The Wolverine and The Mage

by Pi El 96

With Dustin returning from the spring camp Know Where the Party is excited for the start of the summer break. However, in Mexico, just near the border with the USA from another lab another young gifted child escapes. With their paths crossing, with the old foe returning will the Party along with the help of the young girl endure this event?

13. The First July Part 3

Chapter 11: The First July Part 3

1st July, 1985

Hawkins, Indiana, USA

Tom Holloway's eyes shoot open. The pain of the swollen veins in the white of his eyes, they burn!

He sucks in the air, the first instinct for survival to kick in as the oxygen fills his lungs. He felt his throat sore, head and heart both pounding with pain and fear respectively. The disoriented feeling didn't help either as he tried to control himself. Huffing, he looks around through the haze of his vision but can barely see as everything is in shadows, only rusty metal pillars being visible. A muffled sound makes him glance to his side. He sees a disheveled figure with a piece of cloth wrapped around its mouth.

‛Janet!‛ he thought with panic.

Janet, Janet, his wife… his wife… it is slowly coming back to him.

Those kids who barged into his home. Saying strange stuff and acting strange. Leaving suddenly as they appeared. Because Heather came back in torn clothes. And because they were scared. Scared not for her but of her. Heather, his sweet little girl, scared them…?

Who would be scared of her, she's a sweetheart!

And Janet. Janet. She went with Heather because Heather wanted to change her clothes. Janet went to help her change. He talked with Freedy, trying to find out more about this boy who too had many question marks around him, not helping by the fact his daughter came back as if someone attacked her!

Everything felt wrong, ever since that damn fire at the Munson farm. His daughter acted wrong for the past two days, coming back at odd hours, unresponsive, dead inside. Because of the fire? When he came back to her cheerful persona, Tom was relieved. It took for her… boyfriend to make her come back to her senses.

And this Freedy. Freedy too felt wrong. He was perfectly normal. Perfectly normal until those kids came. His words and posture made them uncomfortable, huddling together, weary of him.

He remembers.

Freedy says he needs to go to the bathroom. Tom shrugged and went back to his dinner because he was actually quite hungry and Heather made a lovely dinner. Tom ate the white wine chicken, drank Chateau D‛Huet ‛78, and waited. And he waited. And realized it was quiet. Unusually quiet. He went to see what was going on in his all too quiet house. He comes to stop at Heather's bedroom, knocks, and enters.

And he sees Janet on the floor, her head bleeding red!

Tom rushed towards her. And was stopped by his daughter. Who… restrained him? His little girl who somehow was strong enough to hold him back, strong enough to hold and push him down on the floor. He tried to get up but Heather put her heel down on his back so hard that Tom yelled in pain. He noticed she held a lamp in her other hand and got wide-eyed in shock.

She did this?!

"Heather?! Why? Why are you doing this?" He cries out, terrified of his little girl.

Heather cocked her head with a close-clipped smile. "Don't worry Daddy. You and Mommy will join us soon enough."

She signals for someone to come. Freddy. Freedy approached him. With a brown bottle and white cloth, he knelt and pressed the cloth at Tom's mouth! Tom tries to struggle to no avail.

Darkness. Darkness and terror claimed him.

What the hell is going on?!

"Whu-wh-Whu…?" he mumbled. He tries to speak but his mouth, they're covered in fabric too!

Fear kicks in, making him try to break free. His hands. Bound. He feels the thick rope ensnaring his wrists and realizes they're bound to a similar metal pillar doting the place. Tom glances at his side when Janet whimpers at him. She tries to say something, but her mouth is also covered, pitiful muffled pleads coming out. Janet was shaking with fear. Her mascara cascaded down her cheeks, dried blood smeared on the side of her head and her eyes were wild with terror.

Heather did this! Why…?!

He has to get them out. Tom gives her an encouraging look and then glances around for something, some clue, anything for an escape! Wherever they were, it looked abandoned. It looked like a factory and Tom realized he recognized this place. What was it, what was it…?!

Brimborn!

A sound of footsteps alerts them to two figures approaching them.

Tom's eyes widen when he sees Heather, with Freedy tagging along. She was still dressed in those tattered clothes. And her face. Heather's features were neutral. No warmth, no coldness, nothing. Who was approaching them? Tom has seen more emotions on her childhood doll!

"Shhhh, it is okay Daddy. This is all just a part of the process." She assured them in feigned comfort as she stopped in front of him, crouched, and removed the gag.

Tom took shuddering breaths. He glances between her and Freddy. He's the one who's responsible! He knew the boy would be trouble, he knew!

"Heather! Heather, what, whatever he's making you do-" Tom stopped as his daughter let out a sinister laugh. It was unnatural. Full of mockery and contempt. His little girl was incapable of making such a sound!

"Hahaha, making me do? Oh, you misunderstand. Both of you." She closes her eyes. "You see, Heather is not in charge."

She opens them. And Tom goes still in terror. They were black.

"I am."

Tom gasped at the sound of a deep-pitched growl. It was- It sounded outright demonic. Janet whimpered, horrified like him. And Janet then yelped and Tom started stuttering when black veins appeared all over his daughter's skin. Her arms, her neck, her eyes.

Tom drew his head back at such a horrifying sight, "Wh-Wha-What in the name of Jesus Christ is going on Heather?!"

"Heather is not here." Heather declared in a monstrous tone as her lips formed a grotesque smile. "She's kind enough to borrow stuff. Like a body!"

Tom's head hit the pillar, trying to back away in vain.

B-B-Borrow stuff? A body?! Tom understood nothing!

"Heather, Heather, please! Don't do this!" Janet pleaded, tears falling down her cheeks.

Heather closed her eyes and the black veins disappeared. She sighed, "Don't worry Mommy," she cupped Janet's cheeks, "you'll understand everything. When it's done."

"Wha-What will be done, Heather?" Tom fearfully asked. He felt his jaw drop as labored breathing came from above. To their right, Tom sees a rusty staircase and hears someone coming down. Through loud steps, the figure came down and revealed an old, fat lady with blank eyes and black sludge around her mouth. "Wh-what? Who are you?"

"Oh, that is Mrs. Driscoll." Tom gasped. "Oh, you know her. Nancy, our lovely aspiring journalist, came back earlier and tried to stop me." She gestures at her tatt-

Tom took a reluctant closer look. And realizes that those holes she had in her clothing. Those were bullet holes.

Tom looked back and forth between Driscoll woman and Freddy. "Heather… what did you do to them?" he trembled with fear as grasping what was going on was impossible.

Heather stands up. "Oh, you'll see." She goes over the staircase, Freedy on her heel. As they join a catatonic Mrs. Driscoll, Heather glances back, "Do try to be still, hm? Can you do that for your little girl?" his daughter mockingly crooned.

"Do what? Heather? Heather." Tom took a deep breath and yelled after his daughter, "HEATHER!"

Janet sobbed. "Heather! Come back! Please come-!"

A low chittering to their right makes them swivel their heads. Something was in the shadows. Tom could not see what it was. However, someone was listening in the heavens and answered with a flash of lightning and thunder, making him see.

*KRA-KOOM

And what Tom saw… he‛d only seen horror movies. And awakened in him a deep primal terror. Janet cried at the sight of a huge… thing coming out of the shadows and approaching them.

It was red. Red all over. And looked as if it was made of flesh - Oh God, it was made of flesh!

"Oh, Jesus Christ!" Tom bellowed in terror as the shape became clearer. Almost the size of an elephant. Multiple legs. And a head. An octopus-shaped head with a maw filled with dozens of teeth.

The Thing slowly approaches them and stops close to them. It examines them as red droplets fall from its spider-like body. It had no eyes. How can something that had no eyes clearly see them?!

Tom goes to make a plead with Heather, but a whip of a tentacle stops him. It latched into his open mouth, the claw around gripping his face. Tom struggles, he struggles. But he is helpless, at the monster's mercy.

"AAAAAAH! TOM!" Janet screams in terror but she is sadly next, as the monstrosity shuts her up in a second.

It starts to pump something through his mouth. Fill him with it. It overtook everything.

His body.

His mind.

His heart.

His soul.

His life.

---

The Shadow does its work and adds more bodies, pumping the, hehe, resolve for one's embrace of the truth. It was exciting, all is going smoothly so far despite the unexpected guests running around the place. Allowing only the most tactical parts of their mind to roam free, his soldiers discuss their plans.

"What is next?" Driscoll blandly asks, staring at the process. Daddy and Mommy twitched erratically, no doubt their minds being overwhelmed by dark power.

"Did our lovely coworkers respond to our calls?" Heather inquires. She hopes they will join them soon. Familiar company and all that. It's nice to have friends all gathered around.

"Yes," Freddy confirms with no emotion, crossing his strong arms. "Everyone but Hargrove that is. He's not answering."

An unspoken question hanging in the air. An interesting question. But not that interesting. A simple thug. That's all he was.

Heather hummed. "Hmmmm. Doesn't matter. They'll suffice." They observed the work of the Shadow, preparing materials for a sturdier construct. And a powerful body. "It will be enough."

*KRA-KOOM

---

*KRA-KOOM

Steve carefully navigates the road through the storm, hoping to dear God he didn't crash. He knew this had to be one of the dumbest decisions he ever made in his entire life. And that's saying a lot, considering he made plenty of those.

Right now, he… tailed his co-worker, okay yes that's a good word, he tailed Robin Buckley as she rode on her moped, during a rainstorm. Suspicious suspicious. And he-

No. It's not cutting it.

Steve shook his head, "This is who you are now Harrington. A stalker. Stalking your coworker. Great. Just great." He groaned, arms gripping the steering wheel. "You see, this is what happens when you hang out with kids like Henderson and the rest of the little gremlins. You think you're Magnum or some similar crap. Or… more like that guy from Psycho, oh God!"

A faint memory came to him. Dustin told him how Lucas and Max hooked up-

Steve drew his head back, disturbed and disgusted by that line of thinking.

"Wow! Wow wow wow wow wow wow! No no no no! No! Just no! Okay, don't think like that, that's not what is happening! This is you, following your hunch because, of course, you have to." Steve shook his head.

Driving without lights on was already a challenge, how will he inevitably explain this…!

In hindsight, he should have asked for advice. Hopper, Mrs Byers, Dustin, Nancy, anyone from his circle, anyone with a sound mind. They had more rational thoughts in their pinkies than he did in his entire body.

Steve sighed. It was always at the end - hindsight.

In hindsight, he should have studied for those exams to get into college. In hindsight, Nancy losing interest in him was partially his fault. In hindsight, he shouldn't have messed with Jonathan in school and thought, maybe give a helping hand to a lonely kid because being an outcast in high school sucked. In hindsight being a kinder and more understanding guy is actually not as shameful as his old friends suggested.

Steve was far from the King of Hawkins High persona he was… what, two years ago? He graduated from high school just a few weeks ago! Damn. So much change in such a short amount of time. And how did it fly! He still felt like it was yesterday when he threw that small party at his house with Tommy, Carol, Nancy… and Barb.

Guilt came to slap him in the face like it always did whenever that name came to mind. He came to think about those events after his first scary monster fight. That night when Barb was killed. If he… didn't have sex with Nancy, then Nancy would have left with Barb and she would be alive. If he wasn't such a douchebag, how many things could have been different?

Dustin tried to explain to him that Upside Down world from where nearly all the weird crap came. He understood half of it because his brain hurt from the sheer information but he figured out a few things. One thing that stuck out was something about parallel worlds. A world where it was sometimes the same but the people weren't or where the people were the same but the worlds were drastically different. All because someone made a different choice. Would his choice, that is to follow Robin like a creep, affect everything that's going on? For the better or worse? Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Steve rubs his head "Wow. Is this what Nancy and the rest of the nerds think like? Christ!" he exclaims, "…I wonder if that's why sometimes they look constipated."

The moped makes a sharp turn right, Steve mimics it and starts to recognize his surroundings, faint as they were only through flashes of lightning. Yup, Lovers Lake.

He heard about a pot dealer who lived in the area. Went there once, twice. Social recreation and all. He also heard the man got arrested. And if a house was empty, it would serve as a perfect hiding place. Just as he suspected.

And just as he was proven right when Robin took a left and drove to a barely lit house. This is it.

"Okay, here I go." Steve prepared himself as he started to pull into the driveway. He shut down the engine and gazed at the figure in front of the house… who jumped off the moped and promptly ran inside as the small vehicle fell to the ground.

Well. She figured she's being followed and reacted appropriately.

He sighed. With sweaty, trembling hands, he opened the door, muttering to himself as rain poured, uncaring for current events. "Please don't be creepy, please don't be creepy, please don't be creepy. Please don't be creepy."

---

Robin realizes it too late.

She's been followed! Right at the hideout! How could she be so stupid?!

The friggin downpour was already bad as it is, battering her until she was wet to the bone and more, but this is infinitely worse. How the heck was she supposed to know someone's gonna follow her?!

‛Stupid, stupid!‛ she wanted to slap herself silly.

It was just half a mile away from the house that she found herself being followed. A bolt of lightning flew above her and made her aware of an unknown car a hundred feet shadowing her. Her heart pounded with terror and she had to fight off the internal fear and panic so rational thinking could be in charge.

"Breathe Robin, breathe!" she told herself, pushing down anxiety. Her shoulders tensed as she got closer and closer to the house, "You're being followed. By someone. Someone Super dangerous. Don't worry. You see just one car. If not for the rain, you could see more. But it's okay. There is Billy the Mullet Hargrove with his stupid muscles, Laura the Wolverine and Miss Lopez with her gun. They'll, uhhh, they'll deal with, him. Her. Them."

They'll kill them. That was deeply unsettling. They'll kill them, one hundred percent. She's leading people to their deaths. Robin refused to speed up. If she does, they'll give chase and Robin was one hundred percent sure they'll catch her and, kill-

"Okay, okay, okay just a little more, just a little bit more," Robin stopped, light still on and the front door in front of her, safe and sound safe and sound, "and you're here, you're- EP!" she yelps, jumping off the moped and running inside, nearly breaking down the door and promptly falling on the floor. Her head hit first, but thankfully the helmet was still on.

"Robin!" a voice calls out. Robin looks up and sees Gabriela, standing, using a baseball bat for support, and wielding a gun. Robin comes to her, hastily removing the helmet.

"Mrs. Lopez!" she cries out, heartbeat fast.

"Robin, calm yourself girl, what is the matter?" Gabriela soothed as Billy appeared from the hallway, bruised face fierce and fists clenched. Her mind quickly registers he's wearing her dad's old clothes.

"I've been followed!" she warns them, fear and guilt heavy in her voice.

"What?" Gabriela's shoulders tense, as did the grip on her weapon and support. She glared outside, searching for threats.

Billy's eyes grew wide. "Shit! Don't worry sailor girl, we got this!" he yells to her, running back into the house. Robin hears him cry, "Come kid, it's go time! Chop chop!"

Robin warily glanced back and saw a lone figure approaching the house. She went to stand behind Gabriela.

"Got this how?" Gabriela demands. Both blink in stunned silence when he comes back running, passing them, holding Laura in his arms, and going outside, "Wait, why are you holding Laura-"

Robin's jaw dropped when Billy Hargrove reared back and tossed the small girl like a football!

"FASTBALL SPECIAL!" he roared over the rain. Laura flew in the air, letting out a barbaric yell with her claws out.

*SNIKT

*KRA-KOOM

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The figure definitely saw that as they screamed and jumped to their right, the flying Wolverine missing its mark and landing on the drenched pavement. But Laura just rolled over and was ready for another strike. Robin went outside with Gabriela and saw, to her shock, a familiar boy on the floor, backing away from the advancing feral child. Turns out, Steve Harrington screams like a little girl.

"AAAARH! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" he yelled at the sight of Laura and her claws, trying in vain to get away from her, slipping all the way.

"Steve?" Robin exclaimed, rubbing her eyes.

"Harrington?" Billy growled, cracking his knuckles.

"Who?" Gabriela demanded, head swiveling back and forth.

Laura just snarled and advanced with deadly intention.

"Oh sweet Jesus Christ! Wait, wait, waiiiit!" Steve puts his hands up but Laura doesn't stop, instead, she swings. "There is a perfectly good explanation for this!" he desperately yelled with closed eyes, just as Laura stopped mere inches from cutting his throat.

One eye pops open and Steve dares to stare at Laura, with rightful wariness and tremble.

"The hell are you doing here Harrington?" Billy demands with a snarl, ready to join Laura in beating Harrington to a pulp.

Steve glances at Billy and frowns, "Look, Hargrove I- Wait, are you dressed like a hippie?" he asks dumbfounded.

Billy clenched his teeth. "Why are you stalking Buckley?" he points out.

Robin gapes, speechless. Steve Harrington stalked her?!

"Hey, I'm no stalking." Steve lamely defends. "I'm just following… her…", he trails off at the loss for words, just as he confirms the creepy act. She doesn't dare say anything, secretly glad for… Billy Hargrove's support, okay this is weird.

"And did you follow her without her knowing?" Gabriela interjected, leaning forward as Robin slowly crossed her arms with a frown.

"Yes, Steve did you?" Robin expresses her displeasure.

Steve was startled. "I mean- Yeah okay, when you say it like that, yes it sounds like stalking." He lowers his head in shame.

"Kid, you can cut him up!" Billy enthusiastically suggested to Laura. "I suggest you start with the family jewels."

Laura glances back and forth, confused. "But this man is not wearing any jewelry."

Billy groaned. "Arh, figure of speech kid!"

Laura shrugs and prepares for an attack against Harrington the Creep who raises his hands in surrender. "Wait, wait! LOOK!" Steve faced Laura, "Laura, I know someone like you!"

"Wait what?" Robin does a double take.

"Really?" Billy is unimpressed.

"You got a tattoo on your wrist, right?" Steve reveals, making her stop.

Robin‛s, Billy's, and Gabriela's mouths drop open in surprise. How did he know that?

Laura angled her wrist for Steve to see it, his eyes scanning the numbers, "You know Eleven?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I know her- Wait how do you know her?" Steve demands.

"I talked with her today," Laura simply says.

"What?" Robin exclaims as Gabriela and Billy lean forward in shock.

"What?!" Steve splutters. "She's here?" he stares back at the house, looking for someone.

"No. She was here but not." Laura explains? Here but not?!

Steve's eyebrows shot open, "Oh, yeah it's the thing she can do."

"Excuse me?" Robin raises her hands. "What is going on right now?" she cried indignantly. Her coworker stalks her and now says he knows someone like Laura!

"Yeah, I would like to know that as well Harrington!" Billy chimes, cracking his neck.

Gabriela remained silent. However, she carefully came forward, hobbling with the bat. Robin and Billy slowly followed her, making sure she didn't stumble and fall, not caring too much about getting soaked but rain makes everything slippery. At she came to stop in front of Steve, slowly, she cooked her small revolver.

Steve uttered a soft, "Oh crap," and gulped.

"Laura," Gabriela began, not taking her eyes off him, "is he a threat?"

Laura approached Steve and examined him, staring right into his eyes. Steve stared back.

"He is not a threat." Laura sniffed. "He smells nice too." She withdrew those white, pointy claws, slinking them back into her arms.

"…Okay," Steve replied, unnerved by the sight. Robin could sense Billy frowning at him. For the suspicious behavior or the smell comment, she didn't know.

"…Señor Harrington. Billy, Robin, Laura. Let us head inside. So we can… talk." Gabriela declared. "If you don't mind."

Steve gets up, "Yeah, yeah sure, of course, anything to help." He breathes out.

---

Billy didn't trust Harrington not one bit. This is now strike two for creepiness. The first one was when he went to the house that belonged to the Byers and found the King of Hawkins High with his little sis- stepsister. Which was a perfect excuse to beat him up, one he's been waiting for ever since he came to Hawkins High.

Now this. Him tailing Robin Buckley. Billy didn't care why he did it, the only reason he's not on the ground, his face being turned into red pudding with his fists was Laura kinda vouching for him. Because he knew, uh, Laura's sister, this Eleven. That's up for debate on strike three.

They were in the kitchen right now, Harrington sitting alone at the end of the table on one side, fancy hair and that stupid uniform wet and all, while Billy, Robin, and Laura stood on another, forming a wall of sharp gazes. Gabriela sat in front of them, gun on the table and bat steady in her hand. Rain steadily drizzled outside while thunder occasionally cracked. Billy wondered who's the good cop/bad cop in this.

"So, um, you're all probably wondering why am I here." Harrington began lamely with folded arms as if he were a school teacher at a parent's meeting.

"Besides being a creep and a stalker." Billy sneered at him. He stood by Buckley's side with crossed arms as she fiddled with her helmet.

Harrington sighed. "Okay. First, I would like to start with this." He faced Robin. "Robin, I am so sorry I followed you here. I wouldn't do it if there was no other choice."

Robin is tight-lipped for a moment but then she starts, "So you kinda knew where I would be."

Harrington shifts in his seat, "Um, yes. I mean, I was suspicious. You were tense, got hurt, you mentioned the shortcut-"

"Damn." She mumbles to herself. Billy rolled his eyes. He kinda expected Buckley to fumble it. It's not gonna be him that's for sure. He ignored Laura cocking her head at him as if she knew what's he thinking.

Harrington continues, "- and a, hrphm, blonde raccoon and I can see why, haha!" he cackled, glancing at Billy.

Billy realizes he's the blonde raccoon, "Hey!" he growls, offended and resisting an urge to glare at Robin, who shifted in her spot. Was she smiling?!

"So yeah, I put two and two together." Harrington finished with a smile. Bastard wasn't even scared. He wondered if he could bribe Laura to do something, Harrington was wary of her the most.

"And you couldn't just tell me that. Instead, you followed me." Robin finished herself with a clipped tone.

King Steve's smile faltered, "Aaand now you know why didn't get into college." he agreed, eyes downcast. At least he shrunk in his seat.

"You should have paid more attention in classes." Billy quips with a holier-than-you tone. "Not preening around like a peacock."

"Okay, you are not going to lecture me about grades and preening you hippie!" Harrington points at him as he nearly gets up from his seat, ready for a fight.

"Bring it, Harrington!" Billy bellows and beckons him with open arms.

*SLAM

"BASTA!" Gabriela snapped as she slammed a palm on the table, making them both jump and stop. Billy could see she was in no mood as she rubbed her temples. The revolver‛s metal glistened on the table menacingly as Gabriela clutched her small crucifix, probably praying for strength.

"Sorry Gabriela," Billy mumbled in guilt, scratching his head as Harrington mimicked him.

"Yeah, sorry Miss…?" Harrington inquired in a polite voice.

"Lopez. Gabriela Lopez." She tersely answered. Billy glanced at her side. Now sign of anything bad but she shouldn't overextend herself.

"Sorry, Miss Lopez." King Hair apologized. He better.

Gabriela huffed, "You said you know Eleven." She states, staring at Harrington, trying to figure him out. "How?"

"Yes. She's a," Steve cocked his head sideways, "a friend."

"And what does that mean?" she demands. "A friend?"

Harrington leans forward, completely serious, face and tone, that's new, "It means this. I know that the fire at the Munson farm wasn't an accident. It was Transigen, right? Those assholes killed them while trying to catch you."

"Yes." Gabriela confirmed, tense. Billy saw how Laura glared at the floor, upset like Gabriela. And Robin. And him.

A quick reminder as much as Harrington was an asshole, he paled greatly in comparison to those monsters. Billy thought his heart nearly jumped out of the ribcage when Robin barrelled into the house in fear and he assumed the worst.

"Well, similar crap happened nearly two years ago when Will Byers went missing," Harrington kindly informs them, making them all do a double take.

"Wait the Byers kid is in on this too?" Billy questions, leaning forward.

"Yes. And get this, he was kidnapped by a monster." Harrington reveals in a grim tone.

"…What?" Robin whispers as Laura and Gabriela exchange looks.

"From another dimension." Harrington continues.

"What?!" Billy exclaims as Robin shakes her head, processing what Harrington just said. Gabriela's jaw fell. Even the stoic Laura showed emotion, her eyes widening and brows shooting up.

Harrington opens his arms, "Look, I know it sounds insane, but-"

"It sounds like bullshit Harrington!" Billy yells back, glaring down at him. "Is this some kinda joke?"

Harrington points at Laura, "Dude, she got claws coming out of her fists! How come you don't believe me?"

"Cause you're a stalker and a creep!" he shoots back.

Harrington huffed, "Okay, how about this, you know about the abandoned Lab right? Well, that's where Eleven is from. She was kidnapped at birth and raised there."

"I-" Billy stops. He and the kid talked about the Lab and what sorta dark crap happened in there, concerning people like her. It was true, all of it, "Holy shit you were right Laura." He says to her.

Laura came forward, "What happened?" she spoke slowly, trying to make sense of Harrington.

Harrington drew himself back, "The way Eleven contacted you, found you. She can do the same thing with other people all over the world. And get this, not just this one. Dustin, one of Eleven's friends, told me she can do the same thing… for other worlds."

"What?" Now it was Gabriela's turn to express her shock. She begins to clutch the golden cross.

"By other worlds you mean…?" Robin warily asks.

"Parallel worlds?" Harrington guessed. Why‛s he guessing, shouldn't he know this stuff?!

Robin blinks. "You don't know?" she exclaims, in a line of thought with Billy.

He shrugs, "Look, I'm not a nerd like those guys. All I know is this. Eleven accidentally found a monster from that other world because shady government guys told her to do it." He says nonchalantly as if the stuff coming out of his mouth wasn't pure insanity!

"And that monster was the same one who took Will Byers," Gabriela concludes, willing to find out more about said insanity.

"Yep. While doing so, she also accidentally created some kinda Gate between those worlds. So in other words-"

"-other beings from that world could come into ours." Robin gathered, fidgeting. She awkwardly rubbed her hands.

Harrington nodded. "Yeah, that monster came through, caught Will, and held him hostage."

"Wait, Will Byers got kidnapped by some freak from another world. That's what happened?" Billy asks again, his mind trying to comprehend this crazy information.

"Yes. At the same time, Eleven escaped. And was found by Dustin, Mike, and Lucas." Harrington divulges further.

Billy blinks, "Sinclair?" Max's little boyfriend?

"Yeah. I got mixed up in all that towards the end of that fricking nightmare. Long story short, me, Nancy and Jonathan lured the monster, El killed the monster, Will was saved by his mom, and Hopper-"

"The police chief‛s in on this?!" Billy interrupts. How many people were involved in this mess?!

Harrington rolled his eyes. "You know Hargrove, if you could let me finish you might learn a thing or two about real Hawkins." He gestured at the house.

"Yes, well, this Harrington" Billy angrily gestures over his injured form, bruises and all, "should let you know that I know about real Hawkins!"

"Billy." Gabriela turns and gives him a reassuring look, trying to calm him down. Robin and Laura stared at him with worry.

He huffed, trying to calm himself down, "Who else is on this?"

"Jonathan, Will‛s brother, and Nancy Wheeler, Mike's sister, and… um…" Harrington trails off after counting on his fingers, face coming to a sudden realization that made him uncomfortable.

And why is that Harrington, hm?

"And. Um." Billy mocks, "Spit it out, Harrington, we don't have all night."

"Max. Max is in it too." Harrington gives him a pointed look, but Billy doesn't catch it as his brain just processes said words.

Billy hoped his hearing failed him. "Max…?" he slowly says, because it was wrong, just no.

"Yes."

"MAX?!" he suddenly shouts, making Robin jump and back away from him. Gabriela and Laura stared, wariness and concern marring their faces as he approached Harrington, looming above him.

"…Yeah," Harrington quietly confirms, trying to back away from him, all tense.

But Billy's mind swirls. He starts pacing back and forth, ignoring everyone. How is she involved? How?! He knew she befriended the little nimrods but- Hold on a sec. "Wait. Max's friend, the skinny brown-haired girl. That's Eleven?"

Harrington confirms again with a nod but frowns, "They're all kinda skinny. Except-," he suddenly coughs, "never mind."

Robin's eyes grew wide, "Wait, those kids that use our back entrance for the movie theatre. They're a part of this?"

Harrington nodded, "Yes."

"And Max is… oh." Robin's face scrunched up as she watched Billy stressing over this earth-shattering news.

"My little sister…! How?!" Billy gritted, coming back to the kitchen and gripping a spare chair, white knuckles and all.

Harrington took a deep breath. "Last November. Byers house. Remember? When you nearly beat me to death?" he states in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Woah, what, you nearly killed him?!" Robin called him out.

"Yeah, 'cause I saw him with my little sister!" Billy angrily defends himself. He didn't like how Buckley stared at him, judged him. Gabriela and Laura watched all of this with rapt attention. Billy felt uncomfortable. A strange feeling reared around the corner. He didn't want to be seen like this, like a violent thug. Like he's… Pierce. He never wanted to be like that guy, never.

Harrington carried on, "And if you listened to reason or even bothered to look around you, you would see something was off."

Billy glares with pure hatred, "You-"

Harrington flung his arms wide, "Because the shitshow didn't end there! A lot more happened. So, if you would like to know more, Billy, I suggest you shut up and listen."

Billy's lungs worked as heavy breaths filled them, internally debating on how to proceed. He wanted to punch someone, he wanted to find Max and get her the hell out of Hawkins, he wanted to-

Billy jumps as he feels a small hand land on his forearm and he looks down. Laura's gaze was… oddly comforting. He didn't know how but he felt the anger and anxiety slowly simmer down as green eyes stared, empathy clear in them.

"So? What's it gonna be?" Harrington asks, not commenting for reasons unknown.

"… I'm listening." Billy concedes, let's go of the chair, and crosses his arms. Laura returns to Gabriela‛s side.

"Cool. So, El killed the monster, Mrs Byers and Hopper saved Will, going into that world where it came from, and the asshole in charge, Brenner, plus his cronies, got killed in the middle of everything that happened. But the Lab was still going strong and we weren't in a… good position to negotiate." Harrington stares far away, troubled.

"So what happened to them?" Robin asks.

"Yes, how did you deal with them?" Billy tries to sound politely pondering, but it comes across as ‛You better tell or else!‛

"Um, we didn't. The monsters did." Harrington tells them, shifting in his seat.

"They were killed while Will Byers was being saved?" Gabriela guessed.

"Not exactly at that moment. You see Will was saved and then we had to get him to a hospital, deal with the, um, fallout, and then he had to go to the Lab every week for tests. Oh, and Eleven had to hide for a while because they were after her, with Hopper. All was… okayish for nearly a year until…"

Billy listened with rapt attention, trying to get everything, every single detail as Harrington explained the secret insane history of Hawkins. But one single thought persisted in his mind, simple yet concerning.

How was Max?

---

Dustin enters last, dropping on the floor of El‛s cabin, lungs burning and legs throbbing. Barring the fact he was soaked, despite the raincoat, his muscles drummed with pain, his body wishing the ache ebbed, begging him to slow down because they didn't stop for nothing. All the way from Weathertop until they came to their hideout, bikes were dumped and hidden behind a large bush. Running and falling several times toward the wooden structure, their eyes were wild and on alert for evil men with guns or evil monsters from the shadows or both. It wasn't foreign to Dustin, but it still emitted the same reaction. Fear. And a bit excitement to be honest.

They were found out after they informed the rest of what happened, minus Steve, by the very same evil assholes who tapped into Cerebro‛s frequency. Transigen. Transigen who knew about Eleven. About them. And the Mind Flayer! Dustin knew this very bad situation suddenly got a lot worse and could go beyond that.

"Jesus Christ!- *huff* *huff*- Urgh! My legs!" Will moaned, clutching his legs, bent down, and heaving for air.

"This is- *huff*- messed up man!" Lucas breathed out, supporting himself on the couch.

"Messed up?! Face it, we're screwed!" Max cried out, sitting with her back at the wall, face tomato-red and sweaty.

"We- *huff*-, are not screwed!" Eleven huffed, sitting on the chair and clutching her chest.

"El right you guys! This isn't the first time we got backed into a corner!" Mike fiercely declared, holding onto a fridge.

"Well not like this Mike!" Dustin objected, lifting his head to scowl at him, "Not like this!"

In the dark, that's where they are now. They don't know anything about Transigen, barring Laura. And the Mind Flayer? Who knows what the hell is he doing?

"Plus, we don't know where Mom, Jonathan, Nancy, and Hopper are!" Will added, concern heavy in voice.

"AND STEVEEE!" Dustin yells, waving his hands like a feral cat, insulted on Steve's behalf, "Helloooo, is everyone seriously forgetting him?!" Dustin growls at them with an indignant tone.

Mike glares, "Look, we aren't best buddies with him like you Dustin!" he snapped.

Dustin warily got up and pushed himself forward, nose to nose with Mike, "Well, at least Steve kicked ass multiple times! Unlike you! The only thing you've been doing is whining!" he yells, poking him in the chest.

Mike lurched at him with a blinding speed. Dustin gaped at him. Oh, he won't go down like a bitch so he pushed back!

"Woah, woa, woah!" Lucas tries to separate them. "Hey, hey, hey, hey!"

"Guys, guys, will you just please calm down!" Will begs, clutching his head. Neither boy budged at his pleas.

"Seriously? You're doing this right now?!" Max angrily berates them, joining Lucas in a futile attempt to stop them.

The air vibrates with a low frequency as Eleven stands up and roars.

"ENOUGH!"

Dustin and Mike flew apart from each other, letting out yelps. Dustin lands in El's bedroom, his back hitting the bed, while Mike stumbled over and falls on the couch. Lucas held Max close while Will backed away.

"Enough! Just… enough." He hears Eleven slumps on the floor, breathing heavily and anxious in her hunched form.

Dustin felt guilty as he lay on the bed. They shouldn't fight, not at a time like this. People are counting on them, lots of people, entire Hawkins. Warily, he stands up and approaches Eleven. She's tired, that much is clear. Who knows what's going on inside her head? And not just her but Will as well.

"I'm sorry Eleven, I shouldn't be a mouth breather." He admits. He turns to Mike, "And I'm sorry Mike. I'm… scared. Scared for Steve." And scared for the rest, scared for Mom God he wants to call so bad. He doesn't want to say it out loud. He sits next to her, letting Eleven know she's not alone.

"It's, um, it's fine." Mike waved him off as he approached them and went to sit on Eleven's other side, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. El in return rests her head on his neck.

Lucas, Max, and Will join them and form a circle on the floor. Letting the silence of the outside drizzle give them a calm breather, they wait for Eleven to speak.

"What… should we do?" she asks, uncertain as she and Mike intertwine their hands.

"We need to regroup. As soon as possible." Lucas states, snapping his fingers.

"Should we wait here then? I mean, Transigen doesn't know about this place." Max suggests, combing through her wet hair.

"Hopefully." Will mumbles, scratching the back of his neck. "Let's not forget about the Mind Flayer."

"They don't, Hopper made sure only we know about it. As for that asshole…!" Mike mutters.

"I'll deal with him," Eleven promised in a dark tone. Yeah, she‛ll deal with him, that's a great comfort, El kicked his ass. Speaking of the opposite…

"Will, do you… fell anything right now?" Dustin asks Will, gazing at him for any sign of discomfort.

Will withdrew a little when others' sharp attention fell on him, "No. Only when Heather appeared when we locked eyes, I… I needed to get out of there. I didn't think I just acted, I'm sorry I-!", he cries, wrapping himself in a self-assuring hug.

"Hey, hey, Will, come on, don't be sorry," Mike assures him.

"Yeah, you got nothing to apologize for," Max agrees.

"I think anyone in your situation would react the same," Lucas states.

"Same." Eleven points at herself.

"It's not that I…" Will doesn't make eye contact with anyone, "I felt it before." He whispers, head lowered.

"What?" Dustin slowly asks. Eleven sat up straighter and narrowed her eyes, Mike, Max, and Lucas did a double take.

"I didn't think it was anything at first." He defends, not looking up. "First time, it was before you came, when we watched that zombie movie before you came back," he said to Dustin, "then when we built Cerebro. The third time when Hopper and Eleven went to the Lab. And now at the Holloways."

It had gotten very tense now, Eleven almost glaring at Will. "Why didn't you say anything?" she suddenly demands in an indignant tone.

"Because I didn't want to believe that he's back," Will admits, voice small.

"Will…" Mike sighs, shaking his head.

Thank God, Lucas took control, "It doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. What matters is what we do now." He calmly declares.

"Right," Max agrees, nodding along and worried too how Eleven stared at Will.

"What a summer break, huh guys?" Dustin let out a bitter chuckle. "Hey, um, I don't want to sound like a broken record but what about Steve?" he asks, wanting to take some heat off of Will.

"Shouldn't we just call his house?" Max suggested, giving a pointed look to Eleven.

"What if they're bugging it? Now just him, I mean, you know, entire Hawkins? Like the Lab." Lucas gently said, deep in thought.

Dustin rubbed his eyes, downcast and troubled. They'd dealt with this. Spending time with his friends, that's what he wanted. Stupid Transigen, stupid Mind Flayer, stupid evil…!

Eleven‛s hand lands on his shoulder. He looks up and he's glad for the concern in her eyes, "Dustin, I will find him. He will be okay."

"Thanks," Dustin mumbled. He and the rest jump when Eleven gasps.

"I need to contact Laura!" Eleven exclaims. "She needs to know about this!"

Mike calms her, "Okay, you do that, we will-"

They stop. There is a loud sound, louder than an ongoing storm. Warily, they stare at the door as it‛s getting closer. A car engine. It's approaching this cabin. And it stops suddenly with a-

*SCREEEECH

Eleven swiftly got up as someone came to the cabin and they didn't know if it was a friend or foe. Dustin and the rest join Eleven who faced the door with a determined scowl.

"Guys!" a familiar voice calls out and he hears Mike gasp. It's Nancy! "Guys, are you here!?"

Eleven opens the door, they run through it and see Nancy standing beside Jonathan's car in the drizzling rain, anxiously gripping the open passenger door. She didn't look hurt, but the fear was clear.

"Please help!" she begs, opening the door. Obviously, they go to do that.

Mike reaches her first, "Oh, shit, Nancy are you okay?" he exclaims, hugging her.

Nancy winces but returns the hug, "Never mind me, just help me with Jonathan!" she pulls away from him and urges them to come closer. Nancy fully opens the door, revealing a pale-looking Jonathan lying on the seat.

He did not look good. Dustin didn't see any visible injuries but he's pale. Near dead pale.

"Oh my god!" Max gasped.

"Jonathan!" Will cries, going inside the car and cupping his face.

Jonathan moans weakly. "W-Will, I-Im here…", he tried to move his arms, only to slump back.

"Oh, shit!" Lucas swears.

"We need to get him inside!" Dustin yells.

"El, do you have something?" Nancy anxiously asks her, eyes wide and red from crying.

"We have first aid and, medi-cal stuff Dad bought." Eleven breathed, disturbed by Jonathan's state. She taps Max's shoulders, "Come on." Max nods and they go back inside the cabin while the rest help Nancy.

"Okay, good good." Nancy paths her cheeks and focuses on Jonathan, "Guys, Ill pull him out, you grab him by the arms. Will, you lift him. Jonathan, honey, I need you to stand. Okay?" Nancy says as she grabs Jonathan by the arms and gently pulls him. Will lifts him by the back. Dustin sees blood, on the back of his head. Oh crap!

"O-Okay. Okay I- Ouch! Oh, oh Jesus it hurts!" Jonathan cried out in pain. Dustin and Lucas held him by the arms while Mike and Will hovered behind them so they didn't fall.

"Careful, steady, steady." Mike cautions while Will's eyes watered.

*KRA-KOOOM

At a damn snail's pace, they bring a staggering Jonathan inside, and towards Els's bed. Eleven is at the back of the cabin, rummaging through stuff while Max gets towels and an ice pack from the fridge.

"Were you followed?" Mike asks Nancy as Jonathan is gently lowered onto the bed.

"No. I- I managed to get rid of him." Nancy kneels at the side, taking one towel from Max and putting it on Jonathan's head. "Shhh, just breathe."

"Here!" Eleven rushes with the aid, bandages, and a small suitcase. Nancy takes them, opens them, and swiftly starts treating the wound. Dustin saw the suitcase had serious medicine in it. Hopper was prepared for the worst.

"Thank you, El! Jonathan, try to be still, hm?" Nancy pleads.

"Got… it…" Jonathan slurred, eyes shut.

The boys anxiously watch as Eleven and Max assist Nancy in treatment. Dustin doesn't want to interrupt her but they need to know urgent information. "…So. Did you get him? Or her because it's Heather?"

"It's not Heather. All him. The Mind Flayer." Nancy replies, not taking her eyes off Jonathan.

"How bad is it?" Lucas asks, crossing his arms,

"I… I shoot him in the head." They go still in quiet shock, "Nothing."

"Nothing?!" Mike exclaims, grabbing his head. Will said nothing staring in his hands, while Dustin and Lucas exchanged disturbed glances.

Nancy grimly nods. "Nothing. I had to think quickly. So, I shot the kneecaps. He fell, and I rushed to a kitchen closet, and threw it at him."

"You threw it down?" Max whistled, handing her a sterile water. "Bet that kept him out of commission."

"Just for a damn moment," Nancy muttered, cleaning the wound, "I wasn't thinking much. But it bought me the time needed to get Jonathan and myself out of there." She finishes, accepting bandages from El.

"What happened?" Will quietly asks. Dustin realized he wasn't staring at them but at his hands covered in Jonathan's blood.

"He got thrown around like a rag doll and finally at the ceiling." Nancy quickly says, her movements quickened.

"Shit!" Lucas swore as Eleven and Max winced in sympathy.

"He hit his head…" Nancy choked a sob, stopping as her hands trembled.

Mike comes forward and rubs her shoulders, "He's hurt yes, but he's alive. That's the fact. Okay, Nancy?" he gently assures her.

"Okay." Nancy nods, wiping her tears and resuming.

"And Mrs. Driscoll?" Dustin asked, remembering the old lady.

"I had to…" Nancy closed her eyes. More tears leaked out, "I had to leave her behind. I don't want to think about it now. God knows what's happening to her. What is that monster doing to her!"

"He is building an army," Will whispered.

‛What army?‛ Dustin thought with panic. The demo dogs were a nightmare on their own, barring D‛Artagnan.

"What?" Eleven turns to stare at him, eyes wide and unblinking. She stills when she sees the blood on his hands. Max listened, her back to them as she helped Nancy cover Jonathan's head in bandages, threw the first towel, and put on a new one.

"When he controlled me, he… he could make me do everything," Will mumbled as Lucas grabbed another towel and handed it to Will. Mike rushed to get some water.

Lucas replies, "Not everything. We still managed to get you to use the Morse code without him knowing. Well, almost."

Nancy and Max finish the bare minimum treatment as Mike comes back with a glass of water. Nancy gently pressed an ice pack on his head as they listened to Will.

Will nods thoughtfully. He accepts water from Mike and washes his hands, "Almost. But the point is if he did the same thing to Heather. And is now… probably doing it to Mrs. Driscoll, then…" he trails off, staring at the blood-soaked towel with a newfound horror.

"He could take over the entire Hawkins." Dustin realizes. That army. Of possessed people.

"Oh, fuck." Max swore, eyebrows shooting up.

"Heather, Mrs. Driscoll- Oh crap, Freedy!" Mike uttered.

"That's three." Lucas tensely stated.

"And Heather's parents." Eleven mumbled in horror.

"Oh. Oh yeah." Dustin affirmed with an unsettled nod. "Shit, yeah, they're turned, they're turned. Shit!"

"That's five," Lucas added nervously, wringing his arms.

"And all thanks to those morons from Transigen!" Nancy growls, barring her teeth. Dustin bet if not for Jonathan, she would try to track Transigen herself and strangle them all.

Eleven gets up and goes to sit down in front of the TV in the cabin's center.

Nancy did a double take. "What are you-"

"I need to warn Laura." Eleven declared with no room for argument.

Dustin hesitantly adds, "And-"

"And I am going to find Steve next!" Eleven snaps. She took a breather. "Okay, Dustin?"

Dustin backs away, "Okay. That's okay."

---

Laura's mind wandered, deep in her thoughts as she stood on a darkened enclosed back porch and stared at Lovers Lake. Rain fell still.

Steve Harrington just finished his story. How her sister fought a monster from another dimension, closed a gate leading into their worlds, Hawkins Laboratory being shut down and any shadowy government people leaving the town in relative peace.

Eleven went through nearly the same thing as she did. Details were different, but the pain and isolation were not. Lab rat, escapee, wanderer… and now she had friends and family. Could Laura achieve the same in the end? Happiness that is. But Transigen reminds her that happiness isn't possible while danger lurks in the shadows.

Should she tell him about the strange things she encountered as well? When she first talked to Eleven, an odd disturbance interrupted their talk - a dangerous disturbance that Laura couldn't tell where it came from. It is a logical thing to do. Not telling vital information is just stupid.

Laura sniffs and stills. She‛s here but not. Slowly, her form came to take shape, in that ethereal sense that leaves her in awe. She wore a red raincoat with its hoodie down, hair wet, and face a storm of conflicting emotions. Something is wrong.

"Laura? Laura, do you hear me?" Eleven calls her.

"Yes," Laura confirms, approaching her.

"Good. Good. Listen… we have a problem." She says in a grave tone, rubbing her hands.

Laura stood straighter, "Yes?"

"Transigen knows about me." She reveals, making Laura's heart skip a beat.

"How?" she asks out loud, brain already storming against Reaver's filthy tactics. Her sister is in danger!

"When we used our… radios, they picked up our fre-que-ncy." Eleven slowly said.

"Why did you even need to use them? What was so important?" Laura incredulously asks, hands on her hips in disapproval.

"Because of the Mind Flayer." Eleven grimly declares.

Laura is startled, "The monster that possessed Will Byers?"

"Yes-" Eleven stops, eyes wide, "What? How do you know that?" she demands.

"Steve told me." She informs her, making her brows disappear into her hairline.

"Steve? He is here?"

"Yes. He followed Robin here."

"Robin? Steve's… co-worker?" she guesses.

"Yes."

"How did you- Quiet Dustin!" Eleven huffed. "How is Robin here?"

"When we ran from Transigen, we accidentally made her go off-road. She later followed us here." Eleven talked to someone. "Who are you talking to?"

"My friends. One of them, Dustin, is friends with Steve." Eleven sighed. "He insists they are bros," she mutters.

"Bros?" Laura cocks her head.

"Brothers."

"That is nice," Laura replies honestly.

Elevens gives a brief smile, "It is. Listen to me Laura. We had to split up, and most of my friends are here with me but Will's mom and my dad are somewhere else. I will find them after this. But I need you to pay attention." She declares with utmost urgency.

Laura does so, "All right."

"The Mind Flayer is dangerous. I don't want you to go after him." Eleven warns.

"I can kill him." Laura gives a dark glare at the thought of the described monster.

"No, you can't!" Eleven snaps at her. Laura is taken aback as Eleven huffs. Speaking again, her voice is soft, "Listen, at least stay where you are. Where is it safe. Okay?"

Laura does not agree with this. Nevertheless, she nods, "…Okay."

"I am sorry Laura. But if you know about the Mind Flayer, then I will tell you this. He is powerful. Very powerful. And I… barely defeated him. You can't just kill him. Not in our way." Eleven reasons.

"I can try. I can help. I can fight." Laura insists, wishing to help her sister.

Eleven‛s lips form a warm smile, "I know you can. Right now, keeping people safe is the best way to do it." As Laura remains silent, mulling over this new knowledge, Eleven continues, "Hey, we will meet tomorrow. In person. One way or the other. I promise."

"Okay. Be safe." Laura cautions.

"I will. You too."

With that said, Eleven fades away, leaving her alone in the room. Laura wastes no time, rushing towards the living room, where everyone else is. Gabriela spots her first, lying on the couch.

"Yes mija?" she sits up straighter in alarm, as much as she can.

"Eleven contacted me!" she declares. The rest, barring Gabriela stood up in alarm and approached her.

"She did? What did she say?" Steve demands, clenching his fists in tense ancitipation.

Laura grimly shook her head.

"Laura, what is it?" Robin comes forward.

"Eleven told me Transigen knows about her," Laura uttered.

Robin and Billy exchanged alarmed looks while Steve Harrington paled at the words, "…What?"

"When they talked through the radios, they caught their frequency." She explains.

"Oh, Dios Mios." Gabriela sighs, crossing herself.

"Oh no." Robin bemoans, fiddling her fingers and low panic overtaking her.

"Oh sonova bitch!" Billy swore, grabbing his curly blonde hair.

"Wh-what- Why? Why? She doesn't deserve this! None of them do!" Steve heatedly utters, fists clenched.

"Great, things got a whole lot complicated," Robin states the obvious as Laura joins Gabriela on the couch. She tried to get up but Laura pushed her down.

"Descansar. Por favor." Laura commands as Gabriela huffs and obeys.

Steve lowers his head as he breathes in, "So, in hindsight, it's actually a good thing I followed you." He says to Robin.

Robin shoots a glare, "No, it's not Steve."

His lips form a thin line, "Okay, if you're willing to look past that then, shit, I probably would have run into those guys and turned into Swiss cheese." Steve stared far away.

"It would be kinda an improvement." Billy quips humourlessly from the sidelines.

"Zip it Hargrove." Steve snaps, not glancing at him.

"More innocent people in danger." Gabriela laments, giving Laura a side hug.

Laura shifted in her spot, and Steve Harrington took notice. "Wait, is there anything else?"

"Yes. She told me…" Laura breathed, "the Mind Flayer is back."

Another level of shock took over, one which left Steve even more distressed than before, "HE‛S BACK?!" he shouts.

"Yes," Laura confirms, not thrown back by his shouting, unlike the others.

"Oh, crap. Oh crap. Oh super crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!" Steve started walking back and forth like a chicken.

"Wait, didn't you say Eleven stopped that, thing or whatever it is?" Billy questions.

"She said Transigen opened the Gate." Laura divulges further.

"Those stupid assholes!" Steve swore, throwing his hands.

"How bad is it?" Billy dares to ask with a serious tone.

"Ah super bad. End of the world bad." Steve warns them all.

Billy just raised his hands. "What had I gotten myself into?"

Robin closed her ears, praying that what she just heard wasn't true, while Steve continued, "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…!"

Gabriela huffed and turned to Laura. "Mija, if you could?"

Laura nods, gets up, takes in a deep breath and-

"BASTAAAAAA!"

Laura‛s screech is strong enough to snap them out of their panic-induced states and warily glance at her. Gabriela winced, "Enough children. Enough." She slowly stands up to Laura‛s side.

Steve turns to her, "Hey, you don't understand-"

"Shh! Do not interrupt me, boy!" Gabriela scolds.

"I- Yes ma'am." Steve mumbled as Billy snickered.

"Billy," Gabriela pointed at him, making him stop, "you are the one who decided to…," she clicked her fingers, "stick around and help us. You are free to leave if you want to."

Billy glanced at Laura who stared back. "I'm staying. Too late to back out anyways."

Gabriela inclined and went to Robin, gently removing her hands, "Robin, nina, please look at me." Robin warily did so. "That goes for you as well. You don't have to stay here. You can leave if you want. We will not force you to do anything. You do not have to prove anything. Alright?" she gently says, holding her hands.

Robin swallowed. "I… think I'm going to stay."

"Are you sure?" Gabriela asks again.

Robin smiled weakly, nervously stroking her strawberry blonde hair, "Hehehe, hey, I made my choice. Right?"

Gabriela smiled back. "Right. Now, Señor Harrington? Would you kindly repeat what you have said? What happened at the end?"

Steve blinked dumbly, "That… Eleven beat the Mind Flayer?"

"Correct. Which means…?" Gabriela encourages him.

"That Eleven can beat him again. Yeah. Okay. Um, sure, yeah, that's comforting to remember." Steve nervously smiled, trying to look positive but only achieving half of it.

"You're a true poster boy for confidence and calm Harrington," Billy says with a curled lip at Steve Harrington, making him turn.

"You…" Steve starts, but quickly deflates, "Yeah, Hargrove. You're… right. Wow, this is the end of the world." He says, distraught.

"I‛ll say." Billy agrees, distressed himself.

Gabriela addresses them, "I think it's better to, how do say it, hunker down."

---

Robin had just gotten off the phone, weathering her mother's tirade about a sleepover, but glad she finally made her agree. Rubbing her temples, she saw the boys had reached a peace treaty of sorts, with the way they occasionally glared at each other without exchanging slurs and threats. At least she won't listen to that. For a while.

"So what now?" Robin asks aloud.

"Well, I can‛t go back home that's for sure," Steve muttered. "Hey, did Eleven say anything else?" he asked Laura.

"Yes, she said they went to that place to regroup," Laura answers.

"Huh. Uh, it's the cabin in the woods where El and Hopper live. And where Hopper hid her." He explains at their perplexed glances.

"Is it safe there?" Gabriela questions, leaning forward. She looked better, but Robin thought she needed more rest.

Steve shrugs, "Well they haven't found her there yet, so there‛s that."

"Good." Gabriela nods.

"You know where it is?" Laura asked, curiosity clear.

Steve sighs, "Um, yeah."

"Can we go there?" Laura wonders to Gabriela.

"Mija, as much as I want you to go there and I wish you could meet your sister, right now it is dangerous." Gabriela cautioned. "Transigen is probably looking for them as well. And we cannot risk it."

"Um, maybe we could use a shortcut through the woods," Steve suggests.

"We will think about it," Gabriela answers without giving Laura a chance to say anything.

Steve nods. "And you Robin?"

Robin rubs her arms, "I… don't want to go home. Not in this weather. And…"

"You're tired, Buckley. Saying to your folks you had a sleepover or some similar shit is a smart thing to do." Billy comforts, giving her a respectful nod.

Robin nods, thankful for the compliment from Billy Hargrove of all people but too tired to say anything.

Gabriela claps her hands, "I believe every one of us should rest. And Steve," Steve looked up, "I will pray for your friends."

Steve gratefully nods, "Thank you."

---

"Ok, Hopper, steady now. Come on, sit here." Joyce guides him, struggling to hold him as he sways unsteadily. "That's it, nice and steady."

Right when Pierce found out about everything, including Eleven, which sends waves of terror across his body, mind, and soul, they spared no time. Getting the hell out of Melvad‛s, Joyce drove around like a lunatic, until she parked Transigen‛s car in an obscure alley. Where he didn't know, the details were all messy, but he trusted her.

Jim huffed as the cold floor welcomed his ass and Joyce turns on the light. Pain and nausea partially blurred his vision but he could make out two things; first, there in a storage room, and two, vivid shapes - yellow camera symbols.

"Iiiss, is this Radioshack?" he asks, voice hoarse.

"Yes," Joyce answered. "Bob gave me the keys for emergencies."

"W-What? You were h-his assistant or something?" Jim's poor attempt at a joke results in Joyce's glare. "Hey, I'm, I‛m just asking, curious and all." He huffed.

Joyce grumbles as she unbuttons his shirt, "Just in case the store needed closing and he was on some errand. But that's in the past. How're you feeling?" she gazes deep into his eyes.

"Like shit! I'll feel even worse tomorrow." He groaned.

Power through it Jim, power through. You have to. For Eleven.

Joyce sighed, combing through her wet hair. "You know, I didn't have time to search for the first aid. Because I was busy."

"Y-Yeah? Doing what?" Jim asks, trying to stay awake.

"Searching for the tracker." She simply replies, producing from her pocket a small pile of black broken plastic.

"What?" Jim tries to sit up straight but regrets it as pain shoots up through his sides. Joyce pushes him down as he coughs, "W-what…?" he stares at the device.

Joyce rubs her eyes, "Jim, if those men put a tracker on your car, I heard them say it, it would make sense they would put on their cars." She reasons. Jim could see she was tired.

Jim's brows crook, "Yeah, yeah, you're r-right. You, you…" he huffs, "You need to, to quit your job and join the force. I'm serious," he insists when Joyce scoffs, "you're amazing." He breathed out.

Joyce rubs her neck, blushing, "I wouldn't say that, it's just common sense to check. I mean, it's a shadowy company car after all." Now Jim scoffs, "Now, you just wait here, I'm going to try to scrounge up something from the car for us to sleep in. First aid too."

Jim nodded as Joyce went on a search.

They agreed not to go immediately to the cabin because paranoia unsteadily perched in their minds, whispering like demented crows. They could find them, they could find, track them down, and find them alongside the kids. Jim's mind shuddered at the thought. They could put up a decent fight, Eleven the most, but something can go wrong. A wrong move, a stray bullet…!

A headache hits him, making him take a deep breath and refocus. Law low. Yeah, law low, get your shit together. And make a plan. How to deal with them.

Jim is no longer thinking like a cop. Now, it is time to think like a soldier. Those people had serious firepower, opened the Gate, and released the Mind Flayer back into their world. For God knows what sick reasons, he's getting sick just thinking about them. They got lucky. If it wasn't for his and Joyce's quick thinking…

"And *huff*, here I thought Hawkins would be a dullsville," Jim mumbled.

Dull, boring, repetitive, uneventful, and several more words to describe stale life here. Murder, kidnapping, government conspiracy, monsters, and superheroes do not fit the bill at all. And yet…

Jim let out a hoarse laugh as Joyce returned, arms full of… something, he‛s too exhausted to think more clearly right now.

"G-Guess I won the lottery." He informs her as she comes to him and kneels, confused.

"Lottery?" she repeats with a frown.

"Hawkins. B-Boring little town in, in the middle of nowhere." He explains with heavy breaths,

Joyce rolled her eyes as she opened the first aid, "Hmph, you're not the only Hopper."

She's rummaging through the box, focusing intensely on it rather than on him. Jim could see it clear as day. She is scared. For him, for the boys, the kids…

Jim mustered up his most soothing voice and ignored the pain, "Hey, it will be okay. You hear me, Joyce? We‛ll get through this." He reached forward and gently cupped her warm cheeks.

Joyce doesn't pull back but she also doesn't look up, "And what if we don't?" she whispers.

"We. Will." Jim insists, glad when they make eye contact, so he can see those beautiful brown orbs of hers.

"You say like it's easy." Joyce scoffed after a moment.

Jim smirked as he let her go, "Faith Joyce. That's one part. The others… urgh!" he hissed as an unknown part of his body informed him it too was bruised and beaten.

Joyce steadies him, "Shhhh, it's okay Jim, it's okay. What's the other part?"

Jim exhaled. "Spite."

"Spite?" Joyce raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, because fuck them." Jim sneers.

Joyce laughs, shaking her head. It sounds so good, "Hehe, I think that high school Jim Hopper is still in there."

Jim chuckled, "He n-never left. He got through life, despite what Dad said."

Joyce chuckled in return. But it faded away, "He's back."

Jim grimly shook his head, "He's back."

"And he is possessing people. Heather Holloway. Freedy, the boy Eleven seen." Joyce said, a slight shudder hitting her body.

"Driscoll woman." Jim adds, "Nancy said something about rats acting strange. Now we know the why."

"But not the big why Jim? Why rats, why people? Why?" Joyce retorts, desperate for answers.

Jim gritted out, "Something fucking twisted f-for sure b-because that sonova bitch is angry. I bet after last year, he wants, wants a rematch."

A rematch against Eleven. Jim remembered when that thing finally revealed itself. Damn terrifying, Jim having doubts they'll win and wanting to press that up button. But Eleven, his daughter, stared right back and stood her ground. She beat him, in a display of power that left him in awe. However, several questions remained. What was its plan? Why it didn't attack now when the opportunity presented itself? And what will Transigen do, now they know about it?

"All because of Transigen," Joyce muttered, tired and angry.

"Yo-you know, Pierce is a sick guy," Jim sneers, "but this is just too much, even for him."

Joyce is thinking and glances at him, "What you're thinkin'?"

Jim refreshes his knowledge of the bastard. Donald Pierce. Chief of Security.

"I think he's just a rabid lap dog. W-Whoever ordered this, opened the G-Gate, that machine we saw in the files, is the one in charge." Jim concludes.

"A bigger fish. Bigger than Pierce." Joyce states in a hollow voice.

Jim huffed, "Yeah, well the biggest fish just returned to town and it doesn‛t share."

"Well, there is at least one good thing about it," Joyce says, her smirk quite dark.

"What's that?" Jim stares at her.

Joyce meets his stare, "The Mind Flayer. I hope they meet, and see what a real monster looks like."

---

"It's because... it's him. It's the Mind Flayer." A teenage girl, by the name of Nancy Wheeler, revealed the earth-shattering news.

"They're right. He's back. I felt him." The boy, Will Byers himself, confirmed in a hollow voice.

Zander Rice hits the replay button.

"It's because... it's him. It's the Mind Flayer."

"They're right. He's back. I felt him."

"The hell does this mean doc?" Pierce demanded, agitated by startling information being unknowingly divulged to them. Before the cretin made their presence known, therefore stopping a precious source of rare knowledge about Hawkins.

And yet, it's more than enough for Doctor Rice, "It means my theory was correct. And our operation is becoming highly fruitful." He replied with a delighted smile.

The rest of the control center did not share his enthusiasm. Engineers, security, and workers alike exchanged uncomfortable glances. Pierce was their voice of hesitant disapproval.

"Um, is this sorta, like a major goddamn roadblock?" the Texan moron scratched his head. "We had yet another… whatever freak out there walkin‛ around in Hawkins?"

"Yes. They say this Mind Flayer possessed this Heather girl." Rice said in return, unbothered. "I would like to know how…?"

Pierce nods. "Let me guess. You want us to track her down for study."

"No. No, no, let's…" Rice tapped his chin in thought, "Leave her to her business."

Pierce stared at him in shock, as if the doctor said: No no, leave the raging forest fire that could consume them alone, "What?"

"If I am correct in my assumptions-" Rice shook his head, chuckling, "-I am right. Then we are not of any importance and therefore in no danger. Subject Eleven and her allies now know we are behind the Subject One release and therefore they will do everything to stop it…"

"…which means, they'll come to us," Pierce concludes, rubbing his hands. "Ohhh I so wanna meet them. Especially the girl."

"Correct." Rice sighed. "Subject Eleven. Brenner unexceptional pet. Now his only surviving pet."

"How dangerous is the girl? Like the little jackal?" Pierce asks, frowning at the picture Rice brought back. "Seems like a regular little teenage bitch to me."

"No. She is far more powerful than Twenty-Three, in the sense of objective power. I wonder if we can pit them against each other in the future… wait! Aahaha!" Rice laughed, excited by the idea.

"What?"

"The Trigger." Rice reveals with near childish delight. Yes, yes, that would be a sight to see!

Pierce shook his head, "How will that help? I mean I'm all for it, but we didn't even test it."

"And now, Donald is the prime opportunity to do so." Rice insists. "Besides, in case we cannot contain Eleven ourselves, well Twenty-Three will. Well, as much a rabid dog could."

"Do the higher-ups agree?" Pierce questioned unbothered, just curious.

Rice rolls his eyes, "Donald, may I remind you that I've been given full reins. Whatever it takes to complete the operation, as long it bears fruit. And it did. Oh, I wonder, what will happen in the next following days?" he claps his hands in high anticipation.

Pierce chuckles, "As long it's nothing bad to us, hey I'm all for it."

Rice turns swiftly, causing Pierce to stumble, "Do not speak of me of nothing bad." He snaps, "If you kept your fucking mouth shut, we could have learned more." Pierce glares at the floor, "What about the Police Chief?"

Donald Pierce clenched his teeth. "The fatass got lucky! And that bitch too."

Zander could not believe this. Their operation has been discovered by civilians. One civilian to be precise, the other being a fucking local police chief.

"Our property. Our generator. Discovered, nearly damaged, and the entire operation under threat. And your Reavers are incapable of catching two people." Rice rubbed his temples. "However, there is at least some consolation. Subject Eleven has a… colorful history. And at least we know of potential threats. But how? How is Jim Hopper connected to this?"

"No word from Samson- Ah, there he is." Pierce pointed at the tall man entering the room. He stood in front of them, soldier stance and all with assault rifle on his back.

"Tell me, what did you find?" Pierce commands as they approach him,

"Hopper is connected to this deeply." Samson grimly states.

"How deeply?" Rice inquires, wanting to know more, needing to know more. What sort of incompetence did you cause Martin?

"He was in charge of an investigation, concerning Will Byers," Samson reveals.

Rice and Pierce exchanged a meaningful look. Will Byers has been of great interest. After all the boy went missing for a week. Theni intel says he frequented Hawkins Laboratory on a weekly basis. Right until a month before its mysterious shutdown.

"What about the boy?" Pierce interrogates.

"He went missing on November 6th in ‛83. No word or sight for a week. Then miraculously he was found."

Rice rolls his eyes as Pierce cracks his knuckles, "Yes. We know about that."

"But get this. Reports say a child with a buzz-cut shaved head was seen wandering around Hawkins at the time. Right when Will Byers went missing." Samson disclosed.

Rice's mouth opened and closed, along with several like-minded scientists in the room. As Pierce too put his mind in overdrive as to what this means for them, Rice was elated. This meant…

He spoke, "So. It is true. Brenner achieved what we are trying to do. With her. And she probably escaped, during the conundrum caused by her powers. And Brenner searched for Subject Eleven!" he breathed.

Pierce adds, "So little the lab rat escaped and made a ruckus… a was found by Jimbo! She called him Dad!" he gave a dark chuckle. "Goddamn bleeding heart. It's gonna get him killed."

"So there is a leverage," Rice concluded.

"Another thing. Joyce Byers, the mother, was with him tonight." Samson says, giving another vital piece of information.

Rice absorbs this information. He concludes with a clear timeline, short on details, but a certain one. A series of events came to him in a near-clear picture. "Here is what happened." He gathers the attention of everyone. "The Police chief found Subject Eleven or she was found by the other children we heard on the frequency; these details are unimportant." Rice waved it off, "What is important is this: Eleven… found the boy using her powers. Then, a year later, something happens, a far more powerful presence emerges, this Mind Flayer. It… possessed Will Byers, and caused a chain of events that led to the Laboratory‛s shutdown. And all because she opened the Gate."

She opened the Gate. She opened the Gate. Now so much exceptional! Oh, if only Martin wasn't a hesitant idiot, if only he permitted him to pick apart their brains, to see what made them tick! Oh well, better late than never. Transigen gave him an excellent second chance and he learned so much.

"And apparently, she closed it. Now it's all back because of us." Pierce puts it together.

"Yes." Rice is quiet for a moment. Then asks, "And Brenner? He died, correct? Just around the time, the Byers boy was found, yes?"

Samson nods, "That is what the report says."

"But…?" Rice questioned.

"The body has not been found," Samson responded.

Rice blinks, "Huh, curious."

"Okay, now we know all this, how should we proceed?" Pierce examined Rice with an expectant gaze.

"Like stated previously Donald." Rice retorted.

Pierce however has a problem, "But the girl. She opened the gateway, something that the Key had been trying to do for days. If she could it then how‛re we-"

"Then we will prepare adequately Donald. As I have told you, we have plans for her."

Their stares turn at the sound of rushing footsteps approaching them. A sweaty, scrappy-looking scientist, Stenntman, appeared before them.

"What is it, boy?" Rice demands.

"It's, it's the Gate Doctor, a small creature came out of it!" he stammered.

The announcement makes everyone go high on alert as a screeching roar resonates throughout their secret facility. Pierce cocks his gun and Samson prepped his rifle. Rice however is not alarmed. As of matter of fact, Rice's mind has reached new levels of euphoria, "And?" he asks, restraining himself.

"It was captured, thanks to your traps Doctor!" the young scientist informs him, sharing Rice's enthusiasm.

Zander Rice chuckled and addressed the entire room, "Now let us see the fruits of our labour, hm?"

---

It was quiet in the cabin as the lights were out. Rain pattered outside in an ongoing drizzle while its o-ccu-pants slept.

Eleven settled on her couch as Max lay on the other side. The boys chose the chairs for their rest while a sleeping Jonathan was being tended to by an anxious Nancy in her bedroom, soothing whispers, and careful caresses. Dark bags were slowly forming under her eyes, and Eleven knew she won't be sleeping much tonight. Eleven still put Dad's mattress and pillow on the floor next to bed for her.

A cold seething anger settled in her stomach. They knew about her. Transigen. Her, her friends, her dad. They released the Mind Flayer. They wanted the same thing Pap- Brenner did. Control. Power. At the cost of others. Innocent people. Bad men. Monsters.

"It will be okay," Max assured her, noticing how tense she was.

"You think so?" Eleven asked in a slow murmur, not wanting to wake Jonathan or the boys.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't have much experience with this supernatural stuff like you but I know what's like to worry about your friends. And… family." As Eleven creased her brows, Max continued. "Besides, Hopper is tough. And Joyce is with him."

After they contacted Laura, Eleven immediately went for Hopper next. She knew Dad was okay but how much was he not telling? As she saw how hurt he was, Eleven's heart clenched. Bruises and cuts, what did they do to him? Mrs. Byers too was hurt.

Wrath came after concern. Those men did that to them. Bad men. Who killed innocent people. Who hunted Laura. Who released a monster back into their world. They will pay for this. Anyone who was involved will pay!

*KRA-KOOM

It was too stuffy in here. She needed fresh air.

"Where are you going?" Max was perplexed as Eleven got up.

"I need to… clear my head. Alone. I will be on the porch." She clips.

"Okay. Just don't stay too long. Okay?" Max gently cautions.

Eleven nods back, grateful for her, "Okay."

Walking towards, opens it slowly and steps out on the porch, shutting the door behind her. She goes to sit on the wooden chair to her left.

Eleven often did this. At night, during her hiding from those bad men who remained from the Lab, waiting for Hopper to return. She would swiftly go back inside hearing his car engine as she was in no mood for a lecture and Eleven just wanted to see him and talk to him and not be alone. The only company she had during that lonely year when Mike, Dustin, and Lucas were so close and yet so far away from her. Max didn't appear- wait is it wasn't in the picture yet? Is that how the quote went? Anyways Max wasn't in the picture and Will…

Eleven glances back, somehow seeing Will through the wooden walls, even though she didn't have that power. He sensed him, knew he had returned, and didn't tell them. Eleven knew that he was scared, that he was in denial, the same way she felt when Will finally explained what was wrong.

But a part of her was… angry. This could have been useful to know, was ne-ce-ssary to be known. Now they have another enemy, a familiar one but still another threat to them. And to Laura. All because Will felt left out and scared.

Rational and emphatic parts of her brain scolded her, ‛He was just lonely. You were lonely too, like him, right?‛

Eleven rubs her eyes. She felt bad for thinking like this as her emotions were swi-rling. Not two nights ago, the tens-est situation she had was that talk with Hopper. Boyfriend stuff. Normal stuff. Now bad men from a different place are killing innocent people in her town, again. The Mind Flayer returning and hurting and killing innocent people. Again!

Eleven hissed. "Why won't it stop? What did I do wrong?" she got up and gripped the railing.

Was it her fault? Did her powers make everything go bad ever since she escaped?

A picture in her pocket reminds her that not all was so bad.

Laura. Another sister. Family.

She missed her chance with Kali. She had left on her own a-ccord. Because her friends needed her. Her family was in danger because of the Mind Flayer. And now, she was needed again, her sister needed her!

"I will find you. I swear we will meet, face to face. You will no longer have to hide. To be alone. I will be there for you." Eleven swore, clenching her fists. Transigen. The Mind Flayer. Threats all around them, all standing in her way! "And if anyone who stands in my way, if anyone tries to hurt you, to take you away and put you in a dark place… they will be destroyed."

She failed to notice a concerned Max listening in.

---

Laura settled herself next to Gabriela. After a tense debate on what to do next, it was decided that currently little can be done. So, for now, they rest. After ensuring the house was in complete darkness, the vehicles were hidden with Billy's car, and the doors locked and secure, Gabriela ordered everyone to sleep.

Gabriela rubbed her temples. "All these damn teenagers with hormones imploding everywhere." she prayed no more showed up at the doorstep.

Laura lifts her head. "I am nearly a teenager too." She kindly reminds her.

Gabriela chuckled despite the pain. "Oh, Dios mío, qué me espera!"

"Are they going to be okay?" she glanced through the doorframe. The living room was used for sleeping, each on their sleeping furniture.

"I… trust them not to kill each other. Robin is there so she will probably handle them instead of us."

She just hoped it wouldn't lead to a rooster fight. She'd seen how they glanced at Robin, the last thing they need are schoolyard crush fights while several threats loom over them. She's seen plenty of those and was a subject of several. Oh God, Laura will probably be too in the future.

Gabriela's breathing briefly stilled. God willing, she will have a future.

"Good." Laura nods. "Eleven. She too had battles of her own."

"Yes. I am sad she has to go through that as well." Gabriela whispered, saddened by the fact.

Another child was used and abused for who she was and what she's capable of by cruel people, and faced actual monsters. Gabrila shuddered just thinking about it.

‛What is your story Eleven?‛ Gabriela thought with compassion, worried for a girl she never meet.

"Not anymore, I will help her." Laura declares, determination clear in her voice.

Gabriela chuckles, "Oh, will you?"

Laura nods, "Yes, and we will be family. She can come with us to Canada."

Gabriela wasn't aware of the current situation Eleven had in Hawkins. Could they convince her to come with them…?

"We first have to go through this Laura." Gabriela gently reminds her.

"We will. We will." Laura replied confidently, with hints of self-assurance and hope.

With nothing else left to say, Gabriela's eyelids begin to drop slowly. Darkness with the steady beat drops of rain soothe her mind and lull her to sleep.

They will all meet tomorrow. They had to. In order to fight. And survive. Against all odds.

---

Sooooo... this was supposed to be posted on the 4th of July. Anyway, a belated 4th of July everyone! Sorry but as usual I try to write, hit some dead ends, rewrite, job, other duties etc, etc.

This concludes an overall part of the story as I know everyone's itching for the continuation of the story.

Now, the following:

1. Tom and Janet are turned by the Mind Flayer, as per canon, but I changed it up a bit.

2. Steve is back! And he's now part of the ever-growing pile of teenagers showing up and increasing Gabriela's headache.

3. Now Laura, Gabriela, Billy, and Robin know the full extent of Hawkins's dark history. And who's involved, distressing Billy the most.

4. The Party makes it to the cabin without being seen. But tensions rise at Will's revelation and Nancy comes with an injured Jonathan.

5. Eleven gives Laura a warning and a promise.

6. Hopper and Joyce have a moment while Transigen discusses their discovery and results.

7. Eleven makes a furious vow and raises concern for her friends.

Special notes: I would like to thank ifymywl for explaining the X-Men comic coincidence in the story. I wanted it to be a surprise but as said, yes the comics are based on real events. How will I put explain this, well, you'll just have to follow this story.

I've also posted a Godzilla/Kong crossover story so be sure to check it out.