✧12✧

Little warning : this is the part in the episode where there's a pretty gruesome scene, if you're not up for that, I recommend skipping it:)

Jonathan runs towards a food stand and comes back 5 minutes later with a knife. We try our best to keep El awake, scared she might pass out from the pain.

"You know, it's not actually that bad. There was uh...The goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and her bone came completely out of her knee" Robin tries to reassure El, but in the worse way possible.

"Robin, not the time" I whisper to her.

"I'm sorry"

"Okay, all right, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?" Jonathan speaks slowly to the girl. El sobs but agrees.

"Need you to stay very still" he adds. "Here,, you're gonna want to bite down on this" he hands her a wooden spoon for her to put between her teeth. Once she places the instrument in her mouth, Jonathan is ready to slice out whatever's inside her leg.

"I can't watch this" Eddie turns around to avoid seeing the gruesome scene, and I hold his hand even though his back faced mine.

"Do it" Mike instructs Jonathan. "Okay" the older Byers replies.

The boy begins slicing the skin that looks infected and El immediatly screams in pain. Everyone winces but no one wants to look away. I squeeze Eddie's hand, hating to hear her be in so much pain, and he squeezes back, comforting me altough he can't watch himself.

Even though he doesn't want to, Jonathan has to get his fingers in El's leg to try and get that thing out her her. The girl screams even more and it becomes even harder to watch. Eleven screams at Jonathan to stop what he was doing, she can't take it anymore.

"I can do it" I impose myself. I could easily take out that thing with my powers and it would be a shorter process. I look at El for her approval and she nods. She could obviously do it herself, but using our powers while in pain isn't really effective and it would drain her even more.

"Okay, ready?" I ask her.

"Do it"

I focuse on the parasite that I could see moving in her. As it's starting getting dragged by my powers, El is still in pain from it moving around, but it's less painful than what Jonathan tried to do. She was screaming less.

In one fast movement, I pull it out and project it futher away. El sighs in relief, falls back onto Mike, and as I go to wipe the usual blood leaking from my nose, there isn't any.

The creature I just threw tries getting away, but before it can, someone steps on it. We all look up to see Hopper, Joyce and some other guy I didn't know, confused by what just happened.

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Everyone explains to the adults what was going on while they where God knows where. I'm sitting with El, healing her wound with my powers as best as I can. I also took the time to heal Steve and Eddie now that I wasn't drugged anymore and could think clearly.

"Okay so just to be clear, this... this bug fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic weapon?" Steve asks.

"Yes" Nancy answers.

"But instead of like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made it it's weapon, with... melted people?"

"Yes exactly!"

"Are we sure, this thing, is still out there? Still alive?" Joyce asks the kids.

"El beat the shit out of it but... yeah, it's still alive" Max says.

"But if we close the gate again-"

"We cut the brain off the body" I continue Will's phrase, "And kill it"

"Yoo-hoo!" the almost bald man yells as he came towards us with papers in his hands, "Yoo-hoo!"

He pushes the papers onto a table when reaching us, Joyce and Hopper going to him. We're listening to them discuss where the weapon that was opening the gate was. Little did they know, we had just spent the last 24h down there.

"Where's the gate?" Hopper asks.

"Right there, I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe 50 feet or so" the bald men points to his papers.

"More like 500" Erica interjects. "What, you're just gonna waltz down there like it's commie Disneyland or something?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" the man asks the little girl.

"Erica Sinclair, who are you?" she demands.

"Murray... Bauman?"

"Listen Mr. Bunman, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down that shit whole for 24 hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man is telling you, you're all gonna die" she turns to the group.

"I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?"

"She's ten you bald bastard" I say to him while taking a step closer to Erica.

"Avery!" Steve angrily says to me.

"She's stating the facts!" Erica speaks back to him.

"She's right, you're all gonna die, but you don't have to. Excuse me." Dustin also took a step forward. "Sorry, may I?" he points to the map.

"Please" Murray says.

"Okay, see this room here? This is a storage facility. There's a hatch in here, that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon" Dustin explainsΓ© It was funny watching kids bossing around the adults. "It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way"

"You can show us the way?" Hopper clearly doesn't believe in them and everyone could see it.

"Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your... navigators" Dustin smiles to the unpleased man.

"No" he immediatly refuses. "Nope"

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Hopper gathers weapons, and everyone just waits for a plan. If anyone had one.

"He's totally gonna die" Dustin says while watching Hopper.

"You guys survived" Mike states to his friend.

"Yeah barely, sure we had Avery, but her powers are low lately and she was drugged most of the time"

The boys keep talking to each other, saying how much they missed being together and all. Robin and Steve were sitting on top of a counter eating, Max and El were resting on each other and I'm sitting with Eddie on the edge of the fountain.

"How are you feeling?" he asks and wipes the dried blood off his face.

"Good, I just hope my powers were stronger right now, me and El will a 100% need to fight that thing" I sigh.

"I'm sure you can do it, you're the strongest" he places his arm around my shoulders and brings me to his side.

"I hope so... earlier when I got that thing out of El's leg, my nose didn't bleed from using my powers. It usualy does, even if it's a small amount of force. Maybe that means my body is getting used to me using my powers again?"

"Maybe, one thing for sure is that you can't get weaker now. Maybe you're getting stronger"

"That would be the best outcome, I just don't want anyone getting hurt, and for that, I need to be at my best which I haven't been lately"

"Hey" he turns his head towards mine. "Stop talking about yourself that way, okay? It doesn't matter if you don't fully have your powers, what matters is that you try your best"

I smile at him and he does the same. It's comforting having someone to consolate you when you need it.

"You'll do great, I know it. Just don't hurt yourself, 'kay?" I nod at his request and lay my head on his shoulder again. He kisses the top of my head, making my cheeks brun uo, and we just stay like this for a while. We became weirdly close in such a short amount of time, but I wasn't complaining.

I think Eddie's the kind of person that, when you meet him, you can do nothing but adore him. I didn't really like him at first, but it's seems that the more time I spend with him, the more I crave his presence.

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"Hey, heads up. You can naviagte, just from someplace safe" Hopper throws a radio at Dustin.

"It's not that simple" the boy complains. "The signal won't reach" Erica continues. "Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russian's radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powerd handcrafted radio tower. One preferably already situated at the highest point of Hawkins. Oh wait, that's me" Dustin finishes his hour-long speech and points to himself.

"If you want us to navigate, you have us. But we need a head start... and a car" Dustin adds.

"Sorry, not mine. I don't have enough seats for all of us and I don't want it to get screwed up" I interject.

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"Oh man, now this! This is what I'm talking about!" Steve exclaims when he see's the car Hopper lent us.

"Toddfather" Robin reads the plate of the car.

"Screw Todd! Steve's her daddy now"

"Ew dude, don't ever say that again" I say to my brother.

"Did he just talk about himself in the third person?" Eddie asks the group.

"I'm more concerned about the daddy part" Robin says. She hops in the passenger seat while the 4 of us squeeze in the back seat.

"Alright, where are we going?" Steve demands.

"Weathertop"

"Weather-what?"

"Just drive moron!" I yell at Steve.

"Okay, Jesus!"

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We drive for about 15 minutes before Steve starts complaining about how far the destination is.

"Relax, we're almost there" Dustin says to Steve.

"Suzie must be pretty special, huh?" Robin looks at Dustin with the rear view mirror. "I mean if you built this thing and lugged it all the way in the middle of nowhere just to talk to her?"

"I mean, nobody's scientifically perfect, but Suzie's as close to being perfect as any human can possibly be"

"She sounds made up to me man" Eddie says to the young boy.

"What? You don't believe that someone can actually be close to perfect?" I look at him with challenge in my eyes.

"What- No that's not, that's not what I- You-" he stutters.

"Relax, I was joking" I mess with his hair just to annoy him even more.

Dustin rolls his eyes and tells Steve to turn left. "Left? There's no road here" Steve hesitates.

"Turn left!"

Steve cramps the wheel to the left very harshly and sends us into an empty field. "Hang on!" He runs over a metal fence and screames at Dustin, "Henderson where are we going!"

"Up!"

The car has trouble going up the hill no matter how hard Steve presses on the gas pedal. We turn off the car and continue by foot. It doesn't take long for us to reach the top and spot this radio tower Dustin had talked about.

Dustin sits on the grass and talks with Murray, giving him direction through the ventilation system, down in the Russian's base. The two other girls started talking about a My Little Pony thesis and that's when I stop listening to them.

"Hey guys" Steve says, looking in the distance. We march towards him, to get a better view of what he was looking at. Lights were going crazy in the mall. The kids have to be in trouble.Dustin and Erica run back to the radio, trying to get in contact with them but no response.

Something roared at the other end of the line, and it definitely wasn't Mike.

Dustin keeps yelling for anyone to answer but nobody did.

"Shit, we have to go back! Something's wrong over there" I panic and run to Steve before stealing the car keys from him.

"Hey! What are you doing?" he yells to me while I run back towards the car.

"I'm going to get them out of there" I scream back. Steve exanges looks between Eddie and Robin, the three of them finally decide to run after me, jumping in the car.

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I drive as fast as I can back to the mall, leaving Dustin and Erica with the Cerebro. Right when we enter the big parking lot, I see a car heading straight towards another; Nancy's car.

"Everyone buckle up, wouldn't want you to die" I press even harder on the gas pedale, hoping to make it in time.

"Uh... Aves? What are you doing!" Steve screams, afraid of how fast the car was going. "Avery stop! This isn't funny!"

Nancy starts shooting towards the car heading towards her, but nothing seems to stop it. Right before the car could make an impact with Nancy's, I hit him instead. Basically saving Jonathan, Nancy's and the kids life.

"Well wasn't that fun" I sigh and chuckle, adoring the shocked faces of my friends. "Is that- Billy?" I ask, looking at the car I just wrecked.

"I don't know" Steve sighs.

"Are you guys okay?" I turn to my friends.

"Next time, tell us your crazy plan in advance, huh princess?" Eddie wipes his face with his hands, trying to shake off the anxiety this just gave him.

Suddenly, something roars again. The same sound we heard on the radio earlier. I look up and can't actually believe what I'm seeing.

"Holy shit"

The creature that's standing on the roof of the mall turns to us and yells again. Nancy's car comes right beside us, and she yells for us to get in. The four of us run to the back of the car, closing the door and Jonathan drivse off. The creature come down the roof, and starts chasing after us.

"Shit, when is this going to end!" Eddie yells. I grasp his hand in mine, trying to comfort him just like he did so many times for me.

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No matter how hard we try, the monster still won't stop chasing us. And it's catching up quicky.

"Dusty-bun, do you copy?"

"I copy, Suzie-poo" Dustin says in the radio."It sounds much better now, thanks"

We look at it, confused by the new girl's voice. It's Suzie, Dustin's girlfriend we doubted about.

"Suzie" Robin and Steve say at the same time.

"Okay, do you know Planck's constant?" Dustin asks his girlfriend.

"Do you know the earth orbits around the sun?" she sarcastically says and Dustin laughs.

"Okay, so I know it starts with two sixes, and then uh... What was it?"

"All right, let me just be clear on this. I haven't heard from you in a week, and now you want a mathematical equation that you should know so you can... save the world?"

"Suzie-poo, I promise, I will make it up to you as soon as possible"

"You can make it up to me now" Suzie suggested.

"What?"

"I want to hear it"

Uh... Not right now" Dustin brushes off.

"Yes! Now Dusty-bun!" she presses.

"Suzie-poo, this uis urgent" Dustin's voice trembles.

"Yes yes, you're saving the world, I heard you the first time, but Ged is also saving Earthsea and he's about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie signing off!"

"What are they talking about-" Eddie talks but I place my hand on his mouth to shut him up, he rolls his eyes in return.

"Wait, wait, wait! Okay!"

In my entire life, I never thought I would be chased my a gigantic monster full of melted bodies, while Dustin and his unknown girlfriend sang on the radio. Everyone in the car is confused, I can't imagine Hopper and Joyce still waiting for Planck's constant and what they are thinking.

The sing for about 30 seconds before Suzie finally decides to say the answer we need.

"Planck's constant is 6.62607004"

"You just saved the world" Dustin chuckles.

"Gosh, I miss you Dusty-Bun"

"Yeah I miss you more Suzie-poo"

"Enough, you'll talk later. Dustin cut the line" I speak into the radio.

"Yeah... sorry"

"Wait, do you guys see that? It's turning around!" Steve says about the monster that has been chasing us.

"Maybe we wore it out"

"I don't think so, hang on!" Jonathan says before tunring the car around sharply, making our way back to the mall as fast as we can.

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Right as we make our way on the second floor of the mall, I see the creature poncture Billy's heart with one of it's arms. Max screamed at the top of her lungs, mourning her brother and everyone is speechless. Since she came to this town, I've treated her like my little sister, since her only brother didn't treat her well.

Seeing her so devasted enrages me.

I focus on the monster in front of me and used every ounce of power I had left. Since it wasn't dead yet, I can only assume El isn't in the right state to fight, so I have to do this.

My hands tremble as I compresd its body from the inside. This isn't enough, it needs to be killed. It tries to reach me with one of its arms, destroying the fence in front of me. Robin and Steve were quick enough to dodge it, but Eddie isn't. He's hit and launched across the hallway until he hits a wall.

"No!" I scream as I watch his unconscious body fall to the ground.

I know I can heal him, I just need to kill this thing first, and quickly. When I was at Hawkins lab for the short period of time they kept me there before I escaped, I remember a boy helping me and El. He was some sort of guard, always watching over us and the kids, but he seemed more friendly towards me and Eleven.

He used to say that focusing on emotions could make us stronger. So that's exactly what I was going to do.

I think of Max's pain and what she just saw, Eddie getting hit over and over again because of me, his lifeless body laying near me right now. I thought of myself, I felt angry because I wasn't strong enough, not like I wanted. I should be strong enough to protect the ones I loved.

The creature shrieks as its arms were breaking from the inside. I scream again, more angry then before.

What matters is that you try your best

I remember what Eddie said to me earlier. I can do this. For him, for all of them.

My feet aren't touching the ground anymore. This reminds me of when me and El closed the gate for the first time, she was using so much strenght she started levitating and it amazed me.

Now that the beast is weak enough, I cast flames into my hands and launch it on him. Its screams made everyone hide their ears with their hands. It was dying, finally. When it didn't make any noises and stopped moving, I released everything. It fell back on the floor and so did I.

I push myself back up even though I was about to pass out. I need to get to Eddie and fast.

"Avery! Holy shit are you okay?" Steve rushes towards me but I run past him and got down on my knees beside Eddie's body. I check his pulse, he still had one. I exhale, relieved that he wasn't dead.

I didn't know if I had any energy left after that, but I needed to try to heal him. I lift my hands above him, not really knowing where is injuries were, so I just aimed for his whole body.

"Aves! I'm talking to you" Steve rushes me but I shush him.

"I'm fine Steve! He's the one needing help!" I do what I can to heal interior injuries he might have, but he isn't waking up. "I healed everything, why isn't he waking up! Eddie? Can you hear me? It's Avery, you have to wake up! Please-" I sob while holding his head in my lap.

"Avery, we have to go! The fire is getting bigger!" Robin yells beside me.

"We can't leave him here!" I cry to her and Steve. "Please"


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I was sat in an ambulance when I hear someone shout my name.

"Avery? Aves!"

I look up and see Max looking around her, trying to find me through the mass of people outside.

"Max!" I run to her and take her in my arms. "Thank God, you're okay" she sobs in my arms, just wanting to be held after her brother has died in front of her eyes.

"I'm so sorry... about Billy" I say to her, looking at her face.

"He sacrified himself, to save El... and- and me" tears are falling from her eyes and I just pull her closer to me.

Later in the evening, after we were all checked out by doctors and the new people running Hawkins lab, we were told that Hopper never made it out, but they closed the gate right after I killed the monster. For good. I felt so bad for El, she had no one left.

Joyce says she's going to take her in, but it could never be the same witout Hopper. I just hope this was the last time we had to deal with stuff like this. I've had enough of the Upside Down.

I just want a normal life.

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Very unedited.

If there is a lot of mistakes, that's normal, I was hangover all day but still wanted to write this lol. It took me all day, but 3563 words later, Season 3 is finished!

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