Here's the long and intense chapter you've all been waiting for! Enjoy!
The rest of the group managed to make it out of the mall. The teens got to the hood while the kids got into the van. Jonathan asked, "You think this'll work? We don't even have his keys."
Kali went to the driver's side and saw them still in the ignition. "He left them in! Let's do it!" He nodded before they heard Billy's car revving again. They both looked at him, still sounding ready to blindside them. Kali cursed under his breath. "Mum has the pistol..."
He managed to get the cable in and shut the hood. "Let's go!" They got into the van. Max was shaking and holding Lucas's hand tightly. Will calmed down on the breathing, but it was still labored. Since Jonathan was at the driver's seat, he grabbed the keys and tried to start the engine. It didn't, much to his dismay. "No, no, come on!"
Just as he was doing that, Billy stepped on the gas and drove towards them at high speed. The kids heard that, looking horrified as they faced the teens. "COME ON!" yelled Lucas.
"START IT NOW!" Will also yelled.
"PLEASE, JONATHAN!" Max screamed.
He tried again and again, but it still wouldn't work. "Come on, no!" Kali looked aghast as the car was getting more and more closer to them.
"Jonathan-"
"Don't talk!" He tried again, but there was still nothing.
"WE NEED TO GO!" Lucas screamed, opening the side door so that he and his friends could scramble out of it. Jonathan tried one more time before he looked at the car. He and his friend couldn't get out and live at this rate.
"JONATHAN, WE NEED TO GO!" Kali yelled as the car got even closer.
Then suddenly, Billy's car got blindsided by another, both spinning out of control for several seconds before stopping. The Toddfather had saved everyone just in time, Steve looking at the car he just wrecked while panting. "You're not killing them, you bastard," he muttered angrily before softening up to look at a flabbergasted Robin. "You alright?"
"I...don't know," she answered in a small voice, looking at him. "Ask me tomorrow?" They then unbuckled themselves and jumped out of the car.
Jonathan got out, Steve getting close to him. The auburn-haired guy put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Thanks."
He put a hand on his shoulder as well. "No prob, man."
Kali got out and the kids got around the van, the jock running up and embracing his girlfriend. She returned it, neither giving a damn about his clothes. "I'm so glad I got here in time," he whispered to her.
"Me too," she whispered back. "That was badass." He chuckled before they released from it.
"Dude, you saved our asses, again," Lucas said, him and the kids looking beyond relieved to still be alive.
He smiled a little before Robin said, "Hey, I was the one that told him to risk the blindside."
Max smiled at her. "Thanks." She smiled back at her.
Jonathan went around and popped opened up the hood, removing the ignition cable. "So this is a no-go." They saw the car being on fire. If Billy wasn't flayed, they would help him.
"My car's got more room," Kali stated, getting to her car. They followed suit, eventually getting to it.
Kali went in and used her latch to open up the hood. Jonathan quickly put in the ignition cable and shut it. "Okay, start it up," he told her. She got on the driver's side and turned on the ignition. It actually started up, much to everybody's relief.
A sudden roar was heard from the mall though. They all looked up, seeing the Mind Flayer getting up on the roof and screaming. All looked aghast. "Holy..." Robin muttered before everyone got into her car. It got on the ground as the teen girl pushed on the brakes and drove as quickly as she could out of there.
As Carl and Becky were getting near the mall, they heard rumbling...and some sort of roar. They looked completely alarmed by those noises, Tina beginning to cry because of them. "What was that?" Becky asked.
"I don't know-" Carl answered before they saw Kali's car get on the road...with the fleshy monster running straight after them. Their jaws dropped at the sight of it. "What IS that?!"
Becky looked even more horrified when she recognized the car. "TURN IT! TURN IT AROUND!" Without any hesitation, Carl pulled a messy U-turn, making the baby cry even more, and drove the other way quickly. "Th-that's Kali's car!"
...
Kali's eyes grew large when she recognized the car that made a U-turn. "That's Uncle Carl's car!" she exclaimed, getting shocked looks from everyone else.
"What the hell are they doing here?!" Jonathan asked in a panic.
Her blood ran cold at the thought of her answer. "They're...they're looking for my family!"
...
As the monsters continued chasing the cars, Carl and Becky saw a road to turn on. "HERE! TURN HERE!" the woman yelled. He did so quickly, making another messy turn. He continued driving down there, Tina continuing to scream and cry as Kali's car and the monster continued forward on the road they were on. Becky looked back, seeing the destroyed buildings with tears in her eyes.
She covered her mouth, squeaking out, "Oh my God..." She sniffled. "They're being chased by that thing!"
"We need to call 9-1-1 immediately!" Carl suggested, panicking. She looked away, sobbing and crying. That thing...she couldn't believe her eyes. And her family was being chased by it...
So it turned out that Suzie is, in fact, real. While Kali and the rest of the group were driving the hell away from the monster, they heard her voice through the walkie Robin had. Everyone but Kali looked really surprised about this. The teen girl just smiled because there was never a doubt on her mind that Suzie was real.
Back at Cerebro, after Dustin tries to ask her what Planck's Constant was (due to Murray getting the number wrong for Jim and Joyce), she said, "Wait, so let me be clear: I haven't heard from you in the past week and just now, you reach me to find out a famous number that you SHOULD know, so you can...save the world?"
He sighed and replied, "Suzie-poo, I promise you, I'll make it up to you as soon as possible."
"Actually, you can make it up to me now."
He looked a bit puzzled. "I'm sorry?"
"I want to hear you SAY it, Dusty-bun. I'll join you."
Now he looked mortified. "Not right now, Suzy-poo."
"Yes, NOW, Dusty-bun!"
"But this is urgent-"
"Yes, yes, you're saving the world, I heard you loud and clear. But also, Ged is also saving Earthsea and about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie-"
"Well, is Ged also trying to confess his love while saving Earthsea?"
Back in Salt Lake City, Utah, Suzie's eyes widened, her looking baffled. "Uh, no?"
"Right, because if he just stands around doing something that's not important compared to everything else, then the world is gone and nothing was worth it."
The girl looked thoughtful, pursing her lips. "Please, Suzy-poo. You can tell me Planck's Constant...then we'll do it together."
Hearing that made her smile a little. "You promise?"
He nodded. "I promise."
She nodded and replied, "Okay, Dusty-bun. I'm letting you off just this once, but not again, you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, Suzy-poo."
She cleared her throat, then stated, "Planck's Constant is 6.62607004."
Dustin looked beyond relieved, smiling wide. "You just saved the world."
She grinned and flipped a pigtail. "Well, I always wanted to save the world. Now, you must fulfill your end of the promise."
He sighed, asking, "On a different frequency?"
She shook her head. "Nope, on this one." She looked skeptical. "Unless..."
He looked embarrassed, muttering a curse. Then he held the communicator up...and began singing the theme to The Neverending Story. Erica instantly looked weirded out by that.
Everyone in the van that heard Dustin singing had different reactions to it. Robin, Max, Lucas, and Kali looked amused, the young couple snickering. Steve, Jonathan, and Will looked really weirded out. This amplified when he and Suzie harmonized together. Lucas and Max snickered louder, forgetting that they were being chased the Mind Flayer at the moment.
As Jim and Joyce got out of the vault with the keys, they heard what was happening through the walkie they had. They looked completely baffled, looking at each other. The man then turned it off as they continued going to their final destination.
The four finally found an exit, Terry opening it up and letting them out before she ran with them. They ran towards a gate, the woman pushing the button to open it up. As it opened, they ran out, but then stopped at the sight of a fiery car...
And Billy out of it.
They looked shocked, Andrew muttering, "Oh no..." They then ran back from where they came from, Jane continuously shouting, "Go, go, go!" Andrew pushed the button to close the gate and catch up with them.
After Suzie and Dustin sang the theme of The Neverending Story, the car was still being chased by the Mind Flayer. However, it stopped, looked back, and then ran the other way. The teens and kids looked back, puzzled. "Um, babe, it's turning around," Steve said.
"What?!" she exclaimed, Jonathan looking back.
"What the hell? It is!"
"Maybe we wore it out?" Max asked.
Kali shook her head. "There's no way. Hang on!" She pulled a hard U-turn, everyone exclaiming, before driving the other way.
Stacey continued walking, limping due to her bleeding bullet wound. It was still in there and it pained her every time she walked, but that didn't stop her from helping Billy potentially corner the four.
...
The four continued running through the hallway, Mike's headache getting worse. He gritted his teeth and groaned a little, trying to brave it through. They eventually found a place, Terry whispering, "In here, come on." They got into the room, the woman rapidly pressing the up button for the elevator. "Come on, come on..."
In the hallway they just got out of, Billy got into it from a door and Stacey just met up with him. They exchanged cold looks and nodded, moving forward. Andrew heard them, looking out from the doorway and looking aghast to see them. "Billy...Stacey!" he cried out. The woman and kids looked back in shock. He saw his friend's bleeding bullet wound, looking like he's about to cry again.
"Stacey! Snap out of it! Fight it!" She and the teen still moved on forward. "Stacey Beauford, that's your name! I'm Andrew Rich, your friend!" Terry ran from the kids with her pistol in her hand. "Stacey, please! Fight it! You too, Bil-" She suddenly pushed him out of the way, shooting Billy at the leg too. He screamed and stopped...as well as Stacey. They both went down and winced, seeing that if one hurts, the other does as well.
She panted and still pointed the gun at them. They looked up at her menacingly. She looked at them both. "Stacey, you remember me, Terry Ives, your co-worker, your friend!" She looked at Billy specifically. "You, your name is Billy Hargrove. You're the older step-brother of Maxine. You work as a lifeguard!" They both stood up and continued approaching her with limps. Her finger was on the trigger, but she didn't shoot yet...she didn't want to. "Your little sister cares so much for you!" She looked at Stacey. "Andrew cares so much about you!" Though their faces were still cold, their eyes were...watery. "You have so many people that care for you, just fight against the-"
Suddenly, Billy disarmed her and punched her in the face. She fell to the ground, unconscious with a bloody scratch.
"TERRY!" Andrew cried out.
"MAMA!" Jane exclaimed. The long-haired man then ran and tried to tackle Billy, but he was much stronger than him. He headbutted him before Stacey grabbed it and slammed him against the wall. He also fell, unconscious with a bloody scratch.
Jane's breath trembled as the two entered in the room they were in. Without a second thought, she screamed and charged towards them. Billy grabbed her easily and threw against some pipes, rendering her unconscious as well. Mike cried at all of this and screamed at them, trying to use his power. But the woman grabbed his wrist and shoved him against the wall. He yelped before Billy grabbed him and threw him against another wall. He was knocked unconscious with a head wound.
Billy went hoisted him up on his shoulder, him and Stacey getting out of the room. They walked over the unconscious bodies of the adults and continued forward.
Becky and Carl had found a phone booth, the woman trying to comfort her scared little girl while her husband was calling the police. It didn't seem like they believed him though, him yelling the booth. She sighed and pursed her lips. If that thing gets to her family-
Suddenly, she heard some distant rumbling. Her breath hitched as the rumbles became louder and louder. She turned around when she heard growling as well. Then...before her eyes, the Mind Flayer ran straight through the town again, now the other way. She screamed as well as Tina, Carl looking completely horrified in the booth. Becky ran to see where it was really going. She saw lights blinking rapidly where the mall was...the monster going to it.
The dark-haired man got out of the booth, saying, "The police don't believe us."
She let out a long, shaky breath before handing him Tina. "Hold her, I'll do it," she demanded. "I'll tell them something's going on in the mall." He sighed and nodded before she entered into the booth. She shuddered at the thought of the monster, but had to pull through with this. Her husband was trying to calm Tina, though she wasn't calm either.
Andrew managed to get himself to wake up, his eyes bleary and his head stinging. He slowly got up, seeing Terry unconscious and hurt with the bruise on her cheek. It broke his heart to see that. He...
He grabbed her pistol and nudged her body. "Terry, get up," he said in a loud, affirming voice. "Please, Terry, wake up!" The woman eventually stirred awake, groaning. He sighed in relief. "Thank God."
"A-Andrew...?" she asked, looking up at him with fuzzy vision.
"L-listen, wake up Jane and meet me at the food court. I'll deal with Billy and Stacey and save Mike." He then got up on his feet and bolted away.
Her eyes widened, her yelling, "Andrew, wait!" She then saw that he got her pistol...so he really meant it.
Andrew thought to himself that he was not a violent person. He wasn't, he never would be. He hasn't even shot a gun since he got back from the war, but this time...only this time would he ever consider violence as an answer.
Terry saw him leave, making her worry about him more. But she really needed to find her daughter, so she stood up and got into the room. She saw her, unconscious with a bleeding cut on her head. She gasped, crying and kneeling before her. "Oh, my sweetheart..." she murmured in a squeaky voice. She nudged her daughter. "Jane! Jane, get up! Please! I need you to get up!" The tomboy groaned and stirred awake, making her mom feel much better and hug her. "Oh, my baby!" Jane hugged her back, glad that her mother was okay as she could be as well.
She looked around when they released the hug, looking scared. "Wh-where's Mike?" she asked, the two standing up.
"Andrew went ahead to get him, but we need to catch up," she answered, her voice a little trembling. The girl nodded as they both ran from the room to find the guys.
As everyone in Kali's car were nearing the mall, they drove past the frightened Muellers, who just watched them go. Kali looked sorrowful, knowing that they've seen the Mind Flayer and that they were scared for them. It made her more determined to kill the damn thing.
...
"Why are they going back there?!" Carl exclaimed. Becky, who was finished with the call, began crying with her baby.
They finally went through an exit door, getting into The Gap and into the main lobby of the mall. Once they were close to the middle, they stopped. Billy laid Mike down, the two kneeling before him. He then whispered into his ear, "Don't get scared. It'll all be over soon."
Mike began to stir as the woman added, "Just stay still...very still." They then looked up, the two on their feet. The boy's vision was blurry, but he could see...something on the bare roof. The creature snarled as it slowly crawled back into the middle of the lobby. His vision began clearing, seeing the Mind Flayer getting in. He looked beyond horrified, gasping and struggling to get up. It was very close, snarling as he tried to crawl away. It growled and hissed as it opened its mouth and let out a tentacle through it, reaching out to the boy.
Suddenly, a firework was thrown at it, making it stop and scream. It also made Billy and Stacey grunt and flinch.
Mike looked up, seeing the rest of the group at the top level. The rest of the group were up there with lit fireworks in their hands.
"Flay this, you piece of shit!" Lucas yelled as he threw a firework straight into its mouth. It screamed and stumbled backward, destroying more things. Lucas continued doing it with Max and Will. Kali and Jonathan also threw fireworks together at another part of the level. Steve and Robin did the same on another part of the level as well.
It kept taking the hits from the fireworks, screaming in pain. Billy and Stacey were wincing and grunting in pain. That was cue for Mike to try to stand and get out of there.
Running out of The Gap was Andrew, who looked both shocked and awed at the fireworks hurting the Mind Flayer...and the only two Flayed left. He then stormed to them, yelling, "STACEY!"
The woman and teen looked back, shocked to see him still conscious. Stacey braved through the pain and said, "Make sure Mike stays. I'll deal with him." Billy nodded before she walked towards her friend. She always stopped and yelped with every hit the Mind Flayer took. She was then on her knees as well as Billy, screaming in pain. Mike crawled away from the monster and the possessed teen, trying to get up on his good leg.
"Stacey! You need to listen to me!" he shouted at her, still approaching her. She looked up at him angrily while trying to hold back her screams. "You can fight against it! Just remember who you are!" She stood up, staggering back and forth.
Mike managed to stand himself up and limp away. However, Billy stood up and limped towards him as well. When he got close, he tackled him, making him yelp as they both got down. He tried to pull him back to the spot, but Mike used his good leg to kick his bad one. He screamed and got off of him.
"STACEY! FIGHT IT! YOU'RE STRONG ENOUGH TO DO IT!" Unfortunately, his words were not getting to her as she threw a punch at his face. He screamed and staggered back. She tried again, but he used the pistol to whip her across the face, her screaming and getting down again.
The freckled boy tried crawling away from the teen, but he grabbed his bad leg tightly, making him scream. Billy stood up and dragged him back to the spot they were at before. He kept exclaiming and clawing at the ground, struggling against his grip. When they got there, he flipped him over and tried to pin him there. Mike continued to struggle against him, the fireworks exploding all around them.
Stacey stood up again with a stagger and tried to hit him again, but he managed to dodge her swings. "STACEY! THIS ISN'T YOU! STOP THIS! FIGHT AGAINST HIM!" He then came up with an idea. It could or couldn't work, but it was now or never.
"Stacey!" he cried out again, getting cornered to a wall. She hit him again before using her arm to choke him against the wall. She looked at him with cold, dark, dilated eyes, the dark veins of her body popping out. He wheezed from the choking, but managed to say, "Somebody to Love!" She went stiff, slightly easing off on the choking. "W-we were at Woodstock...Jeffferson...Airplane...was singing...Somebody...to Love...your favorite song!" The cold expression on her face dropped, her mouth agape.
While struggling against Billy, Mike saw what was happening with Andrew and Stacey. It made him think of something to do with Billy. Billy let him into his mind...he saw his memories...all he's been through. He felt what he felt just thinking about them. He looked up at the black-veined guy and placed his hands on his shoulders, saying in a sentimental voice, "Seven feet." Billy went stiff at those two words. "You told your mom...the wave was at least seven feet." He was still stiff, his cold expression eventually dropping. He began to remember surfing...his mom spinning around and cheering him on.
Stacey's push against his neck loosened a little, giving him enough breathing room to speak. "You love Jefferson Airplane. You look up to Grace Slick. You love Surrealistic Pillow. Your favorite song from it was Somebody to Love. They performed it there." Her face softened, remembering seeing Grace and the band up stage, doing their thing. She was...high...and really happy, the happiest she's ever been. "Dave and I told you that you kinda looked like Grace. You said that was good." She remembered that, the three being with other friends as the time as they were dirty, happy, and high. "Then you stood up. You didn't care that everyone else was still doing their thing, you began singing the song...as loud as you could." She looked sentimental, yet sad, her eyes welling up with tears as the dark veins she had disappeared.
"Y-you ran to her...on the beach," Mike continued. "There were seagulls everywhere." Billy remembered those things...on the beach. He let out a shaky breath. "Your mom...wore a hat...with a blue ribbon." He remembered a hat, him gasping. Mike sniffled. "A long dress...it had a red flower with blue leaves." He remembered the dress too. "She had...yellow sandals...covered in sand." He remembered the sandals as well, looking forlorn with tears welling up in his eyes. Mike slowly crawled away from him, but kept his hands on his shoulders. "She was pretty...really pretty." He remembered his mother, laughing and smiling at him. He nodded slowly, the dark veins on his body disappearing.
Andrew began crying and smiling in the nostalgia. "Not only that, but you started dancing too. The guy you were with at the time joined in with you...then me...then Dave..." She remembered that as well. Her boyfriend at the time started dancing with her too, sensually. Then Andrew stood up and danced and sung terribly. Then Dave stood up and did the same thing. Then she saw the people around them get up and do the same thing. She MADE that happen. "Everyone around us started doing it too." Her lip quivered, remembering how happy she was that everyone around her was dancing and singing to one of her favorite bands in the world.
...
Kali pulled out the last of the fireworks, looking up at her best friend. "Let's do it," she said. He nodded and used a match to light up the firework. She then threw it to the monster, its impact hurting it once more.
Max threw the last one before Lucas and Will exclaimed, "We're out!" She looked worried, looking down and seeing her brother just standing there.
...
"And that day..." Mike continued, the two now sitting and facing each other. "You were happy...you were really happy." He was...he really was. He was the happiest he's ever been. He hadn't felt that way for so many years...because of his father. Billy began crying, sobbing and sniffling. Mike felt that way for him, so he decided to hug him. The teen let him do it as he continued crying.
"And we all sang the last verses together..." He then began singing it, then she did too, crying a lot. Their singing voices were sobby before they stopped. The woman sniffled and let go of his neck, crying into his shirt. He let her as he wrapped his arms around her.
Mike let go of the hug and used his good leg to stand up. Billy did the same, still looking at him. Stacey let go of Andrew's hug. The two former Flayed then looked at each other, glad that they were out of the Mind Flayer's control now.
Suddenly, the fireworks have stopped, the creature roaring again. They all looked at it, facing directly towards Mike. The boy backed away from it with wide eyes. Arriving from The Gap just in time were Jane and Terry. They both looked horrified as it roared at the boy. It quickly opened its mouth and launched its mouth tentacle at the boy. He screamed, bracing for impact.
But then, at the speed of lightning, Billy ran and faced Mike, blocking the tentacle's way...as it staked itself onto his back. He screamed from the top of his lungs, pain shooting throughout his entire body...especially his back. Not only was it bleeding...he felt his spine shatter.
...
Up on the top level, Max began crying, yelling, "BILLY!" Everyone else looked down in shock.
...
"NO!" Stacey also yelled, still caring about the teen. She quickly snatched the gun from Andrew and ran towards it with it.
That made him scream, "STACEY! NO!"
She ignored him and shot at the tentacle, almost letting the gun go due to the recoil and noise. It shrieked and got itself out of Billy's back, making him again and fall forward into the ground with a big wound on his back. She kept shooting at it, making screech and wince back. Terry and Jane were aghast by this, as well as Billy himself. As soon as she got in front of him to protect him, she ran out of bullets. She threw that thing away and stood her ground, looking up at the monster in pure anger.
"Go away," she said in a low, serious voice.
Billy managed to move his arms and turn himself around to look at the woman he was going to sleep with. He looked up at her with wide eyes, shaking his head. "Stacey..." he said, his voice strained because of the pain he was experiencing.
The tentacle roared and lunged for her head. She screamed and used her hands to get it back. She used all of her strength to get it back, yelling, "NO!"
"STACEY!" Andrew cried out.
It was pushing back against her, but she wouldn't let up. The Mind Flayer screamed as it summoned more tentacles. As if time was slowing down, one of them launched into her side, making her scream. That made her long-haired friend bolt towards her. "STACEY!" Terry saw him run and caught up to him, holding him back as she got close. Another tentacle then stabbed into the stomach, making her scream more before the others staked her other side, then parts of her back. Andrew cried and screamed her name again.
Billy began crying too, yelling, "NO!" He reached out a hand to her. Mike looked absolutely shocked and horrified at this.
She sunk onto her knees, coughing out blood as she gave the monster a piercing glare. It roared at her and she roared back. It let out its mouth tentacle...and staked her straight the heart...killing her as her body went limp.
The adults looked at that in absolute terror, Andrew screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Billy gasped, more tears going down his cheeks. She was...she was dead...
A grown woman he liked was dead...because of him.
He sobbed and cried out, "STACEY!"
The Mind Flayer then removed its staking tentacles out of her body, letting it fall to the ground and bleed. It was right in front of Billy, which made him scream in horror and anguish.
...
Max felt horrible for her step-brother. They must've known each other somehow...maybe they were close. Otherwise...he wouldn't act like this, especially with that wound on his back.
...
The Mind Flayer then suddenly shrieked and staggered back, moving in a panicked manner. Kali saw it go to Steve and Robin and yelled, "GET OUT OF THERE!" They ran away as the monster destroyed the platform they were just on, the other teens screaming. It continued to shriek and move around and destroy more things...then it dropped to the ground...and stopped moving. It stayed that way as fires started around it. Everyone looked at that with dropped jaws, meaning one thing...
The Gate was finally closed.
As everyone on the top level raced towards the escalators to get down, Jane ran to Mike. He saw her come and they both embraced each other. "Oh Mike..." she whimpered.
"Jane," he whispered as they cried and rested their foreheads against each other, holding each other's cheeks.
Terry let go of Andrew, the two approaching Billy and Stacey's dead body. The teen was crying and sobbing, his hand on her hair. He began whimpering to her, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Stacey..." They felt heartbroken to see this, knowing that they have flirted. He looked up at them, specifically Andrew, and told him in a sob, "I'm so sorry!" He continued sobbing and crying, making the long-haired man do the same. Terry even let out a few tears herself.
Andrew knelt down to Stacey's bloody corpse, wiping his tears and sniffling. He held her body, not caring about the blood, and saw that she really was dead. She died protecting everyone. He cried loudly, setting her body down and covering his face to hide and muffle his tears. The dirty-blonde-haired woman sniffled and looked away from her dead friend's body, shutting her eyes. She knelt down next to Andrew and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, though she was in the same position.
The rest of the group finally got down, Max sprinting to her cry, injured older brother. "Billy!" she called out to him. He looked up, his eyes pink, as she got close and knelt down to him. She held his face, looking very worried for him. "We'll go to some help for your wound, okay?" He whimpered, making her frown. "Everything's going to alright-"
"No it won't, Max," he answered, his voice trembling. "It won't..."
She tensed up and pursed. "I'm sure somebody can help you up. Just don't move."
He sniffled and shook his head. "I...I can't..." She looked more worried for him. "I can't...I can't move my legs." Now she looked shocked as hell to hear that. He cried more. "I can't move my legs, Max." She was frightened by this news, her eyes brimming with tears.
Lucas had hugged Mike before getting over to the redhead. "Can he move?" he asked her.
She looked up at him, shaking her head. "He's paralyzed," she answered in a trembling voice. He looked shocked as everyone began to get around him to help him up.
As it started to drizzle outside, Becky, Carl, and Tina had finally arrived at the mall's parking lot, seeing that the lights have stopped blinking...and there was a fire above. Tina stopped crying. They also saw Kali's car and Andrew's van parked near the entrance. Carl parked it in a spot close to the entrance, both him and Becky getting out and looking at the mall.
"Jesus Christ..." Carl muttered in horror.
"Girls, no!" Becky cried out as she was about to run to the fiery building, but her husband stopped her.
"No, Rebecca! I don't want you in there too!" She continued crying, wishing that her sister and nieces would come out safe and sound at any second.
After a moment, they heard helicopters from afar. They both turned around, seeing them flying right to the mall. After another minute, some of them landed. They recognized them as government. Popping out of one of them was an old man with a jacket with a few soldiers as company. He spotted them and walked towards them. When he got close, he asked, "What are your names?"
"R-Rebecca," Becky answered.
"Carl Mueller, her husband," Carl also answered.
He nodded, knowing who they were. "Okay, you see that guy?!" he asked, pointing at one man with a pen and pencil getting out of another helicopter. He gestured him to come, in which he did. He turned to the two. "He's gonna ask you two questions while we investigate! Be as honest as you can!" He then walked away from them.
"Wait!" Becky called out to him. "Is my family in there?! Do you know?!"
He drew his lips to a fine line, thinking that they saw what probably happened too, just from out here. "We'll save them! Don't worry! Just answer the questions!" She sighed in relief, holding onto Carl for comfort. He then walked to the entrance with his soldiers when the interviewer finally approached them.
...
Much later, the firefighters, police, and ambulance came to the rescue. Everyone was out, Billy lying face down in a cot as he was getting escorted to the ambulance by paramedics. He looked both weary and forlorn. Max ran with them as well as Jane and Lucas, asking, "You guys can save him, right?! He'll be okay?!"
"He's losing a lot of blood, kid," one of them said to her. "But we'll try our best." She nodded as they went to the ambulance. When he got in there, the redhead turned to her friend and boyfriend.
"I'm going with him, to see if he's alright," she told them. "I'll call you two tomorrow."
The two nodded. "Alright," Jane replied. "I hope he does recover."
"Me too," Lucas said before he and Max shared a short kiss. She then turned and got into the vehicle, holding her step-brother's hand as the paramedics closed the door and got into the vehicle. Jane and Lucas frowned as the ambulance started up and drove away.
...
Everyone were wrapped in safety blankets, sitting at different ambulances and getting questioned. Becky managed to get in, Carl close behind with Tina in the now-hooded carriage. She spotted the Ives sitting on one ambulance with Andrew, sighing in relief as she ran to them. They saw her running and stood up, putting the blankets down. They walked towards her, Becky tackle-hugging her sister first. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, her voice squeaking. "You girls are alive!"
"Yeah," Terry replied. Becky then hugged Jane tightly, then Kali.
"When we saw that monster, we thought..." Carl said, sighing and shaking his head.
Terry and Jane looked surprised, the tomboy asking, "What? How did you-?"
Kali cleared her throat. "When me and the others escaped, he saw them on the road and they avoided the Mind Flayer just in time."
The two looked confused. "Mind Flayer?"
"I-it's a long story," Jane replied. "But you've seen it?" They both nodded, making the three look at each other with wide eyes.
"But you're alright and that's I need," Becky stated as she and the women got into a group hug. Carl let out a deep sigh of relief.
Andrew looked at this, feeling great for them. But...Dave was killed...Stacey was killed...the monster that killed them was killed. But even so...his friends died while he was visiting. He looked down, clenching his fists and being ready to cry again.
They released from the hug when Becky noticed Andrew looking sorrowful. "What happened to him?" she asked.
Terry sighed, closing her eyes and trying to hold back her tears. "Dave and Stacey...they..." The short-haired woman gasped, looking incredibly sorry for him. The two women then approached him, seeing him crying again. "Hey..." Terry whispered to him softly. He looked up, his eyes red from the crying.
"I'm so sorry," Becky said to him solemnly.
He smiled at them a little. "Thanks." They then hugged him and he hugged back, just to comfort each other.
Meanwhile, Joyce and Murray were escorted out of the secret base. She and Will had reunited with the warmest, teary hug, glad that one another was alright. However, when she opened her eyes, she saw Mike limping around with a bandage on his head...looking for Jim. Just the sight of that made her cry more. He looked at her for an answer. She sobbed and began crying more, the boy knowing what this meant. He looked shocked, then distressed, starting to cry. He shook his head, inaudibly muttering, "No..." He sniffled. "No..." He sunk onto his knees and covered his face with his hands, crying and sobbing more.
Jane saw that and ran to him. When she got close, he hugged her and she comforted him. She looked at Joyce, who was crying as much as he did. Her eyes widened. Terry also looked back and saw what was happening...she also didn't see Jim. Her breath hitched, tears welling up in her eyes again.
None of them were prepared to face the fact that Jim...never made it.
So...there's a lot to unpack here:
Yup, Carl and Becky (and Tina, if she'll remember) have seen the Mind Flayer. I thought after making them the Karen, Ted, and Holly of the series, I decided that they should see the very thing their family's been fighting against. They're looking for them anyway, might as well make them see why they weren't at the fair.
I axed the Neverending Story segment because I was already not liking the season, but that scene? That scene really made me think this was the worst season. That wasn't a Stranger Things moment, that was a parody moment and I couldn't be any more disappointed yet gobsmacked. So I did the sensible thing and have Dustin convince Suzie to tell him Planck's Constant BEFORE the singing. That was what I expected and I didn't get it, so I wrote it here. Hope you guys don't mind that.
And yes...I have spared Billy in exchange for Stacey's life. At first, I was going to have a sacrifice for the both of them, but then I thought of this: Billy's done some pretty shitty things (including being a racist) and he only gets redeemed by sacrificing himself to save El and Max? I feel like more could be done with his character before his death, so I'm keeping him alive...with the price of his ability to walk. I thought he could still be selfless, just not dead also. So, in this AU, he's still alive, but he's a paraplegic because he saved Mike from getting shanked.
Unfortunately, that means poor Andrew has lost BOTH of his friends while visiting Hawkins. The poor guy can't catch a break and I feel sorry that I didn't make him. Terry's also sad about this too, since they were good friends to her.
Honestly though, it was a joy writing Stacey and Dave. In Suspicious Minds, they were just side characters with a little bit of personality to make them stick out. I was glad to expand on those personalities here. I hope I wrote Stacey's sacrifice scene well.
Another unfortunate thing...Hopper's "death". It's a good thing that Jane's there for Mike, but still...it's just as heavy as it was in the show.
I spent the most time writing and editing this because this was the chapter I anticipated writing the most. The action, the intensity, the twist, the emotion...I wanted to write all of that and show you guys what I had planned. It's almost satisfying to have this out now!
Almost because there's what happens three months later.
We're even closer to the end, so keep supporting this fanfic and I'll see you guys in the final chapter of the season! :D