𝟎𝟎𝟕: 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐗 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐄 𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐮𝐦 𝐏𝐭. 𝟏

Ev's POV: *next day*

Me and El were in her room looking for the flayed people. I heard El throw another tissue on the floor, from wiping the blood from under her nose. I heard some of the group arguing from the other side. I looked around the void for anything but saw no one. I wiped my nose and threw the tissue down.

Mike's POV:

"It can't be good for them to be in there for this long." I said, pacing back and forth. "Mike, you need to relax." Max said. I rolled my eyes. "What if they get brain damage or something?" I snapped. "Oh, shit. Is that, like, a real thing?" Lucas asked. "No, it's not. He made it up. Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about." Max said. "Oh, and you do?" I snapped as I stopped pacing. Me and Max continued to argue before Max got up and stormed into the kitchen. I followed her.

"Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us?" Max asked. "Who do you think should decide El and Ev's limits? Mike or them—" Max said but I cut her off. "The way that you frame that is such bullshit." I said. "It's not bullshit, Mike. This is your whole problem. And it's also precisely the reason why El dumped your ass." Max said. "El dumped you?" Nancy asked in a surprised tone. "Yeah, because she is conspiring against me. She's corrupting her." I said. "No, enlightening her. The fact is, she's not yours. She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions." Max said.

"They're risking their life for no reason." I said. "For no reason? Mike, the flayed are out there doing God knows what." Nancy said. "Killing, flaying..." Lucas trailed off. "Transforming into monsters." Will said. "And they're not stupid. They know their abilities better than any of us." Nancy said. I rolled my eyes. "Exactly, thank you." Max said. "And she is her own person." Nancy said. "Exactly." Max said. "With her own free will." Nancy said. "Exactly." Max said.

"El has saved the world twice, and Mike still doesn't trust her." Max said which made me widen my eyes. "You wanna talk about trust, really? After you made Eleven spy on us?" I asked. "Wait, what?" Lucas asked. "Oh, she didn't tell you this?" I asked. "No." Lucas said, still confused. "Your girlfriend used El's powers to spy on us." I said.

"No, no, no, I did not make her. It was her idea. And why are we even talking about this, seriously?" Max said. "Yeah, who cares?" Will asked. "I care." Lucas said as he pointed his hands at himself. "Yeah. I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy." I said. "We wee just joking around." Max said. "Wouldn't it've been so funny if I was taking a massive shit or something?" I asked. "You weren't." Max said. "But what if I was?" I asked. "Then gross!" Max exclaimed with a grossed out face. "Seriously, Mike?" Nancy asked.

"I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Ev and Eleven's powers. In fact, how careless all of you are. You're treating them like some kind of machine when they're not machines, and I don't want them to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the Earth. So can we please just come up with a new plan because I really like Ev, and I think I'm falling hard for her!" I exclaimed. Everyone looked at me in shock. I opened my mouth to say something but Ev and El came out.

Ev's POV:

"What's going on? We heard shouting." I asked as me and El came out of El's room. I know what Mike said, I'm not going to tell him that I know though. "Nothing. Nothing." Mike quickly said. "Just a family discussion." Lucas said with a smile. "Oh." El said, we both heard what he said. "I found him." El said. "Found who?" Nancy asked. El gave her a look.

::VERY MINI TIME SKIP::

The TV was on static as El was in the void, looking for Billy. She ripped off her mask, gasping for air. "What's he doing now?" Max asked from beside me. El turned around and looked at us. I brought El into the kitchen as I cleaned the blood from under her nose with a paper towel. I got a glass for a cabinet and handed it to El. "Thanks." She said as she filled up the glass with water.

I heard the others having a conversation in the other room. "And that's not normal, right?" Nancy asked. "Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July? No, that's not normal." Max said. "He wants us to find him." Will said. "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. If we go to Billy, then the rest of the flayed know where we are." Nancy said. "It's a trap, I agree. We'll be ambushed." Mike said. "We won't be surprised. We'll know that they're coming, and we will kick their flayed butts." Lucas said. "You mean El and Ev will kick their butts." Max said.

El finished drinking all of her water as she set her glass down. El picked up a box of 'Lucky Charms' the cereal I had a few days ago. El immediately got lost in thought which worried me. I touched her shoulder which made her put the box down and look at me. "It's too risky." Mike said. "Yeah, and unnecessary. Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it's spreading from. We have to find the source." Nancy said as me and El walked into the room.

"Billy knows it. Billy's been there. To the source." I said. "Yeah, but—" Mike started before I cut him off. "It's a trap. We know. We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for me to see where he's been." I said. Mike gave me a worried look. I took the blindfold from El. "Be safe." El said as she hugged me. I sighed into the hug. "I will, I promise." I said. El nodded and we pulled away. I went over to the front of the TV and sat down, I turned the TV to static before I sat down.