"She's in. Initiate phase three." Erica said, her voice echoing around them. They all huddled around the playground, crouched low to avoid the attention of the bats, and Hopper relayed the information to Dustin, who responded in kind through the radio.
"Now, we just have to wait for Eddie." Nancy whispered, and Steve nodded, tightening his hold on his bat. He felt oddly calm throughout all of this, but he knew that it was his powers doing all of the work. If he was normal, if he was the Steve with only the nail bat and nothing else, he knew that he would've been terrified right now.
Would he still be doing this even without powers, fighting a monster from an alternate dimension with his family? Yes. Would he be scared to death and not show it? Also yes.
His thoughts were disrupted by loud music playing beyond them, a tune that Steve didn't know, and he smiled as the bats left the house, screeching as if the music was poison in their blood. Like a swarm of gnats, they flew over the playground, and Steve lowered himself to the ground, hoping that the bats wouldn't see him. All around him, everyone followed suit, and it wasn't long until the bats were gone, nothing but a cloud of darkness in the distance.
The plan was working. Eddie was distracting them. They were going to get in.
"We have to go. Now." Hopper said gruffly, and Steve nodded, following Nancy as they all made their way towards the house, the sound of their footsteps covered by the music. Steve found comfort that it was still playing. It meant that Dustin and Eddie were both okay. For now.
He passed Will's bag back to Will, whose face was solemn, his eyes wide and frantic. Steve hoped that Will remembered what he had said earlier; there was no time to remind him now.
They ran up the steps, Nancy throwing open the door, revealing dozens of vines in the house, and Steve followed, holding it open as Hopper and Jonathan rushed through, slowing down to avoid the vines that littered the floor. Yet, Will, who was right beside Steve the entire time, didn't come through the door behind them. Glancing back outside, Steve felt a shot of fear spike through him before calming down, replaced by curiosity and a need to keep going. Will was standing on the patio path, right by the stairs, frozen still. His hands clutched his backpack close to his chest, and he didn't make a move to the door. He didn't make a move at all.
Had One changed his target? Was he going for Will? Was Will cursed? Did One have him in his grasp right now?
This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This wasn't the plan.
"Will! Come on!" Steve yelled, and Jonathan soon appeared beside him, breathing heavily, no doubt concerned by Steve's shout. Will didn't respond to his call, and Steve, after exchanging a look with Jonathan, followed him as they both rushed outside, not wasting another second.
"Will! What's going on? Will!" Jonathan asked, kneeling down to Will's level frantically.
"I…" Will said, his voice soft, but Steve was thankful, so thankful, to hear it. "I think, is that…"
Will's arm rose slowly, shaking, and Steve looked to where he was pointing, a soft gasp escaping his lips.
A demogorgon. A demogorgon was standing right there, its claws bared, its teeth in its flower face ready to strike. It lumbered towards them slowly. Purposefully.
Steve could tell that it was going to attack them at any second.
He knew what he had to do. Their plan couldn't change. If this Demogorgon attacked them all, it would be game over, and they could all die, everyone, even Hawkins itself.
Steve had to stop it himself. He had to trust that Jonathan could kill One without Steve's help. He had to make sure that the Demogorgon didn't come any closer to his family. To ruin the plan. To killing them all.
"Jonathan. Get Will inside. Stay with the plan, but you'll have to do the close range combat yourself. I'll deal with the Demogorgon."
"Steve, you can't be serious!" Jonathan protested, and Will looked to Steve, his eyes filling with tears.
"You'll die!" Will whispered harshly, but Steve shook his head.
"I have to, and I won't die. I'll be fine."
"What if the bats come back? What if you're outnumbered?" Jonathan protested, stepping closer to him, but Steve stood his ground.
"Then you have to kill One before that happens."
"Steve一"
Steve hated interrupting Will, but there was no time to argue. The Demogorgon was getting closer, the music was blaring, and Max was fighting for her life with every second.
"Hurry! We don't have much time! Go!"
Jonathan, after giving him one last glance, a glance that seemed like an apology, grabbing Will by the jacket and rushing him to the door.
Steve breathed out a sigh of relief. Now it was just him and the Demogorgon.
Bring it on.
Dropping his backpack, he tightened his grip on the bat, and braced himself.
At that moment the Demogorgon charged. And so did he.
Robin opened her eyes to see a skatepark, full of people moving constantly, an endless whirr of activity.
"Where are we?" She asked, and El stepped forward, looking around, courage pouring off of her in waves. Robin wished that she had that courage. She tried to let it fill her, but it was hard enough to keep a grip on Max's mind, the only emotions that she should be feeling right now. She couldn't, shouldn't, focus on feeling anything else. Robin counted herself lucky to be able to even sense El's courage.
"I think it's a memory. Max's memory. We need to find her."
"Got it." Robin responded. Fear filled her mind, washing over her like a tidal wave, and she shivered.
"Max?" El asked, and she nodded.
"She's still terrified. What if we can't find her? What if we can't save her in time? What if everything goes wrong?"
"It won't go wrong. It will all be okay."
Robin took a deep breath, hoping that El's words would ring true. "Okay. Okay. Let's do this."
The two of them walked forward, dodging around people on skateboards and bikes. Robin squinted against the sun, shocked that the memory was so vivid, so bright. Was this where Max was hiding from One? In a good memory? Then, why was she still scared? Terrified, even?
She forced herself to continue forward. Her questions wouldn't be answered if she didn't make a move to find the answer. El seemed to be on the same page.
It was then that Robin saw a red-haired girl sitting on the ground, talking to an older boy. Robin didn't need to come any closer, that was Max. But not the Max that they needed.
"That's her younger self. Our Max isn't here." El said. "Something else is happening."
Robin nodded, feeling an odd sense of calm wash over her. "Whatever's going on, she feels safer than before. Maybe she's in a good memory?"
El opened her mouth to reply, but in that moment the skatepark around them darkened, rage filling the air as red lighting shot out of the sky. Robin felt anger surge in her heart, anger that wasn't hers, that wasn't Max's, and knew instantly who it was.
One. He found them.
"Look!" El shouted, and despite the wind that began whipping around them, Robin heard her. Looking up, through the storm that looked too much like the Upside Down, she found a music table, one that reminded her of the dances at school. What was that doing there?
"A memory within a memory! We have to get there before One finds her!" El exclaimed, and Robin nodded.
"She's feeling safer, that must be it!"
El began running to the music table, and Robin ran to catch up, but something swept her off of her feet, gripping her ankle harshly. Landing roughly on the ground, the air was knocked out of her lungs, leaving her gasping for breath. Through the dark fog that covered the skatepark, she could see El look back at her, courage shifting into concern.
"Go!" Robin screamed, feeling a strong tug at her ankle, a tug that wouldn't go away. She was stuck. El was losing time.
Looking back, she saw a dark vine holding onto her, pulling her away from the music stand, pulling her away from Max. A figure could be seen, a figure that looked all too much like One, and Robin felt a confidence surge in her. She didn't know if it was her own or someone else's, but she held onto it.
"Robin!" El shouted, but Robin shook her head.
"Go! Save Max! I'll slow him down!"
El didn't need to be told twice. They were a well oiled team, the both of them. Like sisters. Robin was thankful for it.
In a blink of an eye, El vanished, and Robin turned to face her foe. The man who was responsible for it all. One.
"I am not the one responsible. You know who brought this upon you."
The vine tugged at her harder, and Robin flung out her arm, grabbing the nearest skateboard and flinging it at the vine, cutting it in half with her new found telepathic powers. The area was now empty of people, and Robin scrambled away from One, turning to face him as soon she felt that she was a safe distance away.
"You're the one killing people!" She argued, and One smiled, finally making himself visible. This time looked like the monster that Robin had fought when Max was in danger the first time, nothing like his human appearance who had faced Steve all that time ago. It felt fitting, in a way. Robin was finally facing him, the monster, again, with Max's life hanging in the balance once more.
"Oh, you're wrong in that, Twenty." One said, his deformed face forming a smile. "It was Brenner who did this, it was Eleven."
Another skateboard rose in the air, and Robin didn't have to think twice to realize that it was her. Her hand was raised. Her mind was filled with Max's relief, her gratefulness, and One's hate. She could hear both of their thoughts, conflicting worlds, like night and day, and tried to understand what to do. How to beat him. How to save Max.
With a cry from deep in her soul, she threw the skateboard at him, watching as he batted it away with one of his vines.
"You can't stop what's coming. None of you can."
"Watch us!
Then she began running. Away from the music stand, towards One, towards the man who could hurt her. Taking all of the fear that simmered under the surface of her skin, she threw it into his mind, hoping that it would hit its mark.
One stumbled. The fear made him stumble, if only a little bit.
Robin took that to her advantage. Using all of her strength, she ripped a light post from the ground, partially wondering how she could manipulate a memory, but she knew that she shouldn't worry about it now. Max needed her.
With as much power as she could muster, she threw it at him, intending for it to strike him right in the chest, ending this once and for all.
A vine whipped up from below her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down, making her scream. She let go of her hold on the lamp post, and it clattered to the ground a few feet beside One, missing the mark. The impact shook the earth under her body, and Robin felt sick. Within seconds all of her limbs were being held down by One's vines, keeping her in place on the shaking ground, all too much like restraints that she hated. She began struggling, trying to force more fear into his mind, trying to escape his hold, but nothing was working. One raised her up, so her sneakers were barely touching the ground.
"Let me go, you monster!"
"You will fail. You're already failing." One said, ignoring her comment, and the vines around her limbs grew tighter. One began to snake around her chest, then her neck, and Robin was scrambling for ways to escape. She couldn't think of any.
She searched once again for Max's feelings. They weren't panicked, they were calm, and Robin didn't know how to feel about that. Could she have used Max's panicked feelings to escape? Was the calm now a curse, a useless weapon, even though it should've been a blessing?
She still wanted Max to be safe. But, she had a feeling that that wish would come at a cost. A cost that Robin wasn't sure she had the strength to pay yet.
She didn't want to die. She didn't want Max to die.
Not that it mattered now. There was nothing she could do about anything but to keep fighting with what she had. Herself.
And, the only way she could keep fighting is if she kept him talking. Then, One couldn't get to Max. Then she would have time to come up with a plan. To survive.
"How so?" She asked, her voice strained by her struggle, "How are we failing? You don't know anything!"
She didn't know if that was true. He may have been in all of their minds already. Her mind was too focused on staying in Max's memories to see what was going on with One or the others.
It scared her, not knowing. It scared her more than she wanted to admit. Were they all okay? Were the rest of the Party already dead?
One chuckled, a deep, gravely sound that Robin hated. "Oh, how little you know about what I can do."
He stepped closer to her, his arm raised, and Robin fought harder.
"Get away from me, you creep!"
"You will see the truth. Your friends will fail. You will all fail."
"No!"
His hand was raised over her head, and she felt his mind drive into hers, red hot pain that made her scream.
The skatepark vanished, and Robin opened her eyes to see the Creel House, standing tall in the Upside Down. One was gone, and Robin stood alone, wondering what had happened. Was she within another one of Max's memories? Or had One thrown her own mind into one of his tricks? One of his illusions?
A cry of pain burst from behind her, and Robin turned to see a demogorgon standing over a man, a man with a nail bat, and Robin screamed.
"Steve!"
Steve looked up at her in that moment, blood streaming down his face, his lips parted in surprise.
"Robin! Run! Run!" He began swinging his bat, but he always missed, not being able to reach the Demogorgon's body from where he was pinned to the ground. Only the monster's arm was hit, but it didn't weaken its hold on Steve. Instead, it slammed Steve to the ground, making more blood fall from Steve's lips.
Robin heard a crack, and she feared that Steve wasn't going to make it out of this. How many hits could he take?
She had to save him. She had to.
"Steve!" She began running towards him, the ground shaking beneath her feet, but she was too late. The Demogorgon slammed Steve to the ground again. Steve lost his grip on the bat, losing his only weapon in this fight. The Demogorgon screeched, getting down on all fours, it's teeth bared. Steve gave Robin one last look, full of fear and regret, and the Demogorgon struck.
"No! Steve!"
Its teeth were covered in blood. There was a gaping hole in Steve's side. And Steve wasn't moving.
Steve wasn't moving.
"Steve! Steve!" Robin ran up to him, and the Demogorgon didn't make a move for her, as if he was finally full. It horrified her. But, she didn't pursue it. Steve needed her. He needed her more than ever right now.
She picked Steve up,cradling him in her arms, letting his head fall against her chest. She put her fingertips to his cheeks, horrified that he was already cold. Lifeless. Dead.
"Steve? Steve? Come on, wake up, please!" Tears burned in her eyes, and his eyes didn't open. "Steve! Steve, no! Please, wake up!"
She was crying now. Sobbing. Begging for him to be okay, to wake up, to tell her that this was all a joke.
"Wake up! Dingus, come on, this isn't funny! Please, don't do this to me! Don't leave me!"
His body was heavy in her hands. She couldn't let go. She was covered in his blood.
Robin's vision turned black. Her head was full of pain, and her breath became ragged. She didn't even realize that she had closed her eyes. But, when she opened them, the Upside Down was gone. Steve was gone. The blood was gone.
"Robin, Robin, sweetie, you're okay, you're okay."
Robin was shaking. She couldn't think. She couldn't do anything but panic, but cry.
Gentle hands gripped her shoulders, and Robin saw Joyce's kind face looking at her, worried. Her warm fingers ran though Robin's hair, whispering reassurances that Robin couldn't hear. Joyce's mind was loud, but Robin's pain was louder.
Joyce eventually pulls her into a hug, letting Robin sob against her. She did. Words began filtering through Robin's scattered mind, words like "it's okay" and "it wasn't real".
It wasn't real? How could it not have been real? Steve died in her arms, she couldn't save him. He…he was gone.
Yet, looking around, Robin realized that she was back in Hopper's cabin, El laying in a bed next to her. The warm light from the lanterns finally brought down her panic, and Robin finally remembered. One had put her there. He made her watch Steve die. Did he actually die? Or was it an intimidation tactic meant to scare her?
"Robin, sweetie, what happened?" Joyce asked softly, and Robin melted further into the embrace.
"I…One attacked me. He showed me Steve dying. I…I don't know if it's real or not." She began crying again, tears falling off of her cheeks and onto Joyce's shirt, but Joyce didn't comment on it.
"I'm sure he's fine, One was just scaring you."
"You can't be sure, can you?" Joyce pulled away, opening her mouth to reply, but Robin shook her head,stretching out her tight shoulders. Her heart begged her to mourn, to keep crying, but she knew deep down that it wasn't right. She had to keep going. "It doesn't matter. We just need to keep going. I need to get back in there. If Steve…if he's dead…he'd want us to keep fighting. I need to go back and help El."
She could feel blood dribbling down her nose, and she wiped it away, laying back down. But Joyce shook her head.
"No, Robin, you're too weak. You were shaking while you were there, it looked like a seizure. And, with everything with Steve…you're too emotionally wound up. You'll get hurt again."
Robin froze. She could hear Joyce's thoughts, knowing that it was the truth, and she could see how much Joyce was concerned for her.
A seizure? Was that even possible?
She knew that there was no time to dwell on the questions. The what-ifs. She just had to keep going, keep going to save Hawkins. It's what they had to do. It was what Steve wanted…would've wanted.
Was he dead? Was he alive?
She didn't know. She needed to know.
Her mind reached out, and she couldn't read much from anyone. Maybe Joyce was right. Maybe she was too weak.
"But…what do I do now? I have to help! One's probably so close to getting to Max, and I don't know if El is strong enough to take him! What if One makes El watch Mike die? What if we're already too late?"
"Robin, it's going to be okay. Take a deep breath." Joyce said, taking a deep breath herself. Robin followed, eager to stop the panic that swelled in her. "Why don't you try and filter emotions into El and Max? Try to ease their panic, give them confidence?"
"I…I can do that." Robin said, "I can do that."
Letting herself feed off of Joyce's kind and semi-calm emotions, thankful for the older woman's steady presence, she made her way over to El and put her hand on El's. El was shaking, blood dribbling from her nose, but she was fighting. Robin could tell that she was scared for Max, and Robin could feel One's presence still in the air. There was no doubt that One was attacking them now. He had his fun with Robin. Now he was back on his mission.
Robin tried to not let it scare her. But it did. All of it did.
Closing her eyes, she tried to calm down her racing heart, and tried to let El feel that calm, that confidence, that she no doubt needed.
Steve's limp body, his cold face, entered her mind, but she pushed it away. She couldn't think about that now. He would be okay. He had to be.