Runaway (first 8 chapters)

Chapter 5

Picon shoved Benjamin behind himself to protect him, blindly spraying his can and hoping for the best. He could easily beat the two kids in a fair fight, but the same voice that warned him about the mansion told him that these two weren't regular humans. Not anymore. He noticed their strange complexity of dark, neo colors, only their smiles glowing in the darkness of the room, lit by the moon and the storm through the cracks in the walls. The Halloween duo emerged from the cloud of purple, unfazed, mere moments away from reaching their targets. "W-what the hell!" Picon shouted as he felt four rough claws grab his forehead. He couldn't form conscious thoughts anymore. His entire brain faded to nothing but a complicated pattern of black and purple swirls, its only purpose to confuse him. It felt like he had stopped breathing, that time itself had stopped, and that it was only him in the entire world, universe, galaxy, the entirety of life. That he was all alone. But he wasn't alone. There should- there used to be someone here. He knows there once was someone here. Where did that someone go? Why had they left him in a dark place like this? He tried to remember their name, but the word sounded all wrong and was left stuck in his throat. "S-softie?" he finally managed to croak, but the deafening silence continued. His voice had held no sound either.

Skod pounced on the painter, pushing him a good distance away from the others and pinning him to the ground. He placed his hand - his claws - on the bluenette's head, trying his best to ignore the human's futile calls for help. Inside his mindscape, Skod could see nothing but red, red for blood, red for the evil crimson gleam he saw in the dark figures ahead of him, just waiting for a chance to destroy the mindscape before he could, though these figures were somehow associated with love - not the love Skod was looking for. He searched past all the distractions and finally found the root of the painter's heart, a deep shade of red, practically black, dripping blood from the bottom like an hourglass. Counting down the time until its death. Skod shakily pressed his hand on the heart, and he saw the girl. Her eyes, red like- "Cherries," Skod thought, his eyes wide. He removed his claws from the singer, watching as the boy caught his breath. The painter didn't dare speak, instead begging for mercy with his eyes. "It...doesn't have to be this way," Skod whimpered. The purple mask slowly started to fall, one of the neo pink x's fading away to reveal his real eye, scrunched up in fear and sadness and pain, tears spilling out. "There has to be...love...!" Benjamin stared at the strange monster with wide eyes, terrified but also pitying him at the same time. "Y-you're right," the painter spoke, carefully holding the monster's dulling nails. "I don't really know w-w-what your de-deal is, but..." He took a deep breath. "We love each other a lot, so leave us alone!" That was the final push Skod needed. A burst of blood pink light shot from his heart to the ceiling, phasing through the roof instead of physically damaging it. Dark, ghostly chain ribbons, linked together, started twirling out of Skod's mindscape, their bond breaking apart in tiny bursts of light. The only bright light in the room. The Lemon Demon sensed the sudden spike in energy and felt his spell over Skod wearing off. "No!" he growled. "I won't lose you like I lost the Spookeez!" After holding Skod's hand, Benjamin had been able to see a little bit into his mindscape, and saw the chains binding his soul to an evil entity somewhere in the mansion. "Fight it!" he screamed over the thunder. He didn't know why he was saying that, but all he knew was that he needed to free the poor soul. "Don't let him take control of you!" So Skod fought it, trying his best to escape the chains holding him down, until finally the last link had slipped into the air. The flashing light show ended, and Skod fell down onto the ground, unconscious. "W-what's going on?" Benjamin cried, clutching his arms. He looked at his beloved to see how he was faring, and almost fainted at the sight of him in such a weak state. "Please! Don't hurt him! Be like your friend, understand!" he screamed, sobbing uncontrollably. "AAAAAAAAAAH!" He couldn't take this anymore. He just wanted the insanity to end already. Then he stopped, seeing Picon's body start to go limp. "I won't lose you...like her," Benjamin growled between his teeth. He ran so fast he might as well have teleported over to the second monster, punching him hard in the face. For such a small figure, he had a surprising amount of strength. Psump had been so occupied with exploring Picon's mindscape that he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings in the real world and was taken by surprise, his hand falling off Picon's head as he tumbled sideways. He got up in a flash, scowling at the blue-haired boy. Wasn't Skod supposed to take care of him? Then he saw how Skod was unconscious on the floor, how he was back to his original form, and something snapped inside of Psump's heart. "It doesn't have to be this way. There has to be love." The words replayed in Psump's mind again and again, not letting him go. Trapped in his own mindscape. It was then that he started to see what was truly inside his mind. He found his soul, his form before he was corrupted, binded by dark magic chains that kept him in the hands of the evil, ancient entity who had been controlling him, and his friend - the Lemon Demon. Nothing could be heard but the heavy rain falling to the ground as the corruption blew off him like autumn leaves on a windy day, fading to black ashes that piled on the floor before sizzling and boiling, turning into nothing. His chains twisted in the air too, snapping in half with dazzling flashes of white and yellow light. He was finally Psump. The real Psump. Not the mindless clone who was programmed to destroy but never rebuild. He was the friendly, clever child who enjoyed singing and kindness and loved his best friend - Skod. The real Skod.

The atmosphere became extremely tense, the pressurizing silence keeping Benjamin on his toes. Taking this as their chance to escape, Picon stood up in a flash, grabbed Benjamin's hand, and pulled him along as they both ran outside together, into the cool night air. There was no rain, no storm - just the moon and stars shining through the clouds. With Skod awake now, he also made his daring escape with Psump as they ran off into the hills, in the opposite direction of the older humans.

The Lemon Demon had lost control, and while normally he wouldn't have given in so easily, he had already wasted a lot of his limited power and energy on illusions, and mind control took a lot of stamina. But to be defeated by love? The Lemon Demon didn't even want to imagine a great being like him turning as soft and weak as a human because of...love. Ugh, he wanted to throw up just hearing the word.

Well, it seemed like he had been bested this time. But his maniacal smile never went away. "What is this small fun when I can terrorize the whole world next year?" he grinned, anticipating his next unsuspecting visitors for the first time.

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"And now, for a personal favorite of mine - 'Stay'!" said Grace. The crowd erupted in another wave of cheers. "Alright, here goes." The singer held the mic close to her mouth and began to sing. Her voice captivated everyone who heard her, unable to believe she wasn't a bigshot yet. Half-way through her song, a certain blue-haired boy standing in the very back caught her eye, the natural color poking out of the hood of his hoodie. "Benjamin?" she thought, but she kept on singing, not missing a beat. Benjamin was all alone, his little boyfriend nowhere to be seen. This was Grace's one and only chance. If she was going to take her partner back, it was now or never. She patiently continued to nail every note until the song ended, then hurried off the stage and pushed past the crowd to find Benjamin before he ran away again. Luckily he was still standing there, his eyes fixated on the drawn curtains. "Benji!" Grace called, waving cheerfully. Benjamin turned around, his eyes wide in fear and his small frame trembling. "Don't...call me that," he muttered, finding his voice. He pulled his hood further over his eyes. "So, have you come here to finally come back to us? And be with me?" Grace smiled hopefully, her eyes twinkling like shining stars. "I'm...gonna have to pass on that offer," said Benjamin nervously, looking away, suddenly feeling overheated. But Grace had noticed his hesitation. Better than his usual automatic response of no. "You're thinking about it," she giggled, which earned her such a soft glare it was almost cute. She knew she was starting to lose Benjamin. He could run away at any second, and even with Grace's growing fame and power, she wouldn't be able to stop him. She had to think fast. Do something she hadn't done before. "B-Benjamin, I've decided something. I...want to run away with you guys."