Hopper braced himself as he dropped through the rift and onto a patch of blackened grass. His body hit the ground with a thud and he had to lay there for a moment to catch his breath before pushing himself onto his knees. Before he could get to his feet, however, a large mass hit him from above and flattened him like a pancake.

"Sorry, man!" Steve shouted apologetically once he realized that the cushion that had softened his fall had been Hopper. He quickly rolled off of Hopper and offered him a hand to help him up.

"How about the next time you jump through a hole, you wait a few minutes after the first person has gone through," Hopper wheezed as he reached out for Steve's hand.

Once Hopper was on his feet, he had a better chance to look around at his surroundings. For a split second, Hopper questioned if he had even gone through the rift because everything looked nearly identical to where he had started, save that it was black and dead. This provided him some small comfort only because he knew exactly where he was in the Upside Down, but the feeling didn't last long when he realized that Sarah and Eleven could be anywhere. It probably wasn't the best plan that Hopper had ever concocted, but nothing would stop him from tearing the entire dimension apart to find his daughters.

"What now?" Steve asked.

Before Hopper could answer, a large boom echoed through the Upside Down and stirred a variety of small, unknown creatures around them. Hopper and Steve looked at each other before racing for the edge of the forest in the direction of where Hopper's truck was in their world. Once they reached the gravel road that was barely recognizable under the overgrown weeds, they had a better view of the sky above.

"I think we go that way..." Hopper said with his mouth wide open as he gazed up at the giant monster in the distance that was blocking half the sky.

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"Hey, James!" One shouted up at the Mind Flayer's large, shadowy form. He was still stumbling around and destroying things in an effort to regrow the limbs he had lost, but upon hearing One's voice, he immediately turned to face her. One couldn't see his eyes but she could feel him glaring down at her.

While James was distracted by One, Eleven snuck around him and stationed herself where she was out of sight. She scoured the area for a particularly large piece of concrete and once she found one, she focused all her attention on it. As it slowly began to rise from the ground, Eleven felt a drop of blood roll down her lip and quickly wiped it away. When it was far enough up, she hurled the mass towards James and watched in satisfaction as it rocked his large figure forward. The second it made contact with him it shattered into pieces which rained down upon her and she had to rush for cover, both to avoid being hit by the falling concrete and to avoid James' sight as he spun to look for the source of the blow.

The second James turned away from One, she struck him with a large bolt of blue electricity that danced across and through his semi-solid frame. The shock made him flinch and during his momentary paralysis, he was hit with another concrete slab. This pattern continued, with One and Eleven weaving between the Mind Flayer's limbs like a strange ballet, until Eleven was running out of both energy and things to throw.

The pattern broke after Eleven's abilities gave out halfway through her lifting part of a smashed car. The vehicle crashed to the ground in a flume of dust and debris and James was quick to capitalize on the moment. One watched in breathless horror as one of his limbs flashed out and spiraled down upon Eleven's weakened body, concealing her from sight.

One felt like she was trapped in the swirling vortex with Eleven because she suddenly couldn't breathe. She couldn't lose her sister but she didn't know what to do. Even with the combined power of Eleven, they had barely made a dent in James' defenses. How was she supposed to defeat him on her own?

As if he had read her mind, James' voice once more entered One's head. "Give up! You can't defeat me, the only option left is to join me. Then you can be with your sister."

One planted her feet firmly in the ground as she glared up at the monster looming over her. Even in her defeat, she would stand tall; she would stand strong. A crack of lightning crawled across the sky behind the Mind Flayer, illuminating one side of his form before disappearing and reappearing on the other side. The event happened in the blink of an eye, but it invigorated One with new inspiration.

Part of the reason why she thought she couldn't defeat James on her own was because she could only strike part of him at one time, but she suddenly realized that that wasn't entirely true. If her idea worked, it would take everything in her, but it was worth it for Eleven. Anything was worth it for Eleven, even death.

One-by-one, One opened portals before her, keeping her mind focused on two things: destroying James and saving Eleven. Each time a portal opened in front of her, its companion opened in a different spot above James until he was surrounded by them. Once One deemed that there were enough, she summoned all the energy she could create and blasted it between the portals.

The blue lightening entered the portals before her and exited into James from multiple angles. The powerful shock sent James stumbling forward until the limb that was covering Eleven was removed and Eleven's crumpled body was once more revealed to One. One wanted to rush to her to check on her, but she knew that the second she let up on the portals or the electricity that James would have the upper hand once more.

So One stood glued to her spot, unable to move as every ounce of energy she had was drained from her to fuel the portals and the electricity that kept James in a prison of blue lightning; unable to use his abilities to stop her. She felt something warm and wet on her upper lip and was surprised when she realized that it was blood. She couldn't even remember the last time her nose had bled. Another realization then hit her: this may kill her.

"Sarah!" a shout briefly interrupted One's concentration but she was able to regain it before she accidentally closed any of the portals. The voice sounded familiar, but it couldn't be...

"Steve? Dad?" One called in disbelief when the aforementioned appeared in her vision. She had to strain her eyes to see them in her peripheral vision until they came closer because she was worried that any sudden movements may sever her concentration. "How did you get here? How did you find us?"

"The coordinates you gave us over the radio!" Steve answered breathlessly as he rushed up to stand beside her. Hopper was at his side until he caught sight of the spectacle before him and felt his feet stop cold.

"I didn't give you any coordinates..." One said in confusion, but the confusion was short-lived because just then the Mind Flayer stumbled once more and the earth beneath their feet quivered.

"Holy Jesus, is that..." Steve began when One finished for him.

"James."

"James?!" Steve sputtered. "I was going to guess the Mind Flayer!"

"James is the Mind Flayer," One revealed between heavy breaths. Her mind felt like it was on the verge of exploding from the three-way split in her concentration between the portals, electricity, and holding a conversation. She didn't have much more time.

"Are you okay?" Hopper asked with deep concern etched in his voice. One's visible skin was covered in cuts and bruises and for a split second, Hopper was brought back to that moment when he had first seen her; when Eleven and Mike had carried her into the cabin and laid her on the couch. When he was first reunited with his daughter and hadn't even realized it.

"Yes, I'm fine," One lied through her teeth. Her health didn't matter at the moment. "But you need to get El and get out of here!" Unable to point, One's eyes traced the air between Hopper and Eleven to show him the way. So far, she had been able to keep James' powers at bay, but she didn't know how much longer that would last. She couldn't let Steve and Hopper get hurt too.

She watched Hopper rush over to Eleven and scoop her unconscious body out of the impression in the pavement. He had to sidestep to narrowly avoid being hit by one of James' thrashing tentacles, but he successfully made it back to One in one piece. One allowed her concentration to falter for a split moment to look down at Eleven's body and was relieved to see that her chest was moving, if only barely.

"Now go, I'll open a portal for you!" One ordered Hopper and Steve. She didn't say it out loud, but she knew that this was it. Either she would utilize the very last of her energy to open another portal for Steve and Hopper to escape, draining her completely; or in doing so, she would break her concentration, closing the other portals and narrowly allowing time for Steve and Hopper to get out before James regained full mobility. In both scenarios, she didn't make it out alive.

"We're not leaving without you!" Hopper said defiantly. He could see from the look in her eyes that she wasn't coming with.

"You have to!" One felt her voice crack and tears form in her eyes. More than anything, she wanted to go with them, but she knew she couldn't. Even if she somehow survived, somebody still had to deal with James. To leave now would be to prolong her own death, as well as the deaths of everyone she loved.

"I'm not losing you again!" Hopper's voice also cracked and matching tears appeared in his eyes as well.

Upon seeing Hopper tear up, One felt her heart break even more. She knew that this good-bye was possibly even harder for him than it was for her. Brenner had robbed her of her memories of the first good-bye and she wouldn't live long enough to remember the second. Hopper would live with them every day.

"You're a good dad," One informed him, the words nearly getting stuck in her throat as she choked on her tears. "Don't forget that."

"You can't stay here, you'll die!" Steve added in. "Please, come with us!"

One's eyes turned to Steve and a small smile spread across her lips as her tears rolled over them. "I'm so glad I got to meet you. Thank you," One said just loud enough for him to hear. "For everything."

"No!" Steve shouted, choking on his own tears. "This isn't good-bye! Stop acting like this is good-bye!"

One felt her abilities fading as the portals slowly grew smaller and her electricity weakened. If she didn't open a portal for them soon then she wouldn't have enough power to get them back to Hawkins and they'd be trapped there with her. Her track record with opening portals out of the Upside Down wasn't the best, but she had to hope that it would work.

"Good-bye Steve," One said as she tried to hold back sobs. "Good-bye dad. Tell El I love her and that I'm sorry."

One's line of sight fell to the ground beneath Steve and Hopper's feet and she focused on a dead patch of grass between them. Her vision began to blur and she felt her limbs go numb as she used what was left of her energy to open a whirling portal back to Hawkins. She knew they wouldn't willingly walk through a portal on their own, so she needed gravity to force them.

As Steve, Hopper, and Eleven began to drop through the portal that had swallowed the ground beneath them, One caught Steve's eyes one last time. She could barely see him through her fading, tear-stained vision, but she was able to hear the final farewell he imparted to her before the portal closed the barrier between them.

"I love you too."

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