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El’s face was in a fierce pout of concentration as she tried to get the hang of Dig Dug at the arcade.
“Look, some games aren’t for everyone.” Max teased softly. “Why don’t you try a different game, El? You can work your way up to Dig Dug.”
“I can do it.”
Dustin sighed. “We know you can, but you have no experience with games, you gotta work up to that shit and-“
“Dustin?” Max mumbled, giving him a knowing look.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion before he looked over and realized El’s playing seemed to get magically much smoother.
He looked down and his eyes widened to find the controller was moving all on its own.
“Jesus-“ Dustin hissed, moving in front of the side of the machine so nobody could see. “El you can’t do that!” He scolded.
Will covered his mouth to hide his amusement as he stood on the other side of the machine to ensure no one would see what El was doing.
“But this let’s me win.” She frowned.
“It’s cheating!” Dustin groaned. “And also dangerous in public.” He told her quietly.
El reluctantly stopped, swiping the blood from her nose quickly before continuing to play.
But she instantly was doing terrible once more, dying on the spot.
“UGH!” El hissed angrily as the game short-circuited and shut off.
Max’s eyes widened. “Uh oh.”
“Okay, see, this is why we don’t let you play- where the hell is Mike!?” Dustin snapped, looking around.
Will shrugged. “He and Lucas went to get sodas or something.”
Max’s eyebrows furrowed. “That was like ten minutes ago.”
As if put on the edge by the very idea that anything could be happening to Mike, El was leaving the broken machine in an instant and searching the arcade with intent on finding him. The others could only scramble to follow.
“I-I’m sure they’re fine.” Will insisted. “Maybe there was a line.”
“Or they stopped to use the bathroom.” Max reasoned.
But none of their theories calmed El in the slightest as her eyes scanned around for Mike.
That’s when they heard it.
“What’s the matter Frogface? Scared of getting wet?”
“LET GO!”
The Party scrambled to follow the voices and soon enough spotted Mike and Lucas near the corner of the place.
James was holding a struggling Lucas back while Troy had Mike in a headlock, holding his soda over his head.
Dustin paled. “Shit.” He hissed. Will unconsciously moved to hide behind him, as he usually did in the past.
“Who the hell are they?” Max hissed.
“Mouthbreathers.” El stated darkly.
The boys seemed completely unaware of their presence though as they continued to provoke. “Come on, don’t tell me you forgot the deal? I don’t stab out your friend’s teeth, and you jump. But you didn’t do that, now did you? DID YOU!?” Troy hissed as Mike struggled to get out from under his hold.
Mike scowled. “I did you asshole! And then my girlfriend broke your arm if I remember correctly.”
“Oh yeah? Where’s she now?” James taunted. “I don’t see anyone coming to Midnight or Frogface’s rescue, do you Troy?” He asked innocently.
Troy cackled. “Nope. Now hold still so I can pour this drink down your clothes, would ya?”
The soda was suddenly launched out of Troy’s hand, making them all freeze as it smacked into the wall.
Troy’s head snapped around to see a furious El stared him down, blood running down from her nose.
“Hi.”
James shouted out in pain as he was suddenly punched in the face, forcing him to let go of Lucas in an instant as he stumbled. “What the fuck-“
Max slammed him into the wall viciously, arm pressed to his throat. “What did you call him? I don’t think I heard you right.”
“Max-“ Lucas started in shock.
That’s when El snapped her head to the side, sending Troy crumbling to the ground in agony as his leg gave out from under him.
“WE’RE SORRY, WE’RE SORRY, DON’T HURT US!” James cried pathetically.
Max was well aware people were probably staring by now, but she didn’t care.
Instead, she only pressed her arm against his neck harder.
“You’re gonna leave our friends alone. I don’t ever want to see your ugly faces anywhere near any of them ever again, do you understand?” Max hissed.
When they didn’t respond, El stepped towards Troy so she towered over him, making him whimper fearfully.
“SAY YOU UNDERSTAND!” Max shouted.
“WE UNDERSTAND! WE UNDERSTAND!” James practically sobbed.
Max finally let him go and watched as he scrambled to help Troy up, limping towards the exit.
The moment they were out of sight, El wrapped her arms around Mike’s neck to pull him into a hug. “Are you okay?” She asked with worry.
He choked out a laugh. “Are you kidding? I’m fine, you superhero.” He teased.
El smiled lovingly, standing up on her toes to press a quick kiss to his mouth.
“That…was…” Lucas was in a bit of a daze. “I mean, we had it handled you know.”
Max gave him an unimpressed look. “You know, decent guys would just say thank you when their girlfriend kicks someone’s ass in their honor.”
Lucas looked like he wanted to protest, but after a moment he just sighed sheepishly. “Yeah alright. Thanks. That was…one of the coolest things that’s ever happened.”
“Glad you think so. Mike, detach.” Max deadpanned when she saw they were still kissing.
Mike and El broke apart, goofy grins formed on their faces.
“Now we’ve gotta go.” Max told them.
Mike frowned. “What? Why?”
“Cause your girlfriend broke a machine and it’s only gonna take them about two seconds to figure out we were there last.” Max huffed.
Will blinked. “Guys I think they know.” He pointed.
A furious Keith was coming over to them, a sign had just been placed on the broken machine to let people know it was out of order.
“Oh shit.”
They bolted as fast as they could, ignoring Keith’s protests for them to come back.