~July 4, 1985~
Eleven continues to cry out in pain. Jessica glances back down at Eleven's leg, seeing something move underneath the flesh once again. "What is that?" Erica asks. "There's something in there," Mike comments. "Jesus Christ," Dustin breathes out.
"Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?" Jonathan tells the party before running over to Imperial Panda. Jessica looks down at Eleven, noticing her eyes fluttering. 'Hey, hey, El. Stay away, stay awake." She looks up at Mike. "Help me get her on the side." Steve kneels and helps both Jessica and Mike move El into a better position.
"You know, it's not actually that bad. There was a...the goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and the bone came out of her knee, six inches or something, it was insane." "Robin," Steve calls out. Robin turns her head toward him. "Yeah?" "You're not helping." "I'm sorry," she apologies just as Jonathan comes running back over.
He kneels down by El's feet. "Okay. All right, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?" "Okay," El sobs out. "Need you to stay real still," he tells her as he puts on disposable gloves. "Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?" Jonathan hands Mike a wooden spoon who places it in-between El's teeth. With wide eyes, the party watches on as Jonathan holds a knife over El's wound.
"Holy shit. Holy shit," Dustin curses out. Hesitating for a moment, Jonathan looks up at Mike. "Do it." Jonathan nods, placing the tip of the knife down onto El's wound. "Oh, God, I can't watch this," Ace says turning around. Jonathan presses the point into the skin, cutting it open. Eleven screams, her hand flapping around, desperate to hold onto something. Jessica notices and immediately takes her hand into hers.
"You got this, El," Jessica encourages her as Jonathan places the knife down and digs his fingers into the wound, causing Eleven to scream once again. "Almost there, you're doing a good job," Jessica tells her as Jonathan continues to move his fingers around in the wound. "Jonathan!" Nancy cries out. "Stop talking!" he snaps.
Eleven spits out the wooden spoon. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop!" she orders Jonathan as he pulls his fingers out. Eleven takes her hand out of Jessica's and pushes herself up into a sitting position. "I can do it. I can do it." El holds her hand out over her leg, each member of the party hearing a squelching sound. "Oh, I'm gonna be sick," Ace mutters as he glances over his shoulder to see what was happening.
Jessica watches as Eleven's hand begins to shake, her powers clearly draining her already as she desperately attempts to get whatever was in her leg out of her. Eleven lets out a scream, the windows behind the party shattering. Steve instantly wraps his arms around Jessica's waist and pull her up as glass shards flew everywhere.
From Steve's hold, Jessica looks up to see a baby monster hovering in mid-air. With one final scream, Eleven pulls her hand back, thrusting it forward. The party watch as the monster flew a feet away from them. The monster lets out a painful cry as it begins to slither away from the group, only to meet a quick death by a man's boot.
The party's eyes trail up, sighs of relief escaping their mouths as they see Joyce, Hopper and Murray.
++++++
"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world," Mike explains to everyone as they all stood in a circle in the middle of Starcourt Mall. "And it almost did. That was just one tiny piece of it," Nancy continues. "How big is this thing?" Hopper asks.
"It's big," Jonathan murmurs. "Thirty feet, at least." Lucas nods in agreement. "Yeah. It sorta destroyed your cabin. Sorry."
"Okay, so just to be clear, this...this big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic...weapon?" Steve asks, for confirmation. "Yes," Nancy answers. "But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon...with melted people." Nancy nods. "Yes, exactly." "Yeah, okay. I-" Steve turns to Ace who was pinching himself. "What are you doing?"
Ace looks up, noticing everyone's eyes were on him. "Just pinching myself awake from this god-awful nightmare." Ace chuckles as he went back to pinching himself. Jessica leans over and slaps the back of Ace's head. "OW!" "As much as I wish this was a nightmare, it isn't. Sorry Ace but welcome to our life." "It's a freaky life, I must say," Ace tells the group. "I mean, a big monster terrorizing Hawkins..." Ace shudders.
"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Joyce asks. "El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it's still alive," Max spoke up. "But if we close the gate again-" Will begins. "We cut the brain off from the body," Max finishes. "And kill it. Theoretically," Lucas says.
"Yoo-hoo!" The group all look over their shoulders, seeing Murray wave the papers in his hands around. "Yoo-hoo!" He approaches the group and slams the papers down onto a table. Everyone moves in closer, seeing a map drawn onto the papers. "Okay, this is what Alexei called 'the hub'. Now, the hub takes us to the vault room," Murray explains. "Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper asks.
Murray taps his finger onto a spot on the map. "Right here. I don't know the scale of this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe 50 feet or so." "More like 500," Erica states, stepping forward. Murray simply stares at her in annoyance. "What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?" "I'm sorry, who are you?"
"Erica Sinclair. Who are you?"
"Murray...Bauman."
"Listen, Mr. Bunman, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for 24 hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you're all gonna die." "I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?" "Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard!" Murray's mouth drops open. He turns to Jessica and Steve. "Is she your kid? Tell her she should not insult adults. It's rude and disrespectful."
"Okay!" Jessica exclaims, placing her hands onto Erica's shoulders. "Let's just calm down-" "You know we're gonna die if we go with his plan," Erica tells him. Jessica nods. "She's right. You're all gonna die." "But you don't have to," Dustin tells the adults as he steps toward the table. "Sorry, may I?" "Please," Murray says as Dustin and Erica take a seat at the table.
"Okay, see this room here? This is a storage facility," Dustin says circling the room. "There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system," He then draws a line diagonally across the paper. "That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me, Ace and Erica, we can show you the way."
"You can show us the way?" Hopper questions.
"Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your...navigators." "No," Hopper says immediately. "Nope.
++++++
After losing an argument with a couple of kids, Hopper gave up the keys to the car he had stolen previously. Steve takes it, Jessica, Dustin, Ace, Robin and Erica following him. Pushing open the doors to the parking lot, a grin grew on Steve's face the moment he spots the car. "Oh, man, now this..." Steve tosses the keys up and down in his hands. "This is what I'm talkin' about!"
Reading the license plate, Robin's face scrunches up. "Toddfather?"
"Oh, screw Todd," Steve laughs as he makes his way over to the driver's side. "Steve's her daddy now." Jumping into the front seat, he smiles as he settles down. "Did you just talk about yourself in third person?" Robin asks in disgust.
Walking over to the car, Jessica opens the passenger's side door and slides in beside Steve. "Did he just call himself daddy?" Erica asks in disbelief as she hops into the backseat with Robin, Ace and Dustin. Jessica turns in her seat. "Buckle up," she orders Dustin and Erica. Erica groans. "Then that makes you the mommy." Ignoring Erica, Jessica turns around again, her eyes landing on Steve as she watches him admire the car.
"All right, where are we going?"
"Weathertop," Dustin answers.
Steve's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Weather-what?" "Just drive." "Okay. Jesus!" Steve exclaims as he backs up out of the parking spot and speeds out of the lot of the mall.
++++++
The wind blows through Jessica's hair as Steve drives down the road. "Jesus, how far is this place, man?" he asks, looking at Dustin through the review mirror. "Relax, we're almost there," Dustin tells him.
"Suzie must be pretty special, huh?" Robin asks, Dustin looking over at her. "I mean, if you built this thing and lugged it all the way to the middle of nowhere just to talk to her?" "I mean, nobody's scientifically perfect but Suzie's about as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be."
"She sounds made-up to me," Erica says. She pats Jessica and Steve's shoulders. "She sound made-up to you two?" "No," Jessica says while Steve stays quiet. Dustin looks over at Steve in shock. "Why are you quiet, Steve?" "I'm-I'm-I'm not! I'm not! I'm just trying to focus on my driving. I think she sounds real. You know, totally, absolutely real."
"I'm totally lost here, who's Suzie?" Ace asks. "My girlfriend from-Left. Turn left!" Dustin orders. Steve glances to his left. "There's not a road here." "Turn left now!" "Jesus! Hang on!" Steve yells as he turns the wheel sharply, driving the car onto the grass. Robin and Ace both let out cheers of joy.
"Whoa! Kid Henderson, where are we going?!" Steve asks as he attempts to keep the car steady as he drives over uneven patches of grass. "Up!" "Whoa!" Jessica exclaims as she holds onto the car handle as Steve drives up a hill.
"Oh, Jesus!"
"We're not gonna make it!" Jessica screams.
"Yes, we are. Come on, baby. Come on, baby!" Steve encourages the car as the engine begins to stutter as it attempts to go up the hill. "Come on. Come on," Steve grunts out as he presses his foot down harder on the gas but the wheels spin into the grass, the car coming to a stop. "Guess the Toddfather has its limitations," Robin spoke from the backseat.
Steve huffs as he shuts the engine off. All six climb out of the car and begin to make their trek up the hill.
++++++
Jessica bends over, hands resting onto her knees once they finally reach the top. "Whew, we finally made it."
"Do you...guys normally do...this much walking...on your adventures?" Ace asks, in between pants as Dustin and Erica kneels by the Cerebro. "Yes," Dustin states as he picks up the radio. Ace nods. "Good to...know."
"Bald Eagle, do you copy? Bald Eagle, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy?" Dustin speaks into the radio.
"Yes, I copy," Murray spoke.
The six teens chuckle in relief. "Call sign?" "...Bald Eagle." "Please repeat." "Bald Eagle. This is Bald Eagle!" "Copy that. Good to hear your voice, Bald Eagle. What's your 20?" "We reached the vent. I'll contact you when I need you. Until then, silence." "Roger that, Bald Eagle. This is Scoops Troop, going radio silent. 10-10, over."
"Now what?" Ace asks.
"Now we wait," Dustin tells him.
At this point, the group had scattered around the hill. Dustin, Erica, Ace and Robin sat by the Cerebro while Steve and Jessica stood a few feet away in earshot. "When this is all over...I propose we have a Lake Day," Jessica tells Steve, staring out into the distance. "At Lover's lake?" Steve asks, Jessica nodding. "You, me...the whole gang. We can just let loose and have fun. Be normal teenagers again."
Steve nods. "I'm in." The two smiles at one another.
"Scoops Troop, this is...Hm. Bald Eagle. I've reached another junction."
"This is what?" Dustin asks Erica. "The fourth junction." Dustin nods. "All right, so if memory serves, this is right after the My Little Pony thesis." "We went left, so he has to go right." "Fly right, Bald Eagle. Fly right." "Roger that, flying right." "What's the My Little Pony thesis?" Ace groans. "Please don't get him started."
Jessica and Steve both notice the mall's lights flickering out in the distance. "Hey, guys?" Steve calls out. "You need to see this," Jessica says waving them over. Dustin, Erica, Robin and Ace stand up and runs over to Jessica and Steve. Their eyes widen. "Shit," Dustin curses as they all run back over to the Cerebro.
"Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over! Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you-" Dustin's words are cut off as a creature shriek over the radio. "Griswold Family, do you copy? Do you copy?!"
The monster lets out a deafening roar into the walkie.
"Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop. Please confirm your safety! Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety! Are you en route to Bald Eagle's nest? Please confirm your safety! Someone, please just answer. Is anyone there? Just answer! Anyone, please...Griswold Family, do you copy? Do you copy?!" Dustin screams into the radio.
Steve's eyes follow out to where the Toddfather had been left behind halfway up the hill. He stands up and makes a run for the car to get back to Starcourt Mall. Sitting up straighter, Erica yells at Steve. "Where are you going?!" "To get them the hell outta there! Stay here, contact the others!"
"Oh, not without me you're not!" Jessica yells, standing up. She turns to Ace. "You, stay here and-" "Protect them with my life. I know. Go!" Jessica turns on her feet and runs down the hill. Steve jumps into the car, starting it up. He looks up and sees Jessica running down the hill. She soon jumps into the car as well. "Were you really just going to leave me there?"
"Sorry, I thought you would want to stay with Dustin and Erica-" "I do, but we're a package deal. Plus, Ace and Robin-" "Wait up!" Steve and Jessica glance up and sees Robin running down the hill. "Okay, Ace has them." "You trust him now?" Steve questions. "He's watched them as they made their escape out of headquarters. We're really doing this, huh?"
"For our kids? I'd do anything," Steve tells her truthfully. "Me too," she replies back as Robin climbs into the backseat of the car. "Hold on!" he instructs the two as he puts the car into reverse and presses his foot on the gas, the car sliding down the hill, backwards.
++++++
Billy Hargrove sat in his car, engine revving as he had waited for his moment to arrive. The group that had hid in the mall, had come running back out toward the car once again, this time with the ignition cable in hand. Standing in front of the car, Nancy raises her gun up, firing bullets toward Billy as he drives his car forward.
It didn't slow him down. Billy continues to drive forward, right at Nancy and the kids in the car. But what Billy had failed to see was Steve Harrington, racing forward with the Toddfather with Jessica by his side and Robin in the backseat. Steve slams his foot down onto the gas, the car speeding up faster.
"Brace yourselves!" Steve yells as Jessica and Robin both turn their heads to the side as the car collides into Billy's car. Both cars spin around in the parking lot, leaving Nancy, Jonathan and the kids unharmed.
With panted breaths, Steve, Jessica and Robin look at one another with wide eyes. "Are you two, okay?" he asks them. Jessica and Robin glance at one another before looking back over at Steve. "Ask us tomorrow?" Robin suggests, Jessica nodding in agreement.
Above them, the Mind Flayer had crawled its way back out of the mall. Towering above them, he raises his head, letting out a loud shrieking noise. Standing up, Steve, Jessica and Robin had watched as the monster emerged. "Holy shit," Jessica breathes out in horror.
Pulling up beside the Toddfather, Jonathan honks the horn while Nancy sticks her head out the window. "Get in!" All three didn't waste a moment as they quickly jump out of the Toddfather and climb into the trunk of Nancy's car. Jonathan slams his foot down onto the gas, the car peeling out of the mall's parking lot.
Jessica and Steve peer out the window, seeing the Mind Flayer jump down from the top of the mall. It lands on the ground and begins to run after them. "Shit!" Jessica turns her head. "Jonathan! It's following us!" Jonathan peers into the rearview mirror and sees that the Mind Flayer was right on them. His foot presses down on the gas pedal harder, the car flying down the road of Hawkins.
Jonathan hits a bump, Jessica falling onto Steve who catches her. Jessica climbs off and settles down beside Steve who kept an arm around her waist while Robin sits across from the pair.
"Dusty-bun, you copy?"
"I copy, Suzie-poo. It sounds much better now, thanks."
Steve, Jessica and Robin all look at one another. "Suzie," they chorused as Dustin and Suzie's voice comes through the walkie-talkie. "Told you she was real," Jessica tells Steve.
"Okay, so listen, do you know Planck's constant?" "Do you know the Earth orbits the sun?" "Okay, so I know it starts with two sixes, and then a...W-what is it?" "Okay, let me just be clear on this. I haven't heard from you in a week, and now you want a mathematical equation that you should know so you can...save the world?" "Suzie-poo, I promise, I will make it up to you as soon as possible." "You can make it up to me now." "What?" "I want to hear it."
"Hear what?" Steve questions as the group listens intensely to the conversation between Dustin and Suzie.
"Not right now."
"Yes, now, Dusty-bun." "Suzie-poo, this is urgent." "Yes, yes, you're saving the world, I heard you the first time, but Ged is also saving Earthsea and he's about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie, signing off." "Wait, wait, wait! Okay. Okay. Okay. Shit."
The walkie-talkie was quiet for a few seconds until the gang heard Dustin, singing. "Turn around. Look at what you see. In her face the mirror of your dreams-" Steve and Jessica glance at each other in confusion. "Make believe I'm everywhere. Given in the light. Written on the pages is the answer to a never-ending story!" Dustin and Suzie sing together.
As Dustin and Suzie continue to sing together, each member of the car all looked at one another in confusion. After a few more verses, the singing finally ended. "Planck's constant is 6.62607004." "You just saved the world." "Gosh, I miss you, Dusty-bun." "And I miss you more, Suzie-poo." "I miss you more, multiplied by all the stars in our galaxy." "No, I miss you-" Static sounds over the radio, silence taking over the car.
"...Steve and I aren't...like that, are we?" Jessica asks the gang. "No, no, of course not," they all chimed. Steve glances out the window and sees the Mind Flayer turning around. "It's turning around."
"What?" Nancy asks, turning her head.
"It's turning around!" Steve repeats. "Maybe we wore it out," Lucas suggests. "I don't think so. Hold on," Jonathan says, turning the wheel, making a sharp U-turn, making its way back to the Starcourt Mall.
++++++
The gang quickly runs into the mall. Jessica, Lucas and Will each carry a white basket full of firecrackers. They see the Mind Flayer hovering over Eleven and Billy. "Quick! We need to get up to the second level," Jonathan tells them as they run up the stairs. Once they reach the second floor, the party splits up into three teams. Team #1 was Jessica, Steve and Robin, Team #2 was Lucas and Will, and Team #3 was Jonathan and Nancy.
Jessica, Steve and Robin run over towards the end of the mall. Jessica sets the white basket down and grabs a firecracker. She runs over to the balcony and peers down, seeing the Mind Flayer advance closer to Eleven. She glances down the way and sees Lucas nod, signaling everyone to fire.
Eleven lets out a gasp as the Mind Flayer creeps closer to it. It stops in its track when a firecracker hits its head. "Flay this, you ugly piece of shit!" Lucas cries out from the second floor of the mall. Lucas throws another firecracker, this time it goes into the Mind Flayer's mouth. It explodes inside, enraging the Mind Flayer.
Jonathan and Nancy both throw their firecrackers down onto the Mind Flayer, it explodes into fireworks as the monster lets out more screeches. "Hey, asshole! Over here!" Steve yells as he, Jessica and Robin throw their firecrackers at it.
Each member of the party continues to toss their firecrackers at the Mind Flayer. Fireworks rained down, the mall lighting up in bursts of colors. The Mind Flayer lets out a deafening wailing nose.
Jessica kneels, grabbing one last firecracker. "We're out!" she tells Steve and Robin. Steve pulls out the walkie-talkie from his pocket. "Dustin! We're out of time!" Jessica lights the firecracker with a lighter and pulls her arm back. She steps forward, flinging the firecracker at the Mind Flyer. The monster lets out a roar at the sky before peering down at Billy and Eleven.
The monster opens its mouth, an arm reaching out towards Eleven who shields herself with her arms, only to feel nothing. She lowers her arms down from her face and lets out a gasp as she sees Billy holding the arm back.
Max and Mike run into the food court, only to come to a complete stop once they spot the Mind Flayer a few feet away from them. The two were frozen as they watched the Mind Flayer uses its second arm and attach itself to Billy's left side. Billy lets out a grunt once he feels it biting his side. It sends out multiple arms, attaching itself to Billy, lifting him up from the ground.
"No!" Max cries out in horror.
The Mind Flayer sets Billy down onto his knees. Billy screams at the Mind Flayer. With one final shot, the Mind Flayer shoots an arm out, sending it straight at Billy's chest. The monster pulls its arm out of Billy's chest, blooding pouring out.
"Billy!" Mac cries out as Billy falls to the floor.
Suddenly, the Mind Flayer stumbles back, howling in pain. The Mind Flayer stumbles over to the railing where Steve, Jessica and Robin stood. Steve wasted no moment, wrapping his arms around both Jessica and Robin's waist. He pulls the two girls back as the Mind Flayer stumbles into the railing, shattering it on impact.
The three falls to the ground. Quickly, they push themselves up and rush over to the broken railing. They peer down and see the Mind Flayer collapse to the ground.
Each member of the party runs over to the escalator and races down it, meeting Mike, Eleven and Max at the bottom. Max cries into Eleven's arms as Billy lies on the ground, motionless. Jessica steps forward only to freeze when a man and an entire army storm the Starcourt Mall.
"Put your hands up!"
Everyone holds their hands up as the army comes racing toward them, guns raised high. "Put them down!" The man yells. "I know them. Go find the Russians." Half of the army men spread out into the mall while the other half escorts the party out.
Stepping foot into the parking lot, each member of the party saw multiple army helicopters, firetrucks and ambulances sitting there. The EMTs quickly rush toward the teenagers and pull them off toward the ambulances.
Sitting in an ambulance, Steve and Jessica had a blanket wrapped around one another as she rested her head on his shoulder. The two had gotten checked out by the EMTs. Jessica lets out a heavy sigh as she feels exhaustion taking over her body.
"Lake Day."
Jessica takes her head off Steve's shoulder, her eyes darting up to his face. "What?" Steve chuckles, smiling down at her. "This Saturday, you, me and the gang are having a Lake Day. We deserve it after-" Steve gestures to the scene around them. "All this."
Jessica smiles. "Really?"
Steve nods. "I said I'm in when you brought it up so let's make it actually happen."
"Thank you," Jessica tells him before resting her head back onto his shoulder. Steve kisses her forehead before resting his chin on the top of her head, the two basking in the presence of each other.
[Published 7/17/2022]