"I should have guessed."

They were stood in front of the imposing building that was Hawkins lab, where the trees at the top of the hill tapered out and the neatly trimmed lawn began. Nora, Hopper and Joyce just stared up at the massive edifice, preparing themselves for the fight ahead.

"It's the only place I ever avoided in here." Nora responded, her time in the Upside Down briefly flashing before her eyes.

Number 7 and she had materialised in the middle of the Rainbow Room when he had whisked them away all those years ago. They had been confused at first, he had been trying to take them somewhere else, but they both knew that he had to have seen the place he wanted to go to before he could teleport there. He couldn't just appear in any random place. He had wanted to get away from Number 1, he had wanted to get away from the lab and Dr Brenner like they had talked about so many times before, but the lab was all he knew. So he had teleported them to a place that was both the lab and not at the same time.

They had stayed there for only a few minutes before they gave up on going back or going elsewhere, Number 7 already having been depleted at the first jump. When the far wall had started glowing a bright white, Nora had grabbed him and dragged him away. Out of the room, out of the building and far away into the forest, just like they had dreamed about so many times.

In hindsight, the wall glowing a few minutes after they had left Eleven at the tender mercies of Number 1 was probably her banishing him to protect herself.

"Alright, let's go."

Hopper hoisted his gun strap higher on his shoulder before beginning his walk down the hill, the other two following closely behind him. He and Joyce had been forced to abandon most of their weapons by the lake, not being able to carry all of them on their person, and they had wrapped those that they could bring in plastic to protect them from the water. Now, each carried a shotgun on their back, a smaller handgun at their belts and held an assault rifle in their hands, dozens and dozens of bullets wrapped around their belts and chests. Nora herself only had her axe.

Stepping through the broken glass windows on the ground floor, the young woman took the lead, knowing that there were only two places that Number 1 may be.

They trudged up the stairs slowly, keeping their weapons at the ready and taking care to tread lightly so that their steps didn't echo until they finally reached a familiar corridor. Swallowing down the fear that tightened in her chest, Nora continued onwards, not looking at the numbers on the doors that she passed.

13

11

9

7

5

3

1

There it was. On the far side of the bleak corridor, a wooden door just like all the others, that had bred the worst monster she had ever known.

A hand on her shoulder made her jolt, but it was just Hopper. Ignoring his and Joyce's looks of pity and understanding, Nora stepped back and allowed Hop to take the front place, his gun held tightly in his hands.

With a powerful kick, the door flew open and smashed against the wall, the sound echoing along the empty corridor as the three prepared to hit with everything they had. But the room was empty. There was no one there, it was just a blank room with an unmade bed and a metal toilet and sink like they had in prisons. Joyce gasped quietly and Nora knew it was because this was her first time seeing what their rooms had been like.

Turning away, the young woman avoided Joyce's eyes and returned the way they came.

"Come on. He's a few floors up." She called and the others followed behind her silently.

It seemed unlike Nora and Number 7, Number 1 had never had the desire to leave at all, and the trio found themselves staring at the door to the Rainbow Room in apprehension, Hopper at the front once again with the two women holding up the rear, positioning them in a triangle.

This time, they didn't wait and look around the room when Hopper kicked the door down. As soon as it was open, they burst through and headed for the hunched figure sat in the middle of the room. Nora's fire reached him before he had the chance to get up and he yelped, rolling to the side to avoid the worst of it. Before he could reciprocate, Hopper pulled his handgun out of his belt and shot him twice, once in the leg and another time at the hip, Joyce following up quickly with her own bullet to the shoulder.

Suddenly, the wall exploded inward, showering them all with debris and sending them to the floor.

Picking herself up, Nora turned toward the disturbance. Standing in the massive hole it had made in the wall stood a Demogorgon, fully grown, with its face wide open in the horrific mimicry of a flower. It screeched at them and the young woman was about to grab her axe and charge at it when it flinched back, having been hit right in the chest by a bullet from Joyce's shotgun.

The trio exchanged looks and Hopper nodded at his daughter before he and Joyce rose to their feet to face the newest threat while Nora focused on Vecna.

He was standing now, leaning against the wall and clutching his shoulder where the last shot had hit. His mannerisms were definitely human, but Nora was shocked to find how much he had changed.

In her memories, Number 1 was a tall boy of almost twenty, thin and wiry with bleach blond hair that reached his ears and bright blue eyes. In the earlier days, his smile would create creases in his cheeks and forehead that made the children giggle when he let them feel his face. Later, his pale skin became almost translucent, the shadows under his eyes an ugly shade of purple and his cheeks having sunk so much that his cheekbones suddenly jutted out of his face.

Now however, he barely looked human. His skin was gone, leaving only bright red flesh and sinew, he had no hair and his nose ended at the bridge like some sort of skeleton. Those blue eyes were bloodshot and staring right at her, and for a moment she saw that teenager that had spent so many of his nights comforting himself and his siblings by protecting them from their nightmares. The one that had taught Eleven and Number 8 how to play hopscotch before the latter succeeded in escaping the lab and became Kali. The one that had wiped her tears from her cheeks and stitched her arm up before Dr Brenner had taken him and changed him.

And then she remembered Number 5 struggling to hold his intestines as they poured out of his stomach. She saw Number 12's tiny little body on the floor, his throat slit at only five years old. She saw the abject terror in Eleven's eyes as Number 7 grabbed her arm.

Grabbing her axe from the ground, Nora screamed, a sound full of hate and grief as she charged towards him with tears in her eyes. Her first swing was dodged, Number 1 simply ducked under it and stumbled away, a very human cry of pain tearing from his throat as his injured leg almost buckled under his weight.

She went at him again, and again, grunting and screaming with each swing, but he evaded them all. Finally, the woman threw her axe to the side and leapt at him, grabbing his face with her burning hands. Vecna screeched, his eyes widening to the point of almost popping out as smoke rose from his flesh and it began to bubble, but Nora only let go when the man fell to his knees before her. A kick sent him completely to the floor and she watched, refusing to let any of her tears fall as he clutched his face in his hands, screams slowly dying until they were nothing but pained whimpers.

Only when Hopper and Joyce came to stand beside her did she allow herself to look away, if only to ensure that they were both uninjured.

Receiving a reassuring nod from them, the three turned their attention back to the thing laying at their feet.

Eddie couldn't stop looking at his watch.

It was ridiculous, the group had left just a half hour ago, they had probably only just made it to the gate, but he could help but bounce his leg and bite his already obliterated nails as he waited for them to come back.

The others helped. Will had called them within minutes of Hopper, Nora, Joyce and El leaving and the Party had all arrived within the following quarter of an hour with loud cheers and greetings and hugs to go around. You'd think they had been separated for weeks, not just two days but Eddie wasn't complaining, he had received enthusiastic hugs from them all too. Since then it had been jokes and laughs and catching up, as if any of them had done anything other than work.

Steve was looking better, so that was good. He was still sore but his injuries hadn't been as bad as Nora's so he had full range of movement even if he did still wince at times.

But try as he might, Eddie just couldn't get lost in the conversation, too busy looking at the door to be able to fully participate. Until Will called for their attention.

Immediately, all noise stopped and everyone's head turned towards the boy, who was staring off into space with fear in his eyes, his hand slowly rising to grip the back of his neck.

"Will?" Eddie called. There was no response and he was out of his seat in a moment, kneeling before the teen as the others gathered around him. "Hey! Will, are you ok? What's wrong? Do I need fetch the ropes?"

His eyes slowly moved to meet Eddie's and the man was disturbed by the absolute terror he saw in there.

"No." Will whispered. "No, I'm not going to do anything."

"Then what's wrong?" Mike asked. "Can you feel the Mind Flayer?"

The boy nodded, his eyes unfocusing again and the room tensed. "He's... he's happy. Satisfied, like something is going to plan."

Eddie's immediate thoughts were for Nora. She would have crossed into the Upside Down by now, into the Mind Flayer's territory. Was he going to hurt her? Was she in danger? Eddie gripped Will's arms tightly as panic got a hold of him.

"What is it? What plan? Is it Nora and the others? Is the Mind Flayer going to do something to them?" He demanded and was barely reassured when the boy shook his head.

"No! No it's not them, it's..."

Will's eyes began moving, flicking from side to side as he brows furrowed, clearly deep in thought. None of those in the room said anything, all of them waiting anxiously for Will to identify the Mind Flayer's thoughts and tell them what was happening.

"Strongest fighters... can't help... vulnerable..." The boy mumbled as the others watched. "The others are in the Upside Down." He reported, still staring vacantly. "They're moving away from the gate... The gate is unguar-"

Everyone cried out and jumped back, Eddie falling backwards onto the floor as Will jumped to his feet, suddenly alert and looking at them all with urgency.

"He's going for the gate!" He cried. "He's going to invade while our heaviest hitters are in the Upside Down!"

"What?" Mike demanded. "Like he's sending the Demodog army?"

"He's sending... everything he's got." Will replied.

Eddie was struck silent. He thought of the horror stories the Party had told him of the Demodogs and Demogorgons, he remembered the Flyers he had fought when saving Steve and he wondered once again why any of them should have to put up with this shit. Fighting a war? Eddie didn't sign up for that. Weren't the government aware of this? Why weren't they helping? Why was it always up to a bunch of kids to save the goddamn world?

The others around him were panicking, shouting, wondering what to do, but Eddie was just frozen in his spot on the floor. These kids had already gone through too much, why was it always them?

But the fact was, there were people they cared about that were in danger. And that didn't leave them with much of a choice.

"There is no way you're coming with us." Steve ordered, staring down Dustin who had fetched his crossbow from Eddie's room while the man was having a crisis on the floor.

"There is an entire army coming for us!" Dustin retorted and the other kids around him nodded. "You think you're gonna fight them off with just Robin, Nancy and Eddie?"

"Eleven is literally on that lake, Steve." Mike added. "She'll be the first in their path and there's no way I'm not going to be there to save her."

"They have a point." Robin pointed out.

"Thank you!"

"We have to go now!" Will cried.

He had already fetched his spear from the wall and was now standing near the door, almost hyperventilating while the others argued. Eddie jumped into action, rushing up the stairs into his room to fetch his spiked mace that he had hid under the bed, and by the time he made his way back down, almost everyone was similarly armed.

Robin had grabbed a generic axe from Nora's backyard, Max had gotten a sledgehammer from the basement and Lucas was holding his specially modified and lethalized slingshot that he must have been carrying in his backpack. The only ones left without weapons were the Wheelers, but their house was on the way to the lake and Eddie knew Nancy kept multiple guns in her closet.

Clearly, Steve had capitulated while Eddie was upstairs because all nine of them ignored the ringing phone and piled out of the house and into the cars, the Dungeon Master commandeering Nora's truck for the evening. Tires screeched as they tore out of the driveway and down the road, ignoring all traffic laws in their haste. When Steve took a sharp turn onto Nancy's street so that she and her brother could fetch their guns, Eddie continued on, knowing that they would catch up.

They made it to Reefer Rick's house in record time - just under twenty minutes - and Eddie, Max, Lucas, Will and Robin piled out of the car.

"He should have a motorboat out back!" The young man called as he led the way around the house.

"Will, any news?"

"No, but we have to hurry!"

"The others are like two minutes behind us."

Rounding the last corner and coming within view of the lake and Rick's boat, the group suddenly skidded to a halt. Eleven was in the middle of the lake in the same little wooden rowboat they had used previously, but none of them were looking at her, too busy they were staring at Billy.

The man was on Rick's boat, leaning over the motor with the chain handle in his hand. He had clearly been trying to get it to start but had paused when he saw them arrive and was now staring at them, panting heavily with a sheen of tears in his eyes.

"Billy?" Max said as she took a step forwards. "What are you doing here"

"It's - they're coming!" The man replied in a hoarse voice. "They're coming! We have to - I have to -"

The group rushed towards him, climbing onto the boat with him. Robin and Max clasped their hands on his shoulders to calm him down, ground him and he released the motor chain with a sigh of relief.

"We know." Robin said. "That's why we're here too. We're just waiting for the others and then we're going stop them, ok?"

"We won't let them cross that gate, Billy." Lucas promised.

At that moment, the other four of the Party hurtled around the corner of the house loudly and ran at the boat, leaping on chaotically even as they tried to manage the multitude of weapons in their arms. Eddie and his group stumbled backwards to avoid a collision and stared at them all incredulously.

On top of the weapons that they all had since they were at Nora's house, Nancy and Mike each had at least five guns in their arms. Eddie could see regular pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles and assault rifles and he wasn't the only one of them staring at the oldest Wheeler in awe.

"Jesus Christ Nancy!" Robin exclaimed. "How many guns do you have?"

"And how do they all even fit in your closet?" Lucas added.

Nancy rose to her knees from where she had launched herself into the vehicle, letting the weapons fall from her arms and join Mike's pile on the floor.

"They're not all mine, you idiots."

"We raided Hop and Joyce's cars when we got here." Steve added. He looked around at them all, eyes pausing briefly on Billy. "Will, how close are we?"

The boy shook his head, eyes still wide with fear as he gripped his spear tightly. "Close, we don't have long."

"They're almost here." Billy added.

They wasted no time in kickstarting the boat and speeding off to meet Eleven in the middle of the lake, pulling to a stop by her rickety little barge. The girl had seen them coming, had been watching them since Billy arrived, and she now gripped the side of their vehicle to stop herself from toppling over.

"What are you doing here?" She cried as Mike gathered her into his arms and pulled her up to join them.

"The Mind Flayer is sending his armies to the gate, we need to stop them from getting through!"

"Alright, here's the plan!" Steve called, stepping forward so that he was in the centre of the boat. "Anyone that has a short range weapon grabs a gun." He ordered. "Whether you can shoot or not doesn't matter, if you make just one bullet count then it'll be worth it. We protect the gate, and we protect El, alright? She's the only chance we have of closing this thing."

Everyone nodded in agreement and dropped their bladed weapons to rifle through the options of guns they had, then raided the boat's compartments for plastic bags to protect them from water damage. Eddie himself chose a sniper rifle, hoping that the higher focus lens might help him shoot accurately. He had shot a gun a few times when he was a child, his father had taken him hunting a time or two, but that had been years ago. Still, he guessed he had an advantage over Dustin and Will, both of whom he imagined had never touched a gun in their life.

Then again, he wouldn't really have figured Nancy Wheeler to be a shooting pro, but here they were.

Once they were finally ready, they all shared a look, silently taking comfort in and reassuring each other before they went to war. Mike stepped closer to El, wrapping an arm around her waist as she held the bag holding his shotgun and assault rifle and Eddie suddenly remembered that she couldn't swim very well.

"Just... please for God's sakes, don't fucking die." Steve begged.

And then they dived in.

The water was just as freezing as Eddie remembered, but at least the sun was out and they could see where they were going. The lake was deep in this spot, and the orange glow of the gate was faint from this distance, but they had made it once before and they would make it again, even if they were all pausing regularly to check on those around them. Steve, Robin and Lucas were at the front leading their way, Will was holding his spear and plastic bag in one hand while the other pushed him deeper, and Nancy was holding up the rear, keeping close to her brother as he helped Eleven.

One by one they broke through the portal and pushed through the other side, those arriving first assisting in lifting the others up out of the gate. And they were immediately set upon.

Hundreds of Flyers circled the gate just as they had two nights ago, darkening the sky with their numbers. Multiple at a time flew down to inspect the new arrivals, swooping just above their heads.

Eddie, Steve, Will, Robin and Max immediately began swiping with their close range weapons, dropping their secondary weapons at their feet, while the others busied themselves unwrapping everyone's guns and making them easily accessible. Flyers fell like flies, chopped in two or with their skulls bashed in by Max's hammer, but more and more were diving to meet them.

One of them let out an unearthly screech as it paused mid-air, trembling before it was ripped to shreds, and Eddie turned momentarily to eye Eleven, who was stood beside him with her hands pointed upwards and shaped like a claw, a determined look on her face.

Again and again, Eddie swung his mace, hitting opponent after opponent, dropping the monsters until there was a pile at his feet, occasionally looking around him to track everyone's progress.

Lucas had two large pouches hanging from his hips containing sharp metal projectiles that he was loading into his slingshot, hitting his targets dead on more often than not. Max was beside him, swinging her hammer with a truly terrifying look on her face, blood splattered all over her as she pounded the demon bats into the dirt. Steve and Robin were fighting similarly, back to back and making every hit count, and Billy was shooting wildly into the swarm above them.

It was Dustin and Will that surprised him the most. Nora had told him that once any of them decided on a signature weapon that they took lessons to train to wield them effectively, but seeing a Flyer drop to the ground every time Dustin let loose an arrow and watching Will twirl that spear through the air with such precision was absolutely not what he had been expecting.

Since when had the children of this town become soldiers?

The group of eleven stuck close to the gate, surrounding it to ensure nothing got past, but so far the Flyers had only moved to attack them, seemingly uninterested in crossing over. Just as that thought crossed Eddie's mind, Will called out.

"They're coming!"

Indeed, on the far side of the lake, the trees of the forest were shaking. There was a moment and then -

"Demodogs!" Dustin cried.

Dozens of the four legged creatures were pouring from the treeline, wave after wave of them, snarling and snapping their faces. The majority of the close range fighters dropped their weapons and picked up the guns at their feet, leaving only Eleven, Will and Max to protect them from their airborne enemies.

This was where the Wheelers showed their superiority. Without hesitation, Nancy and Mike had turned their guns towards the new threat and began shooting, dropping 'dogs like they were born for it. The others hadn't taken too long to join in, shooting into the mass of approaching enemies. They all had more or less success, and Eddie himself didn't fare too bad, he thought, downing one third of the Demodogs he targeted. He had lost count how many of them had fallen but it had to be over 50.

It wasn't enough though, and before long the army was on them. Lucas was the first to drop his gun in favour of his slingshot, more comfortable and efficient with the familiar weapon, but the others weren't far behind.

Once again, Eddie picked up his mace and began smashing into anything that came close enough, whether Flyer or Demodog. There was a ring of bodies around the gate now and all of them had at least a few minor injuries, but they kept coming, like the Mind Flayer had sent every creature in the Upside Down after them.

Will really wasn't kidding when he said 'everything he's got'.