Teenage Calamity ━━ MAYFIELD

043

"Okay, so, just to be clear, this... big fleshy spider thing that hurt El and wants to kill my sister... it's some kind of gigantic... weapon?" Steve inquired, with a baffled look set on his face.

"Yes." Nancy confirmed.

"Pretty much." Violet mumbled.

"But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made it's weapons... with melted people." Steve stated, though in Violet's ears it sounds like a question.

"Yes, exactly." Nancy replied, her tone sharp with impatience.

Violet shot her brother a teasing and light-hearted look, "Do you need us to explain it again, or are you all caught up now, Stevie?"

Max snorts alongside her, she can't help the small smile that tugged on her lips.

Steve sends the raven haired girl a narrowed eyed glance. "Don't patronize me, Tink." He folds his arms over his chest in a petulant manner, "I just wanted to make sure I got everything."

Violet snickered as she lifts her head up, "Oh lighten up. I'm just making up for days of not being able to mess with you, Stevie."

Steve rolled his eyes at her, "You're the worst."

Violet grins at him, "You know you missed me."

"Not true." Steve denied as he shook his head, "Nope."

Robin lifts a finger in the air, "Actually, that is false."

Steve glares her way, "Robin, I swear t-"

"He wouldn't shut up about you when we were trapped down there." Robin divulged, with a shit-eating grin on her lips.

"Robin!" Steve exclaimed, his voice high and whiny as he dug the heels of his palms into his eyes in frustration.

The blonde giggled unabashedly at his reaction, "When we were stuck in the Russian death trap elevator, he would go on and on about how worried he was about you, how he hoped that you were safe up here, he even told me a few stories about you."

"Aw, Stevie!" Violet croons teasingly, she raced over to her brother and threw her arms around his waist, pinning his arms down as she squeezed him. "You really did miss me!"

Steve squirmed in her hold, "Yeah, yeah, get off me you twerp!"

"While this is very cute, I still have some questions." Joyce speaks up, sending the siblings a gentle look. Violet releases Steve as she turns to her, "Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?"

"El and Violet beat the shit out of it together, but, yeah, it's still out there." Max answered.

"But if we close the gate again-"

"We can cut the brain off from the body." Max says, completing Will's unfinished statement.

"And kill it. Theoretically." Lucas quickly adds.

"Yoo-hoo!" The voice of Murray Bauman called out, Violet's brows pulled together as her gaze laid on the bearded and balding man who was waving sheets of papers in his hands. "Yoo-hoo!" Soon after his arrival, the group relocated to the tables in the food court where he laid out the sheets in his hands, which turned out to be Starcourt Mall's underground blueprints. "Okay, this is what Alexei called "the hub." Now, the hub takes us to the vault room."