Runaway (first 8 chapters)

Chapter 1

That dangerous crimson gleam in his parents' eyes. Red ruby pearls of blood. Benjamin had grown to hate and fear it. Whenever he saw it sparkle from a distance, he knew he was screwed big time. There was no escaping his parents' wrath when they directed their anger towards them, and Benjamin felt weak and useless because he couldn't escape or fight back. That's what they called him anyway.

Benjamin used to have a little sister. Her name was Cherry. He still remembers her bright smile and naturally bubbly nature, adoring her big brother. She was the whole world to Benjamin, so of course he made sure to take care of her and protect her from their evil parents. He made sure to keep both of them outside of the house as much as he could. But one day, while walking on the streets, they were ambushed. Gunshots. Shouting. Sirens. It was all nothing but a buzz of noise to him as he stared, horrified, at the limp body in his hands, blood gushing out like a waterfall, staining his favorite sweater. Without even uttering her last words, Cherry disappeared that night. Forever. And it was then that Benjamin understood why his parents kept him close. To protect him, to keep him safe from the world who was only out to hurt him. And so he complied with whatever the devils asked of him. He would wake up every night screaming for Cherry to run, though all this did was cause a racket and make his parents even more grouchy with their beauty sleep ruined.

Now that Benjamin's older, he is still haunted by Cherry, but not so much out of fear. When he imagines her kind face, it's only associated with happy memories, save for the dark event of her death. Now he hears her telling him to run. Run away from the demons that control him. But Benjamin feels he is so deep in, he wouldn't be able to get out. That is until a certain red-head in a dark green hoodie, his sweet smile hidden behind a black mask, notorious for his beautiful graffiti art, took Benjamin's hand and pulled him out of the deep hole. Together they were able to run, and although Benjamin couldn't quite forget about Cherry, or what years of pain and torture had done to him, he knew he could count on Picon.

In fact, he was the only person Benjamin could trust.

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The Lemon Demon was incredibly bored inside his ancient prison. Just as he was about to escape, of course some nasty heroes had to hold him back! Now he'd have to wait until next year, and find some lackeys to collect sad soul emotions for him too. He doubted his decision to kill the Spookeez. They were the most useful subjects he'd ever taken advantage of. Suddenly he heard a few quiet voices talking to each other, so he stayed silent and hidden in the shadows. Two humans appeared. One of them looked similar to the annoying brat who had defeated him, with the same blue hair, but he seemed to have no confidence at all and had the attire of a painter. His friend was wearing a green hoodie and a black mask, so the Lemon Demon couldn't get a good look at him. He was holding a can of spray paint. The evil entity listened in on their conversation:

"I don't know about this place, Picon..." Keith 2.0 whispered. "Well, you got a better place to hide?" Picon argued. "...No."

The Lemon Demon wondered who or what they were hiding from. He started thinking about how he could maybe put these two to use like his old pumpkin and skeleton friends- wait, friends? No no no, the Lemon Demon was not friends with them. He merely used them, is what he told himself. For his own selfish uses. Just as he was imagining their childish grins, an illusion of the halloween-loving duo appeared, almost like ghosts to the Lemon Demon, but it appeared as real as ever to the humans. "Hi misters!" the Spookeez said in unison. Keith 2.0 was scared out of his mind. Picon just stared at them, confused. Before the Lemon Demon knew it, Keith 2.0 was in a rap battle with the Spookeez. "This guy can sing too?" he grumbled. He really was just like Keith. He knew that this new human would be his next enemy, but he couldn't do anything in this state. Well, there was one thing. Apparently he could make illusions if his mental picture was strong enough, and he had never known he could do this before, especially while he was still trapped in his prison. After the Spookeez and Keith 2.0 had gone through two rounds, the Lemon Demon decided to mess with the blue-haired boy. In the human's mindscape, the Lemon Demon planted an evil monster that haunted him with his worst fears. The Lemon Demon found that this monster represented his parents' love for him. The Lemon Demon was curious to find out more, but he decided to do that another time. Keith 2.0 was forced to battle against the hate monster. The Lemon Demon tried to make the hate monster impossible to beat. If he could kill Keith 2.0 in his mindscape, he'd die from mental insanity out of his mind too. But in the end, of course the timid artist ended up winning. In the real world he had lost consciousness throughout the battle. He woke up to Picon hovering over him, warm and welcoming. The Lemon Demon had figured by now that the two humans had something going on between them - love, or something like that - and frankly, he absolutely despised the very thought of it. He was done toying around with these humans. He felt humiliated that his hate monster was beaten so easily. The Spookeez illusion disappeared with the other. Then the humans said they were going to spend the night in that dark, abandoned place because they had nowhere else to go. The Lemon Demon inwardly let out a groan. It was going to be annoying to unwillingly have to host two humans in his home. But maybe he could have some fun with them during the night. He cackled to himself as he came up with a plan. It had been a long time since he had laughed so much.

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Mia Nearest would never admit it, but she envied her husband. DN was a famous singer, loved by all, and they only knew Mia through their marriage. Deo could tell that Mia wasn't acting her usual self lately. "What's wrong, baby?" he asked one day worriedly. Mia didn't want to admit her jealousy and seem like a jerk, but she also didn't want to lie to her husband. "I just...feel like I can't compare to you." Deo cocked an eyebrow. "Like, I feel like you're so much better than me, in every way, and..." Before she could finish, Deo kissed her on the forehead. "You have an amazing voice, sweetie. Don't undermine yourself. And you're gaining popularity too." Mia was too stubborn to agree, but she knew that Deo was right. "...I think I'll go work on my next song," she said, trying to avoid the subject. Deo understood her discomfort. "Yeah, we better work to stay at the top!" he lightly joked, earning a small laugh from Mia. Later, Mia was sitting alone in her recording studio, trying to think of an idea for her next song. She was starting to get frustrated at how she couldn't come up with anything when she got a text from her old childhood friend back in college, who was as famous of a singer as Deo. She and her husband had a lot more power though. They hadn't talked in a long time. The text read:

"Mia, I need your help."

Mia decided to take a break from song-writing and replied:

"What is it?"

Mia figured her friend was probably exaggerating, as she often did.

"My son's run away with that street rat! And after everything we gave him!

You remember Benjamin, don't you?"

Mia was confused. She did remember her friend introducing her son to her, the small, timid boy hiding behind his mother and waving a small hello. Why would he run away from such an extravagant background, to go live on the streets?

"Why??"

"That's what I'm asking! You need to come over, Mi"

Mia really had nothing else to do currently anyway, so she drove her car to her friend's house, struggling a bit to remember the address. But who could miss the huge mansion, bigger than her own, hidden behind a thick layer of greenery? Her friend was already waiting impatiently on the steps, her eyes lighting up when she recognized the new car pulling up. "Mi-mi! It's been so long!" she squealed, pulling Mia into a tight hug. Mia inwardly groaned. She hated her friend's various nicknames for her. "You too, Marilyn," Mia groaned, as Marilyn was squeezing her too hard. She finally let go.