* Note, did not put a chapter up for 2.07 The Lost Sister since that took place completely away from the main plot.

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Same Night - Same Scene

Night - Hawkins Lab - Underground Chamber

Behind the glass, Natasha heard something from the gate, walking closer to the hole in the ground, but was protected from it by the glass that would not be much help against an army of Demodogs, seeing as some started to crawl up through the hole in the ground, all ready to slaughter everyone in Hawkins Lab.

Owens was in shock. "Holy God." The Demodogs started to launch themselves at the glass to try and break through. "It--it's polycarbonate. They can't get through."

They watched as more crawled up through the hole in the ground.

The man at the desk was horrified. "Mother Mary and Joseph."

The Demodogs continued to launch themselves at the glass, which started to crack.

"You sure about that glass?" Hopper asked.

Natasha raised her hands, forming her shield all along the glass to keep it from shattering completely, and to keep the Demodogs back for as long as she could. "I'm not. Doc..."

The man and the woman looked at her in shock, but Owens, Natasha and Hopper knew that Natasha didn't have another choice but to reveal herself to keep them all safe from the army of Demodogs coming to kill them.

Owens slammed a button on the desk to activate an alarm that started blaring throughout the entirety of Hawkins Lab.

∰

Hallway

The soldiers had been blocking off the doors to keep Mike and Niko back. Bob was with them.

The alarm started to blare.

"What the hell?" Bob asked.

"We're too late," Niko realized.

"What?" Bob asked.

Panicking, Mike raised his voice. "We're too late!"

∰

Will's Room

Mike, Niko and Bob ran into the room. Will was in his bed.

Joyce walked up to the three boys. "What's going on?"

Niko sighed worriedly. "We're under attack."

∰

Underground Chamber

Natasha was still keeping the shield up to protect them from the Demodogs, turning to look at everyone behind her. "Go, now! I can't keep this up forever!"

A soldier radioed in. "What's going on down there? Does anybody copy?"

Natasha's nose was bleeding as she struggled to keep the shield up long enough for Owens, the man and the woman to run out of the chamber.

Hopper stood by the door, not leaving without her. "Natasha, come on!"

Natasha lowered her hands, which lowered the barrier, running out of the chamber. Hopper slammed the steel door closed, locking it.

The Demodogs burst through the glass, trying to get out of the chamber to get to everyone in the lab.

∰

Hallway

Owens led Hopper and Natasha down the hallway at a run. "Stairs, stairs!"

∰

Stairs

Owens, Hopper and Natasha ran as fast as they could upstairs.

∰

Hallway

The man and the woman from the chamber, and others, ran for the elevator, waiting for it to open so they could get in. The doors opened, and they hurried inside.

The Demodogs burst out of the chamber, knocking the steel door down in the process, snarling, running for the elevator as the door was starting to close.

∰

Will's Room

Mike, in the room with Niko, Will, Joyce and Bob, held up a syringe of sedative. "We need to make Will sleep."

"What?" Joyce asked.

"He's a spy," Mike pointed out. "If he knows where we are, so does the shadow monster."

Will became very angry and dark. "He's lying!"

"He killed those soldiers," Mike told them. "He'll kill us, too!"

Bob and Joyce tried to hold Will still.

Will was thrashing, screaming. "He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying!"

Joyce and Niko were the most conflicted and upset by this, knowing that Mike was right, but not wanting to believe that Will was gone.

∰

Hallway

The two soldiers that had been blocking the door were walking toward the elevator. The elevator opened to reveal four Demodogs feeding on the people that had been inside.

The two soldiers started to back away in shock and horror, firing their guns.

∰

Will's Room

Bob looked toward the door when they heard the gunshots. "Those are gunshots!"

Will was still thrashing and screaming. "He's lying! He's lying!"

Niko held his arms still, trying to get through to him. "Okay, Will, Will, listen, listen. Do you know who I am?" He nodded to Joyce. "Do you know who she is?"

Will was struggling to remember, not certain, further and further closer to being gone. "You're... you're... you're... Niko. She--she--she--she's Mom."

Joyce knew that they had to sedate him, hating to have to do so, turning to look at Bob, Mike and Niko. "Hold him down."

Bob, Mike and Niko did as told.

Will startled to scream and struggle again as he watched Joyce prepare the sedation syringe. "No, no! Let go! No, no, let me go! Let me go! No, let me go!"

Joyce injected the sedative into Will's arm. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Will continued to scream. "No, let go! Let me go! Let me go!"

Finally, the sedative took affect and caused Will to lose consciousness.

Natasha, Hopper and Owens burst into the room, seeing what had happened. They turned to look down the hallway, seeing that the double doors at the end of the hallway, the steel doors, were about to come down.

"We gotta go," Natasha told them. "We gotta go now!"

Hopper picked up Will, putting him over his shoulder, leading the way out of the room.

∰

Hallway

Hopper was carrying Will over his shoulder, leading the way down the hallway, with Natasha, Niko, Mike, Bob, Joyce and Owens right behind him. They heard the other people in the lab building screaming as they were being torn apart by Demodogs, having to turn into the surveillance room for safety.

∰

Surveillance Room

The group walked in. Hopper placed Will down.

Bob looked at the security footage of everyone else in the building being ripped apart by Demodogs. "Oh, my God."

Suddenly the power went out, causing everything to go dark.

Joyce gasped. "Oh, my God."

Niko reached for Natasha. "Mama..."

Natasha took his hand. "Shh. It's okay."

∰

Outside

All the power in the building and around the lab could be seen going dark, as the Demodogs growled and roared from inside the building.

∰

Worlds Colliding (Stranger Things)

∰

Billy and Max's House - Living Room

Susan and Neil Hargrove walked in, Max's mother and Billy's father.

"Hey, guys, we're home," Susan called. "Guys? Hello?"

∰

Max's Room

Susan walked into Max's room, looking for her daughter. "Max?"

Susan saw that Max was gone and her window was open, walking over to the window to close it.

∰

Billy's Room

(Song:) The Four Horsemen - Metallica

Billy was in his room, getting ready for his date with Ruby, lighting a cigarette, standing in front of a mirror, snapping his lighter closed with a swing of his hand. He tilted his head back, taking the cigarette out of his mouth, releasing smoke into the air. He bounced in place like he was hyped, smirking, picking up hair gel to put some in his hair, fixing a curl of hair in front of his head, spraying body spray onto him. He rubbed the spray onto his wrists, down his crotch. He turned to the side, looking at his reflection, smiling. He leaned close to his reflection, taking a drag of the cigarette, releasing the smoke onto the mirror, smirking, winking.

Susan knocked on the door. "Billy?"

"Yeah, I'm a little bit busy in here, Susan," Billy told her.

"Open the door," Neil ordered. "Right now."

Billy sighed, taking a hit, tossing the cigarette down, walking toward the door, unlocking it, opening it to look at his father and stepmother. "What's wrong?"

"Why don't you tell us?" Neil asked.

"Because I don't know," Billy answered.

"We can't find Maxine," Susan told him.

"And her window's open," Neil added. Billy looked away. "Where is she?"

"I don't know," Billy replied.

Neil scoffed. "You don't know?"

"Look, I'm sure she just, I don't know, went to the arcade or something," Billy told them. "I'm sure she's fine."

Billy walked toward his closet.

Neil glared dangerously, crazily at his son, walking into the room. "You were supposed to watch her."

Billy grabbed his leather jacket from the closet, pulling on his jacket. "I know, Dad. I was. It's just you guys were three hours late, and, well, I have a date." He turned to face them, pulling his hair from out beneath his collar, crossing his arms. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Neil had his arms crossed. "So that's why you've been staring at yourself in the mirror like some faggot instead of watching your sister?"

"I have been looking after her all week, Dad," Billy told him. "Okay? She wants to run off, then that's her problem, all right? She's 13 years old. She shouldn't need a full-time babysitter. And she's not my sister."

Billy turned the radio off.

(Song Ends)

Neil suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Billy by the jacket, shoving him against the wall, into built in shelves that clearly hurt his son. "What did we talk about?" He punched Billy in the face, snapping his head aside. Susan flinched, looking away, closing her eyes. Billy groaned in pain. Neil grabbed Billy by the throat, before turning his head to look at him, holding up a finger. "What did we... talk about?"

"Respect and responsibility," Billy answered.

"That is right," Neil agreed. "Now, apologize to Susan."

Billy was breathing heavily. "I'm sorry, Susan."

"It's okay, Neil," Susan told him. "Really--"

"No, it's not okay," Neil snapped. "Nothing about his behavior is okay. But he's gonna make up for it." He let Billy go, turning to look at Susan. "He's gonna call whatever whore he's seeing tonight and cancel their date." Billy bit his tongue before he could say something, knowing that talking back would only make matters worse. "And then he's gonna go find his sister. Like the good, kind, respecting brother that he is. Isn't that right, Billy?" Neil didn't even give Billy a chance to answer before he stepped toward his son, yelling in his face, threateningly. "Isn't that right?"

Billy swallowed, his voice soft. "Yes, sir."

Neil sighed angrily, stepping closer. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

Billy raised his voice slightly, tears in his eyes that he tried to fight. "Yes, sir."

"Find Max," Neil told him, turning around, walking out of the room.

Susan walked out, closing the door.

Billy lowered his head, nearly crying, as he threw his keys to the desk and held his head in his hands.

∰

Old Junkyard

Ruby was sitting on the back of Nadia's car, holding her leg in pain, which was injured from the fight with the Demodogs, while Nadia was sitting down to recover since they both used a lot of their energy to use their power to kill many Demodogs.

Steve, Hailey, Dustin, Lucas and Max were standing about.

Lucas looked at Dustin. "And you're certain that none of the creatures that Nadia and Ruby killed were Dart?"

"Yes," Dustin answered. "Dart had a yellow pattern on his butt that none of the other creatures had."

"He was tiny two days ago," Max told them.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Well, according to Dustin, he's molted three times already."

"Malted?" Steve asked.

"Molted," Hailey corrected. "Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms."

"When's he gonna molt again?" Ruby asked.

"It's gotta be soon," Nadia answered. "When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. So will his friends. You know there's more out there."

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats," Ruby told them.

Lucas turned to face them. "Wait, a cat? Dart ate a cat?"

Dustin shook his head. "No, what? No.

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked. "He ate Mews."

"Mews?" Max repeated. "Who's Mews?"

"It's Dustin's cat," Steve answered.

"Steve!" Dustin told him.

Hailey smirked. "Ha ha."

Lucas gave Dustin a shove. "I knew it! You kept him!"

"No!" Dustin lied.

"Yes," Hailey corrected.

Dustin sighed. "He missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit," Lucas told him.

"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, okay?" Dustin asked.

"Oh, so now you admit it?" Lucas asked. "You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!"

"So did you!" Dustin told him.

"What?" Lucas asked.

Dustin shined his flashlight in Max's face. "You told a stranger the truth!"

Max scoffed. "A stranger?"

"Hailey wanted to tell her, too," Lucas told him.

"Yeah, but I didn't, Lucas, okay?" Hailey asked. "I didn't tell her."

Dustin looked at Lucas. "We both broke the rule of law, okay? So we're even. We're even."

"No, no, we're not even," Lucas argued. "Don't even try that. Your stupid pet could have ate us for dinner!"

"That was not my fault!" Dustin replied. "He wasn't gonna eat us."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Guys."

"Oh, so he was crawling to come say hello?" Lucas asked sarcastically.

"Guys, not to interrupt, but I've already been dealing with Dustin and Hailey bickering about that all day, and Steve and Nadia bickering because of who's side to take, and had to listen to Lucas and Max about me and Billy," Ruby told them. "I'm done being a seventh wheel to three bickering couples."

Steve, Nadia, Hailey, Dustin, Lucas and Max looked at Ruby, stunned, all awkward, sheepish, not knowing how to take that.

Hailey pointed at Dustin. "Uh, me and Dustin? No, not a thing."

"And I am not with Steve," Nadia told her.

"And Lucas is just a friend," Max added.

Ruby nodded, rolling her eyes, looking away. "Right."

Nadia gave her a sarcastic look. "And you don't have to be a seventh wheel anymore, Ruby, because you're getting let off the hook."

"What are you talking about?" Hailey asked.

"I'm taking Ruby home because of her leg, and so that she can recharge," Nadia answered. "Until her leg gets better, or she gets recharged, she's not gonna be much help, and I'm gonna have to be tracking the Demogorgon dog like creatures, which is most likely gonna have to be on foot, and..."

"And Ruby's not gonna be able to walk it because of her leg," Steve finished.

"Exactly," Nadia agreed.

"So I get to be let out of the triple date now?" Ruby asked sarcastically. "Great." The way she made the joke made her remember her own date with Billy was supposed to be that night, making a face of remembrance and exasperation. "That reminds me. Damn it. And you guys don't have to worry about dropping me off. You guys need to track those damn things down."

"Okay, um..." Hailey trailed off, looking around, finding a bike nearby the right size for Ruby. "Hey, you can ride instead of walk. At least it won't be too hard on you, Ruby."

Ruby sighed, nodding. "Fine, great. You guys just get to walking. I'll get myself back to my place."

"Where are you staying anyway?" Max asked. "I thought you ran from your foster home."

"Yeah, I did," Ruby answered. "And no, I'm not telling you guys where I'm staying." Hailey brought the bike over to Ruby. "Thanks, Hailey." Ruby got onto the bike, and even though her leg was hurt, she could still ride. "All right. Bye, guys."

Ruby rode off. The others exchanged a look.

"You guys heard her," Nadia told them. "Let's go."

They shrugged.

∰

Woods

Nadia was leading the way through the woods, using her tracking power to try and track the Demodogs. Steve, Hailey, Dustin, Lucas and Max followed close behind. Hearing a screech in the distance, Nadia, Steve, Hailey, Dustin and Lucas ran toward the sound.

Max was left behind a little ways in confusion. "No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound? Hello? Hello? Shit."

Max ran after the group, catching up with them.

They all looked over the town in the dark.

"I don't see them," Steve told them.

Nadia pointed to where her tracking power was leading her. "I can't see what that is, but that's where my tracking power says they are."

Lucas used his binoculars to check. "It's the lab."

Hailey raised her eyebrows in surprise. "They were going back home."

∰

Hawkins Lab - Surveillance Room

Owens was showing the others that were trapped with him in the room a map. "Look, this is us, and this is the nearest exit. But even if we somehow make it there, there's no way out."

"What do you mean?" Hopper asked.

"The locks are fail secure," Owens answered.

"Fail secure?" Joyce repeated.

"If there's a power outage, the building goes on full lockdown," Owens explained.

"Can it be unlocked remotely?" Natasha asked.

"With a computer, sure, but somebody's gotta reset the breakers," Owens answered.

"Where are the breakers?" Natasha asked.

"Breakers are in the basement, three floors down," Owens answered.

Hopper grabbed the map layout, walking toward the door.

"Jim, where are you going?" Natasha asked.

"To reset the breakers," Hopper answered.

"Okay, and then what?" Niko asked.

"Then we get the hell out of here," Hopper answered.

"No, then the power comes back on," Natasha told him.

"If you wanna unlock the doors, you have to completely reboot the computer system, and then override the security codes with a manual input," Bob told him.

The others looked at him in confusion.

"Fine, how do I do that?" Hopper asked.

"You can't," Bob answered. "Not unless you know BASIC."

"I don't know what that means," Hopper told him.

"It's a computer programming language," Mike answered.

Hopper turned to face Bob. "All right, teach it to me."

Bob scoffed. "Shall I teach you French while I'm at it, Jim? How about a little German? Or Natasha and Niko could teach you Russian." He turned to look at Owens. "How about you, Doc? You speak BASIC?"

"No," Owens answered.

Bob nodded as if he expected that answer. "Okay, I got this. I got this."

Joyce shook her head, walking closer worriedly. "No, Bob."

Bob embraced her. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay. Remember, Bob Newby, superhero."

Joyce managed a small chuckle, but was still incredibly worried, despite the reassuring smile that Bob gave her.

∰

Hallway

Natasha and Niko were standing guard, ready to use powers against the Demodogs, as Bob and Hopper grabbed a dead guard and pulled him aside.

"Okay, grab his walkie," Niko told them. Bob grabbed his walkie and headset, putting the ear piece into his ear, while Hopper was grabbing the guard's weapons. "Those aren't gonna do much, Hopper."

"They're gonna do some," Hopper replied. "You and Natasha can't keep taking them all on yourselves, Niko. I mean, who do you think you are? Nadia?" Natasha and Niko managed small smiles at Hopper's nervous joke. Hopper handed another gun to Bob. "All right, you now how to use one of those?"

"No," Bob answered.

Hopper showed him the basics. "Safety on, safety off, point, squeeze."

Bob nodded in understanding. "Point and squeeze. Okay, easy-peasy."

"He can't do this alone," Natasha told them. "What if he gets caught by one of those things?"

"I'm not leaving Will, and he, Joyce, Mike and Hopper need one of us up here too, Mama," Niko pointed out.

Natasha sighed. "I know."

"It's okay," Bob told them. "I can do it."

"If anything happens down there, I want you to come right back up," Natasha told him.

"Right back here," Bob finished. "Listen. Don't wait for me. As soon as I get those doors open..."

"We're gonna get them out," Hopper assured.

"Yeah?" Bob asked.

Hopper nodded. "I promise."

"And you, you are coming with us," Natasha told him.

Bob was breathing heavily, nervously, nodding. "Okay, well... I'll be in touch."

"And I'm not letting you go alone," Natasha told him.

"Nat..." Hopper trailed off.

"I'm gonna be okay," Natasha assured. "I just need to make sure that he is. Bob's sacrificing his own safety to do this for us, Jim. And I wanna make sure that he's safe too."

"Mama..." Niko trailed off worriedly.

Natasha embraced Niko and kissed him on the head. "It's okay. Like you said, Nikolai. One of us has to stay here and help Hopper, Joyce, Will, Mike and Owens. You stay here with them. I'll go with Bob."

Hopper sighed. "This is just one of those things I can't talk you out of, huh?"

Natasha smirked. "You're getting better at recognizing those times. I'll be back. We'll be back. I promise."

Hopper sighed, giving in.

Niko embraced Natasha. "Be careful."

"You too," Natasha agreed, kissing Niko on the head.

Hopper took Niko by the arm, leading him back toward the others in the room.

Natasha and Bob went the other way.

∰

Outside

Jonathan's car pulled up to the outside gate. Nancy was in the car with him. They both got out.

"Why are the lights off?" Jonathan asked.

"Maybe it's closed?" Nancy asked.

"Security just took the night off?" Jonathan asked skeptically. "I don't think so."

Jonathan reached into the booth outside the gate, hitting the button to open the gate but it wasn't working.

"It's not working?" Nancy asked.

"No," Jonathan answered. "The power's off."

Nancy walked closer, looking behind them. "Jonathan?"

"What?" Jonathan asked.

Nancy heard a rustling. "I think there's something in the woods."

Nancy walked toward the woods.

Jonathan followed her. "Nancy. Nancy, stay back. Hello?" They saw flashlights in the woods up ahead. "Who's there? Who's there?"

Steve, Nadia, Hailey, Dustin, Lucas and Max walked out of the woods.

Nancy and Jonathan were shocked to see who was with them. "Steve?"

"Nancy?" Nadia asked. "Jonathan?"

The group walked toward Nancy and Jonathan as the couple walked toward them.

"What are you doing here?" Nancy asked.

"What are you doing here?" Steve replied.

"We're looking for Mike and Will," Nancy answered.

Hailey looked at the lab building. "They're not in there, are they?"

"We're not sure," Nancy admitted.

"Why?" Jonathan asked.

Hearing the Demodogs screeching from inside the building, they all looked toward the lab, all looking worried and horrified.

∰

Inside - Staircase

Bob and Natasha were walking down the stairs, being careful and stealthy. Bob kept hold of a flashlight and the gun.

Natasha kept her arms raised in case she needed to conjure a shield on command. Hearing a screeching of a Demodog running closer, Natasha turned instantly to conjure her psychic shield in front of them to block the Demodog's path of getting to them, turning her head to look at Bob. "Go!"

Bob ran down the way. Natasha thrust her hands against the shield, throwing it against the Demodog with enough magical, mental and physical strength to throw the Demodog down the hallway, making it hit the wall and fall. She ran down the hallway to catch up with Bob.

∰

Basement

Bob and Natasha ran inside. Natasha held her arm back toward the door and put up another shield in front of the door to keep the Demodog from falling them in.

Bob shone the flashlight around, seeing two bodies on the floor, gasping. "Oh, God."

Natasha found a broken pipe on the wall, picking it up, and thrust it through the shield she had up, stabbing the Demodog through the head, repeatedly, to kill it, making it fall to the ground. With her nose bleeding a little, Natasha wiped the blood away, before she and Bob continued on their way. "Got it."

Bob sighed in relief. "Are you okay?"

Natasha nodded. "Yeah. Are we here?"

"Yeah," Bob answered, finding the power box. "Okay, here we go."

Bob started to turn the power back on one by one.

∰

Surveillance Room

The rest of the group was in this room as the power turned back on. They all looked at the security feed to see Natasha and Bob in the basement.

Mike sighed. "They made it."

∰

Outside

Steve, Nadia, Nancy, Jonathan, Hailey, Dustin, Lucas and Max were outside, talking over each other, when they saw the power turn back on inside the lab.

"The power's back," Nadia said.

They all ran over to the booth outside the gate so that Jonathan could try and open the gate with the button inside, but it still wasn't working.

Dustin stepped around Jonathan to get into the booth. "Let me try."

"Hang on," Jonathan told him.

Dustin pushed him back lightly. "Let me try, Jonathan!" He tried but the button still didn't work. "Son of a bitch!"

Hailey nodded sarcastically. "Yeah."

Nadia rolled her eyes, holding out her arms, conjuring two glowing purple, psychic energy whips in her hands.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked. "Nadia."

Nadia flung the whips to wrap them around the bars on the gate, and with enough force and power, she was able to pry the gates doors apart, ripping them open. She was breathing heavily, letting the whips fade, turning to look at the others with blood dripping down her nose. "Let's go."

Nadia wiped the blood away, walking in through the gates. The others were stunned.

∰

Inside - Surveillance Room

Owens was speaking through an intercom mic. "Okay, Natasha, Bob, can you hear us?"

Natasha used the radio to speak back. "Loud and clear, Doc. Can you hear us back?"

"Yeah, we hear you, all right," Owens answered.

Bob was working on putting in the reset code. "All right, give me a minute. Open sesame."

Owens heard the blaring of when a door was unlocked. "It's open."

"Easy peasy," Bob said.

Hopper smirked. "Son of a bitch did it."

Natasha sighed in relief. "All right, we'll meet you guys outside."

"Nice job," Niko told them.

Owens saw movement on the security feed. "Hold on a second, guys."

"What's wrong?" Niko asked.

"West stairwell's not clear anymore," Owens answered.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked.

"We've got more company," Hopper answered.

"Where?" Natasha asked.

"The west stairwell," Owens answered.

Bob typed on the computer. "I got an idea."

"What the hell are you doing?" Natasha asked.

Bob hit one more key. "And splash."

In the hallway, Bob caused the water sprinklers to go off, luring the Demodog away from the stairwell because of the noise.

Niko was impressed. "Okay. Okay, that worked. Now get out of there. Go, go!"

Natasha and Bob started to leave the basement quickly, while in the surveillance room, Hopper picked up Will as everyone was about to leave too.

Owens stood. "Wait a second, Chief." He handed a walkie talkie to Hopper. "Take this."

"What are you doing?" Hopper asked.

"Any more surprises, I'll let you know," Owens told them. "Go. Go!"

∰

Foyer

Nadia and Steve had come in to look for the others. Nadia held her hands up, ready to use her psychic energy manipulation any time that she needed to. Steve was holding the nail bat.

"You don't think they're all here, do you?" Steve asked.

"I don't know, which is why I told the kids to stay outside with Jonathan and Nancy," Nadia told him. "Last thing we need is Hailey, Dustin, Lucas or Max getting hurt in here. Which is why I also told you to stay out there, Steve."

Steve scoffed. "You and Ruby expended a damn lot of your power taking out these things in the junkyard, Nadia, and you're barely recharged. Like you could do this alone right now, even you."

Nadia rolled her eyes, sighing. "Fine."

They heard growling, looking around.

Steve saw a Demodog run in. "Incoming!"

As the Demodog lunged for Nadia and Steve, they both ducked. Nadia spun over the floor, conjuring the psychic energy whips from either hand as she did, and as she faced the Demodog, she lashed them around the creature, holding them tight to cause him great agony and as she held him mostly still. Steve started to hit the Demodog repeatedly with the nail bat to weaken it, causing it to yelp out in agony. Nadia stood, still using the whips to restrain the Demodog, and turning one of the whips into her psychic energy sword, raising it to slash and stab into the creature repeatedly until she could kill it with Steve's help, before she let the glowing purple psychic energy weapons fade when the creature was dead, reaching up to wipe the blood from her nose. Steve and Nadia exchanged a relieved look.

∰

Hallway

Hopper carried Will out into the hallway. Mike, Niko and Joyce followed. Niko kept his hands raised in case he had to conjure fire to kill any creatures that came their way. They ran out toward the nearest exit.

Owens radioed in to them. "Hopper, incoming, from the left."

"Niko, left!" Hopper told him.

Niko turned to the left, arms raised. Two Demodogs lunged into the room. Niko shot fire out of both of his hands straight into the Demodogs, burning them alive, causing them to screech in agony as they started to burn, incinerating them to ash. He looked at the others. "Go, go!"

Hopper and Mike ran outside with Will.

Joyce was about to run outside as well, but stopped, turning back. "Bob, Natasha, come on. Come on."

Niko wiped the blood from his nose.

∰

Stairwell

Natasha was holding off a Demodog with her shield, using most of her energy to do so, bleeding from the nose profusely from using her power so much that night. Bob used his gun to shoot at the Demodog, grabbing the pipe that Natasha had used earlier, using it to stab the creature, but not able to kill it yet. Natasha finished the job by stabbing the pipe into the Demodog repeatedly, letting it fall dead.

They heard Owens from their walkie. "Okay, Natasha, Bob, I'm gonna guide you."

"Is there a problem?" Natasha asked.

Owens sighed. "No, it's just--it's, uh, getting a little crowded up here, so we're gonna have to take this slow. All right, just start walking." They did. "Okay, good. Now your next right. Now, keep going, keep going, keep going." They kept going until Owens saw a Demodog coming for them on the other side of the corner. "Wait!"

"Creature coming?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah," Owens answered. "Natasha..."

Natasha sighed, nodding. "Yep."

Natasha stepped around the corner, arms raised, putting up a strong enough shield to keep the Demodog back.

"All right, keep going, keep going, hurry," Owens told them.

Bob ran down the hallway, and once Natasha used the shield to push the Demodog into the wall like she had done to one before, she ran after Bob, turning back to keep the shield up so that the following creature could not get to them. She only paused for a moment to stab the Demodog with the pipe through the head and chest repeatedly again to kill it, before letting the shield fade and continuing after Bob, her nose running with blood, and almost looking faint.

Natasha sighed. "Jesus Christ."

"How you holding up, Natasha?" Bob asked. "You doing good?"

"Decent considering how much of my power I've been using," Natasha answered. "We need to get out of here. I'm almost burned out."

"You got a pretty clear shot to the front door," Owens explained. "You can do this, okay? Natasha, Bob, you're almost home free, all right?" Bob was terrified but determined, nodding. Bob and Natasha were slowly making their way toward the front door to not drag attention to themselves, but another couple Demodogs sensed them, and ran into the hallway they were in. Owens saw this, worried and horrified. "Run!"

Bob and Natasha ran down the hallway to a set of double doors, slamming them closed behind them. Natasha put up a shield in front of the doors, hoping to keep them closed.

Joyce and Niko ran closer.

"Mama!" Niko told her.

Joyce sighed in relief. "Natasha. Bob."

Nadia and Steve heard the noises from the hallway, walking in.

Nadia sighed in relief to see her mother and brother. "Mama. Niko."

Natasha and Niko were surprised to see her. "Nadia?"

Nadia ran over to them.

Natasha, having used too much of her powers, started to feel more faint since she was still holding the shield up in front of the doors, using too much, her nose bleeding heavily.

Hopper walked back in, walking closer when he saw how bad she looked. "Natasha..." Natasha nearly fainted, but Nadia, Niko and Hopper kept her up, holding her standing. "Nat!"

A couple Demodogs leaped at Bob from behind, tackling him to the ground, ripping into him instantly, having taken everyone by shock as the creatures ripped into him.

Joyce screamed in devastation and denial. "No!"

Niko held out both hands, shooting fire out at the Demodogs, burning them alive, sending them flying away from Bob, but it was too late as they had already delivered killing blows, and Bob was fading fast.

Natasha couldn't keep her shield up any longer, which faded, and the rest of the Demodogs from the hallway burst into the room. 

Nadia conjured two psychic energy weapons in the whip and the sword familiar, as she spun around and lashed at the Demodogs and stabbed them, holding them off but not able to kill them all. 

Niko shot more fire out at the Demodogs, burning them alive groups at a time, but like Nadia, he couldn't kill all of them at once, and both had already used much of their powers that night beforehand, both their noses starting to run with blood as well.

Steve was trying to help with the nail bat by hitting the creatures repeatedly, and Hopper was trying to help by firing a machine gun that wasn't helping much, but more and more started to come.

Steve grabbed Nadia by the arm, pulling her toward the door. "Go!"

Hopper steadied Natasha, pulling her toward the door since she could barely stand anymore.

Niko grabbed Joyce, trying to get her to run with them. "Come on!"

Joyce screamed as she watched Bob die, trying to get to him, but Niko and Hopper held her back. "No! Bob! Bob! No!"

∰

Outside

Hopper, Niko and Steve got Natasha, Joyce and Nadia outside.

Natasha turned back to the doors, using the rest of her energy to put up a shield in front of the doors to keep more Demodogs from following them.

Mike was with Will, watching in shock. "What happened?"

Hopper held Joyce back from the doors. "He's gone! He's gone!"

Jonathan pulled his car up to them, with Nancy in the passenger seat. "Come on! Get in!"

Hopper picked up Will, running to put him in the car. Mike and Niko quickly got into the back with Will.

Hailey ran closer. "I found Hopper and Natasha's cars."

They all ran away to get into the cars, with Nadia getting into the driver's seat of Natasha's car to drive, and Steve, Hailey and Joyce in there with them.

As Hopper ran to get Natasha to his car, Natasha held herself up by his shoulders, her other arm stretched toward the building to keep the shield up for as long as she could even though the shield was starting to fade, but it bought them all enough time to get into the cars.

∰

Outside the Gate

Dustin, Lucas and Max were waiting outside the gate.

Max looked toward the building. "Guys."

When they saw the three cars driving closer, they ducked out of the way.

"Look out!" Lucas told them.

Jonathan drove away with Nancy, Will, Niko and Mike in the car, and Nadia drove away with Steve, Hailey and Joyce in the car.

Hopper stopped his truck, with Natasha in the passenger seat, looking outside at Dustin, Lucas and Max. "Let's go."

The three hurriedly got into the back of the police car, and Hopper drove them away to follow the other two cars as fast as he could, all of them having enough time to drive away to safety.

∰

Inside

Other Demodogs that weren't trying to get out were feasting on the dead body of Bob Newby.

∰

Motel 6 - Ruby's Motel Room

(Song:) Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

Getting ready for her date that she didn't know was already ruined yet because she didn't have a phone in the motel, Ruby stood at a mirror, putting dark colored lipstick on, snapping the tube closed, putting the lipstick in her pocket, trailing a finger along her arm up her shoulder, neck, and other side of her head, up to her hair without taking her eyes from the mirror, clearly pumped up. She reached up to undo her ponytail to let her hair down, shaking it out, brushing it out to make it look good. She tried to take a step away, hit with a pang of pain because of the bite mark in her leg from being bit by a Demodog. She sighed, having to sit down, looking down at her leg, rolling up her jeans to look at the wound, which was gruesome and very painful looking, throbbing a bit. Ruby winced in pain, noticing that the wound was still bleeding a little, reaching over to a First Aid Kit to grab disinfectant and such to clean the wound, and apply bandages, sighing heavily. Stressing because of the date and because of the pressure she was under having just found out she had powers, won a battle and nearly died doing so, and having to control her powers, Ruby took out a cigarette to light it, smoking, tossing the lighter through the air, causing the flame to fade as she caught the lighter right side up, clicking it shut with her thumb.

There was a loud knock on her door.

Ruby, thinking it was Billy there for their date, smiled a bit, sighing, determined to help both him and herself with her new power, to be able to make them both more sane so they didn't have to suffer, and other people around them didn't have to suffer because of them. She stood, limping over to the door because of her hurt leg, turning off the radio on the way.

(Song Ends)

The knocking on the door was more persistent this time.

Ruby made her way to the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming." She unlocked the door, starting to open it. "Well, well, well, look who gets excited for..." When she saw who was there, she glared. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Aaron, her foster father, was the one there, pushing his way past Ruby into the motel room. "I have a friend that works down the street. Told him to look out for bitchy redheads with attitude problems, and when he saw that you were staying here in exchange for working on the motel, all he had to do was call me."

Ruby rolled her eyes, sighing. "Great. What little friends you have, you use to stalk me. Get the hell out of here."

Aaron chuckled, shaking his head angrily. "You're used to running your mouth around every corner, Ruby. You're always cashing in your words like you've got money, but you don't got shit to eat. You may get this place for free to do the work, but how are you doing on things you need? Clothes, food, stuff like that?"

"Why the hell do you wanna know?" Ruby asked.

"The social worker stopped by this week," Aaron explained.

Ruby smirked. "And she saw that I wasn't there and she didn't give you your check for foster caring for a teenage girl, did she? Good. Revenge is sweet. Because now you don't get no money. I mean, it's obvious that you're too much of a deadbeat to get an actual job. Before, you were just living off the checks that you got because I was living with you because of foster care. And now that I'm no longer with you, you don't got shit. That's payback, Aaron."

Aaron was trying very hard not to lose his temper this time, trying to get her back in his home so that he could still get the checks. "Come on, Ruby. I think we both overreacted a lot of the time, don't you?"

"I think you did," Ruby answered. "I was just reacting to what you were acting. I'm not going back with you. I'd rather make it on my own than go back with you and further have you beating the hell out of me. I'm done with foster parents. I can handle myself now."

Aaron chuckled darkly. "You think you can, but you can't." Ruby was trying not to let him get to her, trying not to get angry because she knew that she would lose control of her powers if she did. Aaron held up a pair of keys. "Would you go back for these?"

Ruby looked at them guardedly. "Those my motorcycle keys?" Aaron smirked, nodding. "How'd you find them?"

"Manager of the trailer park found them when maintenance was trying to mow the lawn, when the damn things nearly destroyed the lawn mower," Aaron answered. "You'll get them back, if we have a deal for you going back. You get food, you get the rest of your things, and I get the money."

Ruby stepped closer, careful of her leg, looking up at Aaron, giving him a fake smile, taking the keys from him. "Or I get the keys and you get the hell out of here."

Ruby backed away.

Aaron pointed at her angrily. "We were making a deal."

"No, you proposed a deal, and I denied," Ruby corrected. "Rules and deals are the only things meant to be broken. People ask me why is it so hard to trust people, and I ask, 'why is it so hard to keep a promise?' Every time you made a promise to me, you've always broken it, so why would this time be any different? So, no, Aaron, I'm not going back with you."

Losing his temper rather quickly, Aaron grabbed the bottle that Ruby had on the dresser, flinging it against the wall nearby her. Ruby ducked, holding her arms over her head and face to protect herself.

Aaron glared angrily. "You bitch."

Ruby slowly raised her head, getting very angry as well, but struggling to control it. "You always want to hear a strong opinion, if it's the same as yours. They say honesty is the best policy, and since you're the man and say that you can tell the truth, but as soon as I do I'm a bitch. But I don't care about being a bitch, because I will be that bitch if it means getting you the hell out of my life, so let me be honest with you. If you ever come around here, if you ever try to hurt me again, I swear to you, that it'll be the thing you regret the most. I've seen people like you before, but I had to pay admission and sign in as a guest to insane asylums, but if you ever do that again, then you'll be the one to join those crazies."

Aaron stepped closer threateningly. "You threatening me?"

"I'm warning you," Ruby answered, trying to get him out before she lost control.

Aaron scoffed. "Well, I've got a warning for you, Ruby. If you don't take the deal, I'll make you bleed like a real ruby." He noticed her leg. "More so than you already are."

When he used that saying again, the one that she had heard so many times over the years from different abusive foster parents, Ruby was triggered with a flash of anger she couldn't control, and her hands started to glow with golden light that she tried to hide by putting her hands behind her back, trying very hard to calm down but couldn't do that with Aaron right in front of her.

Ruby glared up at him. "If you don't shut your mouth, the next thing to come out of it will be your teeth. You think you know me, but you never did. You think you own me, but you can't control me. You never could. You look at me, and the only thing that you see is some girl that you take in so that you get the money that you want from the state, and then treat me like shit. So listen to me. If you push me right now, I am going to explode. You scream at me, I'm just gonna scream louder. I'm dangerous. I'm warning you right now to turn around and leave right now, or you're not gonna last that much longer."

Aaron laughed. "I'm not afraid of you, Ruby. And I'm not going anywhere until you walk out that door right now and come home."

Ruby scoffed. "With you is not a home. It never was. You thought before that you got me, but you don't get me, you don't get me to come back with you."

Aaron nodded sarcastically, reaching out to hit Ruby in the face. "We'll see."

Ruby, on instinct, reached out to catch Aaron's wrist before he could strike her, and with her hands still glowing with the golden light, it burned into his skin without her meaning to, and at first she was unaware of it, but her madness power was turning the madness inside Aaron's head completely up, as evidenced by him going into shock and muttering to himself, screaming occasionally, whispering in incoherent sentences that did not make sense at all. He fell to the floor, holding his burned arm, completely crazy enough to not know what was going on or what he was saying.

Ruby was in shock that she did that to him, backing away, forcing the glowing golden light to fade from her hands as she tried to calm herself down. "Oh, my God."

∰

Byers House - Will's Room

Will was still unconscious, now in his bed.

Jonathan was sitting next to him. "Hey. Hey, there. I'm sorry, bud. Sorry I wasn't there. I should have been here."

Nancy was standing by Jonathan.

∰

Living Room

Hopper was trying to make a call. "Sam Owens. Dr. Sam Owens. I don't know how many people are there. I don't know how many people are left alive. I am the police! Chief Jim Hopper! Yes, the number that I gave you, yes. 6767... I will be here."

∰

Kitchen

Lucas, Max, Hailey, Dustin, Mike and Niko were sitting at the kitchen table. Steve and Nadia stood behind them. Hopper walked in.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Hailey asked.

Hopper sighed. "We'll see."

"We'll see?" Mike repeated. "We can't just sit here while those things are loose."

"We stay here, and we wait for help," Nadia told them.

Hopper looked around. "Where's Natasha?"

Nadia sighed. "Talking with Joyce."

∰

Joyce's Room

Joyce was sitting on the bed, reeling from the death of Bob, devastated. Natasha hesitantly knocked on the door, walking in, sitting next to Joyce to comfort her, not having to say anything to be there for her.

∰

Kitchen

Lucas, Max, Hailey, Dustin, Niko and Mike were sitting at the table, while Steve and Nadia were standing behind them.

Mike walked over to pick up one of the brain teasers that Bob had brought over for Will when he had been sick. "Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?"

"Really?" Max asked.

Mike turned to face them, nodding. "He petitioned the school to start it and everything. Then he had a fundraiser for equipment." He walked back over to them. "Mr. Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?"

Lucas and Dustin nodded. "Yeah."

Mike sighed. "We can't let him die in vain."

"What do you want to do, Mike?" Dustin asked. "Nadia and Hopper are right on this. With Niko, Nadia, Natasha and Ruby all burned out of their powers for right now and needing to recharge, we can't stop those Demodogs on our own."

"Demodogs?" Max repeated.

Hailey sighed. "Demogorgon dogs. Demodogs."

Dustin nodded. "Yes, thank you, Hailey. It's like a compound. It's like a play on words."

"Okay," Max said.

"I mean, when it was just Dart, maybe," Hailey told them.

"But there's an army now," Lucas finished.

Dustin nodded. "Precisely."

Nadia looked up in realization. "His army."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

"His army," Nadia answered. "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army, too."

Niko, realizing Nadia was right, stood, walking over to grab Will's drawing of the shadow monster to show them. 

Hailey took the drawing to look at. "The shadow monster."

Niko nodded. "It got Will that day on the field. The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him."

"And so this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asked.

"To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything," Niko answered.

"Whoa, slow down," Steve told them. "Slow down."

"Okay, so, the shadow monster's inside everything," Mike explained. "And if the vines or tendrils feel something like pain, then so does Will."

"And so does Dart," Lucas told them.

Hailey nodded. "Yeah, like what Mr. Clarke taught us. The hive mind."

"Hive mind?" Steve repeated.

"A collective consciousness," Dustin explained. "It's a super organism."

Nadia pointed at the drawing of the shadow monster. "So this is the thing that controls everything. It's the brain."

Dustin realized. "Like the Mind Flayer."

Lucas, Hailey, Mike and Niko all looked at Dustin, nodding in agreement. Lucas snapped his fingers, pointing at Dustin.

Steve, Nadia and Max frowned in confusion. "What?"

∰

Later

Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper and Natasha were now with the kids, Steve and Nadia. Dustin put a book on the table.

"The Mind Flayer?" Max asked.

"What the hell is that?" Jonathan asked.

"It's a monster from an unknown dimension," Dustin answered. "It's so ancient that it doesn't even know its true home. Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers."

Hopper realized the book was for the Dungeons & Dragons game. "Oh, my God, none of this is real. This is a kids' game."

"No, it's a manual," Dustin corrected. "And it's not for kids. And unless you know something that we don't, this is the metaphor..."

"Analogy," Lucas interjected.

Niko gave Lucas a look. "Analogy? That's what you're worried about? Fine. An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is."

"Okay, so this mind flamer thing..." Nancy trailed off. 

"Flayer," Nadia corrected. "Mind Flayer."

Nancy sighed. "What does it want?"

"To conquer us, basically," Dustin answered. "It believes it's the master race."

Steve stammered a bit. "Like the Germans?"

"Uh, the Nazis?" Hailey asked.

Steve nodded. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Nazis."

"Uh, if the Nazis were from another dimension, totally," Hailey answered.

"Uh, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself," Dustin explained. 

Mike nodded. "It wants to spread, take over other dimensions."

"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it," Lucas told them.

"That's great," Steve told them sarcastically, turning away. "That's great. That's really great. Jesus."

"Okay, so if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything, then if we kill it..." Nancy trailed off.

Nadia nodded in confirmation. "We kill everything it controls."

"We win," Mike told them.

"Theoretically," Lucas agreed.

"Great," Natasha told them. "So how do we kill this thing? Shoot it with fireballs or something?"

Dustin chuckled. "No. No, no fire--no fireballs. Uh, you summon an undead army, uh, because... because zombies, you know, they don't have brains, and the Mind Flayer, it--it--it likes brains. It's just a game. It's a game."

Hopper was completely exasperated. "What the hell are we doing here?"

"I thought we were waiting for your military backup," Hailey told him mockingly.

"We are," Hopper answered.

"But even if they come, how are they gonna stop this?" Mike asked. "You can't just shoot this with guns."

"You don't know that," Hopper told them. "We don't know anything."

"We know it's already killed everybody in that lab," Mike replied.

"And we know the monsters are gonna molt again," Lucas added.

"And we know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town," Niko agreed.

Joyce walked in. "They're right." They all looked at Joyce in surprise. "We have to kill it. I want to kill it."

Natasha walked toward her in concern. "Me too. Me too, Joyce, okay?"

"But how do we do that?" Hopper asked. "We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here."

Mike looked toward Will's room. "No. But he does."

Niko nodded. "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it. He'll know its weakness."

"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore," Max told them in confusion. "That he's a spy for the Mind Flayer now."

Mike sighed. "Yeah, but he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is."

∰

Outside Shed

Hopper and Natasha walked out to check on the shed to see if it was capable of being used.

Hopper nodded. "Yeah, this'll work."

Hopper and Natasha cleared out most of the things in the shed.

∰

Later

Nadia and Steve were putting up curtains to make the shed unrecognizable. 

Nadia looked up at him. "Hey. What you did, um, coming in with me to the lab, helping me... and helping me with the kids... that was really cool."

"Yeah," Steve agreed. "And Hailey's just been mocking us by calling us the parents since this whole thing started. Ruby didn't help with that. The kids, Ruby, those little shits are real trouble, you know?"

Nadia couldn't help a smile. "Believe me, I know."

Steve looked at her curiously. "Hey, Nadia? Do you remember what you were saying, when you were lashing out because of the after effects of Ruby's power? About not having anyone and being lonely?"

"Yeah," Nadia answered, embarrassed for saying that to him. "I like to be alone, but I hate being lonely. There's a fine line between the two."

Steve sighed, nodding. "Yeah, I know the feeling."

They shared a look an awkward smile before getting back to work.

∰

Outside

Dustin and Hailey were going through things.

"Let's see what we have here," Hailey said.

Dustin looked up hesitantly. "Hailey?" Hailey looked at him. "I'm--I'm sorry about Dart and all. I guess I just thought that he was my friend. I was wrong. And if you hate me for breaking the rule of law, and putting us all in danger, I understand."

Hailey sighed. "I don't hate you, Dustin. I was just mad, because of the lying, and the danger and all of that. And then you say that you were just using Dart to impress a girl that you like, and you thought that I didn't know that you were talking about me." Dustin looked busted. Hailey smirked. "And I heard Steve threaten you on the train tracks." Dustin nodded, looking down, pressing his lips together. Hailey chuckled. "But back on the bus, when we were holding hands, guess I kinda admitted to myself something that I didn't really know for sure until then." Dustin frowned in confusion. "I think I was so mad about the secrets is because... I like you, too."

Dustin smiled in relief, stunned, very happy. "I knew you felt it, too."

"Felt what?" Hailey asked.

"The electricity," Dustin answered.

Hailey laughed lightly, smiling. Dustin and Hailey smiled at each other.

∰

Inside - Kitchen

Max and Mike were going through things to help.

"I get why El was your mage now," Max told him.

Mike looked back at her. "What?"

"Lucas, he told me all about you guys," Max explained. "About Natasha, Niko, Nadia, Eleven and Ruby..."

Mike sighed in annoyance. "Yeah, well, he shouldn't have. And just because you know the truth, it doesn't mean you're in our party. You do know that, right?"

Max looked down, a little sad. "Yeah, I know." She looked up. "I mean, why would you want a stupid zoomer in your party anyway? I'm just saying, Natasha, Niko, Nadia and yes, even Ruby, they're really amazing. And El? She sounds like she was really awesome."

"Yeah, they are," Mike agreed. "And she was. Until that thing took her. Just like it took Bob."

Mike stood, walking away.

∰

Outside

Jonathan and Joyce were standing outside.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Jonathan asked.

Joyce nodded. "He knew who I was. And he knew who Niko was. He's still in there. It's gonna work. It has to."

Jonathan nodded in agreement.

∰

Shed

Lucas, Max, Steve, Nadia, Niko, Nancy, Mike, Dustin, Hailey, Natasha and Hopper were all taping things on the walls to make the shed unrecognizable.

Jonathan carried Will inside, putting him down so that they could tie him to a chair. Joyce prepared some sedatives.

Niko was setting up a bright light in front of Will, plugging it in.

Lucas sighed. "All right, we ready?"

"Yeah," Jonathan answered.

"Kids, go," Nadia told them.

Everyone walked out of the shed except for Joyce, Jonathan, Niko, Nadia, Hopper and Natasha.

Hopper walked over, using the smell of cleaning supplies to stir Will awake.

Will gasped awake.

∰

Inside - Living Room

Dustin was sitting down. Mike was pacing. Max and Lucas were sitting on the floor. Nancy was sitting together at a table. Hailey was swinging the nail bat around for practice. Steve leaned against a wall.

Max looked at Lucas. "If he finds out where we are, will he send those dogs after us?"

"He won't find out," Lucas told her.

"Yeah, but--but if he does..." Max trailed off.

Lucas sighed worriedly. "Judgment day."

∰

Shed

Will was coming to, seeing Niko, Jonathan and Joyce in front of him by the light, turning his head to see Nadia, Natasha and Hopper. He struggled. "What? What, what is this? What is this? Why am I tied up?"

Joyce walked closer, kneeling in front of him. "Will, we just wanna talk to you. We're not gonna hurt you."

"Where am I?" Will asked.

Nadia showed Will the drawing of the Mind Flayer. "You recognize this?"

"Do you recognize this?" Hopper asked.

Will shook his head.

Natasha sighed. "Hey, we wanna help you. But to do that, we have to understand how to kill it."

Will raised his voice. "Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up?" He started to shout. "Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up?"

Nadia tried to calm him down. "Hey."

Will continued to struggle and scream. "Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up? Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"

The lights were flickering.

∰

Inside - Living Room

The lights started to flicker in here as well, causing Nancy, Steve and the kids to stand worriedly.

∰

Shed

Will was still struggling, screaming, his voice almost demonic. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" He slowly got more tired. "Let me go. Let me go. Let me go..."

Once Will was calm again, Joyce sat in front of him, and when she spoke, it was emotional, like she could break if she didn't get her son back, but she was struggling to stay strong after losing Bob, determined not to break by getting Will back. "Do you know what March 22nd is? It's your birthday. Your birthday. When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons. Do you remember that? It was 120 colors. And all your friends, they got you Star Wars toys, but all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colors. And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn't from a movie. It--it was your spaceship. A rainbow ship is what you called it. And you must have used every color in the box. I took that with me to Melvald's, and I put it up, and I told everyone who came in, 'my son drew this'. And you were so embarrassed, but I was so proud. I was so, so proud."

Jonathan was breathing shakily in fear at the thought of losing his brother, determined to get him back. "Do you remember the day Dad left?" Will turned his head to look at Jonathan. Jonathan walked closer to sit beside Will. "We stayed up all night building Castle Byers, just the way you drew it. And it took so long because you were so bad at hammering." Joyce and Jonathan chuckled emotionally, tearfully. "You'd miss the nail every time. And then it starting raining, but we stayed out there anyway.  We were both sick for like a week after that. But we just had to finish it, didn't we?" Will's hand started to tap on his chair. "We just had to."

Niko, angry that the Mind Flayer was trying to steal Will away, scared that they could lose him, but determined to get him back, more than he had been determined about anything, finally spoke up, with a few tears falling down his cheeks. "Do you remember the first day that we met?" Will turned to look at Niko. "It was--it was my first day in Hawkins. I knew nobody. I had no friends. After everything that me, Mama and Nadia went through, we got used to having no friends, until we moved to this town. I told myself over and over again during everything that I liked being alone, but sometimes I hated it, too. And... I looked over, and you were with Dustin, Mike and Lucas, who were arguing, but you were just sitting down and drawing, smiling, and I remember thinking, 'Okay, wow, he's definitely smarter than those idiots.' And you saw me staring and you waved at me. I ignored you and walked by and didn't say anything, but I saw that you were drawing a red dragon. And so for Christmas, after we saved you from the Upside Down, I gave you a ring with a dragon on it to symbolize that, and in return, you gave me this bracelet." He showed Will the bracelet on his wrist. "And you told me its meaning. You said that you knew that I was worried about you when you were gone, and that I hated not knowing where you were, and so with this, even when you weren't here, a part of you would still be with me. Do you remember that, last Christmas? I know that you're still in there, that a piece of you is still with me, even if the Mind Flayer's trying to take you. And the day after we first saw each other, you just walked up to me, and you asked if I wanted to be your friend, because you saw how lonely I was. And I said yes. I said yes. It was the best thing I've ever done. You convinced me to be friends with Hailey, to help Nadia and Mama teach her. And it's because of you that Hailey and I started to be friends with Mike, Dustin and Lucas, because we were all working together to find you, and now.... look at us. All one big party. But it's not that party without you."

Will looked like they got through to some part of him, as everyone was very emotional.

Joyce leaned in to whisper. "Will, baby... if you're in there, just please... please talk to us. Please, honey, please, can you do that for me? Please, I love you so much."

Will was close to crying, almost back to himself, but then he seemed to shut down again. "Let me go."

Natasha and Hopper noticed that Will was tapping on his chair.

∰

Inside - Living Room

Hopper, Natasha, Nadia, Niko, Joyce and Jonathan walked in to join the others.

"What happened?" Hailey asked.

Hopper wrote down the Morse code that Will had been taping. "I think he's talking, just not with words."

"What is that?" Steve asked.

The party, Natasha, Nadia and Hopper all answered, "Morse code."

Nadia wrote down the translation. "H-E-R-E."

"Here," Nancy read.

Jonathan sighed in relief. "Will's still in there. He's talking to us."

Getting an idea, Jonathan went to get his radio and cassette tape.

∰

Shed

(Song:) Should I Stay or Should I Go? - The Clash

Jonathan got the stereo set up, playing the song, sitting in front of his brother. "Do you remember the first time I played you this? Mom and Dad were both arguing in the next room. So I played you the mix tape I made you. And it was the first time you got into music. Real music."

Joyce, Niko, Nadia, Natasha and Hopper were with them.

Hopper, watching Will tap against his chair, used his radio to send the Morse code to the others inside.

∰

Inside - Kitchen

The other kids, Steve and Nancy were sitting around the table, listening to the beeping on the radio that signaled the Morse code that Will was taping that Hopper sent to them.

Lucas was writing it down. "Dash, dot, dash, dot, dot dot."

Mike used a Morse code translator. "Yeah, got it."

They all said, "C."

Nancy wrote down C.

∰

Shed

Niko was telling a Dungeons & Dragons story to Will. "And then the party escaped into the sewers, and there were those big insect things, and me and Hailey were still on level one, but you, Mike, Dustin and Lucas were walking us through it."

Will taped again, and Hopper sent the code to the others inside.

∰

Inside - Kitchen

The others were translating.

"L," Mike told them.

"Dash dash," Lucas said.

Hailey looked up. "O."

Nancy was writing the letters down.

∰

Shed

Niko was still talking to Will. "Then you cast fog cloud and you saved us. You saved the whole party."

Will tapped again, and Hopper sent the next letter to the others.

∰

Inside - Kitchen

Lucas translated. "S." Nancy wrote the letter down. "E."

∰

Shed

Joyce was talking to Will. "You saw that little girl and she was in the sandbox and she was crying. You gave her your Tonka Truck and I told you we couldn't afford to buy another one."

∰

Inside - Kitchen

Hailey helped with translating. "G."

∰

Shed

Joyce was still talking with Will. "You said that she should have it 'cause she's sad. You said, 'She's sad, Mommy'. I love you so much. So, so, much."

∰

Inside - Kitchen

Lucas translated. "A."

Mike translated. "T."

Hailey translated last letter. "E."

(Song Ends)

They all read from the letters that Nancy wrote down. "'Close Gate.'"

The phone started to ring, making them all jump.

∰

Shed

The Reeds, the Byers and Hopper could hear the phone ringing through the radio.

∰

Inside - Living Room

Dustin ran to hang up the phone. "Shit. Shit."

The phone started to ring again.

Hailey tore the phone off the hook, tossing it down so it wouldn't ring again.

Nancy sighed. "Do you think he heard that?"

"It's just a phone," Steve told them. "It could be anywhere. Right?"

∰

Shed

Will's eyelids were fluttering.

Joyce leaned closer. "Hey. Hey, can you hear me?"

Niko rested a hand on Will's shoulder, trying to read his thoughts, shaking his head. "I can't sense anything. It's like the Mind Flayer's shutting me out."

"It knows," Nadia told them. "It knows where we are."

Jonathan sighed worriedly. "Shit."

Joyce sedated Will to put him under.

∰

Outside

Nadia, Natasha and Niko walked outside, ready for a fight, when they heard the screeching of the Demodogs in the distance.

∰

Inside - Living Room

Nancy, Max, Steve, Hailey, Dustin and Lucas heard the screeches as well.

"That's not good," Dustin said.

"You think?" Hailey asked sarcastically.

They all looked at each other worriedly.

∰

Shed

Jonathan, Hopper and Joyce were untying Will, hearing the screeching.

Jonathan tried to move this along faster. "They're coming. Come on, we gotta go. Come on."

∰

Outside

Hopper, Jonathan and Joyce took Will out of the shed.

"Come on, come on," Hopper told them. "Let's go, let's go."

"Get inside," Natasha told them. "We got this."

"Natasha..." Hopper trailed off.

"Not a good time to fight with me on this one, Jim," Natasha told him.

Hopper knew she was right, but running inside just to get a gun so that he could hopefully get back out there to help the Reeds.

Nadia looked at Natasha and Niko. "I don't know if I'm all the way back. Do you?"

Niko shook his head. "No. But we don't have a choice right now."

∰

Inside - Living Room

Hopper walked inside to grab two guns, seeing the kids looking outside. "Hey. Hey, get away from the windows!" He held a gun toward Jonathan. "You know how to use this?"

"What?" Jonathan asked.

"Can you use this?" Hopper asked.

"Um..." Jonathan trailed off.

Nancy stepped up. "I can."

Hopper tossed the gun to Nancy.

Nancy caught the gun, cocking it, raising it to shoot.

Hopper started toward the door to go help the Reeds.

"Where are they?" Max asked.

Lucas was aiming his wrist rocket/sling shot.

Hailey picked up the nail bat, spinning it around, holding it up ready.

Nancy aimed the gun toward the sound of the screeching.

Hopper tried to walk outside, but he realized that a shield was keeping him in. "Damn it, Natasha. Niko! Nadia!"

Nancy adjusted her aim. "What are they doing?"

"Trying to keep everyone safe, like always," Hailey answered.

They could hear the Reeds outside, fighting with the Demodogs. They saw flashes of Niko's fire, and the purple glow of Nadia's psychic energy weapons, able to hear the sounds of the whip and the sword, able to hear Natasha fighting and the effects of her shield.

∰

Outside

Nadia, Niko and Natasha were still fighting, getting surrounded by three Demodogs, back to back, all looking worried since they had used most of their power that night already. Nadia's hands were glowing with purple psychic energy. Niko's hands were blazing with fire. Natasha held up her hands to conjure a shield in front of them to protect them from the oncoming army of Demodogs. All of their noses were bleeding very badly.

Suddenly, the three Demodogs were being crushed, thrown around by invisible force with relative ease, killed one by one.

Natasha, Nadia and Niko turned around in confusion, and stopped in shock when they saw who was there, but looking incredibly relieved. "El?"

Eleven stood there, managing a small smile, with her nose bleeding. "Niko. Nadia. Natasha."

Another Demodog ran closer.

∰

Inside - Living Room

The Demodog was telekinetically thrown in through the window, making it shatter, but it wasn't moving.

Dustin was breathing heavily in shock. "Holy shit."

"Is it dead?" Max asked.

Hopper aimed his gun at the dead Demodog, kicking it to make sure that it was dead.

When Steve, Hailey, Dustin, Lucas, Max, Mike, Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper and Joyce heard the door creaking, everyone turned around, with Hailey raising the bat, and Nancy and Hopper raising their guns.

Natasha, Nadia and Niko walked in, wiping the blood from their noses as they did. Eleven slowly followed them in. Hopper lowered his gun, sighing.

Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy, Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Hailey all looked at Eleven in shock, though Max and Steve had never seen her before.

Mike slowly stepped forward upon seeing Eleven, as the two looked at each other in absolute relief, managing small, emotional smiles at finally being reunited.