I do not own Stranger Things or any of the characters.
Counter Offensive
"What was that thing?" Lucas asked as Thirteen was eating his spaghetti, all of them at him, Eleven, Kali, and Hopper's home.
Thirteen swallowed before speaking. "It was a pair of Flayed who we had to kill, but who then melted into whatever that thing was made of and formed a body to attack us with. But that's not the main problem."
"Oh, it's not?" Mike asked. "How? How is that not the main problem?"
"Because, Mike, that one is dead," Thirteen said. "But think about it this way. That was just two people. Since it's the Mind Flayer, I'd wager that every person who was flayed, probably turned around and flayed their immediate families, or their friends. There could be dozens of flayed for the Mind Flayer to make itself a body out of. Dozens, Mike. Compare that figure to the body I had Kali show you that was formed from two."
Mike went pale.
"So that's its master plan?" Nancy asked. "Infect all of Hawkins and create a body so that it can, what, work on infecting the whole world?"
"I doubt it," Thirteen said. "Based on the way the flayed and that thing acted, I think it has a more specific goal. Namely, Ellie, and now myself." He took another large bite, swallowing it after a few seconds of chewing. "It wants to take over the world and spread the Upside Down here. That's a given. But if the Gate is closed the next time he tries it, whatever parts of the Upside Down he spreads here will die, just like last year. Which means, if this small fragment of himself can create itself a physical body, and then can use that body to kill Ellie, and me as a safety precaution, it'll be completely free to take over. As far as it knows, we're the only ones who can close the Gate."
"Wait, I thought you couldn't," Will said.
"I can't," Thirteen said. "But my powers are similar to Ellie's, so it most likely assumes I can, at least judging by that thing at the hospital targeting me."
The others all fell silent as they considered this. Finally, they all scattered, trying to do whatever they could to be ready. Nancy began to call several farms to see if the other flayed were still collecting chemicals, Eleven began to try and use her powers to try to find the flayed themselves, and the others to try and do anything they could to get ready for the inevitable battle, of which there was no doubt there would actually be one. Once Thirteen had finished his spaghetti, he headed to the back room of the cabin where he had been gathering weapons, by any means he could, in case the government came after him again, having assembled a small armory of sorts.
Thirteen grit his teeth, staggering against the wind as he and Eleven fought through the red haze and smoke the Mind Flayer's presence had created inside of Billy's mind. When she'd decided to try and see his memories, Thirteen had joined her, using his own abilities, coupled with being in the Void, to make the attempt easier. Getting in had been simple, and they'd started out in a happy memory of Billy and his mother at the beach in California. However, as they passed through the storm, they passed more and more bad memories, starting from his father yelling at him for not sliding during a baseball game and progressing to his father's abuse driving his mother away, his mother telling Billy over the phone that she wasn't coming home, his father forcing Billy to accept Max into his family, despite Billy wanting to be with his mother instead. Finally, however, they reached the eye of the storm, despite the Mind Flayer's best efforts to force them out. They were at an abandoned steelworks factory, Billy's car parked outside of it, and the air around them felt almost unnaturally still after the storm they'd just fought through. They both approached the factory cautiously, their hands linked so that one or the other could pull them both out at a moments' notice, or more likely, so that Thirteen wouldn't be trapped inside of Billy's mind when Thirteen left.
"I think I found it," Eleven reported in the real world. "The source."
"Where, El?" Max asked. "Where are you?"
"Brimborn Steelworks," Thirteen read the rusty sign on the wall of the factory.
"El, we found it!" Mike said urgently. "Get out of there! Get out!"
Both siblings focused, pulling back from Billy's mind. As they did, they passed through flashes of memory. Billy crashing a car. Prepping Heather to be flayed by lowering her body temperature. Tom with a fleshy tentacle attached to his face. The Mind Flayer flashed through Thirteen's vision several times, but it wasn't a shadow this time. It was a massive, fleshy body, like the one he'd killed at the hospital, but in the Mind Flayer's shape, now. Then, finally, just as they left, Thirteen brushed a ghostly silhouette of Max and something else flashed through his head. A feeling, more than a memory. It was hollow, and cold, but at the same time warm. Both small and impossibly massive at the same time. Suddenly, they were in the Void again, Billy grabbing Eleven's hand, but just as Thirteen sensed Eleven about to pull them out, he squeezed her hand and pressed his palm to Billy's forehead. Images flew behind his eyes as the feeling returned. Billy's father shouting at Billy for something Billy said he'd done that had, in fact, been Max. Billy lying to his father about why Max wasn't there, being beaten for something that would have gotten Max in trouble. Yelling at Max, furious and yet terrified, trying desperately to make her do as he said, to follow his rules so that she would also be following his father's rules. And then, as the cold, empty feeling swelled, Max, holding a bat with nails bristling from the end to his throat, screaming at him to leave her alone. Finally, Thirteen released Billy and Eleven pulled them both out, both panting, noses bleeding, and Thirteen's eyes wide. He met Eleven's eye and seeing she had reached the same conclusion as he had. Max could never know about her brother protecting her. Not unless they could save him. It would be too much, otherwise. Both looked around, only to freeze, realizing they were alone in the cabin.
"Mike?" Eleven asked. "Mike?"
"Oh, shit!" Thirteen swore, leaping to his feet. "It tracked us!"
"Mike!" Eleven screamed.
"He can't hear you," Billy's voice, slightly distorted, said as he stepped into view from the door to Eleven's room. "You shouldn't have looked for me, because now I see you." He put a cigarette out in the ash tray, walking forward. "Now we can all see you."
"Mind Flayer," Thirteen growled. "Is that you, or is it Billy?"
"So nice to finally meet you, Thirteen," the Mind Flayer said. "I've felt your presence before." He turned his eyes to Eleven. "You let us in. And now...you are going to have to let us stay. Don't you see? All this time, we've been building it. We've been building it...for you. All that work...all that pain...all of it...for you. And now it's time. Time to end it. And we are going to end you. And when you are gone, we are going to end your friends."
"No!" Eleven sobbed.
"And then we are going to end...everyone," the Mind Flayer finished as a tear rolled down Billy's cheek.
"Get away!" Eleven screamed, hurling him backward with her powers, casting him out before finally ripping the blindfold off, dragging Thirteen back to reality with her. "NO! ! !"
Everyone scrambled, Mike pulling her into a hug as Thirteen scrambled unsteadily to his feet, stumbling and staggering to the bathroom to throw up before rinsing his mouth out.
"What happened?" Max asked urgently as he headed for the cupboard, pulling out several protein bars and eating them quickly, washing them down with water.
"He found us," Thirteen finally managed to force out. "He's coming."
Everyone scrambled to prepare instantly. They snatched up the handguns, rifles, and shotguns Thirteen had brought out from his stash, grabbing ammo for it, Thirteen having separated the ammo according to which weapon it went with. Thirteen himself picked up his favorite handgun, a Colt 1911, and a shotgun, strapping the belted holster for his handgun around his waist before quickly loading the shotgun, then grabbed a belt with shotgun shells for it lining the entire length of it, except for the buckle, and slung it across his chest.
"You got all of these for the government?" Jonathan asked.
"I'm not going back to being an experiment," Thirteen growled. "Never again. And these probably won't be very effective against the Mind Flayer's new body, but they'll work better than anything else you all can get your hands on."
"Except the oxygen tanks," Nancy said, glancing at them. "We can have you and El throw those at it, then shoot them."
"No," Thirteen said. "They don't really explode like in movies, unless there's a fire that they are already in. Ellie and I would have to crush them, and then the only explosion is the result of the pressure all being released at once, not an actual explosion. But if you shoot one, it'll be rendered useless to us, so try to avoid shooting them."
"Got it," Jonathan nodded.
"How recharged are you?" Max asked.
"About seventy percent," Thirteen said. "It's gonna have to be enough." He glanced at Kali, who was giving the others a very quick lesson in how to work their guns. "Everyone listen up. These guns are for the Mind Flayer's new body, not for any other flayed we might encounter. If someone's flayed but hasn't been absorbed yet, for example if Billy come along with the body, don't shoot them. We can still try and save them as long as they haven't been absorbed."
Everyone agreed, then fell still as a sound, almost too faint to hear, echoed in the distance. Thirteen stared out a window for a moment before double-checking that there was ammo in his gun.
"Show time," Kali said, picking up a shotgun.
"Everyone listen carefully," Thirteen said. "Most important rule about guns. Never, ever, fire toward someone you don't want to hit, especially with a shotgun. Even if you hit the Mind Flayer, the bullet will travel through it and continue. Do not aim at one of us."
Everyone nodded, tensing, and all backed into a small, tight circle in the middle of the room. Then, out the window, Thirteen spotted it making its way up the roar. It was massive, shaped like the Mind Flayer's shadow form, and horrifying. It had four enormous legs, each tipped with multiple fingers, a pair of tails standing up from its head like the Mind Flayer's head spike, and its body continued past its legs to a pair of tails that dragged along the ground behind it as it smashed trees out of its way and scrambled toward them.
"It's here," Thirteen said, everyone turning to look.
"Shoot it!" Mike shouted, raising a hunting rifle.
"No, wait!" Thirteen snapped. "Wait until it's closer!"
Will stood trembling, his handgun shaking unsteadily. Everyone was breathing fast. Nancy's M16 was rattling slightly as her hands trembled. This was about to be a nightmare, but at least this year they could actually fight it. It wasn't them against a giant shadow.
"Should we barricade the doors?" Lucas asked.
"It's too big to use them, and it's about to go right through the walls, anyway," Thirteen said. "It's knocking trees aside like Lego towers. This cabin's not going to withstand its strength."
"Shouldn't we run, then!?" Mike demanded.
"Too late for that," Thirteen said. "We need to make an opening, first." He glanced at the five oxygen tanks they'd been able to get from the hospital. "Eleven, remember. Get the oxygen inside of it, then crush the tank when we're not close to it."
Eleven nodded. Then, a tentacle exploded through the wall, the end of it open and with a dozen pincer-like spikes around the opening. They all dodged away from it and Kali and Thirteen aimed and fired, blasting the tentacle apart. Another tentacle exploded through the wall, but Eleven managed to catch it, holding one arm out. Another exploded from the opposite side, but Thirteen caught that one, both struggling to hold them back. They were stronger than the small body had been in total.
Then, Jonathan blasted one tentacle point blank as Kali blasted the other, both tentacles emitted a shrieking noise, as the first had, and yanked back, only to whip and tear free at the damaged section. Another exploded from the wall, streaking at Eleven, but she caught it, focusing, then yanked her arm, ripping it off partway. Then, a tentacle exploded from the ceiling, grabbing her by the leg and yanked her leg out from under her. Thirteen spun, forming a basic sword silhouette with a barrier and slashed the tentacle off. Eleven was screaming, but Thirteen ignored it for now, he and several of the others firing up through the ceiling at the Mind Flayer, the last tentacle retracting back into its mouth as it shrieked and reared back. Then, Eleven screamed, arms extended, and the Mind Flayer roared before Eleven ripped its head and part of its torso in half before collapsing.
"Get her out of here!" Thirteen shouted instantly.
Jonathan and Nancy picked her up, running out of the cabin as Thirteen and the others followed. The Mind Flayer was still roaring, turning after them, so Thirteen swiped a hand, hurling the oxygen tanks at it, getting them stuck in the severed inside of its wound before crushing one. The ensuing blast, as they all sped away from the cabin in Nancy's car, obliterated almost the entire cabin, along with the entirety of the front half of the Mind Flayer's body, but it wasn't over. Something he'd noticed as they were severing the tentacles, unlike with the one at the hospital, severed portions of this body didn't die, they returned to the main section. Sure enough, as he looked back, he could just barely make out the Mind Flayer's body very slowly starting to piece itself back together.
"Jesus, that didn't kill it!?" Lucas asked. "How do we stop that thing!?"
"Fire," Thirteen said. "We need to burn it."
"Yeah, well, it's a good thing I just happen to have a flamethrower in my pocket!" Mike snapped sarcastically.
"Oh, do you!?" Thirteen snapped back, reloading his shotgun, as was Kali and Jonathan. "Well, I really wish you would have mentioned that before I blew up my house!"
"Enough!" Kali shouted at both of them. "Everyone reload, now!"
Everyone complied, Jonathan reloading Nancy's rifle for her, and everyone fell silent, except for Eleven's sobbing. Finally, they reached a general store where they could get bandages, and everyone scrambled out of the car, Thirteen using telekinesis to blow the front doors completely off. They all ran to gather bandages for Eleven's leg, Thirteen also grabbing rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide as well. They sat Eleven down and Max, having experience with cuts from skateboarding, took over treating her leg while Thirteen headed to a nearby aisle for something to eat for calories and carbs.
"How can you think about food right now!?" Mike snapped.
"I'm not!" Thirteen snapped back. "I'm thinking about keeping my powers charged so that I don't keel over in the middle of trying to fight that fucking thing!"
"Enough!" Max snapped. "Mike, hold her pantleg out of the way!"
Mike complied and Thirteen quickly scarfed down his snacks before washing it down with water, then a swallow of vodka.
"Wha...again with the vodka?" Jonathan asked.
"Worked last year," Thirteen said, taking another swallow before passing it to Eleven. "Plus, I think it's a valid time to want a drink, don't you?"
Eleven gagged her drink down, then took another, managing to get it down easier.
"Let me see that," Jonathan said, taking the bottle and taking a drink, then passing it to Nancy. "How long until that thing's recovered?"
"Not long," Thirteen said, glancing out the front of the store. "We need to figure out a plan, fast."
"Thirteen, we found fireworks!" Lucas reported suddenly.
"Gunpowder," Thirteen breathed. "Alright, Lucas, Will, help me grab as much as we can carry and get it to the car."
"Fireworks?" Max scoffed.
"Best explosives we can get right now," Thirteen said. "I'll be back."
Max nodded and Thirteen ran off to help gather fireworks, all of them getting the biggest ones they could, though there wasn't nearly enough to hope it would help kill the Mind Flayer.
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