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"Scoops Troop, do you copy? Scoops Troop, I repeat, do you copy? We're trapped in the mall and in need of emergency transportation."

Mike was pacing back and forth near the center of the food court, trying to contact Dustin with Lucas's Walkie that was luckily still in his backpack.

Lucas and El were over at the eating area of the food court — Lucas was sitting at a table, stretching his wrist rocket, practicing for whatever time he'd need to aim and shoot something; El stood and watched him silently. A little bit in front of them, Jonathan paced nervously.

Corey, Max, and Will couldn't help but watch as Sam and Nancy robbed the bodies of two, dead corpses. They were Makarov guns, which made Sam feel a little lighter, because she liked pistols much more than the large guns. Sam tucked the Makarov behind her back underneath the waistband of her underwear, hidden underneath her overalls, since she didn't have any other form of keeping it stored.

"You're gonna kill him, aren't you?"

Sam stood up to meet Max's uneasy stare. She felt a little horrible for making her best friend think that she was trying to kill her step-brother.

"I swear this is just a precaution, Max," Sam promised.

"Yeah," Nancy checked that her gun had bullets in it, before putting the cartridge back. "We needed the gun back at the cabin, remember?"

Will added, "Exactly," trying to make Max feel better. "If Billy knows we're here, so does the Mind Flayer."

Max only breathed out with a shaky nod, wrapping her arms around herself unsurely. The six of them fell silent, able to hear Mike in the distance.

"Scoops Troop, I repeat, we are in need of emergency transportation. Do you copy?"

Mike walked past the car El flipped over previously. Nancy's gaze settled on it, upon being reminded that it was there.

"No chance that thing'll drive, right?" Nancy huffed, and she said it as a joke, but they all knew she was secretly wishing the car worked.

Sam hummed, thinking. "If I used my powers, maybe it would."

But Jonathan's head tilted at the car, realizing something at the same time as Corey.

"We don't need it to drive," said Jonathan, looking to Corey.

Corey shared eye contact with Jonathan, eyebrows lifting. "We just need the ignition cable."

So everyone ganged back together, hopping up on the countertops of the food shops that the car was turned over against. Sam, Will, and El stood and watched as they tried flipping the car back over with their bare hands. The group used whatever strength they could muster to roll the car over.

"Come on! Use those muscles!" Sam teased, standing on the left side of El as the two girls watched the group with Will. 'Shut up, Sam!' she heard one of them shout, but she couldn't tell who since they were all grunting and panting loudly. The car creaked and was pushed slightly to its side, but it barely moved an inch.

In the end, they were all too weak to flip the car. Everyone dropped it back down, causing the remaining glass to shatter.

Sam's head craned towards El and Will. She whispered, so no one would curse her out, "Guess they couldn't master the... mechanics... of it."

Will snorted, reaching over El to nudge Sam for the horrible joke.

"Let me try," El told them, sick of hearing them pant and murmur; she also wanted to free herself from Sam's horrible jokes. She limped forward, not letting anyone protest.

El stuck her arm out like always, lowering her head in focus. The sound of low-frequency vibrations buzzed in Sam's ears as she watched El. However, the brunette wheezed, blood rolling down her nostril as the wavering sounds increased until they disappeared completely.

Nothing happened.

That was... weird. El's powers never failed her before, not in the three years Sam has known her. She flipped the car over about longer than an hour ago. Why couldn't she do it now?

El staggered back, nearly tripped over herself as she wiped her nose. Her mouth was ajar, and her eyes were wide in shock, just as surprised as everyone else.

"Um..." Corey murmured. "Are you gonna... flip it over yet, or...?"

Mike hit Corey in the side, hissing something that included "fucking asshole" in the reprimand.

El stepped behind Sam, feeling embarrassed and scared. Having El so close made Sam want to scream out in pain, but she was still trying to hide the whole fact that she hadn't severed the empathetic connection. It just made Sam feel weak and ashamed.

"It's okay," Sam took the attention off of El. She didn't know what just happened, but she could tell El didn't want to be asked about it. "We don't need El's powers to move the car."

"You think you can move the car?"

"We don't need any powers to move the car," Sam changed her usage of words. "We can just use science."

A few people blinked back at her.

Corey glared, crossing his arms. "You're joking right."

"No, Sam's got a point," Mike hopped off the counter to walk up to the blonde. "We can use our own strength to push the car, but we need more surface area to do so."

Max held up a mocking finger in the air. In a overexerted, nerdy mannerism, she mouthed what Mike was saying to make fun of him.

Sam sighed, ignoring the judging stares she and Mike were receiving. "According to the laws of physics, all we need is to push on the car with objects that cover a larger surface than just two hands. We can use the metal ballots around the food court that separate the tables. If we hold the poles and push the weighted bottoms on the car, it should work."

"Two people here have powers and we're going with nerd logic," Corey rubbed his face with his hands. "Great."

"Don't doubt the science, Gray," teased Mike. "You're just mad your cousin's smart than you."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "I'm doubting the science."

Max raised her hand, said, "Me, too."

"Just trust me," Sam sighed, holding back her annoyance. "Everyone grab a golden pole and meet back over here."

Lucas, Max, Corey, El, Will, Nancy, and Jonathan stared for a few moments longer.

Nancy exhaled in defeat. "Fine," she acquiesced. "We'll test your theory."

"Sam, you can stay here. I'll get you one," Max told the blonde with a pointed look, daring Sam to protest. She was offering because Max was the only one who knew how much pain Sam was in. In return, Sam sent her a small, grateful smile, trying not to seem too suspicious.

So they all searched around the mall quickly, picking up golden poles that had a round, flat bottom. Max walked back over to Sam, holding two, and handing Sam one gently. Then, everyone got behind the car once more — with the addition of Sam and Will — to test Sam's scientific theory.

Together, they pushed with the poles. Instead of getting the car a couple inches, the car shifted all the way onto its side.

The group of eight took a break, all breathing and panting together.

"All right great," said Jonathan, hopping up onto the counter with everyone else. "Now, all the way. Ready?"

Everyone placed the ends of the poles back onto the car.

"Three, two, one... Push!"

They shoved the circular ends of the poles against the car once more. It didn't take long for the car to turn over completely, proving Sam's theory to be correct.

"Told you," Sam panted. "Physics."

Lucas hopped off the countertop, and held out a hand for Sam. She took it gratefully, and he helped her jump down. Her ankle screamed in pain at the bursting pressure, but Sam only let herself give out a quiet strain.

Corey got down and walked over to the hood of the car. He tried opening it with the help of Nancy and Jonathan, but the dented metal didn't budge.

"How do we get it open?" Nancy asked.

"Uh," Corey nodded towards the steering wheel, hands still on the hood, "there should be a latch. Check under the wheel."

Nancy walked swiftly over to the wheel, searching.

"You see it?" questioned Jonathan, still trying to force the hood open with Corey.

"I don't know. Hold on."

Sam watched the trio try and get the hood of the car open with Mike. Max was in between them, but she wasn't staring at the car. Her attention was looking elsewhere.

"What's she doing?"

At the sound of Max's voice, Sam and Mike turned around to figure out what Max was so puzzled by. They saw, over in the distance, that El was digging through a trash can desperately. She was throwing out handfuls of trash, seemingly in search of something.

Sam, Max, and Mike shared confused eye contact.

"Come on," said Mike, wanting to figure out the answer to Max's question.

The three of them traveled over to where El was, Max making them go slow because of the pain in Sam's ankle. She was getting worse at hiding it the more that the aching grew. If anyone paid attention to Sam, they would note the slight limping of her left leg. Max was paying attention of course, so she knew.

They saw that El had placed an empty Coke can on top of the trash can. Her head was lowered, fingers curled over the rim of the bin tightly, and her entire body was shaking.

"El," Sam started, watching as El's entire body deflated in defeat. "You okay?"

El just looked back at the trio, definitely not okay.

Over by the car, Corey and Jonathan finally popped the hood open. This hood, after being so damaged by El, didn't stay up on its own. Jonathan held up the dented, red metal whilst Corey searched for the ignition cable.

"Do you see it?" Nancy asked, having left the steering wheel.

"I don't know," Corey shook his head. "It should be right here." He leaned in closer, squinting like he was Sam, trying to find it. Corey muttered, "Distributor... Distributor..."

Will had been watching them the whole time, as he hadn't gone with Sam, Max, and Mike to check on El. Suddenly, a chill went up the boy's spine. He put a hand to the back of his neck. There was a thudding noise in the distance.

Sam's eyebrows furrowed at the sound. She stumbled, trying to turn around and crane her head up to find the source. The glass ceiling overhead was thudding. And stretching in. And dust was falling down above them.

"Guys," Sam whispered panicked.

Max and Mike did the same as Sam, spinning around and looking up.

The three of them watched the skylight glass clink. There was a large, massive silhouette directly above. They didn't need any input from Will to know what it was.

Corey finally pulled out the ignition cable, but Mike wasn't over there to give a fuck. Trying to protect his sister, Mike yelled, "NANCY!"

He caught the attention of those who were out of the loop — Lucas, Corey, El, Nancy, and Jonathan. Everyone's heads snapped upwards in alarm. Now that all nine of them were properly warned, Mike started running first. He dragged El along with a grip on her wrist, and Max did the same with Sam. The four of them ran desperately to get away, as they were right underneath the glass ceiling of the food court.

Seconds later, the Mind Flayer broke through the skylight. He dropped to the bottom level where the four friends once were.

It roared loudly. It was hungry, it was hurt — but most importantly — it was angry.

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"Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over. Griswold Family, I repeat, we need a confirmation of your safety. Do you copy? Gris—"

The Mind Flayer let out a load roar. Then, there was a loud crack, and something clattered to the floor. Dustin's voice struggled to breach across the signal any more after that.

It didn't matter if the Mind Flayer destroyed Lucas's Walkie. No one was going to even dare and attempt to move, answering Dustin's frantic questions. They were hiding in the mall, trying not to even breathe, in fear that the Mind Flayer would catch them. He was so big, and so, so close.

Will, Jonathan, Nancy, Corey, and Lucas were hiding in fear — in that order — behind the red car they'd just snatched the ignition cable from. Sam, Max, Mike, and El — also in that order — were hiding behind a wooden, pop-up food stand. Everyone was panting mortified breaths, because this was something they couldn't see an escape route out of. This could truly be their last moments alive.

Sam didn't want to die.

She blinked through her blurred vision, desperately trying to calm her breathing. The creature seemed to halt for a moment, shrouding the mall in silence, and then it released a shrill scream of frustration, that horribly most thudding closing in nearer and nearer.

Sam let out a quiet whimper, the fear and pain becoming all too much. Max slapped her hand over Sam's, squeezing it tightly — whether it was to comfort Sam or herself, Sam didn't know. Sam looked to the side to see that Max's eyes were screwed shut just as tight as her grip on Sam's hand was.

Max didn't want to die.

Mike was trying to shove himself just as far underneath the pop-up counter that his tall frame could possibly manage. His lanky body was shaking, long limbs trying to shrink in on himself. He wasn't doing the best job, much too tall to hide as well as the smaller girls, but he was trying.

Mike didn't want to die.

El's breathing was just as unstable as Sam's, and she couldn't even try to hide it. The pain in her leg was raw, Sam knew, because she felt it as well. El was weak and she was tired and there was a nagging temptation to stop and just give up, but El couldn't because of another desire that was stronger than the defeat.

El didn't want to die.

Sam peeked her head over the counter for a few seconds, and she caught sight of the Mind Flayer, although that wasn't very hard to do. Then, she sat back down with her three friends. Voice barely audible, Sam whispered, "He's turned away. If we go up the stairs now, we'll make it."

"No way," Max whispered back. "Not with El's and yours' leg."

"What's wrong with Sam's leg?" mumbled Mike.

Before Sam could stop her, Max confessed, "She's still feeling El's pain. She's just been hiding it this whole time."

Sam pointedly looked away from Mike's and El's incredulous stares. She took a shaky breath in, gulping once. They couldn't afford reprimanding her right now; Sam was shaking, and she was in pain and she was just as desperate to live as everyone else.

"There's another way to get out," El revealed, nodding to the store across from them, "through The Gap."

Mike took his turn to peer up and over the pop-up counter. He was making sure the Mind Flayer was still turned away. He squatted back down to the girls with a confirming nod.

"Okay," he breathed. "Now."

Then, the four began running.

Max held El's hand and Mike kept a hand on the small of Sam's back just in case. The lights whirled around them and then they were moving through the entrance of The Gap and then El was crying out and there was a loud crash followed by a vengeful roar.

Max and Mike pulled El back to her feet quickly as Sam led them with a rushed limp — no longer hiding her pain. They left the mannequin dressed in neon rags on the floor as they scrambled to the back of the store and dived behind a shelf of cheap sneakers. That heavy THUD THUD THUD was all too close behind.

The sound of the entrance wall behind smashed to pieces and that horrible squelching sound followed them not long after. Sam tensed, furthest on the end to the left.

A harrowing chitter filled the air next and Sam held back a gag at the sound of the molted flesh flexing and merging as those same gorey tentacles roamed the store in search of the kids—

The Mind Flayer roared, and a mannequin wearing the exact same clothes El currently had on was tossed at the wall in front of them and landed in a heap of broken plastic next to Sam.

Sam jumped a mile out of her own skin and held Mike's arm tight enough to bruise, clamping her mouth shut as her body trembled with terror.

"Sam," Mike whimpered from beside her, using her grip on him to try and tug Sam away from the mangled mannequin. "Hurry, we have to move!"

They crept towards the other end of the store. Sam shoved everyone ahead of her despite their protests and turned to see if they had been followed. A hand the strap of her overalls pulled her behind one of the display stands just as a claw-toothed tentacle swiped at the place they had been hiding only moments ago.

They all sat cramped behind the wooden structure, silent and quivering and completely immobile. For a second, it almost seemed as if they would be okay.

And then, a low, trilling hiss moved towards them. Flesh and bone squelched, and Sam paled at the scent of death that followed. The quartet held their breaths, waiting for the attack that was inevitably about to come. One of them melted limbs slithered right up to the side of Sam's face, considering the space in front of it in intrigue.

Sam instantly held her breath, slowly turning her head to the side, shaking. Right when the claw was about to discover her—

There was a loud POP of a balloon all the way from the other side of the store. An unknown savior had found a way to distract the Mind Flayer and, basically, saved Sam's life.

The tentacle retracted with a shrill screech, and the Mind Flayer's heavy footfall was hurrying in the other direction. Sam blinked, not even having time to think about her friends currently hiding in said other direction before she was being pulled to her feet and forced to run again.

The four of them slipped through the door behind the cashier area and ran and ran, navigating their way through the corridors with familiar ease after months of using them to gain access to the theater.

They needed to get the hell out of here.

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Corey, Lucas, Will, Jonathan, and Nancy booked it out of the mall the second Lucas had distracted the Mind Flayer with his wrist rocket. Corey ran to the hood of the car, along with Nancy and Jonathan, as he put the ignition cable in.

Then Billy's car engine revved in the distance, not having left the position he was in when they ran back into the mall.

"Fuck," Corey cursed under his breath.

"Corey, get the hell in the car," ordered Nancy. "Jonathan, get the car started."

The two boys stared at her a little dumbly.

"Go!"

Jonathan shut the hood of Nancy's car and Corey ran into the backseat next to Lucas with Will on the other end. From inside, Corey watched as Nancy walked in front of the car. She cocked her gun and aimed it at Billy whilst Jonathan turned the keys in the car.

But the engine only sputtered in return.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," hissed Jonathan. "Come on!"

Corey eyed the driver's seat in fear. "Wh — I fixed the ignition cable, it should be starting!"

"I know that, Corey!" Jonathan exclaimed.

He tried to turn the keys again, but to no avail.

Then, Corey's head whipped towards the sound of Billy's engine roaring louder. He had hit the gas pedal on his own, roughed-up car. The tires screeched as the vehicle speed towards Nancy.

"Come on!" rushed Will.

"We gotta go!" Lucas yelled.

Nancy began to shoot at Billy's car, but even her impeccable aim did nothing to Billy. He wasn't stopping.

"COME ON!" Jonathan shouted at the ignition, cursing for the car to just fucking start.

Nancy continued taking shot after shot for Billy's car. She stood outside of the car, not backing down, and it was far too late when she realized that Billy couldn't be stopped.

He was going to hit her.

"WE GOTTA GO!" screamed Corey.

Nancy screaming, ducking behind her arms to prepare herself for the impact of Billy. Corey scoot as far away from his side of the car as he could, he, Lucas, and Will all clutched each other for comfort in their last moments.

But Billy never hit them.

A car sped into the parking lot with perfect timing, and slammed right into the side of Billy's car before he could run into anyone. Both cars went skidding, and Corey's head snapped back up with a gasp. He scooted back towards the car's window to figure out who their momentary savior was.

Corey saw, then, Steve Harrington panting behind the wheel with a frozen-faced Robin Buckley beside him.

Billy was knocked completely unconscious due to the collision, and Steve hit him so hard that Billy's car lit up in flames. From behind, a monster snarled loud. Corey, Lucas, and Will looked out the other car window to see that the Mind Flayer was climbing on top of the mall.

"Well," Corey heaved in and out, "we're dead. That's it. It was good knowing you guys."

Jonathan finally got the car started, and Nancy ran into the passenger seat, gasping in hyperventilating breaths.

"We're not dead yet," breathed Jonathan.

Jonathan sped the car a few feet forward. He slammed his hand down to honk the car horn as he stopped for Steve and Robin.

"Get in!" Nancy yelled, head sticking out the rolled-down window.

She didn't need to tell Steve and Robin twice.

The duo hopped out of the car that Corey was sure read Toddfather on the license plate. Robin wrenched open the trunk, throwing herself inside. Steve was quick to follow.

"Go, go, go, go!" Lucas shouted, the second he noted that Steve was in the car.

Steve slammed the trunk door shut right after, yelling, "Go, go, go!"

Jonathan booked it. He drove away from the parking lot as fast as he could, but the Mind Flayer was climbing off the top of Starcourt and thumping right after them. He was right on their tail.

"Grizzwald Family!" came a crackling voice that belong to Dustin through Robin's Walkie. "I need Sam! Sam, do you copy?!"

Robin clicked on her Walkie to respond, "Steve and I are with Grizzwald Family, but Sam's not with us!"

"Wh-What do you mean, Sam's not with you guys?!"

"Her, Max, El, and Mike escaped a different way!" Will assumed.

A panicked breath sounded from Robin's Walkie. "Shit. I needed her to tell me Plank's Constant."

"What the hell is Plank's Constant?" asked Corey.

"Doesn't matter. Hang right there, Grizzwald Family. I've got an idea. Over."

Then, Dustin went silent. Everyone — besides Jonathan, who was trying to speed the car as fast as it could go — shared confused looks as to what that was about. But, then again, it was Dustin. So the randomness was normal when it came to him.

"What was that about?" Lucas asked.

Jonathan shook his head from behind the wheel. "I don't know. But we've got bigger things to deal with."

As if the Mind Flayer had heard Jonathan, he let out a roar so thunderous it made the road beneath them rumble. It was chasing after the car much too fast for their liking. Jonathan slammed on the gas harder, as if that was even possible, trying to evade the monster.

"I'm gonna be honest, I didn't believe you guys when you told us about that... that thing," Robin gulped, clearly having trouble processing.

Corey finally got a time to look back into the trunk, where she and Steve were. This was the same Robin that Corey knew his cousin Stephanie was highly infatuated with. He tried getting a good read of her, wondering if there was a possibility Robin could feel the same.

There definitely was.

Robin felt Corey's analyzing gaze. She met his eyes, looking a little terrified, before her head turned away nervously.

"Hey, Robin, what kind of ice cream does Steph lik—?"

"Dusty-bun, you copy?"

Corey paused, eyes moving from Robin to the Walkie in Robin's lap. The voice coming out of the speaker belonged to a girl that Corey wasn't familiar with, and all he could wonder was why the hell she used that cringy ass nickname for — presumably — Dustin.

"I copy, Suzie-poo," came Dustin's voice. "It sounds much better now, thanks."

Robin and Steve looked to each other in realization. "Suzie," they chorused.

Corey, Lucas, and Will shared absolutely shocked faces. There was no way Suzie was actually real.

Dustin continued, "Okay, so, listen — do you know Plank's constant?"

"Do you know the Earth orbits the sun?" Suzie responded.

Holy shit. She really was real.

Why was that more mind-boggling than the sixty-foot monster trailing them?

"Okay," snickered Dustin, "so I know it starts with two sixes, and then a... W-What is it?"

Suzie made a disgruntled noise over on her end. "Okay, 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."

Corey pulled a face that looked awfully like a disgusted cat.

"You can make it up to me now," Suzie said in an implicatory voice.

Dustin paused. "What?"

"I want to hear it," she continued, and Corey could tell by her tone that she was grinning. Corey and Lucas side-eyed each other. What the hell was happening right now?

"Not right now!" Dustin protested frantically, sounding mortified.

Suzie argued, "Yes, now, Dusty-bun!"

"Suzie-poo, this is urgent."

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

"Wait, wait, wait!" Dustin sounded even more panicked, and Corey didn't understand what was so important about this 'Plank's Constant.' "Okay. Okay. Okay..."

Then, the real nightmare began.

"Turn around," Dustin began to sing, "look at what you seeee... In her face, the mirror of your dreeeeams..."

Corey mouthed, to a very confused Lucas and Will, 'What the fuck?'

Oh, but it got worse.

Dustin and Suzie both sang in surprisingly perfect harmony.

"Make believe I'm everywhere, given in the light! Written on the pages is the answer to our never ending storyy, ahhh!" the couple vocalized, the tune picking up.

Corey, Lucas, Will, Nancy, and even Jonathan looked back to Steve and Robin, wordlessly asking what the hell was going on. But the pair only threw up their hands wildly, beyond confused.

"Reach the stars! Fly a fantasyyyy! Dream a dream, and what you see will beeee."

Lucas looked to his left to see that Corey had both of his hands covering up his ears, silently pleading for the couple to stop.

Dustin and Suzie continued to sing, "Rhymes that keep their secrets — will unfold behind the clouds! And there upon a rainbow is the answer to our never ending storyy, ahhh! Storyyyyy, ahhhhh..."

Corey slowly removed his ears from his hands, looking around to see if the torture was over with. At this point, death to the Mind Flayer that was chasing after them seemed like a much more preferable fate.

"Plank's constant is 6.62607004," Suzie finally confessed, after her stupid, unnecessary duet with Dustin.

Dustin audibly beamed. "You just saved the world!"

"Gosh, I miss you, Dusty-bun," Suzie swooned, and Will gagged.

"And I miss you more, Suzie-poo!"

"I miss you more, multiplied by all the stars in our galaxy."

"No, I miss you—"

"Give me that," Corey hissed, reaching over the back seat.

He snatched the Walkie from Robin and turned it off with rough and unforgiving hands, unable to hear Dustin and Suzie's couple talk any longer.

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Both Sam and El were finding it difficult to go on with the state El's leg was in. Sam almost collapsed at the second junction of the hallway, having to be caught by Mike, who proceeded to throw one of Sam's arms over his shoulder. Max did the same with El, and both aching girls were doing their best to keep their weight off their left leg.

Sam wondered where the rest of her friends were, if something had gone wrong.

She wondered if they had already closed the damn Gate and Sam, Max, Mike, and El were running for nothing.

But that was not a risk they could take.

They went on running until they finally saw a large set of double doors at the end of the hallway with a fluorescent green exit sign hung over it. Without even planning on it, they all picked up the pace and hurried towards the viridescent beacon of freedom as fast as they could.

Mike had to hold Sam with one arm and force the doors open with his only free one. Max and Mike ushered Sam and El outside, and as the doors closed, they glanced up to see where they had landed themselves and were met with a guarded area at the back of the mall where the deliveries came through.

They limped towards the grand, industrial gate on the other end of the yard, Mike slamming his hand down on the button to force it open. The quartet just barely slipped through and stumbled out when Sam suddenly went still ahead, forcing Mike to stop and Max and El to run into their backs. Sam took a slow step back, tripping into the girls.

"Shit — it's Billy!"

"Fuck, he saw us!"

"Back inside!"

Sam threw her arm off of Mike's neck, shoving him towards El. "Help El! Help El, I'm fine! Go, go, go!"

Mike didn't have time to argue it, because Sam was pushing him way too frantically and hastily and he understood the severity of the situation. He came up on the other side of El, looping a second arm around his neck like he'd done with Sam. The three of them hobbled as fast as they could back for the double doors.

Sam stayed behind to press the buzzer on the gate, trying to shut Billy out. When she saw the pieces of metal and wire begin to shut again, she ran with a limp for her friends. Sam slipped through the double doors right before they shut behind her. She joined Max, Mike, and El in sprinting through the corridors once again, their moment of liberation gone as quick as it had come.

"Go, go, go, go, go!"

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Jonathan was trying as hard as he could to lose the Mind Flayer, but the monstrous creature hadn't failed to run after them in heaving stomps. Corey thought the beast would give up after hearing Dustin and Suzie's duet — Corey definitely would have — but no. The Mind Flayer had remained at least twenty feet from them at all times.

Until it stopped.

The Mind Flayer let out a reverberating shriek, but the roar didn't sound as close to the car as it had before. Corey whipped his head around, peering out the window of the trunk.

"It's turning around!" Steve exclaimed in utter bafflement.

Nancy whipped around from the passenger's seat to try and see for herself. Incredulously, she asked, "What?"

"It's turning around!" he repeated, tone incredibly worried.

They should be grateful that the Mind Flayer had stopped chasing them, but for some reason, that only made Corey's heart drop in his chest.

"Maybe we wore it out?" Lucas theorized, but Sam was the only one who was good at doing that.

Jonathan shook his head. "I don't think so," he muttered. "Hold on!"

Then, Jonathan swerved the car in a 180. Corey, Lucas, and Will were all flung to the the left, squishing into Corey. Steve and Robin screamed wildly at the sudden whipping. Although they were all caught of guard, they didn't question what Jonathan was doing.

They were going back to the mall.

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Max, Mike, and El hobbled and limped hurriedly in the lead as they rushed through hallway after hallway. The fluorescent lights began flickering above them, which only meant one thing — Billy was coming. The Mind Flayer was coming.

Or, you know, it meant that Sam was panicking. Which she was. So maybe it was both.

Sam was trying to jog as fast as she could to meet the pace of the trio before her, but everything hurt. She was so weak. She couldn't run like this on her own, but this kind of weighing pain meant that El was feeling this weak, too, and the goal was to save El. Sam had to manage on her own.

"God!" Sam yelled, trying to push through the pain. El was whimpering right in front of her, and Max and Mike shared panicked looks.

They turned down a corridor, and they continued running and running.

"There, up to the right!"

The group of four ran down the last hallway, because there were no more turns left for them to take. At the end, to the right, there was an open room housing a mechanical elevator that they all rushed towards. Sam threw herself against a wall, wheezing in pain, as Mike prodded at the elevator button frantically.

When it refused to budge open, he cursed.

"Sam — Sam, maybe you can," Mike panted, "maybe you can try starting it with your powers?"

Sam blinked through the black spots threatening to overtake her vision. She opened her eyes to see that Max, Mike, and El were all staring at her expectantly. Sam nodded weakly, pushing herself off the wall.

Slowly, Sam hopped backwards, avoiding pressure on her left leg. She was right at the doorframe of the room the quartet was in. Max, Mike, and El all waited to see those sparks of lightning surround Sam when she utilized her powers; she was nodding to herself, like she was preparing for something.

Then, much too smoothly for a girl in so much pain, Sam stepped out of the room, yanked out the Makarov she'd stolen, and shut the door on the trio. Using her elbow, Sam swung her arm down and broke the handle off so that Max, Mike, and El were locked in.

More importantly, Billy was locked out.

Sam was sacrificing herself.

She heard her friends throw themselves against the door from the other side. They began banging on it, trying to twist the handle and get Sam to safety, but it was no use. El didn't have the powers to open the door up. They were properly locked in on the other side.

Sam was properly locked out with Billy.

"HEY, SAM!"

"SAM, LET US OUT!"

"NO, SAM, DON'T DO THIS!"

Sam panted against the door, growing weaker by the second. She muttered, "My powers only helped us out twice before. They weren't about to kick-start now."

"SAM!"

Sam gripped the pistol with both hands as she confessed, "I was never going to make it out of here. Save El, all right?"

"SAM? SAM, PLEASE!"

There was a deafening, heart-stopping SLAM from the right of her. She whipped around to see that Billy had finally made it to the hallway Sam was in. Her friends started beating on the door more rapidly, having heard the terrifying sound. Sam ignored them, standing up properly.

She limped away from the door, planting her feet firmly and staring down Billy as he began marching towards her. Sam brought up her hands that were holding the gun, aiming it straight for Billy.

Sam pulled the trigger, and started shooting.

Her aim was perfect. She hit Billy, and he startled back with a grunt. He should've been knocked down completely, but he just continued walking for Sam like all she did was slap him.

Sam's eyes widened a smidge. She continued shooting at Billy, panic increasing.

Max was properly yelling from the room now, begging for Sam to stop, to let them out. Max had no clue that Billy was essentially unaffected by the bullets hitting his torso. Shot after shot, bullet after bullet, Billy continued the pounding steps towards Sam.

Sam didn't give up pulling the trigger. She hit him again.

Billy marched for her, veins black and coursing all throughout his body.

Sam shot him. Again. Again.

Billy grunted uncomfortably, but his eyes were dead set on Sam.

Sam continued shooting. She pulled the trigger and—

And she was out of bullets.

"Fuck!" Sam yelled. She elected on chucking the gun right at Billy's head.

Billy caught the weapon before it could collide with him, and he cascaded it towards the floor. The closer Billy got to her, the more Sam shrunk back against the wall. His footsteps continued with much more force that had her friends' shouted increasing in intensity.

Sam yelled, "WAIT—!"

Billy grabbed the front of Sam's tank-top, punched her in the face, and slammed her head back on the wall. Sam was knocked unconscious, and Billy cascaded her body like a rag-doll.

"SAM? SAM, WHAT HAPPENED?! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

Billy's head craned to the side, his attention moving to the sound of their voices. He tried shoving the door open, but it was clearly locked.

New plan.

Billy backed a little bit away from the door before he brought up a leg and kicked the door completely off its hinges. It went blasting back, the trio having to duck from being hit by it. They all startled at the sight of Sam's unconscious figure on the floor. Their eyes traveled up, and Billy was staring right at them.

Max pushed herself in front of Mike and El, her arms guarding them from Billy.

"Billy," Max pleaded with teary eyes. "Billy, you don't have to do this. Billy. Your name's Billy — Billy Hargrove. You live on 4819 Cherry Lane. Billy, please, I'm Max, I'm your si—"

Billy swung his arm across Max's head, knocking her into a wall and rendering her unconscious.

"MAX!"

Billy turned, eyes already set on his next target. El yelled, reaching out to push Mike out of the way—

but the boy was already out on the ground before she could blink.

Ell screamed, shoving out an arm and trying to use her powers on Billy. However, her powers still didn't seem to work. Billy grabbed her arm, forced it down. With his other hand, he gripped the front of El's head and slammed it backwards on the closed, elevator doors. He threw her body to the other side of the room, making sure El was officially unconscious.

Billy walked over to El's knocked out figure. He grabbed a hold of her and threw her over his shoulder with ease.

Then, with cold, lifeless eyes, Billy stepped out of the room to where Sam lay. He grabbed a hold of her by the ankle, and just started dragging her with them.

Billy was going to bring them to the Mind Flayer.

◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦

Sam's head felt like it was about to burst from the amount of tension trying to push out of it. She whimpered at the constant feeling of movement, and with every passing second came even more pain.

Sam blinked wearily, trying to open her eyes to see what was going. What had happened? What was she waking up from? Everything was blurry, and she couldn't focus on one thing. The world was moving around her like a fast car ride with Nancy.

Then, her surroundings came to a stop.

Sam tried craning her head up, amidst all the pain that movement brought. Blearily, she saw a tan figure wearing a blur of white and blue.

Billy.

The memories all came back to her in rushing pain. Sam whimpered as she finally put together what was happening; Billy had laid her on the tiled floor right before the steps to the middle of the mall. Still out of it, Sam shook a pleading head, as if that would make it all stop.

She definitely had a concussion.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sam spotted a blur of yellow and black. She blinked hard to try and concentrate, and only for a second, she registered the sight of an unconscious El.

Flimisly, Sam crawled and flopped her hand atop El, trying to shake her.

"El," she slurred. "El wak'up... El, pl... You gotta..."

Billy grabbed a hold of Sam and yanked her away from El, earning a pained whimper from the blonde. She protested weakly, but was too incoherent to make any helpful additions.

There was a body hovering over her, hands on either side of her head. Billy leaned down, mouth inches away from Sam's head.

"Don't be afraid, my Samantha," he whispered. "It'll be over soon."

Sam's mind felt hazy. What was going on? It felt like her brain was going in and out of it, but she couldn't concentrate long enough to form concrete thoughts.

Away from Sam, El had finally woken up. Sam hadn't realized that Billy had gotten off of her until now; he was currently hovering above El, muttering to her instead.

"Try and stay... very still," whispered Billy.

Sam didn't understand what she had to stay very still for. The world around her was all dizzy, but she still tried turning her head towards the menacing sound ringing from her ears. She looked to the right — or was it the left? — and saw nothing but neon signs that made her head pound. To the other side, though, there was something much more panic-inducing.

There was a large spider-like figure hovering above the mall, squelching of flesh. It let out a roar, making Sam whimper at the pain the loud noise sounded at. Her vision was blurry, and what seemed to be slow motion, the creature climbed in through a hole and down to the floor of the mall.

It was the Mind Flayer.

Sam was about to die.

El's breaths sped up in a panic from next to her, but Sam could barely grunt without causing herself pain. The Mind Flayer was stomping closer to where Billy stood eagerly.

El tried scrambling closer to Sam. She was too weak to stand, but she still tried getting herself and Sam up anyways.

El rasped, "Sam... Sam, w-we have to get out of here..."

Disorientedly, Sam shook her head again. She whined at all the pain she felt. El make contact with her, and Sam shouted out as even more pain flooded her body.

"It hurts," cried Sam. "It hurts, El."

She felt as useless as a kid. When she was weak like this, she was a child again, and she was more afraid of being a child again than anything else in her life.

"Sam," El choked on a dry sob.

But neither of them could move. They were too weak.

The Mind Flayer opened up its large, teeth-filled, gaping mouth. From inside, came one of its leeching tentacles. Sam had to squint to register the terrifying sight of it, and once she did, a horrified breath caught in her throat.

The claw screeched, and both girls could see that it was heading for Sam first. She was the weaker one; she couldn't even move, so it was easier to get rid of her now before she gained more coherency—

There was a sudden explosion as someone threw a firework from behind.

The Mind Flayer wailed in pain, stumbling around to the sight of Lucas — who was standing with Corey and Will — holding a second firework in his hand.

"FLAY THIS, YOU UGLY PIECE OF SHIT!" Lucas yelled, aiming the firework right into the beast's mouth as it lunged for him.

Sam let out a grateful breath, letting her head fall back to the ground at the sound of his voice. After that, explosions started going off all around — Sam's headache throbbed, and she whimpered, curling up on the ground as she tried clutching her ears.

Color exploded in every direction. There were thunderous roars and pained screeches, the thick smell of gunpowder and scorched flesh. The Mind Flayer and Billy were screaming together, feeling each other's pain.

"Sam, we can go. We can get out!"

Sam's head was whipping back and forth, disoriented by everything going on around her. Her face was screwed up in both confusion and pain. She had gained enough strength to try and shuffle back with her arms, but she wasn't getting very far.

Sam, we can go. We can get out.

Sam looked behind her to see El trying to muster up strength of her own. Then, she eyed the boisterous explosions going off all around. Sam let out of cry of pain before she began trying to crawl away with just her arms.

Sam and El heard Billy shout out again in pain from behind them and took that as their chance to escape.

But they were too weak, too slow.

Despite the pain and fury, Billy grabbed them both and dragged them back over to where he laid them previously. Sam cried out in pain as Eleven screamed desperately. Once Billy figured out Sam had an empathy link to El, it was over for them. He knew now that if he hurt El, Sam would feel that exact same pain, only strengthen by her extreme concussion.

Billy pinned El down on the floor, straddling her hips so El was stationary. El flailed, trying desperately to be set free, but Billy gripped El's forearms and slammed her head down onto the tile.

Sam and El wailed in unifying pain, and although the former wasn't being held down, she was just as unable to move.

They were going to die tonight.

The amount of firework explosions were beginning to dwindle, and Sam finally formed a concrete, official thought.

She was going to die tonight.

Sam looked a few inches over, where Billy was pressing El firmly against the ground. She whimpered at his death-grip, and Billy winced when another explosion sounded.

But maybe El didn't have to.

Sam gathered up enough strength to push herself on her hands and knees. Billy was so distracted by El that he didn't notice Sam panting heavily behind him. But Sam noticed him. He looked just the same as he did in the mindscape; Billy was flayed, but inside his mind, it was Billy's memories that she saw, not the Mind Flayers. It was still Billy.

"Seven," Sam gasped, "feet."

Billy's and El's heads whipped behind them, to where Sam was stationary on her hands and knees. She was breathing heavily, and finally turned her head to meet Billy's startled gaze.

"You told her... the wave was seven feet."

Billy was unhappy with Sam's concussed ramblings. He pushed on El harder, causing both her and Sam to gasp in pain. He turned his attention back onto El — tears were running down her face.

She knew what Sam had been trying to do.

Sam's plans had never failed before, and El wasn't about to let that happen now.

"You ran to her, on the beach," El said to Billy, and his face displayed the most emotion it had in a week. "There were seagulls."

Billy hadn't even noticed it, but his grip on El loosened, if even slightly. Sam could physically feel the emotion returning in Billy, and although it made her grunt in pain, now feeling Billy's pain, too, she felt a little lighter knowing that El was going to be okay.

So Sam started crawling towards the Mind Flayer in the meantime, trying to put herself in front of Billy and — more importantly — El.

"She wore a hat," El's breath stuttered as she continued, more tears running down her face, "with a blue ribbon."

Billy sniffled. He was crying, too.

"A long dress... with a blue and red flower."

The body above her gasped, slowly coming to.

El croaked, "Yel — Yellow sandals, covered in sand."

Sam whimpered out in pain, trying to crawl closer to the Mind Flayer.

"She was pretty," El said, coughing out in a sob. "She was really pretty."

Billy nodded slightly in agreement. He blinked, and one of his tears fell down onto El's face.

"And you... you were happy."

El shakily raised her hand, reaching out to cup Billy's cheek. Slowly, his eyes closed at the contact, like he was giving something up.

In the meantime, they hadn't noticed Sam, who had successfully placed herself in between the Mind Flayer and El. She struggled, sitting herself on the stair that dipped down into the middle of the food court. Sam sat, with her elbows propping herself up, and her legs stretched out before her.

Don't be afraid, my Samantha.

Every fiber of her body was screaming in agonizing pain, and she just wanted it all to be over with.

It'll be over soon.

Then, her friends ran out of fireworks.

Try and stay very still.

The cloud and gunpowder smoke left from the fireworks dissipated, and the Mind Flayer turned its head for Sam again. Max and Mike ran back out of Scoops Ahoy just in time to see Billy stand up and off of El.

It felt like it was happening in slow motion. They could do nothing but watch as the Mind Flayer opened the tentacle in its mouth to kill Sam again. Sam closed her eyes, readying herself for the impact.

"NO!"

But it never came.

Billy thrust his hands out to stop the claw's mouth from attaching itself around Sam. She opened her eyes in confusion, taking just as long to process it as the Mind Flayer did. But once Billy's betrayal was discovered, Sam knew that Billy Hargrove was done for.

The moment the first tentacle latched onto his side was a silent one, a pause in all functioning, a sharp intake of breath from the blonde girl behind him.

Then the second limb bit into Billy's other side, and tears were welling up in Sam's eyes before she could stop them. She never liked Billy, but he was dying right before her eyes. He was dying for Sam, who had showed him nothing but pain and animosity.

Sam went slack onto the stairs, none of it feeling real. Even as she watched every limb sink its teeth into whatever part of Billy's body it could find, even when his body was lifted from the ground at the force of it all, even when the black poured from his mouth as the final tentacle drove itself into his chest — she wasn't convinced that Billy was dying.

Not until she heard Max's agonized wail.

"BILLY!"

Not until Max ran forward for her step-brother, pleading for him to get up.

And Billy's last words would be "I'm sorry," and the Mind Flayer would drop to the ground moments after, and Billy would still be dead, and Sam would still be alive, and the mall would catch on fire, and somehow — miraculously — everything would be over.

The Gate was closed, and it was all over.

◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦

Corey remembered the first ever time he got along with Sam after she moved into the Gray household.

Back then, Corey was an asshole — well, much more of an asshole than he was right now.

See, Corey knew he was an asshole. He knew he was a bad kid. He wasn't stupid. He'd been held back for getting suspended way too many times — sometimes for talking back to teachers, occasionally for fighting, a lot of the time vandalizing school properly. He'd been arrested four total times now, none since Will came back from the Upside Down, but still, it was all on his record.

Sam wasn't a bad kid.

Corey was pretty sure that was the thing about her that pissed him off.

He lashed out a million times more when her cheery ass moved into what used to be in his father's office, Stephanie taking the guest bedroom. Everything just made him so angry those days, and it was a type of wrath that couldn't be controlled by taking deep breaths or counting in his head (as much as his mother advised him to try). So Corey hated the situation, and he hated his life, and he definitely hated Sam.

Well, that's what he told her, anyways.

One night he was getting yelled at during dinner for telling Mr. Birnie to fuck himself in math class — it was the last time Corey's family ever sat together and ate dinner, because his mother had to ban it. Corey had been so pissed that he was in trouble, even if it was his fault, but it was definitely his last strike. Everyone knew it was his last strike.

So Sam spoke up for him.

Samantha Hughes, age ten and unnecessarily bubbly, said that Mr. Birnie should do all of them a favor and jump into the quarry instead of fucking himself. She said that. And she loved math! She loved Mr. Birnie! Corey knew that, because that was the whole reason why he hated Mr. Birnie.

Still to this day, Corey didn't know why Sam did that for him. All he remembered was just feeling so shitty for being mean to Sam all those months just because her parents died.

They both ended up getting sent to their rooms, but Sam — for some godforsaken reason — snuck into Corey's to cheer him up. He didn't even remember what they were talking about, but he remembered they couldn't stop laughing. It made his entire fucking week — he hadn't laughed like that in so long — and all Corey had wondered to himself was how the fuck he, of all people, ended up with a literal golden retriever as his cousin.

Well, until his mom went upstairs to see what all the noise was. She had to physically separate Corey and Sam in different rooms, but that part didn't matter. It just reminded Corey that Sam had always meant a lot to him.

He never told her that.

And now Corey couldn't find her.

There were all sorts of cars around him — ambulances, fire trucks, army vans, squad cars, etc. There were government agents interrogating them, and doctors tending to their injuries. Joyce and Murray had been brought to the parking light by American agents. Corey, Lucas, Will, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, and Robin were all accounted for.

But Sam, Mike, El, and Max were not.

Corey couldn't even spare a moment to pay attention to the chaos around him, eyes trained on the mall entrance, looking for Sam. An EMT had advised him to sit down and drink water earlier because of all the smoke he'd inhaled, but Corey threated to shove the man's stethoscope up his ass.

When only Mike, El, and Max were brought out of the mall, Corey's worry did nothing by increase. Something felt stuck in his throat, and he knew he should be grateful that Mike was safe and alive, but Corey felt the opposite of comforted.

He'd never been more terrified.

But then, after a few moments, Sam was brought out by herself, limping under the arm of a fireman. She was covered in soot and coughing.

She looked like shit, and Corey couldn't be happier.

Sam's eyes eventually found Corey, and then she shoved the poor fireman away from her. Sam tried her best to jog towards him, but she was way too weak to take confident steps.

That was okay, because Corey was running for her, too.

The two cousins met in the middle, with Corey throwing his arms around Sam and lifting her up in the air. She didn't fuss or wince or cry or laugh. Sam did nothing but hug Corey back as well.

Corey remembered the first ever time he got along with Sam after she moved into the Gray household. After that day, he had feared he would never get another moment like that again.

But, against all odds, Sam was still here for Corey to hug like there was no tomorrow.

Surprisingly enough, there would be a tomorrow.

◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦

and so we finish the battle of starcourt!!

that was

a lot

wow

cute discreet moment: lucas saving sam's life twice coincidentally. like theyre hundreds of feet apart and he's still trying to save her. okay homeboy.

on another note: sam sacrificing her life twice

that hurt. i'm not okay. like she literally wants to save her friends so much that she tried DYING. are you for real?

and to try and save el the second time - even though she had a concussion - she formed a quick plan for el to save herself with (telling billy about the california memory) and using that stalling time to put herself in front of the mind flayer. like oh okay. she doesn't even know why that bitch wants to kill her and she still did it. oh okay.

any theories as to what the mind flayer's beef is with her?

anyways percy jackson references all around! told y'all she was pj coded

corey hating the duet more than anything in his entire life LOL

i think after i finish this book i might want to write a percy jackson book where oc is daughter of hypnos or something IDK i need to plan it out more

that or i'm publishing the teen wolf book

one more chapter of season 3 before...season 4...

buckle in.

here are some tweets to distract you for what's to come!

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what'd you think?