"And that's why we're no longer together"
Eleven and Aiden sat in her room in the Byers new house as he'd just given her the explanation as to why he'd seemed different. El was beyond sad at hearing the news... She was heartbroken.
"Six months ago?" El asked and Aiden nodded. How had she been out of touch for so long? She didn't know any of this had happened. Eleven didn't even know what to think right now. All she knew was that her best friend was currently hurting a lot. She remembers being told how Mike was while she was gone,she could only imagine that was now feeling the same way.
"Come here" El gently pulled him into a hug, rubbing circles on his back. "I'm sorry"
"It's not your fault," Aiden softly replied.
"I should've been there to at least make you feel better"
Eleven really did feel guilty for being absent while Aiden had to bear all this on his own.
And Max...
Why would she do this? As far as El knew, Max loved Aiden a lot from what she'd seen. So what happened that made her switch and say all those mean things to him? It didn't make sense to her.
"It'll be okay," El pulled away from the hug to look at him. She then lightly poked Aiden's forehead with her index and middle fingers, causing him to smile. "You're the strongest person I know... You'll get through it"
"Thanks, El"
"Anytime" she smiled at him. "How's Hawkins?"
Aiden's smile faded and he let out a sigh. "Not great.. deaths have been happening all over the place and we think it might be the Upside Down again"
"How do you know?" El asked.
"It's Hawkins," Aiden chuckled. "it's always the Upside Down messing with us"
"Is it the mind flayer?" Eleven asked.
"Not exactly," Aiden replied.
"Oh," Eleven remembered. "You can't tell me because it'll-"
"Mess with the plot,yeah" Aiden said. "I know it's getting annoying to hear"
"No," she shook her head. "i understand"
"Thanks, El" Aiden grabbed her hand. "Want me to stay with you for a while? We could eat all the eggos we want and watch TV"
"Yes, please" Eleven smiled and nodded.
"Okayyy,now where's the fridge?"
Twenty minutes later,they were seated next to each other on the couch, eggos on their plates while their eyes were fixated on the screen.
"Y'know,now that I'm used to it..." Aiden said after a while of El laughing at the show in front of them. "I think 80s TV is better than what we'll have in the 2020s and 2010s"
"What's TV like in the 2020s?" El looked at him.
"It's kinda hard to explain" Aiden took a bite of his waffle. "It's kinda uncensored but also very watered down cause everyone's triggered by everything"
"Sounds confusing" El furrowed her eyebrows.
"Believe me,it is," Aiden laughed. He at least felt better hanging out with El. It was some form of relief and even though he didn't grow up in Hawkins,he felt some kind of nostalgia hanging out with Eleven again; just the two of them, like it was when she was hidden away in Hopper's cabin.
Unfortunately, nothing good lasts too long in this dimension.
Aiden started to hear ticking and his head immediately turned, looking for where it was coming from. He soon spotted a familiar grandfather clock on one of the walls close by.
"Of course..." He sighed.
'Aiden...'
"Save me the horror movie bullshit, Henry" the teen rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"
'Oh, you seem a little too eager to die,' Vecna's voice came again. 'Wouldn't you at least want to spend time with your little friends first?'
"It's cute that you think I'll die so easily," Aiden said. "Now answer my question"
'In simple terms,' Vecna stated. 'You are a hindrance to my plans... And I'll have to remove you from the equation once again. But... You are also of great value. Possessing three of the most powerful known traits in another reality... You've become quite special'
There was something about the way the last part was said that made Aiden extremely uneasy. Vecna's voice sounded warped, like it was mixed with someone else's.
That second voice sounded smooth, way too smooth.. deceptive even. And it also sounded gravely familiar to him.
"Such power shouldn't be wasted," the voices spoke again. 'prepare yourself, Aiden... everything will end soon'
"Get out of my head" Aiden shook his head.
'Everything will crash and burn before you...'
"GET THE HELL OUT MY HEAD!'
Aiden decided to act on instinct and shape his hands into the tiger hand sign. Once he did,the world around him seemed to crack, crumble and break apart like a shattered mirror, sending him back to the real world where he met El's concerned gaze.
"El..." Aiden breathed out. "I need to go... They're in trouble"
"What'd you see?" El asked.
"It's too much to explain right now but they really need me," Aiden replied.
El nodded in understanding. "Thanks for helping me today"
"Anytime, buddy... Don't hesitate to summon me next time, okay?" He asked. El nodded.
"Love you,buddy" Aiden hugged the girl for a few seconds. "We'll see each other sooner than you think, promise"
"Be careful," El said.
"You too," he said. "And.. whatever happens next, know you're stronger than it is,okay?"
El nodded and smiled. "Bye, Aiden"
"Bye, buddy" Aiden smiled and grabbed the last eggo on his plate before teleporting away.
__________
Aiden immediately appeared in the school hallway, right next to his clone to find everyone looking at Lucas who jumped the moment he saw Aiden appear. Everyone else wondered what he was staring at till they looked to their side and saw two Aiden's standing there, causing everyone to jump and Max to scream.
"Woah woah, chill!" The original Aiden raised his hands. "I'm the real me"
"This was a clone the whole time?" Steve asked.
"Sorry,I had important stuff to take care of," Aiden said.
"There's an eggo in your hand," Dustin pointed out.
"I eat when I'm stressed, okay?" Aiden said before eating the waffle in one bite. He looked at his clone. "You saw it too, right?"
"Even heard him" he confirmed. Aiden nodded before dispelling the clone.
He then turned back to the rest of the group, including a worried looking Lucas. Max locked eyes with him and somehow without being told,she knew he'd seen something too.
__________
In Mike's basement,the group sat on the couch,Aiden throwing his head back and allowing his hair to almost cover his already closed eyes. His mind was jumping from one scenario and theory to another.
"You okay?"
Aiden opened his eyes to see Max looking at him.
"Yeah..."
"I can still tell when you're lying," Max stated. "You saw it too?"
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah,I did"
"The clock?" Max asked.
Aiden nodded. "and he talked to me... but, something was different..."
"Different how?" Max got closer to him.
"There was another voice speaking along with his..." Aiden said. "Almost like there was someone else right beside him"
"What did they want?" Max asked.. she really hoped it wasn't the answer she was thinking.
"Me" Aiden said.
Of course she had to be right.
"Won't you tell anyone!" Max asked.
"Not when I haven't confirmed anything for certain" Aiden said.
"Confirmed..." Max looked at him in shock. "Aiden, you can't hide this... they could kill you"
"I'm aware," the boy smiled. "I just don't want anyone getting stressed over a second psychopath"
"You tell them or I will," Max threatened.
He slowly looked up at her lazily.
"Fine,but when Nance and Robin are here too"
After Max left, he almost immediately went back to his thoughts. Was he just hearing things or did Vecna's voice actually change? Why did that voice sound so familiar? He'd used the genjutsu release hand sign to break out the illusion,but that was just done on instinct... Normally it wouldn't have worked cause Vecna doesn't use chakra.
His mind went back to the battle of starcourt when Steve had mentioned another chakra user launching a fireball. So combining the pieces together,he theorised whoever they were had some kind of partnership with Vecna.
The next few minutes were followed with theorising about how Vecna had appeared, killed the creel family and just disappeared, only to reappear thirty years later. Aiden really wanted to tell them but unfortunately he couldn't fit already established reasons.
"Aiden, you've seen him," Lucas said. "Did he tell you anything?"
"Nothing too different from what he told Max" Aiden lied through his teeth.
"Aiden," Max said from where she sat writing letters. "Tell them or I will"
"Tell us what?" Lucas looked at his best friend.
"Nothing important," Aiden said.
"Aiden," Max said again. "Seriously, don't hide it"
"Hide what?" Nancy's voice came suddenly as she and Robin came down the steps.
Aiden let out a sigh.
__________
"So you think Vecna is working with a chakra user?" Nancy asked. Aiden nodded.
"I don't know who it is exactly,but the things I noticed so far align with that theory" Aiden said.
"Who do you think it could be?" Lucas asked.
"I really don't know... But they apparently want my powers," Aiden said. "I guess it's not everyday you get a mixture of three legends in one body. Minato's speed, Sakumo's chakra nature and a hint of Kakashi's Chakra... Guess I'm one of a kind"
"Speaking of him..." Dustin said. "Have you heard from him again?"
"Nada" Aiden shook his head. "Naruto helped me fix my chakra control again, but my spirit guide's still nowhere to be seen"
"So what do we do?" Steve asked. "if Aiden's right,then this guy's completely out of our league"
"But probably not mine," Aiden said. "I don't know who it is yet,but if he were stronger than Vecna he'd make Vecna an underling,but since they're partners, they're probably on the same power level"
"Meaning...?" Robin asked.
"I can beat him if I try hard enough," Aiden said.
"Yeah,no way," Nancy shook her head. "you don't need to do all that cause we're still not sure"
"But Nancy -"
"No!" She stopped Aiden. "we deal with one problem at a time; that means no throwing yourself at unknown enemies"
After Nancy and Robin left to Pennhurst, Aiden sank into his thoughts again and he was mostly mentally absent till he saw Max handing him a letter.
He wanted to tell her to keep it,and that she wouldn't need those letters cause she wouldn't die... Unfortunately,he knew very well what'd happened the last time he promised no one would die.
He wasn't going to make that mistake again.
As Max went on a tangent about how things never worked out for her,he found himself relating to almost every word she said. His life wasn't much better so he understood why she'd be tired of reassurances.
Soon after, Max insisted on heading to east Hawkins where Billy was buried.
'welp, it's that time I guess'
Aiden stood up,got his Walkman and threw all his tapes in his backpack as well as one extra one.
Kate Bush.
__________
After a bunch of protesting from Steve,they made their way to East Hawkins, stopping at the trailer park, specifically Max's trailer.
"Make it quick, Mayfield," Steve said.
"Twenty seconds," Max said.
"And be careful," Aiden spoke up. Max nodded before heading towards her house.
Aiden let out a sigh... He really didn't like the thought of what would soon follow.
A few minutes later, while listening to Twenty One Pilots' Fake You Out, Aiden suddenly felt his head hurt again,not as severely as before but it still hurt nonetheless.
"Dude,you okay?" Lucas asked.
"It's Max," he grunted.
"What do you mean-" Dustin was cut off by Max hurriedly getting in the car.
"What happened?" Steve asked.
"Just drive," Max requested.
"Are you okay?"
"Dude,just move," Aiden said.
Steve immediately started the car and drove away from the trailer park.
"I know you saw him," Aiden said.
Max looked at him,but didn't say anything.
"I don't have the right to say this but you really should talk to us, y'know, the ones that care about you" Aiden said.
"Coming from the guy who's hiding a lot of shit" Max replied.
"Telling someone what you saw won't break the universe apart" Aiden replied. "and I don't enjoy keeping things inside,I unfortunately have to. I was ready to listen to you, Max.. I was ready to be there for you cause you ever needed it..."
He let out a deep sigh before he let out quietly. "... And I still am"
"What?" She turned to look at him.
"Max, which way?" Steve asked.
"Turn left here" Max instructed.
"Here?"
__________
Once they stopped near the cemetery,Max looked at Aiden.
"Again, be careful" he told her. The redhead nodded.
He tried not to think much,but as she walked away, Aiden couldn't help but get flashbacks... Thoughts of the first time they'd met at the arcade, fighting the Demodogs off,their talk on the roof of the bus,the snowball...
Aiden shook his head and got down from the car, sitting on the trunk and watching her. He knew it would happen any second now and it terrified him... Try as he might,he couldn't deny that he was really worried about her.
A few minutes passed and Aiden was sure something was wrong.
"Guys,I think he got her," he said.
"Who?" Steve asked.
"Vecna" Aiden immediately jumped off the trunk and started to hurry up the hill. Getting to Max,he saw that her eyes were already rolled into her head.
"Oh shit..." Aiden said. "Guys! Get my backpack with the tapes!"
"What's wrong?" Steve asked as he got there. "Jesus, what's wrong with her?"
"Vecna" the boy breathed out.
Aiden immediately sat on the ground next to Max,cross legged and his hands shaped into fists and brought together.
"What're you doing?" Lucas asked.
"Going in after her"
"Are you insane?!" Steve asked.
"Yes!" Aiden yelled back before closing his eyes. Soon enough,the orange pigmentation of Sage Mode appeared on his eyelids. He honestly hoped this worked.
He made the snake hand sign and breathed in again.
The orange pigmentation on his eyelids flashed white for a second before fading back to orange.
__________
Aiden opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar dark landscape.
It worked.
Now he just needed to find Max.
"Aiden"
He turned around and his eyes landed on someone he never expected to see again.
A boy who looked to be around thirteen with green eyes and brown hair. His clothes were completely drenched and so was his hair.
"Kyle..."
"It's been a while, hasn't it... Best friend?"