Chapter Text
Prologue
—
Henry stared at the cave. His feet stood only inches from entering the vast expanse of the caves. As his eyes bore holes into the red rocks, he could hear his own scream as the man with the briefcase shot his hand. He refused to face that again.
That red-headed fox was smarter than he gave her credit for. She knew exactly what to do in order to escape him. He gave her credit for that. Nevertheless, this was only a minor setback.
A good man—nay, a smart man, always had a backup plan. As well as knew exactly how to smoke a fox from her den.
He’d get the children. He wouldn’t fail.
Chapter 1: Running Back to You
—
Mike stared in utter awe. His jaw nearly fell to the floor. Will! He-He just did that! Mike couldn’t contain his overwhelming joy. He ran directly towards his best friend. He skidded across the damp concrete and fully knocked over the other boy in a whole-hearted embrace.
“You’re a sorcerer! A real-life sorcerer!” Mike cried, squeezing Will tight. Will beamed from under his embrace, a chuckle escaping from his lips.
“I can’t believe I just did that,” Will said breathlessly, unsure of what else to do but return the hug. He was literally a sorcerer and took out a demogorgon with his mind! It was fucking awesome.
Mrs. Byers ended the moment by her constant fretting over Will. She helped him to his feet, brushing his bangs out of his face, hands cupping either side. Her eyes skidded all over his face, looking for signs of injury
Although in the skirmish, Mike noticed that the kids he’d been protecting had completely vanished, as had most of the members of the military who didn’t die. Oops…
They needed to leave, and fast. Backup had arrived, beginning to collect the bodies. The bodies whose guts were on the outside. Pools of blood creating halos around their heads. Limbs missing. But Mike paid it no attention. He was eager to regroup with everyone else.
The trio left the bloodied military base and headed to the base where the children initially were, and climbed down into the eerily empty tunnels. There were splatters of blood painting each face. A sickly feeling opened up in the pit of Mike’s stomach.
Carefully traversing the unstable ground, they eventually found Lucas, who was still staring at the dead demo. There was a distinct absence of light in his eyes, and his arms hung limp beside him. He barely lifted his head to greet them.
Presumably, he felt awful about letting the kids get taken. There was an open scab just above his eyebrow. Blood had dried, but still stuck out, curling down his face in the form of a tear, almost.
“Dude, Will did that! With his mind! It’s so cool!” Mike told Lucas, with maybe a bit too much enthusiasm, pointing at the corpse. Will blushed and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Lucas put forth a weak smile, then returned to its deflated state.
“No way, that’s awesome! But, uh, I’ve got some bad news,” Lucas replied, motioning to the very empty tunnels. “I don’t know if Robin had any luck.”
“I-I don’t know. I got that demo as well.” Will said, with a smile that looked as though it was supposed to be reassuring. Mrs. Byers’ eyes widened.
“Oh, Will, honey, we should get back to the Squawk and let you rest.” She cooed, right as Mike cried out,
“You killed *three*? Holy shit!” He was nearly jumping up and down. His arm occasionally brushed Will’s as he was practically shaking with excitement. Lucas rolled his eyes and seized Mike’s bicep, letting Mrs. Byers and Will leave first. He sent Mike an unimpressed look.
Leaving the tunnels, Lucas sent another wary look at the dead demo. While on the other hand, Mike stared at Will, watching him talk with Mrs. Byers. Lucas gave him a side eye.
—
Back at the station, Will practically collapsed on the sofa. Mrs. Byers rushed over, followed by Mike. Will dismissed them and claimed he just needed some food. Mike dutifully went to grab whatever he could find lying around.
He stared at the vending machine. There were countless snacks. That’s when he realized, despite all the time he spends with Will, he couldn’t name his favorite snack. Did he even tell Mike? Was he just a horrible friend and forgot? No. They were both just busy.
Speaking of which, he ran into Robin —aka Will’s new best friend— grabbing a bag of ice from the mini fridge. She smiled at him and motioned to her head. A soft purple spot was slowly creeping across the side of her face.
“The truck flipped over, hit my head,” She explained. He gave her a curt nod. In return, she furrowed her eyebrows. “You okay, Mike?”
“Fine.” He responded in a clipped tone. She shrugged and returned to the main room. He followed, arms full of bagged junk foods.
He dropped them on the long coffee table and offered a bag of barbecue-flavored chips from some brand you’d find at Walmart. Will smiled at him, which sent a little jolt through his body, the one he felt from his head to his toes.
The station was poorly lit. There wasn’t much light aside from the dingy lamps and the neon sign outside. Everyone was pretty much in their own world, tired, and defeated. All they had to do was protect the kids, and they failed.
Robin was rolling a pen behind her knuckles. She’d do it five times, pause, and then do another set. She was weird. Not in a bad way, just more…odd. As if they all weren’t odd somehow.
Probably the worst part about waiting was the uncertainty. They had no idea how Hopper and El were doing. Where Dustin, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan ended up. Finally, where the kids were—speaking of which,
“Uh, guys, shouldn’t one of us check on Derek’s family…?” Mike blurted from where he was standing, adjacent to Will’s feet.
“They’re fine…probably.” Murray supplied, waving one of his hands. No one rush to disagree, jeez. Mike sighed and flopped down in the nearest chair.
He was split. He wanted to go check on his mom because there Nance was in the Upside-Down. But he also wanted to stay with Will. Yet, there was time for neither. Shit was going down and soon.
Well, what was even going to happen? Vecna needed the kids to fulfill his masterplan. Which was what exactly? Evil-ness? Mike had no clue and left it that way. He was a storyteller, not a player.
Every villain had a motive. When creating his bosses, he always made them have a motive, a reason. Vecna wanted the kids because their minds were susceptible. Something must’ve happened in childhood to make him this way, which that makes sense. Is he trying to replicate his childhood?
No. That didn’t make sense either. Make everyone miserable? It was probably just the stupid power cliche. Every villain has one of the three main goals. Power, Control, and Wealth. It’s not that hard to be complex.
Whatever. They had bigger fish to fry—or skewer. Either worked. Hopefully, a flame-thrower strat would work again. They didn’t even have a grand master plan aside from completing the objective: kill Vecna.
“Quick question, why does Will look like he just went toe-to-toe with Vecna?” Robin piped up, adjusting the ice-pack on her face.
“Will’s got powers,” Lucas answered. Erica’s eyes widened, and a smile crossed her face.
“Oh, sweet! So he’s like, a magician.” Robin said happily, sending a smile Will’s way. Mike’s jaw tensed.
“Sorcerer to be exact.” Erica corrected, letting her smile fall to appear smarter than the others.
“Yeah, he took out three with his mind!” Mike chirped, beaming as he did when he discussed Will. As any loyal best friend would do. Lucas sent him another unimpressed look. Everyone should be a lot more excited than they are. A pity, truly.
Will still lounged from his spot on the green sofa. A light pink danced across his face out of embarrassment. He dipped his head. Eyes meeting Mike's momentarily. He could hear his heart in his ears.
“I-It took a lot out of me. And it only worked because I was able to tap into the hive mind. The demos.” He explained, looking away bashfully.
“And that’s how we take down Vecna. Will and Eleven have powers. We find Vecna, Will taps into the hive mind, and Eleven works her power with him!” Mrs. Byers declared, smiling proudly.
“That’s good, in theory. But where’s Supergirl?” Murray commented, crossing his arms. The answer was the Upside Down. But with the radio thingy that Dustin made, also in the upside down, they had no way to get in contact with anyone.
Erica had an idea, and it was their only option. Without it, they might be too late. Help us Mr. Clarke, you’re our only hope, indeed.