Eleven continues to scream and sob in pain as the thing continues to move inside her leg.
"What is that?" Erica asks in disgust.
"There's something in there." Mike states the obvious
"Jesus Christ." Dustin exclaims in disgust.
"Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?" Jonathan orders as he gets up and runs to one of the food shops. We do as he says.
We move her to where her head rests on Mike's lap and her leg is clear from anything else. Soon enough, Jonathan comes running back to us, knife in hand.
"Okay. Alright, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?" Jonathan says as he crouches next to her leg.
"Okay." Eleven sobs.
"I need you to stay real still." He puts on a pair of gloves. "Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?" He hands a wooden spoon to Mike and Eleven bites down on it.
Dustin mumbles profanities as Jonathan nears the knife to Eleven's leg. He looks around, unsure.
"Do it." Mike encourages.
"Okay." Jonathan whispers before cutting into her wound as Eleven screams in pain.
He puts the knife down and uses his gloves fingers to reach in and attempt to pull the thing out. Eleven screams in agony as she sobs. Jonathan can't get a hold on the thing and Nancy calls his name, quickly being shushed by him. He continues to dig in, panicking and frustrated.
"No! Stop it!" Eleven spits the wooden spoon out of her mouth. "Stop!" Jonathan stops and pulls his fingers out of her wound. "I can do it." She cries as she sits up. "I can do it."
She uses her powers to grab a hold of the thing from inside her leg. She cries in pain, but continues anyway. Slowly but surly, it makes it way painfully to the opening of the wound. As it gets stuck on the opening, Eleven screams as she struggles to get it out. Her screams cause the glass behind us to shatter into pieces. She gets it out, screaming in anger now, and she throws it across the mall.
As the thing squirms away, it gets stomped on by none other than Jim Hopper with Mom and some other bum behind him.
...
We start sharing what we know and what we've been through.
"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world." Mike explains as we sit at the fountain in the middle of the mall.
"And it almost did. That was just one tiny piece of it." Nancy jumps in.
"How big is this thing?" Hopper asks.
"It's big." Jonathan answers as I sit next to Mom and smile at her. She smiles back before we turn our attention back to the group. "Thirty feet at least."
"Yeah." Lucas voices. "It sorta destroyed your cabin." Hopper sighs. "Sorry."
"Okay, so, just to be clear, this... big fleshy spider thing that hurt El," Steve gestures to El who is being held by Hopper, her adoptive father, "it's some kind of gigantic... weapon?"
"Yes." Nancy says.
"But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made it's weapon... with melted people."
"Yes, exactly."
"Yeah, okay. I- yeah, I'm just making sure." Steve nods in understanding.
"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Mom asks.
"El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it's still alive." Max affirms.
"But if we close the gate again-" Will starts.
"We cut the brain off from be body." Max continues.
"And kill it." Lucas finishes. "Theoretically."
"Yoo-hoo!" The bum from before, who I now know is called Murray, calls from within the mall as he waved papers around. He approaches us and sets the papers down on a nearby table. "Okay, this is what Alexei called 'the hub'." He points to a location on one of the papers. "Now, the hub takes us to the vault room."
"Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper asks as he looks at the papers.
"Right here. I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe 50 feet or so." Murray says, pointing to spots on the papers.
"More like 500." Erica steps up. Murray looks at her with a look that I can't place on his face, but I see annoyance. "What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's some commie Disneyland or something?"
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Murray asks.
"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!"
"Erica!" Lucas scolds.
"Just the facts!" Erica argues.
"She's right. You're all gonna die, but you don't have to. Excuse me. Sorry, may I?" Dustin steps up to the table and gestures to the papers.
"Please." Murray smiles, annoyed.
Dustin sits down on the nearby chair and pulls the papers to himself. "Okay, see this room here?" He circles a spot on the papers with Murray's pencil. "This is a storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon." He draws a line to the weapon room. "It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way."
"You can show us the way?" Hopper asks doubtfully.
"Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your... navigators." Dustin smiles.
Hopper smiles back. "No." Dustin's smile falls. Hopper shrugs. "Nope."
...
Steve and I sit on the counter of a nearby shop as everyone does their own thing to get ready. Steve sits next to me and holds my hand comfortingly, yet discreetly. We don't think some people would be happy seeing us together, ahemJonathanahem, so we decided to keep it a secret until it's a good time. We sit there in silence.
We let go of each other's hands when Dustin and Erica come to us saying that we need to get to Dustin's radio tower that is situated at the highest point in Hawkins.
Before we leave, I go to Mom. "Mom." I call to her as I jog her way and she turns around.
"Oh, sweetie." She holds her arms out and I wrap mine around her in a hug and she does the same.
"Please be safe." I mutter into her shoulder. "I can't lose you. We can't lose you." I say, referring to Jonathan, Will and I.
"I am going to come back, I promise you." She smiles with teary eyes as she pulls back and holds my face. "I love you, so much." She sniffles.
I chuckle and sniffle as well. "I love you too, Mom."
We say our goodbyes and I join Dustin, Erica, and Steve as we walk to the exit of the mall. I wipe my tears before I reach them.
We leave the mall and are greeted with a nice-ass light beige convertible.
"Oh, man, now this... this is what I'm talkin' about!" Steve says, keys in hand, as we walk to the car.
"Toddfather?" I ask, reading the license plate.
"Oh, screw Todd!" Steve says as he jumps in. "Steve's her daddy now."
"Did you just talk about yourself in third-person?" I ask as I climb in the passenger seat and Dustin and Erica climb in back.
"Did he just call himself daddy?" Erica asks.
"Alright, where are we going?" Steve asks as he starts up the car.
"Weathertop." Dustin answers.
"Weather-what?" Asks Steve.
"Just drive!"
"Okay. Jesus!"
...
"Jesus, how far is this place, man?" Steve asks as we drive down the dark roads to the middle of nowhere.
"Relax, we're almost there." Dustin responds.
"Suzie must be pretty special, huh?" I ask as I look at Dustin through the rear-view mirror. "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," I see Steve glance at me from the corner of my eye and struggle to hold back my smile, "but Suzie's about as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be." Dustin smiles, love-stricken.
"She sound made-up to me." Erica voices. "She sound made-up to you?" She asks Steve.
"..."
"Why are you hesitating, Steve?" Dustin asks angrily.
"I'm- I'm- I'm not! I'm not!" Steve denies. "I think she sounds real. You know, totally, absolutely real."
"Left. Turn left." Dustin orders.
"There's not a road here." Steve argues.
"Turn left now!" Dustin yells.
Steve turns left and we drive through a wooden fence and up a hill.
"Henderson, where are we going!?" Steve screams.
"Up!" Dustin yells back.
"We're not gonna make it!" I yell.
"Yes, we are. Come on, baby. Come on, baby!" Steve yells back as he encourages the car.
Before we make it, the engine sputters and the car gets stuck as the hill gets steeper.
"Guess the Toddfather has it's limitations." I say breathlessly.
Steve gives up and we get out, walking the rest of the way, which isn't far.
...
We make it to the radio tower and Dustin grabs the radio.
"Bald Eagle, do you copy? Bald Eagle, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy?"
"Yes, I copy." Murray says bitterly from the other line, not liking his nickname. We all chuckle with 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?" Dustin says with a smile as Steve and I look at each other and laugh silently.
"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."
Steve pats Dustin's shoulder.
...
We wait for anything to come from the other line again.
"Scoops Troop, this is... Bald Eagle. Ive reached another junction." Murray suddenly comes through.
"This is what?" Dustin asks Erica.
"The fourth junction." Erica answers.
"Alright, 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." Dustin says into the radio.
"Roger that, flying right." Murray answers.
"What's the My Little Pony thesis?" I ask.
"Don't get him started." Erica says.
"Get him started? Just tell me-"
"Hey, guys?" Steve calls to us, a few feet away as he looks towards the mall.
We get up and walk to him. We look out to see the lights of the mall flicker before we run back to the radio.
"Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over!" Dustin yells into the radio. He repeats himself before he's cut off by a loud inhuman shrieking sound. Dustin continues to call into the radio, begging them to answer. There's no response.
Suddenly, Steve gets up and starts racing to the car.
"Where are you going!?" Erica calls to him.
"To get them the hell outta there!" Steve calls back. "Stay here, contact the others!"
"Shit." I say before running after him.
"Wait, Y/n!" Dustin calls after me.
I turn around and Dustin tosses me a radio. "Stay in touch."
I catch it. "Got it." I start running to Steve again.
I jump in the car.
"What are you doing!?" Steve asks.
"My brothers are in there!" I say. "Now drive!"
...
It doesn't take long at the speed we are going, but when we enter the mall parking lot, there is a car, that looks oddly like Billy's, speeding towards the car that the Griswold Family group are all in save for Eleven, Mike, and Max, Nancy standing there and shooting the gun at it the car that is quickly approaching them, not planning to stop.
Steve steps on the gas and crashes into the car, sending it away from everyone and saving them.
"Are you okay?" Steve asks, dazed, after we come to a stop.
I turn to him. "Ask me tomorrow?"
We look up at the mall and I gasp as we stand and rest our arms against the top of the windshield.
"Oh, shit..." I mumble as I watch a giant disgusting fleshy creature crawls on top of the mall and screeches at us.
The Griswold Family group's car honks at us and stops beside us. Nancy tells us to get in and we jump out of the wrecked car and get in the back of theirs as the creature chases us. I'm guessing that is the Mind Flayer.
Steve and I watch in fear as the Mind Flayer chases us. Our attention is brought to the radio as a female voice comes through.
"Dusty-bun, you copy?" She asks.
"I copy, Suzie-poo." Dustin's voice answers back. "It sounds much better now, thanks."
"Suzie." Steve and I say in sync as we look at each other.
"Okay, so, listen, do you know Planck's constant?" Dustin asks.
"Do you know the Earth orbits the sun?" Suzie asks, showing that she obviously knows it.
"Okay, so I know it starts with two sixes, and then a... 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."
"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." Dustin goes silent for a moment before he comes back, doing something I never would have thought he would do. "Turn around" He's singing. "look at what you see~"
"In her face"
Steve and I look at each other, cringing, as the Mind Flayer chases us angrily.
"The mirror of your dreams~"
They start singing together.
"Make believe I'm everywhere"
"Given in the light~"
"Written on the pages is"
"The answer to a never-ending stoooryyyy~"
"AhAh-ah-AhAh-ah-AhAh-ah~"
"Reach the stars"
"Fly a fantasy~"
"Dream a dream"
"And what you see will be~"
Steve and I look at Lucas and Will, a cringe on Steve's and the boys' face as I dance and lip sync to the song. Steve looks at me and shakes his head.
"Rhymes that keep their secrets will"
"Unfold behind the clouds"
"And there upon a rainbow is"
"The answer to a never-ending stooooryyyy~"
"AhAh-ah-AhAh-ah-AhAh-ah~"
"Stoooryyyy~"
"AhAh-ah-AhAh-ah-AhAh-ah~"
They fade out and Dustin laughs lightly.
"Planck's constant is 6.62607004."
"You just saved the world." Dustin says.
"Gosh, I miss you, Dusty-bun." Suzie says, you can basically hear her smile.
"And I miss you more, Suzie-poo." Dustin says in the same state as Suzie.
"I miss you more, multiplied by all the stars in our galaxy."
"No, I miss you-" Dustin cuts off.
...
We continue driving until the Mind Flayer suddenly stops and turns around.
"It's turning around." Steve calls.
"What?" Nancy asks as she turns back to us.
"It's turning around!"
"Maybe we wore it out." Lucas suggests.
"I don't think so. Hold on." Jonathan says before we sharply turn around and head back to the mall.
...
We make it back to the mall and there are military vehicles and ambulances everywhere. They question us for a moment before they patch up any wounds we have.
I sit on the back of an ambulance with a blanket around me with Steve at my side. He holds my hand as I look down at the ground. I lean my head on his shoulder and he rests his head on mine, gaining a questioning look from Nancy and Jonathan, but I push that aside.
I just wanna be okay right now.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It's been three months since that whole fiasco went down. Mom announced that she decided she wanted to move. Eleven now lives with us due to Hopper's death in the Russian facility. It was hard getting over that and all of us including Mom and Eleven are still going through a hard time with it, but they're getting better.
Mom, Will, Eleven, and Jonathan are moving while I decided to buy the house from Mom and stay in Hawkins. Though this place holds a lot of trauma, it just feels like home and I can't find it in me to leave.
Of course I am gonna visit them from time to time because they're my family, but, for now, I'm staying in Hawkins.
I've already said my very emotional goodbyes to them before they left. I left to go job hunting with Steve due to the mall's closure.
Steve parks in the parking lot of a video store, hoping to land a job for now.
I climb out of the car as he does, holding Steve's resume.
"You put your mom down as a reference?" I ask Steve.
"Yeah. Why not? She's, like, super well-respected." Steve says as we walk to the door of the video store.
(What am I? Dr. Seuss?)
Steve holds the door open for me. "You're such an idiot." I say as I walk into the store, Steve following.
We walk up to the counter and say that we were looking for a job.
"Uh, Judy to be clear, we weren't fired, you know. The mall burned down and, like, killed a bunch of people." I say as the guy at the register, Keith, I remember him from school, reads our resumes.
He puts them down. "Thanks for sharing. Didn't know." He says lazily before tossing the papers back to us. He snaps and points at me. "Three favorite movies. Go."
"Uh... The Apartment, Hidden Fortress, Children of Paradise." I answer and Keith snaps and points at Steve.
"You, go."
"Favorite movies?"
"Did I stutter?"
"Uh... Animal House, for sure. Um..." Steve looks around discreetly.
Keith snaps to get Steve's attention before pointing at his own eyes. "Eyes on me, Harrington."
"Yeah. Uh... Star Wars."
"A New Hope?"
"A new what-now?"
"Which Star Wars?" Keith says impatiently.
"The one with the teddy bears. Duh." He starts squealing like an Ewok before looking at me. "No?" I sigh and drop my head. "Uh... oh, the one that just came out. The movie that just came out. The one with the DeLorean and Alex P. Keaton, and he's trying to bang his mom." Steve chuckles. "The time... yeah, those are my top thee. Classics."
Keith points at me. "You start Monday." He points at Steve. "You start never."
Steve looks at me, disappointed.
"Will you just, um... Will you give us a minute?" I ask Steve.
"Why?" He asks.
"Steve." I whisper.
Steve looks at Keith and Keith makes a face at him. Steve backs off and takes his resume with him.
"Alright, you have to understand, Keith, I know his taste is a bit pedestrian, but the dingus has other qualities." I reason.
"He's a douchebag of the highest order, Y/n."
"He was a bit of a prick to us in high school, I'll grant you that, but he remains... a total chick magnet."
"Yeah, okay, and this is relevant to me how?"
"Uh, earth to Keith. The ladies will come in just to see him. They'll come in in droves. Droves, Keith. We sold so much ice cream, they had to get a second shipment in from Michigan. Goddamn Michigan, Keith. And these ladies... these ladies are hot. They're so very hot. And there are too many of them for little Steve. He needs assistance. He needs your assistance, Keith."
Keith eats a cheese puff. "What's in it for you? You got a thing for him or something?"
I turn and look at Steve as he trips over a cardboard cut out with a soft smile before I turn back to Keith.
"Yeah. I guess you can say that."
[Season 3 End]
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