Partners in Crime - Max Mayfield

The Group Reunites

"Max! Chris!" Lucas calls out and the two turn towards Lucas' voice, a bowl in Max's hand. "El found Dustin!" The two look at Lucas in surprise before making their way over to the rest of the group who was helping El with finding Dustin after he had managed to connected to the walkie talkie earlier. 

As the group waits, Lucas opens a can of New Coke, the can being a loud noise in the dead silence of the store. "Quiet" Max harshly whispers and Lucas apologies. Lucas takes a sip and Mike looks at him with disgust "How do you even drink that?" "Because it's delicious?" Lucas tells him "What?" Mike and Max asks at the same time while Nancy and Johnathan raise eyebrows. "It's like Carpenter's The Thing. The original is a classic, no question about it. But the remake?" Lucas takes another loud sip, puckering his lips at the taste. "Sweeter, bolder, better."

Mike shakes his head "You're insane.." "So you prefer the original Thing?" "What? No, I'm not talking about The Thing. I'm talking about New Coke." "It's the same concept dude." "Uh, actually, it's not the same concept." "No it's not." Lucas raises his voice, forgetting about El. "Yes it is." "Hey!" El rips her blindfold off, glaring at Lucas and Mike. "Sorry" The two apologize and El simply huffs "Did you find him?" Mike asks and El nods

"The movies? Dustin so freaked out about the gate, he decides to go watch a movie?" Lucas pushes the cart of items forward "Yeah, makes total sense." "You're positive he said "gate" and not "great"?" "Yeah, like "The movie I'm watching is great!" "It sounded like "gate" "That would explain how the Mind Flayer is still alive." Mike adds as they make their way out of the store. "Yeah, we just have to shut it again." Chris notes, leaning a little on Will who supports him.  "Then the monster dies" Will confirms "But if not, we always have Lucas' fireworks" Max mocks as she helps move the cart out the broken door. "Keep mocking my plan, Max. Keep mocking it. I wanna hear you say it again, because you keep doubting me." Max rolls her eyes "Ridiculous" "Will? We're gonna prove them wrong, right?" Lucas asks for support and Will chuckles, not looking to join the conflict. 

Meanwhile: in the aisle, the blood El had lost, begins to bubble.

By the time the group got to the mall, they arrived in time to see a group of guards with guns aimed, moving toward Dustin, Steve, Erica, and Robin. El looked at Chris who chuckled "After you." El nods and walks forward, extending her hand. The car begins to loudly beep, confusion spreading through the Russian guards who turn towards the car as it honks, slowly turning towards them. "What the hell?" The leader of the group mumbles before the car flips at them, sending the guards flying while the car crashes behind them. Dustin and his group slowly stand up from behind the counter, staring up at Eleven who huffs as blood trickles down her nose. Chris grins and holds up his arm, waving slightly. "Hey there." A large smile begins to form on Dustin's face.

The two groups meet in the middle and Dustin runs to Mike and El, hugging them both "You flung that thing like a hot wheel." "Lucas?" Erica asks with surprise and Lucas stares at his little sister in shock. "What are you doing here?" "Ask them" Erica points to Steve and Robin "It's their fault." "True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault." "Jeez Steve, you've seen better days." Chris jokes and Steve rolls his eyes "Yeah, yeah laugh it up." "Am I the only one who doesn't understand what happened to that car?" Robin asks "El has superpowers" Dustin plainly points out "Oh and so does Chris." "Glad to be remembered." "I'm sorry?" Robin asks "Superpowers, she threw it with her mind. C'mon, catch up." Steve tells her "That's El?" Erica asks with a grin "Who's El?" Robin asks and Chris grins, ignoring the bruises on his arm as he puts his arm around El's shoulder. "My sister." 

"I'm sorry" Nancy interrupts "Who are you?" "I'm Robin. I work with Steve." "She cracked the top secret code." "Yeah which is how we found out about the Russians." "Russians?" Johnathan asks "Wait, what Russians?" "The Russians!" Steve says pointing to the guards on the ground. "Those were Russians?" Mad asks and Erica nods "Some of them." "What are you talking about" Lucas asks and Dustin looks at them "Didn't you hear our code red?" "Yeah but we couldn't understand what you were saying." Dustin groans "Goddamn low battery" "How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?" "Well, everything worked out, didn't it?" "Worked out? We almost died." Erica criticizes "Yeah, but we didn't, did we?" "It was pretty damn close.." Steve mutters