John whispered.
      "Well, no shit!" Rose whisper-yelled, her voice cracking as she started to tear up.
     "I've never seen anything like this before.  Your child appears to be developing horns, a tail, and other inhuman features.  I don't even know what other species this could possibly be, but whatever it is, it could really harm your body to give birth or even go any further through your pregnancy."   The two of them began to tear up, soon going into full-blown crying. 
     Once they were done crying, John suggested, "So.. Do you think we should get a.. y'know.. abo-"
     "NO!"  Rose snapped.  "We've both been working for this baby for as long as we've been married, some defects won't stop us now."
     The doctor had a worried look on her face.  "Are you sure, Rose?  Your husband is right, an abortion could save your life."
     Rose had a blazing look of determination in her eyes.  "I will carry this baby, give birth to him, and raise him like any mother would.  Nothing and I mean NOTHING will stop me."
    And that she did.  She gave birth to the child successfully and named him Thomas.  She had to keep him inside and away from the outside world most of the time because of his appearance and potential harm towards others.  This included homeschooling, leaving him home alone often, giving him limited to no internet access, and cutting off his access to anything else that could give him contact to anyone outside of the house.  The only times he ever went outside were occasionally in the backyard.  Even then, everything around him was blocked off by a tall, thick fence.
     The bad luck promised by the fortune teller was coming hard as well.  It seemed to get worse and worse throughout the years.  It started with small things like losing important items or having bad days and by the time he turned 8, escalated into things like breaking bones and constantly getting fired from jobs. They even ended up losing the lives of people close to them.  All of this was so hard to bear, but his parents loved him nonetheless.  They kept pushing through all the hardships for their son.
      Things got even more difficult after Tom went through puberty.  Most of it was relatively normal, just like an average human's growth.  This was until he developed the ability to take on a new form.  Whenever he would get too enraged, he would turn into a complete demon and go full destruction mode.  Since he wasn't full grown, this demon wasn't as huge or destructive as it could have been, but it was still terrible both for Tom and his parents. Eventually, this form kept getting worse and worse to the point where Tom's parents had to get him prescription medication to keep it under control.  These worked, but his other negatives kept getting worse.  Tom was now 17 and his parents have had enough of him.
     "You know, Tom's been doing nothing but destroying our lives for 17 years now.  That's 17 years we've had to suffer through just because of a dumb mistake we made when we were drunk," Rose rambled.  "If things continue to get worse, we'll probably be dead before we turn 50." 
     John rubbed his head.  "I know, I know, but what is there to do?"  He asked.  "I mean, he's 17.  He'll be moving out in a few years anyway."
     Tom couldn't help but overhear his dad mentioning him as he walked past the room.  He decided to sit in the hall right next to the door, listening in on what they were saying. 
     "I know exactly what we need to do," Rose blankly stated. "We need to reverse our mistakes, finish what we started."
     "How?  Are we gonna find that old lady from 17 years ago and beg her for forgiveness?  She's probably not even alive anymo-"
     "Johnathan, we need to kill Tom.  Of course I love him just as much as any mother would love her son but it's for his own good, for the world's own good!"  The second Tom heard this, he was completely shocked, angry, and confused.
    "WHAT?!"  He shouted, standing up against the door.  His parents instantly went silent, as they always would when he got mad.  They were scared of him, really.  "No, no.  Don't you go all quiet on me now.  I need you to open this door and explain to me what the fuck you were just talking about."  He could feel his eyes glowing white, as they always would pre-transformation.  Ever since he got out on medication, however, that was the farthest it would go.  His mom unlocked the door, gently cracking it open before Tom pulled it open himself.  "What was all of that? What old lady?  What mistakes?  You want to KILL ME?!"
      He started tearing up, out of both anger and sadness.  He was beginning to really process that last part.  His parents, the only people he ever knew, wanted to kill him?  He's always felt like a burden to his own family, but he never thought they would go this far.
      "Thomas, calm down," John advised.  "Your eyes-"
   Tom began to sob.  "CALM DOWN?!  How do you expect me to calm down when the only people I've ever known are trying to end my life and won't even tell me why?  You guys act like you love me yet-"
     "Tom, we will explain everything to you as long as you can stay quiet for a few minutes, okay..?"  Rose shivered.  Tom sighed in agreement. 
      And "explain everything" she did.  She went in full detail about everything that's been going down behind the scenes ever since the night of the party.  She went into extreme detail in every bit, making sure to make everything as clear as possible to avoid questions.
     "And that's how you came to be.  That's also why we need to get rid of you," John explained.  "You know we truly love you, son.  We don't want to hurt you by any means. Think of it as euthanasia - we're doing it out of love."
     Tom was now a lot less confused, but a good deal angrier.  "So.. you're saying that you want to kill ME just because YOU were some childish drunks that fucked with a witch?! I'm just a mistake, a product of all your bullshit?!"
     Rose went in to hug Tom.  "Oh, sweetie.  You're not a mistake.  We've always wanted y-"
   Tom yanked himself out of his mother's arms.  "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" He screamed at her.  Just like that, he ran off to his room, grabbed some necessities, and bolted out the door.  He ran like lightning down the road.  He had no idea where he was going and wasn't even familiar with most of the outside world, but all he knew was that he had to get far, far away from home as fast as possible.