Brenner
The looks on their faces are priceless as I step out of the van, I wish I had a camera to show them what their expressions looked like.
'This is going to be fun' I think to myself. I can't wait for them to find out I've assimilated more than just these powers.
I see them stare momentarily, then huddle into a defensive formation. I must admit, it's quite funny watching this take place. Them thinking that any of this will matter when I'm done with them. As a child I was always told not to play with my food. I think it's time, as I did as a child, to ignore this advice and to proceed my own way. The metaphorical shackles are off.
James follows me, rendered now to nothing more than a mindless servant, to do my bidding. I see Sophie emerge from the side and I know what she's about to do. I know what they all want to see happen to me. Most of it of an unsavoury nature, so I decide to let them have their fun. I feel myself being sucked into the familiar sensation of Sophie's teleportation. Instantly I'm no longer surrounded by my companions, but a barren icy wasteland, possibly Antarctica. Instantly I make myself return.
'Nice try!' I shout to Sophie. The look of bemusement on their faces is once again priceless.
'I wish you could see your faces' I call out. 'They're priceless.'
The small force I have brought with me, complete with guns of course, approaches the group, Hopper included. They approach the group and they start to put up a fierce resistance. Having told the guards under no circumstances to shoot any of them unless I directed them to, I decide to intervene. I walk over to them and I see Hopper's face change. He's been through this before, he knows what's about to happen. Within a few seconds, Lucas, Dustin and Steve are on the floor. Max and Hopper start to back off. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cal appear. I'd almost forgotten about him. I wish I could say I tested his combat abilities to the full, but I didn't have time for that and I directed at one of the guards to shoot him. He hits him in the leg and he crumples to the floor. Sophie shrieks but the guards hold her back.
I drag Cal back to them, and continue with my direction towards the reason I'm here. Mike.
Hopper
After having our asses suitably kicked by Brenner, or more specifically the monster that has merged with him, we realise this will be an extremely unfair fight unless we can find a way to distract him. We need something to keep him occupied while we fight back and kill him. With everything he told me, he made it very clear that what had merged with him was the origin of everything that had happened to us, to Hawkins etc. Kill him, and it would be over. But how.
Then I saw him approaching Mike's limp body. Watching Brenner move towards Mike made me quiver in anger. I tried to make it to him, but my mouth made acquaintances with one of the guards' guns.
Having me and Cal with injuries that leave us out of being able to fight isn't improving our odds but having stopped the bleeding in my mouth and having tied up Cal's wound, we realise we need to strategise. But how? We're all separated, and Brenner is right there. Luckily, that question would be answered for us.
El
Having pulled up to exactly where we need to be, I throw open the door of the vehicle we're in and with all the force I can muster, throw Brenner as far away from the body of Mike as possible.
'Do something then!' I shriek at my friends while I run to Mike. As I run, I see them taking the guns from the guards, pointing them at whoever was not a friend. I see Hopper and I know I must talk to him, but first I know I need to see Mike. I look back at the car briefly and I see Jonathan, Will and Mum get out and head towards the group. I know it won't be long before Brenner comes back so I need to help Mike now. I reach him and try to do something, anything to wake him up.
Mike
It's so dark. But wait, there's light. I see my friends holding guns, I see El. I see everyone. But I'm not seeing them. I'm not in control anymore.
El
I see his eyes open, and I hug him. He doesn't hug back. I look up at his face, and that's when I see it. His eyes, they're not his anymore. They're a black colour. He grabs me and flings me away before standing up. I land on my left arm, and it starts to hurt instantly.
'Mike, no' I think. 'Please no.'
'Mike what are you doing?' I hear Lucas shout.
Mike doesn't respond, instead moving towards me. I try to stop him with my powers, but nothing, it's like he's immune to their effects. I try again. Nothing. He grabs me by the neck and starts choking me. I try to squirm, to do anything to get out of this. Nothing works. I hear gunshots and I see Will has started to shoot Mike. The bullets ricochet off his skin as if he's bulletproof.
'Mike, please' I beg him as my vision begins to blur. 'Stop'
Mike
Wrestling back control from a literal monster inside your own head is never what I thought I'd be doing, but this is my reality right now as I must stop myself from killing the one person I love. And I think I'm almost there, the monster inside me trying to stop me by any means. But I love El too much to let this be the way it ends, at my own hands. The connection between brain and body is mine and mine alone and with an almighty push of strength, I'm back in control.
El
I suddenly drop to the ground. I was seconds away from losing consciousness, I'm sure of it. I stare up at Mike and the eyes are no longer a deep black. They're his colour again. He's back.
I hug him with as much force as I can muster.
'It's you' I say.
'It's me' he says. 'And I'm never leaving again. And hey, let's take down Brenner together. I've got everything he has now. And maybe just maybe, I'm even stronger.'
'Hey' the rest of the guys say in unison. 'Don't forget us.'
That's when I see Hopper hugging Joyce. I look away because I'm looking for the one person I wanna see most that I haven't yet seen. Sophie.
She's currently with Max, Lucas and Cal looking at his injury. I approach her, and that's when she and Max come running back and our trio is complete again. We hug tightly, but our embrace doesn't last long, as Brenner comes striding back into our view, like a cancer that just won't go away, that just won't leave us alone. I grab Mike and Sophie, and it's clear to all of us that we need to work together to take him down. Before we can begin, a couple of the guards start to try and take back control. They are met with the same fate that met Hopper, being knocked out with the butt of the gun until all of them are lying down with bloody mouths.
Brenner
James and everyone around him have been compromised. I should have guessed. By kids no less. I knew I should have picked better security. It's embarrassing from them really. But oh well. Just like everything I must do this myself. I prepare to take them on. Mike has the same powers, the same everything I do. But he doesn't know how to use them. El is the only one who can genuinely pose a threat to e. And Sophie is a weakling with her powers being useless against me. This should be a fun experience. I know just how badly they want to see me bleed, to see me dead. I just have to want the same thing against them. Use their own rage against them.
Mike is eventually the one who initiates the battle, he charges at me. He goes to launch a punch, but I dodge and counter it by hitting him from the back. He crumples down and, quicker than I anticipated, lands a kick on my knee, before getting back to his feet. El then starts to fish around my mind. That's how it's gonna be then? El taking my mind and Mike taking my body. It's a task easier said than done and for the first portion of the fight I'm able to block them out quite well. Then something happens, something changes. El leaves my mind. It's quiet in there again. Being able to fully focus on beating Mike, I start easily overpowering him. And pummelling him over and over again. He starts to bleed, not being able to take the pure beating I'm delivering. And just when I know I'll be able to finish him off, I go to land the killer blow. But nothing happens. I try again. Nothing. That's when I see it, the mountain of goo that is seeping out of my body and trickling down to the floor below.
El
It worked. It actually worked.
'Cal' I call. I knew it had to be him.
'With pleasure' he says as he lines up his spear and cuts directly through Brenner. Straight down the middle. The two sides of him just collapse to the ground. The brain, the bones and the blood available for everyone to see there on the ground.
Then I turn to Mike.
'Your turn' I say.
'Be gentle' he says.
'I'll try' I reply.
And with that I zoom into his mind focus on what I need to do, and in as quick a time as it was with Brenner, the black goo has all oozed out of him and sticks together with its brother. Mike is normal again and he looks thrilled.
'Sophie' I call. 'Mars'
And Sophie teleports the goo away, and it's gone.
'That's it?' asks Dustin.
'Yeah' me and Mike respond. 'For good this time.'
'And we're staying here now' says Joyce with Hopper joining her.
Mike
'I think we've all earned some time to ourselves' says Mike. 'Robin and Steve, Hopper and Joyce, Cal and Sophie, Max and Lucas, Me and El, Nancy and Jonathan. Let's just take some time for each other now. Agreed?
'Agreed' said everyone in unison.
'Oh and Dustin' says Lucas after retrieving his bag and pulling something out. 'Happy birthday.'
In Dustin's hand sits a plane ticket to where Suzie lives. 'Enjoy' we all say.
And with that we discover the van that Brenner drove here still had the keys in it. We call the police, and the men are arrested. Hopper sees to that personally. We all drop our friends off at their different abodes, before taking Jonathan and El back to my house. Jonathan surprises Nancy and it's a wholesome moment even if I would never admit that to them. After delivering the back to each other, me, and El head to the basement where it all began, when a girl with a buzzcut fell into my arms and I haven't let her go and will never let her go either. Powers or no powers, he loved her just the way she was. With no exceptions. And he knew deep down that they would never leave each other and that they would be together forever.
El
We head to the basement where it all began. Where an awkward boy did everything he could to help a lost girl. And when she found him, she stayed with him and never let him go and will never let him go either. They are too strong for anyone to overcome them together. And with that, the basement door shuts and we're left wondering where our lives, together, will take us next.
A/N: 5 years I've been working on this story. 5 long years. It's finally completed. It's not the perfect story but I hope everyone who's read up until now has enjoyed and I look forwards to writing more work that people read. My stranger things stories are not over. Thank you.