Byler- The Unwanted Return of Everything (And How It Finally Ends)

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"Well," said Max. "That settles it." She stood up. "You'll go with me, Lucas? I feel like I haven't had the chance to talk to you a lot yet."

Will smiled as he watched Lucas's eyes widen with joy. He nodded. "Yeah! I mean, yeah, if you want. I think it'll be fun."

Dustin turned to Jane. "That leaves me and you, huh? The rest of you are missing out. My partner has magic powers."

Brad rolled his eyes. "I doubt they'll even come in handy. There's not anything out there."

"Yeah, talk to me when you're dead, buddy."

Their conversation was cut short with a quick gasp from Max. Will whipped his head around and watched as she took a couple of stumbling steps around the living room. As she turned towards him, Will realized her eyes were back to normal.

"Oh my god," she said. "Guys? Guys, where are you? Am I having a vision?"

Lucas looked worried. He stood up, cautiously approaching Max. "Max? You can't see us? What's going on?"

She turned towards the sound of his voice. "I hear you, Lucas. But I'm not seeing you. It looks like I'm... in the Upside Down."

"Okay, well, you're still here to us."

"And your eyes look normal again," Dustin added quickly.

Max nodded. "Actually? That's... good, I guess, but why does it look like I'm in the Upisde Down? Where's Will? Talk, Will."

"Here," Will said, raising his hand and then realizing it wouldn't help because Max couldn't see him.

Max turned and looked at him. Or, at least it seemed like she was looking at him, but she still had a confusion about her that would suggest she couldn't. "Is this what your visions are like, Will?"

Will thought. "Uhh... no? I mean, I can't really communicate with people when I have them. Or hear people, for that matter."

Max took in the information and walked away, turning to a wall. She put her hand on it and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Lucas leaned over, still vaguely concerned, but not sure exactly what at. "What is it?"

"This wall... looks like it should have a vine on it, but I can't feel the vine. Just wall." Max continued to feel around the wall and made her way over to Mike's chair, where she promptly stuck her hand in his face. "Oh, this is so weird. You're Mike, right?"

Mike struggled to push Max's hands off of his face. "Agh! Max! What the hell?"

Max continued to pat her hands around Mike's face, fighting away his resistance. "I can't see you... but I can still feel you. It's like I'm still in our dimension... but I can only see the other one."

Jane squinted. "Well, can you get back to seeing this one?"

Max paused for a second. Her eyes rolled back in her head, making a few people jump (a few being Lucas, Dustin, and Brad). She looked around the room, nodding. "Back. That was so weird."

Lucas sighed in relief. "Good, don't ever-"

"Do you think you could do it again?" asked Dustin, cutting off the sentence which Lucas was finishing. Although, they probably ended in a similar fashion. "Think about it. If you can do that on demand, you could be like a super cool secret Upside Down spy or something."

Max laughed. "Upside Down spy? Yeah, right."

"Come on! Try it!"

Max did what seemed to have been an eye roll, although it couldn't be sure, because of the lack of... eyes. She shut them tightly and tensed her hands. Everyone leaned forward slightly in anticipation. Max opened her eyes to reveal they looked normal once again.

"That's so cool..." Her eyes rolled back again. And the forward. And then back. "It's like I can turn it on and off. My own little night vision goggles or whatever." She continued to switch back a forth. "I could just walk around with Upside Down vision! It'll look normal!"

"You can't see anyone," Jane argued. "How does that work anyway?"

Max shrugged. "I don't know, but it's helpful, right? We can see what's going on in the Upside Down now! We have an upper hand!"

Jonathan looked confused. "Wait, so you can see the Upside Down? In real-time?"

Max thought. "I mean, I'd think it'd be real-time. What other time could it be, right? It wouldn't make sense otherwise."

Jonathan nodded. "Interesting... Could it be that you're connected to the Upside Down in some way now..." He continued to ponder. He seemed somewhat troubled by the thought, maybe fearing what it could mean for himself. Will didn't exactly like the idea of that being a result of being connected to the Upside Down either. He was connected to the Upside Down, and all he got was freaky possessions and feelings in his neck. It seemed like the other world was picking favorites on them. Will wondered why it hated him so much.

Max Mayfield, that was her name, could see into the Upside Down. It almost made Him angry. An unwanted progression, of course, but He'd find ways to work around it. He always did. He always would. Max Mayfield looking into the Upside Down was overall insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He was smarter than that. So much smarter.

And now there were things working in His favor too.

His new body, for instance. It was well built, not bad looking. Maybe needed a haircut, but it was fine.

Jonathan Byers. He knew who that was. He knew who all the Byers were since He had the pleasure of watching them through the mind of Will Byers whenever He could. Will Byers spent a lot of time with Jonathan Byers.

Brothers. Yes, that was it. What an interesting concept indeed.

There was one person He hadn't recognized. The tall boy with yellow hair and that smile, all that reminded Him of someone else He once knew. The tall boy was called Brad. Brad was Will Byer's boyfriend, going from what He had picked up. That was, in a way, perfect. Brad seemed like the dumb type. Easily corruptible. Easy to work with. And because of Brad's relationship, Brad made it easier than ever to get to Will Byers.

He wasn't ever sure why He needed Will Byers, but ever since Will had first stepped into the Upside Down over what felt like an eternity ago, He'd just known. Will Byers was perfect. Will Byers was essential. So He had attached them at the mind. Maybe that's why they called Him such things. And at this point, all the negative energy radiating off the boy at the mention of the "Mind Flayer", (that was His name, although it confused him) gave Him life.

And now He walked. On mission. A beautiful plan in place.

He walked with the legs of his new physical form. The sensation of walking was strange. One foot after the other. Almost automatic. He remembered feeling like this when He had inhabited Will Byers all those years ago. The human brain. Terrible.

Now the tall boy, Brad, walked beside Him, as if they were friends. Maybe even enemies.

Brad spoke. "So, you ready to go look for monsters or whatever, Jonathan?"

He spoke back. The body's voice was so surreal, but He knew how to hold a conversation. He'd learned. "Only if you are. But trust me, I think we'll get along very well."