Chapter Text
"Come on, sweetie. Come on down. Come on. You get down here right now, or a monster's gonna eat you!" He heard Joyce say as her patience ran thin.
Mike, Will, and Derek were pushing with all of their force on the door to keep it closed. They couldn't let the guard in before every kid was in the tunnels.
"Open the door! You little shit!" He heard him scream.
"Get out of the way!" Said another guard on the other side of the door, probably about to help him.
"About goddamn time!" Said the first one.
Mike understood they were now pushing together on the other side of the door. He screamed as he pushed as strongly as he could. It was difficult; they kept slipping on the wet bathroom floor.
Despite their efforts, the guards succeeded in opening the door, and they all fell, propelled with force. Mike screamed as his shoulder hit the metal of the bathroom stalls.
Shit, that hurts.
He heard the guards talking through the hole where Joyce was.
"Hey there. Where do you think you're going?"
Mike and Will shared a concerned gaze as the guards forced Joyce and the kids to come back up. If the kids did not go out of Hawkings, Vecna could get them. Just as how he got his sister.
The guards took them outside. His clothes were still dripping. He shivered in the cold air of the night. One guard took his arms tightly to make him walk faster.
"Let go of me, you asshole!" Said Joyce.
"You want to explain to me what in God's name is going on here?" Said the Lieutenant Sullivan.
"Get the hell off me!" Said Mike to the soldier grabbing him.
"We've got five missing kids, sir."
"You've lost five kids?! How is that possible?!"
The Lieutenant looked furious.
"This woman-"
"Joyce Byers." Precised Joyce.
"She broke into the barracks. She's been helping them escape through some kind of tunnel."
Mike was looking around frenetically to find a way to escape. If they searched the tunnels, they'd find the one in Radio Shack, so they had to get there before them. They had to be quick.
"I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?" Said Sullivan, bewildered.
"Listen. These kids, they are not safe, okay? They are in danger." Tried to explain Joyce.
"And why exactly do you think they're here, ma'am? Hm? They're under our protection." Said the Lieutenant.
Mike rolled his eyes. As if they could protect them.
"If I may interject, officer. I've seen what's coming. And no disrespect meant, but you and your men CAN'T PROTECT SHIT!" Said Derek, back in his Dipshit self again.
The soldier behind Derek immediately hit him behind the head, angering Mike. Since when was it okay for soldiers to hit kids?!
"Private!" Said another soldier.
"Hey! Hey!" Screamed Mike, trying to get to the kid.
"Get off him!" Added Joyce.
"Hey, Private! What the hell is wrong with you, Private? Keep your hands off him." Said the Lieutenant.
Everyone was talking at the same time and trying to get the guards to quit holding them.
"Is that all the military does? Hit kids?!" Said Derek.
"Will!" Screamed Joyce, getting Mike's attention instantly. Will? What was wrong with Will? He searched him until he saw him, hands on the ground. His eyes went wide.
"Will! Will! Will!" He said.
He tried getting to Will as Joyce did, but the fucking guards were still squeezing his arms and shoulders.
"Are you okay? Baby, are you okay?" Asked Joyce.
Will turned his head towards his mother. Okay, at least he's not in a trance.
"They're here-" He almost cried, his voice shaking.
Oh shit.
Lights started flickering, electricity crackling. Mike looked around, looking for the Demos. After a few torturing seconds, the metal plates on the ground began shaking, as if someone was banging on them. Then another plate. And another.
"Take the nearest threat! Engage on sight!" Said the Lieutenant.
"We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die!" Screamed Derek.
Mike heard a roar under the plates. The kids looked terrified. Mike tried not to be.
"Guys! Guys! Guys! Get behind me! Get behind me!" He repeated, extending his arms.
A plate flew into the air, and a Demo jumped out from the gate onto the ground. The soldiers immediately started shooting their guns at him, but it was pointless. The Demo killed guard after guard, slicing them with his claws, throwing them away...
The Demogorgon took a few steps back, annoyed by the gunfire. He screamed in anger. Another Demogorgon jumped out of the ground in the opposite direction; they were cornered.
"Stay behind me! Stay behind me!" Exclaimed Mike, trying to protect the kids.
"Will!" He heard Joyce's voice say.
He turned towards the sound, seeing them on the ground. He felt his stomach twisting in worry. Will seemed semi-unconscious, right there, in the middle of the battleground. His stress climbed even more to see his best friend like that. Every time Will had Upside Down problems, it made him worry so much.
His attention was diverted again when he heard a Demo screaming behind him. He jumped on one of the guards, killing him in no time. Mike started running away with the kids behind his arms.
"We're getting out of here, all right? Eyes on me! Stay close!" He said, going towards Will and Joyce.
"Will, come on. Come on!" He helped Will stand up, his arm around his mother's shoulders.
Demogorgons and guards were flying everywhere, and gunshots were heard nonstop. He couldn't fully stand up in fear of being collateral damage.
"Wait for me, please! Wait!" Was screaming one kid.
"I'm not ready to die!" Screamed Derek.
"Wait up!"
"Stay close!"
"Derek! Hurry up, let's go!"
They found a place to hide, behind a metal wall.
"Is everybody okay? Are you guys okay?!" He asked the kids.
"Yeah!"
He looked around, searching for a way out.
"Okay. The Radio Shack. If we move quick enough, I think we can make it. Get into the tunnels and get the hell out of here!" He explained quickly.
"Okay." Said one of the kids.
"Okay? Eyes on me. Remember?" He said.
He went to the side of the wall, looking if the way was clear.
"All right, go!" He exclaimed.
They started running towards a Humvee in the middle of the road.
"Go, go, go! Oh my God. Oh my God!" Said Derek.
They hid behind the Humvee. He looked the other way, then started running again as a Demogorgon flew over it. He stopped right in his tracks when a Demo stepped in front of him. He extended his arms to protect the kids and looked the other way, but there was a Demo there too. Mike gulped. As the Demo in front of them was stepping towards them, the guard with a firethrower burnt him.
For a moment, Mike was happy. Then he heard his best friend's screams as he fell down, and his blood froze in his veins. He turned towards him, concerned. Will felt what the Demos felt; he was burning alive. His screams sounded so pained. Mike's eyes were wide. Seeing Will curling up on the ground and screaming like that shook him more than the guards dying around them. It was Will. His best friend. The person he liked the most.
"Just hold on, baby! Hold on!" Screamed Joyce.
Mike looked away; the sight was too hard for him to keep watching. He looked at the principal gate the guards used and saw a silhouette behind it, approaching. He shuddered, but not because of the cold or his wet clothes. He just felt something was wrong. He heard growling as the filaments holding the gate tore up.
It was Vecna.
Mike's breath caught in his throat.
As if it couldn't get worse.
Vecna started walking towards them, ignoring all the guns pointed at him. He lifted a hand, and guards started flying around. He lifted another hand, and his root-like fingers extended to pierce through another guard's chest.
The last thing Mike saw was Vecna turning the flamethrower against its owner, making him and others fly away. He hit his head on the ground and saw black.
When he woke up, he didn't know how much time had passed. He blinked, then remembered Vecna was there.
Will.
He lifted his head, searching for his best friend. He saw him floating in front of Vecna, as the kids were taken away by the Demogorgons.
"Weak in body and mind. Easily broken. Easily reshaped. Controlled. The perfect vessels." Said Vecna
Mike understood Vecna was talking about the kids. He tried to stand up, but his head was throbbing. Will looked absolutely terrified.
"And you... Will. You were the first. And you broke so easily. You showed me what was possible, what I could achieve. Some minds, it turns out, simply do not belong in this world."
Mike's desperation turned into anger. Vecna was torturing Will, Will, again.
"They belong in mine."
Will fell down on the ground, on his knees and hands. Mike was relieved as Vecna finally walked away, going back into the gate.
But then he heard the distinct roaring of Demos on his right, and looked at a gate on the ground, in front of him.
Fuck, fuck, fuck-
He gathered all of his strength to stand up, his survival instincts taking control. A Demogorgon jumped out of the gate, running towards him. His heart was beating fast in his chest. He was sure his time had come.
No, I've got too much left to do here! I can't die like that!
The Demo jumped towards him with his arm out, and Mike lifted his arms in front of him in a desperate attempt to survive.
A beat passed.
Wait, I'm not dead?
He opened his eyes.
The Demo was floating in front of him, stuck in his position, screeching loudly.
What the hell?!
He looked to the left of the Demogorgon, and that's when he saw him. Will, standing up, arm out, hand upwards as if he were holding the Demo himself. His eyes were white, and he was shaking with his whole body.
Mike couldn't believe his eyes. He kept looking at him, gaze stuck on his best friend.
Will lifted his other hand in the same way, then lifted his chin. He brought his hands upwards. At the same time, the Demogorgon lifted in the air, screaming and screeching.
Then all of his bones started to snap, then his neck too, and he fell down, dead.
Mike looked at Will with a baffled smile on his lips. He was so, so proud of him. His best friend got superpowers! He saved him! He knew he could do it.
Will, on his knees, unclenched his hands. His white eyes rolled downwards to find his pupil. Blood ran down his nostril. He wiped it with his right hand.
Wow.
Mike's stomach did a weird twist. Will just looked so cool, and- and... He was just awesome. Mike never looked so proud of his best friend.
But then, there was something else to it. Will's intense gaze threw shivers down his spine. The sweat in his hair and dripping on his skin, and the blood down his nose made him look... well... hot, if one can say. Very hot.
Mike's stomach did this weird twist again.
What the actual fuck?