Hopper

I'm led off of the helicopter, a bag over my head, cuffs attached to both my hands and my feet. I walk for what appears to be several hundred metres before I trip over something in front of me and hit my head on what is an extremely hard probably metallic surface. I hear rough laughing behind me before my vision is restored and I realise that I tripped over some steps leading onto a small plane. It's very painful, and I suspect it is bleeding.

As I make my way up the steps I look around quickly. We are in a small airport with a few old planes lying around but otherwise is very desolate. I'm ushered onto the plane before I can see much more. I am sat down in a lone seat with two facing me. My facial wound catches the eye of Brenner as he gets one of his associates to stop the bleeding. We wait for a few minutes, probably so that the pilots can complete the pre-flight safety checks.

Eventually the engines power up and we taxi to the runway. We wait for a couple of seconds before the aircraft starts to rocket up the runway. Once we take off and my ears adjust to the pressure change, I start to wonder where this came from, how he can afford a plane like this and what our plan would be once we landed, presumably back in America. I was thrilled to be going back but felt sick to the stomach that it was him that was bringing me back.

Some time passes before he switches seats with one of the guards so that he is facing me directly in front. I turn to face him as well and get a good look at his face. It's hard not to get up and punch him. Well, except for the handcuffs and restraints. I hate everything about him, all the way to my fucking core. The experiments he did on El, the way he treated her like a dog, kept her prisoner for most of her life, terrorised her, and the rest of the kids they used. Actually no, not used. Exploited. His psychological manipulation and his ruthlessness made him even more dangerous than someone with physical strength.

I thought he died; we all did. We even took comfort in the fact that we didn't have to see him anymore. But like the parasite he is, he came back. Again. It wasn't even just what was on the inside that was bad. He had the look of a friendly grandpa that got you cool gifts for Christmas and was a kind man. But those piercing blue eyes and the permanent scowl on his face suggested the complete opposite. In some ways, he had such a trusting demeanour. Unfortunately, anyone stupid enough to trust him would end up dead or worse.

'I bet you're wondering how a dead man was able to come back, afford something like this and at the same time be working with the Russians' he says to me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I say nothing and turn to stare at the empty sky out of the window.

'Let's start with the plane and just say that it came as a gift.' he says.

'I've seen better' I retort.

'I very much doubt that Chief' he replies. 'This is state of the art aviation technology you know.'

'Great, but what is that information gonna do for me?' I ask, flaring up in anger. 'Why are you telling me this? In fact, why are you even here? Why are you alive? The world was better without your miserable existence. Can't you just go back to being dead. Hell, even a ghost would be better than you physically being here. If I didn't have these cuffs on I would boot you off this plane faster than you could ever imagine.'

'I'd like to see you try' he says back to me, calmly.

'Well, take these cuffs off and find out' I challenge.

'Okay then, I'll do exactly that' he says and signals to the guard sitting next to him. The guard takes out a key and undoes all of the locks and restraints that are holding me down. I flex for a minute, enjoying my newfound freedom before realising why I was here.

'Go and check on the pilots and my associates in the other part of the plane' he tells the guards. 'I want some alone time with the Chief here.'

'Yes boss' they say and disappear into different sections of the plane.

'Well then, here we are, exactly as you wanted' he says to me. 'Give me your best shot.'

I'm taken aback by this. My anger is pushing me forward, but my admittedly small rational side tells me to hold back. He wants me to attack him, why? But this rationality is pushed out of my head when he begins to taunt me.

'I'm the one who experimented on you precious little, El is it you call her?' he calls out.

'I'll find her again you know, and she will come with me one way or another.'

'FUCK YOU!' I shout and swing at his face. My fist makes contact and I feel the familiar buzz I get after punching someone who deserved it. But Brenner doesn't drop. He just stands there, a small smile creeping into existence on his face. There is a bruise there, but it looks like its repairing itself, slowly disappearing off of his face.

'What the hell?' I say before going into swing again. My fist makes contact again, in the same place and the same thing happens. The wound slowly disappears again, and I am shocked.

He chuckles a little bit. 'Imagine that' he says. 'Now let me show you what I can do.'

He grabs me quicker than I could imagine and slams me onto the floor. I'm aching but I start to get up. He grabs me again and slams me down again.

I groan and bundle myself into my seat.

'That's what I can do' he says to me, as he rebuttons up his blazer and sits down opposite me again.

'What the hell was that?!' I half shout at him.

'Let's just say I've been enlightened by a higher power Chief, a much higher power' he says this in a chilling manner and laughs a little before calling the guards back in to cuff me.

'Let me tell you all about it..

Robin

Sophie is a remarkably interesting person. That I can tell you for a fact. The interesting thing is that there is no one interesting character. There are just so many I don't know where to begin. Teleportation, homeless and having seen the supposedly evil incarnate form of Dr Brenner. The mysteries only grew when I found out what happened that night. The way the others were greeting her, including Steve, it was like they were family. I guess in some ways they were. They had been through it all together, to hell and back, more than once. No wonder they were crying like they were at a funeral.

Whilst they are balling their eyes out to each other, I see her come over in my general direction.

'Hi' she says. 'I'm Sophie'

'So, I've heard' I say. 'I'm Robin. Resident sarcastic and partner in crime to Douchehead over there.' I nod at Steve and upon hearing this, turns away to hide the blush I can't see but definitely know is on his face.

She chuckles a little bit. 'I can tell. You two look like a perfect pairing.' She says this with a warm smile on her face

'Oh no, we're not-' I begin, but Sophie cuts me off.

'Only joking' she says, although I am unconvinced by this. 'Although…'

'Oi!' I say.

She laughs and walks back over to Max. She seems genuinely nice. Funny, and has a joke or two in her. I wonder how knowing her will be. As I ponder this, I see Steve out of the corner of my eye look around and begin to walk away and sit down on a branch nearby. I traipse over to him and plop myself down next to him.

Steve

When I'm sure no one can see where I'm going, I walk away and sit down on a low-hanging tree branch. When I hear footsteps behind me, I groan, until I realise that its Robin. Probably the only person I actually want to talk to right now. She plops down next to me and looks at me.

'What?' I ask.

'Nothing' she says. 'Just wondering why, a good friend, such as yourself, is disappearing from the festivities after a long-lost family member returns from the grave.'

'It's exactly that' he says, more forcefully than I had anticipated, but not angry forceful. 'I thought that this couldn't get any stranger. That Demogorgon's and Mind Eaters and The Upside Down were as strange as it could get. But now someone that physically died is back. In fact, two of them are back if you count Brenner. It's messed up you know. And the fact that out of all of the nearly 5 billion people on Earth, I am one of the ones that has to deal with it. Yeah, I beat up some extra-dimensional creatures, and I know I'm awesome. But seeing those guys together, it reminds me of what I had before any of this crazy shit happened. Before all the girls with powers. I was the King. I had everything. Friends, a hot girlfriend, and an unmatched coolness. Now I'm not saying I would rather go back to then because I was an idiot back then. I have regrets about that. But just that feeling of being liked by normal people, it kinda hurts not having that anymore.'

Robin

I'm surprised by what he says. It takes me a minute to process his little speech and prepare a response. I begin slowly.

'Steve' I say. 'Why would you want to go back to being the King. You were a self-proclaimed King and yeah you had it all but is this not better. Having a true family instead of just being relevant or popular or being liked by everyone. That's not what the true reality of life is. And yeah, this time last year I would've had you committed to a sanatorium if you told me any of the stuff that has happened. But at the core of it it's us. We have friends. We banter each other. We insult each other, but we know that the other will take it well because of how tight knit the group is. It broke their hearts when El and Will moved away, even you with your hair could see through that. What we have as friends, and some of us as more than friends, will never be matched. The sheer weirdness of what's happened can sometimes be overwhelming, even I admit that. But compare what you had then with what you have now, and I can guarantee you. This. Is. Better.'

I'm out of breath after speaking for that long, but I can see that Steve is processing it all in that little brain of his. His thinking face makes him look like he's squinting at something in the distance. It's actually kind of cute. He opens his mouth to speak as I anticipate what kind of a response he'll have to my 'advice.'

Steve

Robin's advice almost acts like a kick in the teeth for me. I realise that I have everything I want right here. I have great friends; Dustin is better than Tommy ever was, and Robin is an upgrade on Carol that's for sure.

I look up at her and see the motivation in her eyes. She really wanted to help me there, to push through the message that I'm better off than I ever was, well socially at least. Now I come to think of it, Robin has actually improved the group and in general my life since I met her on my first shift at Scoops Ahoy.

I turn to look at her, the sun shining through making her look beautiful. How did I never notice her in high school? Probably because I never took my head out of my own friend group to notice anyone else. I paid that price. Stuck in my hometown trying to make my way after absolutely failing my exams. Even Tommy and Carol managed to make it out of the state to a good uni. And look at me.

But as I look at Robin now, I realise just how much she means to me. More than I would ever admit to her. She is staring at me as well. I wonder what's going on in that big brain of hers.

Robin

I'm staring at him. I am only now realising how much this guy actually means to me. More than I would ever admit to him. Before I even realise what I'm doing, I lean inwards. He reacts in the same way and moves closer; our noses are practically touching now. We could be breathing the same air we're so close. Just as the final action begins, I hear footsteps. I pull away quickly and I see Dustin in front of us.

'I wasn't disturbing anything was I?' he asks.

'No' I say quickly. 'We were just talking.'

'Cool' says Dustin. 'We're getting ready to go if you guys wanna come help pack up.'

'Sure, we'll be there in a minute' I say, as Dustin walks off.

He looks at me awkwardly. 'I think we should go and help pack' he says.

'Definitely' I reply, and we shuffle off, back to the campsite.

Will

Making friends definitely wasn't a problem here as I found a couple of kids who were into science as much as I was. One called Tom, and one called Xavier. They seem decent enough and so I agreed to hang out with them at break. The periods go by as slowly as I remember, the only class I actually look forwards to is Physics or Chemistry. But I don't have those till Thursday. Break comes as slowly as ever and I head out, wondering how El has been doing. I find Tom and Xavier and we hang out. Out of the corner of my eye, I see El sitting with a peculiar looking girl. She looks comfortable enough and so I decide to leave her alone until we go home.

The rest of the day goes slowly, but at least it's bearable. It's not too hot, but warm enough that I have to take my jumper off. I'm in one of my free periods in the library when I see him. He's tan, wearing a leather jacket and looks like something off of the cover of Men's Health. I'm in shock as his eyes catch mine. I look away, embarrassed. When I look back he is still looking at me, a curious smile appearing on his face. He waves at me and gives me a wink before he heads out of the library. When I see Tom, I ask him about the mysterious guy.

'Who is he?' I ask once I describe him.

'His name is Henry and he is bad news' says Tom.

'Why?' I ask, intrigued.

'He is just a bit of a douche, full of himself' he says.

'I know someone back home like that, or I knew' I say, thinking about Steve.

'All the same' he says. 'But, you wanna come over and see the rocket I'm making?'

'Sure, I'd love to' I say.

The end of the day comes, slowly, and I see El. I ask her to tell Mum that I will be late home as I'm at a friend's house. She agrees and we head off in different ways.

'I wonder what Henry is like?' I think as we walk towards Tom's house.