I do not own Stranger Things or any of the characters.
Final Battle
The car, which had been shaking and honking for several minutes, finally exploded off of the round stand it was sitting on, smashing through all four Russians before rolling to a stop against a support pillar. Everyone hurried to the bottom floor where the Russians had cornered Dustin, Steve, Lucas's little sister Erika, and Robin. As the others went to greet the four of them, Thirteen quickly collected the Russians' weapons, finding that their handguns were very similar to his own 1911.
"What's with the guns?" Dustin asked. "What, were you expecting to get into a shootout with the Russians?"
"Trust me, Dustin," Thirteen said, passing Steve and Robin the rifles and Dustin the two handguns. "The Russians are the lowest threat to us right now, even if they are trying to open the Gate."
"What do you mean?" Dustin asked.
"Short version, the Mind Flayer possessed a bunch of people them melted them to make himself a body to kill us all with," Thirteen said. "It heals fast, and it's on the way here."
Just then, Eleven collapsed. Thirteen knelt instantly, feeling her forehead as she whimpered about her leg. He yanked her pantleg up instantly and unwrapped the bandages, only to clamp down on a gag as he exposed her wound, which looked swollen, and some kind of flesh that wasn't supposed to be visible was. The entire group groaned or gagged loudly, backing away. Then, the thing he thought had been muscle moved, squirming under her skin as she screamed.
"Oh fuck!" Thirteen yelped. "Hold her down, now!"
Jonathan, Nancy, Kali, Steve, and Robin instantly grabbed on, holding her down as Thirteen formed a barrier in the shape of a small knife.
"Eleven, you can hate me later!" Thirteen said, shoving the doubled-over belt of his handgun's holster between her teeth. "Bite!"
Eleven complied, and Thirteen took a steadying breath then cut the small gash from the Mind Flayer's bite into a larger wound before letting the barrier shatter into oblivion as he held his hand out. Eleven's scream instantly jumped to ear-splitting as the thing under her skin snapped straight as an arrow and inched its way toward the gash. It was fighting hard, clinging to the inside of her leg, desperate not to be removed. Then, finally, it was free, hovering in front of Thirteen's palm as it squirmed and shrieked. It was definitely a piece of the Mind Flayer, so Thirteen moved it away from everyone before crushing it and letting it drop. Just as he did, and as Eleven's screams finally tapered off into sobs while they recleaned, disinfected, and bandaged her wound again, Hopper rounded a corner, a suppressed Berretta pistol in-hand, followed by Joice, Bob Newby, and a balding man with a full beard that Thirteen didn't know, or particularly care to.
"Hopper!" Thirteen gasped.
"Jesus!" Hopper swore, running over. "What's going on?"
"The Mind Flayer has a flesh body that's on its way here, and the Russians have a machine below the mall that's opening the Gate!" Thirteen said quickly. "Eleven was bitten by the Mind Flayer, and a piece of it was inside of its leg, so I had to pull it out and crushed it!"
Hopper stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Okay. I'm going to need the full story."
Thirteen nodded, and they all began to try and explain as quickly but clearly as they could.
"How big is this thing?" Hopper asked.
"It's big," Jonathan said.
"It was thirty feet long," Thirteen said. "Almost the size of our cabin. I used pressurized oxygen to blow it up, but I took the cabin with it. And the thing was healing when we left."
"We need fire," Mike said.
"We brought fireworks, but...well," Thirteen tilted his head to the side in a "you know" gesture. "We need better bombs."
"Then why don't we make some?" Bob asked. "If we have fireworks, and if there's at least one store in here that sells cleaning supplies, we can easily make better bombs."
"Seriously?" Lucas asked.
Bob grinned. "You're going to learn what chemicals explode together when you're older."
Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all grinned.
"Dustin, stay here," Thirteen said. "Bob, take those two and go start making explosives."
"Who put you in charge?" Hopper asked.
"I'm having an older day today, fortunately, and I'd like to kill that thing before it bites my sister again," Thirteen said.
Hopper nodded. "I couldn't agree more. Bob, go make some toys."
Bob nodded, he Mike, and Lucas all sprinting off together to find supplies. As he did, the others began to go over what they knew about the facility, both from a Russian defector Hopper and the others had been with who'd been executed at the Fourth of July fair, and from Dustin's group being in the facility itself.
Thirteen watched the front of the mall in silence, gripping his shotgun tightly. Bad news had just been rolling over them in waves recently. Dustin, Erika, Steve, and Robin had left to get to Cerebro in order to direct Hopper, Joyce, and the bald guy who spoke Russian, Murray while they went to destroy the machine that was trying to open the Gate. While they did, the others had all elected to stay and try to fight the Mind Flayer one final time, rather than trying to run away and have it most likely chase them. Of course, they hadn't told Hopper about their plan. Instead, they'd promised to escape and bide their time until the Gate closed. They'd said tearful goodbyes, and they'd promised to be careful, then they'd waited for Hopper's group to go get into position before returning to get into theirs. Bob, Mike, and Lucas had combined the fireworks into a dozen pipe bombs and an assortment of firebombs. They'd also found a liquor store and made a couple dozen Molotov cocktails then passed out a lighter to each person that would be fighting. However, on the bad news side, Jonathan had seen Billy ripping the ignition cable out of Nancy's car, so even if they wanted to leave, they couldn't, and Eleven had tried to use her powers to roll the car she'd thrown back onto its tires so they could take its ignition cable as a backup plan, only to find that she couldn't use her powers at all. Even one of their oldest tests, crushing an empty soda can, was impossible for her currently.
"Guys," Will called out, one hand on the back of his neck. "It's here."
Thirteen swallowed hard, nodding, and checked his shotgun's chamber again before shouldering it, waiting. He was on the ground floor near a large open space where he could draw the Mind Flayer's attention first, allowing the others to hurl the bombs and Molotovs from above, Thirteen then planning to use his powers to hold the bombs against the Mind Flayer, or embed them in it, until they exploded. However, "planning to" and "going to" were two separate things. Thirteen glanced up at Max, who nodded, and he reached out with his powers, allowing her thoughts to flow through his own mind.
"I love you. Please, be careful."
He smiled, nodding and mouthing, "I love you, too." Then, he looked up as the Mind Flayer's footsteps began to pound on the glass ceiling of the mall from its weight alone.
It walked to the center of the skylight before stopping. For a moment, it was silent. Then, the skylight exploded, the Mind Flayer exploding to the ground before Thirteen, snarling as shattered glass and broken metal crashed to the ground around them, Thirteen redirecting anything heading for him around himself. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at it. Its body was still marked by Eleven ripping it in half, like a scar, and bits of it were missing, the entire body slightly smaller than before. Instead of about thirty five feet long, it was now about twenty eight feet, give or take. Thirteen felt a little satisfaction at the face that the oxygen tanks had done more damage than he'd initially guessed. The Mind Flayer roared and lunged, and Thirteen swiped a hand, sending jagged bits of metal and glass slamming into the Mind Flayer, the force of his telekinesis also throwing it off course, allowing him to dive out of the way, narrowly escaping being stepped on. The Mind Flayer lashed out at him, but he dove to the ground away from it, barely getting under the leg. Then, he rolled onto his back just as the first Molotov exploded against his back, engulfing its back and the ground around it in flames. The second missed, but it stepped into the pool of flames it formed. The third and forth both slammed into it near the back end, its tail now being used as a fifth leg. The Mind Flayer shrieked and flailed, thrashing and scrambling away from the flames on the ground. The jagged metal beams all began to glow as the flames heated them, and the Mind Flayer's shriek grew louder. Thirteen pulled out one of his own Molotovs and lit the cloth hanging from it before hurling it at the Mind Flayer's mouth with his powers. It jerked its head to the side, suffering more flames on its body but avoiding its insides being ignited instead. Thirteen waited. The first handful of pipe bombs bounced off of the Mind Flayer and Thirteen dove behind a support pillar as they exploded. A couple more fell, along with more Molotovs, and Thirteen waited. Once the explosions went off, Thirteen stepped out, lighting his own pipe bomb, the only one he had, and sent it at the Mind Flayer like an arrow. It stabbed into the Mind Flayer's back right leg, and when it exploded, the leg was blasted off just in time to block a Molotov. A small amount of fire engulfed the Mind Flayer's body, but the majority of the leg was ignited. The Mind Flayer shrieked, scrambling away from the balconies where they were attacking from. Thirteen narrowed his eyes and raised his shotgun, opening fire as he started forward. Bits of the Mind Flayer's body were blasted off every few seconds, though most of the shots simply punched holes in its body. However, the wounds were sealing slowly now. When the next wave of Molotovs slammed into it, the burning liquor ran into its wounds, spreading the fire into its body for a few seconds. More pipe bombs fell, Thirteen once again stepping behind something solid before the explosion, quickly reloading his shotgun as he did. As he stepped out again, the Mind Flayer was missing its back leg and scrambling on its remaining three, unable to lift its body off the ground.
"These are the last of them!" Mike warned as one final volley of Molotovs rained down on the Mind Flayer.
It shrieked and roared, unable to escape the flames. Thirteen started forward again, firing shotgun blast after shotgun blast into the Mind Flayer. Finally, it crashed heavily to the ground as the fires died out, lying motionless on the floor, blood pooling below it from its unhealing wounds. Thirteen reloaded again, narrowing his eyes. It was almost too easy. It shouldn't have been so easy, and yet, as he stared at the wound-riddled, charred, blasted apart mass before him, he couldn't sense the Mind Flayer from it, even when he focused on it specifically. He backed away, lowering his shotgun once he was well out of range.
"Did...Did we...kill it?" Mike asked hesitantly.
"Assume not," Thirteen said. "Don't waste any ammo on it, yet, but assume it's going to wake up soon." He looked up at the others. "How are things going with the others?"
"Murray gave them the wrong code," Mike said, just as his radio crackled.
"Dusty-bun, do you copy?" a female voice Thirteen didn't know asked from the radio.
"I copy, Suzie-poo," Dustin responded. "It sounds much better now, thanks."
"Holy shit," Thirteen said, eyebrows raised. "Suzie."
"Okay, so listen, do you know Planck's Constant?" Dustin asked.
"Do you know the Earth orbits the sun?" Suzie countered.
"Okay, so, I know it starts with two sixes, and then a...w-what is it?" Dustin asked.
"Okay, let me just be clear on this," Suzie said. "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," Dustin vowed.
"You can make it up to me now," Suzie offered.
"What?" Dustin asked.
"I want to hear it," Suzie said.
"Not right now," Dustin said, sounding panicked.
"Yes, now, Dusty-bun," Suzie said.
"Suzie-poo, this is urgent!" Dustun pleaded.
"Yes, yes, you're saving the world," Suzie said irritatedly. "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!" Dustin said hastily. "Okay, okay, okay!" he paused for a few seconds, then began to sing. "Turn around. Look at what you seeee~ in her face. The mirror of your dreeeaaams~."
"Neverending Story?" Thirteen asked as Suzie began to sing along with Dustin. "He's really not bad at singing, surprisingly."
"Thirteen, watch out!" Max shrieked suddenly.
Thirteen spun, forming a barrier fitted to his body just as the end of a tentacle slammed into it, its teeth closed into a point like a spear. He sailed backward, crashing into the wall and cracking it before the barrier shattered into oblivion. The Mind Flayer shoved itself to its feet, its burned outer layer sloughing off as its body shrunk, new legs bursting out of it to replace those it had lost. At the same time, several more tentacles burst from its sides and back as it roared, lashing out at the others. Several of them avoided the tentacles, but a few were struck. Max, Eleven, and Mike were sent crashing to the ground floor, all three knocked unconscious. Thirteen shoved himself up as the Mind Flayer advanced on Eleven. He fired several barrier spears and disks without aiming, trying to simply regain the Mind Flayer's attention. A spear struck the Mind Flayer in the side, two of the disks slicing deep gashes into its body, one across its back and another its underside, but none of the hits were exceptionally damaging. He opened fire with his shotgun quickly, firing more barrier spears as anyone conscious on the upper level also opened fire rapidly. As his shotgun ran dry, he cast it aside, drawing and firing his pistol as he hurled his ammo belt of shotgun shells at the Mind Flayer. He controlled it slightly with his powers, making it land on the Mind Flayer's back, primers up, then formed barrier pins over the primers then, he slammed them into them, setting off all of the remaining shotgun shells. Blood and bits of flesh burst from the Mind Flayer's back as it shrieked, dropping with both the force and sudden pain, then finally turned back to Thirteen. Thirteen swapped out his pistol's magazine, continuing to rapidly fire into the Mind Flayer, hurling barrier spear after barrier spear.
All the while they were firing, and Thirteen avoiding the Mind Flayer's tentacles and legs, Dustin and Suzie sang. Thirteen would have laughed, if he wasn't getting slammed into by a tentacle every few seconds and sent flying across the room. His powers were wearing down rapidly. Already, he'd lost the ability to form barriers to protect himself, and his barrier spears were little more than three-foot needles, leaving him to resort to any jagged metal or glass lying around. Ammo was beginning to run out, as well. He'd already run out, and one-by-one, the others stopped firing, each one to run out punctuated by swears. Then, just as the last stopped firing, Billy slammed into Thirteen's side, sending him crashing into a pillar and to the ground in a heap. He lay there, head spinning, panting and gasping for breath as Billy and the Mind Flayer both turned away from him, Billy walking over to Eleven just as she, Max, and Mike began to stir, grabbing Eleven and dragging her toward the Mind Flayer. As he set her in front of it, he knelt down to whisper. Thirteen struggled to stand, only for his legs to instantly give out.
"Eleven!" Mike shouted suddenly, picking up a large rock. "Get away from her!"
Billy spun, slamming the back of his forearm into Mike's head hard enough to throw him away, knocking him out again.
"Seven...feet!" Eleven said, grabbing Billy's leg to make him look down at her as one of the Mind Flayer's tentacles reached down toward her. "You told her the wave was seven feet."
Billy froze, beginning to breathe hard as his eyes widened slowly.
"You ran to her on the beach," Eleven continued, the Mind Flayer snarling, its tentacle pausing. "There were seagulls. She wore a hat...with a blue ribbon. A long dress with a blue and red flower. Yell-Yellow sandals covered in sand. She was pretty. She was really pretty." She nodded, Billy returning the gesture. "And you...you were happy!"
Billy turned to the Mind Flayer and closed his eyes, suddenly seem still, despite having not been moving. Thirteen's eyes widened as he managed to get upright on his knees. Billy was back. He'd retaken control. A tentacle lunged out of the Mind Flayer's mouth, aiming for Eleven, but Billy caught it, holding it back, shouting in effort. Another lunged from Billy's left, but Thirteen shouted in effort and pain, swiping a hand. He didn't need to stand. He just needed to continue. In response to the first swipe of his hand, a jagged triangle of broken glass about a foot on the long side spun through the air, severing the tentacle. The end crashed to the ground behind Billy, rotting in seconds. Another lunged and Thirteen swiped another hand, this time sending a barrier disk, which severed both the attacking tentacle and the one Billy was struggling against. The attacking tentacle tore a gash in Billy's side, but both ends rotted. One last tentacle lunged at Billy, but Thirteen yanked his hand back toward himself redirecting it into the ground off to the side before twisting sharply, the tentacle ripping itself to shreds about halfway down. The Mind Flayer whipped its head toward him, roaring, just as Thirteen fired his final Molotov, which had miraculously survived until now. It flew down the Mind Flayer's throat before shattering and igniting its insides, and this time, unlike the others, it was positioned perfectly. Its insides became fuel, and the limited supply of oxygen coming from only its mouth was the right amount to keep the fire going. The Mind Flayer shrieked and roared, scrambling and thrashing, but Thirteen ignored it, feeling darkness closing in. He had to work fast.
"Kali!" Thirteen shouted. "Now!"
Instantly, the world around him darkened into a recreation of the Void, leaving him and Billy alone in the still silence. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. Thanks to having joined Eleven in entering Billy's mind, he knew the feeling, and he forced himself into Billy's mind again. Billy went rigid, and the Mind Flayer fought him instantly. All around him, Billy's bad memories played, but this time, Billy was there, staring at them in surprise and pain. The Mind Flayer pushed hard. The storm raged, threatening to blow Thirteen away.
"Remember!" Thirteen shouted over the wind, Billy looking the small child curled by his bed as his mother told him she was leaving to the father beating his son. "You were happy once! Your mother didn't leave because she hated you! Your mother loved you! Remember the beach!"
Billy's eyes turned to him, the storm weakening just slightly. His mother's voice echoed in the storm, too faint to understand, but present.
"Remember your mother!" Thirteen all but pleaded. "Remember her smile!"
The storm weakened, the sound of an ocean joining the screaming wind and the shouts of the abusive father, which was beginning to fade.
"Pussy!" his father shouted.
"Remember your sister!" Thirteen shouted.
The memory shifted to Billy being introduced to Max, the storm strengthening.
"You didn't hate her!" Thirteen shouted. "You never hated her! You protected her! You always protected her! Didn't you!?"
"What have you done!?" the memory of Billy demanded, standing opposite a broken lamp from Max, whose skateboard lay among the broken pieces.
"It was an accident!" the memory of Max said, backing away.
The memory of Billy snatched up the skateboard and hurled it into Max's room, Billy's voice shouting insults. Max began to cry, running into her room. Billy's father appeared.
"What have you done?"
"It was an accident," the memory of Billy mumbled, Billy echoing the statement.
"What have you done!?" the memory of his father demanded, hitting him over and over. "What do you have to say for yourself!?"
"I'm sorry, sir," Billy and his memory said, the storm beginning to scream again. "I'll be more careful."
"You lied!" Thirteen shouted over the storm. "You didn't tell him Max broke it! You protected her! You allowed him to hurt you so that he wouldn't hurt Max! You saved her!"
The storm began to weaken again, the red hue of the memory slowly ebbing away.
"You were always protecting her!" Thirteen shouted, his head pulsating with the strain of using his powers well beyond his limits. "You were her hero, even if she never knew it! You were always there for her!"
"Where is your sister!?" Billy's father demanded, striking Billy himself this time, the world around them flickering red and white.
"I don't know," Billy said. "I forgot to go pick her up."
Again and again, the memory struck him, the world around them growing darker with each strike.
"That wasn't true!" Thirteen shouted. "You didn't forget to pick her up! She ran away! You were protecting her!"
The red faded quickly, and on the next strike, Billy's father's hand passed through Billy harmlessly.
"You were always protecting her!" Thirteen shouted. "Your sister needs you, now! She's in more danger now! She needs you to save her life! She needs her brother again! She needs to know you're there for her! Fight him, Billy! Fight him! Don't let him make you hurt the sister you've always protected! You tried to fight him before! You said so in the sauna, didn't you!?"
"Yes," Billy said, his voice small and not carrying over the storm.
"It's not easy, and it's going to hurt, but you have to fight him again!" Thirteen shouted. "You can't let him win! You can't let him hurt Max! Protect her!"
"I...I...can't," Billy said, beginning to tremble, the storm swelling and fading quickly as Billy and Thirteen fought against the Mind Flayer, Thirteen actively shoving against the Mind Flayer's influence with his own powers now.
"You can!" Thirteen roared, darkness struggling to invade his own mind. "Remember the beach! Remember the happiness! Remember what you asked your mother for!"
"Ten more minutes," Billy said, the Mind Flayer's grip beginning to slip.
"Say it loud!" Thirteen shouted. "Tell her what you want!"
"Ten more minutes!" Billy said, louder this time, nearly shouted.
"Tell her!" Thirteen shouted.
"Ten more minutes!" Billy roared.
The world around them shone, the storm vanishing and being replaced by a beach, a pretty woman in a white dress, a smiling boy with a surfboard, seagulls, and a young Max. Tears flooded down Billy's cheeks, and Thirteen's powers gave out, casting him back into the real world violently. As he collapsed to the floor, the illusion of the Void vanishing, Billy fell to his knees, doubling over and vomiting, blood, bile, and a thick, black fluid splattering across the ground. Over and over, he heaved, splattering the floor with the part of the Mind Flayer inside of him, screaming in agony in between. Just as the last of the Mind Flayer left him, and he pitched to the side and collapsed, darkness swallowed Thirteen's mind, all feeling ceasing and being replaced by a heavy, suffocating cold.
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