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Same Night - Day One

Eleven's Mind Space (Flashback to the Massacre of Hawkins Lab)

Night - Hawkins Lab - Rainbow Room

In the dark rainbow room, covered in her own blood, including coming from her eyes, nose, mouth and ears, Young Eleven was glaring through the broken window in front of her toward the Gate on the wall in front of her.

The growth that had quickly appeared all around the Gate quickly started to disappear back through the Gate, stitching the Gate in the wall closed, sealing it away, as Young Eleven watched in shock and confusion.

By the time Sabina walked in (after just waking up from nearly being killed by the door bashing into her head), there was nothing left of the Gate other than jagged, healing cracks upon the tiles on the wall.

Sabina looked around at the bodies all around her, disconcerted, swallowing. She looked at Young Eleven. "What have you done?" Young Eleven turned to face Sabina, breathing heavily, seething, looking furious but horrified by everything that had happened that night. "What have you done?"

Young Eleven just glared at Sabina, still breathing heavily. Soon, the anger left her face, as she looked confused and dizzy, lightheaded, and she fell unconscious right then and there on the floor.

∰

Ruby's Nightmare

Night - Hawkins Lab - Experimentation Room

Vecna still had Ruby trapped, as he had been tormenting her and showing her everything from his mind instead of hers so Hailey had so little chance of finding her and interrupting him from showing Ruby the revelation that her mother Melody was really Cheryl Creel/Number Two, and Ruby was Henry's niece, and Henry was Vecna, and that Henry had ordered the car crash that had nearly killed her/paralyzed her, but had actually killed her parents.

Now, it didn't matter to Vecna if Hailey found Ruby or not soon, because he was almost done with her for the night.

Once again, Vecna was showing Ruby a visual of when Sabina and Brenner had given Young Cheryl and Young Henry tattoos, along with her father Young Charlie/Anthony/Number Three.

"All done," Sabina remarked. "Not so bad, was it? See? There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Is there, Ruby?" Young Cheryl asked.

Ruby was trying not to be bothered by how many memories were being altered to talk directly to Ruby, but this time, it wasn't just a memory alteration, but another fear tactic.

Young Charlie looked at Ruby, his eyes completely white, his voice distorted like Vecna's. "Why don't you take a seat?"

Ruby shook her head, walking to the door. "Fuck this. I'm out of here."

∰

Hallway

Ruby ran into the hallway, looking around at all of the dead bodies on the ground, all of the blood everywhere, calling out. "Hailey! Hailey, can you hear me?! Hailey! I'm ready to get the fuck out of here now!"

The lights were flashing, flickering dangerously all around Ruby.

Ruby turned around, making her way quickly through the hallways to try and find a way out.

∰

Maze of Mirrors

Hailey was still dreamwalking as she was trying to find a mirror into Vecna's mind to get Ruby back, searching for worriedly in horror, desperate to get her back. "Ruby!"

Hailey finally heard Ruby's voice from a mirror calling out to her from her nightmare, as Vecna wasn't trying to hide her anymore. "Hailey! Hailey, can you hear me?! Hailey! I'm ready to get the fuck out of here now!"

The mirror was distant and Hailey barely heard the voice, but she did, taking off running toward the direction of she heard Ruby's voice in.

Dark Hailey was watching Hailey, leaning against a mirror, smirking mockingly. "Might wanna hurry before it's too late."

"Shut the fuck up," Hailey replied, walking on without giving her a look.

Dark Hailey smirked, shrugging. "I think you need a newsflash on who really has the power between you and me, Hailey."

Dark Hailey suddenly appeared in front of Hailey, starting to punch her repeatedly, making her bleed, even more angry and filled with hatred that Hailey herself could ever be. Hailey was at first shocked and stunned, but quickly adjusted, starting to fight back, spinning to punch Dark Hailey in the face, kicking her in the chest, making her stumble back just slightly, spinning in the other direction to backhand punch her in the face, making her fall to the ground. Dark Hailey stood, tackling Hailey through a mirror, making the glass break, pinning Hailey to the ground, punching her in the face, rearing her arm back as she let the gem and her eyes and hand glow with red power. Before Dark Hailey could do anything with the power, Hailey used her own power as a shield, and flipped Dark Hailey off of her to the ground behind her. They both spun to stand, facing each other, both thrusting out an arm to throw red glowing energy coming from themselves at each other, making the two bursts of energy clash in the middle between them with a small explosion of red power, throwing both of them to the ground. Hailey spun over the ground toward Dark Hailey to kick her in the face, making her snap backward to the ground, punching her in the stomach as she rose to her feet, glaring. Dark Hailey used the red energy to levitate herself up over Hailey, flipping downward toward Hailey to kick her back, grabbing her, slamming her through another mirror, shattering the glass, punching her in the head viciously, kicking her head against the glass, making her cry out in pain, flipping her to the ground, stalking closer to stand over Hailey, glaring. Hailey kneed Dark Hailey in the stomach, making her let go, headbutting her head against her face, making her back away, using the red energy to levitate herself up, and spin through the air, throwing a burst of red power at Dark Hailey to send her flying through a mirror behind her, making the mirror shatter, and Dark Hailey fall to the ground as the red energy faded from the air above her, as Hailey stood over Dark Hailey, breathing heavily. Knowing that she didn't have time to waste, and knowing that her dark alter ego was just trying to distract her, Hailey bolted off to go get Ruby.

Before she got there, Dark Hailey used the red energy to levitate herself up, almost flying through the air, to tackle Hailey from behind, pushing her against a mirror behind her to make her stop. Hailey was stunned that it could be used for more than just levitation like she had grown used to. As Hailey held her off, Dark Hailey grabbed Hailey by the arms, turning to throw her through another mirror, making it shatter and Hailey fall to the ground on the other side, with the glass raining down around her, cutting into her and making her bleed, as Hailey winced, crying out. Hailey glared over her shoulder toward Dark Hailey with darkness in her eyes, red glow swirling through her gem and her eyes as her sclera turned bitch black, the darkest they had ever been before.

∰

Reality

Night - Eddie's Trailer (Both Sides of the Gate)

In the Upside Down version of the trailer, Billy was still trying to wake up Ruby. "Ruby, just stay with me. Stay with me, okay?" He yelled through the Gate toward the others. "Whatever you guys are doing up there, hurry up!"

Erica and Max had been on the other side of the Gate with Hailey. looking up through the Gate toward Billy and Ruby.

Max was freaking out, seeing that Hailey was still dreamwalking, her gem and irises still glowing red and the sclera of her eyes black, her nose bleeding heavily as she was still trying to get to Ruby. "Hailey, come on. Erica, go."

Erica nodded, running toward where the others were all trying to find something to help. (the others being Steve, Nadia, Dustin, Lucas, Nancy, Robin and Eddie). "Billy and Max say you need to hurry!"

"Yeah, no shit!" Dustin replied.

"We're trying," Nancy told them worriedly. "We can't find anything."

"Even if we could find something, Ruby's cassette is at Lover's Lake with Billy's," Steve pointed out.

Nadia was still traumatized after Mirage attacking her mind with all of her childhood trauma and showing her the truth, but she was still trying to get through this to get Ruby back, turning to Eddie. "Seriously, what is all this shit?"

"What are you even looking for?" Eddie asked.

"Music!" Robin answered. "We need music!"

Eddie snatched the metal cassette out of Robin's hand, holding it up as he yelled. "This is music!"

∰

Ruby's Nightmare

Night - Hawkins Lab - Hallway

Ruby found exit doors, even though they were boarded up, running down the hallway toward the doors, starting to rip at the boards one by one, ripping them away. "Son of a bitch!"

Vecna appeared behind her in the hallway. "Ruby." Ruby froze, turning to see Vecna slowly walking closer. "What are you doing? It's not time for you to leave."

Teenage (16 year old) Cheryl and Charlie appeared, looking just the same as the day they had abandoned Henry at the lab in order to escape.

"You can't leave him like we did, Ruby," Charlie told her. "It doesn't work like that."

"He still has so much to show you," Cheryl told her.

Ruby was trying to ignore it all, glaring at Vecna, Cheryl and Charlie. "Fuck you."

Ruby instantly turned back to continue her attempt to open the doors.

Vecna continued to walk closer. "Now that you've seen where I've been... I would like very much to show you where I am going."

Ruby got the boards off the door enough to where she could kick the doors open with all of her strength, making them snap open, running through the doors into the next hallway to continue on her way of attempted escape.

On this side of the door, Vecna made Ruby see the bodies of the four guards that Teenage Cheryl had turned completely insane, making two of them kill each other, one kill himself, and another fall into a psychogenic coma that killed him slowly over time, along with the bodies of the orderlies that Teenage Charlie had killed with his psychic sunlight beam power.

Ruby continued to run past.

Slowly, the white tile floor turned into blood, thick and viciously red, as it caused Ruby to sink down, slowing her down as she had to swim through blood to try to escape, breathing heavily in anger and fear.

Ruby was pulled down into the pool of blood, coming back up for air, gasping, completely covered in the blood. "No!"

Suddenly, Teenage Cheryl and Charlie burst up from the pool of blood, gasping for breath, completely covered in blood. "Ruby. It's time to come with us."

Ruby backed away through the pool of blood to try and get away, looking shaken and finally a little scared. "No! Let me go!" Vecna watched from behind the door hallways behind them, chuckling darkly as he made the hallucination of her parents pull Ruby deeper into the pool of blood to terrify and traumatize her already overwhelmed and broken mind. Cheryl and Charlie grabbed Ruby and started to pull her down into the pool of blood, seemingly pulling her right through the floor, as Ruby was struggling all the while. "No!"

∰

Experimentational Room

In the experimentational room, blood poured from the ceiling like the blood from the pool was seeping through the ceiling from the hallway, and Ruby fell from the ceiling to the floor below, just barely able to land on her feet, still splattered in blood, and the blood that had fallen in with her landed on the floor all around her.

Ruby looked at the blood splattering her clothing and skin, raising her head to look in front of her.

Melody and Anthony, at 24 years old, the same age Ruby saw them last when they died, were there, both splattered in just as much blood as her.

Anthony pushed Ruby down into the chair behind her, smirking at her look of surprise and fear. "Take a seat, Ruby."

Melody leaned forward against the arms of Ruby's chair to cage her in, hands resting on the arms of her chair as she smirked at her daughter, tilting her head slightly. "You can't escape that easily, Ruby. Ever. Not like we did with my brother. Looks like you get to pay for the sins of what we did."

"We already have," Anthony remarked.

To prove the nightmare's point, Vecna made Melody and Anthony appear to have completely white, blind eyes, blood dripping from their eyes like tears of blood, dripping from their noses, mouths and ears as well, staining their clothing with their own blood, and making it appear their bones were completely broken in every which way.

Ruby closed her eyes, so she didn't have to see, breathing heavily, looking away with a tortured expression.

Melody and Anthony both waved a broken arm, as if conjuring tendrils from the around experimentational table/chair, which formed a straitjacket around Ruby to restrain her completely with her arms crossed around herself and around her ankles to pin her legs down, as she was completely unable to move.

Ruby struggled against the straitjacket made by tendrils, shaking, as she was clearly more overwhelmed and traumatized and tormented than she wanted Vecna to see, wanting to deny him that satisfaction of seeing her break, though it was obvious that she was completely furious and wanting revenge.

Vecna appeared, slowly stalking toward Ruby, breathing heavy, seething breaths.

Ruby glared at him, struggling.

Vecna leaned forward against the arms of Ruby's chair to cage her in, close to her face as he tilted his head as if in curiosity but anger with his niece, looking impressed that she wasn't already breaking completely after the way he was wreaking havoc on her already weakened, fragile and broken mind.

Ruby glared him in the eyes angrily in determination. "Enjoy it while it lasts. Once I am free, I will hunt you down..." She lowered her voice to a taunting whisper. "And I promise you I will deliver you another kind of nightmare. I will gladly send you screaming back to Hell, for good this time."

Vecna chuckled darkly in amusement. "Still so brave. I want you to tell everyone." Ruby could suddenly hear the ticking of the grandfather clock. Vecna raised his clawed hand to mockingly trail a claw down Ruby's cheek, only to make her cringe away from it. "I want you to tell them everything you saw. And what you're about to see."

Vecna turned his clawed hand toward Ruby's face, holding his hand arched as he let his eyes roll into the back of his head.

Ruby gasped as her mind was being filled with the complete destruction of Hawkins and everyone she loved, seeing glowing red portals ripping themselves open in the midst of glowing red energy, and all the death and despair that was about to come if they didn't stop it, and even the ones that would still come if they did manage to stop it. "No!" With each new vision, Ruby could hear the six chimes of the grandfather clock, screaming emotionally. "No!"

The hallucinations of her parents were still here.

Melody's voice mingled with Vecna's. "Tell them--"

Ruby yelled in fury. "No!"

Anthony's voice mingled with Vecna's. "Everything."

∰

Maze of Mirrors

Hailey, having gotten away from Dark Hailey long enough to track down the right mirror because of Ruby's voice and screaming in fury and emotional turmoil helped lead her directly to the mirror, saw what Vecna was doing, horrified and worried.

Dark Hailey watched them, no longer trying to stop Hailey, since Vecna had finished with Ruby for the night.

Hailey let the gem in her head, along with her irises, glow red as she made the sclera of her eyes turn black, as red glowing astral energy aura tendrils appeared around her, from within her body, trailing from her back as her aura appeared all around her. She held out her hands and thrust them toward Ruby's mirror, able to send them through the mirror without breaking it, and out toward Ruby in her dream. "Ruby!"

Ruby heard Hailey, and saw her powers reaching out for her, struggling against her tendril restraints. "Hailey!"

Hailey's red glowing energy tendrils became solid as they rushed toward Vecna, throwing him back away from Ruby and into the wall, with so much strength that it broke the bricks behind him, much to the shock to both Hailey and Ruby. But Hailey knew not to waste time dwelling on that now, as her energy tendrils reached out to Ruby, ripping the tendrils restraining her away, so that her own energy tendrils could envelope Ruby. As soon as they touched Ruby, Ruby instantly snapped awake in the real world.

∰

Reality

Night - Eddie's Trailer (Both Sides of the Gate)

Ruby and Hailey both snapped awake on either side of the Gate, both gasping, Hailey's eyes still black and red and her gem still glowing.

Ruby was so shaken to the core, traumatized, crumbling without anything holding her in place anymore.

Billy instantly caught Ruby in his arms, sinking down with her as she fell, holding her. "Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Ruby. It's okay. It's okay, it's okay."

Hailey had blood dripping down from her nose from the extended use of dreamwalking, collapsing and nearly fainting again for the third time that night, in extreme pain, mentally wise and physically after the fight with Dark Hailey in her own mind.

Dustin caught Hailey in his arms and sank with her, holding her comfortingly. "Hailey. You're okay. You're okay."

Seeing this, Steve and Nadia instantly walked closer worriedly, kneeling next to Dustin and Hailey to make sure Hailey was okay, as all four of them looked up through the Gate to see that Billy was holding Ruby, and that Ruby was awake.

Max saw this and instantly ran to the Gate to look up through it toward her stepbrother and sister-figure. "Ruby? Billy, is she okay?"

Billy looked up at Max through the Gate, trying to calm Ruby down, as she was shaking in his hold and struggling not to cry, holding a hand to her head to get her to look at him. "Hey. It's okay. I'm right here. I'm right here."

Ruby looked at Billy with terror in her eyes, and up at Max above through the Gate as she remembered everything that Vecna had shown her, tears in her eyes, her gasps shallow and sporadic, echoing.

∰ Worlds Colliding (Stranger Things) ∰

Kamchatka, Russia

Russian Prison - The Pit

Most of the guards were killed, as was the Demogorgon from 4.07, but some guards still remained.

A guard spoke furiously into a walkie in Russian. "What's going on here? Get the power back on!"

∰

Control Room

Murray picked up the walkie on the ground, holding it toward the control room guard, who was barely awake after being knocked out by Murray before, aiming his gun at the guard as he spoke in Russian. "Tell him that the prisoners are detained and that you're working on the power. Tell him."

Nadyr was threatening a worker in Russian to find a way out of there. "And that door there, where does it lead?"

"To cell block two," the worker answered in Russian.

Nadyr slammed his hand against the wall, still speaking in Russian. "No cell blocks! We need a safe way out of here."

Apollo walked closer. "Dude, you don't want us to torture it out of you."

Nadyr and Apollo exchanged a smug smirk, knowing they easily could get him to talk.

Nearby, Natasha was sitting next to Hopper, tying a tourniquet around a wound in his arm.

"Why am I not surprised that you ended up saving yourself, even after I escaped the first time to try and go save you from your psycho father?" Hopper asked.

Natasha chuckled. "Technically, Nadyr, Joyce and Murray helped save me and Apollo. But yeah, we did a lot of missions and saving ourselves too. I'll tell you all about it when we get the hell out of here."

Hopper nodded in agreement, looking at Natasha for a long moment. "I didn't know what would've happened after everything, if I hadn't been able to help, or if you didn't get free. All I knew was that you would likely end up dead. Which you almost did." Natasha tilted her head in acknowledgment. "I thought I lost you."

"We both lost each other," Natasha spoke softly, meeting Hopper's gaze. "But we're back now. And we're okay."

Hopper chuckled softly, like he was still trying to wrap his head around that part. "Yeah. We're back. We're okay."

"And we're gonna get the hell out of here, and we're gonna get back to Nadia, Niko and El," Natasha told him. Hopper nodded in agreement. "We're gonna see our kids. And everything's gonna get better."

"When I sent for Joyce, I knew not to get Nadia and Niko involved in this," Hopper admitted. "Not with Mikhail behind it. It would just put them in the same position you were in. And I couldn't let that happen."

"Thank you," Natasha told him. "For trying to keep them safe, too."

Hopper nodded, before looking away. "But if that thing was here, it means that it's still not over. And we don't know how how safe El, Nadia or Niko really are. Or Hailey and Ruby and all the others."

Natasha knew that Hopper was right and that was what scared her the most, pressing her lips together.

Joyce walked closer to give Natasha and Hopper both some water. "Here, you both need this."

Natasha and Hopper both took a drink.

Natasha held a hand to her torso in pain, clearly in a lot of pain since she had done so much fighting and used so much power that night, yet she still hadn't been completely healed.

"You did all that while you were shot?" Hopper asked. "Also something that doesn't surprise me. You are crazy, Natasha."

Natasha smirked, shrugging. "Yeah, tell me something you haven't told me before."

They both chuckled, unable to help small smiles.

Hopper glanced at Joyce, giving his friend a small smile. "And I guess you got my message, huh?"

Joyce shook her head sarcastically. "Oh, no, I just have always wanted to visit the Soviet Union. With Murray. And nearly die in two plane crashes and do two prison breaks with Natasha's not-so-dead brother Nadyr. And meet Apollo who is just as reckless and brutal as Nadyr."

Natasha pursed her lips together, nodding, smiling at Joyce. "Thank you, Joyce. For everything."

Hopper nodded in agreement. "Thank you." Joyce smiled, nodding. "I thought I got you killed. And Murray. I'm sorry."

"That's not on you, Hopper," Joyce told him. "We came on our own free will, knowing the danger. And if it wasn't for Nadyr, yeah, it wouldn't have ended well, but we managed to get through together. And you feel guilty that you thought you got me killed? I thought I killed both of you." Hopper and Natasha shook their heads to dissuade Joyce's guilt. "We had a funeral for both of you."

"Anybody show?" Hopper asked.

"Are you kidding?" Joyce asked. "You're the heroes of Hawkins." Hopper couldn't help but chuckle, while Natasha tilted her head skeptically, especially after how far she had to slip back into old habits and all of her history was brought up, which made it clear that she was no hero in her mind. "It's true."

"Yeah, I always felt I'd be easier to like when I was dead," Hopper admitted. "How about El?"

"She's good," Joyce answered. "She misses her dad. Nadia and Niko miss their mom. We all do."

Hopper and Natasha managed small smiles.

"I don't know," Natasha admitted. "I'm no hero. And I'm not sure how you would still think I am after what I told you about what happened with Nazary."

"What happened with Nazary..." Joyce trailed off. "You never forgave yourself for it."

"No," Natasha answered. "I never did. I hated myself for it. The guilt was eating away at me, Joyce."

"I'm so sorry about everything that happened," Joyce told her.

Natasha looked away, sighing. "And that's the thing I'm most sorry for."

"Is that why you're always fighting like hell to protect all of the kids?" Joyce asked. "To try and make up for what you and Nadyr did to Nazary?"

Natasha nodded, tears in her eyes. "Nothing I can ever do can make up for that. But I won't stop trying."

"Who's Nazary?" Hopper asked softly.

"I'll explain later," Natasha told him.

Hopper nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, everything stopped when they heard a bash on the end of the hallway outside the room, and a loud chittering sound like a Demogorgon, but this one was much weaker than the one that Natasha and Nadyr had just killed.

"What the hell is that?" Dmitri asked.

"Please tell me they don't have another one of those things," Murray begged.

Natasha and Hopper both stood, as they exchanged a look with Nadyr and Apollo, walking toward the door down the hallway where the noise was coming from, slowly and cautiously.

Hopper took the gun from Murray.

The worker tried to stop them, speaking in Russian. "You can't go in there. It's dangerous! It's dangerous!"

Natasha, Nadyr and Apollo prepared to use their powers, while Hopper was aiming his gun.

∰

Monster Cell Room

Natasha ripped the door open, walking inside, followed by Nadyr, Apollo and Hopper, all still ready to fight and kill whatever was there.

A weakened Demogorgon was strapped down to a lab table, writhing in pain and anger, shrill trilling continuing as it tried to break free. Its chest was cut open like they had been doing experiments on it, studying it.

Murray, Joyce and Dmitri followed the four more slowly inside to see the discovery for themselves, all confused.

Apollo slowly walked closer to the Demogorgon, letting his hands glow with his glowing green mist which surrounded and wafted away from his hands, conjuring hard light out of his hands and mist to create a crystalline construct of a hatchet, raising the hard light, glowing green hatchet and swung it down through the Demogorgon's neck, decapitating him, killing him instantly.

Natasha, Nadyr, Joyce and Murray were not surprised, but impressed.

Hopper and Dmitri were slightly surprised, but not much.

Natasha walked along toward the plastic flaps hanging from the ceiling, pushing them aside, only to find many more monsters from the Upside Down in the glass cages all around the room, stunned. "Guys."

The others walked closer to see for themselves, all stunned to see the monsters frozen in their cases by liquid and ice, but none of them actually dead. There were two more Demogorgons, several Demodogs, and others of the same variety.

Joyce was shocked, sick to her stomach. "Oh, my God."

"Are all these monsters from the Upside Down?" Apollo asked.

"Yeah," Hopper answered.

They continued to look through the cases.

"The hell are they doing with them?" Nadyr asked.

Natasha found something else in a case. "Jim."

Hopper walked toward her, as they both looked into the glass cage in front of them. Nadyr, Apollo, Joyce and Murray walked closer to stand behind them and see as well.

In the case, it was swirling particles, or shadow, just like the shadow and particles that created the Mind Flayer, moving around as if it had a mind of its own, but it definitely disconnected from the rest of the shadow that created the Mind Flayer.

Apollo was overwhelmed with the sense of feeling, continuing to walk along. "That's not it. There's more."

"What do you mean, more?" Nadyr asked.

Apollo's eyes glowed green as they did when he used his echolocation power. "It's the same feeling from outside, earlier."

"When you asked if we had been here before because some people have similar energy and frequency signatures," Natasha stated. "Especially if they're family and even more if they're psionic."

"Yeah," Apollo answered. "Someone or something in here is connected to your family. The frequency signature is massive and pretty connected."

Apollo started to follow his sense of power, his eyes still glowing.

"What are you doing?" Nadyr asked. "Apollo, wait. We don't know what all can be out here."

∰

Gate Room

Apollo, eyes still glowing green, slowly walked into the room where there was a small Gate to the Upside Down in the middle of the room, stunned.

This was only a temporary door that came with Niko's world-wide blast mixing with the Mind Flayer energy. The telepathic energy coming from the blast, from Niko and Mirage's powers combined, was enough to get into Natasha and Nadyr's heads easily even when they weren't directly in the room, to realize who Apollo was, recognizing him as a Rostov even when he himself didn't know that yet.

Apollo heard whispers due to his powers, walking closer and closer to the Gate, looking stunned by the sight before him.

Suddenly in a nightmare, Apollo was grabbed by a tendril coming from the gate, pulled right toward the opening of the Gate, which he fought back against, managing to flip himself up to his feet, holding out his hands, which glowed with green mist as he conjured glowing green hard light into crystalline constructs of stilts that he stabbed into the ground to keep himself from being pulled through.

Calliope appeared through a wave of orange and purple energy, running closer. "Apollo!"

Apollo looked back at Calliope; even though he had never got the chance to meet his sister, he knew what she looked like, and was in shock to see even a nightmare version of his older sister. "Calliope! Calliope, go back, now!" A glowing orange and purple tendril snaked through the air, before wrapping around Calliope's ankle, pulling her feet out from underneath her, dragging her right to the Gate. "Calliope! No!"

As Calliope was pulled toward the Gate, Apollo reached out to grab hold of Calliope's hands, struggling to keep them both from being pulled through.

Calliope screamed in pain as her legs started to be pulled through the Gate. "Don't let go!"

Apollo was holding on for dear life, afraid, devastated at what he knew was about to happen. "Calliope!" Calliope was ripped from Apollo's grasp, straight into the Gate, as they both screamed. "Calliope!"

The Gate disappeared, and Apollo fell to the ground, holding Calliope's severed arms in his hands as she had truly been ripped from him. Apollo was left looking at the severed arms in his hands in traumatized, horrified shock.

In reality, Natasha and Nadyr had followed Apollo into the room, and were stunned by the Gate in front of them.

Nadyr placed a hand on Apollo's shoulders to snap him out of the nightmare in his head. "Apollo? What's going on?"

Apollo jumped, snapping out of it, the glow fading from his eyes as he turned toward Natasha and Nadyr. "You didn't see?"

"See what?" Natasha asked. "Get away from the Gate. It leads to the Upside Down."

Apollo stammered nervously, clearly scared, slightly traumatized from what he had just seen in the nightmare. "I--I saw Calliope. She was here, and she got ripped away from me into the Gate. I had--I was holding her arms that ripped from her body..."

Natasha and Nadyr both looked concerned and worried, horrified by the description of the nightmare.

Nadyr placed his hands on Apollo's shoulders. "Apollo, listen to me. Calliope is not here. Okay? She's heading to Corinth with Mike and Jonathan to get to Niko, Eleven, Will and Sabina, right? That's what you said." Apollo nodded barely. "None of what you just saw was real, okay? Calliope's safe. She's alive. I promise you. Okay?"

Apollo nodded shakily, relieved and reassured by the words, comforted. "Okay. Calliope's alive. Okay. She's safe. But what about the..."

"The nightmare?" Natasha finished. "I have no idea, so why don't we just get the hell away from this thing before it has the chance to do it again to someone else?"

Nadyr and Apollo nodded in agreement.

Joyce, Hopper and Murray walked in.

"Hey, what's going on?" Hopper asked.

"Are you guys okay?" Joyce asked.

"We're fine," Nadyr replied. "We just need to get the hell out of here."

Behind them, Dmitri suddenly ripped open the plastic flaps hanging from the ceiling to call out to to them. "Hey." Joyce gasped, as they all turned to look at him. "Found something."

Dmitri led the group toward a vent in the floor, kneeling next to it, lifting the crate lid, tossing it aside.

Hopper knelt down to peer into the vent, seeing that it was big enough for any of them to fit through, and it led right to a tunnel. He sat up, facing Dmitri kneeling on the floor next to him. "Think this'll lead us outta here?"

Dmitri shrugged. "I give it a hundred to one odds."

Hopper chuckled, looking at the others, nodding, letting himself down through the ventilator shaft into the tunnel below. One by one, Natasha, Nadyr, Joyce, Murray and Dmitri followed.

Apollo glanced back at the Gate behind him, still reeling from the nightmare about Calliope being ripped away from him but knowing that Natasha and Nadyr were right and that it was just a nightmare, Apollo followed the others into the tunnel below.

∰

City of Corinth

Sabina's Headquarters - Nina Lab

Eleven had had suffered a cardiac arrest after all of her memories surfacing with Henry, and finally getting her powers back with Niko and Sabina's help.

Sabina, Niko and Will were standing around her in concern and worry.

A doctor was using defibrillators to restart Eleven's heart. "One, two, three. Again. And one, two, three. Again. One, two, three."

Finally, Eleven gasped awake, the machines going haywire but starting to settle down when her heart was beating again. She was breathing heavily, her vision disoriented and blurred.

She could barely hear the muffled words Niko and Will told her in comfort and reassurance, along the lines of "You're okay. You got through it. You did so good. Are you all right?", etc.

Sabina placed a breathing mask over Eleven's face to help her recover.

Eleven started to calm down and relax, her vision and hearing slowly clearing up, as she could see and hear better by each second.

"How do you feel?" Sabina asked.

"Can you hear us?" Will asked worriedly.

"El," Niko said worriedly. "Can you hear us?"

Eleven saw a rush of the memories from before all over again, overwhelmed. She slowly started to take the breathing mask off, placing it aside, sitting up, breathing deeply. She took off the heart monitor equipment, making it flatline, though she was fine. She stood, walking toward the Nina tank, taking deep, determined breaths as she stared at the tank, raising her arm slowly toward it, closing her eyes in focus.

Immediately, the lights started to flash, and Eleven's heightened, powered up telekinesis was able to shake the entire Nina tank, popping out each bolt pinning it to the floor, as she let out a breath, and easily levitated the tank off the floor, even as the metal groaned. Blood dripped down her nose in a single line, but this appeared so easy and effortless, as she levitated the tank all the way up to the ceiling, before slowly lowering it back to the floor, taking it one inch at a time, easily placing it down on the floor once again. Once she did, the lights stopped flashing, and Eleven opened her eyes.

Niko and Will smiled in awe and pride.

Sabina placed her hands on her hips, nodding proudly.

Eleven turned her head to look at them, still overwhelmed.

∰

Day Two

Morning - Dock

Calliope, Jonathan and Mike had just gotten to a dock, where they were about to use the Clandestine submarine.

"The Clandestines just have random submarines?" Mike asked.

"Not random when you know the missions we've gone on," Calliope answered. "And it took Rachel all night to secure this for us. Get in."

They all climbed into the submarine, sitting down at the three seats inside.

Calliope put in the coordinates from the piece of paper in her hand into the machine for the submarine so it would take them right there once they started to move.

"How far out is it?" Jonathan asked.

"If Suzie's coordinates are correct, 90 miles," Calliope answered. "And this submarine is the only way we're gonna end up finding it."

"I know that we just found out about the secret city or whatever Aris called it, but do we have a plan to break into a city that's literally in the middle of the ocean?" Mike asked.

"I might have a few ideas," Calliope answered.

Jonathan smirked in amusement, shaking his head. "Of course you do." He looked at Calliope in concern. "Are you okay?"

Calliope looked away. "I'll be fine. We'll find El, Niko, Will and Apollo, and everything after that... we'll figure it out. Buckle up. It's gonna be a long ride there."

Calliope, Jonathan and Mike buckled in, submerging in the submarine, and starting to head out, ready to do whatever they had to do in order to survive and save their friends and family. All of them.

∰

City of Corinth

Sabina's Headquarters - Sabina's Office

Sabina, Niko, Eleven, Will and Owens were sitting together in the office. Just like everyone else, they hadn't gotten the chance to change, while Eleven was still in her Nina suit.

Sabina looked at Eleven to explain. "After the attack, you fell into a coma. Like Henry and Cheryl, you had pushed yourself beyond your limit. And it very nearly destroyed you. The same thing almost happened to Nadia and Niko when they destroyed Andrei. Or sent him to the Upside Down, like you did with Henry. What you two did to open Gates to another dimension, was beyond anything I'd ever imagined. I've tried to do the same. I've tried. But I never could. And not just because I didn't want to take the risk. But when you woke, Eleven, something had been lost. Your memories, along with whatever else you'd found within yourself that day. But I knew then, just as I knew today, that your powers had not been lost. Just like Niko, Nadia and Ruby's haven't been. Back then, yours just needed a spark. Now, for the four of you, all you had to do was be cleaned from this virus that this monster left you with and remember everything you needed to remember to face the upcoming battle. After what happened, it drew Mikhail's attention to Hawkins lab. And I knew that I couldn't stay there and risk him finding me."

"So you faked your death, since people, besides Brenner and Owens, already thought you had died," Niko finished. "You ran. Went into hiding."

Sabina nodded. "And Brenner took over as first in charge. So when Eleven accidentally opened another Gate much later, he sent soldiers through the Gate, and kept Eleven looking, because he always thought that Henry was out there, hiding in the darkness. Just like I thought Andrei was still out there. It was nothing more than a feeling, until now."

Owens walked closer with the files of the victims. "Andrei and Henry have both claimed two victims each so far in Hawkins after the last week." Niko, Eleven and Will looked at him. "When I showed Sabina the files, she recognized the signs of the power that Andrei was using to conjure nightmare monsters into reality to kill his victims, or attack Hailey, Nadia, Ruby and the other friends of yours in Hawkins. And when I saw the other victims, Chrissy Cunningham, and Ruby's former foster father Aaron Johnston, I knew that that was Henry. They both were sending out messages, letting us know they're back. Of course, Nadia wouldn't remember any of this, but now you do, Niko. About Andrei."

"Do you think Andrei's already targeted Nadia specifically?" Niko asked in concern. "He's the one that kept hurting her. Torturing her when she was a kid. I remember seeing everything he did to her in both their memories."

"He will soon, if he hasn't already," Sabina answered. "Nadia was always his favorite to harm."

Niko, Eleven and Will looked sick to their stomachs, desperately worried.

"And Henry?" Will asked. "He's really Ruby's uncle? Melody and Anthony, her parents, are Cheryl Creel and Charlie Goode?"

"Yes," Sabina answered.

"You let Cheryl and Charlie go," Eleven told her. "Set it up to where they abandoned Henry just to see how he would react to their betrayal."

Sabina looked down in guilt. "I just thought he would get strong enough to overcome the Soteria in his neck. I never expected him to find my files about Cheryl and Charlie and be able to track them down."

"And order someone to kill them, and almost get Ruby killed and paralyzed in the process?" Niko finished.

"What were Ruby and her parents even doing, still in Hawkins back then?" Will asked.

"Cheryl didn't want to leave town because of her brother," Sabina answered. "No matter the betrayal, she always wanted to try and go back to find a way to rescue him. I stopped her time and time again, and her madness was too far out of control for her to try and do it herself, even with Charlie's help. They created Ruby's madness, adding to the insanity that she was already born with because of being a Creel. Just like Cheryl turned Victor and Henry completely insane just like her."

"Cheryl basically created Henry into a monster and showed him the tricks that he uses to torment people, our friends and family, now," Niko told her. "You made her and Charlie betray him and that made him snap even more than when they killed their own mother and sister and sent their father to the nut house for their crimes. You helped Cheryl turn him into the monster he is now."

Sabina looked down in guilt. "I know, Nikolai. And it's something that I will regret for the rest of my life."

"Regret doesn't change what happened," Eleven told her in frustration. "You almost did the same to me and Ten." She looked at Niko and Will in realization. "Ten. Calliope said that her brother Apollo..."

"Was number Ten," Will finished, looking at Sabina. "Calliope has been looking for her brother this entire time for nothing? You got Apollo killed. Everyone in the lab."

Of course, Sabina herself thought that Apollo was dead, so of course Eleven, Will and Niko did too, not knowing the truth.

"How many more kids like Calliope's brother did you get killed?" Niko asked. "Like Apollo? Like you got my Papa killed?"

Sabina sighed. "While your moral outrage is justifiable, can we get back to the point and figure out a way to stop Henry and Andrei now?"

Niko, Will and Eleven just glared.

"Andrei's gonna go after Nadia again, if he hasn't already," Will told them. "And Henry's gonna go after Ruby. He already almost killed her when she was eight years old, before he turned into a monster from the Upside Down. She nearly got paralyzed because of him. Who knows what could happen to her now? And they can control Hailey and get the better of her especially since Dark Hailey is clearly on their side."

"Why do you think it was so urgent that I sent for you?" Sabina asked. "Because Nadia and Ruby are two of the biggest targets for Andrei and Henry, who are basically powerless against them right now. While Hailey's a pawn in their game. And they're not afraid of hurting everyone they love and care about, everyone around them, in order to get what they want, to torment them. No more lies. No more games. All of your friends and family are in terrible danger. With each victim Henry and Andrei take, they are using Hailey to chisel away at the barrier that exist between our two worlds."

"Chisel?" Eleven repeated in confusion.

Sabina took a deep breath to explain. "Imagine, if you will, the barrier between our worlds is a... concrete dam." She picked up a pencil, starting to bend it, making it crack. "Andrei and Henry are using Hailey to put cracks in the dam. Cracks in dams create pressure. Left unchecked, the pressure will build, and build, and eventually, it will reach a breaking point. And the dam will burst." She snapped the pencil in half. Eleven flinched, while Niko and Will closed their eyes. "And when that happens, Hawkins will fall. Chaos reigns."

"How are they using Hailey to do this?" Will asked.

"That I'm not entirely sure yet, because I can't contact her telepathically," Sabina answered. "Either because of Henry and Andrei in her head to use her and control her, her dark alter ego, or something else entirely."

"I have been able to contact Hailey, and Dark Hailey kicked both of our asses since Mirage was just making me stronger," Niko explained. "But I don't know how they're using Hailey."

"For now, we won't know until all of you are reunited," Sabina told them. "All I know is that while she's a tool for them, she's also one of the greatest weapons and defenses against them. Now Niko and Eleven are in power, so are they. And as soon as Nadia and Ruby get their powers back, they will be too."

"You might not be able to contact Nadia and Ruby because of the Mind Flayer infection, or Hailey because of God knows what," Niko told her. "But I can."

"Trying to do so again so soon after what happened last time with the dark alter ego could very possibly shatter Hailey's mind for good," Sabina pointed out. "It could shatter Ruby's already fragile mind, and possibly damage Nadia's as well. You can't risk that, Nikolai."

Niko knew that she was right, sighing in frustration. "Then I'll try someone else. I don't know, Steve, Billy, Dustin? Their boyfriends? Hell, even Max and Lucas. I'm gonna find a way to get through to them, even if you can't."

"Steve, Dustin, Max and Lucas wouldn't be able to hear you from here," Sabina pointed out. "Not since they haven't fully had an experience with psionic energy."

"No," Will agreed, realizing. "But Billy has. Like me. We've both been flayed and had the Mind Flayer burned out of us. Would Billy have an infection like Niko, El, Nadia and Ruby?"

"I'm not sure," Sabina admitted.

"So even if we can't contact Nadia, Ruby and Hailey, or Steve, Dustin, Max and Lucas, we might be able to contact Billy?" Eleven asked.

Niko shrugged. "It's worth a shot. We need to get there, so I can get Nadia, Ruby and Hailey's powers back, now. Before Andrei and Henry do anymore damage to them, if it's not already too fucking late."

"If that doesn't work, I can Void," Eleven suggested. "To see if they're okay. To see if they know what's really going on."

Niko and Will nodded.

"Let's try that first, and try to contact through Billy after," Will suggested. "Because we don't know if that will work, but we know El can Void and see them immediately, even if she can't contact them like that."

"Let's do it," Niko agreed.

Niko, Will and Eleven instantly walked away, without looking back at Sabina after all they had found out.

Sabina sighed, tilting her head, standing.

Owens was not surprised, nodding, slightly sarcastic. "Well, that went very well, I thought. You eased them into it, nice and gentle, just like we talked about. Not ominous at all."

Sabina picked up a crystal shard from a table in front of her. "We were running out of time. We didn't have time to do this as gently as we first planned."

Sabina allowed her eyes to glow bright blue-pink-purple, trying to focus her power into the crystal shard, the energy shimmering underneath her skin, and passing into the crystal shard, which glowed brightly with her colors.

"What are you doing?" Owens asked.

"I'm trying to create a portal shard," Sabina answered. "Or a couple at least."

"I thought your portals didn't work," Owens said.

"They don't, when I'm using them," Sabina answered. "But I've been practicing. Infusing portal power into shards like this... and let other people throw them to create portals in the air for them to go through."

"And do any of them make it?" Owens asked.

"Not at first," Sabina answered. "They knew the risk. All those who went through were sick and dying anyway. They volunteered to send their lives as fast as they could to not draw out their pain. But after more practice, the people who volunteered did survive."

"And you didn't tell us this before why?" Owens asked.

"I didn't want to take the chance that something went wrong," Sabina answered. "But now it's looking more and more like we don't have a choice for Nikolai, Eleven and William to use one of these to get back to Hawkins to save everyone. Nadia and Ruby are two of the most endangered ones right now. I refuse to let Andrei destroy my granddaughter all over again. And Ruby's already almost died because of my mistakes and toying with her family. I won't let history repeat itself for either of these girls. Or Hailey, who's already died because of Mikhail and come back, turned into something she doesn't want to be."

"Attempt at redemption?" Owens asked.

"I don't care about redemption, Samuel," Sabina told him. "I just don't want these kids to suffer through the sins of the past any longer."

Owens nodded in understanding.

∰

Lab

Niko, Eleven and Will went to sit in the lab, sitting down.

Niko turned on the water to provide a calming sound for Eleven.

Will found a blindfold, walking over to Eleven to hand it to her.

Eleven sat down, putting the blindfold on.

Niko and Will stayed incredibly silent so that Eleven could go into her Void.

∰

Hawkins, Indiana

Trailer Park - Eddie's Trailer

Ruby and Billy were now in their world with the rest of the Hawkins group.

Ruby and Nadia were traumatized, tormented after being targeted by Vecna and Mirage all over again, and the secrets revealed in the worst ways torturing them.

"Mirage..." Nadia trailed off. "Andrei... he made me remember everything that Sabina had made me forget. Or rewrote to try and ease some of the trauma. It was to try and break me. Making me remember that he was the main one who was hurting me. He's part of the reason my father's dead. Mama, Niko and I were so weakened after what happened... that we couldn't save him. And Mirage made me watch what happened to Papa all over again. He... made the bullet wound appear in my neck like with Papa and threw me off the cliff... making me live through what Papa's death was like. And Steve and Papa reached up to pull me into the bloody sea. That was when Hailey saved me."

Steve sat next to Nadia in concern and worry, horrified and angry that Mirage did this to her, both now and in the past. Nadia looked at Steve with a hollow look in her eyes.

"Henry..." Ruby trailed off hoarsely. "Vecna... he showed me everything. How my mother Melody... is Cheryl Creel. How my mother is the reason why I'm so crazy. She did this to me. How my mother turned him insane and showed him how to give his victims nightmares like he does now. Because of her madness manipulation, like me... It wasn't a demon that was terrorizing the Creels. It was Henry and my mother. My mother drove Victor insane. My grandfather. She and Henry killed Alice and Virginia. My aunt and grandmother. He showed me everything in the psionic program. Becoming One and Two. Showing how my father, Charlie Goode, became Three, before Cheryl and Charlie became Melody and Anthony. How he had my psychic energy sunlight power. How they escaped when they were 16, when they found out they were about to have me. And Sabina let them escape to see how their betrayal and abandonment would break Henry. And he killed them. My parents. He's the reason why they're dead. Why I almost died. Why..."

"Ruby..." Billy trailed off lightly.

Ruby looked down at her scars with a shaky breath, trying to pull herself together. "He tormented me. Showed me things that haven't happened yet. The most awful things. I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this... giant creature with... a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins, into our neighborhoods, our homes. And then... He showed me Billy. And Max. And you two were... you were... he killed you. Like he killed our family. And showed my parents dying the same way. I can't watch the same thing happen to both of you too." She looked down, on the verge of crying, holding her head in her hands, clearly her mentality at an all-time fragile state after the night before. "All dark. All dark."

Everyone was stunned, in shock by what they had learned through Ruby, and incredibly worried about both her and Nadia, sympathetic and concerned especially about Ruby's mentality right now.

Billy took Ruby by the hand to calm her down, comforting. "We're here. Okay, Ruby? We're right here."

Max knelt next to them, rubbing a hand along Ruby's arm. "We're right here. Are you okay? It's okay."

Nadia and Ruby looked at each other, both concerned for the other after everything they went through the night before, both traumatized and hurting, but angry and vengeful.

"Yeah," Steve agreed, trying to reassure them. "Nadia, Ruby, they were just trying to scare you. Right? I mean, even if Mirage is Andrei, who hurt you so badly, Nadia... and even if Vecna is Henry, and Ruby's uncle... what he showed her next isn't real."

Ruby swallowed. "Not yet. But there... there was something else. Henry... showed me Gates. Six Gates. Hailey's Gates." Hailey looked up at this. "And they were spreading across Hawkins. They looked like the Gates in Eddie's trailer, and outside on the tree, but they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home. The way they went, it was like the glass breaking on the grandfather clock in the first Vecna vision. Ragged, and uneven, but destroying the entire thing and spidering out until the entire thing was consumed."

Because of Ruby comparing it to the grandfather clock glass, Hailey realized. "Six chimes." They all looked at Hailey. "Vecna's clock. During a Vecna attack, or a Mirage attack, it always chimes six times. Six exactly."

Ruby, Max, Billy, Nadia and Dustin realized Hailey was right.

"Every time," Nadia agreed.

Nancy nodded. "I heard them too."

"They've been telling us their plan this whole time," Hailey told them.

"Six kills," Lucas realized. "Six Gates. End of the world."

"If that's true..." Dustin trailed off. "Vecna's killed Chrissy and Aaron. Mirage's killed Patrick and Fred. They're both only one kill away."

Eddie put his hands to his head, completely overwhelmed. "Oh, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ."

Hailey was breathing shakily in realization, getting more and more overwhelmed.

"What?" Erica asked.

"It's exactly what Mirage showed me after I saw Chrissy's body," Hailey answered. "When he said that I'm in the middle of everything and that was why they brought me into it, that they needed me to feed and rise. This is what he meant. Dark me taunted me about the dreams where I kill everyone I love, and she said that they were going to come true. That I'm the monster that's going to end the world."

 Hailey was absolutely horrified and overwhelmed, emotional, while everyone was in shock, realizing that Hailey was right, horrified.

"Hailey..." Dustin trailed off.

"You are not the monster that's ending the world," Steve told her. "You're not even a monster. They are."

"They're using me to end the world," Hailey replied. "Dustin, Steve, you two and Nadia can keep telling me that I'm not the monster they need me to be, but obviously I am if I have the power to bring the destruction of the world, and they have the power to make me do it."

They knew that there was no way they could calm down Hailey or reassure her right now, but they were willing to do anything it took to stop this from happening.

Steve shook his head, turning toward Max and the phone on the wall again. "Try 'em again. Try 'em again."

"We can't risk contact," Nadia told them. "Not again. We'll lead Sullivan right to us. He already thinks that we're behind this."

"We have to do something," Robin pointed out. "We can't do this alone, Nadia. Especially without your powers and Ruby's."

"Plus there's no risk if they don't answer again and nothing is said, so no one can track us," Billy added. "And it's not like Niko can psychically connect to Hailey again after what happened last time."

Nadia looked at Hailey. "You and Niko really pulled him into the Maze of Mirrors, and Dark Hailey and Mirage nearly shattered your mind. You have to be careful." Hailey nodded barely in agreement. "And Niko said that not just Sabina is alive, but Nadyr and Mikhail are too?"

Hailey nodded. "Niko didn't have time to tell me much more, but yeah. They're alive."

Nadia sighed heavily in worry. "Max, try again."

Max walked toward the phone, picking it up to try and call the Byers in California, where they thought that Niko, Will, Eleven, Mike and Jonathan all were, having no idea what was going on with them, that Sabina, Nadyr and Mikhail were alive, or anything about Calliope and Apollo.

Hailey looked to the side as if she could sense something vaguely, but she was too distracted with what was going on here to pay attention to it, brushing it off like it was nothing, not thinking it was important, as she tried to stay focused on what was going on here.

∰

The Void

Eleven was watching the Hawkins group worriedly in her Void.

Max hung up the phone after not getting an answer.

"Anything?" Erica asked.

"No," Max answered. "Rang a few times, then went to busy signal."

"Maybe you punched it in wrong," Nancy told her. "Try again."

"I didn't punch it in wrong," Max replied.

"Nancy, I think she knows how to use a phone," Lucas told her.

Eleven walked closer, looking at Nadia, Hailey and Ruby in concern, as all three of them were shaken to the core with Andrei and Henry targeting and revealing everything to Nadia and Ruby, and Hailey realizing that they were using her to start the end of the world.

Nancy tried to call the Byers this time, but when that didn't work, she put the phone back in the cradle. "Same thing."

"How is that possible?" Lucas asked.

"How is any of this fucking possible?" Ruby replied, still lost in her own head as she was tormented by what Vecna revealed.

Max and Billy tried to comfort and keep Ruby calm.

∰

Eddie's Trailer

The conversation continued.

Nadia shook her head worriedly. "Something must be happening. I don't know what Niko needed to go there for, but it can't have been good." She had tears in her eyes, shaking her head. "I can't lose Niko and El too."

Nancy had tears in her eyes. "And I can't lose Mike and Jonathan."

Steve rubbed a hand over Nadia's back, glancing between Nadia and Nancy. "Shh, shh. It's okay. I'm sure they're okay. Niko, Will, El, Jonathan, Mike, they're more than likely all okay."

Robin tried to help with the reassuring. "Yeah, Will's become a little badass thanks to Hailey. And Niko and El don't need powers to be badasses, but Hailey did say that Niko does have his powers back, and that he's in the process of getting El her powers back. Jonathan was able to kick Steve's ass before, so we know that he can handle himself." Steve nodded sarcastically. "And Mike probably picked up a thing or two."

"Yeah, but Niko also said that they're in a city in the middle of the sea, whatever the hell that means," Hailey told them.

Nadia realized. "Corinth." They all looked at her. "Sabina, she, uh... before we thought she died, she told me, Mama, Niko and Uncle Nadyr that she was making a city in the middle of nowhere for psionics and soldiers to get them away from Mikhail. To save them, protect them, to make up for the past that she's done. I guess she actually did it. She said that Mama, Niko, Nadyr and I could go there if we want to be protected, but we never went, because we thought that Sabina died. We thought that Nadyr and Mikhail died too, but that's another thing entirely."

"Niko, El, Will, Mike and Jonathan will be here soon," Hailey told them. "That's what Niko said anyway. And four of those are some of our best friends, part of the party, and Jonathan's a friend to older ones of you. None of us can risk losing them."

"Damn right," Lucas and Dustin agreed.

Nadia looked at Hailey. "You said that Vecna and Mirage already tried to hurt Niko, and that he had to fend them off at the same time. That the blast wave that briefly gave me and Ruby our powers back really was from Niko."

"Yeah," Hailey answered.

"How could Vecna and Mirage hurt Niko if he's all the way out in the middle of the ocean somewhere?" Steve asked. "How would they be able to hurt him, El, Will, Mike or Jonathan all the way out there?"

"They used Niko's powers awakening as a bridge," Nadia realized. "That, and Mirage's powers are literally mine and Niko's. That alone gives him access."

"Well, if they're gonna be here soon, then at least we know they can't be hurt again without us knowing, right?" Eddie asked, trying to reassure.

Ruby was quickly pulling herself together, glaring out at nothing, clearly wanting revenge against Henry/Vecna for herself, her parents, and to keep Billy and Max safe, along with everyone else. "Henry and Andrei can't hurt anyone if they're dead." Nadia nodded in agreement, wanting revenge against Andrei just as bad, and to protect everyone just as much, for reasons much like Ruby's. Ruby stood. "We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down."

Billy stood. "Whoa, no, no, no. What?"

Eddie shook his head. "Nope. Nope."

Steve stood. "Let's think this through."

"What is there to think through?" Nadia asked.

"We barely made it out of there alive," Billy reminded them.

"Yeah, because we weren't prepared," Ruby replied. "But this time, we will be. We'll get weapons and protection. We'll go through the Gates, we'll find their lairs, and we'll kill them." She was clearly unraveling mentally. "It's irritating. Irrational. Know what I mean? What the monsters did to me? To all of us?" She banged her elbows down on the table, leaning over, rubbing her forehead, scowling as if she had a headache. "Bugs under my skin. And... I'm feeling a little..."

"Ruby, what's wrong with you?" Nancy asked in concern.

Billy placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder to try and calm her down.

Ruby stood up straight, shaking her head, pacing. "A lot of things, Nancy. But this doesn't have to be a complete disaster. If we take out Vecna, we take out Mirage, and save us and the rest of the world. Two birds, one stone." She clapped her hands. "Boom. You have two yummy dead birds."

The others all knew how personal this was for Nadia and Ruby, whether it was for revenge or protecting everyone, knowing that after last night, they weren't exactly thinking straight either, especially with Ruby unraveling.

"Or they'll kill us," Steve pointed out. He pointed between Ruby, Nadia and Nancy. "The only reason why you three survived last night is because they wanted you to."

"Nadia, Ruby, listen," Billy told them. "Mirage and Vecna wanted to get into your heads and set you off the deep end."

"Yeah, and it looks like they're getting their wish," Max agreed. "You can't let them do that to you."

"They're right," Dustin added. "They're not scared of us."

Robin stood. "And for good reason. We were wrong about Vecna/Henry/One and Mirage/Andrei. Sorry, what are we calling them now?"

Dustin and Lucas both said, "One" for Henry.

Erica and Max both said "Vecna and Mirage."

Hailey, Ruby, Nadia and Nancy all said, "Henry and Andrei."

This of course led them to be no clearer on what to call them.

"Right," Robin said. "We've learned something new about Mirage-slash-Andrei, and learned everything about Vecna-slash-Henry-slash-One. Andrei was a child-torturing scientist that got off on hurting Nadia and using Niko for his power before trying to use their powers for experimentation that led to them lashing out and sending him to the Upside Down and him turning into a monster, and Henry is Ruby's murderous uncle who was turned insane by her mother and taught how to torment his victims by Melody-slash-Cheryl-slash-Two, and they killed their sister and mother together and sent their father to an insane asylum to take the fall, and Cheryl, and Anthony-slash-Charlie-slash-Three abandoned him and he killed them for it, and almost Ruby when she was eight years old. And he's a psionic just like Nadia, Niko, Eleven, Hailey, Ruby and Natasha, only a sick, evil, male, murdering version of them with really bad skin. But my--my point is, they're super powerful. They could turn us inside out with a snap of their fingers. It's not a fair fight, especially without Ruby and Nadia's powers, and the fact they can control Hailey."

"So then why fight fair?" Dustin asked. "You're right. Nadia and Niko accidentally created Mirage. And Vecna is like them, and Natasha, Ruby and Hailey. But that gives us an upper hand. We know their strength, and weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?" Erica repeated.

Dustin turned to everyone. "Okay, we said before, before we realized how true we actually were, that when Henry/Vecna/One projects into the minds of his victims, it's just like Ruby's scrying, right? Mental astral projecting into someone else's mind, and he learned how to create his nightmares from Cheryl/Melody/Two, who had the same madness manipulation power as Ruby."

Max realized where Dustin was going with this. "When Ruby scries, she goes into this sort of trance like state. I bet the same is true of Vecna."

Lucas pointed at Dustin and Max. "That would explain what he was doing in that attic."

Ruby knew they were right, though she hated that her powers were so similar to Henry's. "Yeah. When I scried, my physical body was defenseless. My mind was completely in the body of another person. Max had to walk me along through the Upside Down because I couldn't see when I scried into the vines. But when I scried into somebody else's mind, it also meant that I saw all their memories and felt all of their pain, felt everything they felt, emotional or physical wise. Like with Heather and Billy when they were Flayed."

Billy remembered this. "When we got hurt, so did you."

Ruby nodded.

"Right," Hailey remembered. "I bet the same thing is true for Vecna. Defenseless while he's doing the same thing that Ruby used to do."

"Defenseless?" Steve repeated. "What about the army of bats?"

"Right, true," Nancy agreed. "We'd have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow."

Eddie started to stand. "And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?"

Nadia shook her head. "No idea." Eddie sat back down. "This would be so much easier if Ruby and I had our powers right now. Then Ruby could scry..."

"And take the fight to Henry," Ruby finished. "Catch him off guard."

"Scry into his mind, and then what?" Robin asked. "What, mind fight?"

"Why not?" Dustin asked. "Ruby's mental astral form got hurt when in the mind of others. Vecna has to be the same way."

"So they could literally battle it out in their minds without even having to be near each other, without anyone having to go near Vecna," Lucas pointed out. "Just like Niko and Hailey fought against Mirage and Dark Hailey in Hailey's mind."

"Almost shattering Hailey's mind in the process," Steve replied.

"That's because of a dark alter ego and monsters trying to control my mind, body and powers," Hailey retorted. "That doesn't apply for a Vecna mind fight in his own mind, or in Ruby's, or whatever."

"That still leaves Mirage, who was created literally by nightmare energy coming from Niko and Nadia," Steve pointed out. "Yes, Hailey's lifeline reality powers or whatever helps fight against him and Vecna, but..."

"Well, Nadia, Niko and Hailey are the best way to defeat Mirage, right?" Max asked.

"That's even if we can find him," Billy answered, frustrated.

"I have an idea for that," Hailey told them. "I got it last night when Niko and I pulled him into the Maze of Mirrors. Mirage always has a mirror when he shows up to taunt me in the mind scape. I've shattered it before when saving Ruby, Max and Billy to stop him from stopping me from saving them, but then it appeared again. And I saw his mind lair, which was like a mixture of reality and his reality warping power or whatever. So once Niko gets here, and Nadia gets her powers, I'm pretty sure the three of us could combine our dreamwalking, telepathy and tracking powers to get into his lair, of reality and dreamscape."

Nadia pointed at Hailey. "Genius."

"How do you combine those?" Erica asked.

"Yeah, how does one plan to combine dreamwalking, telepathy and tracking powers to get into a mind lair based in reality and dream land?" Eddie asked. "Can't believe I just said that."

Nadia shrugged slightly. "Well, Hailey's a dreamwalker. Literally. Dreamwalkers, once they get enough practice in their dreamwalking realms can go right into other people's dreams themselves. Just like Vecna and Mirage have found a way to do. And Niko was able to combine his telepath powers with her dreamwalking to pull him into the Maze of Mirrors. They can do that again, but since Mirage's lair is in both reality and not reality, my tracking power would be able to help with finding it and getting us inside."

"Meaning Nadia, Hailey and Niko could walk right into Mirage's lair," Robin finished.

"It's worth a shot," Nancy told them.

Nadia, Hailey and Ruby nodded in agreement.

Steve hated the idea, shaking his head. "Okay, no, no, no. This is exactly what I don't wanna do."

"It's a plan, Harrington," Billy replied. "You and I both know we're not gonna convince Nadia, Hailey or Ruby not to do this."

Nadia, Hailey and Ruby gestured to Billy in agreement, giving Steve a look, tilting their heads.

Steve sighed in frustration, but knew that Billy was right, especially after the looks Nadia, Hailey and Ruby gave him.

"So we just have to wait for Niko, El, Will, Jonathan and Mike to get here," Lucas pointed out.

Erica frowned. "So that Niko can get Nadia and Ruby's powers back. Hailey, Nadia and Niko can fight Mirage, and Ruby and El can take down Vecna."

Eddie pointed to Lucas and Erica. "Right, yeah."

"So all of this works good in theory and all, but there is still an issue," Robin pointed out. "There is no pattern to Vecna and Mirage's killings. At least not one that I can decipher. We don't know when they're going to attack next. We don't even know who they're going to attack."

Max looked down. "Yeah, we do. Vecna showed Ruby. He showed her him killing both me and Billy. And we can still feel him. We're still marked. Cursed."

"I thought that Vecna and Mirage both had to kill one more victim, not just Vecna killing two," Eddie said, confused.

"They probably both need to kill one more," Nancy answered. "But this isn't just about opening Gates for Vecna targeting Max and Billy."

"It's to torture Ruby," Erica finished.

Ruby swallowed, nodding, looking down.

Billy, Max and Ruby looked at each other worriedly in pain.

Hailey still couldn't sense the feeling she could sense something/someone close, not yet knowing that it was just Eleven in her Void that she was sensing, as she glanced briefly behind her.

∰

The Void

Eleven was watching everything from the Void, more and more worried, moving closer to the others slowly, step by step.

"So whether or not Vecna needs to make one more kill for a Gate, he's going to go after both Billy and Max to break Ruby," Robin finished.

"How do we figure out Mirage's next victim?" Erica asked.

"Mirage already sent my nightmare monster after us in the Upside Down and tried to make me make a wish," Billy explained. "He tried to make Max make a wish before too. I'm pretty sure that even if Vecna wants to kill us both, Mirage's gonna try to make one of us make a wish again."

Max nodded in agreement. "Billy and Ruby already lost their music. We need to get their Walkmans back fast. But when it's time, I ditch Kate Bush. Billy ditches Vandenburg. We draw their focus back to us."

∰

Eddie's Trailer

Ruby and Lucas both hated this.

"Billy..." Ruby trailed off. "Max... I can't watch you die like that. Seeing it in my head was bad enough."

"Seriously, Max," Lucas told her. "You can't. They'll kill you and Billy."

"We survived before," Max told them. "We can survive again."

"And this is just a plan for when we can actually pull this off," Billy added. "To shut Mirage and Vecna down for good before they try to kill any of us again, or anybody else. Especially after last night."

Billy looked at Ruby.

"We won't do it until we have Niko and El here, and my and Ruby's powers back, since we literally can't anyway," Nadia told them.

"Billy and Max would just be keeping Vecna and Mirage busy, at least, until Ruby, Nadia, Niko and Hailey can kill them," Dustin added.

"I honestly really don't care how you put these assholes in their graves," Billy told them.

"Me neither," Max agreed. "Just... whatever it is... whatever you do... try not to miss."

"This is literally a shot in the dark, powers or no powers," Eddie told them.

"A shot in the dark is really all we have," Nancy pointed out. "If we don't do something, soon, it means the end of the world."

∰

The Void

The Hawkins group all looked at each other gravely, knowing they were right, completely unaware that Eleven was watching them worriedly from the Void.

However, Hailey sensed Eleven more strongly now, after Eleven had moved closer to the group within the Void, looking over her shoulder toward Eleven.

Eleven looked slightly surprised, startled.

∰

Eddie's Trailer

Hailey looked over her shoulder toward Eleven would have been standing from within the Void, seeing an image of Eleven flashing in and out. In time to Eleven's image flashing in and out, Hailey's gem and eyes started to flash with a red glow.

∰

The Void

Eleven watched as Hailey's eyes flashed red off and on, along with the gem in her head, stunned and confused.

Eleven suddenly lost the connection, as the image of Hailey faded away with a whirl of smoke, followed by the rest of the group all around.

∰

Eddie's Trailer

Hailey watched as the flashing image of Eleven faded away from her sight, causing her gem and eyes to stop flashing, the glow fading completely.

"Hailey?" Max asked.

Hailey was relieved as she turned her head to look at the others. "El has her powers."

"How do you know that?" Steve asked.

"I sensed her," Hailey answered.

"That's why your gem and eyes were flashing like that?" Lucas asked.

Hailey nodded.

Billy remembered when this happened to him in 3.03 while flayed. "You saw her flashing in and out, didn't you?"

"How the fuck do you know that?" Hailey asked.

"That's how I sensed Eleven tracking me before, when I was flayed," Billy answered.

The others were slightly surprised by that but accepted it.

"Niko got El's powers back, and El knows everything we were just saying through the Void," Nadia stated. "So they'll know everything that we're planning and be prepared for when they get here."

Dustin sighed in relief. "Thank God."

"Now if only we could contact them like that," Ruby stated with honest sarcasm.

Max nodded. "At least we know they're on their way."

∰

Kamchatka, Russia

Russian Prison - Outside

In the middle of the snow covered ground a good distance away from the prison building, a manhole cover was lifted up off the ground by Hopper as he climbed out of the tunnels below, turning to offer Natasha a hand, taking her hand and helping her carefully out of the tunnel, as Natasha held a hand to her wounded side, but she was mostly okay, despite a slight groan of pain.

"You okay?" Hopper asked in concern.

Natasha nodded. "I've been worse."

Hopper tilted his head in acknowledgement.

Nadyr climbed out of the tunnel, turning back to offer a hand to Joyce. Joyce took his hand as Nadyr helped her climb out of the tunnel. Joyce stepped aside.

Nadyr reached down into the tunnel again, this time grabbing Apollo's hand.

Apollo clutched Nadyr's hand as he climbed out of the tunnel, walking away, still overwhelmed after his earlier nightmare. "Thanks."

Nadyr watched Apollo with a hidden emotion, as he was clearly trying to figure out how to deal with Apollo being his son now that they had a moment to relax and things were starting to calm down for a moment, but he had no idea how to handle it, and he definitely didn't know how to tell Apollo. He was also worried about Apollo's state of mind after the nightmare of Calliope earlier, knowing that it was still messing with his mind.

Murray and Dmitri both climbed out of the tunnel.

Natasha, Hopper, Joyce, Nadyr, Apollo, Dmitri and Murray all stood together, looking into the distance toward the city, realizing how close they were all to freedom for real, each exchanging a look.

Hopper placed a hand on Natasha's arm as they smiled at each other.

Joyce and Nadyr exchanged a smile.

Nadyr and Apollo high fived as Apollo cheered.

"It won't be that hard to get out of this place now," Nadyr pointed out. "Most of the guards are dead."

"Our van's just up the road in hiding in the snow," Murray stated.

"Lead the way," Dmitri replied.

Apollo smirked. "Don't need to tell me twice."

Apollo immediately walked off to lead the way to the car.

"Apollo, slow down," Joyce told him in amusement.

The adults chuckled as they followed Apollo through the snow.

∰

Outside the Prison Gate

Two guards were left overlooking the destruction of the booth and the gate to the prison that Natasha did in 4.07, and at the bodies of the guards that Natasha, Nadyr and Apollo had killed when breaking in.

The two guards both looked up when they saw the van driving right toward them and the gate.

The van honked repeatedly as it sped closer, taking down the gate, and Natasha formed a gold-glow tint shield saw to throw out of the van window into Guard 1 to impale him in the stomach and make him fall before he could shoot his gun, while Nadyr held his hand out of the window, hand emanating with a glowing red light before he shot a plasma blast out at Guard 2, throwing him to the ground before he could shoot, setting him on fire, but the snow helped him put the fire out before he was burned to death.

Murray was driving, yelling out at the two injured guards. "Sayonara!"

More guards ran closer to try and shoot, making the windows break, but Natasha and Apollo both formed gold-glow tint and glowing green hard light crystalline construct shields against the windows to protect everyone from being shot.

Even so, Hopper was still protective, putting an arm around Natasha as she had clearly spent most of her power the night before.

Nadyr, the same way, put an arm over both Apollo and Joyce's heads for protection.

Meanwhile, in the front of the van, Murray and Dmitri both ducked in the driver and passenger seats, but all of them remained unharmed as they made their great escape.

∰

On the Road

Murray was still driving the van. Dmitri was in the passenger seat.

Hopper, Natasha, Nadyr, Apollo and Joyce were in the back of the van, each one looking up, with Natasha and Apollo lowering their shields, noses bleeding heavily, wiping the blood away.

Nadyr wiped the blood on his nose away as well.

Natasha held a hand to her side in pain. "Fuck."

"You okay?" Hopper asked in concern. "You all right?"

Natasha nodded. "Yeah."

Nadyr looked at Apollo and Joyce. "You okay?"

Apollo and Joyce nodded.

"We're good," Apollo answered.

"I mean your nightmare about Calliope too," Nadyr told him.

Apollo nodded. "I know what you meant, Nadyr. And thanks, but I'm fine. It was just a nightmare, like you and Natasha said."

Natasha and Nadyr nodded.

Hopper and Joyce both looked concerned.

Natasha looked up at Murray and Dmitri. "You two okay?"

"Okay?" Murray asked excitedly. "I'm great! Whoo! Oh, nothing like a little prison escape to get your days to be exciting, am I right? Or am I right?"

"We're not out of the woods yet," Dmitri replied. "Our people do not take kindly to escapes. They'll be hunting us."

"So will Mikhail's men," Nadyr added. "Which is exactly why we're not planning on sticking around."

Hopper looked at Nadyr, Joyce and Murray. "Where's the plane that you three came in on?"

"Well, our first plane?" Joyce asked. "Um, that crashed."

"Crashed?" Hopper repeated. "First plane?"

Nadyr raised his hand. "Yep, my bad. When I got onto the plane to save Joyce and Murray, the power I used took the whole damn thing down."

"Like how Natasha used a grenade launcher to take down a helicopter in Karachi," Apollo said. "That was fucking awesome."

Hopper looked at Natasha in amusement. "You did what?"

Natasha smirked, shrugging.

"And our second plane, the one we used to fly to Russia and to get Natasha and Apollo out of the psionic prison, Mikhail took that one down with siphoned heat ray vision," Murray added. "But luckily we were able to get away from the prison before we crashed."

"Yeah, after Nadyr started an avalanche that almost killed us," Apollo stated. "That was awesome too."

"Long story short, I think it's a Rostov/a-Ivanov thing to take down planes and helicopters," Murray remarked.

"Shut up," Natasha replied. "We got another one."

"You did?" Hopper asked in relief.

"Yeah, of course we did," Natasha answered. "What do you take us for?"

They both smirked slightly.

"Yeah, let's see if you two take this one down, or if Nadia and Niko take any down," Murray said sarcastically.

"Bite me, Murray," Nadyr replied, glancing at Apollo given the fact that Apollo was one of the family too. Apollo gave a small smile, not knowing what the look was for, but not minding. "But nothing will happen to the plane we'll be using this time because I need that to get back to Konstantin without a scratch. Can't risk losing one of our only loyal contacts."

"Yeah, unlike Rake who tried to kill me," Natasha remarked.

"Rake tried to kill you?" Nadyr asked. Natasha nodded. "That son of a bitch."

Apollo nodded. "Yep. But I killed him, so there's that."

Nadyr raised his eyebrows slightly, tilting his head.

Dmitri sighed heavily. "All right. To America it is."

∰

Hawkins, Indiana

Trailer Park - Eddie's Trailer

The Hawkins group was still here.

Max and Lucas were sitting on the floor by the door.

Nadia walked toward Max and Lucas, looking at them in concern. "Max? Lucas. You two okay?"

Max sighed shakily. "Fucking terrified. But mostly okay."

"I just... I know a lot's going on with everybody, and I just wanted to make sure..." Nadia trailed off.

"We know," Lucas agreed. "Papa Nadia's gotta check in on all the kids."

Nadia gave Lucas an amused look, tilting her head.

Max and Lucas managed small smirks.

"We're okay, Nadia," Max told her. "As much as we can be, at least."

Nadia nodded in agreement, looking at them sadly, offering them both a hand. "Come on."

Max and Lucas took her hands so that Nadia helped them up from the floor, and Nadia led them back toward the others so they could all come up with a plan.

As they walked closer, Steve patted Max and Lucas both on the shoulders, worried about them too, but having heard Nadia check on them, nodding slightly.

"Okay, so what do we do exactly?" Erica asked.

"Well, first, we need to get back to get Hailey, Nadia and Billy's cars plus Ruby's bike," Eddie answered.

"Which are still at the Alibi," Ruby stated.

"And we need to get Ruby and Billy's Walkmans," Robin added.

"I think I have an extra at my loft," Ruby admitted.

"And I got another in my car nearby the Alibi," Billy agreed.

"Okay, great, so we just need to get back to the Alibi and Ruby's loft, where there would be police, and Ryan and his goons on the lookout for us in case we ever tried to get back, so we can get Nadia's armory in her car, and Ruby and Billy's music," Hailey said sarcastically. "Yeah, sure, nothing can go wrong there."

"Nadia's armory?" Erica repeated.

"My car has a mini arsenal, and we got the weapons that we got from the main arsenal of my old house in the Upside Down," Nadia explained. "Added with the weapons from my car, which has a bunch of spy stuff in it for anything you can think of, we should be good."

"Good enough to buy us time and protect ourselves until we can actually set the plan in motion to kill Vecna and Mirage, at least," Dustin agreed.

"And how exactly do we get there?" Lucas asked.

"As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks," Eddie answered.

"I think it's worth the risk," Nancy told them.

"Me too," Lucas agreed.

"But it'll take all day to bike there and back," Dustin pointed out. "We don't know if we have that kind of time. Especially Billy without his music, or Ruby if Vecna gets into her head again."

"Or if Mirage sends another monster after us on the way there," Robin added.

"Who said anything about bikes?" Eddie asked.

"What, you got some sort of car that can fit us all we don't know about?" Steve asked.

Eddie stood up straight. "It's not exactly a car, Steve. And it's not exactly mine, but, uh, it'll do."

"Well, the park might be mostly cleared out, but there's still a couple people out there," Hailey pointed out.

Billy sighed. "And we can't risk them seeing me, Ruby and Eddie."

"Yep," Ruby agreed, before remembering that she was wearing a bandana around her hair, and one around her hand. "Oh."

Ruby untied the bandana around her hair, before tying it up around her face, untying her bandana around her hand, handing it to Billy.

Billy shrugged, taking Ruby's bandana, tying it around his face.

"Works enough," Nadia said.

"Yeah," Nancy agreed.

Eddie turned to Ruby. "Hey, Red, uh, you got another bandana for me?"

"What do you think?" Ruby replied. "Those are the only two I got."

Eddie pouted.

Max got an idea, raising her eyebrows. "But I got something. In our trailer."

Billy raised an eyebrow at Max, seeming to know what it was already, smirking in amusement, shaking his head. "Really?"

Max tilted her head, shrugging.

Eddie chuckled. "Look at Little Red coming through."

∰

Outside

Eddie peaked around the trailer wearing Max's Michael Myers mask from 2.02 on Halloween two years before. Billy and Ruby peaked around with Ruby's bandana's tied over their faces to conceal their identities, Ruby wearing her gold bandana and Billy wearing her black one.

Behind them, Hailey, Dustin, Lucas, Erica, Nadia, Steve, Nancy and Robin were all crouching down, waiting.

Eddie waved for them to follow him, leading them toward two of the only people that didn't evacuate the trailer park like they had supposed to, as the couple was sitting outside of their RV.

The Hawkins group ran past the couple from behind the RV without them realizing they were there, and started to climb into the RV quickly through the window one by one, the RV which luckily could obviously fit all of them.

As soon as they were inside, Eddie took off his mask. "That was suffocating."

Ruby and Billy took off their bandanas.

Ruby went to lock the door of the RV.

Billy sat in the driver's seat of the RV, starting to hotwire it.

Ruby and Nadia walked closer to look at the hotwiring, since obviously they both knew how to do it too.

Eddie and Steve stood over Ruby and Nadia's shoulders as they watched Billy hotwire.

"Where'd you learn how to do this?" Steve asked. "I know Nadia knows because of being a spy, and Ruby was in a gang with fugitive parents and shit, but you?"

"Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was beating me senseless and teaching me how to hotwire," Billy answered. "Now, I swore to myself I wouldn't wind up like he did, but I ended up just as insane and abusive as he did before Ruby helped me get better with her sanity power, but still, now I'm wanted for murder, and soon, another grand theft auto on back to back days. So, uh, yeah. I'm really living up to the Hargrove name."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Nadia replied.

"You're more man than your dad could ever dream of being," Ruby told him. "And you actually care about getting better and not continue the cycle."

Billy nodded barely.

Hailey walked up to them. "Uh, guys? I don't think Billy, Ruby or Eddie should be driving. In case we get spotted on the road."

Eddie patted Hailey on the shoulder. "Oh, we're not driving, Hailey." He looked at Ruby and Billy. "Are we?" Ruby and Billy shook their heads in agreement. "Big brother Harrington's got her." Eddie looked at Steve. "Don't ya, big boy?"

Hailey, Steve, Nadia, Ruby and Billy all looked at Eddie in confusion and surprise.

Eddie just replied with a grin, walking away.

Hailey shook her head, walking back toward Dustin, sitting down.

Steve, Nadia and Ruby still stood up front next to Billy.

Billy finished hotwiring the RV with a spark, starting it, the radio immediately blaring as smoke shot out from the back of the RV.

(Song:) Up Around the Bend - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Steve, Nadia, Ruby and Billy exchanged a look with a smirk.

The couple outside shot up and started to bang on the RV. "What the hell? Hey! Open this door!"

Steve moved around Nadia and Ruby to get closer to the driver's seat, patting Billy on the shoulder. "Shit, go."

Ruby and Billy couldn't help but smile as Ruby darted back to the back of the RV, and Billy jumped up from the driver's seat and moved back with her. "Whoo!"

Nadia got into the passenger seat, while Steve got into the driver's seat.

"Fuck's sake," Nadia said. "Everybody hang onto something!"

Hailey and Dustin both sat at the table.

"Let's go!" Hailey said, a little amped from the adrenaline rush.

Max and Lucas ran to sit at the back in a booth like table.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Max said.

Ruby and Billy both hurried to sit down against the wall.

Erica, Nancy, Robin and Eddie were sitting on the bed and holding onto something.

"Oh, my God," Lucas said. "Let's go, let's go."

"Drive, Steve!" Dustin shouted. "Drive!"

"Go, go, go!" Robin told them.

Steve threw the RV into drive and took off speeding away through the trailer park toward the road, making the blanket on the side fall off to the ground.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Lucas urged.

Dustin and Hailey looked out through the windows as the couple ran after the RV.

"Shit, they look pissed," Dustin noted.

Hailey shrugged. "I mean, it's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop."

Eddie was head banging as they made their escape.

Steve got them to the road, swerving. "Hold on, hold on! Okay."

Erica couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah!"

"This is kinda fun," Ruby remarked.

"Of course you would think that," Max replied in amusement.

Ruby shrugged.

Billy smirked, shaking his head.

Nancy checked on Erica next to her. "You okay?"

Erica nodded.

Soon, they were driving down the road without stopping.

(Song Ends)

∰

City of Corinth

Sabina's Headquarters - Nina Lab

Niko, Will and Eleven stormed down the hallway toward the lab, toward Sabina and Owens.

"Our friends," Will told them. "El saw them. You told us that they had time. They do not have time. They're not safe."

Owens tried to get them to slow down. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay."

Sabina glanced around at the team of doctors and scientists around them. "Give us a second, please. Please."

Everyone left the room.

"Okay, okay, first--first things first," Owens said. "We're not gonna let anything happen to your friends, okay, kiddos? We will personally make sure of that."

"Well, we're already too late," Niko replied. "Ruby Charlize, Billy Hargrove and Max Mayfield have been cursed by Henry, or Vecna as they call him. Henry has already torn into Ruby and told her all about how he's her uncle and how he killed her parents and nearly her, and she's spiraling into craziness right now because of him. Andrei, or Mirage, already got to Nadia. Told her and showed her everything. Everything that Sabina tried to wipe from her mind. He made her relive our papa's death and did it to her before shoving her off a cliff in a nightmare before Hailey saved her."

Sabina closed her eyes. "God."

"They're using Hailey to open up Gates to start the end of the world," Niko added.

"They have a plan," Eleven admitted. "And it's a good one, but for it to work, Niko and I need to be there, and Nadia and Ruby need their powers back."

"And we need to get there now before anything else happens," Will told them.

Sabina nodded barely, handing the three portal shards to Will. "Then you're going to need these."

"What are these?" Will asked.

"They're portal shards," Sabina answered. "I infused my power into them."

"But you showed me that your portals--" Will started.

"I can't open a real portal and get people through unharmed in the official way," Sabina finished. "But I learned over the years that if I infuse my power into shards like these, and give them to someone, anyone, I've found that the portals will open to where they need to go, and they'll make it through unharmed."

"How many people sacrificed themselves for you to realize that?" Niko asked.

"That's not the point," Sabina replied. "The point is, these will get you where you need to go. I promise. But you have to listen to me. You cannot go into this fight without being prepared. You have to understand. When Henry and Andrei kill, they don't simply kill. They consume. They take everything from their victims. Everything they are and everything they ever will be. Their memories, their abilities. And we do not know where they've been these lost years. But if they have survived this long, we can only assume that they've grown in strength. To underestimate them, to act rashly, would be very dangerous. I don't want to upset you. What you've accomplished is nothing short of a miracle. You came to me broken and you've learned to walk again. But if you want to stop Henry and Andrei, you will need to do more than walk. You will need to do more than run. You will need to fly."

"That's why we need to get back, and make sure that they can't hurt our friends, who need us," Niko told her. "Me and El, we are more powerful than ever."

"Niko brought me back stronger, just like you did with him," Eleven agreed. "He can bring Nadia and Ruby back stronger. And Hailey's already really strong. Nadia and Niko have stopped Andrei before. I've stopped Henry. We will again, with Hailey and Ruby helping us this time."

"We can't stay here knowing that they're in danger," Will pointed out. "We won't. They agreed to wait on their plan because they know that they can't do it without us and without Nadia and Ruby's powers. But Henry and Andrei are not going to wait around for any of us. They're going to go after them again. We need to be there and fix their damage and prepare for a fight that you know we can win."

Sabina and Owens nodded in agreement, though were still concerned.

'They're right, Sabina," Owens told her. "Waiting would be a grave mistake. What if Henry and Andrei make their move before we've even had a chance to throw a punch? Then what was the point for all of this?"

"I know," Sabina agreed. "That's a risk that we can't take." She looked at Niko, Will and Eleven. "You're sure you wanna do this?" Niko, Will and Eleven nodded. "Okay. I'll have your things packed onto the plane. I'm sure that Calliope, Jonathan and Mike will be here any minute looking for you. All six of you are going onto that plane and you can use the portal shards to get to Hawkins as quickly as you can. Okay?"

Niko, Will and Eleven nodded.

Will frowned. "How do you know that Jonathan, Calliope and Mike are almost here?"

"How does she know anything, Will?" Niko replied.

Sabina smirked.

"Okay, but how do they know where we are?" Eleven asked.

Sabina walked past them toward an intercom. "Ask them that when they get here." She pushed a button. "Get the plane ready and the children's belongings onto it. Along with the armored car that they're going to need when they get to Hawkins." She turned toward Niko, Will and Eleven, looking at Niko. "I'll send your car from California by another agent, but I have a feeling that you'll need this armored car a lot more than a sports car for tonight. You have about maybe an hour before that plane is ready with all of your belongings on it. I suggest that whatever unfinished business the three of you have here, you finish it quickly before you leave."

Niko, Will and Eleven nodded in understanding, turning around, walking away.

∰

Hawkins, Indiana

On the Road - RV

(Song:) Fire and Rain - James Taylor

The Hawkins group was still in the RV, heading down the road toward the Alibi.

Steve was driving the RV.

Nadia was in the passenger seat. "How's it handle?"

"Not half bad," Steve answered. "Considering that this is a... house." Nadia chuckled barely, still looking tormented by Andrei's targeting her the night before, everything he showed her and did to her, looking down. Steve looked at her in concern. "Nadia?"

"Don't ask me if I'm okay," Nadia told him.

"Okay," Steve agreed. "Already knew the answer anyway. Is there anything I can do?"

"Just take my mind off of it," Nadia answered.

Steve nodded in agreement, understanding. "Yeah. Of course. That I can do. You know, it's silly, but I... I've actually... I always had this dream that I'd have this really... really big family. I'm talking like, uh, a full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six kids."

Nadia was completely unsurprised by this, but amused, smiling knowingly, nodding. "Six. Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Bite me, Rostova," Steve replied. Nadia smirked, chuckling. "But yeah. Six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys. And... and every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and... just see the country." Nadia looked at him. Steve glanced at Nadia but kept his eyes mostly on the road. "You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone." Steve met Nadia's gaze again. "End up in some beachside town in California." Nadia managed a small smile. "Spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something."

"That sounds amazing," Nadia admitted.

Steve smiled softly as he looked over at Nadia again. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Nadia answered. "Surprised that you didn't say eight or nine kids though, considering."

Nadia gestured back toward Hailey, Dustin, Lucas, Max and Erica, clearly also talking about Niko, Will, Eleven and Mike.

Steve smiled. "Yeah, pretty sure that that would be too much to handle again. Especially since the nine kids we gotta deal with never listen and always..."

"Give us hell," Nadia finished.

Steve nodded. "But at least I've had some practice."

Nadia chuckled. "That's true." Steve chuckled. Nadia looked down. "You know, it's funny."

"What is?" Steve asked.

"Even with how closed off I've always been, given everything..." Nadia trailed off. "You've even called me the ice queen since you've met me." Steve tilted his head slightly. "I don't know. I just always thought that if I got the chance to get free from my past completely, if I could just have a home, a place to live completely free and happy... that maybe I'd have a family too. Didn't matter to me if it was big or small, really. I just... I had lost so much family before. And I wanted to have one of my own, once I knew that it was over... for a pretty long time."

"Yeah?" Steve asked.

Nadia nodded. "Yeah. I know, it's crazy. Given how closed off I've been, but..."

"No, it's not," Steve told her. "As soon as you met Hailey, you've been super protective of her. And you've gotten close to basically all the other kids. Protected them like no other. You always put them over yourself and sacrificed a lot to take care of the people around you, like I said before. It doesn't surprise me that you would want that for real, eventually. And you deserve that. To get what you want. No matter how long it takes."

Nadia smiled softly in relief at the words, nodding slightly, still a little emotional from the night before, but definitely a lot calmer now. She looked at Steve to give him a small smile. "So do you, Steve."

Steve returned the smile.

Further back, Max and Lucas were sitting together, looking out the window.

"Hey," Lucas whispered. Max took off her headphones, pausing her music. "So I've been thinking, two of Vecna and Mirage's victims were seeing Ms. Kelley. And you, Billy and Ruby all were too. Hell, even Hailey's been, and we know that they're using her."

"Yeah," Max agreed.

"Okay," Lucas said. "So I figure there's a good chance Vecna and Mirage could be after two more of her students." Max looked away, knowing that Lucas was in denial about what they said before about Vecna going after Max and Billy again. "We go back to her office. We read all of her files. We look for mentions of headaches, nosebleeds, nightmares."

"Lucas," Max said.

Lucas went on. "We identify their most likely next victims."

"Lucas," Max repeated.

"We stake out their houses--" Lucas started.

"Lucas, stop," Max told him. "We don't have time for any of that, okay? And even if we did, even if your plan did work, we'd be putting two total strangers at risk. Two strangers who have no idea what they're up against. Billy and I do. And you heard Ruby. Vecna's gonna come after us again to try and break her all over again. He showed her that in the visions he gave her. Even if only one of us dies for a Gate to open by Hailey, he's still gonna come after the two of us." Lucas frowned worriedly in concern, knowing she was right. "He uses our memories against us. But only our darkest memories. Right?"

Lucas nodded. "Right."

"It's like he only sees the darkness in us," Max stated. "So Billy and I already talked about it and said that we'll run in the opposite direction. Run to the light. He's like the darkness, right? And Ruby's the opposite. She's like literal light. So maybe he won't be able to find us there."

"Now, how exactly do you two plan on doing this?" Lucas asked.

"We're not sure," Max admitted. "But it's our minds. Not his, right? So we should be able to control where we are. We just need to... push him away. Find happy memories and hide there. Hide in the light. So that Ruby can come in with her actual light, after Niko gets her powers back, and burn his ass all to hell. Billy might not have a lot of happy memories. Not as many as me, but... at least I do have those memories. He'll have some too."

"You got a memory in mind for you?" Lucas asked.

Max nodded with a slight smile. "Yeah. It was a time when I was the happiest."

Lucas looked away with a nervous smile before looking at Max. "Was I there?"

Max smiled slyly, looking away secretively before looking at Lucas. "That's presumptuous of you." They both smiled, chuckling. "But yeah. Yeah, you might've been there."

They looked at each other contently for a moment with slight smiles.

Lucas returned serious, worried. "Okay, but the second you start to lift, I'm calling in Kate Bush. All right?"

Max nodded in agreement. "Okay. Deal."

"Deal," Lucas agreed.

Max and Lucas shook hands.

Nearby, Ruby and Billy were sitting together at the table.

Ruby was anxious and jittery, on edge and clearly her madness having a stronger hold on her more so than any other day after what she had gone through the night before. She was struggling to keep herself calm and collected, but it wasn't working, running shaking hands through her hair.

Billy watched her in concern, worry. "Ruby?"

"Henry can still get in our heads," Ruby told him. "He can still get to everyone."

Billy tried to calm her down. "I know. I know. And you think if you can do this, you can destroy him."

"Yeah," Ruby answered. "That's right."

Billy reached out to brush some of Ruby's hair back, calming her down with the small touch, even if it wasn't calming her much. "Always doing the brave thing. Always looking out for us."

Ruby's breath was uneasy and broken. "I won't let him take you. Or Max. Not like he did to Alice and Virginia. Chrissy and Aaron. And what he showed me he did to my parents."

"Ruby, uh, what if we stop, take a minute?" Billy asked. "Rest, calm down."

Ruby quickly shook her head. "I can't. I can't. No time."

Billy was even more worried about Ruby and how it was clear that she was coming apart mentally because of last night on top of everything else. "Ruby, hey. Are you seeing anything right now?"

"I've been seeing a lot of things, Billy," Ruby answered. "I can't stop it. My parents. Everything. He didn't want to kill me. Henry. I don't think he wants to kill me even later. He wanted me to break. Make me feel like this."

"What does it feel like?" Billy asked hesitantly.

Ruby shifted uncomfortably. "Like I'm in a noisy little dark room... weak and ashamed... and there are things in the dark that need to hurt me because I'm bad... that want to destroy everything. Like pinching things that go in the ears and crawl on the inside of the skull. And I know that if the noise and the crawling would stop... that I could remember how to get out. If I just had the light... my power... to help me see the way out. But I don't. All the light's gone. All dark. All dark."

Billy shook his head in concern, angry that Henry had gotten Ruby to this level after she had already been pretty vulnerable mentality wise beforehand. "No, it's not. You're gonna get back, Ruby. I know you will. You'll get your powers back, and you'll get better. I promise."

Ruby looked at Billy, swallowing. "And you. You'll get better too."

Billy nodded. "That's right."

"I can't lose you," Ruby whispered. "Or Max."

Billy held an arm around Ruby to calm her down, comforting but firm. "You're not gonna lose us. Okay? We're gonna take this bastard down. Both of them."

Ruby leaned her head into Billy's chest, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Billy asked.

"All of this," Ruby answered.

Billy shook his head. "It's not your fault, Ruby. None of it is. You can't control where you come from. Or who you come from. What psychopath you're related to. That's what you said about me and my dad, right?"

"Yeah," Ruby agreed softly. "But this is different. Melody... Cheryl... turned Henry into a psycho and taught him all the things that he uses to be Vecna now. All the things that he's doing to hurt us..."

"That's still not your fault," Billy replied. "That's because of Melody, or Cheryl. Not you. And she did the same thing to you. She might've helped create Vecna. But you're gonna be the one to finish him. Okay?"

Ruby looked up, nodding, a tear falling down her cheek, which Billy wiped away. "I need to be stronger than this."

"You've been strong enough," Billy countered. "You still are. You'll get through this and pay that son of a bitch back for last night and everything else. Yeah?"

Ruby nodded, reassured, but still shaken, taking a deep breath, more determined. "Yeah. The dark room... that I feel... that's gonna be like what you and Max are in when he comes for you."

"I know," Billy agreed. "But like you said. Your light will get you out of that dark. And for me and Max too. We just have to wait for Niko to get it back."

Ruby bit her lip, nodding. "I don't say this a lot because I usually never feel this. But... I'm scared, Billy."

"I know," Billy agreed. "Honestly, so am I. A little bit. I think both of us are more scared for each other and Max though." Ruby nodded. Billy shrugged, making a joke. "And we'd be crazy not to be, so..."

"Very funny," Ruby replied sarcastically.

Billy smirked slightly, as the joke managed to get a little chuckle out of both of them, before returning serious. "We'll make it through this, Ruby."

"How can you be so sure?" Ruby asked.

"I can't," Billy answered. "We all know how fucking dangerous this is. And how insane the odds are. But we all need to tell ourselves that to make it through, right? At least try to."

Ruby nodded in agreement, gazing off. "Right." She took a deep breath, having to say it to herself, even if neither of them knew for sure. "We'll make it through."

Nearby, Dustin and Hailey were sitting at the booth like table at the back of the RV.

Hailey was watching Nadia, Ruby, Max and Billy worriedly.

"You okay?" Dustin asked.

"More worried about Nadia and Ruby after what Henry and Andrei did to them last night," Hailey answered. "Ruby's spiraling, Dustin."

"I know," Dustin agreed sadly. "It's heartbreaking. How close Vecna got to breaking her."

"Yeah," Hailey agreed. "Until Niko, Will, El, Mike and Jonathan get here, and they get their powers back, we have to protect Nadia and Ruby, and Billy and Max. And get Ruby and Billy okay mentally again."

"And to save everyone else," Dustin agreed.

"Save the world," Hailey stated, gazing off. "From me."

Dustin shook his head. "You're not the one doing this, Hailey. Those monsters are."

"I know," Hailey said softly. "But it's scary. You know? Knowing that I have the power to open Gates, and start the end of the world, just like they said I would. That they would use me to do. All this power that I barely have a clue on how to handle. Dreamwalking. Gate opening. How easy it is to lose control. I'm not even sure how my powers can relate to opening Gates to the Upside Down, though."

Dustin frowned. "Do you remember what we talked about, the first time that we talked about the Upside Down and compared it to the Vale of Shadows?" Hailey nodded. "None of us knew how to get there, but in the game, to get there, you have to cast Shadow Walk. Like dreamwalking, almost."

"So you think that dreamwalking and shadow walking, or opening Gates to the Upside Down, is somehow related?" Hailey asked.

Dustin shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe not, and if not, maybe it has to do with why you're so connected to the villains."

"Yeah," Hailey stated, scoffing softly. "I don't know, Dusty. What about those fainting spells? If I have another fainting spell again at the wrong time, then we could all be screwed. And I've been seeing Dark Hailey more and more since she fought me and Niko. I keep seeing her in the Maze of Mirrors. She was mocking me about not being able to save my friends."

Dustin reached out to take Hailey's hand. "But you did."

"This time," Hailey agreed. "She said that she's going to break free eventually and be the monster that destroys everything. And I can't let her do that. I can't let her be the reason we all lose."

"You and I, we could keep Dark Hailey from taking control completely," Dustin pointed out. "Even if it's just me trying to help you stay calm. And I know that we can't really do the same with your powers right now, but that doesn't mean that we can't try."

"We have been trying," Hailey replied. "Every time it happens, people get hurt. I could end up killing someone. Everyone. And I can't risk hurting you again, Dustin. Or anyone. I don't want to be the reason that everyone I care about, that I love, get hurt. I don't want to be the reason that you get hurt."

Dustin gave Hailey's hand a squeeze as they looked at each other sadly. "Then we'll take them down before they have a chance to finish what they started, so that none of that has to happen. But no matter what happens, you won't be the reason behind it, Hailey. I swear that to you on my life."

Hailey shook her head. "Don't swear on your life."

Dustin shook his head in agreement. "Fine. Not on my life, but you get what I mean." Hailey managed a small smile, looking down. Dustin looked at Hailey curiously. "You said 'everyone that you love'. Before saying me specifically."

Hailey smirked, knowing that Dustin would've noticed that. "You just now pick that up?"

Dustin smiled. "Well... I mean, I know we said it once, right after everything happened last year, but we didn't really get to say it again given everything that happened since, so... I don't know if that was just in general, or if you actually meant to say that like in a more... official way."

"What other way could I mean it?" Hailey replied. "For a genius, you're a dumbass if you don't know by now that I am actually in love with you, Dustin Henderson. And I'm sorry that I didn't say it more than once."

Dustin smiled happily at Hailey's classic way of saying that, biting his lip. "I love you too. Hailey Harrington. And likewise." Hailey smiled contently, happily, despite the darkness of the situation. The two leaned closer and shared a subtle, but sweet and loving, kiss, leaning their heads together, closing their eyes. Dustin put an arm around her. "We're gonna be okay."

Hailey leaned her head into Dustin's shoulder, relaxing in his arms, putting hers around him. "Hopefully. Tell me about the future. Because when I look into the future, I can only see it with you. Especially after everything that happened."

Dustin smiled softly. "Me too. With you, I mean."

Hailey smiled. "Obviously. What would it be like?"

"Well, we are going to start by having fun," Dustin answered. "I'll take you out on that date I promised you. And since summer's coming up, I wanted to go on a trip. You know, I don't know where, but, like, the world's calling. I don't know. Name a place."

"Spain," Hailey answered. "I've always wanted to go to Spain."

Dustin smiled. "Then after Spain, South America or South Africa. Wherever the ride goes, you know?"

"Yeah," Hailey answered. "After being trapped in Hawkins for so long fighting evil, a world tour definitely sounds like a dream come true."

"Absolutely," Dustin agreed. "And I already know of one very special lady I wanna ask to come with me."

Hailey smiled. "You don't even have to ask. You know I'm there. With you. Probably paying and driving."

Dustin laughed lightly, kissing Hailey's head. "Yeah, I know."

"Is that your idea of showing me how to take time for ourselves and reminding us why we're fighting for what we're always fighting for?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah, maybe a little," Dustin answered.

Hailey chuckled. "It's a brilliant idea."

Hailey looked up to give Dustin a kiss on the cheek. Dustin grinned, both of them just content in the moment.

∰

Kamchatka, Russia

Church - Outside

The prison escape van drove up to the church in the middle of nowhere.

The Russian group got out of the van.

"This is Yuri's place, but since he's one of the guys that I took down in Alaska, we don't have to worry about him," Nadyr explained.

"The plane that we got from Konstantin is in the plane shed out back," Natasha explained. "It'll need to fuel up, but as far as we can tell, it'll get us back to America."

"Though we do need to lay low for a bit so we're not caught right away trying to escape, because then the plane will come crashing down again," Nadyr went on.

"And right to our gruesome deaths," Apollo remarked. "We got it."

"They're right," Dmitri agreed. "Every plane in Russia will be waiting to gun us down if they see us trying to flee right now."

"So we wait for them to die down before trying to go back without risk of being shot down from the sky," Hopper finished. "Understood."

"What about Sabina?" Joyce asked. "Natasha, Nadyr, you said that you've both been in touch with your mother. She's got to have spies here that can help make sure we can get out of here sooner without being shot down from the sky or something like that."

"We could try telepathically getting her to reach us again, but she's underwater several hundreds of feet in Corinth," Nadyr pointed out. "That's gonna make it harder for Mother to hear us."

"Plus, Sabina's gonna have to deal with Mikhail when he gets there," Apollo added. "Since he used me to find Niko, Eleven and Will at Corinth. And from what I could see, Calliope and Jonathan and that kid Mike, when I was trying to find Calliope again, were heading there to get to them."

Natasha was pacing worriedly. "Fuck. Sabina better get Niko and Eleven's powers back."

Hopper and Joyce were obviously just as worried as Natasha was given that all their kids (minus Nadia) was involved at Corinth.

"How about a call?" Hopper asked. "Can we make a call to the States? Try to reach Sabina and the kids to make sure they're okay?"

"Not Natasha, Nadyr or Apollo after what's gone down," Murray answered. "Mikhail and his men would be listening for them. And not Joyce or you and me after what we just pulled. So..."

They all looked at Dmitri, since he was the lesser-known target out of all of them.

Dmitri nodded barely in agreement.

∰

Moments Later

Natasha and Nadyr were bickering.

"Why do you do that thing?" Nadyr asked.

"What thing?" Natasha asked.

"You do that thing when you're fighting," Nadyr answered, crouching down into one of Natasha's fighting poses, flipping his hair. Apollo was watching and laughing silently, causing Hopper to smirk and Joyce to smile. "There's this thing you do when you pose and whip your hair when you're fighting with the arm and the air. And you do, like, a fighting pose. It's a fighting pose. You're a total poser."

Nadyr stood.

"I'm not a poser," Natasha denied.

Nadyr laughed. "Oh, come on. I mean, they're great poses, but it does look like you think everyone's looking at you, like, all the time."

"All that time that I spent posing, I was trying to actually do something good to make up for all the pain and suffering that we caused," Natasha told him. "Trying to be more than just a trained killer."

"Pain and suffering is every day and we are both still a trained killer," Nadyr replied. "But I'm not the one that's changed, Natasha. You are. Nadia and Niko, their friends. They look up to you like their hero because you saved them so many times. Making up for any wrong you've done. You have changed, sister."

"So have you, Nadyr," Natasha told him. "Even when you think you haven't."

Nadyr gave a small smile.

Nearby, Dmitri was trying to make a call, speaking in Russian. "Yes, hello, miss. I'd like to place a call to the United States. A very sick relative. Correct. Yes... the number is..." He turned toward Natasha. "The number?"

"It's 775-305-3450," Natasha started.

Dmitri spoke the number in Russian into the phone, before listening to her response. "Yes, thank you."

Dmitri hung up.

"What are you doing?" Joyce asked.

"How exactly do you think this works?" Dmitri asked. "They will make the call for us, and then they will call us back."

"How long's that gonna take?" Hopper asked.

Dmitri shrugged. "Five minutes. Five hours. Five days. Who knows?"

Nadyr rolled his eyes. "It won't take five days. And when we do get the call, assume the KGB will be on the other line, listening to everything you say. So I suggest talking in code, and Natasha, me and Apollo not being the ones to answer, in case Mikhail and his men recognize our voices. Because then they would be on us like flies on shit. Welcome to the Soviet Union."

Apollo nodded barely, sarcastically. "Got it. Thanks for the scare, Nadyr."

"So Mikhail is going after Sabina, Niko, Will and El, and Mike, Jonathan and this girl Calliope are just gonna be in the crosshairs?" Hopper asked. "Apollo's sister, yes?"

"Yep, Calliope's my sister," Apollo answered.

"We have to do something," Joyce told them worriedly.

"Joyce, Hopper, relax," Nadyr told them. "Even with Apollo's powers having to show him, the chances of Mikhail finding Corinth are still a million to one."

"Why exactly?' Murray asked.

"Because it's a secret dome city in the middle of the ocean," Natasha answered. "Mikhail would need a fucking submarine to even get close, and knowing Sabina, she's already got a defense lined up with mind controlling sea creatures like sharks to guard the damn place from the outside. And the place is filled with other psionics and soldiers, so they'll have a lot of other backup."

"Mind controlled sharks?" Apollo repeated skeptically but impressed. "Cool!"

Nadur smirked. "Yeah, Sabina's always had a flare for the dramatics like that. Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't be worried, but know that they've got each other's backs, and with how weak Mikhail's getting from being sick... they'll take him out."

Natasha sighed worriedly. "We just have to make sure that they know he's coming, just in case if he does find Corinth."

∰

Hawkins, Indiana

Alibi - Outside

As expected, a cop car was stationed outside the Alibi and Ruby's loft, hoping that Ruby or Billy, or even Eddie, would come back here and be caught.

Ryan, Jason and Andy were even sitting across the street in Ryan's car with a couple other jocks, hoping to see them show up on the off chance they did return.

Max, Dustin, Lucas and Erica ran out in front of the cop car, waving, running off since they were definitely wanted back for questioning after they and Hailey had ditched the cops the night before.

The cop in the car was Officer Daniels, looking out to see Max, Dustin, Lucas and Erica waving to get his attention before running off. "Oh, hell, no." Daniels got out of the car to go chase after the four kids. "Hey!"

Max, Dustin, Lucas and Erica ran off as fast as they could, leading Daniels after them as fast as they could.

Once the cop was gone, Nadia was walking out across the street toward the Alibi, glancing over her shoulder toward Ryan and his goons in his car.

Ryan was surprised upon seeing her back, scoffing softly. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Is that Nadia?" Jason asked.

"Yeah," Ryan answered, getting out of the car.

Jason, Andy and the other two jocks exchanged a look.

∰

Alley behind the Alibi

Nadia walked into the alley, clearly luring Ryan and the others back there since obviously the Hawkins group had been aware they had been there.

Ryan walked into the alley to follow Nadia. "Nadia Reed." Nadia turned to face Ryan, glaring. "Wouldn't have expected to find you back in town. But of course you're here once you did come back. You and Ruby Charlize were like two psycho bitches in a psycho bitch pod."

"Like you're one to really talk right now, Ryan?" Nadia replied mockingly, backing away from him tauntingly, waving her fingers at him. "You and your little band of goons?"

Ryan smiled sarcastically. "What a waste for you two. A waste to lose a mind."

"Or not to have a mind in your case," Nadia retorted. "Because you are fucking brainless. And don't kid yourself, Raynor. You only hate Ruby so much because she exposed your ass before kicking it all around the parking lot at school after you picked a fight with her. If you wanna call us psycho, you might wanna take a look in the mirror."

Ryan walked closer threateningly, though obviously he would never intimidate Nadia. "You know, I always had the thought that maybe you were the one that blew up my car somehow. After you found out about my little bet about sleeping with you."

"Yeah, well, you lost," Nadia replied. She smiled sarcastically. "And bummer about your car, but I don't know what you're talking about. I'm sure your daddy bought you the one you got now. At least you have your daddy to buy you new things when you break them."

Ryan nodded sarcastically. "Hmm. How'd you do it?"

"If you think you can scare me, you're even more delusional than I thought," Nadia told him. "I've seen things that would make you die from fear. So you? You're just a rich, spoiled, crazy jock looking to hurt people because you're too insecure about yourself."

Nadia went to walk around him.

Jason, Andy and the two other jocks walked into the alley.

Ryan grabbed Nadia's arm. "And your friends? They here with you?"

"Let go before I give you a repeat of me taking you down at the Halloween party," Nadia replied. Ryan smirked sarcastically. Nadia glared, eyes flashing with anger. "Let. go."

Nadia punched Ryan in the face, pushing Ryan back, grabbing his arm off of hers, twisting it to hurt him, making him release his other hand from her other arm, making him groan in pain.

Jason, Andy and the other two jocks walked closer in threat.

Steve, Billy, Nancy and Robin were across the alley, calling out to mock them.

"Hey, dickheads!" Billy called mockingly. "Heard you've been looking for me, Ruby and Eddie."

"Let's go!" Jason ordered.

Ryan, Jason, Andy and the two jocks started to chase Steve, Billy, Nancy and Robin.

"Go, go, go!" Nancy told them.

"Run!" Robin said.

Steve, Billy, Nancy and Robin ran off to lure the jocks away into the woods next to the bar, also just in case there were still any cops around, they wouldn't see.

Hailey and Ruby ran up to Nadia, watching the others go.

"So with Dustin, Lucas, Max and Erica stalling the cops, and Steve, Billy, Nancy and Robin leading the jocks to the woods to stall them and knock them out..." Ruby trailed off.

"We've got a little bit of time," Hailey finished. "Let's get inside and get your extra Walkmans and the keys to the cars."

Hailey, Nadia and Ruby ran inside.

Unfortunately for them, a military van pulled up outside the Alibi, which they didn't notice yet because of everything else going on.

∰

Woods

Steve, Billy, Nancy and Robin led the jocks to the woods a bit away from the bar to buy Nadia, Hailey and Ruby some time.

The jocks ran closer, about to pull their guns.

Nancy and Robin both aimed guns that they had gotten from the Upside Down Reed house.

"Drop them!" Nancy warned, making Ryan, Jason, Andy and the two others pause. "Drop... them."

"Guarantee she's a better shot than all of you," Robin said. "Fair warning."

When the jocks were distracted, Eddie came out from behind a tree and used a plank to hit the guns out of Andy and the two other jock's hands, while Steve and Billy both kicked the guns out from Ryan and Jason's hands.

Ryan grabbed the plank from Eddie and swung it toward Billy. Billy ducked to the side to make him miss. When Ryan swung the plank again, Billy ducked once again to the other side. Ryan swung for a third time, but Billy caught the plank and ripped it out of Ryan's hands, tossing it back to Eddie.

Eddie caught the plank and used it to hit one of the other jocks in the heads, knocking them down and out.

Billy punched Ryan in the face, kicking him in the chest, making him back away from him.

The other unnamed jock ran for Nancy and Robin.

Robin ducked behind him, a bit clumsily, but still managed to keep her balance, tapping the jock on the shoulder. "Hey, behind you." The jock turned toward Robin. Robin punched him in the face, snapping his head to the side, but immediately held her hand in pain afterwards. "Ow!"

When the jock was distracted, Nancy pistol whipped him in the head, knocking him out, letting him fall.

Jason swung a fist at Steve. Steve ducked, punching him in the face. Jason tried to punch him again, but Steve caught his arm, slamming it down over his knee as he brought his knee up to bash into Jason's arm, twisting it, making him yell in pain, pushing him away to the ground.

Ryan yelled as he ran toward Billy, tackling him back into a tree, but Billy could easily break his hold, grabbing Ryan, lifting him up, slamming him down onto a sawed down tree stump, knocking the breath out of him, punching him in the face viciously, repeatedly.

Andy tackled Eddie to the ground from behind.

Eddie groaned in pain, pushing Andy off of him, pushing himself up, punching Andy in the face, making him let go and snap backward, standing, kicking him in the face, knocking him down and out, though felt guilty about it. "Sorry, man."

Jason ran at Billy, trying to tackle and punch. Billy ducked, moving out of the way, grabbing Jason by the head, slamming it against the tree trunk a couple of times, punching him in the face so hard he knocked him out, letting him fall unconscious.

Ryan ran at Steve, but Steve ducked, making Ryan roll over his back and fall to the ground. When Ryan stood to attack again, Steve grabbed Ryan, spinning around and throwing him toward Billy. Billy held out his arm to do a clothesline against Ryan, making him flip through the air and land on the ground with a groan of pain. Ryan stood to punch Steve in the face and kick Billy in the stomach. Billy blocked a punch and punched Ryan in the face, while Steve spun to kick Ryan in the head, making him fall down. Billy grabbed Ryan by the head, slamming his head down on the cut down tree trunk, stomping on his arm to almost break his arm, making him yell in pain, before Steve took Ryan by the head and bashed it against the tree trunk again, knocking him out.

Billy, Steve, Eddie, Nancy and Robin stood together as they looked at the unconscious jocks on the ground in front of them.

"Okay," Nancy said. "That worked."

"Us and the kids distracting the jocks and the cop?" Steve asked. "Yeah, I'd say so."

"Let's get back to the bar," Billy said, sighing heavily. "Don't have a lot of time."

They took off running back toward the bar.

∰

Ruby's Loft (Above the Alibi)

Hailey, Nadia and Ruby were hurriedly getting the keys for Hailey, Nadia and Billy's cars, while Ruby was also trying to find the extra Walkmans for her and Billy for their protection until their plan was set in motion.

As Ruby was away from them, on her own looking, she saw a hallucination with Melody and Anthony, which got under her skin more than ever after 4.07.

"You really think that finding your extra Walkmans and getting armed up is going to change anything?" Anthony asked. "You're still gonna be a victim of Henry's."

"Yeah, and who's fault is that?" Ruby replied quietly. "Both of yours."

Melody raised her eyebrows. "Really? You know, when you think about it, we're the victims here. First off, we didn't even want to be here. And I'm not talking about in your mind or in this room or in this town, or this state or this planet, or in that damn program. I'm talking about the whole mortal coil now, you know? It's disgusting. The people. Henry and I thought we could make a better existence than this. And he's still out trying to make that better existence, after he wiped us out."

"And yes, because we abandoned him, but what else were we supposed to do?" Anthony asked.

"Not create a monster," Ruby answered. "Not do the same thing that you two did to him to me. Both of you are just as much of monsters as he is. All three of you did this to me and my friends, so fuck off."

Anthony chuckled. "Okay. Feel free to tell me if this gets a little too personal, because we all know that we have boundary issues. But that hurt. We're hurt. Yes, by your incredibly selfish behavior. Newsflash, Ruby. It's not always about you."

Ruby scoffed, shaking her head, looking away, closing her eyes, trying to shut them out. "Shut up."

"Why?" Melody asked. "I know right now, you're scared about what could happen. You're so anxious. Like there's something deep inside of you and it's swelling up and it's making you crazy. Especially after what Henry did to you last night. Showed you the truth. Everything about it. And now he's going to hurt you and everyone you love because he blames you for us abandoning him. So full circle, isn't it? Looks like you're going to have to let out that craziness in order to be strong enough to take him down."

"See what we mean?" Anthony asked. "Ain't no time to be sane. You gotta be insane."

"Fuck you," Ruby replied.

"You can't run from who you are, Ruby," Anthony told her. "We're just trying to help."

Ruby scoffed, looking down, shaking her head.

"Ruby," Melody told her. "Your uncle is out there, and he's going to kill everyone you love while making you watch and suffer through it too. You have the power and instability to be just as dangerous as him, just as dangerous as all three of us, if you gave into it."

"And if I hurt other people in the process?" Ruby asked.

"Then that's the risk you're gonna have to take," Anthony replied. "Unless you want to run from who you are like you always do."

"I'm not like you," Ruby told them. "Either of you. Or him."

"Really?" Melody asked sarcastically, raising her voice psychotically. "Then how else are you going to survive? You are a Creel, Ruby. Just like me, and just like Henry. And you're just like Anthony. Accept who you are, go out there and kill the son of a bitch and anybody else who gets in your way!"

"No!" Ruby snapped. Hailey and Nadia looked over at her, since this was the first time Ruby had spoken loud enough for them to hear, both concerned. Ruby closed her eyes, lowering her voice again. "I'm not gonna hurt anybody innocent."

"Who is innocent?" Anthony asked. "Innocence is a kind of insanity. Everybody is more or less mad at one point. Our dreams and nightmares are kept apart by this thin line of sanity. Some people are just fortunate that they only cross that line in their sleep too. The three of us are not that fortunate."

"Insanity is all of them expecting you not to fall apart like this when you find out everything you believed in was a lie," Melody told her. "There is no such thing as 'too insane' unless others turn up dead due to your actions. But the three of us don't have a choice in that matter. So do what you have to do!"

Ruby held her head in her hands, letting out broken, shaky breaths, completely overwhelmed, mentally and emotionally in pain.

Hailey and Nadia walked closer in concern. "Ruby?"

Ruby had tears in her eyes. "They won't go away."

"Melody and Anthony?" Nadia asked worriedly.

Ruby nodded. "Or Cheryl and Charlie. However the fuck you wanna look at it."

Nadia and Hailey looked at her sadly in sympathy, wanting to help, but having no idea how.

Hailey put a hand on Ruby's shoulders. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Before they even had the chance to leave, the soldiers from the van outside burst into the loft, not intent to kill, just like Sullivan's deal with Mikhail entailed.

"Shit," Nadia said.

"Sullivan's guys?" Hailey asked.

"Yep," Nadia answered.

Ruby shrugged. "Could use a fucking fight."

"Seriously?" Hailey asked.

Ruby punched Soldier 1 in the face, flinging her elbow back into Soldier 2's face, making both of them fall to the floor. When Soldier 3 ran closer, Ruby spun around to kick him in the chest, sending him flipping backward through the air and landing on the floor hard. Soldier 4 ran closer, trying to grab her. Ruby caught his arm and flipped him through the air to the floor. Soldier 5 punched Ruby in the face, trying to do so again. Ruby caught Soldier 5's arm, spinning around underneath it, pulling the soldier closer, kneeing him viciously in the gut, punching him in the chest, putting his arm into an arm lock, spinning to kick his legs out from underneath him, making him flip through the air while she still had his arm in an arm lock, making his arm break and making him yell in pain as she let him go and he fell to the floor. Soldier 6 restrained Ruby from behind as Soldier 7 ran closer with a taser.

Ruby scoffed. "A thing I just want you guys to know? This whole attack, totally unfair. No, this is no good."

"Too bad," Soldier 6 replied.

Ruby jumped up while within Soldier 6's restraint so she could send both feet slamming into Soldier 7's chest with a vicious double kick, so hard that she sent him flipping back through the air and spiraling to the floor, making him land with his head hitting the floor hard enough to bash his head in, killing Soldier 7, before curling in on herself as she let herself fall toward the ground, using her momentum to flip Soldier 6, who was still restraining her, over her head, breaking his restraint on her, as they both fell to the floor a few feet away from each other.

Ruby shrugged slightly "The whole fighting to the death thing we're doing? It's valuable time out of life that we're never gonna get back." She spun around over the floor so that she could send her feet kicking into Soldier 6's face so hard she bashed his head against the wall with enough strength to kill him, rolling back onto her back on the floor, placing her hands on the floor next to her head, so that she could propel herself up through the air, landing on her feet. "Work with us here." Soldier 8 ran to attack, but Ruby ducked, kicking him in the crotch, spinning around to backhand punch him in the face, grabbing him by the shoulders, kneeing him in the stomach, grabbing his head to slam it against the kitchen counter, bashing his head against the counter enough to kill him, tossing his body to the side. "There. That feels more real, don't you think? Even if we do have to carry your performance." She stood, throwing up her arms. "Scene!"

Nadia whistled to Soldier 1. "Here boy."

Nadia punched Soldier 1 in the face. Soldier 2 stood to fight. Nadia kicked Soldier 2 in the chest, spinning around to kick him in the head, drawing her gun, shooting Soldier 2 in the head, killing him. Soldier 3 stood, running toward Nadia. Nadia ducked his punch, running past Soldier 3, turning to face him, running at Soldier 3, sliding over the floor, spinning herself around to kick Soldier 3's feet out from underneath him, sending him flipping through the air and landing badly on the floor, kneeling up next to him, grabbing him by the head, lifting it up and slamming it on the floor, bashing his head against the floor to kill him. As Soldier 1 stood and ran for Nadia, Nadia jumped up into the air, wrapping her legs around his neck, spinning herself around him to flip them both through the air and to the floor, landing on the floor next to him, her feet toward him. Soldier 1 started to get up, but Nadia sent both feet into his chest, knocking him down again, flipping herself up to a standing position, kicking him twice in the head, shooting him in the head to kill him. Soldier 4 stood, trying to punch Nadia. Nadia ducked, blocking his next punch with both her arms, backhand punching him in the face. Soldier 5 stood with his broken arm held to his chest, which Ruby had broken, trying to aim a gun at Nadia. Nadia kicked the gun out of his hand, catching it in her other hand, using the guns in either hand to pistol whip both Soldier 4 and 5, shooting them both in the heads to kill them. Soldier 9 ran toward Nadia, but Nadia grabbed him by the head, slamming it onto the counter next to her repeatedly until she threw him to the floor, dead. Soldier 10 tried to strike Nadia with a taser. Nadia raised her arms in a cross block to stop him, moving her arms in a circle to push the taser away, kicking it to the floor, instantly punching Soldier 10 in the face twice. Soldier 10 tried to punch her in the face. Nadia caught his arm, spinning around underneath it, ending up behind him while twisting his arm behind his back, pulling on it to make him face her and pull him closer, punching him in the face, kicking him in the stomach, making him double over so she could knee him in the head, shooting him in the face, making him snap backwards and fall to the floor, dead.

Soldier 11 ran up to Hailey. Hailey kicked him in the chest to make him back away, grabbing him, slamming him into the counter, opening a cabinet door to bash it against Soldier 11's head, killing him, pushing him to the ground. Seeing Soldier 12 running closer, Hailey placed her hands on the counter and spun herself over the side of it, sliding down from up high to deliver a vicious double kick with both feet into Soldier 12's chest, sending him flying to the floor, jumping down to the floor. Soldier 13 ran up behind Hailey to grab her arm. Hailey turned to Soldier 13, using her arm which he grabbed to reverse the hold and use it to twist his arm back to the point of nearly breaking it, using her other arm to punch him viciously in the face. Soldier 12 stood, grabbing Hailey from behind. Hailey jumped up while within Solider 12's restraint so she could send both feet slamming into Soldier 13's chest with a vicious double kick, making him fall to the floor, while she landed with her feet on the floor, ripping Soldier 12's arms off of her, spinning free of the restraint, turning to face Soldier 12, punching him in the throat, making him clutch his neck and gasp for breath, crushing his trachea, before grabbing his head and slamming it into the wall, kicking him to the floor, as he was unable to breathe and started to suffocate to death. Soldier 13 stood to attack Hailey again, kicking her into the wall, trying to punch her. Hailey spun away to make him miss, turning to face Soldier 13, grabbing him by his arm, twisting it to break it, grabbing him by the head and slamming it into the wall over and over, kicking him in the face for good measure, making him snap back and fall to the floor, bashing his head against the floor to kill him. Soldier 14 tried to shoot Hailey, but Hailey ducked, grabbing Soldier 14's gun, shoving the butt of his gun into his face, making him fall to the floor. Soldier 14 and Soldier 15 tried to shoot again, but Hailey grabbed Soldier 15 and shoved him back into Soldier 15, grabbing Soldier 15 by the head, turning to slam his head into the wall, throwing him to the floor. Soldier 14 aimed at Hailey. Hailey caught his arms, spinning them around, ending the spin with her back to Soldier 14's chest as she forced him to aim at Soldier 15 as he was getting up, making Soldier 14 shoot Soldier 15 instead, who barely could stay standing, before turning to face Soldier 16 as he ran closer. Hailey punched Soldier 15 in the face, kneeing him in the wounded gut repeatedly, letting go of Soldier 14 as she grabbed Soldier 16 and threw him into the wall, breaking some of Ruby's pictures in the process, making them clatter and fall to the floor with Soldier 16. Soldier 15 fell to the ground, bleeding out, dying. Soldier 14 tried to shoot Hailey from behind, but Hailey sensed that, grabbing Soldier 14's arm to stop him from shooting, while with her back still to Soldier 14, elbowed him repeatedly in the face, lifting his arm up over her head and flipping him to the floor with several spins in the air, kicking him in the head repeatedly to bash his head open, killing him. Soldier 16 stood, trying to attack Hailey. Hailey reached up to grab Soldier 16's arms and aimed his gun at the ceiling as he fired, spinning them around, kneeing Soldier 16 in the chest, taking his gun from him, shooting him, pushing him down.

Soldier 17 grabbed Ruby and slammed her into the counter. Ruby easily broke free, sitting up, punching him in the stomach twice, making him back away, standing up on the counter, jumping down as she whipped her arm through the air to slam it into Soldier 17's head so hard that she sent him flipping through the air to the floor, and landed above him on her feet as he hit the ground, instantly straddling him down, punching him repeatedly in a blind rage, grabbing his head, slamming it on the ground, taking an arrow, stabbing it through his hand into the floor to pin it to the ground, making him scream in pain.

Ruby smirked slightly. "Wait, I've always wanted to try this. You know that thing with worms where if you have one, you rip it in half, you got two worms, or into three parts? Do you think that'll work with you?" She grabbed Soldier 17's head, bashing it against the floor, punching him repeatedly in a crashed rage until he was finally dead, blood all over her hands. "Fine. Don't answer."

Ruby stood, grabbing Soldier 18, throwing him into a wall, kicking him in the head to knock him down. Soldier 18 stood, aiming his gun at Ruby. Ruby caught the gun, spinning around past Soldier 18, turning to face him, making them switch places as Ruby slammed him against the wall, and made him aim his gun behind her as it fired, ripping the gun out of Soldier 18's hands, turning it around on him to shoot him in the face instead, killing him, watching him fall. As Soldiers 19 and 20 tried to attack, Ruby used her gun to shoot them both in the heads, killing them, watching them fall.

Nadia, Ruby and Hailey looked around at all the dead soldiers around them.

"Is that the best those little crap-gnats can muster?" Hailey asked. "'Cause I gotta tell ya, so not impressed."

Nadia sensed that more soldiers were coming, and what else they had. "Run!"

Nadia, Ruby and Hailey started to run toward the window, jumping through the window of the loft as it shattered, just as the front door of the loft was blown to bits by an explosion, which would have killed them all if they had stayed in the loft.

∰

Outside - Rooftop

Nadia, Ruby and Hailey landed on the hard metal of the building rooftop, groaning in pain. They all looked up at the explosion inside the loft, in shock.

Ruby was furious and upset. "My loft!"

Nadia got up, helping Ruby and Hailey up. "Come on, go!" Hailey turned to use her powers, but Nadia stopped her. "No. Hailey, save your strength for later."

Hailey nodded in agreement.

Nadia, Ruby and Hailey started to run, while soldiers climbed out of the window and ran after them.

While down below, many more soldiers were firing guns up at Nadia, Ruby and Hailey, making them all duck as they continued running across the roof, while the soldiers on the roof were following in hot pursuit.

Nadia, Ruby and Hailey reached a slant in the roof, having to slide down the slant to the edge of the roof, standing and regaining their balance with relative ease, putting a hand on the beam in front of them to keep themselves from falling.

"Shit," Hailey said, starting to lose control as Dark Hailey was taking hold. "Fuck this."

"Hailey," Ruby warned.

Hailey let her eyes and gem glow red as her sclera turned black, conjuring just enough of her red glowing aura to form a burst of energy, shooting it out at 5 soldiers below, tearing down walls and the building around them as she did, as she threw the soldiers back through the air and to the ground, creating an explosion of dirt, soil and power, killing them. She turned toward 5 more soldiers running closer from behind the three girls on the rooftop, holding out her hands, using the red glowing aura energy to grab hold of the 5 soldiers, levitating them from the rooftop and pushing them down into the building below with all her power and strength, tearing down the roof, making the soldiers fall inside, most likely to their deaths of being crushed by the crumbling rooftop around them, the blast of power nearly making Nadia, Ruby and Hailey fall, but they managed to stay standing.

Max, Lucas, Dustin and Erica ran toward the bar after ditching Daniels, seeing the soldiers firing up at Hailey, Ruby and Nadia on the rooftop.

"Oh, my God," Max said.

Max, Lucas, Dustin and Erica each called out for Nadia, Hailey and Ruby worriedly, causing the soldiers to become distracted and turn to aim their guns at the four kids, but the four kids ducked to the side in hiding behind trees to keep from being shot.

Dark Hailey, having seen Max, Lucas, Dustin and Erica almost shot and killed because of these soldiers, lost even more control, levitating the large beam next to her on the rooftop with a red glowing energy tendril starting to trail from her back, throwing it with such force and speed and strength that she impaled the ground in front of the soldiers and sent everything around it exploding with the red energy that was around her tendril and around the beam which she used like a spear, blowing everyone back to the ground. Debris ricocheted and impaled the soldiers around the destruction, to the point of being severely harmed or dead, at least 5 soldiers.

Nadia and Ruby both grabbed Hailey by the arms, pulling her toward another beam. "Come on!"

Nadia reached down to undo the hook on the roof beam, looking at Ruby and Hailey. Ruby and Hailey understood without a word and nodded, as Hailey was getting control back and started to make her power fade. The three girls held onto the beam as tightly as they could as they kicked them off away from the rooftop, so that it would start to fall, with the Nadia, Ruby and Hailey hanging onto it to get down from the roof and to safety across the street toward another building.

Sadly, there were still a lot of soldiers left around and they were shooting up at the three girls, almost hitting them, and making the beam lose balance and crash into another direction, flinging the three girls from the beam.

Hailey started to fall first as she lost grip on the beam, falling to the ground below, landing in the alley behind the Alibi, screaming as she made impact, the oxygen getting knocked out of her completely, as she was lucky to survive such a fall.

Nadia and Ruby both yelled out worriedly. "Hailey!"

As they fell, Nadia and Ruby fell straight down, hitting many more beams and pipes on the way down to the ground; it slowed their fall down just enough to the point when they hit the ground, it wasn't fatal or as damaging as it was to Hailey, but they were still in extreme pain from hitting so many obstacles on the way down. They landed right in the water on the ground of the alley that Hailey landed in, drenching them in recent rainwater, as they gasped for breath, the wind knocked out of them from the fall.

Hailey, Nadia and Ruby were starting to catch their breath, coughing weakly in pain. They turned onto their stomachs, pushing themselves up to kneel, unable to stand up completely quite yet, but about to when the soldiers surrounded them and they shot electrocuting devices into them which sent shock wave after shock wave through them, repeated as they were soaked from the water, all crying out, weakened, unable to get up. This caused all three of them to drop the keys to Hailey, Nadia and Billy's cars in the water.

Dustin, Max, Lucas and Erica were cornered by more soldiers that wouldn't let them near the alley, held at gunpoint, each one yelling worriedly for Nadia, Hailey and Ruby, especially Dustin and Max.

The soldiers grabbed Hailey, Nadia and Ruby before they could recover, hauling them up and dragging them into the military van.

Max, Lucas and Dustin tried to run to their aid, but they were beaten down by two of the soldiers with their guns, making them gasp in pain for breath.

Erica stepped forward to try and stop them, but she was held back. "No! Let them go! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Billy, Steve, Nancy, Robin and Eddie were on their way back from the woods, but when they saw the military, they had to duck into cover before they saw Billy and Eddie.

"What the fuck is going on?" Eddie asked.

They saw Nadia, Hailey and Ruby in the back of the military van.

Steve and Billy were immediately worried, horrified and angry.

Steve shook his head. "No. Hailey! Nadia!"

"Ruby!" Billy called.

The soldiers fired toward Steve, Billy, Nancy, Robin and Eddie, but they all ducked for cover.

"Shit!" Nancy said.

Nancy and Robin were both worried for their friends.

The soldiers got into the van and drove off with Nadia, Ruby and Hailey before anyone could stop them.

Instantly, Steve, Billy, Nancy, Robin and Eddie ran from the treeline into the alley, while Dustin, Lucas, Max and Erica ran closer from the street now that the soldiers were gone, trying to go after the van to get Nadia, Hailey and Ruby back, but knowing they had no chance doing so alone.

"Fuck!" Billy yelled in anger and frustration.

Steve looked at Dustin, Lucas, Max and Erica. "You kids okay?"

They nodded just barely but were still reeling from what just happened.

Dustin, Steve, Billy and Max were clearly the most worried and angry, but everyone else was too.

Lucas noticed the keys were in the water. "Guys. Keys."

Steve, Billy and Nancy picked up Hailey, Billy and Nadia's car keys.

Steve looked toward Nadia's car. "We still got the arsenal. We can get them back."

"Go, go, go!" Dustin told them.

They all ran for the cars.

"Do we even know where they're going?" Erica asked.

"No," Robin answered.

"But maybe we can follow them without getting caught," Max told them.

They all got into the cars, ready to head out, but clearly having to be careful while doing so, so they didn't make the entire situation worse.

∰

City of Corinth

Sabina's Headquarters - Sabina's Office

Sabina was finishing getting changed.

Niko walked in, surprised, but not much, at her new attire. "Wasn't sure if you were actually coming."

Sabina turned to face Niko, giving him an amused look, tilting her head, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "Well, I did spend all this time helping you and Eleven getting ready for war. I would be a terrible grandmother if I didn't go." Niko raised his eyebrows, causing Sabina to correct herself. "Well, a worse grandmother, at least."

Niko nodded. "Better."

"I did expect you to be angry at me after the recent reveals," Sabina admitted.

Niko scoffed. "Well, you've never exactly been my favorite person, but I am so tired of being angry at you, honestly."

Sabina nodded. "I understand."

Niko chuckled, sitting down on the couch. "That's rich."

"I am capable of admitting my flaws," Sabina pointed out, sitting down next to Niko. "I don't like it, but I can do it."

"You know there would be no proof of me saying this, and if you mention it to anybody, I would deny it," Niko told her.

"But?" Sabina asked.

Niko took a deep breath. "But I am grateful for what you did, despite my not-so-team attitude when we first came to you."

Sabina smiled slightly. "Well, I'm not exactly a walk in the park either."

Niko shrugged in agreement. "Guess I could say I get it from you. But then again, there is Mikhail. Though at least there is telepathy."

Sabina brushed back some of Niko's dark colored hair that was much like hers. "And the hair."

Niko smirked. "We do have pretty nice hair."

"That we do," Sabina agreed. "You wouldn't believe how happy I was when I saw that you got mine. I love my children and granddaughter, but I got tired of seeing Mikhail's blonde hair on Natasha, Nadyr and Nadia."

Niko chuckled. "Oh, trust me, they hate it too. I definitely don't envy that."

Sabina smiled, shaking her head. "You know, this reminds me of a story."

"Oh, please don't," Niko replied.

"It's a good story," Sabina told him.

"I don't want to hear a story," Niko retorted in a lighthearted complaint.

Sabina told the story anyway. "So, there was a day I took you to this fishing lake to see if you could make the fish come to you with your powers." Niko closed his eyes, looking away. "It's a very cold day in this little ice shed. Cold even for Russia, you know? 'Keep the vodka by the fair', my father would say to me."

"How is this a good story?" Niko asked.

"Please," Sabina told him. "Please. There is a reason why I'm telling you this, okay? Trust me. Suddenly, we felt fish coming. You lost your balance and fell into the ice water, splashing your hands into the river. In this weather, frostbite sets in quick, but then smoke started to come out and you showed me you caught a big fish."

"That's weird," Niko remarked. "I always remember hating fish."

"It was a disgusting fish," Sabina recalled. "And you just caught it and passed it all over your face."

Niko nodded sarcastically. "That explains it."

"And then you just took a big bite out of it," Sabina added.

Niko made a face in disgust, his hands over his eyes. "Oh, my God. No, shut up."

Sabina chuckled. "I mean, not the most delicious way to eat it, but you always did you."

Niko shook his head, mortified. "How is this relevant?"

Sabina smirked. "The point was that you were terrified of fish and yet you didn't hesitate to grab that fish. Fearless. It's what I always admired about you. You were always fearless. You were brave."

Niko looked down. "I'm not fearless."

"Being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared," Sabina pointed out. "Being brave means you are scared, really scared. Badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway. As I told you before, Nikolai, you inspire me. Always remember that."

Niko looked up but shook his head as he turned his head away. "That was before I changed. I'm no role model."

Sabina shrugged in agreement. "I wouldn't say that. And you need more inspiration? I guess it's a good time as any to give you this."

Sabina stood, walking over to a locker, pulling out a case, setting it on the table.

Niko stood. "What is this?"

Sabina gestured to the case. "Open it."

Niko walked closer, opening the case, seeing that it was a sword, frowning. "I don't understand."

Sabina gave Niko a small smile. "It was Valkov's." Niko's gaze snapped up to meet Sabina's in shock. "I gave this sword to your father for his first ever mission."

Niko looked at the sword in awe. "You gave him this?"

Sabina nodded. "I know swords are more Nadia's thing, but she can create her own. So the tradition should remain with you."

Niko took the sword from the case, taking off its scabbard, looking it over. "Did he ever name it?"

"He did," Sabina answered. "Stormbreaker. But I do suppose you could name it something else. Maybe with fire."

Niko shook his head, wanting to keep the name close to what Valkov called him as a child 'starlight'. "Starchaser. Her name is Starchaser."

Sabina smiled. "Starchaser it is."

Niko looked at Sabina, smiling. "Thank you."

Sabina nodded. "Be sure to get a good mark."

"Oh, I will," Niko replied.

"No doubt on that," Sabina agreed.

Niko smiled, before returning serious, putting the sword down, looking at Sabina, hesitating for a moment. "What are you gonna do after this?"

Sabina shrugged slightly. "I will do what I always do. I will crawl back in this bubble or go somewhere new."

"Yeah, but that was before people knew you are alive," Niko pointed out.

Sabina knew he had a point. "I guess I could start over somewhere else. Not exactly sure where, but there's always somewhere. You know how it goes."

Niko bit his lip. "Yeah, though, I think we're gonna stay in Hawkins once, you know, we save the world and we don't have to go on the run anymore, and all that."

"You know you can stay at my old home there," Sabina told him. "I'll give you the address. It used to be a boarding house, so there would be space enough for you, Nadia, Natasha, Nadyr, and then much more."

Niko smiled slightly. "Is it nice?"

Sabina let her eyes glow light purple-pink-blue, telepathically connecting with Niko, causing his eyes to glow blue, so she could show him. "See for yourself."

Niko chuckled as the glow faded from his eyes. "Yes, I can see that."

Sabina smiled as the glow faded from her eyes. She sighed, looking at Niko, hesitating before speaking. "You know, wherever I go next, you can come visit if you want, Niko."

"Really?" Niko asked.

Sabina nodded. "Even if it's just to fight it out. Honestly, these days with you have been the most I spent with family since forever, and I'm not sure how Nadia, Natasha and Nadyr would like me around, but..."

Niko looked down before speaking, looking up. "I would like you to stay."

Sabina looked at him in surprise. "You would?"

Niko chuckled. "Shocking, I know. But these past days have made me think, you know. Like, I thought I would spend the rest of my life hating you, even if you were dead, but these days, seeing you, and talking to you, it made me realize that I survived Mikhail and all that shit from my past because I had my mama and Nadia, and then I started to think of all the shit you likely went through, and I realized that you were alone."

Sabina sighed, somber. "Nikolai..."

"So, all this talk about how I inspire you to be brave and all that..." Niko trailed off. "You should give yourself more credit, 'cause I would have never made it as far as you went alone, and that takes a lot of bravery, so that bravery you keep talking about, I guess I take some from you."

Sabina smiled slightly. "Another thing."

Niko chuckled. "I suppose."

Relieved from hearing the words, having needed to hear them so much, and like a weight lifted off from hearing the words, Sabina had tears in her eyes. "I know there is nothing I can do to make up for the pain I've caused you. That I caused all of you. Not just to my own family, but to all the children in the both the programs, including Calliope's brother Apollo, and Eleven. Henry, Cheryl and Charlie... what I did with them and led to all this pain with Ruby."

"I don't think that I'll ever truly forgive you," Niko admitted, tears in his own eyes. "And I don't think anybody else will either. But I think I'm making peace with the fact that I would really like to try, and I really think that Nadia, Mama and Nadyr will wanna try."

"Really?" Sabina asked.

Niko nodded. "Yeah. So maybe we can try bonding without using the end of the world as the reason, if that's something you would like."

Sabina smiled a bit. "It is. Thank you, Nikolai. II promise I will try my best to be worthy of this chance."

Niko nodded, managing a small smile as a few tears fell. "Okay."

Sabina hesitated, her tears falling, before bringing Niko into an embrace. Niko hesitated for a moment before returning the embrace, both smiling slightly.

Finally, they pulled away, wiping away their tears.

"You should go make sure that William and Eleven are all ready to go," Sabina told him. "I'll get your Starchaser on the plane and we'll be ready to fly as soon as you three join us."

Niko nodded in agreement, walking out of the room.

Sabina put Starchaser into the case, closing the case, walking out of the room to get it to the plane.

∰

Middle of Ocean

Mikhail and several of his soldiers were in many submarines to be able to find and get access to Corinth.

A screen in front of Mikhail suddenly showed a live video of Sullivan in a military transport bus. "Mikhail."

"Sullivan," Mikhail replied. "Lucky I still have a suitable connection even down here. Always do love me some live feed after a capture. I take it you were successful?"

"Just barely," Sullivan answered. "They put up quite the fight."

"Of course they did," Mikhail agreed. "They wouldn't be three of the girls I needed if they didn't. Putting aside the fact that one of them is my granddaughter. Show them to me."

In the bus, Sullivan turned the camera to face Nadia, Hailey and Ruby, who were all in three separate glass cages just like the ones that Natasha and Apollo had been in, and the glass barricade that Natasha, Nadyr and Apollo had trouble breaking down at Hopper's prison.

Sullivan also had a screen on the wall that showed live feed of Mikhail.

Nadia was starting to wake up, heavily sedated, in no shape for fighting or escaping on her own, but when she saw the screen with Mikhail on it, she was absolutely angry, no longer able to be in denial about the fact that he was alive, but still stunned to see her grandfather alive even over video. "No."

Mikhail smirked smugly. "Hello, Nadia. How great it is to see you again, granddaughter."

"How are you..." Nadia trailed off.

"Alive?" Mikhail finished. "That's not something that you need to worry about at the moment. What you should be worried about is what I'm going to do once Sullivan brings you, Ruby and Hailey directly to me. Where I'm already going after your brother Niko, Eleven and Nikolai's boyfriend Will. Sabina's there with them. And soon, Jonathan, Mike and their new friend Calliope will be there I'm sure to try and save all their loved ones."

Nadia was drugged out of her mind, confused and reeling. "While I'm glad Nadyr and Sabina are alive, why the fuck did you have to survive?"

Hailey and Ruby were starting to sit up after waking up, both just as heavily sedated as Nadia, not able to focus.

Mikhail chuckled menacingly. "Oh, nice to see you too, Nadia."

Nadia glared at him. "You killed Papa."

Mikhail shrugged. "I did what had to be done. Imagine my shock and enjoyment to realize that you, Natasha and Niko were alive. And Nadyr and Sabina. It meant that I could finally--"

"Yeah, we don't care what you could finally," Ruby replied. "Who the fuck are you?"

"My grandfather," Nadia answered. "Mikhail."

Hailey and Ruby looked at Nadia in surprise.

Mikhail chuckled. "Hello, Hailey. Ruby. It'll be a pleasure to meet with you soon."

"What are you going to do to Niko, Eleven and Will?" Nadia demanded. "Mike and Jonathan? You leave them alone."

"You know I can't do that," Mikhail replied. "I've been waiting for this for far too long. All of you. With everything you all are and from where you come from. There's no way I'm giving that up now. Fate's a bitch, isn't it?"

"So is karma," Hailey replied. "Just like you're a bitch. And if you did all this to kidnap us and bring us to you, you're just making a huge mistake because we will kill you. All of us will."

Mikhail chuckled darkly. "I'd like to see you try. You don't look so good, Hailey. Even worse than Nadia and Ruby do at the moment."

Hailey looked very out of it and sick to her stomach, weakened. "What the hell did you do to me?"

"I just gave you a little something extra, besides the drug that was given to all three of you to keep you weakened for the time being," Mikhail answered. "Think of it as a... accelerant."

"To what?" Ruby demanded.

"To help her become who she's supposed to be," Mikhail answered. "The experimentations that I had Grigori run on you was not ordinary in the least, Hailey. You became something else entirely. Right now, you're merely in the stages of metamorphosis. But this will help you break out of the cocoon and turn into the dangerous little butterfly you have been becoming for the last year. Your transformation is almost complete."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Hailey demanded. "What transformation?"

"You'll see soon enough," Mikhail replied.

"I swear to God, if anything else happens to Hailey because of you, I will destroy you," Nadia told him, seething. "I will kill you the same way that you got my father killed. You had my mother this whole time, didn't you?"

"I did," Mikhail answered. "And Calliope's little brother Apollo. Which has a big twist. But I'm sure that's something you and everyone else will have to realize in your own time. I'll see you three soon."

Mikhail and Sullivan powered off the screens, leaving Hailey, Nadia and Ruby looking at each other in shock and horror, not knowing what to do, all too drugged to do anything about it at the moment.

"Nadia, your grandfather's an asshole," Ruby told her.

"Yeah," Nadia agreed, leaning her head against the glass. "I know."

In the submarines, Mikhail and his men finally found Corinth, causing Mikhail to smile wickedly, already having a plan to get inside.

∰

City of Corinth

Sabina's Headquarters - Brenner's Cell

Eleven was finally dressed, walking into the cell block to stand outside Brenner's cell.

Brenner wasn't surprised to see her, having been waiting for her to come. "Hello, Eleven. I know. You're frightened of me. Perhaps in our time apart, you've even grown to hate me. But all I've wanted to do is to help you. And right now, I think you very much need my help."

"I don't," Eleven answered. "Sabina's already helped me and Niko get our powers back. We know how to get Nadia and Ruby's back so we can help Hailey against the monsters."

"And now Sabina wishes to send you directly into battle?" Brenner asked. "That's not the right choice."

"Like you make the right choices?" Eleven replied emotionally.

"I try," Brenner replied.

"Did you make the right choice with my real Mama?" Eleven asked.

"Your mother was sick, Eleven," Brenner told her. "She was a danger to herself and to others. She brought a gun into the hospital. She killed a man."

Eleven looked at him in disbelief, shaking her head. "Hospital? No. A prison."

"Everything I have done was for your own good," Brenner told her. "For your own protection. Same with Sabina."

"At least Sabina didn't make my mother catatonic or try to hunt me down and kill my friends," Eleven replied. "And Henry? You both kept Henry in that lab. With the children. You both let Cheryl and Charlie, or Melody and Anthony, escape when they found out they were going to have a baby, to make them betray Henry to see how he would react to it. Was that for our good? Was that a right choice? It got Melody and Anthony killed. Almost got Ruby killed. Got all of the others in that prison killed."

Brenner frowned. "We had no idea what Henry would do. We cared for you. We loved you. We loved all of you."

Eleven shed a tear. "Even Henry?"

"Yes," Brenner answered. "I was trying to help Henry, and Cheryl, and Charlie. To understand them. Yes. Yes, we cared for them. Even after Cheryl and Charlie left and had Ruby. Which I wasn't a part of that as much as Sabina was, clearly."

"You loved Cheryl and Charlie even after that," Eleven stated. "Did you still love Henry, even after what--what he did?"

"Yes," Brenner answered. "Because I knew I had failed him. That both Sabina and I had. We failed Cheryl and Charlie too."

Eleven started to pace. "This morning, Sabina said that you both believed Henry was always alive in the darkness. Is that why, even after Sabina left and you took over completely, you had me searching the darkness? Was I looking for him? For Henry?"

"No, no," Brenner lied. "We were focused on the Soviets. You know that."

"Papa does not tell the truth," Eleven recalled. "Henry said that. About both you and Sabina."

Brenner frowned, stepping closer to the bars of his cell. "And now you trust Henry? Henry, who's manipulated you like some puppet? You are the one who released him from his prison. You. And now you are angry with yourself and you're taking your anger out on me--"

Eleven shook her head. "No. No, you. You have risked everything! You have lied! You made me look for him!" As she spoke, there were small flashbacks of the Gates, the Mind Flayer monster, and all the death that happened because of the Upside Down. "The Gate. The Mind Flayer. So many dead. And all because of you. Because you could not stop. You could not let him go. I came here to try and understand who I was. To see if I... if I was the monster. And now I know the truth. It is not me. It is you. You... are the monster." Brenner couldn't help it when a tear fell, and he could not say a word to deny what Eleven said. "Goodbye, Papa."

Eleven said the word 'Papa' with so much disdain and hatred, turning around, walking away without looking back.

∰

Lobby

Sabina walked downstairs toward Owens. "The agents mostly have the plane ready with everything they need. Nikolai, William and Eleven?'

"Niko and Will are getting changed, and Eleven went to confront Brenner before it's time to go," Owens answered. "She has a guard with her just in case, leading her to Martin's cell."

"Good," Sabina replied. "Because I'm pretty sure there's a security breach in the dome."

Sabina walked toward the main doors.

"Meaning what?" Owens asked.

A bomb was suddenly thrown into the building, and exploded, throwing everyone to the ground, including Sabina and Owens, who both groaned in pain.

"Meaning that," Sabina answered. "Mikhail."

Mikhail and his men walked in.

Sabina pushed herself up, glaring at Mikhail.

Mikhail walked closer, smirking at the sight of his ex-wife wounded on the floor. "Hello, Sabina. What a place you've made for yourself, my dear."

Sabina slowly stood. "How did you find it?"

"Is that really the issue you should be concerned with right now?" Mikhail asked. "Why the long face?"

Sabina glared, about to fight.

Mikhail had clearly siphoned a power of teleportation, appearing in front of Owens in a whirl of red smoke, grabbing him, teleporting them out of the building.

"Sam!" Sabina called in concern.

Mikhail appeared with Owens in the sky outside.

Niko and Will looked out the window to see this.

"What is that?" Will asked.

Niko realized, horrified. "Mikhail."

Mikhail dropped Owens to the ground, making him land in the water outside Sabina's building.

Niko and Will both gasped in shock and concern.

As three Corinth guards ran outside to try and gun down Mikhail, Mikhail used his teleportation to grab each guard, teleporting into the sky and dropping the guards down with severe heights to their deaths, before he made his way back inside.

Mikhail's men and Sabina's men were already firing at each other, trying to put each other down, as Sabina's side was trying to stop Mikhail's hostile takeover.

Sabina aimed a gun at Mikhail. "Take another step and I will put you down."

"Of course you will," Mikhail replied. "You could try."

Sabina fired her gun at Mikhail repeatedly, but Mikhail's teleportation and another siphoned more of metal manipulation rendered each bullet useless.

Sabina shouted into her walkie. "Send backup, now!"

Mikhail held out his hands, using his metal manipulation to catch each bullet fired midair all around the lobby, and thrust his arms toward Sabina and her men, sending bullet after bullet into each one, except for Sabina, taking all of her guards down to the point of their near deaths (at least 12 men).

Sabina was nicked in the side with a bullet, crying out, glaring at Mikhail, trying to shoot again.

Mikhail used the metal manipulation to throw the gun out of Sabina's hand and caught it in his. "What now, Sabina? Hmm?" He spoke to his men. "Find the children. Now!" Mikhail's men ran off to go find them. Sabina tried to stop them, but Mikhail held her at gunpoint. "Ah ah ah."

As Mikhail aimed the gun at Sabina, Sabina glared at Mikhail in fury.

∰

Training Room

Eleven ran into the room where Niko and Will were, as they looked out the window to see what was happening.

"What's going on?" Eleven asked worriedly.

"Mikhail's taking over," Niko answered.

Owens had gotten out of the water outside and made his way hurriedly inside, taking the elevator up to the floor where the kids were. "Stay in that room. Don't come out!"

Several of Mikhail's men ran closer.

Owens started firing his gun at the men, risking everything to protect Niko, Will and Eleven and making sure they could survive so all their friends and family did too.

As Mikhail's men started to fire, Owens took cover, and the window to the training room was shattered, making Niko, Will and Eleven all duck.

∰

Lobby

Even while Sabina had been grazed with a bullet, that didn't stop her from fighting Mikhail.

Sabina kicked Mikhail's gun out of his hands, raising her arm to catch his before he could strike her. Mikhail tried to restrain her, but Sabina flipped back out of his restraint, spinning to face him, punching him twice in the face, kicking him in the leg, making him fall to his knees, punching him hard in the face. Mikhail stood to attack, but Sabina caught his arm, spinning to elbow him in the stomach, then the face, slamming him into the wall. Mikhail teleported in a cloud of red smoke before reappearing behind Sabina, grabbing Sabina, flipping her through the air. Sabina aerialed through the air to land on her feet, flipping Mikhail to the floor instead, kicking him hard in the side. Mikhail teleported up to his feet, behind Sabina, kicking her in the leg, punching her in the face, kneeing her in the side where she was grazed with the bullet, making her cry out in pain, throwing her against the wall. Sabina caught herself against the wall and looked over her shoulder to see Mikhail running closer to attack, spinning out of the way to make him hit the wall instead of her, kicking Mikhail in the leg, spinning to backhand punch him in the face, jumping up, wrapping her legs around his neck, spinning them around and flipping Mikhail to the floor, landing with him. Mikhail teleported on top of Sabina, grabbing her by the head, slamming it against the floor, making Sabina groan in pain, stunning her enough to where she couldn't fight back for the moment.

Mikhail smirked, taking Sabina by the throat, lifting her up from the floor as he stood, dangling her feet midair. "Now. That's not the right way to treat an old lover, is it? Where are the children?"

Sabina struggled for breath. "Go to hell."

"I've already had Sullivan capture Nadia, Ruby and Hailey," Mikhail told her. "They're on their way here now." Sabina's eyes widened in worry. "So whether or not you tell me where Niko and Eleven are, I'll still get what I want."

Sabina's backup that she called for surrounded them on the upper level of the lobby, all aiming guns at Mikhail.

"Put her down now!" Sabina's men called. "Or we will open fire!"

Mikhail shrugged, throwing Sabina up high into the air.

All 12 of the men started to fire their guns at Mikhail, but Mikhail's metal manipulation kept him alive and safe and unharmed.

A grenade launcher was shot at Mikhail, but Mikhail teleported out of the way, completely unharmed.

Sabina fell back to the ground, and Mikhail caught her, before slamming her down onto the ground, bashing her head on the floor, knocking her out.

∰

Training Room

Owens was trying to hold off Mikhail's men, as were some other of Sabina's men, but Sabina's men were quickly being taken down and killed by Mikhail's men, and Owens was weakened and almost shot down too.

Niko, Eleven and Will watched from inside the training room.

Niko stood, shaking his head. "Stay here my ass. Let's go."

Niko, Eleven and Will took off running into the hallway.

∰

Lobby

With Sabina knocked out on the floor, she couldn't stop Mikhail from throwing another grenade that was shot at him back up onto the balcony above to blast all of Sabina's men on the balcony to bits in a fiery explosion (12 men, along with the additional 12 men from before that were dying from being shot by Mikhail).

∰

Hallway

Niko, Eleven and Will felt the explosion from down below as the entire building shook violently, and they had trouble staying standing. "Whoa!"

All of Sabina's men were being wiped out by Mikhail's soldiers and psionics, as Niko, Eleven and Will watched in shock, trying to find a way out without endangering themselves.

As six soldiers found Niko, Will and Eleven in hiding, they grabbed each one of them (two guards each trying to restrain Niko, Will and Eleven), hauling them down the hallway, trying to take them away as each struggled with everything they had.

Eleven let out a scream. "No!"

Eleven's power burst out of her, as powerful as it had ever been, all six of the guards around them thrown telekinetically out at the walls, slamming into the walls just as the lights all burst and exploded into a rain of sparks, making the guards fall to the ground.

Three of the guards were killed by Eleven, but the three others groaned in pain, but were still alive, even if just barely.

Niko held out his hands, forming a ball of blue fire dancing with electricity in small flickers. He widened his hands to enlarge the ball of blue flame, throwing it out into the three remaining guards in front of them, setting them on fire, creating a large blue explosion of flame and electricity as the guards screamed while burning to death.

Will watched in shock, turning to Niko and Eleven as they were both catching their breaths.

Niko took Eleven and Will both by the hands. "Come on, run!"

They took off running down the hallway as they knew that they were severely outnumbered and outmatched.

∰

Another Room

Eleven, Niko and Will had to lock themselves in a room to get away from Mikhail and his army.

But Mikhail and his army were so close to tearing down the door that would allow them to come flooding in.

"Any ideas?" Eleven asked.

Niko looked at the wall of windows behind him. "Maybe."

Niko picked up a metal container, throwing it through the glass, shattering it, as the metal container fell all the way to the pool outside, landing with a big splash as Niko, Eleven and Will were all watching nervously.

"Didn't Valkov die from a fall like this?" Will asked. "Even into water?"

"That was way higher," Niko answered. "This we'll be able to get through. It's doable. Just need a little running start."

Eleven, Niko and Will all backed away, hyping themselves up to jump.

"You sure about this?" Eleven asked.

"Not really," Niko answered.

"Nice pep talk," Will told him sarcastically.

"Do you see another choice?" Niko replied.

The soldiers tore down the door with a battering ram.

Mikhail burst into the room.

∰

Outside

Eleven, Niko and Will were alarmed enough to not even hesitate before running toward the broken window and jumping out, all screaming for each other as they fell right into the pool below, landing with huge splashes.

Mikhail looked out from the broken window, looking downward in shock, watching as the three popped up from the water and gasped for breath.

Niko glared up at Mikhail, giving the middle finger to his grandfather.

Mikhail tried to teleport down toward them but realizing that that power had already left his system, as did the metal control, leaving him with no power right now, he stormed out of the room to go after them.

Niko, Eleven and Will started to climb out of the pool.

Niko checked to make sure they were fine. "El, Will, you okay?"

"Yeah," Eleven answered.

"We made it," Will gasped.

Mikhail's soldiers walked closer to them from all sides, aiming their rifles. "You three, don't move!"

Niko was completely exasperated. "Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me."

"Take it easy," a soldier warned. "Ah ah ah. Don't even think about it. Get on your knees with your hands in the air."

Before Eleven and Niko could even try to do anything, they were shot down with sedatives, and as was Will. The sedatives acted quickly, as they started to fall unconscious instantly.

∰

Middle of the Ocean

Calliope, Jonathan and Mike were using the miniature water submarine to get to Corinth.

Mike was stunned by this sub. "I can't believe this thing is actually real."

Calliope smirked. "They get more and more sophisticated each month. Everything is automated."

"It's pretty cool," Jonathan admitted.

The alarms on the submarine started to go off.

"Something's wrong," Calliope told them. "Jonathan, take the wheel."

Jonathan sat down to take the wheel. "Slowing down."

"I think we're nearing the destination," Calliope admitted.

Right when they got close to Corinth, the submarine completely powered down.

"What the fuck?" Mike asked.

"We've been shut down," Calliope answered. "Hold onto something!" Calliope, Jonathan and Mike all reached out to hold onto something while the submarine hit the bottom of the ocean. "All power's off. Even the emergency power. My flashlight doesn't even work."

"We're stuck, aren't we?" Mike asked.

Jonathan looked around worriedly. "Let's get out of here."

Calliope stood, walking toward the turning wheel on the wall, turning it to open the doors behind them, taking out three glow sticks to hand to Jonathan and Mike, so the three of them could use the lights to see through the submarine.

"What next?" Mike asked.

"We make a swim for it," Calliope answered, taking out three masks, handing them out so they could each put them on, leading to the back of the submarine, turning another wheel on the wall to open the door just a little bit to let them through, but not enough to make the water swarm in to drown them. "Here we go. Hope you guys are good swimmers."

Calliope swam into a Corinth tube pipe at the bottom of the ocean, followed by Jonathan and Mike. They swam through the tubes, only having to swim a little way before Calliope reached the end of the tube into a room with swimming gear and inflatable suits, opening the door, letting them into the small room.

They looked around through the room to see three bags hanging from the ceiling of the tube.

"Should we travel light or heavy?" Jonathan asked.

Calliope grabbed a bag. "We might not be coming back down here. Heavy."

Calliope grabbed inflatable mission suits.

"Inflatable suits?" Mike asked.

"We don't have much choice," Calliope replied. "At least they'll just go over our suits we're wearing right now."

They all put on the inflatable suits.

Jonathan put his mask back on. "At least the masks still work."

"Because they're valve operated, not electrical," Calliope pointed out, reaching to the valve above their heads to turn the water higher in the tube so they would float up to the top exit of the tube which would lead up to Corinth.

"Good luck," Mike told them, putting on his mask.

"You too," Calliope replied, putting on her mask. "Stay close." They swam out of the tube, and their inflatable suits helped them float right up, seeing a tunnel in front of them that would lead them to Corinth. "Comms system check. Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," Jonathan and Mike answered.

Calliope led them into the tunnel. "Come on. This must be the cave of sleeping sharks."

"Sharks don't sleep," Mike told her.

"Wanna bet?" Calliope replied. "Aris said they're part of the legends, the protectors of the city. I'm betting they're part of Sabina's mind control to keep this place safe but they gather to sleep when they're not needed. They're guarding the way in. That looks like the door over there."

Behind all the sleeping sharks, they saw a light next to a door into Corinth.

Mike stopped to look at a shark. "Wow, cool."

Jonathan gave him a look. "Don't touch it."

A shark's nose jabbed into Mike's back, making him jump.

"It's asleep, dumbass," Calliope told him.

"I knew that," Mike replied.

"Come on," Jonathan told them.

Mike swam toward Calliope and Jonathan. "Sweet dreams, sharkies."

They swam closer to the door.

Calliope noticed a camera by the door. "Surveillance camera. I'm gonna distract it. Wait here."

"Don't leave us here," Mike told her.

"Wait here," Calliope repeated, swimming toward the door, taking out a card from her suit, putting it in front of the camera so it couldn't see them go inside, before typing into the keypad by the door. "Breaking the code. Almost there."

Mike and Jonathan looked behind them toward the sharks, seeing that some of them were starting to wake up, swimming toward Calliope worriedly.

"Uh, Calliope?" Mike asked.

"Shut up," Calliope replied. "I gotta focus. Almost there."

"Calliope," Jonathan repeated.

Calliope looked behind them toward the sharks. "Oh, shit."

Calliope continued to try and hurry and break the code with her device.

"Open the door, Callie," Mike told her.

Calliope got the code cracked. "Got it!"

The door opened, the two halves of the door moving up and down to create space enough for Calliope, Mike and Jonathan to swim through, which they did quickly, but before a shark could reach them, the doors closed, saving them.

∰

City of Corinth

Hostage Room

Eleven woke up trapped in a room, wearing a collar that would restrict her use of power to her full extent. She grabbed at the collar around her neck, gasping in fear, breathing heavily in panic, especially when she looked around and saw that she was completely alone, whimpering in worry for Niko and Will.

∰

Another Room

Will was strapped down, just as trapped, but without a collar around his neck for obvious reasons. He woke up to find that he was completely strapped down, trying to break free. "Come on. Come on! Niko? El?"

∰

Another Room

Niko was strapped down, a collar around his neck to keep him from using his powers to the full extent. He looked around worriedly when he woke up, noticing that he was alone, trying to pull at the collar, which shocked him, making him cry out in pain.

Mikhail walked closer slowly. "It's only a precaution. I don't intend to activate it in full." Niko glared at him. "Hello, Nikolai. I really do hope that our fighting has come to an end."

Niko was still drugged and barely able to stay awake, let alone focus, his vision very blurry. "What the hell have you... done with Will and El?"

"Shh," Mikhail shushed. "You'll see them soon enough. And Nadia, Hailey and Ruby."

Niko looked up in surprise. "What? No."

Mikhail chuckled mockingly. "Yeah. It was weird to make a deal with Sullivan to help me capture them instead of kill them, but he'll be here eventually with them, and I'll be one step closer to having all I need."

"For what?" Niko spat.

"For curing me," Mikhail answered.

Niko looked down to see black vines trailing along Mikhail's skin on his hands. "You're dying."

"I am," Mikhail answered. "But your blood, your telepathic healing, can help me create a serum that will heal me. And Hailey is much like someone else that I need. Ruby is a part-natural psionic that has the genes I need to figure out how to make more naturally born psionics, without the use of experimentation. And you and Nadia can help a lot with that too, even if none of you want to do so."

Niko tried to struggle free, but was completely held down. "Go to hell."

Mikhail smirked slightly. "Relax. You're not going anywhere any time soon."

∰

Outside

Calliope, Mike and Jonathan climbed up through a manhole in the street, deflating their inflatable suits before taking them off, leaving them in their mission suits.

"That was fun," Mike remarked.

Calliope rolled her eyes, tilting her head, brushing hair behind her ear. "Shut up."

Jonathan looked around the city to see that most of it had already been taken over, shocked. "Oh, shit. What the hell happened here?"

Calliope looked around, realizing. "Mikhail. He must be taking over. We have less time than we thought. Come on."

They continued along while staying in hiding, coming across a small wall.

"Great," Mike said sarcastically.

"All right, Mike, you're up," Calliope told him.

Jonathan and Calliope helped Mike climb up the wall so that he could get to the top.

Mike helped Jonathan climb up. "Come on, Jonathan."

Jonathan reached the top. Mike and Jonathan both reached down for Calliope.

"I got it," Calliope told them, taking a few steps back, running at the wall, climb up along it, and jumping up to climb up to the top.

Mike scoffed a laugh. "Show off."

Calliope smirked, winking.

They walked along the wall edge, going into hiding, while also having complete view of the city.

"Where would they be?" Jonathan asked.

Calliope glanced over the city, before looking at the tallest building, the most expensive but government looking, professional looking, clearly Sabina's headquarters. "There. That's the lab. That's where they'll be keeping them. It'll be crawling with Mikhail's soldiers. They got surveillance everywhere."

"Sounds like a fortress," Jonathan told them.

"There's gotta be a way in," Mike told them.

Calliope shook her head, becoming angry, volatile. "There is no way in!" Mike and Jonathan both looked at her in worry, but knowing it was because she was sick with the same virus that was killing Mikhail. Calliope realized that she snapped, lowering her voice. "Sorry. We just... we don't have time to wait. Come on."

∰

Sabina's Headquarters - Outside

Calliope was able to lure three of the black clothing-clad soldiers away from the lab across the street, walking around the corner.

The soldiers followed Calliope, having recognized her in one of the many missions that she staged to try and find and save Apollo, but by the time they rounded the corner, Calliope had disappeared.

Suddenly, Calliope popped up next to Soldier 1, kicking the gun out of his hand, spinning around to kick him in the head, turning to elbow him in the face, grabbing him by his head, slamming it against the brick wall, knocking him out, letting him fall.

Jonathan ran to push Soldier 2 into the wall, kicking him in the legs to make him kneel over, ripping the gun from his hands before he had the chance to shoot, spinning the gun around to use it to hit him in the face, bashing his head against the wall, knocking him out.

Mike popped up next to Soldier 3 before he could shoot Calliope and Jonathan, punching him in the face, sending him spinning away, kicking the gun out of his hands.

Calliope ran toward Soldier 3 to slam him against the wall, punching him in the stomach, then the face, using her arm like a clothesline to make him flip through the air and land badly on the floor, picking him up, throwing him against the wall, punching him twice in the gut. Soldier 3 tried to punch Calliope in the face. Calliope ducked, grabbing him by the jacket, headbutting him in the face, turning to throw him against the wall and making him fall, picking up his gun that Mike made him drop, shooting Soldier 3 in the head with it, killing him. She shot Soldiers 1 and 2 in the head as well, so that they wouldn't be a problem with catching them or fighting them later.

Mike and Jonathan were slightly uncomfortable, but knew that Calliope was doing what she had to do, especially since they had walked into the middle of a war in Corinth.

Calliope, Jonathan and Mike all looked at each other, breathing heavily.

Calliope tilted her head. "Time to go."

∰

Sabina's Headquarters - Stairwell

Calliope, Mike and Jonathan had gotten into the building dressed as the soldiers after stealing the uniforms from the guards they had knocked out and wearing the uniforms over their suits, using their key cards to continue on into a secret stairwell so they could get to the next level without getting caught or questioned.

"Go, go, go," Jonathan urged.

Calliope stopped at the breaker boxes at the side of the stairwell. "Hold on, hold on. I can get in. Give me the walkie."

Calliope coughed, becoming more ill, as Jonathan and Mike looked at her in concern.

"What happens after this?" Mike asked.

"Someone needs to get that plane outside," Calliope answered. "I'm pretty sure that's what Sabina prepared for Niko, Will and El. And Apollo, if he's here. Any of you know how to fly a plane? 'Cause that's one thing I don't know how to do."

Jonathan looked at them. "I can figure it out."

"Oh, goody, that gives a lot of faith and confidence," Calliope remarked sarcastically, breaking open the breaker box. "Mike, you think you can find the other kids in the building that need to be let out so Mikhail's people don't use them anymore? Hell, they can help us take those stupid soldiers down."

"Yeah, I can," Mike answered.

"Good, do that," Calliope told him, severing the wires to the security system. "This will glitch out their security system. Give us time to get in and take down the team in the security room to buy us all time. Let's go."

They all ran off toward the security room, as the security system was glitching.

∰

Security Room

Calliope used the key card to open the door, and as soon as the doors opened, Mike, Jonathan and Calliope fired the guns at Mikhail's guards inside, taking them down, before splitting up to go on their own missions that they already spoke of.

∰

Soldier/Psionic Wing

Mike found the wing where Mikhail and his men had gathered the psionics and soldiers of the city to try and torture, use them or experiment on them, using his key card to open it, taking off his mask to show them that he wasn't a threat. "Come on, let's go. I'm on Sabina's side. Let's get you guys out of here. It's okay. Come on, it's okay. You guys are okay. You can get out of here now. You're free. Take out as many of Mikhail's guys as you can, all right? We need all the help we can get."

All of them nodded, running off to go do as said, because they were not letting this go, ready to take the entire city down if they had to in order to take down Mikhail and his men.

∰

Sabina's Trapped Room

Sabina was strapped down, head lulling. She was coming out of sedation, having to focus and power through this to get out. "Okay. Couldn't the bastard just kill me?"

Sabina sighed, taking out a blade from her belt line. She instantly stabbed the doctor next to her, making him stop before he could do any more experimentation, using the knife to cut herself free. A doctor ran closer to try to sedate her, but Sabina caught his arm, twisting it to break it, punching him in the neck, then the chest, taking his arm, flipping him to the ground. She stood, jumping onto the neck and shoulders of another doctor, spinning herself around him to flip him to the ground, landing in a crouch, kicking him in the head to knock him out. The final doctor in the room tried to grab a sedative. Sabina stood and ran at the doctor from behind him, catching his wrist, twisting his arm around on him, injecting him in the neck with the needle, making him fall unconscious. A guard tried to take down Sabina with a gun. Sabina ducked and ran toward him, tackling him to the ground, grabbing his gun, using it to shoot him in the head, killing him. She turned toward the doctor and shot him in the head to kill him as well.

∰

Will's Trapped Room

Will was strapped down on a table.

Mikhail was pacing around Will next to a doctor. "So this is the boy that can sense things from the other world?"

"Yes, sir," the doctor answered. "He almost has a connection to it."

"Find out why," Mikhail told him. "Cut out his brain and find this connection."

Mikhail walked out of the room.

Will swallowed. "Not a cool way to die."

Sabina spoke to Will through coms. "William, it's Sabina. You have a two inch blade in your beltline."

"What?" Will asked. The doctor looked over at Will, causing Will to cover. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Outside right hip," Sabina explained.

Will could reach the blade, about to take it out.

A doctor spoke in Russian. "Keep him awake for the cranial incisions."

Will got the knife and sliced it through his restraints, breaking free, stabbing Doctor 1 with the knife, pushing him against the wall, sitting up, cutting himself the rest of the way free. Doctor 2 ran closer, but Will kicked him in the chest and knocked him down to the floor. Doctor 3 ran closer to try and sedate Will, but Will ducked the needle, punching it out of his hand, grabbing his wrist, rolling over the gurney to flip the doctor to the floor, falling to the floor with him, kicking him in the face, knocking him out. Doctor 1 stood, but Will threw the knife into his neck, watching as he fell to the floor and bled out, hating to have to kill him, but knowing that it had to be done.

Will stood, walking out of the room, speaking to Sabina through comms. "You couldn't have told me sooner?"

"Don't throw a fit," Sabina told him. "There wasn't time. And I just woke up. Find Nikolai and Eleven. I need to get the evacuation plane ready. You still have the portal shards, yes?"

Will found the portal shards on the nearby table, picking them up. "Yeah, I do."

"Good," Sabina told him. "Now go!"

Will ran out of the room.

∰

Eleven's Trapped Room

Eleven was strapped down, looking at the doctors around her. Knowing that she could still use her powers even with the collar on, she released a yell of pure power, telekinetically ripping herself free from all of her binds, causing an electrical explosion from her technopathy power, as her telekinesis wave of energy exploded out and threw all three of the doctors around to the ground, bashing their skulls against the walls, and making them fall to the floor, dead.

Once Eleven was free, she sat up, and started to leave, but being so drugged, she had a difficulty with staying standing and to keep going.

∰

Hallway

Calliope and Jonathan were still looking, aiming their guns when they needed to.

A guard started to fire his gun at them, but Calliope and Jonathan ran for cover, firing their own guns back at the soldier, taking him down, running to continue looking, yelling for Eleven, Will, Niko and Apollo, trying to find them.

All of the other psionics and soldiers that lived in Corinth escaped on their own, while using a lot of their powers and moves to take out Mikhail's soldiers, making it easier for Will, Eleven and Sabina to break out, and for Calliope, Mike and Jonathan to move around while not being caught, starting a full on war against Mikhail's men that would likely end to the destruction of Corinth. 

Calliope and Jonathan were on the run from the remaining guards while looking for the kids, firing their guns when they had to.

"Calliope, get down," Jonathan told her. They both took cover behind the wall. "Shit, I'm almost out."

Calliope was struggling to hold herself together and resist losing herself to the violence and chaos of the situation, knowing that it would make it easier for her to go rabid and slowly start to die if she lost herself completely, but she didn't care if it meant saving her brother. "Come on, let's go."

They ran around the corner.

Another soldier stood there, aiming his gun at Calliope and Jonathan. "You two freeze! I said get down on the ground now!"

Calliope and Jonathan were out of bullets and couldn't fire or take him down.

Mike suddenly appeared, running at the soldier with a yell, tackling him into the wall, hitting him with his own gun, pushing him away from the wall toward a window behind him, turning his gun to face the soldier and shooting him, the blast throwing the soldier back through the window and taking him down, killing him.

Calliope and Jonathan looked at Mike in shock, both impressed.

"Not bad, Mike," Calliope told him, coughing weakly, getting more and more sick.

"How are you feeling, Calliope?" Mike asked.

"Terrible," Calliope answered.

"We just gotta find the cure for this," Jonathan told them. "They've gotta have one."

"I found Sabina," Mike explained. "She said that El, Will and Niko could find their way outside to us. And she said that she knows what the cure is. We just gotta get outside to the plane."

Calliope couldn't go on on her own anymore, nearly fainting. "Go."

Jonathan and Mike caught Calliope from collapsing, putting her arms around their shoulders.

"No, no, come on," Jonathan told her. "We're gonna get us out of here. We gotta get to Sabina and the plane. She'll know what happened to Apollo, okay? Let's go."

"Just leave me," Calliope told them.

Mike shook his head. "Not gonna happen. You hear me? Not gonna happen."

Jonathan and Mike helped Calliope up.

Calliope grabbed the guard's gun on the ground since she knew that they needed more bullets.

∰

Outside

Eleven made her way outside, seeing a helicopter up in the sky, commanded by Mikhail's men, as they tried to shoot around her to get her back inside.

Eleven glared at the helicopter, holding out her hand toward the chopper, her nose already starting to bleed given the collar on around her neck trying to restrict her power usage, but she still powered through it to do her biggest display of power yet. She started to move the helicopter in the sky, making it to where the soldiers inside could not shoot anyone outside as more and more of Sabina's psionics and soldiers were escaping and taking out Mikhail's men.

Mike and Jonathan helped Calliope out of the building, as they saw this happening.

Mike was shocked to see Eleven doing this, but looking so incredibly proud. "Holy shit. There she is! El! El!"

Eleven was toying with the helicopter, moving it around in the air, testing her power even with the collar on, twisting her hand around to spin the chopper around, making the soldiers inside lose control of the helicopter completely, raising it higher and higher into the sky. She thrust both her arms toward the helicopter with a primal scream of rage and power, throwing her arms down, sending the helicopter straight to the ground, destroying it and the two soldiers inside with a huge explosion of flame and smoke, her scream echoing throughout Corinth.

"Holy shit!" Jonathan said.

Eleven fell to her knees.

Calliope was impressed, raising her eyebrows. "Holy shit indeed."

Eleven glared out at the remains of the explosion and the helicopter, breathing heavily.

Mike ran toward Eleven instantly. "Eleven!" He reached her side, grabbing her shoulder, snapping her out of her daze. "Eleven."

Eleven looked at Mike in shock and relief, both looking near tears as they embraced, holding each other close in absolute relief. "Oh, Mike." When they pulled away from their embrace, Eleven and Mike leaned their foreheads together, as she cupped his neck in her hands. "It's really you?"

"It's me," Mike answered. "I'm here. Jonathan and Calliope too."

Eleven looked toward Jonathan and Calliope, as she looked at Calliope in guilt because of her believing that Apollo was dead just like Sabina did, but looking at Jonathan in relief. "Jonathan."

Mike helped Eleven up to her feet.

Jonathan walked closer so that he and Eleven could embrace.

"Are you okay?" Jonathan asked.

Eleven nodded. "I'm okay."

"Will?" Jonathan asked.

"He's inside, looking for Niko," Eleven answered.

"Okay," Jonathan agreed, just needing to be sure. "We gotta go. We gotta get us out of here."

∰

Street

Sabina was standing by the plane, getting it ready to leave, when several guards ran closer to try and stop her.

Sabina ran toward Guard 1, spinning around him and grabbing his gun before he could fire, ending up on the other side of him as she snapped his arm, making him scream and drop the gun, spinning to kick his feet out from underneath him, making him fall, still having his gun, aiming the gun up at the machines at the top of the dome of the city above.

"Stop right there, Sabina!" a guard/spy told her.

Sabina tilted her head, looking around at all the soldiers aiming their guns. "Precisely what I was thinking." She fired the rifle at the machine above, making them explode and send a spinning razor blade-like fan down toward them, making everyone run and duck for cover, buying herself some time, speaking through the comms. "Children, slight change of plans. I completely demolished one of the machines keeping the city afloat and we are going into a controlled explosion within minutes. If we don't get out of here soon, the entire city will collapse." She grabbed Guard 1 by his head before he could leave, her eyes glowing bright blue-purple-pink, as she read his mind. "I knew it. You're bringing Nadia, Hailey and Ruby here. Where are they?"

"I won't tell you anything," Guard 1 replied.

"Luckily, you don't have to," Sabina replied, getting the information needed. "Your thinking will help me just fine."

Once Sabina got what she needed to know, Sabina knocked Guard 1 out with her rifle by slamming it against his head brutally, letting him fall to the ground, shooting him in the head to kill him.

Eleven, Mike, Jonathan and Calliope got to the plane and Sabina, using their guns and what little bullets they had left to finish off the guards.

Calliope was furious when she saw Sabina, instantly pushing out of Mike and Jonathan's hold, storming toward Sabina even in her weakened state. "Sabina!"

Sabina turned toward Calliope, seeing the state she was in. "Calliope Pierce. Can't say that this is your best look. In fact, you look much like Mikhail does at the moment."

Calliope aimed her gun at Sabina. "My brother. Where is he?"

Sabina sighed, flashing back to Apollo, looking down, swallowing. "You know the answer to that, Calliope. Apollo's gone." Calliope started to cry, in denial, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. He was killed in a massacre of the other children of Hawkins. There was nothing we could do to stop it."

Calliope dropped her gun, crying, gasping for breath weakly in agony and devastation, thinking that all these years she had been looking for her brother, putting herself on the line, was for nothing, when Sabina, Eleven and Calliope had no idea that Apollo was actually still alive.

Eleven looked down sadly in guilt.

Jonathan and Mike were absolutely horrified and worried.

Calliope couldn't keep standing, falling to her knees, screaming in absolute agony, causing Jonathan, Mike and Eleven to flinch. "No!"

Jonathan knelt next to Calliope, trying to comfort his newfound friend.

Sabina looked down in guilt. "I can fly the plane. If you and your friends and my grandson want to make it out of here alive, I'm the only way how."

"Then get the damn plane ready," Jonathan told her.

Sabina nodded, getting into the plane to do just that.

Calliope pushed away from Jonathan, her eyes going blood red as black blood beaded on her lips. "Go, go! Just go!"

Jonathan was not willing to abandon a friend. "Mike, El, go. You need to get Niko and Will, and the serum and bring them back."

Mike and Eleven knew Jonathan was right, horrified by the state that Calliope was in, and wanting to do anything to help her and save all their loved ones.

Mike nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Go!" Jonathan told them.

Mike and Eleven took off running, back down into the building to find Will and Niko, able to get past all the fighting with the soldiers and the formerly hostage warriors that were now taking them all out.

∰

Inside - Niko's Trapped Room

Niko was still very much weakened and drugged, even worse than Eleven had been, with the collar around his neck, his blood being taken by Mikhail's doctor.

Mikhail looked even worse than Calliope, but ironically, his system could handle it better without going completely rabid due to being a psionic, though his eyes were going blood red as black blood started to bead on his lips. He wiped the blood away with a cloth. "Do you know what this place is, Nikolai? It's a lifeboat. And the whole world might be sinking, but doesn't mean that we have to go down with it." He looked at the doctor. "How much longer?"

"It's almost done," the doctor answered.

Niko struggled, but couldn't break free, and he was too drugged to try and tap into his powers. "Why don't you just kill me?"

"Kill you?" Mikhail repeated. "No, we don't wanna do that. Your blood and your power is the only thing that can save me. And the girl that's been helping your friends Mike and Jonathan find their way here and fight their way inside to save the rest of you. Calliope Pierce. I need you alive. Just. All to save myself. Like Natasha, Nadia, Nadyr, Hailey and Ruby." Niko struggled furiously. "With these, because of you, I get to survive. And create a world of my own making. To my health."

Sneaking into the room, Will came up from behind Mikhail, slamming a glass bottle over his head, knocking him down.

Niko and Will were both breathing heavily in shock and from the intensity of the entire situation.

Niko looked at Will in utter relief.

Will picked up the syringe with the serum, putting it into his jacket pocket. "Niko. Okay, let's get out of here." He struggled to try and undo Niko's restraints, all while Niko was looking at Will in awe for the way Will didn't even hesitate to come help save him. "Come on."

Will managed to break one of the restraints open.

Mikhail appeared beside Will, blood streaming down from his head, grabbing Will, as the two began to fight.

Niko struggled. "No!"

Mikhail threw Will over the table behind him, knocking everything down, making Will fall to the floor.

Niko was struggling to undo the last restraint to try and help Will, still unable to focus enough to use his powers.

Will looked up from the floor, glaring at Mikhail, standing, punching him in the face, kicking him in the stomach, spinning around to backhand punch Mikhail in the face.

Mikhail caught Will's arm, twisting it, almost breaking it, making him yell in pain. "Give it to me!" Niko was yelling as he was struggling. Mikhail grabbed Will by the back of the head, yanking hard on his hair. "Give it to me!"

Mikhail slammed Will's head on the table next to them, knocking him out, making him fall to the floor.

"Will!" Niko yelled.

Mikhail smirked in amusement, eyes still blood red as he was starting to lose control.

∰

Outside

Sabina was still in the plane, making sure that it was ready, and that the kids had everything they needed. She put in the coordinates that they needed to go, setting this with the label for where Nadia, Hailey and Ruby were, on the way to the coast with Sullivan as he was trying to bring them to Corinth.

Outside, Calliope started to breathe rapidly as she became rabid. "Jonathan, go."

Jonathan shook his head. "No. Calliope? Callie? Hey, hey! Callie! Hey! We're gonna try this, okay?"

Calliope was fighting off the rabid urges, grunting, letting out an almost growling sound. "No. Go!"

"No, Cal," Jonathan denied. "I need you to give me everything you got. Let's go. Come on, ready? Here we go. One, two, three." Jonathan picked Calliope up, leading her down the way, carrying most of her weight to do so, taking her to the plane. "We're almost there, Callie." Calliope vomited blood on the ground, pushing herself out of Jonathan's hold and to the ground. "No, Cal!" Calliope stood. "Cal?" Calliope turned to face Jonathan, almost completely taken over. "Callie?" Calliope growled, running at Jonathan, but Jonathan evaded her tackling him, pushing her away from him before she could hurt him. "Calliope? Callie, it's me. It's me!"

Calliope ran at Jonathan rabidly, tackling him to the ground. Jonathan held Calliope at bay, throwing her off of him to the ground.

Calliope was breathing heavily, fighting all of her rabid urges, devastated because she thought she didn't have anything to live for since she believed that her brother was dead, and she didn't want to kill Jonathan. "Jonathan, kill me!"

Jonathan shook his head, walking closer. "Cal, I'm here. They're gonna get the serum for you. We're gonna save you. I promise." Calliope lost control, running at Jonathan, tackling him to the ground, straddling him down, trying to strangle him and bite at him, growling all the while. Jonathan was struggling against her. "Calliope, please!"

Calliope realized what was happening, getting control back just for a moment, breathing heavily, letting go of his throat. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jonathan."

Jonathan was gasping for oxygen. "It's okay. It's okay." Calliope took her gun, aiming it at her own head. Jonathan instantly launched his hand out, hitting the gun out of Calliope's hand to the ground. "No!"

∰

Inside - Niko's Trapped Room

Niko got enough strength to rip the rest of the restraint off, getting up, and also weakened because of having blood drawn, he was definitely not up to best fighting shape, but he still ran at Mikhail with a battle cry, tackling him away from the unconscious Will, and through the wall of glass behind him, making all the glass shatter. They were both cut up and bleeding from landing on the glass, pushing themselves up. Mikhail punched Niko viciously in the face. Niko retaliated with two brutal punches to Mikhail's face, pushing him into the wall, pinning him. Mikhail broke free, spinning around to try and punch Niko. Niko ducked to make him miss. Mikhail punched Niko in the face, kicking him down, siphoning some of Niko's power to burn him and weaken him even more, strangling him. Niko coughed and gasped for breath, gathering enough physical strength from pure adrenaline to push himself up to his feet and slam himself backward into the wall against Mikhail, making him let go, turning to face him, as both traded hits, blocks and blows.

Will was waking up by the table, looking up to see the fight.

Mikhail delivered a brutal punch to Niko's face, knocking him down. "You're weak. Just like Valkov."

Anger was surging through Niko like a tornado, as he was seething with absolute rage. He shot up from the floor, turning to punch Mikhail twice in the face with either arm, then the gut, making him double over in pain. When Niko tried to punch again, Mikhail caught Niko's arm and backhand punched him in the face, kneeing him in the gut, throwing him to the floor.

Mikhail used siphoned telekinesis from Eleven to throw Niko into the wall with a wave of his arm, making him fall to the ground. Niko struggled to focus and fight after being sedated heavily and his blood taken, unable to use his powers yet, but he punched Mikhail in the face. Mikhail punched Niko in the face, making him snap backward and break the windows behind him and nearly fall out of the building window. Niko caught the edges of the window frame to keep from falling, but given that his strength was depleted given what Mikhail had already done, he was about to lose his grip. Mikhail used telekinesis to pull Niko back in through the window, grabbing him, turning around, throwing him through another plate of glass, making it shatter as Niko fell to the floor, walking closer, grabbing Niko, slamming him against the wall. Niko kicked Mikhail back, grabbing two wires hanging from the ceiling, lifting himself up to swing down and kick both feet into Mikhail's chest, making them crash through a portion of weak wood with a rain of debris as they landed on the ground. Mikhail stood, thrusting his arm toward Niko, telekinetically sending him flying through another plate of glass, making it shatter as Niko crashed to the floor. Niko struggled to get up, but Mikhail thrust his chin forward, telekinetically throwing Niko back several feet into a wall behind him with enough force to break the wall and make Niko fall to the floor with a groan of pain.

Mikhail stalked closer. "Strong enough to have it all." Niko grabbed a table from nearby, throwing it at Mikhail with a yell. Mikhail held out his hand, telekinetically blasting the table to pieces, making the pieces fall harmlessly to the ground. Niko stood, trying to attack Mikhail. Mikhail caught Niko by the shoulders, spinning them around. "Too weak to take it!"

Throughout the entire fight, Mikhail kept siphoning some of Niko's power, making him groan in absolute pain, his hands glowing green as he siphoned from Niko.

Mikhail punched Niko viciously in the chest, using a blast of telekinetic energy to send Niko flying back to the ground. Niko rolled back across the floor up to a crouching position, standing, running back toward Mikhail, putting his foot on the wall to boost himself up to put his knees on Mikhail's head, tackling him into the wall as Niko put his hands against the wall to catch himself, pinning Mikhail to the wall as he punched him in the face repeatedly. Mikhail just gave an evil laugh in return, taking Niko off of him, throwing him to the floor, making him crash through a table and shatter it to pieces in the process. Mikhail walked closer, telekinetically lifting Niko up from the floor, slamming him into the ceiling before slamming him back down against the floor, ith enough strength to blast a hole through the floor of the lab and make Niko hit the bottom floor of the lab underneath. Niko pushed himself up. Mikhail kicked a table over at Niko to send him stumbling back, jumping over the table to send both feet kicking into Niko's chest, making him crash through another plate of glass and fall to the floor. Niko rolled back across the floor up to his feet, standing unsteadily. Mikhail punched him in the chest twice, punching him in the face. Niko ducked another punch, grabbing Mikhail, turning around to push him through a plate of glass, making it shatter, punching him in the face twice, stalking closer with each hit, making Mikhail back away, before swinging his hand down and delivering a brutal uppercut to Mikhail's jaw, throwing him back through the plate of glass behind him, making that shatter and Mikhail fall to the floor, walking closer, glaring. Mikhail jabbed Niko in the leg as he got up, punching Niko in the face, trying to punch him again. Niko raised an arm to block the move, punching Mikhail in the face, then the chest, then the stomach, making him back away with each hit. Mikhail pulled his arm free from Niko and punched him in the face, snapping his head to the side, kicking him in the chest, then the face, making him snap backward, running toward Niko, tackling him through a plate of glass, which shattered as they fell to the floor on top of all the glass. Mikhail stood to his feet, grabbing Niko by the neck to pull him with him, punching him again. Niko pushed Mikhail off, punching him twice in the face. They faced off and continued trading blocks and blows. Mikhail was a lot more able to fight now than Niko was, going much faster given Niko's weakened state, punching him three times in a blur of motion, to his face, chest and stomach, before spinning around and kicking Niko in the back of the leg brutally, making Niko take a knee to the ground, punching him in the head, almost making him fall face first to the floor. Niko caught himself and pushed himself back up, only to be kicked in the face by Mikhail and flung backward to the floor. Niko stood, blocking two kicks from Mikhail, along with a punch, before punching Mikhail brutally in the face, backhand punching him in the face with the other arm, headbutting Mikhail, making him back away. After a few more blocks and blows between the two, Niko managed to grab Mikhail by the shoulders and headbutt him in the face again, picking Mikhail up and slamming him down through a glass table, making it shatter. Mikhail grabbed a piece of glass and swiped it across Niko's legs, making him groan in pain, as they both went to get up. Mikhail stood, jumping up and grabbing a florescent light bulb from the ceiling, which was long and narrow, ripping it down from the ceiling and slamming it down on Niko's head, making the glass shatter with a burst of sparks, and making Niko fall back into a chair behind him and flip over it to the floor.

Mikhail jumped down next to Niko, punching him repeatedly, gripping him by the throat, strangling him. "Your weakness is mortality, Nikolai. Natasha, Nadyr, Nadia. It's the weakness of all of you. It's choking you. Can't you feel it?" Will ran closer, grabbing a scalpel from nearby, running up to Mikhail to stab him in the side to make him let Niko go. Niko gasped for breath for relief now that he could breathe. Mikhail pulled the scalpel from his side, glaring at Will. "You. He got it from you. That pathetic sickness." Mikhail grabbed Niko by the head, raising his head to look at Will, as Niko could barely move. "You can help fix me, Niko."

Will stood ready to try and fight, but Mikhail used telekinesis to hold him in place to keep him from attacking.

"Will, go," Niko told him weakly.

"Now I get to help fix you," Mikhail told him.

Niko swallowed. "Will, run, please." Mikhail raised his hand, telekinetically levitating pieces of shattered wood and glass, ready to throw it at Will. "Will!"

Mikhail thrust his arm toward Will with a yell, throwing all the wood and Will at him.

Will ducked down behind a table as a shield, only cut slightly, nothing too badly damaging.

Just before Mikhail could do anything else, an explosive shot into the windows behind Mikhail, shaking the entire room as the explosion rattled the entire floor, shattering all the glass, and making Niko, Will and Mikhail all duck for cover.

With the explosion taken Mikhail down, Niko and Will started to run with the serum.

Mikhail stood, aiming his gun.

Niko grabbed Will and ran to the side with him. "Will!"

They ran around the corner.

"We need to get out of here," Will told him. Niko looked down in pain and realization. "What's wrong?" Niko turned to face Will, his hand pressed against his torso, which was gushing blood, as he had clearly gotten shot in the process of saving Will. Will was in shock, horrified and worried, running toward him. "Niko? Niko!" Niko fell to the floor, as Will knelt next to him. Niko shakily raised his shirt, showing the gunshot wound, which wasn't as bad as it could have been, but would definitely get worse if they didn't get help soon. "Okay, okay, we need to... oh, shit." Will looked around, finding a cloth, holding it against Niko's wound as a temporary fix. "Here, here! Just put pressure on it. Hold it."

Niko was breathing heavily in pain. "You gotta go." Will looked up at him. "You gotta go."

Will shook his head. "No. Not without you."

They both froze when they heard the door open.

∰

Outside

As the battle of Corinth raged on, with a lot of the street on fire from attacks and powers, Calliope lost control so quickly again, punching Jonathan in the face, taking a knife from her jacket, and slashing it at Jonathan. Jonathan raised his hand to block the knife, getting cut in the hand. Calliope pushed his hand away to drive the knife down at Jonathan's chest. Jonathan held Calliope's arms off with both of his, struggling to not let Calliope drive the knife into his chest. Calliope drove the tip of the knife into Jonathan's chest right above his heart, but didn't get the chance to finish the job. Jonathan screamed in pain, pushing Calliope's arms up to take the knife out of the shallow wound, kicking Calliope off of him to the ground, punching her in the face, knocking her down.

Calliope stood to try and attack again, but Mike and Eleven came up from behind Calliope, having been unable to find Will and Niko.

Eleven held out her hand, using telekinesis to levitate Calliope in the air, keeping her psychically pinned in place and unable to try and kill any of them, saving Jonathan in the process.

Sabina started the plane. "Get in, all of you!"

Eleven had to knock out Calliope so that she wasn't rabid, and to buy them time to save her. Jonathan caught Calliope as she fell, running with her toward the plane. Mike and Eleven ran toward the plane to get in.

Sabina used a device to take off the collar from around Eleven's neck.

Eleven threw the collar out of the plane.

The entire city of Corinth was starting to go up in flames with the wars going on between Sabina's side and Mikhail's, all the psionics and soldiers running about and trying to save Corinth, while the machine that was burst was going to lead to the destruction of it either way.

∰

Inside - Lab

Will crawled away from Niko to create a diversion.

Mikhail walked into the room, aiming his gun around the room. "Where are you, boys?" Will created a noise across the room, making Mikhail spin around and fire his gun, but hit no one. Mikhail walked in that direction, but did not see Will. "Come on. Let's not prolong this. We both know there's no way outta here." Niko started to crawl. "Let's not make this any more painful than it needs to be." Niko and Will both remained in hiding. "Niko. Will."

Will crawled along the floor to try and get back to Niko.

Mikhail walked into the space between them, aiming his gun at Will.

Will crawled backwards away from him. "No. No."

Mikhail glared at him. "I think you have something of mine." Will slowly stood, holding the serum vial in one hand. "Not that. Where's my grandson?"

Will showed him the vial. "Just take it. Leave him alone."

"What is it with you two?" Mikhail asked. "He's a lab rat. He was born with a gift given to him by me and Sabina. Nadia too. They never had to fight for it, they never had to earn it. Natasha and Nadyr were the same way. We fought for ours. We earned it. I deserve it. What about you, Nikolai? What do you have to say? How about I put your little boyfriend out of his misery?"

Niko pushed himself up. "Mikhail!" Mikhail turned to face Niko. Niko realized what could happen, finally finding a way to outdo Mikhail. He threw blast after blast at Mikhail. "Take it. All of it! I don't want it."

Mikhail held out his hands, telekinetically stopping the blasts of blue glowing fire before they could hit him, levitating them in front of him, allowing his hands to glow green as he siphoned the power into himself, breathing heavily at the rush of power. "Come on, Nikolai." As Niko continued to throw blasts of his power at Mikhail, Mikhail was growing stronger, healing, siphoning Niko's strength and power. Mikhail laughed chaotically, cackling with evil amusement. While Niko, on the other hand, seemed to be becoming sick, as his skin started to crinkle and blacken just like Mikhail's had been moments before, black veins trailing along his skin. Even though it hurt and took all of his power to do so, Niko continued throwing blasts at Mikhail, letting him siphon them. "Come on, Niko. This is your fate. Release your burden." Slowly, they created an endless stream of blue glowing power connecting Niko and Mikhail, as Mikhail was siphoning, exhilarated, feeling on top of the world. "There's more. I want it all!"

Finally, Mikhail seemed to siphon in all from Niko.

Niko hung his head. "That was easier when I expected." Mikhail looked at Niko in confusion, glaring, before about to use Niko's own power to throw back at him, but before he could use the power against Niko, Niko's power seemed to be burning him from within, gasping, groaning. "You spent so long sick and dying. And you thought that I would heal you. You didn't consider the risk that I could destroy you even if you got what you wanted in the end. Thanks for nothing, Pops." Mikhail looked at Niko in disbelief as he started to heal, his skin returning to smooth, colored, and normal, as his eyes glowed blue, and his blue glowing head piece appeared around his skull. "But I don't need you to tell me who I am."

Mikhail realized what Niko had done, that he had been tricked and what was about to happen, looking actually afraid. "No. No."

Niko held out his hands behind him, tilting his head, as he started to call all of his power back to himself, siphoning it back away from Mikhail in an endless stream, absorbing it, making it create a dangerous, deadly, glowing fiery tornado around them. Mikhail was screaming all the wall, pulled toward Niko. Mikhail gripped Niko's throat to try and siphon the power back, but it was too much for his body to handle, burning him intensely, almost to the point of killing him, making him scream in agony. Mikhail tried to pull free, as it was starting to burn him completely, but Niko grabbed Mikhail's hand and put it back on his throat, making Mikhail keep siphoning, as it was overwhelming his entire system and starting to burn Mikhail from the inside. The fire swirled and danced around them, as Niko flew them high up into the air away from Will so that Will wasn't put in danger by the flames around them.

Niko glared at Mikhail with blue fiery glowing eyes. "You're wrong. My emotions make me strong."

Niko took all of his powers back from Mikhail through the contact, leaving Mikhail completely powerless, his eyes glowing blue, shooting streams of blue fire from his hands right out at Mikhail, more fire than he had ever used before, as he had the aura of blue fire energy glowing around him as they levitated, shooting Mikhail with enough fire that he was starting to burn him into ash, making Mikhail scream in utter agony, as they both fell to the ground.

Will looked at Niko in shock to see him use so much power like this, the strongest he had ever been, even when he was so weakened, shot and with the collar on around his neck.

Niko finally let the fire fade, nearly fainting.

Will ran toward Niko, catching him. "Come on!"

Will wrapped Niko's arm around his shoulders, as the two ran out of the room, and down the hallway.

∰

Hallway

The entire building was falling apart, along with the rest of the city.

Niko and Will were making their getaway, even while Niko was shot and bleeding, trying to heal, but struggling to do so after all the power he expended.

Will managed to grab two swords from an arsenal in the lab in case they ran into any more guards that could have still been alive in the building why trying to escape, both Niko and Will holding a sword.

In the hallway, several guards from Niko and Will, with their own swords, ready to fight.

Niko and Will exchanged a look, knowing that they had this handled, standing back to back with swords raised in the air. As the guards ran closer, Niko and Will blocked, dodged and parried each guard with their swords, quick and fast on their feet, precise, both running their swords through Guards 1 and 2, one each, killing those guards, and ripping the swords out, letting the bodies fall.

As Guard 3 ran toward Niko with his weapon raised, Niko leaned back against Will to raise his sword to block the move, needing the steady support given his gunshot wound, as Will leaned back against Niko to help him steady. Niko whipped his sword around to knock Guard 3's sword out of his hands, punching him in the face, grabbing him by the head, throwing him to the ground, slashing his head clean off with his sword.

Will spun around to fend off Guards 4 and 5 with his sword. Guard 4 almost stabbed Will, but Will managed to block, barely managing to stop him from stabbing him in the throat. Will ducked and spun out of the way to save himself, turning toward Guard 4 behind him, driving his sword in through his back, ripping it out, letting him fall to the ground and bleed out.

Guard 5 walked toward Niko with two blades. Niko spun his sword around with a yell. Guards 6 and 7 from either side of Niko slashed toward Niko, but Niko managed to fend them off with a single sword strike, but that left him distracted for when Guard 5 came to attack from ahead of him. Niko managed to break free and release a blast of blue glowing fiery energy to throw the three guards back away from him, before driving his sword in through Guard 5, through his heart to kill him, ripping the sword out, letting him fall.

There were only three guards left (6, 7 and 8), as Will was fighting Guard 6, and Niko fended off Guards 7 and 8.

Guard 7 swung a whip toward Niko, but Niko spun out of the way, slashing his sword through the whip to destroy it, slashing his sword back and forth to block moves from Guards 7 and 8 on either side of him, spinning around to slash his sword across the throat of Guard 7, making him bleed out and fall to the ground, dead.

Will used his sword to fend off Guard 6, his attacker. Guard 6 kicked Will to the ground, but Will was quick to get back to his feet, slashing back and forth at Guard 6, blocking his attack, slashing Guard 6 in the face.

Niko fended off Guard 8, raising his sword to block each strike, spinning around to kick him back, driving his sword into the neck of Guard 8, pushing him against the sword as he did, making his sword push out through the back of his neck. Guard 8 choked on the sword and his own blood as he bled out. Niko ripped the sword out, letting the body hit the floor, spinning around the bloodstained sword.

Niko turned around to go help Will, when suddenly a tenth guard appeared and stabbed Niko in the side with his sword from behind, making him groan in agony as he grabbed Niko from behind and tried to behead him with his sword. Niko's hands glowed burning blue as he held Guard 10 off, but his sword wound, now on top of his gunshot wound and everything else he had gone through that night, was weakening him severely.

Guard 6 maneuvered Will around so that he was restraining Will from behind with his sword about to slit his throat, but Will had his own sword in front of himself, holding off the guard's sword to save himself, groaning in exertion to keep the guard from killing him. Getting an idea, Will stomped on Guard 6's foot to distract him, dropping his sword to free himself from the hold, ducking out of Guard 6's grasp, catching his sword, spinning around to face him, slashing him across the stomach and throat, watching him fall dead.

Will turned around, seeing Niko struggling with Guard 10 as he was restrained from behind, throwing his sword toward Niko. Niko caught the sword and drove it back through the head of Guard 10 behind him, right through his eye, and out through the back of his skull, killing him almost instantly, ripping the sword out, letting the body fall.

Niko and Will continued on their way, but ran into two more guards.

Guard 11 opened fire, but Niko held out his hand, conjuring a shield of blue glowing fiery energy, getting close enough to Guard 1 to backhand punch him in the face, snapping his head aside, grabbing his gun and pushing it down before he could shoot again.

Guard 12 fired at Will, but Will was already ducked down and sliding across the ground toward Guard 12, standing, using his sword to push the gun away to the side, making the guard fire into the ceiling, knocking the gun out of his hands to the floor.

Niko and Will both grabbed Guard 11 and Guard 12 and flipped them to the ground. When Guard 11 and Guard 12 rose to their feet on either side of them, Niko and Will spun around and kicked them both viciously in the head, knocking them back down.

Guard 11 managed to get his gun, firing. Niko used his blue glowing fiery energy as a shield again, throwing a burst of fire into the gun in Guard 11's hands, making it explode and burn Guard 11's face completely until he died, making him fall to the ground.

Guard 12 ran to tackle Will, but Will ducked, flipping over the next attack, horizontally through the air, landing on his feet, grabbing his arm, twisting it to break it, pushing him to the ground. Guard 12 stood, but Will viciously kicked him in the chest to knock him back down, stabbing him in the chest with his sword, killing him.

Niko and Will exchanged a look, breathing heavily, ready to get the hell out of there, reaching the stairwell, running as quickly as they could without getting more hurt than they already were.

∰

Rooftop

Will and Niko ran out onto the rooftop, as the entire rooftop was dancing with flames.

Niko couldn't stay standing, sinking to the bridge.

Will sank with Niko, holding him, both crying as Will tried to keep Niko awake. "Stay awake, Niko. Stay awake. They're still here. They have to be. We're gonna get out of this."

Niko looked at Will, only wanting to do one thing if they couldn't get out of this. He leaned closer to kiss Will painfully but passionately. Will returned the kiss in kind, both crying.

They could not see the plane through the fire and the smoke, but they could hear it getting closer, pulling away from their tragic but beautiful kiss.

Niko looked toward the sound. "That's them."

Sabina flew the plane closer. "I think I got them."

"Yeah, that's them," Jonathan answered.

"I'll get the hatch," Mike told them, walking toward the hatch to open it.

Sabina flew closer. "Jonathan, take the wheel."

"Yeah," Jonathan agreed.

Sabina moved out of the seat so Jonathan could take it and take the wheel, going to get a rope so they could get to Niko and Will. "Get closer. Let's go, let's go." Jonathan flew them closer. Sabina jumped down with the rope to help Niko and Will. "Niko! Will!"

"Sabina!" Niko called.

Sabina ran toward them, looking at Will. "Go help with the rope. I got him." Will nodded, running toward the rope to secure it. Sabina turned toward Niko, seeing his state and wounds, but trying to be hopeful. "Ty vyglyadish' chertovski vnuk. [You look like hell, grandson.]"

Niko managed a chuckle, glancing at the destruction around them, scoffing. "You just had to make it underwater, didn't you?"

Sabina chuckled. "In hindsight, the dessert could have been better."

Niko nodded sarcastically with a weak smile. "Vy dumayete? [You think?]"

Sabina managed a small smile, pulling Niko closer, putting their foreheads together as the two held each other close.

Will ran closer. "I got the rope, come on."

On the plane, Calliope was starting to wake, but Eleven was making sure that Calliope was still telekinetically pinned so that she couldn't do anything to lose control, go rabid, or mess this up. Calliope struggled and growled but could not break free from Eleven's power.

Sabina used her device to take Niko's collar off, as Niko took it off and threw it into the flames on the roof.

Will and Sabina got Niko to the plane, and into it with the others.

Mike and Eleven helped Niko into the plane, holding him in relief, embracing him.

Everyone jumped when they heard the explosions of other falling buildings, the city crumbling down, falling toward the bottom of the sea.

"Will, you're next!" Eleven told him, holding one hand toward Calliope to keep her pinned.

Niko handed the serum to Eleven after realizing that that was Calliope, and this was what she needed. "The serum. Give it to her."

Eleven took the serum and ran to Calliope, keeping her telekinetically pinned so that she could pour the serum into Calliope's mouth.

Sabina looked at Will. "Jump. You need to use the portal shards."

Will nodded, jumping to the plane.

Niko and Mike both caught Will's hands so pull him into the plane. Mike and Eleven both embraced Will too.

"Sabina," Will called.

Before Sabina could get up to join them, the building started to crumble, causing everyone to jump and look behind Sabina as the tower started to tumble, taking the rest of the rooftop with it.

Niko knew what was going to happen before it did, screaming. "Sabina!" Sabina looked up at Niko and the others in the helicopter in shock, knowing what was going to happen and knowing that there was no time to stop it. The building concaved, falling beneath her feet, causing Sabina to start to fall into the fiery destruction below her. Niko screamed. "No!"

Eleven, Niko, Mike and Will could do nothing but watch as Sabina disappeared into the smoke below, all in shock and horrified.

Eleven hadn't even had time to try and catch Sabina with her power before she disappeared into the smoke.

Calliope had just started to heal and recover from the virus after Eleven had given her the serum, just in time to see Sabina falling into an unknown death.

Jonathan was still controlling the plane, in utter shock of what just happened, flying the plane and the group inside away.

Niko started to cry despite all the things Sabina had done.

Will held onto Niko with tears in his eyes, comforting him as much as he could while they were all trying to patch Niko's gunshot up to save him.

Will took out one of the portal shards and threw it out outside, instantly opening a glowing blue-purple-pink portal. "Jonathan, go through!"

As Niko was being saved from a gunshot wound, and Calliope was recovering from the virus, Jonathan flew the plane away from the fiery chaotic destruction of Corinth city, and through the portal.

As Sabina was falling through the debris of the building below, down through the flames and destruction, as Corinth was breaking apart at the seams and allowing water to rush in, Sabina's eyes started to glow her bright blue-purple-pink, her powers acting of their own accord instantly with the single thought that she had, the last thing she wanted to do before she could die.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Nadyr and Natasha were with the others in the church, when Sabina's powers made contact with them through the long distance and caused their eyes to glow bright blue-purple-pink, their minds being pulled into a mind state for a final goodbye with their mother.

∰

Mindscape - Beach

Nadyr and Natasha suddenly appeared in the middle of the beach, looking around in confusion.

"Where the hell are we?" Nadyr asked.

Natasha looked down at what they were wearing. "Peaceful beach. Appearing out of nowhere. Plus dumb outfits? Yeah, this is definitely a mind scape."

"Yeah, but whose?" Nadyr asked.

Natasha looked ahead, seeing a woman sitting on a bench by the ocean. "I think I know."

Natasha and Nadyr walked toward the woman.

Sabina was the one there, sitting on the bench, looking out over the ocean as her hair blew in the wind. She turned around, smiling sadly at Natasha and Nadyr. "My children."

"Sabina?" Natasha asked. "What's happening?"

"Come sit with me,' Sabina told them.

Natasha and Nadyr exchanged a confused look, sitting down on the bench with her.

"Sabina, what's wrong?" Nadyr asked.

Sabina frowned. "I'm not sure. All I remember was helping Niko onto the plane, and then there's nothing but darkness. I only remember that I wanted to see both of you, and now here you are. My powers must have reached out to you in one last attempt."

"Why are we on the beach?" Nadyr asked.

"Valkov always dreamed a place by the beach," Sabina answered. "I got a home on the beach in his honor, but I had grown quite fond of it. There's something quite beautiful about the waves and mystery of the sea. It's calming."

"Are you hurt?" Natasha asked, concerned.

"I don't think I can feel anything, actually," Sabina answered.

"Well, what can we do?" Natasha asked.

"I don't think anybody can do anything, my sweet girl," Sabina told her.

Nadyr shook his head. "This is so stupid."

Natasha gave him a look. "Nadyr."

"No, don't hush me," Nadyr replied. "Why are we wasting our time on this?" He looked at Sabina. "Just tell us where you are and we'll come and get you."

"It's all right, my son," Sabina told him.

"No, it's not," Natasha corrected. "How can this be okay?"

"Because I get to see you," Sabina answered, tears in her eyes. "My children together, once again."

Natasha and Nadyr were struck with the realization that something horrible happened and that Sabina could have been dying for all they knew, both getting emotional and worried.

"Mama, please," Nadyr told her.

"It's going to be okay," Natasha told her.

Sabina shook her head. 'No, it won't. But that's okay."

Natasha tried to stay stoic, strong. "Mama, stop. Please just hold on. We'll go get you."

"I know I wasn't the best for you, and maybe even good at all," Sabina told them. "And for that, I am so sorry."

"This isn't fair," Nadyr whispered. "We just found each other."

Sabina put a hand to Nadyr's cheek. "I know, my sweet boy. But sometimes we must do with what we get."

Natasha swallowed. "I wish we had more time."

Sabina put her hand to Natasha's cheek. "Time doesn't mean anything. For whatever happens now, I will face bravely knowing that I get to see you together."

Sabina took Natasha and Nadyr both by the hands.

"This isn't fair," Nadyr repeated. "You were horrible for most of our lives, and now when we finally have a chance for things to change, this happens?"

"How can any of this be okay?" Natasha asked.

"Because I know that I will go, knowing I'm leaving the world with the most brave children to take care of each other," Sabina answered. "And whe I look at you two, I'm nothing but grateful that I had you. And I'm so sorry that I wasn't stronger for you. I should have killed Mikhail the first time he ever hurt you. So that he couldn't do the same to your children. Nothing I could ever do could ever make up for the fact that I wasn't the mother you two deserved, and I know I'm not worthy of whatever love you feel for me, but I am so grateful for it."

Natasha and Nadyr couldn't help the tears in their eyes, or stop the tears as they started to fall.

"Mama," Nadyr whispered.

"Please don't leave us," Natasha whispered.

Sabina was already crying as well. "I wish I could have a choice, sweet children. Trust me. This was my destiny. My chance to make amends. Your destiny, and the children's, is to continue on. And finish this once and for all. This is the work we have to do, to make up for what we've done. No matter the price or consequences. I didn't say this to you enough over your lives, but I'm saying it now. I love you, Natasha. And I love you, Nadyr. And I love Nadia and Niko. All of you. You've all learned to take care of yourselves. I hope what I leave behind helps all of you take care of each other after this is all over. You have to be strong. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. But I don't want you to live in fear anymore. Any of you. No more hiding. No more running. I want you to live, not just survive. All of you. Be brave. Live. For me."

Natasha and Nadyr embraced Sabina from either side as all three of them held each other close, rying.

"I hate you so much," Nadyr told her, though it was clear that wasn't the truth.

Sabina chuckled, tears falling. "I know, my boy."

"You were the worst, but you were all we had, besides each other," Natasha stated.

They pulled away to look at each other.

Sabina used either hand to cup both Natasha and Nadyr's cheeks, wiping their tears. "And the two of you gave me the greatest gift of all. My children. I do not deserve it, but thank you for it." She looked around the beach, before looking at her children, kissing Natasha and Nadyr both on the head. "This would have been enough. I love you, my children. Never forget that."

Sabina, with everything that she had wanted to say finally having been said, and finally at peace and accepting whatever fate awaited her, closed her eyes. She started to glow gold, and started to float away with the breeze in tiny, fiery sparks, like fireflies, which Sabina, Natasha and Nadia all loved, and like heat/light, like Niko, Nadyr and Apollo.

Natasha and Nadyr watched this in shock, both standing, devastated as they watched the glowing specks of Sabina float away and disappear into the distance.

∰

Sabina's Beach House - Outside

Sabina's portal opened up from the shard, and Jonathan flew the plane right through, as everyone was making sure that everyone was okay.

"Where the hell are we?" Jonathan asked.

"Sabina's beach house," Will answered. "Her powers, portal powers, only open portals to places that she's been to."

"Or to where other psionics are," Niko finished.

"God," Calliope said, recovering enough to sit up and help Niko with his gunshot wound. "Mike, Will, find me a first aid kit or something."

Mike and Will nodded, walking away quickly to do just that.

"You're saving my life now?" Niko asked.

"You just saved mine," Calliope replied. "Figured it's the least I could do."

Niko managed a painful smile.

Mike and Will walked over with the first aid kit stuff, handing it to Calliope.

Calliope quickly started to get to work on Niko's wound.

Eleven watched worriedly, before looking at Will. "How did you know the portal shards would really help us escape without killing us?"

"Well, it was a risk we had to take, because we were gonna end up dying in Corinth if we didn't use the portal shards," Will pointed out. "We had to get out."

"He's right," Mike agreed.

Jonathan looked back at Niko and Calliope worriedly. "How you guys doing back there?"

"Don't ask me that right now," Calliope told him.

"Never better, Jonathan," Niko replied sarcastically.

Calliope frowned in confusion. "Niko, you're starting to heal."

"Right, yeah," Niko agreed. "One of the new power ups. Since I could accelerate the healing of other psionics with telepathic healing, now I can do it to myself automatically."

"Thank God for that," Will told them.

"No fucking kidding," Niko agreed. "Listen, guys. Mikhail sent Sullivan after Nadia, Ruby and Hailey to capture them and bring them to Corinth. Sullivan doesn't know that Corinth and everyone inside are dead. That's like 100 people dead because of Mikhail, and technically because of Sabina since she destroyed the city's motors, but mostly because of the war he started. Once he knows that Mikhail is dead and that he can't hold up his deal..."

"He'll kill Hailey, Nadia and Ruby," Eleven finished in horror.

"Oh, shit," Mike said worriedly, frustrated. "Shit, shit, shit, shit."

Calliope scoffed softly. "You guys never catch a break, do you?"

Jonathan, Mike, Eleven, Will and Niko all answered, "No!"

Calliope and Niko were both clearly grieving Apollo and Sabina, and healing from almost dying, but they both knew that they couldn't let that hold them back from what was going on right now.

"So what do we do?" Will asked.

Niko was thinking. "I have to try to contact Billy like we talked about." They all looked at him. "He's the only psionic-touched human from the group back home. And you know that if Sullivan has Nadia, Hailey and Ruby, that Steve, Dustin and Billy and everyone else is going to do everything they can to get them back. They're probably already trying to get them back by following Sullivan's men."

"But if they try to do that alone, they'll end up dead," Jonathan pointed out.

"Not if we can get there," Mike told them.

Jonathan noticed a set of coordinates in the plane set by Sabina. "And I think I know where they are."

"How?" Will asked.

"Coordinates," Jonathan answered. "Sabina left a note saying that's around the place where Hailey, Nadia and Ruby would be."

"Gotta love her telepathy," Niko remarked. "She must've figured it out from one of the soldiers before finishing the set up. But they're on the move, right? And Sabina did that at least ten minutes ago."

"20," Calliope corrected. "So even if it puts us in the ballpark..."

"It still doesn't get us directly to them," Mike finished.

"So how do we find our friends?" Eleven asked.

Niko tilted his head. "I think I have an idea for that. Combining my clairvoyance with telepathy, I could track them down and contact Billy and find out where they're all at. And then Will could use a portal shard to get us there."

"How many portal shards do we have left?" Jonathan asked.

"Two," Will answered. "One to get there and one to get all of us the hell out of there. Sabina only gave us three."

"That's perfect," Calliope told them, still finishing up with patching up Niko's gunshot wound, while Niko was slowly healing. "Since you guys said that her powers still work to bring us to other psionics, like Nadia, Hailey and Ruby."

Niko groaned. "Yeah. Sabina really did think of everything when she got this thing ready for us."

Mike gestured to the car at the back of the plane. "I'd say. She even put a damn armored car in here."

"She knew everything that we would need," Will agreed.

There was a moment of silence, somber and sad, for Sabina, as she had essentially sacrificed herself with helping them in every way she could.

Moments later, Niko was sitting down, trying to contact Billy telepathically, eyes closed. His glowing blue headpiece appeared around his head, as he started to levitate in the air, conjuring a web of glowing blue psionic energy and matter all around him. He could see through little windows of energy to try and find Billy and find a way to speak to him even if he didn't fully go into Billy's mind, which window connected by lines of energy like a spider web, looking through each window in the magic web, causing the web to spin and cyclone around him until he found the right one. His head piece flared with blue light.

As Niko did this, the entire plane's background changed into a black background with stars to pinpoint people that Niko was searching through.

Eleven, Mike, Calliope, Will and Jonathan looked around in awe.

"What is all that?" Eleven asked.

"Those are all the humans in the world," Niko answered. The white glowing spots changed to blue, which were very much smaller in size and range. "And these are all the psionics. Or the people that have been touched by heavy psionic energy. Like by the Mind Flayer."

"Like Billy and Will," Jonathan finished.

Niko nodded. "Where are you, Billy?"

"You can't find Nadia, Hailey and Ruby through this?" Calliope asked.

"Not with Nadia and Ruby's Mind Flayer infection," Niko answered. "And Hailey was hard enough to get through to the first time because of Henry, Andrei and Dark Hailey. It almost shattered her fucking mind. I'd be risking the same thing to Nadia and Ruby."

Finally, Niko had located Billy and was able to get into his mind to speak to him telepathically.

On the road, on the mission to save Nadia, Hailey and Ruby, Billy was driving his car with Max, Lucas and Erica in the car.

Steve, Robin and Nancy were in Nadia's car, while Dustin and Eddie were in Hailey's car, all trying to get the chance to save Hailey, Nadia and Ruby as they were being transported on the prison bus in the glass cages but knowing that they didn't have a plan in order to do so that wouldn't get them all killed.

Billy frowned when he sensed someone in his head. "Who the fuck is that?"

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked.

"Billy?" Max asked.

"Hey, Hive Mind Michael Myers," Niko quipped.

Billy frowned in confusion before he recognized the voice. "Niko?"

"Ding ding ding," Niko answered. "I take it that all of you are about to go on a suicide mission to save Hailey, Nadia and Ruby?"

"What do you know about that?" Billy asked.

"Why are you talking to yourself, creep?" Erica asked.

Billy was annoyed with Max, Lucas and Erica asking so many questions while he was worried about Ruby and hearing Niko in his head. "Shh, shut up. I'm talking to Niko."

"Yeah, because that'll make them think you're less crazy," Niko said sarcastically.

Billy rolled his eyes. "Kid, I'm really not in the mood for this shit. Not with Ruby out there with Nadia and Hailey."

"Right, yeah," Niko agreed. "Sorry. And I know about this because my grandfather is the one that sent Sullivan and his men after Nadia, Hailey and Ruby. And if you get everyone to stand back and let me talk to them through you, we can make a plan that won't get anyone else hurt or killed today. That sound good to you?"

Billy sighed heavily. "Fuck. Yes. What the hell are we supposed to do?" He gestured to Max. "The walkie, the walkie."

Max reached for the walkie and handed it to Billy so that he could speak to the others in Nadia and Hailey's cars.

"How are you following them right now?" Niko asked.

"My car, and Hailey and Nadia's," Billy answered.

Niko sighed in relief. "Good, good. Was hoping you would have Nadia's car. Okay. I need you guys to pull over and get what you need from her car, right now."

Billy pulled over, speaking through the walkie. "Steve, Eddie, pull the fuck over right now. Niko's got his powers back and he's talking through telepathy right now."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Steve asked.

Steve and Eddie pulled over in Nadia and Hailey's cars next to Billy's.

Steve, Nancy, Robin, Dustin, Eddie, Billy, Max, Lucas and Erica all got out of the cars.

"Billy, we don't have time for this," Dustin told him.

"Do you want a plan that doesn't get all of us killed or not?" Billy replied. "Niko's got one."

"All right, tell them exactly what I tell you, and we might have the chance of actually pulling this off," Niko told him. "Here's what we're gonna do."

Soon, once the Hawkins group was filled in on Niko's plan, they got what they needed from Nadia's car and distributed them between the three cars, having to in order to get this done.

"I didn't even know she had this in here," Robin stated. "Learn something new about a super spy every day."

∰

Prison Bus

On the prison bus, Nadia, Hailey and Ruby were still in the glass cages, and unable to break out, as they were still heavily drugged and sedated to keep them from trying to break out.

Ruby glared out at Sullivan and the other officers. "You assholes. You know you can't take us and keep us locked up so you have to keep us drugged? Bunch of pussies!"

"How about we not provoke them right now?" Nadia asked. "As soon as we're out of here and not drugged, go for it."

Ruby whispered to herself. "Why can I never go back to bed? Who's the voice ringing in my head? Where is the sense in these desperate dreams? Why should I wake when I'm half past dead?"

Hailey and Nadia looked over at Ruby in concern, groggily trying to focus through the sedation.

Hailey was in the worse state given whatever 'poison' Mikhail gave her to help her with her 'metamorphosis'.

Ruby could see Melody and Anthony in her hallucination.

Melody leaned back against the glass cage wall behind her. "How do they do it?"

"Do what?" Ruby asked in a whisper.

"People," Melody answered. "How do they function here like this in the world with all this going through them? Every day it's whoo-oo." She wiggled her hand at Ruby. "You have no control. They're not even animals. They're just these meatbaggy slaves to hormones and pheromones and their--and their feelings. Hate 'em!"

Anthony leaned his arms against the glass cage to prop himself against the wall. "I mean, really. Is this what the poets go on about this? Call us crazy, but as hard-core drugs go, human emotion is just useless. People are puppets. Everybody getting jerked around by what they're feeling. Am I wrong?" He looked over his shoulder at Ruby, smirking slightly. "Really, I want to know. You're gonna continue spiraling down the rabbit hole either way."

"What are you gonna say, that it depends on the person?" Melody asked. "That some people actually like this? Funny. 'Cause I look around at this world you're so eager to be a part of... and all I see is six billion lunatics looking for the fastest ride out." She smiled. "Who's not crazy? Look around. Everyone's drinking, smoking, shooting up... shooting each other, or just plain fucking their brains out 'cause they don't want them anymore." She knelt in front of Ruby, tilting her head with a confident smirk. "We're crazy? Honey, I'm the original queen in the kingdom of the blind. Your father's the king. 'Cause at least we admit the world makes us nuts, princess."

"Like you made everyone nuts?" Ruby asked.

Melody smirked, shrugging.

Anthony smirked, chuckling darkly. "Just part of the familial love, Ruby." Ruby scoffed, looking away, getting overwhelmed and worked up again, hitting her head against the glass cage wall. "Name any person who can take it here. That's all I'm asking. Name one. Because you sure as hell can't."

Ruby held her head in her hands, pulling at her hair. "Oh, I hate you. I hate you, I hate youuuu!"

Nadia and Hailey were insanely worried and concerned for Ruby, trying to help her through this.

Nadia placed her hand on the glass wall between their cells. "Ruby. Listen to me. Hey, Melody and Anthony... Cheryl and Charlie, they're not here."

"They can't hurt you anymore," Hailey told her. "They can't hurt anybody anymore."

Ruby had tears in her eyes. "They've already done enough damage to everybody. They're the reasons for all of this. They ruined all of us."

"That may be true, but they can't do anything more," Nadia pointed out. "They're not here. We're here. We're real. Okay? Just focus on us."

"Close your eyes," Hailey advised. Ruby looked at them, but Nadia and Hailey nodded for her to do it. "Close your eyes." Ruby sighed heavily, closing her eyes. "Listen to our voices and only our voices. Not Melody and Anthony. Or Cheryl and Charlie. or Two and Three. Just us. We're gonna get you through this."

Ruby nodded slightly, trying her best to shut the hallucinations of her parents out of her mind.

"What the hell is her problem?" Sullivan asked.

"She's having a crisis and she's not exactly stable," Hailey answered. "What's your excuse? And I swear, if you don't let us out, you will regret ever fucking coming after us. I swear to you on that."

"You can swear all you want on all you want," Sullivan replied. "It's not going to make much of a difference either way."

"Yeah, say that again when you're in this cage instead of us," Nadia retorted.

Ruby opened her eyes, looking up, glaring at Sullivan. "Or six feet down in the fucking ground."

Sullivan glared at Nadia, Ruby and Hailey who all glared back.

∰

The Mission

On the Road (flipping between the bus and the cars)

The blast from Niko temporarily unlocks Nadia and Ruby's powers again, giving them and Hailey a power boost, and their powers merging together allow them to reach reality warping levels.

Note: Nadia and Ruby's power ups for this mission also apply when they get their powers back for real, permanently.

Nadia's power up: (mostly the same as before just with a little more leeway of weapon creation)

The intricately designed weapons are like this, but glowing purple instead of gold, and they blaze just like her powers did before, but now it's easier for her to form more weapons than just a sword or a whip, and energy blasts outside of weapons. Everything they cut leaves a glowing blazing purple wound or line behind in its wake.

https://youtu.be/I6bzHiWq150

Hailey's flight in powered up mode:

Ruby's power up:

How the suits appear with each of their signature glow:

https://youtu.be/G0hxhXUuPTs

Nadia's suit: (purple)

Niko's suit + headpiece:

Hailey's suit:

Ruby's suit:

On the road, Hailey, Nadia and Billy's cars were speeding right for the prison bus, this time not having to be secretive or quiet as their plan was already in motion. They each spoke through their walkies. (Eddie and Dustin were in Hailey's car with Eddie driving and Dustin in the passenger seat, Robin was now driving Nadia's car with Nancy in the passenger seat and Steve in the backseat, and Max was now driving Billy's car with Billy in the passenger seat, and Lucas and Erica still in the backseat).

Steve shook his head. "I've seen some crazy shit, but this really could make some waves. So, let's just try to keep it as low key as possible, huh?"

"Don't we always?" Dustin asked sarcastically.

"I really don't think that you should have me driving this car, Steve," Robin told him. "Remember, no license."

"Yeah, but you still know how to drive because you've been practicing," Steve replied.

"You'll be fine, Robin," Nancy told her. "I would drive, but I've gotta deal with shooting the soldiers."

"Can somebody just walk me through what we're supposed to be doing here?" Eddie asked. "Just one more time?"

"We got this, Eddie," Robin told him. "Don't worry."

"Yeah, well, I worry," Eddie replied. "I worry a lot."

"Here we go," Lucas said. "Game time."

Driving on the road through the mountains, the prison bus was guarded by three motorcades and three regular cars.

"All right, we got one chance to hit them here," Nancy told them. "We miss, they'll make it to their black site. Nadia, Hailey and Ruby will be gone for good."

"That's not gonna happen," Steve replied. "Niko said that this will work, right, Billy? And they'll be here any minute?"

"Yes," Billy answered. "Let's fucking do this. Max, you sure you got this?"

"I've driven your car before," Max pointed out. "I'm a Zoomer. I got this."

Billy rolled his eyes but knew she had it handled.

Just then, Sabina's portal from a shard opened up above, and Jonathan flew the plane through the portal, flying above Hailey, Nadia and Billy's cars, as the teens/kids inside watched in shock.

"Just when I thought that Billy was actually insane," Dustin remarked.

"Heard that," Billy told him through the walkie. "Little shit."

"Sorry," Dustin replied sheepishly.

Dustin, Lucas, Max and Erica cheered at seeing the plane.

Nancy looked up at the plane worriedly, knowing that Mike and Jonathan were on it. "Jonathan. Mike."

On the plane, Will, Mike and Eleven were getting into the armored car on the plane while using a walkie to speak to the others now that they were in range.

"You guys ready?" Niko asked.

"Hell yeah," Erica answered.

"Calliope and I've gotta stay on the plane," Jonathan told them. "Someone's gotta fly this thing, and Callie's still too weak to fight. Niko, you wait a second, all right?"

"Yeah, I've got my own way down," Niko agreed.

"Yeah, well, Niko's lucky he could mostly heal added with the treatment I did," Calliope remarked, looking away.

Jonathan opened the back of the plane with a button. "You guys ready?"

"Kids, you need some fresh air?" Calliope asked. "You're about to get a whole lot of it."

"Oh, here we go," Eleven said.

"Just when you think it can't get any better, huh?" Will asked, being the one that was driving, backing the armored car out of the airplane, with a parachute to slow their descent, falling through the air toward the road in the mountain range below.

"Whoo!" Mike cheered. "Now we're moving."

Niko spoke to them from the plane through comms. "Get ready! Ground's coming fast."

"Come on," Will whispered. "Come on."

The counter in the armored car reached below a thousand, the numbers turning red.

Will hit the button to eject the parachute, slowly floating toward the ground, toward the road in the mountain range, hitting a button to cut the cords on the parachute, landing on the road, driving behind Hailey, Nadia and Billy's sports cars.

In all four of the cars, the group cheered.

Dustin laughed, cheering. "Oh, my God!"

"Yeah!" Max cheered. "Yes!"

"Touch down, baby!" Lucas cheered.

"Un-freaking-believable!" Erica cheered.

Billy gave a whoop.

Eddie banged his head, cheering. "Yeah!"

"You guys good?" Steve asked worriedly for the kids in the armored car, as clearly that had been dangerous enough on its own.

"We're all good," Mike answered.

"Let's do this," Will told them.

The four cars sped toward the prison bus.

A man in a motorcade saw the group driving closer through the rearview mirror. "Sullivan, we have company. Four cars inbound."

In the bus, Sullivan sighed, looking at the soldiers, nodding.

The soldiers grabbed guns, opening the back of the bus to shoot toward the group.

"Oh, shit," Steve told them. Everyone continued to drive while avoiding to be shot. "Will, shield!"

"I'm on the way," Will told them, driving ahead of the team, using the armored car as a shield.

"All right, formation," Mike told them.

The other cars drove in a straight line behind the armored car.

"Bulletproof, baby," Erica said.

"Punch it!" Dustin shouted.

Robin, Max and Eddie closed the distance between Nadia, Billy and Hailey's cars and the armored car, making them drive faster and stronger toward the two motorcades behind the bus, taking them out, making them drive into the two normal cars behind the bus and taking the eight soldiers inside the four cars out (two soldiers in each car).

Just as Eleven thrust out her hand and used her telekinesis to throw the three soldiers shooting at them from the bus out to the ground below to take them out, killing them.

The four Hawkins team cars were now able to break the formation and drive on their own without being shot.

Jonathan and Calliope were watching from the plane with Niko.

Jonathan laughed in relief. "Yeah!"

"They're damn good," Calliope told them.

"Hell yeah they are," Niko agreed. "We all are."

Max and Robin drove Billy and Nadia's cars on either side of the back of the bus, as Nancy and Erica had set up both of the grenades and put them on the back of the bus, lowering their windows so they could put the devices there.

Both sides of the bus opened up, revealing automatic guns.

"Oh, shit!" Nancy said.

Nancy and Erica hurriedly rolled up their windows.

"Get out of the way!" Robin said.

Robin and Max backed away the cars enough so they were not being shot at directly.

Dustin and Eddie (from Hailey's car) and Will, Eleven and Mike (from the armored car) saw this.

"Those aren't guns," Eddie told them. "Those are goddamn cannons."

Dustin stood to reach up through Hailey's skylight in the sports car to set up a grappling hook on the ceiling of the car.

"Mike, take the wheel," Will told him.

Mike slid over to take the wheel. "I'm not good at driving. I mean, Nancy taught me some over the last year, but..."

"Good enough for right now," Will replied.

Will stood to set up another grappling hook on the ceiling of the armored car through the opening in the roof.

"Be careful," Eleven told him.

"Will, Dustin, hook 'em up," Lucas told them. Will and Dustin fired the hooks into the back of the bus. The hooks enlarged on the other side to grab onto the wall tightly. "Nancy, Erica, blow it."

Nancy and Erica hit two buttons to make the back of the bus blow off, making several of the people inside fall.

Inside the bus, Hailey, Nadia and Ruby were rattled from inside their cages.

"What the fuck?" Ruby asked.

"What the fuck is going on out there?" Hailey asked.

Nadia tried to look outside to see, but they couldn't see from there. "Hey! What the fuck is going on?"

Sullivan and his men ignored them.

Hailey glared at them furiously, punching the glass in front of her with as much strength as she had even while drugged, surprised when she created a burst of her glowing red aura in the shape of a star to shatter the glass, making it spider and splinter outward, nearly destroying the glass completely.

Nadia and Ruby were both shocked by this as well.

"How the hell did you do that?" Ruby asked.

Hailey shook her head in shock. "I don't know."

"Keep doing it," Nadia told her.

Hailey nodded in agreement, clenching her fist to continue doing it.

Two motorcades from the front of the bus backed away on either side of the bus to get behind the group, aiming guns.

"Lock it up," Dustin said. Eddie and Mike stomped hard on the brakes in Hailey's and the armored cars, using the hooks that Dustin and Will set up to tear the wall off the bus, driving out of the way, making the wall hit the two motorcades behind them, taking them out along with the four soldiers in those cars. "Yeah! Steve, Billy, you're up."

Will took the wheel of the armored car back from Mike, since he was the better driver.

Mike slid back toward Eleven.

Lucas was using his slingshot to fire at the soldiers on the ground, the ones that hadn't been killed by Eleven's power.

Billy gave Lucas a look. "I already have to deal with Max driving my car, and a kid setting up a grenade."

Billy pointed at Erica when he said the last part.

"I'm 11, you psycho freak," Erica corrected.

Billy rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You really think that a fucking slingshot is gonna do anything, Lucas?"

"This slingshot took you down when you were possessed by the Mind Flayer," Lucas reminded him. Billy looked like he had forgotten about that, looking away. Lucas shot a rock out at a soldier, taking him down, making him fall to the ground, where he got run over by one of the Sullivan soldier cars. "Ha! Told ya!"

Billy was exasperated but knowing that Max, Lucas and Erica had this handled. "Jesus."

Max chuckled barely. "Go."

Steve and Billy got out of Nadia and Billy's cars while Robin and Max were driving them.

Meanwhile, in the passenger seat of Nadia's car, Nancy was firing her gun out at the soldiers, taking as many of them down as she could, at least four.

"A little closer, guys," Steve told them.

Robin and Max drove closer to the back of the bus, so that Steve and Billy could jump inside.

During the jump, Billy tackled a soldier to the ground, punching him repeatedly in a crazed rage, standing, flipping the soldier out to the road outside.

The Hawkins cars outside avoided hitting the man, continuing to drive, but the man got run over by one of Sullivan's cars, killing him.

Billy shrugged.

Another man picked a fight with Steve. Steve punched him in the face, using a gate to hit him back, elbowing him in the head until he fell unconscious, tossing him aside.

A man in a black military suit walked closer, trying to shoot Billy and Steve, causing both to duck. Billy pushed the gun up around his other arm, taking it to hit the man in the face, knocking him out.

Another military man shot toward them.

Billy used the man in the black suit as a shield, making the other military man kill him. Billy tossed down the man in the black suit's body as he took his gun, shooting the other man, killing him, and the one behind him, watching the two men fall.

"Ruby!" Billy called worriedly.

"Hailey!" Steve called. "Nadia!"

Hailey, Nadia and Ruby looked up in shock from their cages at the other end of the bus.

"Steve?" Hailey asked.

"Steve!" Nadia called.

Ruby hit against the glass cage. "Billy!"

Hailey punched her glass cage once more with enough strength and power to create a burst of her glowing red aura in the shape of a star to shatter the glass, ragged and uneven lines splintering and spidering outward on the rest of the broken glass, destroying the entire thing until it was completely consumed, as all the pieces fell to the ground. Hailey turned away and held her hand over her head to protect herself from the falling glass but was otherwise okay.

Steve and Billy ran closer, seeing Hailey do this in shock.

Steve instantly went to help Hailey to her feet, as clearly the girls were too sedated to fight or much of anything else. "Come on, come on. I got you."

Hailey held onto Steve tightly, relieved that her brother came to help save them. "Steve."

"Shh," Steve shushed calmingly. "It's okay. We're all here."

"Can you do that again?" Billy asked.

"Yeah," Hailey answered, nodding, turning to Ruby and Nadia's cages, nearly falling.

Steve and Billy both caught Hailey by the shoulders to keep her standing.

"Whoa," Nadia and Ruby both said worriedly, looking at Hailey in concern.

Hailey didn't waste any time in letting her irises and gem glow red as much as she could, which flickered because of sedation and poison, allowing the sclera of her eyes to turn black, as she formed her aura from her powers, and punched both fists into Nadia and Ruby's cages, creating powerful bursts of her glowing red aura in the shapes of stars to shatter the glass on both cages, making them spider and splinter outward, nearly destroying the glass completely. With another punch and another burst of red glowing aura in the shapes of stars, ragged and uneven lines splintering and spidering outward on the rest of the broken glass of both cages, destroying the entire things until they were completely consumed, as all the pieces fell to the ground.

Nadia and Ruby covered their heads from the glass falling but were otherwise okay.

Ruby watched the glass breaking, flashing back to how those same lines of glass breaking were in hallucinations from Vecna with the grandfather clock, and how in the visions Vecna had given her of the Gates, the Gates had done just that across the whole town of Hawkins, looking worried and confused, but not knowing what to say.

Nadia noticed Ruby's reaction to Hailey breaking the glass, and realizing why, looking concerned.

Steve kept an arm around Hailey as he reached out for Nadia with his other arm.

Nadia was completely relieved as she grabbed Steve's arm. "Steve."

"Hey," Steve told her in relief, helping Nadia up, holding both Nadia and Hailey steady. "Can you stand?"

Nadia and Hailey nodded tiredly.

Billy helped Ruby up to her feet. "You good?"

"To get out of here?" Ruby asked. "Always."

Billy and Ruby smiled at each other slightly in relief.

Sullivan, having been one of the soldiers taken down during the break in, stood, aiming a gun at them. "No one's going anywhere."

Nadia, Steve, Hailey, Billy and Ruby all just glared at Sullivan like he was stupid and a mere obstacle.

Hailey thrust her hand toward Sullivan, sending out a blast of red aura energy from herself toward Sullivan to grab him and throw him to the floor, knocking the gun out of his hand.

Steve and Billy helped Nadia, Hailey and Ruby toward the back of the bus; the three girls were swaying, but could mostly stay on their feet, as Steve had a hold of Nadia and Hailey's arms, and Billy had a hold of Ruby's to help them.

"Jesus, how much did they drug you guys with?" Billy asked.

"A lot," Ruby answered.

Outside, two more cars Sullivan drove toward the group from behind, firing guns toward them.

Dustin and Eddie both ducked in Hailey's car, while Robin and Nancy ducked in Nadia's, and Max, Lucas and Erica ducked in Billy's.

Eleven, Mike and Will didn't have to duck because of their armored car, but they did drive in the way of the bullets to protect the others.

"Fuck's sake," Eddie complained.

Several helicopters above flying with their pilots and a couple soldiers were shooting at the cars below, making them all swerve to avoid being shot.

"Jonathan, this plane has guns for a reason," Calliope told him. "Use them!"

Jonathan hit the button for the guns, firing at the helicopters. "Shit!"

"Almost my turn," Niko stated.

Still in the back of the bus, Nadia turned toward the grenade launcher that the soldiers had on the bus, grabbing it.

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

"Get down," Nadia told them, turning toward the back of the bus, still slightly unsteady on her feet, but aware enough to aim the grenade launcher at one of the helicopters firing at the cars outside.

"Oh, shit," Niko said. "Everybody get down!"

They all ducked as much as they could within their cars, while Niko, Calliope and Jonathan ducked as much as they could within the plane.

Nadia set up the grenade launcher to fire into one of the helicopters. Instantly, the helicopter exploded into flames, breaking in half, as the pieces were blown away from the road and hitting the mountain side, falling off the cliff, shaking the entire foundation of the mountain, killing the two soldiers inside.

Nadia tossed the grenade launcher down since that was the only grenade she had.

Steve, Hailey, Ruby and Billy all looked at Nadia in shock, but impressed.

"Goddamn," Billy said.

The others in the cars outside, and Niko, Calliope and Jonathan, all looked at them in shock as well, but also impressed and relieved, some cheering.

"Can't do that with the other one though," Nadia said, nearly losing her balance. "No other grenade."

Steve and Hailey both caught Nadia from falling. "Whoa."

Steve and Billy got Nadia, Hailey and Ruby to the back of the bus and the others were in the cars.

Sullivan was starting to get up, grabbing his gun, causing Nadia, Steve, Hailey, Ruby and Billy to look back at him.

Hailey glared at Sullivan. "Motherfucker."

Figuring out how this method of her power worked, Hailey stepped toward Sullivan and stomped on the ground with as much force as she could, creating a burst of her glowing red aura energy in the shape of a star to shatter the car floor beneath her feet, which was much easier than the specially designed glass cages.

With Sullivan's ground literally shattering from beneath him, Sullivan fell through the star shaped hole in the bus and out to the ground outside.

Ruby and Billy smirked, impressed, as Billy was holding Ruby steady.

"Not bad," Billy remarked.

Steve and Nadia smirked slight smiles, proud, as Steve held Nadia and Hailey both steady.

Helicopters flew closer, firing at the plane that Niko, Jonathan and Calliope were in.

Jonathan weaved the plane through the air to avoid taking most of the shots, while firing his own at the helicopters.

Niko jumped from the plane, free falling down below, his back to the ground, his eyes closed as he focused. When he opened his eyes, they were blazing with blue glowing fiery energy, which exploded around him and caused Niko to start to levitate and fly, lowering him safely toward the fight.

Jonathan continued flying through the sky with Calliope, evading most of the gunfire shot at the plane, having to weave past a lot of boulders high up in the mountains to do so, taking cover behind the largely spaced-out mountains of rock on the mountain. Sadly, since the plane was so big, the wings bumped into the mountain rock a couple of times, making the plane take on some damage, so Jonathan quickly had to fly out into the open to keep from destroying the plane and making them fall, doing a spiral spin through the air to get past two close pieces of rock, before continuing on out into the open, doing a backward flip with the plane to fire at the helicopter behind them with the plane's cannons, taking out the helicopter as it had been so close in range and the helicopter had been so unprepared for it, making the helicopter explode into flame, killing the two soldiers inside.

Another helicopter chased after Jonathan and Calliope's plane, shooting the plane so much that it took on a lot of damage.

Niko used blue blazing, glowing fire to fly up to the helicopter, shooting a burst of blue flame energy through the blades of the helicopter, soaring past it, flipping backward through the air, flying back down toward the helicopter, yelling and cheering. "Whoo!"

Niko flamed up even more, and shot a deadly burst into the helicopter, making it go crashing down to the ground with a humongous explosion of blue flames and energy, obviously killing the two soldiers inside, which released a psychic blue wave of energy that blasted outward all around, and once it touched Hailey, Nadia and Ruby at the back of the prison bus with Steve and Billy, they were all instantly healed by Niko's power, no longer drugged, completely alert, and Hailey was no longer weakened by the poison for metamorphosis.

Everyone cheered, while everyone was in shock from what Niko could do now, including Niko himself.

As Hailey, Nadia and Ruby were each being healed by Niko's power, their powers were also bursting at the seams to be released, red, purple and gold energy glowing underneath the wave of blue energy healing them, mingling with their energy. Their energy together like this caused them to reach reality warping levels. Hailey's irises and gem glowed red, her sclera turning black; Nadia's eyes glowed purple; Ruby's eyes glowed gold. Their glowing energy appeared in the air around them, starting to swirl around them and gain in size and speed, forming an energy wave of combined power that healed them.

Nadia looked back at Billy and Steve. "Get back, get back!"

Billy and Steve quickly backed away before they could get hurt by their powers.

Niko was feeding on this energy as much as they were, as the energy passed between them all, tilting his head back, which started to glow with blue energy; he still had his head piece from contacting Billy, but now his reality warping suit appeared around his body like armor.

The glow finally faded away from Hailey, Nadia and Ruby, and when it did, they had also conjured protective glowing suits of energy shimmering around their bodies, much to Hailey's shock, and Ruby's surprise since this hadn't happened to her yet, but it had happened to Nadia.

"Holy shit," Hailey said in awe.

Everyone looked at them in shock and awe.

The other helicopters got close enough to blow a hole in the side of the plane Calliope and Jonathan were in, shaking the foundation as they had to struggle to steady themselves.

"Fucking hell!" Calliope complained.

"What the fuck is happening?" Jonathan asked.

The soldiers from the helicopters were able to dive through the hole in the side of the plane to get into the plane, glaring at Calliope and Jonathan.

"We're being invaded, apparently," Calliope answered. "Autopilot, now."

Jonathan put the plane on autopilot.

As the soldiers got closer, Jonathan aimed a fire hose at them, spraying them in the face, making them yell and back away.

Calliope picked up a cannister, swinging it to hit Soldier 1 in the stomach, spinning around toward Soldier 2 to hit him in the face with it, then Soldier 3 and Soldier 4. She was not at best fighting form because of the virus and recovery from almost dying, but she could still take them down. She threw the cannister into Soldier 4's face, making his head snap backward, lunging forward to push him against the wall of the plane, putting him in a chokehold, twisting his head, snapping his neck, letting him fall dead.

Jonathan lit a smoke bomb to throw out at the other three soldiers, making the red smoke bomb explode and distract them, rendering them unable to see Calliope and Jonathan.

Jonathan lunged through the smoke toward Soldier 1 to punch him in the face repeatedly, kicking him in the chest, making him fall to the ground.

Calliope ran toward Soldier 2, punching him in the face, spinning around to kick him in the chest, making him fall out through the hole in the side of the plane to the ground below to his death.

In the bus, Nadia turned to Steve and Billy behind the girls in the bus. "Get this thing to stop. Use it if you have to, the guns."

Steve and Billy nodded.

Steve went to get the bus under control.

Billy went to man the guns of the bus.

On the road, Nadia, Ruby and Hailey were able to jump from the bus and roll across the ground to safety given their heightened states of power, along with Niko's.

Nadia formed her classic sword and whip in either arm, but in her heightened state, the glowing purple psionic energy she conjured the weapons out of were intricately, beautifully designed, blazing just like her powers did before, but now it was easier for her to form more weapons than just these, and energy blasts outside of weapons. Everything they destroyed left a glowing blazing purple wound or line behind in their wake.

Nadia flung her whip around a soldier's car, using her whip to launch herself toward the car, catching herself on the driver's door of the car, holding on tight as she used her purple glowing sword to completely slash the steering wheel off, leaving a blazing purple line behind in its place on the dashboard, which burned the soldier driving and the soldier in the passenger seat. "The brakes still work."

Nadia jumped off, rolling over the ground, up to her feet, looking over her shoulder toward the car.

The car could not control where they went, but they had to pull over before they could crash.

As another shooter tried to shoot right at Robin in Nadia's car, almost killing her, Nadia instantly flung out her whip to use it to catch the bullet midair just before it could even go through her car's windshield, flinging her arm to the side to throw the whip and the bullet into the head of the shooter, killing him with ease, the bullet firing into his skin with even more force and power than it had been shot out of its gun, blazing with purple power from Nadia's whip as it did, completely searing the soldier's brain doing so.

Nadia ran across the road as fast as she could, wrapping her whip around another soldier's car to pull it in front of the Hawkins kids in the cars behind her, to protect herself and her friends by using the car as a shield against the bullets, holding out her hand, drawing on her psionic energy, and created a swirling, glowing sphere of purple energy in her hand, shooting the energy ball into the car's gas tank, which caused the car to explode into glowing purple flames, the explosion throwing the car into the car up ahead, causing the shooters to fall with a burst of purple power, burned severely, killing the four soldiers in either car.

Nadia watched all of this with a small, exhilarated smirk, incredibly impressed with the state of her powers.

Everyone was completely stunned with what Nadia could do right then, in awe.

Hailey, Niko, Dustin, Lucas, Mike, Will and Max all said, "Demoslayer."

Up in the plane, the red smoke from the smoke bomb was still everywhere.

Soldier 1 tried to use his gun, but Jonathan kicked the gun out of his hand before he could even see what to do with it. Soldier 1 tried to punch him, but Jonathan ducked, punching him in the face, kneeing him in the chest, making him snap back to the floor, kicking him in the face, making him hit the ground.

Calliope spun over the floor to grab the gun that Jonathan made Soldier 1 drop, spinning up to a standing position, turning to face off with Soldier 3. Before she could aim the gun, Soldier 3 caught her wrist, aiming the gun away toward a pipe on the plane, making her shoot the pipe, which let out a burst of sparks and smoke, and it created a fire that created another hole in the side of the plane.

Calliope knew this was bad. "Jonathan, oxygen masks, now!"

Calliope kicked Soldier 3 off of her to the ground.

Jonathan ran to grab the oxygen masks, tossing one to Calliope, as both had to grab the masks and breathe through them for a moment.

Soldier 1 tackled Jonathan from the side, trying to punch him. Jonathan ducked, turning to push him away into the wall, but Soldier 1 ended up too close to the holes in the plane, and was sucked right out of the plane, falling to the ground below.

Jonathan was breathing heavily, stunned.

Calliope kicked Soldier 4 to the other hole in the plane, trying to kick him out. Soldier 4 reached over his head to the bars exposed in the broken walls to hold on for dear life. Calliope picked up a wrench to slam into the hands of Soldier 4 over and over again, making him let go and fly out to his death.

Down on the road, Soldier 4 from the plane landed on the ground, which everyone could see, stunned, looking up at the plane.

Ruby's hands started to glow with sunlight-like psychic energy. Ruby closed her eyes, as the glowing gold energy traveled along her entire body from head to toe, the color of sunlight just like her beams, but now she was glowing completely with it, illuminating her. She opened her eyes, which were also glowing completely blindingly like sunlight.

As soldiers all came to surround Ruby, Ruby thrust out her arms, sending a burst of her power from both her hands and her chest out the group of soldiers around her, which exploded out and threw them all to the ground with absolute ease, searing everything around her, profusely burning the soldiers on the ground with contact of the light. The beams she shot out faded, but she remained covered in the glow of her own power, including her eyes, as her red hair flowed through the glowing energy.

Five soldiers still tried to attack from all around Ruby.

Ruby, glowing completely with her psychic light, punched the ground, releasing an energy wave of her power, which seared everything around her and threw the five soldiers back to the ground, burning profusely to death.

Sullivan took cover by the side of the road, speaking through a radio. "Deploy missiles."

Missiles were shot out from the army base they were close to, and right for the mountain side.

Niko saw this and used his fire to fly through the sky and shoot into the missiles ahead to hold them at bay, destroying one of them in front of him.

Ruby discovered that, while in this heightened state of power, could shoot the psychic light beam energy out of her feet, to be able to propel her into the air, levitating off the ground, spinning around, smiling, flipping through the air, flying higher with the energy burning around her. "Whoo!"

Ruby shot more light out of her entire body to propel herself through the air, sending herself flying toward Niko and the missiles, so that she could shoot the beams into the missiles the same time that Niko shot them with blasts of blue glowing fire, their power combined enough to make all of the missiles explode and destroy themselves in the air before they could even get close to the road.

Everyone watched this in shock, awe.

Billy couldn't help but smirk a slight smile from the bus, where he was using the bus's guns to shoot at the soldier cars outside. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

As Hailey glared out at all the soldier's cars coming for everyone, she let her eyes and gem glow red as her sclera turned black, red glowing energy bursting out of her, levitating her off the ground as she glared down at everything darkly, flying, conjuring red glowing aura to form burst after burst of energy, shooting it out at two cars below her, destroying the road and the mountain side with each blast as she did, as she threw the four soldiers within the cars back through the air and to the ground, creating an explosion of dirt, soil, rock, asphalt and power, making many of the cars crash and explode, killing the four soldiers inside. She turned toward more soldiers in their cars coming at them from behind them, holding out her hands, using the red glowing aura energy to grab hold of four cars, levitating them from the road and pushing them off the road and off the mountain side with all her power and strength, throwing the cars off the mountain, sending the eight soldiers inside the cars falling to their deaths.

Fighting down the road, Nadia wrapped her glowing purple whip around the back of another car, using it to swing herself closer through the air, using her sword to cut through the car in front of her to cut off a piece of it that would fall down to the ground, but still connected to the car, so that Nadia could stand on that piece, using it to surf along the road with a rain of glowing purple sparks given the car piece was blazing with purple power because of Nadia's sword, to keep up with the car in front of her, ducking down onto the piece of car to slide herself underneath the car and up to the one in front of it, standing up on the piece again, turning her back to the car to hold herself balanced against it, looking up at the shooter over her head, flinging her whip up at him, wrapping him with the glowing purple whip that intensely burned into his skin, throwing him off of the truck to the ground, making him drop his gun in the process, leaving his skin blazing with purple power from the wounds, which would slowly kill him.

The soldier cars behind Nadia were shooting at her, and she was nicked in the shoulder with a bullet, causing her to cry out. She ducked down onto the piece of car she was surfing on, to slide underneath the car she was holding onto, holding onto the bottom of the car to keep herself surfing underneath the car, safe from the bullets for the moment, breathing heavily in pain and adrenaline.

With other shooters from other cars all aiming at the car that Nadia was surfing under, she knew that she had to do something fast otherwise she wouldn't stay safe for much longer, grabbing onto the car pipe over her head, lifting herself onto it to use her full weight to rip it off the same time that she conjured a sphere of psionic energy that crackled like purple glowing lightning, shooting the sphere of purple energy into the bottom of the truck, causing an explosion or purple blazing psionic power, killing the two soldiers inside, making the truck flip through the air, which also flung her high into the air as it continued to flip.

Everyone watched in shock and awe as Nadia soared through the air. As the car stopped flipping, it landed on the ground, right side up. Nadia landed on the roof of the car, looking up, knowing that the time she bought wouldn't last much longer.

In the sky, as more missiles shot toward them, Niko and Ruby could destroy them, but knowing that it was useless unless they stopped the base, flying right up to the base, seeing that it was a plane above the base, near space, that was actually shooting the missiles, flying right up to it, shooting blast after blast of blue glowing energy fire and gold glowing psychic energy beams, destroying each missile, dodging and spinning around each shot that came for them, and they immediately slammed through the plane, while completely glowing with blue and gold energy, their combined heat instantly exploding the plane, making the pieces fall to the ground all around them, both cheering at how they could do that together.

Inside the plane were at least 10 soldiers that died in the explosion of the plane from Niko and Ruby's powers.

Up on Jonathan and Calliope's plane, the plane was clearly starting to go down.

Calliope and Jonathan both held on tight while breathing through the oxygen masks, holding onto pipes in the ceiling as their feet lifted off the floor. More and more of the plane was breaking away piece by piece.

"Shit," Jonathan said.

Calliope got to the pilot seat carefully, able to get the plane back in control before they hit the ground, flying the plane a bit away from the others so that there was no risk of them hurting their friends. "Grab the parachutes."

Jonathan got the parachutes from the wall.

On the road, Nadia was still on the car roof, holding on tight, as the guns started to fire again at Nadia on top of the car.

Nadia flung her glowing purple whip around the car behind her, using it to flip herself back through the air, over the car, landing behind it on the edge of the car, gliding her feet along the ground, as she used her whip to keep her going with the car.

Another car behind her rammed itself into Nadia, throwing her into the side of another car, making her groan in pain, as she was now trapped in between two cars. Nadia grabbed the edge of the car behind her, as she put her feet on the car in front of her, keeping them from crushing her, but the closer that the one in front of her got, Nadia began to be pressed together, having to bend in half, groaning in exertion. Nadia managed to shoot a burst of power at the car to push it away, denting the car with blazing purple energy on the side door, but instantly had to put her hand back up to keep herself from falling and getting run over.

The car in front of her instantly came back to try and crush her for real but was suddenly stopped.

Nadia, confused, turned her head toward the Hawkins team's armored car, driven by Will with Eleven and Mike inside, to see that Will had gotten the front end of the armored car in between the two cars trying to crush Nadia, to save her life.

Nadia smiled proudly, while Will, Mike and Eleven all smiled in relief.

But the smiles soon had to fade as Nadia looked behind the armored car to see another car shoot a missile to try and kill the team. Nadia quickly shot a blast of power at the car in front of her to take out its wheel, making it crash, the fire that erupted from the crash glowing purple from her power and killing the two soldiers inside, before conjuring her whip, flinging it up at the missile flying overhead, wrapping around it, as the flight path of the missile carried Nadia with it by her whip, as Nadia flew through the air and flung her whip to the side and away from the group, so that when it exploded, no one was hurt or killed by it. It left Nadia soaring through the air at missile speed, so she flung her whip around the road railing at the side of the mountain.

"What is she doing?" Eleven asked worriedly.

Will shook his head worriedly. "Nadia!"

Nadia swung herself through the air by her whip, down around the railing, and down the side of the mountain cliff, her whip locked around the railing slowing her down until she stopped completely, but she still hit the side of the mountain, groaning in pain, knocking the breath out of her and making the whip fade, as she fell a few feet and hit the rock landing below her.

Nadia took a few moments to recover, catching her breath, and instantly stood, conjuring two whips in either hand as she glared up above, and flung the whips up around the railing above her, using her whips to propel her all the way up to the road above.

A Sullivan plane started to fly closer in an attempt to shoot the kids from Hawkins down, but Nadia saw it flying over her head, glaring, standing up on the road railing beneath her feet, flinging her whip up at the plane's blades, swinging herself around the plane as the blades circled around, riding the path of the circle to flip herself up high through the air and land on the wing of the plane, holding on tight.

Steve, in the bus, trying to drive it, saw Nadia on the plane, and realized what she was about to do because he had been with her when she blew up Ryan's car, shaking his head, worried because of the risk Nadia was making right now with the plane. "Don't you do it."

Nadia hung onto the wing of the plane, flipping herself onto the top of the plane. "Easy does it."

Nadia sighed, ripping off the control panel of the plane, conjuring a purple glowing energy ball that she threw into the control panel to destroy all the vital wires and cords of the plane, but knowing that it was about to blow, Nadia ran across the plane and jumped off of it.

As everyone watched in shock, the plane exploded as Nadia jumped away from it, exploding into purple powers from Nadia's psionic energy.

Steve watched in shock and worry. "Nadia!"

Nadia managed to make a makeshift shield out of her energy to protect herself from the explosion, but the purple fiery flames still sent Nadia soaring through the air, right toward the Hawkins team's cars, as the purple flaming plane fell to the ground, the five soldiers inside dead.

As Nadia was still soaring through the air, Robin swerved Nadia's car closer so that she could attempt to catch Nadia on the hood of the car, missing a bit, but Nadia was able to use her whips to get the rest of the way to the car, on the hood of the car.

Steve sighed in relief, hanging his head.

Billy chuckled lightly, using the guns of the bus to fire at the soldiers that were coming after the Hawkins teens outside. "Insane girlfriends with crazy schemes, am I right?"

Steve shrugged slightly, sighing heavily.

On the hood of her car, Nadia's powers were burning out fast, fading, since Niko's energy wave didn't completely restore her powers, but gave her the chance to use them briefly, like in 4.07. Without her powers, the whip and the reality warping suit faded, leaving her in her normal clothes from before, and she was left holding onto the car hood for dear life.

Nancy stood to reach out of the skylight of Nadia's car toward Nadia out on the roof. "Grab my hand!"

Nadia grabbed Nancy's hand, while Nancy used her other hand to fire at the soldiers firing at them, taking them out, while helping Nadia climb to the top of the car, ducking back into the car.

With Robin and Nancy's help steadying her, Nadia slipped down through the skylight into the backseat of her car.

Robin sighed in relief that they already got this far. "Oh, my God. Nadia, you okay?"

Nadia nodded barely, trying to catch her breath, leaning back against the backseat, closing her eyes, a hand to her head, utterly exhausted after all that power, nose bleeding heavily.

In the sky, as more planes flew closer to try and take them down, Niko flew closer to shoot them with his blasts and destroy them all, spinning and dodging any that got close to him, making the fire energy dance and swirl around him in a chaotically beautiful show, holding out his arms, smiling, laughing, even his eyes flickering with fire. In this stunt, he killed at least destroyed three planes and at least two soldiers in each.

Ruby shot herself through another, much bigger plane, her energy completely glowing around her and making the entire plane explode, piece by piece, until she got out through the other side, and flew away before the explosions could harm her in any way, killing at least 20 soldiers inside.

Niko flew out toward the targets, holding out his hands, and with a scream, released an aura of blue flame energy all around him, shooting out and destroying every target in the vicinity, eyes glowing with blue fire as he screamed, using all of his power and energy to do so, killing five more soldiers.

Ruby and Niko turned toward another ship behind them, seeing others flying closer, glowing brightly with their power, and slammed their hands together to release a devastating amount of heat, flame and beams, making it shoot out in all directions, taking out all the planes around them, making them explode, killing the soldiers inside. Each plane, which they destroyed five of, had three soldiers inside each.

Ruby's powers, like Nadia's, were fading out, and her suit and powers started to vanish, leaving her starting to fall through air, making her yell in shock.

Niko dove down through the air to catch Ruby before she could fall to her death. "Shit! I got you, Ruby."

Ruby held onto Niko's hands despite that his energy was burning her, crying out in pain. Niko quickly flew Ruby back toward the group and the cars, right up to Billy's car.

Max drove Billy's car closer, knowing what Niko was trying to do.

Erica crawled up to the passenger seat to make room in the backseat.

In the backseat, Lucas opened the door since Billy's car didn't have a skylight.

Ruby let go of Niko, and Niko let go of her, when Ruby was close enough to Billy's car to land on the roof, as Ruby was holding on for dear life.

As soon as Ruby got close enough to him, Lucas held out his hand. "Come on!"

Ruby grabbed Lucas' hand, and as Ruby swung herself down from the top of the car, Lucas pulled her into the backseat of the car.

Ruby instantly closed the door next to her.

"Yes!" Erica cheered in relief.

In the bus, Billy sighed in relief, hanging his head.

Ruby sat back in the backseat, breathing heavily, hands to her head, grasping her hair as she caught her breath, closing her eyes, exhausted, but exhilarated from what she just did, nose bleeding heavily.

Niko flew over to the armored car.

Eleven and Mike opened the top of the armored car for Niko.

Niko let his powers and suit fade away completely, before slipping down into the armored car, eased in with Mike and Eleven's help.

Will looked back at Niko with concern. "You okay?"

Niko nodded, sitting back in the back of the armored car, breathing heavily, running a hand through his short hair, catching his breath, exhausted but ecstatic by what he had just done all around with the girls, nose bleeding heavily.

Several cars were shooting at the others in their cars.

Seeing this, still using her power to fly, Dark Hailey lost even more control, levitating large pieces of broken rock mountain and asphalt with a red glowing energy tendril starting to trail from her back, throwing it with such force and speed and strength that she impaled the ground in front of the five cars, and sent everything around it exploding with the red energy that was around her tendril and around the mountain rock, blowing the soldier's cars back to the ground, sending them crashing and sliding across the ground, setting the road on fire from explosions and car wrecks, killing the two soldiers in each of the five cars. Debris ricocheted and impaled the soldiers around the destruction, killing any that may have had survived the power explosion.

Two soldiers were firing at the group. Dark Hailey held out her hand, using red energy to catch the bullets and turn them around, thrusting her hands out with a monstrous scream, sending the red glowing bullets shooting into the two men that tried to take her and her loved ones down, killing the soldiers who shot at them.

As two soldiers got out of their cars to fire at Dark Hailey, Eleven used her telekinesis as a shield to protect her, even while knowing full well that her friend was losing complete control.

Dark Hailey used an energy tendril to grab Soldier 1, throwing him against the mountain side, bashing his head open, letting him fall to the ground, bleeding out to death. She held her hands toward Soldier 2, using her red aura and energy to grab and lift him up, making him glow all around and from within as the energy started to burn the solider through with the extreme ice burn that could still hurt just as bad, if not worse, than heat burns, making Soldier 2 scream in agony as she incinerated him to death.

Up in Jonathan and Calliope's plane, which was starting to catch fire, Calliope and Jonathan pulled on the parachutes.

The others noticed this from down below.

"Oh, shit," Robin said.

"Jonathan!" Nancy and Will yelled worriedly.

Nadia was shocked to know Jonathan was up there. "Jonathan? What the hell?"

"Somebody's gotta catch Calliope and Jonathan," Mike said worriedly.

As the plane was being ripped apart in the air, Calliope and Jonathan were struggling to get their parachutes working. They fell right out of the plane toward the group, as pieces of the plane started to fall toward them, even though Calliope had tried to get the plane far enough away.

Steve and Billy watched in shock from the bus, while everyone else watched from inside the cars.

Eleven held out her hands, using her telekinesis to catch the rest of the falling plane with a yell, destroying the pieces, making it into tiny pieces that was basically harmless, before they could fall onto Calliope and Jonathan in the air, or anyone else on the ground, destroying the plane pieces to save them all.

Calliope and Jonathan pulled their parachutes to eject them, starting to float slowly toward the others down below.

Another soldier from the final helicopter jumped toward Calliope and Jonathan to attack midair, but Calliope saw him coming and spun them around midflight, grabbing his cord around his neck and strangling him, pushing him off of her to the ground below to his death.

The last helicopter was still firing his guns, which could very easily hit Calliope and Jonathan if someone didn't do something.

Dark Hailey turned toward the final helicopter in the sky, still completely in power form, flying, as red glowing astral energy aura tendrils appeared around her, from within her body, trailing from her back as her aura appeared all around her. She held out her arms, tilting her head back, as the red glowing energy tendrils became solid, and she instantly launched them out to grab the helicopter above, completely constricting her aura energy tendrils around the helicopter and the pilot and soldier inside who were shooting, crushing the helicopter within her tendrils, touching the pilot and soldier and crushing them as well, the energy tendrils so freezing to the touch that it was agonizingly, excruciatingly ice burning the pilot and soldier, strangling them, wrapping each tendril around the helicopter and with a furious, monstrous scream, Hailey used all of her power and strength to rip the helicopter apart, making it explode with the pilot and soldier inside, much to the shock of everyone, all of them watching in awe and amazement, but worry because of Dark Hailey very nearly taking complete control, but Hailey had enough control to keep her from harming anyone else.

Steve and Billy both watched in shock and awe from the bus. "Holy shit!"

"Oh, my God!" Lucas said.

Now with the helicopter gone, Robin and Max quickly drove their cars up to Calliope and Jonathan as they were falling, so that Calliope landed on Nadia's car with Robin, Nancy and Nadia, and Jonathan landed on Billy's car with Max, Lucas and Erica.

The explosion hurt Hailey's powers and made her instantly let the powers snap back to her and go back into her body and fade away, as she started to fall, given that she had been levitating when she did this.

As Hailey fell from the air so fast, everyone stared in shock, worry and horror.

"Eddie!" Dustin yelled.

Eddie drove Hailey's car right up to Hailey, as she had used so much of her power that it all faded before Dark Hailey could even completely come out.

Hailey fell right toward the car, landing on the hood, cracking the windshield, making Eddie and Dustin both gasp.

Everyone had been so worried about Hailey getting hurt or dying like that but were so relieved when Eddie managed to catch Hailey, even if it meant breaking the windshield, all sighing in relief.

Hailey turned onto her stomach so that she could hold onto the car for dear life. "Fucking hell."

Dustin instantly stood out of the skylight of Hailey's car toward Hailey out on the roof, reaching toward her with both hands, insanely worried but relieved. "Hailey!"

Hailey looked at Dustin in complete relief, instantly taking hold of Dustin's hands in hers. "Dustin."

Dustin pulled Hailey to safety over the windshield of the car and up to the roof to the skylight. Dustin ducked back into the car when Hailey got close enough to sit on the top of the car with her legs starting to hang through the skylight.

With Eddie and Dustin's help steadying her, Hailey slipped down through the skylight into the backseat of her car.

"Damn girl," Eddie said. "You okay?"

Hailey nodded, leaning back against the backseat, breathing heavily, running her hands through her hair to calm down, closing her eyes, exhausted and scared from using so much power and how badly she did, having gone almost full Dark Hailey, blood flowing heavily from her nose.

In the bus, Steve sighed in relief to know that both Nadia and Hailey were safe inside their own cars.

Dustin smiled in awe. "That was awesome!"

Hailey smirked tiredly.

Jonathan was still on Billy's car, while Calliope was on Nadia's, both holding on for dear life.

Ruby threw her door open for Jonathan up above her. "Jonathan!"

Ruby held out her hand, and Jonathan took Ruby's hand, climbing into the car next to her and Lucas, shrugging off his parachute as he did, closing the door behind him.

Jonathan looked at the others. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah," Erica answered.

Ruby nodded.

"Are you?" Max replied. "Your plane just went down blazing."

Jonathan shrugged in agreement. "I'm okay."

"Good," Ruby replied.

Jonathan looked across the way toward where Calliope was on top of Nadia's car.

Nadia opened the backseat of her car to reach up for Calliope. "You okay?"

Calliope nodded, taking Nadia's hand, shrugging off her parachute, climbing into the car.

Robin glanced back at Calliope in curiosity. "Who exactly are you, anyway?"

Calliope closed the door behind her. "Explain later."

Calliope looked at Robin, their eyes locking for a moment in curiosity.

"Eyes on the road," Nancy told her.

Robin looked away to continue driving.

In the back of the bus, Steve and Billy exchanged a look, shrugging.

Will drove the armored car closer.

Inside the bus, one of the soldiers that Steve had knocked out earlier, stood, looking at Steve and Billy angrily, grabbing Billy, pulling him further inside, pushing him to the floor, trying to stomp on his head. Billy rolled out of the way, standing. 

"Billy!" Steve called.

"Go!" Billy told him. "I'll be right behind you."

Billy kneed the soldier in the chest, making him back away. The soldier tried to kick him. Billy ducked, making him hit the computer screen from earlier instead, sitting on the table to kick the soldier repeatedly with both legs, standing. The soldier tried to punch Billy repeatedly. Billy raised his arms to block every move, punching him repeatedly, twisting his arm underneath his chin, pushing him into the wall, punching him and kneeing him repeatedly.

With Will driving the armored car, and Niko recovering from being shot and using so much power tonight, Mike and Eleven both had to stand and reach out for Steve from the top of the armored car.

"Come on!" Eleven told him.

Steve jumped from the back of the bus out onto the armored car, holding on for dear life.

Mike and Eleven both grabbed Steve's hands.

"We got you!" Mike said.

Mike and Eleven helped Steve climb in.

Steve sat down on the inside of the armored car with Will and Niko right behind their seats, breathing heavily. "Holy shit."

"Steve, you okay?" Will asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm good, little man," Steve answered.

In the bus, the soldier kicked Billy to the ground. Billy flipped to a standing position. The soldier tried to land a blow. Billy blocked his moves in a blur of motion, punching the soldier in the face twice. The soldier yelled in anger, trying to kick Billy. Billy caught his leg, slamming it onto the table. The soldier spun to kick Billy in the chest with the other. Billy flipped forward to kick the soldier in the head, making him fall to the floor, grabbing his arm, pinning his head to the table.

More cars drove closer with guns.

Dustin sighed. "Shit."

Billy saw the cars driving closer, picking up the soldier's head, slamming it onto a big red button, activating the bus's guns on the side, shooting two of the cars that were coming, taking them and the four soldiers inside the cars out. The soldier spun out of his grip, flipping over the floor toward a military man's body, grabbing his gun, trying to aim it at Billy. Billy took his arms, aiming the gun away from himself, elbowing him in the face.

The shot that the soldier had meant to shoot Billy with accidentally shot the console for the bus that Steve had set on autopilot/cruise so that they could escape, destroying that and leaving the bus with no one and nothing to control it now.

The bus started to swerve toward a cliff at the end of the road.

The soldier tried to punch Billy. Billy caught his arm, twisting both his arms to make him drop the gun, hitting his arm against his throat to make him fall.

The bus swerved into the rock face at the side of the road, making it fall on its side and slide slowly toward the cliff in the road at the bottom, tossing Billy and the soldier around in the inside.

Billy and the soldier stood, seeing themselves sliding toward the cliff, running toward the back of the bus to get out and not fall to their deaths.

The soldier grabbed Billy, tossing him back further in the bus, making him fall, jumping on the other side of the gate, locking it so that Billy couldn't get out this way, running out of the back of the bus, leaving.

The bus's tip started to slide off the cliff.

Billy ran toward the front of the bus, looking at the door hanging open. He climbed down out of the door.

The bus driver's body fell out of his seat toward Billy.

Billy hung from the bus door, allowing the body to fall down below without making him fall with it. He climbed up the side of the bus onto the side, so now that he was standing on the side of the bus, which was now on top, so that he could run for the road.

The rocks holding up the bus started to break away, making it slip slowly off the cliff.

Billy ran across the top of the bus toward the back as fast as he could.

Max and Ruby both watched in horror from Billy's car. "Billy!"

Will drove closer, swerving a bit, but got close enough for Billy to get to. "Jump!"

Mike and Eleven reached out for Billy. "Come on!"

Billy jumped off the bus, toward the armored car, hanging on for dear life. Mike and Eleven pulled him up further onto the armored car.

The bus fell off the cliff.

Billy pulled himself up onto the top of the armored car while Mike and Eleven kept hold of his hands.

Eddie cheered once he saw Billy make it to the armored car. "Yeah!"

Dustin and Hailey smiled in relief.

"Some power in that lone ranger, I guess," Hailey remarked.

Dustin laughed. "Oh, man."

Max and Ruby both calmed down after seeing Billy was safe, sighing in relief.

Lucas gave them a reassuring smile. "It's okay."

"He's like a cockroach," Jonathan told them, trying to lighten the mood. "He's harder than that to get rid of."

Ruby gave Jonathan a slight shove in the shoulder, both chuckling.

"Awesome," Erica said.

Max smiled in relief.

Nadia, Nancy and Robin relaxed in Nadia's car with Calliope.

"Holy shit," Robin said.

"That was close," Nancy said.

Calliope raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Too close."

Nadia sighed heavily, tilting her head back. "Fuck."

Billy climbed into the back of the armored truck with Steve, Will and Niko. "Fucking hell."

Billy sat on the floor with Steve.

Mike and Eleven ducked back into the armored car, closing the top of it.

Steve looked at Billy. "You good?"

Billy nodded. "Yeah."

"Close fucking call, Michael Myers," Niko quipped.

"Shut up," Billy replied with no conviction behind the words, closing his eyes in exhaustion.

Niko smirked.

Steve chuckled.

"You two okay?" Niko asked.

"Yeah," Steve answered. "We're good, little man."

There were still cars around that were trying to corner the four cars with the kids and teens aside, trying to shoot.

Will drove the armored car in front of the other cars to protect everyone, taking out a portal shard, handing to Mike since he was the one right under the hatch. "It's the last one."

They reached a dead end, as many cars surrounded the four of theirs, as they were left on the cliff's edge, on a side point for breakdowns, stopping, facing the cars behind them.

In the armored car, Mike turned to Niko. "Niko, can you flame up again? Even from inside here?"

"Not unless you want me to burn all of us alive in this thing," Niko answered.

"Could've just said no," Eleven told him, thrusting her arm toward the two cars closest to them, using telekinesis to take them out and send them flying away from them and down the side of the mountain, killing the four soldiers inside.

"Damn!" Erica said.

Sadly, Eleven had used too much of her own power, her nose bleeding heavily, as she fell to her knees within the armored car.

Mike knelt next to her worriedly, holding Eleven. "El!" He Eleven, Will, Niko, Steve and Billy worriedly. "There's no way out of here, and they've all gotta be drained right now."

Eleven nodded. "Drained."

In Billy's car.

"How do they expect us to get out of this trap?" Lucas asked.

"We have a plan," Jonathan assured. "Don't worry."

"When I see a bunch of cars with guns, I worry," Erica replied.

"Max, go in a spiral," Ruby told her.

"What?" Max asked, confused. Without explaining, Ruby leaned forward between Erica and Max's seats, grabbing the wheel, turning it all the way to the side and spinning the car around rapidly in a spiral repeatedly. "Ruby!"

In Hailey's car.

"What the hell is she doing?" Dustin asked.

Hailey smiled slightly. "I think I know."

"What?" Eddie asked.

In Nadia's car.

"Either Ruby's lost it, or she better have some amazing plan," Robin told them.

"I'd say a bit of both," Nancy answered.

Calliope and Nadia both realized, chuckling.

"Girl's crazy clever," Calliope remarked. She glanced at Nadia. "So are you after that plane stunt."

Nadia shook her head. "You have no idea."

Sullivan, still alive, but badly injured after the way Hailey threw him out of the bus, stood in front of the military cars. "Give up the psionics and I'll let the rests of you live."

Ruby was still spinning Billy's car in circles to kick up so much dirt that the shooters didn't know where to aim.

"Damn it, Ruby, what the hell are you doing?" Lucas asked.

"You're insane, you know that?" Erica asked.

"Tell me something I don't know," Ruby replied.

Mike took advantage of Ruby's distraction and protection, opening the top hatch of the armored car, throwing out the portal shard right behind the group's cars, though it meant having to turn around and drive off the cliff and through the portal, which was the only way they could do it right now.

Steve pulled Mike back down into the armored car. "Back in."

Eleven and Niko peaked up through the hatch.

Sabina's portal opened as soon as the shard hit the air a safe distance away.

To buy them some time, Eleven and Niko used what little power they had left for now to telekinetically throw all of Sullivan's cars back (8 cars at the most, so 4 for each one for them to take care of), or burn them to crisps, both cheering at their jobs well done, their noses bleeding heavily. "Yeah!"

This meant that Eleven and Niko had injured and/or killed 8 men in the four cars each they took care of.

Steve pulled Eleven and Niko inside to safety. "All right, get back in, back in."

"Missed you too, Mama Steve," Niko replied.

Steve tilted his head at Niko. "Really?"

Billy snorted.

Mike smiled.

Will chuckled. "You know it."

Steve gave Will a look, tilting his head. "You shouldn't even be driving this thing, Will."

"I've been doing good," Will replied.

Ruby finished spinning Billy's car facing the edge of the cliff, and the portal behind them.

"Go, Max," Jonathan told her. "Go!"

Max threw the car into drive. "Okay!"

Max drove Billy's car (with Ruby, Lucas, Erica and Jonathan) toward the portal, soaring off the edge of the cliff and through the portal safely.

Robin spun Nadia's car around toward the portal. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Go, Robin," Calliope told her.

"How do you even know my--" Robin started.

Calliope, Nadia and Nancy all repeated. "Go!"

Robin drove Nadia's car (with Nancy, Nadia and Calliope) toward the portal, soaring off the edge of the cliff and through the portal safely.

Eddie turned Hailey's car toward the portal, freaking out. "This is so stupid. Oh, my God."

"Eddie, drive," Hailey told him.

"Drive!" Dustin shouted.

Eddie drove Hailey's car (with Hailey and Dustin) toward the portal, soaring off the edge of the cliff and through the portal safely.

Now, the armored car was all that remained.

"Go, go, go!" Mike shouted.

Will drove the armored car (with Niko, Eleven, Mike, Steve and Billy) toward the portal, soaring off the edge of the cliff, and through the portal safely.

The portal closed right behind them, so even if Sullivan or some of his men were left alive, they wouldn't be able to follow before the portal closed.

∰

Hawkins, Indiana

Sabina's Boarding House - Outside

Sabina's portal opened outside of the boarding house where she used to live while in Hawkins, and Billy, Nadia and Hailey's cars, followed by the armored car, all drove through one by one, before pulling over in the middle of the field that was outside of the boarding house.

Instantly, the drivers powered the cars off, and everyone was instantly getting out of the cars as fast as they could.

Nadia and Niko looked at each other in complete relief, the two siblings instantly running to embrace each other.

"Niko," Nadia said in relief. Niko held onto his sister tightly. "Okay, first, you have to tell me what the fuck went on with Sabina, Mikhail and Nadyr, and everything else. Like how you and El got your powers back, and how the hell you could help us get that powerful."

Niko smiled. "I know. I missed you too, Nadia. Although, can I say this? The irony that I'm the only one out of our family that has Sabina's hair color, and I'm a telepath just like her. It's a Russian roulette of Rostov-Ivanov DNA, and I'm the one that got stuck looking like Sabina."

Nadia raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Would you like to look more like Mikhail, like me, Mama and Uncle Nadyr have to?"

"No," Niko answered.

"Then quit complaining," Nadia told him. She looked around the field and the boarding house they were next to, realizing. "This place. It was Sabina's, wasn't it? When she was in Hawkins. That's the only way that her portals would bring us here."

"Yeah," Niko answered, taking in the sight of the boarding house in front of them, reeling, in shock. "She said that it was enough room for our family and then some, and even showed me her memories of this place to prove it, but it didn't do this place justice."

Nadia and Niko exchanged a look.

Eleven walked closer, smiling. "Hi, Nadia. Are you okay?"

Nadia smiled, pulling Eleven into the embrace with her other arm. "El. I'm fine."

Eleven, Nadia and Niko embraced tightly.

Nancy embraced Mike instantly, pushing him slightly. "I was so worried about you, Mike."

"Hi, Nancy," Mike replied, wincing slightly at the push, before they both smiled and embraced again. "Hey, what's Eddie doing here?"

Eddie chuckled. "Nice to see you too, Wheeler."

Will and Jonathan instantly went to embrace, since they hadn't had a good enough chance to reunite like that before, both near tears.

"Are you okay?" Jonathan asked.

Will nodded. "I'm okay, Jonathan."

They pulled away, smiling slightly.

Nancy ran closer. "Jonathan."

Jonathan sighed in relief. "Nancy."

Jonathan instantly caught Nancy in his arms, lifting her up as they embraced for dear life, holding each other close and tight.

Max walked around the car to embrace Ruby. "What the hell were you thinking back there?"

Billy walked closer, smirking. "She's Ruby. You know this by now, Max. She doesn't think. She improvises."

Ruby smirked, relieved.

Max embraced Billy and Ruby both. "I almost lost both of you back there."

"But you didn't," Ruby pointed out as they returned the embrace, and Ruby leaned her head against Billy's shoulder. "We're right here, Max."

Ruby winced in pain slightly because of the burns on her arms from Niko's fire when he had to catch her when she started to fall, which Billy and Max noticed, concerned.

"You okay?" Max asked.

"Uh, kinda," Ruby replied. "Niko's powers are just a lot more hot than they used to be."

"I can help you heal that, Ruby," Niko assured. "And Nadia's gunshot and burn wounds from taking down that plane. I just healed myself from being shot, so helping you two heal from those wouldn't be a problem."

The others were all surprised, but relieved by that.

Hailey ran to tackle Eleven, Niko and Will in an intense hug. "El! Niko! Will!"

Niko smiled in relief and surprise, but held Hailey just as tightly in an embrace. "Missed you too, Hailey."

Will smiled, embracing Hailey in return in the four way hug. "Hey, Hailey."

Eleven tightly embraced Hailey, Niko and Will.

Jonathan, Steve and Nadia smiled at this.

Lucas, Dustin, Mike and Max all joined in on Hailey, Eleven, Niko and Will's embrace as the party all reunited for the first time in over a year, all emotionally relieved, talking over each other to catch up with each other.

"I missed you all so much," Eleven told them.

"We missed you too," Lucas agreed.

"Absolutely," Dustin stated.

Max, Eleven and Hailey embraced once again, as Eleven had been really worried about both of her best friends given what she saw in the Void. Mike, Will, Niko, Lucas and Dustin smiled softly.

"Party's back together," Mike stated.

Max nodded. "Like it should be."

Steve, Nadia, Ruby, Billy, Nancy, Jonathan, Robin and Eddie smiled at the party reuniting like that.

"Don't cry, nerds," Erica told them.

The party rolled their eyes, but smirked slightly.

Niko looked at Max in concern. "You okay?"

Max nodded slightly. "Been better, but..."

"Yeah," Niko agreed. "We're not gonna let these bastards take you, Billy or Ruby, Max." Lucas nodded in agreement, but looked at Max in worry. "She's gonna be okay, Lucas."

Lucas gave a slight smile. "Fucking missed you, Niko."

"Missed you too, Sinclair," Niko agreed. "And honestly, can I say that hearing you were on the basketball team and you won a game for Hawkins High was one of the best things I heard in a while with all the fucking chaos?"

The party smiled at how far Niko and Lucas had come since book one, and laughed at Niko's joke, all happy for some lightheartedness after all the darkness they all had to suffer.

Eleven walked over to Ruby to give her a hug. "Ruby."

Ruby returned the embrace tightly. "El, hey." They pulled away. "By the way, Henry showed me a memory of you taking him down and sending him to the Upside Down, and after everything, I couldn't be more fucking proud of you for that. Literally cheered you on every moment of the memory."

Eleven smiled, before letting it fade as she looked at Ruby in concern. "You okay?"

Ruby nodded slightly, biting her lip. "I will be. Hopefully."

Nadia walked toward Jonathan. "Hey, Jonathan."

"Hey," Jonathan replied, as the two shared an embrace. "You okay, Nadia?"

"Been better," Nadia answered. Nadia shared a hug with Will and Mike. "Will, Mike, hey. You two okay?"

Will and Mike nodded, returning the embrace.

"We're okay," Will answered.

"Hey, Nadia," Mike told her.

Nadia smiled slightly. "Hi."

Niko walked toward Ruby, giving her a hug. "I'm gonna help you get better. I promise."

Ruby returned the embrace. "I don't doubt that for a second, Niko. Missed you, little firecracker." Niko smiled as they pulled away. Will and Mike suddenly both gave Ruby a hug, catching her off guard, but she returned the embrace, her reaction causing the others to laugh lightly. "Hi, Will. Hi, Mike."

Calliope watched everyone with sadness, turning away, walking a little distance away. "God."

Robin looked over at Calliope, seeing her reaction, concerned, stepping closer. "Hey. You okay?"

"Why do you care?" Calliope asked. "You don't know me."

"Well, you helped us save some of our best friends," Robin answered. "That's why I care. But okay. I'll leave you alone then."

Robin turned away.

Calliope sighed, feeling guilty for lashing out a little. "I just found out my brother died. And I almost just died. More than once." Robin turned to face her in surprise and concern. "So forgive me if I'm not set in the reunion mood."

Robin frowned in sympathy. "I'm sorry." Calliope nodded, looking away. "Your name's Calliope, right?"

"Yeah," Calliope answered.

"Well, I'm not sure how exactly you knew my name, but it's nice to officially meet you, Calliope," Robin told her, trying to lighten the mood and cheer her up.

Calliope nodded barely. "You too, Robin."

They turned back toward everyone.

"So if everyone done with their emotional reunions, or can we get this thing going?" Eddie asked. "Sorry, hate to be that guy, but we just literally escaped death, and all of us are still on the chopping block because of Vecna and Mirage. Henry and Andrei. Whatever."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, we know."

"Sabina helped me and Niko get our powers back," Eleven explained. "Niko actually helped me get my powers back."

"And both of you got super stronger in the process?" Erica asked.

"Basically yeah," Niko answered.

"Like Niko told Hailey, he can do the same for Ruby and Nadia," Eleven explained. "Like all of you just saw, but this time making it permanent."

"Well, Niko's new power effects are badass," Mike pointed out. "And if Nadia and Ruby have those new power effects for good after getting their powers back permanently, that's another plus. Plus, did you see Hailey's power up out there? Awesome!"

"Pretty sure that was a one time thing," Hailey replied.

Mike shrugged. "Never know."

"Not the most important thing, Mike," Nadia pointed out.

Lucas nodded, trying to lighten up the mood. "I'd say that's still pretty important."

Dustin gave a toothy smile. "Yeah, me too."

Will nodded in agreement. "Me three."

Hailey, Max and Eleven smirked, rolling their eyes.

"Are you sure that you guys have enough juice for that right now?" Max asked.

"Yeah, you all used quite a lot," Nancy agreed.

"Yeah, but we reached reality warping levels and were basically feeding off of each other," Niko pointed out. "It won't take us but a few minutes to recharge after that, especially after some telepathic healing from me. We'll be good to go."

"Okay," Nadia agreed. "Ruby first."

"What?" Ruby asked. "Why?"

"Because you need your sanity power, ASAP," Hailey answered.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Ruby sighed heavily. "True."

Billy reached out to cup Ruby's head. "Hey." Ruby looked at him, her eyes still a little lost. "It's gonna be okay. You're gonna get better, like we said."

Ruby nodded in agreement. "So will you."

Billy nodded.

Max sighed heavily in relief. "Finally. For both of you."

Billy and Ruby nodded in agreement.

Niko walked toward Nadia. "Nadia."

"Hi," Nadia told him. "Thank you for healing me, Niko." Niko nodded. "And Mama?"

"Joyce and Murray are out there with her right now," Niko answered. "And Sabina said that Nadyr went with them to save her."

Nadia looked so emotionally relieved to hear this. "So Nadyr's really alive. And he's helping save Mama."

Niko nodded emotionally. "Yeah, he is. You don't have to feel guilty anymore."

Nadia took a deep breath, letting it out. "Okay. And Sabina's gone. Again? I mean, we've always thought that Sabina was gone, but now..." Niko nodded sadly, as the two took a moment of silence, both sighing heavily. Nadia turned to speak to everyone. "Um... let's get this done. All right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Everybody start gathering up weapons," Calliope told them. "It's time for battle."

∰

Inside - Living Room

With her shoulder wound almost completely healed, Nadia was sitting in the living room of the boarding house, sitting on one of the couches, gazing off at nothing.

Niko walked closer.

"I wanted to be alone," Nadia admitted.

"Yeah, well, considering I left you alone this past week and you have almost died like how many times?" Niko asked, before going on. "I thought it was better I didn't."

"Almost being the most important part," Nadia pointed out.

Niko shrugged. "Maybe, but also, I kinda need someone to drink this with."

Niko showed off a bottle and two glasses.

Nadia smirked slightly. "Well, you could have started with that." Niko chuckled, sitting down next to Nadia, setting the bottle and the glasses down. Nadia took the bottle and poured them both a drink. "Of course Sabina would have the bottle hidden."

"Thank God," Niko sighed. "'Cause I really don't think I can go on without some liquid courage." Nadia finished pouring the drinks, handing one to Niko, keeping one for herself. "So shall we toast?"

"To what?" Nadia asked.

"To me getting my powers back," Niko answered.

"And El," Nadia nodded.

Niko nodded. "And soon yours and Ruby's."

Nadia pointed at Niko. "To you finally killing Mikhail. Kinda mad you beat me to it."

"Oh, trust me, it was a painful experience," Niko admitted. "But all worth to send that bastard to hell."

Nadia nodded in agreement. "I can imagine."

Niko chuckled, before returning serious, raising his glass. "To Sabina." Nadia looked down. "She was, well, a badass, sort of psychotic bitch with a very questionable morality."

"Amen to that," Nadia agreed.

Niko went on, looking down. "But she loved me. Or, well, I guess she tried her best to do it." He looked up at Nadia. "Just as she loved you, Nadia. And Mama and Nadyr. I can't believe I'm the one of all people toasting to her, but she tried to do right in the end, and we should honor that."

Nadia nodded in agreement. "Cheers. To Sabina." Niko and Nadia clinked their glasses, drinking. Nadia made a face at the taste but relished in it. "God, the taste."

Niko smirked. "So not American."

Nadia nodded. "It's glorious."

"So glorious," Niko agreed with a chuckle.

Nadia chuckled. "Jesus."

"So I don't suppose you have a really good, thought-out plan?" Niko asked. "'Cause I mean, all that you guys thought is like, badass, but there are a million things that could go wrong."

"What makes you think I do?" Nadia asked.

"Well, I asked Robin, and apparently you're in charge," Niko answered.

Nadia shook her head, looking down. "Okay, she really needs to stop telling people that."

"Why does it matter?" Niko asked.

"Because I can't handle that right now," Nadia answered.

"Handle what?" Niko asked.

"All of them looking at me like we're some heroes," Nadia answered. "But we're not, are we, Niko?"

Niko tilted his head. "Nadia."

"We created Mirage," Nadia told him. "Everything that happened, even now, maybe not intentionally, but we made him. It's our fault."

Niko sat down next to Nadia. "Hey, there is no us. I made the wishes, okay? If it weren't for that, Mirage wouldn't have survived."

"And it was part of my energy that attacked him to begin with," Nadia replied.

Niko shrugged. "Yeah, well, maybe he shouldn't have been a psycho to begin with. A psycho that was torturing you and used both of us for our power and was going to kill us and Mama and helped get Papa killed. We're not responsible for what he became. He did it to himself." Nadia looked at Niko for a long moment, proud. Niko noticed the look. "What?"

"It's just, you know, this psionic messiah thing you have going on, it suits," Nadia answered.

Niko couldn't help a chuckle. "Shut up."

Nadia managed a small smile and chuckle. "No, I'm serious. You look different, but like good different."

Niko sighed. "What can I say? I guess dealing with trauma, facing your fears and killing your grandfather does some good for your mental health."

Nadia smirked. "And at least your sense of humor is the same."

Niko nodded. "Oh, yeah, baby, that's never going away."

Nadia looked at Niko seriously. "So Mikhail. Is he really dead?"

Niko looked down. "Yep."

"Are you sure?" Nadia asked.

"I literally turned him to ash and energy, so at least we're right about him being the actual devil," Niko told her. "Don't see how he can come back."

Nadia shrugged. "All right."

"But, um, speaking of Mirage and Vecna, and why they're so powerful," Niko stated. "I think I know."

"What do you mean?" Nadia asked.

"Well, obviously Andrei got his power from us," Niko pointed out. Nadia nodded. "But he's connected with Henry."

"Yeah, we just don't know how," Nadia stated.

"I think I have that part covered," Niko admitted. "When they tried to kill me, I saw this crystal in Mirage's castle, in his nightmare world version of it, and in the reality version of it. And he said that it holds the souls of their victims, while clearly Vecna also has the bodies of his victims in his lair that Ruby saw."

"Okay," Nadia said, wondering where this was going.

"I think that that crystal is what connects Vecna to Mirage, so that he's at a constant link with reality warping power," Niko explained. "Which is why he's so strong."

Nadia nodded in understanding. "So even with power ups from Ruby and Eleven, it would still take all of their power to take Vecna down. And he could still overpower them because of his link to Mirage."

"Exactly," Niko agreed.

Nadia nodded in understanding. "So we need to destroy that crystal. Hopefully turning the tides in our favor."

"So that you, me and Hailey can take down Mirage, and Ruby and Eleven can take down Vecna," Niko went on. "And whatever pain they feel through the hive mind will help us with ending them. We need to tell the others."

"And get whoever's available to come with us to the Upside Down so that they can destroy the crystal, while we're fighting Vecna and Mirage," Nadia finished.

Niko nodded. "Exactly. Ruby, Billy, Max, Lucas, Erica, Eleven and Jonathan have to go to the Creel House to lure out Vecna. You, me and Hailey have to go after Mirage. So that leaves Will, Steve, Nancy, Mike, Robin and Calliope. Dustin and Eddie can help with decoys and distractions."

Nadia and Niko both nodded in understanding, ready to explain to everyone out there when they went back outside.

Nadia leaned back on the couch. "Thank you for coming to get me."

Niko leaned on the couch, so they were face to face. "Don't tell me you doubted me."

Nadia smirked. "I 99.99 percent knew you were coming for me."

"Just that much?" Niko asked sarcastically. "I am deeply insulted."

"Well, seeing Mikhail, the drugs and the military bus did some of account the other point 1 percent," Nadia pointed out.

Niko nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah, to be honest, there were like, a lot."

"Yep," Nadia answered.

"But we took it down," Niko pointed out.

Nadia chuckled. "Yep."

Niko gave a slight smile. "We are kinda fucking badass, aren't we?"

Nadia returned the smile. "Fuck yeah we are."

Niko looked at Nadia, raising an eyebrow. "So, you and Steve."

Nadia shook her head. "Okay, no, we're not doing that."

Niko tilted his head. "Oh, come on. When would you have time for gossiping?"

"So then, might I ask, are you and Will back together?" Nadia replied.

Niko was not surprised by the deflection, shrugging. "If you ask me, I don't know. But we did kiss."

Nadia smiled slightly. "And if I ask Will?"

Niko shrugged. "I don't know. Let me know what he says."

Nadia took one of the cushions, throwing it at Niko. "You're an idiot, Niko."

Niko chuckled. "Your turn. You and Steve."

"I don't know what we are," Nadia admitted.

"You haven't known what you and Steve are for like, 3 years now," Niko remarked. "At this point, you might as well get a master's degree out of it."

Nadia scoffed, insulted. "Well..." She realized he did have a point. "You do actually have a point. But what can I do?"

Niko shook his head. "You should just tell him whatever you feel. Just tell him."

Nadia took a drink. "I change my mind. This new you is kind of annoying."

Niko threw the cushion back at Nadia. "Shut up."

Nadia chuckled, before returning serious. "So?"

"You can ask me about her," Niko assured. "It's okay."

Nadia took a deep breath. "Did Sabina talk about me? I just... a few days ago, I wouldn't have even wanted to talk about her, but now that I know I might really never get a chance to talk to her... it feels weird."

Niko nodded. "Yeah, she talked about you. A lot."

"What did she say?" Nadia asked.

"A lot of things," Niko answered. "But, um, I think she would want you to hear from her what she said about you. And something else from Papa too."

Nadia frowned in confusion. "How?"

Niko took out the device that he had saved from Nadia's box that Valkov wanted to give to her. "With this."

"What is this, Niko?" Nadia asked.

"I got a box from Sabina," Niko explained. "It was a gift from Papa. Before he died." Nadia looked stunned. "And this was from the box that he left for you." Niko handed Nadia another device. "And Sabina wanted me to give this to you, in case she couldn't make it here with us. Which... obviously she didn't."

Nadia was stunned. "So these are like Sabina and Papa's last words to me?"

"Basically, yeah," Niko answered. "I also took out the screen from your car, so here."

Niko handed the screen to Nadia for the video projections.

"You broke into my car?" Nadia asked.

Niko didn't get the big deal. "Well, we stole it together, so it's kinda both of ours."

Nadia scoffed a chuckle, before returning serious. "What did Papa say to you?"

"He told me he loved me and that I was good and that complicated doesn't have to mean broken," Niko answered. "And honestly, I think it was the only thing that kept me going during all of this."

Nadia nodded in understanding, looking nervous. "What do you think he would say to me?"

"I don't know," Niko admitted. "But in some way, I think it would be exactly what you need to hear. If you want me to, I can stay."

Nadia thought about it for a moment, shaking her head slowly. "I think I should do this alone, but thank you, Niko."

Niko nodded in understanding. "Always." Nadia and Niko shared an embrace, holding each other close, before pulling away. "We'll be ready for you outside, Nadia."

Niko stood, starting to walk away.

"Niko," Nadia spoke up, making Niko stop and look back at her. "Ya lyublyu tebya malen'kiy brat. [I love you, little brother.]"

Niko smiled, rolling his eyes teasingly. "Konechno, vy delayete. [Of course you do.]" Nadia smirked, rolling her eyes. Niko returned serious. "I love you too, big sister."

Nadia and Niko shared a sad smile, before Niko walked away outside.

Once Nadiaa was alone, she took a deep breath, and prepared herself for watching the projections of the videos on the screen that Niko had brought in for her, setting it up, and pressing play on Valkov's video.

In the video on the screen, Valkov took a deep breath before speaking. "My dearest Nadia. My little girl. My firefly." Nadia already had tears in her eyes at hearing his nickname for her. "What a gift to be able to leave you one last message, so please carry it with you in the years to come, if I'm not with you during those times. Because if you're watching this, then I'm not. I want you to know this. You've been so strong ever since you were born. Determined to take care of everyone around you, even if you felt as if you couldn't open your heart to them. But you will, eventually. You've shouldered all of the pain you've endured even at such a young age and tried to take it in silence so you didn't have to put anyone else in danger. And for that, I am deeply sorry, more than I could ever say. But you don't have to quiet your pain, Nadia. You should never silence yourself again. I know that life can be scary without having a father figure in your life. But you, you have an amazing brother with Nikolai, and an amazing mother with Natasha, and uncle with Nadyr. While I'm sure that Niko is more like me as he grows, you've always been more like your mother. Taking care of everyone and making sure they're okay, even when you're also in pain. Keeping everyone at a distance so you never get hurt. But even when we're different, we've always had the things that tie us together. Funny, intelligent, creative, beautiful, kind, but fierce. Impulsive, frustrating, complicated, crazily protective, out for justice or vengeance when needed. But I would not have us any other way, moya doch [my daughter]. If you're watching this, it means that I couldn't be there with you, and I'm so sorry for that. And I know that you must blame yourself more than Natasha or Niko because of what happened to you in the prison, with those men, but none of this is your fault, Nadia. You can let that pain go. You can let the guilt go. Please know that wherever I go next, I will be at peace as long as you three are okay." Nadia was crying silently, breathing deeply, shakily at the words, not knowing how much she desperately needed them from her father. "And I just wish for my family to take care of each other, and live. So love, take care, be kind to each other. And live your lives. Don't let the darkness of our past define your future. Don't let it snuff out the light, moy malen'kiy svetlyachok [my little firefly.] Even if you're old enough now that you don't go chasing fireflies anymore like you used to." Nadia chuckled sadly, wiping a tear away. "You will make mistakes in your life. That comes with being a Rostov-a. You will go through hard times, for no one with your power always knows how to use it properly. You will find love, but don't be afraid of losing it. That comes with life, and you can't shut yourself down to the gift of life because of the burdens that we have to bare. And the most important thing about your life is that you live it. Because you are my peace. And I regret a lot of things, but I don't regret a single moment I spent with you, Niko and Natasha. Or saving the three of you. Being with Natasha, and having you and your brother... it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, Nadia. I need you three to know that. I wouldn't change a thing. Even knowing the end, I do it all again if it meant having you three as my family. I love all of you so much. More than anything. Always."

Nadia let out a shaky breath. "I love you too, Papa."

"I gave Nikolai a necklace that my Papa left for me when I was young, that he told me to give to the person that I loved the most," Valkov explained. "So I did just as he did. But in the small bag that you've been given, is something that comes from my Mama, your grandmother. And she told me to do the same as Papa did with the necklace. To give to the person that I love the most. Once again, I just did. Because I love both of you equally without measure, Nadia. Even if you feel like you have no place in the life that I want you to live and carry on with, you always do. Don't forget that. We make our own place, and find people who make it better. And like your mother, I'm sure that both you and your brother will feel conflicted and tortured with the concept of whether you're good or evil, like your grandparents Mikhail and Sabina. But Sabina is far better than Mikhail. No one is pure good or pure evil. Every single being is complicated. And complicated..."

Nadia finished the saying. "Doesn't have to mean broken."

Valkov had an emotional smile. "Carry on. I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be truly good, and that's not bad. But I'm not evil. And neither are any of you. There's no one I'd rather be than me. I love you, firefly. Never let that go."

The video finished, as the projection of Valkov faded back into the watch.

Nadia was crying, smiling sadly at hearing her father's last words to her, taking a deep breath, nodding. She took out this clip and put the one in that Niko had given to her from Sabina, playing the video message.

Sabina appeared in the projection as Valkov had done before. "Nadia, moya vnuchka [my granddaughter]. You may be the only family member that I haven't gotten the chance to speak to since we've all started to be in connection once again, and for that, I am deeply sorry. I know you might not have wanted to see me, like Nikolai didn't, but I most certainly wanted to see you. Your brother had a way of making me realize all of the horrible things that I did to our family, that I helped destroy, and for the people outside of our family. Like what happened to Ruby's family and Eleven, and what Mikhail did to Hailey. All of whom you, Niko and Natasha have invited into your family as your own. Which I admire. The three of you, no matter what you think your flaws are, have always been more welcoming and compassionate than the likes of us. I am so sorry for the part I played in the pain that you went through as a child, my dear. I never thought that Andrei and those men could do the things they did. If I had known, I would have killed them myself, for what they did to you, and everything that followed." Nadia clearly had a lot of resentment toward Sabina, just like Niko had, but just like him, she had complicated feelings for their grandmother, mostly bad, but some good as well. "I wish that I could take back the damage that had happened. But sadly, we be both know is an impossibility. I did try to make up for my wrongdoings. Helping Natasha and Nadyr in their missions against Mikhail in Russia and locating Niko and Eleven to help them get their powers... and help teach your brother how to return your and Ruby's powers to you because Hailey can't do this on her own... all of you should be more than ready to take on the threats ahead, Nadia. But be warned. It will be a bloody battle that some of you might not come back from. And is there a chance that you could fail? Perhaps. But I have more faith in all of you than you have in yourselves. You children, and Natasha and Nadyr... you've always been more fearless than I have been. It's what I admire most. Aside from your ability to love. Ironically, if you remember, you were the one that first took away my sense of fear, when you were just nine years old. You took away the darkness and the pain, if only just for a moment. You helped me see the light and what work could be better done. I turned the tides too late, I'm afraid, but I did, because of you, and because of our family. You saved me when you were just a child, Nadia." Nadia couldn't help another tear fall. "And I know you can save everyone else. Including yourself. If you're watching this, it means that I couldn't be there with you myself, helping you children fight and win this battle against the monsters that try to destroy all of you. For that, I apologize. Along with the pain of the past. But now, all of you must carry on. And once this battle is over, and it is won, the home where I lived in Hawkins...  you, Niko, Natasha and Nadyr can live in when all of you have reunited. It's a boarding house, and it's all for the four of you. And anyone else who you may want to live with you. Your brother offered me a chance... to stay with all of you. My family. And I believe that if things had turned out a different way, I would very much like the chance to be with all of you, and completely mend the damage I've done on my children and grandchildren, even if I can't undo the past. If that's what you and my children would have wanted as well."

Nadia swallowed. "Maybe we would have."

Sabina took a deep breath as she continued, speaking the same words that she had to Niko before, because she felt like she owed Nadia the same words and admission. "I know there is nothing I can do to make up for the pain I've caused you. That I caused all of you. Not just to my own family, but to all the children in the both the programs, including Calliope's brother Apollo, and Eleven. Henry, Cheryl and Charlie... what I did with them and led to all this pain with Ruby. And allowing Mikhail to get so out of control that he could hurt so many more, including Hailey. And I don't expect forgiveness. I don't ask for it, as I don't think I deserve it. But I did really want the chance to try and work it out with my family. With you, Nadia. If all of you wanted to try, too. Maybe I wasn't worthy for this chance, but it's something that I would never give up. For any of you. I love you, Nadia. As I love all my family. Always."

The video finished, as the projection of Sabina faded.

Nadia shed two more tears, before wiping them away, and pulling herself together, standing, putting away the two video drives of Valkov and Sabina for safe keeping, walking out of the boarding house with the bag from Valkov.

∰

Outside

Nadia walked outside, standing on the porch of the boarding house, looking up toward the sky as if trying to see if she even believed in something that allowed Valkov or Sabina to watch over her and her family. "I love you, Papa. And thank you, Sabina. I don't think I could ever truly forgive you but thank you... for doing all of this to try and help us win the war. We're going to end this. For our family. Our friends. We're going to do right by you and by all of us. I promise."

Nadia opened the small drawstring bag that Niko had given her, pouring the contents into her hand, seeing the bracelet that Valkov had left for her, which was beautiful and antique, but still looked strong and unbreakable. She held up the bracelet, looking at it in awe, smiling slightly, pulling the bracelet onto her wrist with a determined look on her face. She took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her face, ready for whatever came next, walking out onto the field to join everyone else.

∰

Montage

Night - Sabina's Boarding House - Outside (Field)

Finally, everyone was getting the chance to change out of destroyed clothing from the missions before and all the damage they had to go through, having to get ready for the oncoming battle.

Niko's eyes were glowing blue as he was using telepathic healing on himself to be able to have enough strength for the battle, along with giving Ruby and Nadia back their powers. He was also healing Ruby's burns from his powers before getting her powers back.

Everyone was gearing up for battle all across the field.

Will and Jonathan were preparing weapons while having an emotional talk.

"Why didn't you tell me that Hailey was teaching you how to fight, or that you broke up with Niko?" Jonathan asked.

"I didn't want you to worry," Will answered. "Everybody always thinks they have to take care of me, including you, Jonathan. And I felt like you knowing that you didn't have to protect me anymore could change things between us, and I was scared. I guess. And it turns out I did still need your help taking care of me in the end at Corinth, so..."

"You mostly saved yourself, Will," Jonathan pointed out. "And even if you don't need me to protect you anymore, I'm always going to be there, so you don't have to be scared about that changing." He thought about what to say for a long moment. "Do you remember that time you told me you had a Lego stuck up your nose?"

"What?" Will asked.

"Yeah," Jonathan answered. "Like, it was like... it was like a construction guy. You'd call him Larry. Come on! You don't remember? He had the high viz jacket and removable hat."

Will nodded weirdly in confusion. "Yeah. Vaguely."

Jonathan gestured to Will. "Well, I remember it like it was yesterday. Man, I was... I was freaked. 'Cause--'cause this Larry... I mean, Larry was way, way up there. I don't even know how you got him that far up. I had to do surgery. I--I had to get tweezers to pull him out.

Will smiled. "Bull."

Jonathan chuckled. "No, no, no. I swear on my life. I don't know, I just... I feel like you used to come to me more for help. Or to just... talk, you know? 'Cause, like, you don't do that anymore. Not like before. A lot of that is probably my fault. This last year... I know I've been distant."

"Or stoned," Will added.

"Or stoned, yeah," Jonathan agreed. "But that has nothing to do with you. And that's me dealing with my own shit. Hiding from my own problems. The truth is, I miss talking to you. I like really miss it. And I think, right now, we need to talk more than ever. Because things are getting just complicated. A lot more complicated than Legos up the nose, you know? I just... I don't want you to forget that I'm here. And I'll always be here. No matter what because you're my brother and I love you. And there is nothing in this world, okay, absolutely nothing that will ever change that. You got that?"

Will started to get choked up. "Yeah. And I'm always here for you too."

Jonathan nodded. "I know. I know you are. Come here." They embraced tearfully, holding each other close, crying, pulling away. "It's gonna be okay, yeah?"

Will nodded. "Yeah."

Elsewhere, Nancy was sawing off the end of her shotgun.

Max was watching from next to Nancy. "Is this legal?"

"Actually, I think it's a felony," Nancy answered. "But it guarantees one thing. Whatever I'm aiming for, I won't miss."

Nancy knocked off the edge of the sawed-off barrel of the shot gun.

Max walked away from Nancy.

Hailey walked up to Max. "Hey, Max?"

"Hey," Max replied. "I thought you would be practicing opening Gates?"

"I am, but I had to say this," Hailey answered. "Over the last year, we've been really distant, and I'm really sorry for that."

Max shook her head. "That's not your fault, Hailey. I closed off from you, from Lucas, Dustin and Mike, and... I had to take care of Ruby and Billy. And you had to..."

"Control a dark, monstrous alter ego," Hailey finished.

"Yeah, after you died and came back to life," Max agreed. "So you had a lot going on."

"We both did," Hailey agreed. "And I know that's why we got distant, besides whatever else has been bothering you." Max looked to the side. "And you don't have to tell me. I just wanted to say that... I hate being distant from one of my best friends."

Max nodded in agreement. "Me too. With all of you."

"Just..." Hailey trailed off. "I'm really scared about what can happen tonight, but we're gonna be okay, all right?" Max nodded, swallowing. "And once this is over..."

"Nothing can break us apart again," Max finished.

Hailey nodded. Max and Hailey shared an embrace, both scared, but determined to make it through the night.

Nearby, Dustin and Eddie were putting nails and spikes into shields.

"How's it feeling?" Dustin asked.

"Light, but durable," Eddie answered, waving it around to test it out. "Deadly but reliable." Dustin chuckled. Eddie held out his hand, speaking dramatically. "Hear me now. There will be no more retreating..." He spoke normally. "From Eddie the Banished."

Dustin smiled, standing. "Hey, you're really ready for bat-tle." Eddie turned to look at him. Dustin gave a chortle. "You get it?" Eddie raised an eyebrow. "Bat-tle. B-A-T." Eddie just gave him a look. "No? I thought I had a good one." Eddie suddenly playfully tackled Dustin. "What are you doing?" Dustin in return tackled Eddie. "You son of a bitch!" Eddie reached for Dustin's boxers as they continued to wrestle around. "No wedgies! No wedgies!"

Eddie smiled, patting Dustin on the back of the head with both hands. "Never change, Dustin Henderson. Promise me?"

Dustin shrugged, shaking his head. "I wasn't planning on it."

Eddie nodded with a smile. "Good. Good."

Dustin laughed. "Good."

Dustin and Eddie looked toward Hailey nearby, as she was starting to get back to practicing with her power.

"How's Hailey doing?" Eddie asked.

"She's trying to figure out how to willingly open up a Gate," Dustin answered. "She thinks that she figured out a key to it earlier when she broke herself, Nadia and Ruby out of the cages. Literally ripped through polycarbonate cages like it was nothing. And broke away the bottom of the bus to send Sullivan flying across the ground."

Eddie nodded in understanding, stepping away, calling out to Lucas and Erica. "Hey, Sinclairs. How are those, uh, those spears coming on?'

Lucas held up his arm to give them a thumbs up.

Erica gave him a weird look. "Flip that damn thumb around."

Lucas lowered his arm. "What?"

Erica finished her spear, taking Lucas' spear. "It's too loose, Lucas. This isn't a basketball game where they blow the whistle when your shoes fall off."

Erica tied up Lucas' spear.

"Okay, okay, for the record, my shoes never fall off," Lucas told her.

"Okay, well, for the record, it's kind of hard for your shoes to fall off when you're riding the bench," Erica replied.

Lucas frowned, giving her a look. "Yet, for some reason, you show up to every game."

"Mm, except for the one that mattered," Erica pointed out. "Plus, Mom and Dad forced me."

Lucas tilted his head, knowing better. "Bull. Mom and Dad can't force you to do shit."

Erica finished up Lucas' spear. "Well, even though you're a bench-riding loser, you're still my brother. Just the facts."

Lucas smirked slightly.

Nearby, Steve walked toward Hailey. "Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah," Hailey answered. "I'm just trying to figure this out. The Gate opening thing. If I can figure out a way to open it on command, then we won't have to worry about any creatures blocking Gates, and we can get in and out if one of us gets trapped again, but..."

"You can't burn yourself out yet, Hailey," Steve pointed out.

"I know," Hailey agreed. "And I'm not going to. You notice that I heal a lot faster from draining myself than Niko, Nadia, Natasha, El and Ruby do?"

Steve frowned. "Yeah, actually. But still. I don't want you pushing yourself and getting hurt. Okay? I know that we have to stop Vecna and Mirage, but nothing is worth losing you. Okay? Nothing. I already almost lost you tonight. I'm not doing that again."

Hailey smiled softly, emotionally. "I know. I love you, Steve."

"Love you too, little sis," Steve replied. Hailey and Steve embraced. "Whatever happens, it's not gonna be our fault, all right? Not yours. Not anyone's. Say it."

Hailey nodded in understanding. "It's not gonna be my fault. Or anyone's."

Steve nodded, rubbing her shoulders. "Good."

Hailey and Steve pulled away.

"Whatever happens, some of us might not make it," Hailey pointed out. "So whatever you have left to say to Nadia... I'd say it. Because you don't know when you'll get the chance to say it next."

Steve nodded in understanding.

Nearby, Ruby walked up to Mike with her bow and arrows from Nadia's car. "Hey, Mike."

"Ruby," Mike replied. "I thought that you and Niko were gonna start already."

"Not just yet," Ruby answered. "In a second. He healed my burns already, which is something at least. Jonathan and that Calliope girl told me that you started to learn archery while with the Clandestines, whatever the hell all that is supposed to mean."

"We'll explain it all more later," Mike assured. "But yeah, Calliope's friend was helping me. It felt really good to be able to do something, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Ruby agreed. "And since I'm staying here, and you're going with Nadia, Niko, Hailey, Steve, Nancy, Robin, Calliope, Dustin, Eddie and Will to the Upside Down, I figured you need these a lot more than I do."

Mike raised his eyebrows in surprise, smiling. "You're giving me your bow and arrows?"

"Loaning," Ruby corrected. "I'm loaning you my bow and arrows. But yeah. If you wanna do something that makes you feel stronger and more capable, then you should. We need all the help we can get. Just don't get yourself killed, okay?"

"Yeah," Mike agreed. "Yeah, totally. Thanks, Ruby."

Ruby handed Mike the bow and arrows. "Keep practicing though, Mike. Since no matter how good of a natural you are, you can always get better. Looks like you and Nancy have something in common with being awesome at aim, though."

Mike smiled, nodding. "Yeah, Nancy definitely inspired me wanting to do the bow and arrow thing, and ironically, so did you. So thanks."

Mike immediately went into practicing, shooting a few arrows.

Ruby chuckled. "Well, least I could do is help with your aim of weaponry just in case."

Nancy watched Ruby and Mike, seeing how good Mike was with the bow and arrows, smiling proudly, impressed, walking closer. "You're a natural, Mike. Not sure if I should be surprised or not."

"I'm not," Ruby replied. "Look who his sister is."

Nancy smiled, looking at Mike. "But Ruby's right. We need to keep practicing, okay?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Let's do it. I mean, it's still kinda hard. I don't know how it's so easy to you two."

"It's easy when you get the hang of it," Nancy assured. Mike smiled, firing an arrow, and while he hit his target, it wasn't quiet on the mark that he wanted, because he was too nervous and freaking out. "You're thinking too much. Relax."

Ruby took the bow from Mike. "Here. Let me show you."

Ruby expertly and easily spun around to shoot an arrow through a tree branch, leaning over to shoot another branch down, all in quick and precise movements, turning to hand the bow back to Mike.

Mike smirked. "Show off."

Ruby faced Mike, pointing out at the targets. "You asked us how we could do it so easily. I'll tell you the same thing that Nadia taught me when I was learning. Look at your target in the distance, feel the variation in the wind, listen to the bow string tighten, picture the arrow hitting your target, and then let go."

"You can't think," Nancy told him. "You have to give into your senses and instincts."

Mike nodded in understanding, grateful to have them both here helping him, trying again, lifting up the bow and arrow.

"Relax, relax," Ruby advised. "Pull back gently." Mike did as instructed. "You need all three fingers to come off the bowstring at the same time. Relax and breathe. Then release."

Mike released the arrow, hitting the target, smiling. "Wow."

Nancy smiled. "Looks like you'll be a master yet."

"Oh, like you two?" Mike replied. "Not quite there yet."

Ruby smirked. "You'll get there. But thank you, Mike, for recognizing our mastery in the art of aim."

Nancy and Mike smiled.

Mike snorted. "You're getting a little too cocky, Ruby."

Ruby smirked, pressing her lips together, shaking her head. "Not cocky. I'm just confident in my skills. And for good reason."

"Well, yeah, since you took a lot of Demobats and Mirage monsters down with archery," Mike agreed.

"And soon, so will you," Nancy told him. "We've got this, Mike."

Mike nodded in agreement. "I know we do, Nancy."

Ruby gave them a soft smile.

Nearby, Eleven was resting to recover and recharge.

Will and Jonathan were sparring nearby to make sure that they could all still handle themselves well with a fight.

"You okay, El?" Jonathan asked.

Eleven nodded. "Just need to recharge."

"Okay," Will agreed.

"You're gonna do great," Jonathan told her. "All of you will. I just know it."

Eleven nodded slightly.

Nadia walked toward them. "Hey. How are you guys doing?"

"We're doing good," Will answered.

"Hi, Nadia," Eleven told her, noticing that she was emotional after watching Valkov and Sabina's videos. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Nadia answered, taking her sword out.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Jonathan asked.

Nadia handed the sword to Will. "I'm giving it to your little brother."

Will frowned in surprise, but appreciation. "Wow. Thank you, Nadia. What's this for?"

"Hailey told me that you've spent a whole year learning to defend yourself and protect yourself," Nadia explained. "And Niko told me what you did at Corinth. And you did help save my life earlier with the armored truck, so, thank you for that." Will nodded. "You've been so brave, Will. Especially with going back to that place. And if you're going back, you need this. Little slayer."

Will smiled emotionally, giving Nadia a hug, surprising her, but she chuckled and returned the embrace. "Thank you."

Nadia nodded slightly, ruffling Will's hair. "And I like your new hair, by the way. Much better."

The group laughed lightly at that.

"Thanks," Will said. "Sabina actually did it. And she gave Niko a sword from Valkov, which he named Starchaser, since Valkov used to call him..."

Nadia nodded in understanding, surprised, but impressed. "Starlight. I'm glad Sabina gave Niko Starchaser, then. And did your hair. Well, looks like Sabina did another good thing for you, then, huh?"

Will smiled softly, giving Nadia a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry that you didn't get the chance to see her, Nadia."

Nadia sighed heavily, unblinking. "Yeah. Me too." She gave a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, Will. Promise."

Near the end of the field, Niko called over to Ruby. "Ruby, I'm ready. Come on."

Ruby sighed anxiously, nodding, standing.

Billy reached over to catch Ruby's hand. "Hey. You're gonna be okay. All right?"

Ruby nodded, kissing Billy briefly but passionately, pulling away. "I know. Still kinda nervous though."

Billy nodded in understanding. "I know. You don't got no reason to be, though."

Ruby gave Billy a small smile, taking a deep breath, turning around, walking toward Niko at the other end of the field.

Steve and Nadia walked up from behind Billy.

"Is she okay?" Steve asked.

"Not yet," Billy answered. "Hoping she will be though. I really need to punch something right now."

Steve chuckled lightly. "Shockingly, I know the feeling."

Nadia nodded. "Why don't you two train for a bit? I need to focus before it's my turn to get my powers back."

Billy and Steve nodded in agreement.

Billy looked between the two. "I'll be anywhere but over here until then."

Billy walked away.

Nadia and Steve chuckled slightly.

Steve turned toward Nadia in concern. "Are you ready for that? Your powers?"

Nadia nodded. "More than ready."

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

"Niko showing me the videos of my papa and Sabina just reminded me of all the reasons why I have to do this," Nadia admitted. "And why we're going to kill Andrei and take down Henry. Whatever it takes."

Steve nodded slightly in agreement. "Whatever it takes. Yeah, of course. But remember to make sure that they don't hurt you in the process. Saving the world is something we always do. But don't let it kill you. Okay?"

Nadia nodded slightly in reassurance. "Okay."

"I just mean..." Steve trailed off, gesturing around at the party. "These kids can't lose you."

Nadia smiled slightly, knowingly. "Just the kids?"

"Maybe more than just the kids," Steve answered. "Like, Ruby, Nancy, Robin, Jonathan... even Billy's getting to be a friend with us."

"Steve," Nadia said softly.

Steve smiled softly. "And me. Especially me." Nadia chuckled. "Just promise not to let it get the best of you?"

Nadia nodded slightly with a soft smile. "I promise."

Steve nodded as the two gave each other sad smiles.

Across the field, Calliope and Robin were making Molotov cocktails.

"How do you know how to do this?" Robin asked.

"I'm part of a group called the Clandestines, which are basically the people against people like Mikhail and Sabina," Calliope answered. "Or, at least, against how Sabina used to be. We had to learn everything we could about fighting and making our own weapons and explosives in order to survive and try and save our loved ones from psionic and soldier programs."

Calliope gazed off.

Robin looked at Calliope sadly. "And your brother was in Hawkins lab when Henry killed everyone."

"Yeah," Calliope answered, swallowing.

"So that explains why you're still helping us," Robin told her.

Calliope nodded. "For Apollo."

"Just..." Robin trailed off. "Please don't get yourself killed in the process."

"Why do you care, Robin?" Calliope asked.

Robin shrugged. "I care about a lot of people. A lot of things. I just... your story's tragic enough. I wouldn't want to add anymore tragedy. Everybody deserves to be happy, right?"

Calliope looked at Robin curiously. "Right." Robin looked down nervously, looking away, clearing her throat. "So. The fate of the world is in the balance."

"Yep," Robin agreed. "But I still have hope."

"Not everything has a happy ending," Calliope stated. They made another Molotov cocktail. "And I won't try and get myself killed, but I have this terrible gnawing feeling that... things might not work out. For more than one of us."

"You think we shouldn't be doing this?" Robin asked.

Calliope sighed. "I think we're mad fools, the lot of us, but... but if we don't stop them, who will? We have to try, right?"

Robin and Calliope looked over the field, seeing everyone practicing and getting ready; Lucas and Erica were play fighting with spears, Dustin and Eddie were play fighting with their nail shields, Mike was practicing archery with Ruby's bow and arrows with Nancy helping him, Will was practicing with Nadia's sword, Eleven was resting and recovering to get her powers back up to strength with Max by Eleven's side for support and comfort, Jonathan, Billy and Steve were training and wrestling around as all three of them were good in a fight, Hailey was getting closer to figuring out how to open a Gate, but knowing that she couldn't expend too much power or energy yet, Niko was in the process of getting ready to get Ruby's powers back, as Nadia and Ruby watched.

Robin nodded. "Yeah."

Calliope held up the Molotov in her hand. "To killing Vecna and Mirage."

Robin picked up the first Molotov, holding it up. "Slash Henry and Andrei." Calliope and Robin clinked the bottles. "It's just that... everyone here has something they can do. And I'm not sure what I can add to the table."

"Well, Nancy's letting you use her pistols while she uses the shotgun when we go to the Upside Down, right?" Calliope asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know how to use them," Robin answered.

"Nadia, Ruby and Nancy didn't teach you?" Calliope asked.

"A little, but I just started to be friends with Nancy officially," Robin answered. "And Nadia's been gone for a year, and Ruby's had her own things to deal with. I didn't want to learn to use a gun over the year, but I had to learn a little since all of this started to happen again."

Calliope processed this, nodding, standing. "All right then. Come on."

"What?" Robin asked.

"Come here," Calliope told her. "I'll teach you the rest you need to know."

Robin looked at Calliope nervously, swallowing, but nodded in agreement, standing.

Calliope took out her gun, putting the gun in Robin's hand, grabbing a couple of empty, unused glass bottles, placing them down on the tree trunk in front of Robin, several feet away.

Robin weighed the gun in her hand for a moment. "What now?"

Calliope walked toward Robin, leading her a yard back from the tree stump with the glass bottles to give her space and have a chance at long range, raising Robin's arms to have her aim at the first glass bottle. "Now you focus. Aim at that first bottle. Relax." Robin tried to relax, her attention mostly on Calliope next to her. Calliope spoke calmingly to help her ease and release the tension in her body. "Just keep it steady. It's gonna kick." They took the safety off and pulled back the hammer. "Squeeze the trigger."

Robin pulled the trigger, missing the bottle the first try. She handed the gun to Calliope. "Show me."

Calliope stepped away from Robin, raising the gun and firing perfect shots at a couple of the bottles, but leaving two left for Robin, handing the gun back, giving her a smirk, winking. "Your turn." Robin's heart fluttered slightly, but she smiled sheepishly in return, hiding a blush in her cheeks. Calliope stepped back next to Robin's side, as they raised her arms to aim at one of the last two bottles. "Do you want to try again?" Robin nodded, preparing to shoot. "Take a deep breath, release..." Robin took a deep breath and exhaled. "Now."

Robin pulled the trigger and hit the bottle, making it shatter. She felt a rush from it, sighing heavily in relief, turning her aim at the final bottle, letting all the tension out of her body again, eye trained on the target, taking a deep breath, releasing, and pulling the trigger, hitting the bottle, making it shatter, breathing deeply. "Wow."

Robin lowered the gun, breaths deep yet even, as she felt the rush and power from being able to handle herself like that.

Calliope smirked, impressed by the newbie. "How do you feel now?"

"Powerful," Robin answered.

Calliope chuckled lightly, a bit close to Robin, which they were both aware of but tried not to focus on. "Good."

Robin handed the gun to Calliope.

Calliope put the safety on and put the gun in her holster.

Robin turned to Nancy's pistols that she was letting her borrow. "Thanks, Calliope." Calliope nodded. "Whatever they do, they're not gonna win. You may be the doom and gloom girl, but somebody's gotta be the optimist here. We're here, with our friends. You may not know most of us, but clearly you've gotten to be friends with Jonathan and Mike, and maybe even Niko, El and Will." Calliope shrugged in agreement. "And I bet you could be friends with the rest of us too. You're not alone here. None of us. And with all of us, we have a lot of power."

"They have more," Calliope pointed out.

"Maybe," Robin agreed. "But we're here. We're alive. And we wanna keep being alive. And we're fighting for our friends, most of them are fighting for their family. And so are you, for Apollo. To get justice for him. You're not the only one fighting for justice here, either."

Calliope knew she was right. "Nadia, Niko, Hailey and Ruby."

Robin nodded. "With that in mind, we know that we have more to fight for than they do. And that can help us win and take them down, because they have nothing to fight for. That's all that matters."

Calliope was impressed with the speech, unable to help a small smirk. "Damn right."

Robin smiled slightly, as the two gazed at each other before looking away.

(Song:) Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) [Bryce Miller/Alloy Tracks Remix] - Journey (Extended/Epic Versions)

Across the field, Niko and Ruby stood face to face.

"Are you ready?" Niko asked.

Ruby nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Niko nodded, letting his eyes glow blue, along with his chest, focusing the telepathic healing on Ruby. As Niko's glowing powers expanded from his body and became closer to Ruby, creating a dome around them, healing her, Ruby started to gasp for breath, letting the energy in, accepting it.

With a flash of sunlight-golden light, Ruby's eyes started to glow with what was just like sunlight as her powers started to come to the surface, as did her hands and her chest, like both did when she was losing control in book 3, and when she briefly got her powers back in 4.07.

Everyone stopped what they were doing around the field to watch this in awe.

As Niko's dome closed around him and Ruby, Ruby held her head in her hands, wincing in pain, groaning. "It--it's hurting. My head."

Niko's dome glowed blue and swirled with small bursts of fire and electricity.

"It's because of your mentality," Niko pointed out. "But relax. Let it in, and you can heal yourself. Your mind."

Ruby stood straight, relaxing her form, lowering her arms. A blue wave of energy burst from Niko and into Ruby, right into her chest, through her body, healing her even more from the poison in her system.

Billy stepped closer in concern. "Ruby? Ruby."

Ruby gasped from the power. "I'm okay."

"It's working," Niko told them.

Niko and Ruby's energy resonated together and separately, pulsing around them, glowing blue and gold swirling around them. Electricity crackled out of Niko's energy like blue fiery strikes of lightning, little by little. Ruby's psychic energy flared brightly like the sun. It caused both Niko and Ruby to levitate off the ground, as their power circled around them like an aura. Energy zapped powerfully as Ruby's powers were unlocking in full and making her stronger than ever.

Ruby focused with all she had, letting the energy flow through her, accepting it, healing. When Ruby was healed enough, and Niko's power was making her stronger, Ruby started to glow completely with her psychic energy light, the color of sunlight just like her beams, but now she was glowing completely with it, as the light traveled from head to toe, illuminating her. She opened her eyes, which were also glowing like sunlight. She let out an echoing scream as a burst of sunlight-like energy burst out of her, throwing everything around into chaos.

Everyone watched this in awe.

Niko knew that it was over for Ruby, as he let the aura of power created by both of their powers combined start to fade, as Niko and Ruby slowly levitated back down to the ground, both with heavily bleeding noses, as they collapsed to the ground.

Will ran closer to Niko. "Niko."

Ruby's power was still glowing along her body, even though the aura of both her and Niko's powers combined had faded.

Billy went to step closer to Ruby. "Ruby."

Ruby held out her hand to stop Billy from getting too close because of how badly he could get damaged by her power like before. "Stay back."

Ruby slowly stood, light flickering along her skin.

"Ruby?" Max asked.

Ruby knew she had to test her powers, thrusting out her arms toward the trees on the treeline, sending a burst of power from both her hands and her chest out at the trees, setting them ablaze with psychic energy glowing gold light like the sun, which took a lot of focus and energy, but it destroyed the trees with absolute ease, searing everything around them.

Once the light started to settle down, Ruby's powers started to fade from around her, disappearing entirely.

Everyone was absolutely in awe and relief, cheering lightly.

Ruby swayed slightly on her feet from the burst of power, backing away, gazing off out at nothing.

Billy walked closer, holding her arm. "Hey. You did it."

Ruby had a slight smirk, breathless. "I'm back. That motherfucker won't even know what hit him."

Billy smiled slightly.

Ruby wiped the blood from her nose.

"Go sit down and try your sanity power," Steve suggested. "You'll feel a lot better after."

Ruby nodded barely, as Billy led Ruby aside.

Will helped Niko stand.

"I'm okay, Will," Niko told him. "That wasn't as much power from me as it was from Ruby."

Nadia walked closer, looking at Niko in concern. "Are you sure you don't need to take a break?"

"Maybe a minute or two or three," Niko answered sheepishly.

Nadia nodded sarcastically. "Try five."

"Yeah, I'd go with five," Will agreed.

Hailey raised her hand. "Yeah, me too."

Steve nodded barely in agreement. "Sounds like a good idea."

Niko gave Hailey, Will, Nadia and Steve a smile. "Fine. Five."

Steve looked between Hailey, Niko and Will before pointing toward Dustin, Lucas, Max, Mike and Eleven. "I'm sure you kids will find something to keep you busy till then."

Hailey, Niko and Will gave Steve a look, tilting their heads, causing Nadia to smirk.

Will realized something. "Actually, Steve's right." He took Niko and Hailey by the hands, leading them away. "Come here."

Steve gestured to Will. "There you go."

Will led Niko and Hailey toward Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Max.

"What are you doing?" Hailey asked.

"I just wanted to do one thing before we all split up and do what we have to do," Will explained.

"What's that?" Eleven asked.

"I know that we're all scared of what could happen if we lose," Will admitted. "How much we all have on the line here."

"That would be understating it," Mike remarked.

"Immensely," Dustin agreed.

"Yeah, I know," Will agreed. "Just... Can I show you guys something?"

They all nodded.

"Yeah," Lucas answered.

"Of course," Niko answered.

"Yep," Max answered.

Hailey shrugged. "Why not?"

"Sure," Mike answered.

"Since it might be the last time you get the chance to show us, yeah," Dustin answered.

Hailey hit Dustin lightly on the head. "Dustin."

"Sorry," Dustin whispered.

Will took out his painting, unfurling it over the bar to show them that it was a beautiful, mythical fantasy painting, set in the woods during the day, with the party in full facing off against a red, huge three headed dragon, all of the party wearing armor and clearly winning the battle.

This caused all of the party to smile in awe, which Will smiled in relief to, so glad that they all liked it.

"This is amazing," Hailey told him.

"Did you paint this?" Max asked.

"Yeah," Will answered. "Yeah, I mean..." He pointed to them all in the painting. "I'm the cleric, Mike's our paladin, Dustin's our bard, Lucas is our ranger, Hailey is our fighter, Niko is our sorcerer, El is our mage, Max is our zoomer. We all have a role to play, even if we think that we don't. Like me as our cleric. Clerics are intermediaries between the mortal world and the distant planes. They're healers and warriors, and yes, they're conduits of power and divine magic, and that's not me, but the first part is. I hate it, but I still feel a connection to the Upside Down. Especially now that I'm back in Hawkins."

"Yeah, but clerics can be ultimate badasses," Niko pointed out. "Lay curses or plagues and poison or call down flames from heaven to kill their enemies. And they fight like badasses, which you can do now. And they're definitely protectors."

Will smiled. "Yeah. And Mike, the paladin swears to uphold justice and righteousness, to stand with the good things of the world against darkness and help hunt the forces of evil wherever they are, even if they seem ordinary, they still gain power and strength from justice and doing good. Yes, they have healing powers, but you helped El 'heal' when she escaped the lab, and you helped Niko help me when I was back from the Upside Down."

"He helped me with Dark Hailey after everything," Hailey recalled. "You might be a pain in the ass sometimes, Mike. Most of the time. But I'll grant you that."

Mike smiled.

"My point is, you break the rules when you need to but uphold your own code, and deeply caring and protective and loyal, even if you make mistakes like everybody else," Will pointed out. "And you value your oaths like the rest of us do, and the paladins always hold their oath-keeping in high regard. You help protect the innocent and join heroes in the fight for justice, even if it puts you in danger. You help guide the whole party, inspiring us. That's what you do. And see your coat of arms here? It's a heart. And I know it's sort of on the nose, but that's what holds this party together. Heart." They all nodded in agreement. "Because, I mean, without heart, we'd all fall apart."

"Yeah," Mike agreed.

Will went on. "And Dustin, as our bard, they exhort companions to bravery and heroism. The way you've done to fix your mistakes two years ago by asking Hailey, Nadia, Steve, Ruby, Lucas and Max to help you against the Demodogs, and when you, Hailey, Nadia, Steve, Robin and Erica were trying to stop the Russians last year. Literally the magic of song makes bards stronger and inspires the people around them. They prefer to stick to the sidelines in combat, using their magic to inspire their friends and allies and hinder their enemies from a distance, but are definitely capable of defending themselves if necessary. This is just like you. Instead of magic or music, you use your genius to help us make discoveries and we wouldn't have made it this far without you helping us figure out everything that we had to learn to survive."

"Damn right," Dustin agreed, smiling happily.

They all laughed lightly at this.

"And Lucas," Will went on. "Our ranger. Rough and wild looking, but a human fighter. Instead of a bow and arrow, you use a slingshot." This caused the party to laugh lightly. "They're independent adventures like you, warriors of the wilderness, hunters, able to cast spells that harness nature's powers, like a druid. They're dead set on protecting their land and their people no matter what the cost. They're sneaky and join opposing circles if they have to to gather intel or lead them astray to protect those they care about." Hailey, Dustin and Max looked at Lucas since this was exactly what Lucas did with the jocks just before all this happened, causing Lucas to shrug. "They're frustrated but compassionate with everything they do and quickly learn that other adventures who can carry their own weight in a fight against the monsters are worth any extra burden even if they don't like them at first." Lucas looked at Eleven, Niko and Hailey, since this was exactly what it was like with them in book one. "And they try to make up for the way they've acted in any way they can."

"Sounds about right," Lucas agreed.

Will smiled. "Hailey. Our fighter. Studded in leather armor." The group looked over Hailey's red leather jacket over her black outfit, causing them to laugh. "Helps coordinates assaults to the best advantage possible, well-rounded specialist even before you got powers. With the power of lightning to smite any enemy. Like the aura and energy tendrils you have now. Unparalleled mastery with weapons and armor, thorough knowledge of combat, augmenting their martial skills with magic, like you do now with your powers. And well acquainted with death, both meting it out and staring it defiantly in the face."

Hailey shrugged. "Well, I did die and come back to life, so if that's not staring death defiantly in the face, I don't know what is."

This caused the party to laugh.

"Exactly," Will agreed. "And right now, you're the best chance we have against Mirage, with Nadia and Niko. And you've been the best weapon against him and Vecna so far. If anyone can get through tonight, it's you."

Hailey smiled softly. "Thanks, Will."

"El," Will went on. "Our mage. Spellcaster. One of the strongest out of all of us. One of the bravest. They live and die by their spells. Everything else is secondary. They learn more and grow as they experiment and become more experienced. More powerful. Just a small gesture and they can create a devastating amount of damage in order to do good. And while I know you've been struggling to know if you're good or bad, that you've been so lost lately, we know, more than anyone, just how much good there is in you. And that you will do anything to help save the world and the people you care about. You're not a monster. You're a hero. Okay?"

Eleven smiled emotionally in relief, nodding. "Okay."

"Max," Will went on. "Our zoomer. A character we created just for you, based off a rogue, because you're quick, smart and sneaky. A super speed fighter, obviously more focused around speed. They have perfect bodily functions even when running at max speed, no pun intended." Max smirked. "While also being able to withstand and have resistance against all super speed collisions that happen. They can launch super powered attacks by attacking with massive amounts of built-up kinetic energy. Adept at mobility and evasiveness. Messengers, runners, lookouts, constantly in motion. As fast to get out of harm's way just as often as into it. Which means I know that you can make it out of this, Max. No matter what it takes."

Max nodded slightly, though she was still very nervous. "Thanks, Will."

Will took a deep breath to finish. "And last but definitely not least. Niko. Our sorcerer. Wildly unpredictable and adventurous. Most have the power of dragon fire, and they can fly. And we've learned with how much stronger you've gotten with your fire power, you can levitate. And it looks a little like lightning now too, which is also a telltale power of a sorcerer. Sorcerers carry a magical birthright from exotic bloodlines, some otherworldly influence, or exposure to cosmic forces, which all three applies to you. Your power is a part of your body, mind and spirt, a chaotic and uncontrolled storm that always manifests in unexpected ways, but you somehow almost always use it to the best advantage of all of us. By learning to harness and channel their own power, they discover new and staggering ways to unleash their power. Just like you get to do now with your new strength in power. And you can definitely fly now." The party smiled. "I know you think of yourself as a monster, but you're so much more than that. To us, you are a hero. And you are strong enough to handle anything that comes your way."

Niko smiled emotionally. "Aw, William. How could we ever top this amazing speech?"

The rest of the party smiled in agreement.

Will smiled, nodding. "You can do this. We all can. All of us are different from everyone else. And that makes us feel like mistakes. Like monsters or errors. But we're not mistakes. Or monsters. Or errors. When we're together, we realize that we're better because we are different. And that's the courage that we need to fight on."

All of the party was emotional but relieved to hear this, having needed it dearly before going into battle, not knowing what would happen at the end of it all. Hailey, Dustin, Niko, Will, Mike, Eleven, Lucas and Max all embraced, holding each other close.

Eddie, Calliope, Robin, Steve, Nadia, Jonathan, Nancy, Ruby and Billy watched them from a small distance away alongside Erica. The older teens had soft smiles, even Calliope, after seeing this, and Erica couldn't help but grin.

However, Ruby was getting frustrated, making a noise of frustration and desperation.

Billy was trying to keep her calm. "Hey, hey." This got the attention of all the others. "It's okay. Relax."

Everyone looked toward Ruby and Billy, just hoping that they would get better after how long they had both been suffering, especially Ruby since the night before.

Ruby had her hands to her head, but nothing was happening.

"What's wrong?" Nancy asked in concern.

"It's not working," Billy answered.

"What do you mean, not working?" Calliope asked.

"Ruby has madness manipulation," Robin explained. "She can make the madness in her head, and Billy's better. It's really bad if they don't get better."

"Especially after last night," Eddie agreed in concern.

Ruby was quickly getting overwhelmed and worked up again, shaking her head. "This isn't happening."

Billy knelt in front of her to try and keep her calm, knowing that she could go into a meltdown like she had shown to do in 3.05 in the hospital. "Ruby. Ruby, hey."

Max walked closer to help, since she and Billy were the ones that helped her through these episodes when they got so bad. "Hey, it's okay. Breathe."

Ruby was unraveling, starting to have a meltdown, standing, pacing away from Max and Billy and everyone else in case she lost control of her powers during the meltdown. "Stay calm." She tried to get her breathing under control, pushing over a bench, holding her head. "Don't do this."

Ruby picked up a bench chair, throwing it against the ground, making it shatter into pieces, groaning from the effort it took for her to try to keep her instincts of lashing out inside, of trying not to lose control of her newly brought back and amped powers, yelling in frustration.

Everyone flinched in worry and concern.

"Ruby..." Steve trailed off worriedly.

Ruby held out her hand to keep them away. "Stay back. It's fine. It'll pass."

Max tried desperately to help her like she did before in 3.05, demonstrating her breathing. "Okay, deep breaths. Deep breaths. In... out..."

Ruby was breathing deeply, struggling to calm down, gripping her hair tightly, before turning away, lowering her hands to her sides. "I don't know how much more of this I can take. I bet this is fun for him. Making me like this. Making me lose it. Why? I didn't even do anything to him. And he and the monsters like him stole my powers in the first place. My sanity. I want it, I need it, and I gotta have it now. But I can't get it! It's typical!"

"Ruby," Lucas said in concern.

Ruby threw her hand out, her hand accidentally letting out a psychic energy beam glowing like sunlight, which shot out toward a tree on the edge of the field, setting it aflame but just with light, making everyone jump and back away slightly. "Not now. I'm talking. Wriggling, piling, prowling, crawling, clowning, cavorting, doing it over and over and over and over." Everyone watched Ruby in heartbreak to see how far she was spiraling, not sure how to stop it or help. Ruby was shaking. "Somebody make it stop!"

With a strangled cry of anger, pain and despair, as her fingertips started to glow gold with psychic energy, Ruby put her hands to her head without realizing what she was doing, and her fingers, while glowing like sunlight, on either side of her head, phased right through her skull and into her head, causing the sunlight energy to flare from her eyes, mouth and ears as her eyes went wide with shock.

Everyone watched this in shock and worry and concern, everyone talking over each other.

Billy and Max were right next to Ruby in an instant, horrified and worried, not knowing what had just happened. "Ruby!"

"What the hell just happened?" Mike asked.

"Ruby, are you okay?" Jonathan asked.

"Ruby?" Will asked worriedly.

"Hey, can you hear us?" Dustin asked.

Nancy and Robin walked closer worriedly.

Billy and Max watched Ruby in a worried craze, not sure what just happened.

Steve stepped closer. "Hey, hey, hey."

Nadia and Hailey knelt to them. "Ruby!"

Calliope held out her hand to stop everyone from talking over each other. "Everybody shut up."

Ruby's power faded completely from her eyes, mouth and ears, as she let her fingers out from her head. She looked at everyone, so much calmer and at peace than she had for such a long time, looking refreshed, looking between them. "Man. You guys look worried." They all frowned. Ruby stretched. "Ahh... that is so much better."

Everyone started to relax, breathing uneasily.

"What, did it work this time?" Erica asked.

"Yeah," Ruby answered. "I feel like... me again. And I'm definitely not seeing my psycho parents that did this to me, so..."

"Okay, so apparently getting your powers back and that sick power up didn't just change how your powers appear," Calliope pointed out. "Changed the way your madness manipulation power works."

"Are you okay?" Eleven asked in concern.

Ruby nodded. "Better than I have been in a long time."

Mike sighed in relief. "Good. Good, good, good."

Billy and Max closed their eyes in relief, hanging their heads.

Max shook her head. "Don't scare us like that again."

"Wasn't trying to," Ruby replied.

Billy chuckled. "Does it hurt? When you did that?"

"A little," Ruby answered. "But not much."

"Can you do that for Billy?" Max asked.

Ruby nodded, looking at Billy. "I won't hurt you. I promise."

Billy nodded. "I know."

Billy took Ruby's hands, placing them on his head, giving her a nod of reassurance.

Now that the others knew that they were okay, they started to back away and give them space.

Ruby focused, looking at her fingertips, using enough heated emotion to make her fingertips start to glow gold with psychic energy like sunlight on either side of Billy's head, phasing her fingers right through his skull and into his head, causing the sunlight energy to flare from Billy's eyes, mouth and ears as his eyes went wide with shock at the feeling for the first time.

Even from a distance, everyone watched this in worry and concern, but knew that that meant it was working and that both of them would be okay.

Ruby's power faded completely from Billy's eyes, mouth and ears, as she let her fingers out from his head, looking at him in concern. "Billy?"

Billy caught his breath, much calmer and at ease than he had been in a long time. "I'm okay."

Max was so emotional that it worked, and that Ruby and Billy were both better, even for the time being, wrapping her arms around them both. They returned the embrace, sighing contently.

Everyone sighed in relief, nodding, happy for them for the night.

Niko turned to Nadia. "I believe our five minutes are up."

Nadia nodded. "I know."

Niko took Nadia by the hand as the two walked away through the field.

Everyone watched this, including Billy, Max and Ruby.

Across the field, Niko and Nadia stood face to face.

"Ready?" Niko asked.

Nadia nodded. "Born ready."

Niko nodded, letting his eyes glow blue, along with his chest, focusing the telepathic healing on Nadia. As Niko's glowing powers expanded from his body and became closer to Nadia, creating a dome around them, healing her, Nadia started to gasp for breath, letting the energy in, accepting it.

Nadia's eyes began to glow with purple psychic energy as her powers started to come to the surface, as did her chest, as thin lines of purple energy started to unfurl from her hands like they always did when she conjured her power to create a weapon or shape.

Niko's dome glowed blue and swirled with small bursts of fire and electricity.

A blue wave of energy burst from Niko and into Nadia, right into her chest, through her body, healing her even more from the poison in her system.

Steve stepped closer in concern but knew that it meant it was working.

Niko and Nadia's energy resonated together and separately, more apart of each other than any other power, as Niko was a telepath, and Nadia was an empath, and their energy together had been enough to create a monster, but now it was enough to destroy it with Hailey's help. Their energy glowed blue and purple, swirling and pulsing around them. Electricity crackled out of Niko's energy like blue fiery strikes of lightning, little by little. Nadia's purple energy danced along through the aura of power between them, connecting to each strike of electricity. It caused both Niko and Nadia to levitate off the ground as their power circled around them like an aura. Energy zapped powerfully as Nadia's powers were unlocking in full and making her stronger than ever.

Nadia's purple energy that was swirling around her started to attach itself to her arm, creating protection armor for all along her arm, which created a sword out of pure purple psychic energy at the end of the armor, as she looked down in awe, her eyes still glowing with purple energy, watching as her energy seemed to start blazing with more power. She let out an echoing scream as a burst of purple energy burst out of her, throwing everything around into chaos once again.

Everyone watched this in awe, knowing that it was over, that it worked.

Niko let the aura of power created by both of their powers combined start to fade, as Niko and Nadia slowly levitated back down to the ground, both with heavily bleeding noses, as they collapsed to the ground.

Will stepped toward Niko, offering a hand. Niko took Will's hand, letting him help him up.

"How are you not drained after that?" Will asked.

Nadia stood, her arm still glowing with armor with her sword at the end, and her eyes still glowing purple. "Because he was feeding off of my energy as much as I was feeding off of his. Just like Niko did with Ruby. It made us stronger for what's to come, even if it's just for tonight."

Niko nodded in agreement.

Hailey nodded. "Smart."

"Yeah," Dustin agreed with a chuckle.

Steve stepped closer in concern. "Nadia? You okay?"

Nadia raised her glowing purple sword, which, even though it seemed to be blazing, was the most intricately conjured sword she had ever made, with designs curling and circling all around each other in the blade. She looked at the glowing purple armor on her arm, waving a hand through it to use more already conjured energy, spinning around and waving her sword together with the energy in her other hand, and against the energy on her armored arm, turning toward the tree line as she created such an intricately beautiful spear out of purple glowing energy, throwing the spear through the air and into a tree, cutting the tree in half, as they all watched it fall, and the marks left by Nadia's spear in the tree were glowing purple as the tree fell.

Everyone was absolutely in awe and relief, cheering lightly.

Nadia smirked slightly, confidently, as she let her powers fade, the armor fading from her arm, and her eyes returning to normal. "Now that's more like it."

Nadia wiped the blood from her nose.

"Looks like we're ready now," Lucas pointed out.

"Yeah," Hailey agreed. "Ruby? El?" Ruby and Eleven both looked at her. "Since you're going after Vecna... make that bastard pay. For what he did to both of you and Apollo. And Melody and Anthony. And Chrissy."

Ruby and Eleven nodded in agreement, looking at Hailey sadly, since they knew she was still grieving her friend, and glancing at Calliope in sympathy, as Calliope looked down.

"We'll give him hell," Ruby answered. "You guys just give Mirage hell."

"Oh, we will," Niko answered.

Nadia shrugged. "Giving monsters hell is something we're all good at doing by now."

They all nodded in agreement.

"Do you guys want to wait?" Jonathan asked. "A little bit longer?"

"We can try to buy some time," Nancy pointed out.

Ruby shook her head. "There's no time. What Henry showed me... he and Andrei plan on making their move. Tonight."

No one was surprised by this, but all were worried.

"Okay," Erica agreed.

Robin nodded. "I'm ready."

Eddie looked nervous but nodded. "Me too."

Eleven nodded, looking at Nadia, Niko, Hailey and Ruby. "We'll end this. Tonight." She looked at Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, Max, Billy, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Eddie, Erica, Robin and Calliope around them. "Together."

Everyone nodded, ready to do this.

"Okay," Calliope agreed. "Let's do this."

Everyone looked worried and a bit scared but determined to make it through the night and save everyone.

Nadia tossed her keys to Jonathan, which he caught.

Eleven/Mike and Nancy/Jonathan embraced and kissed goodbye, holding each other close for a long moment, before letting each other go.

Jonathan and Will embraced, before letting go.

Max, Ruby, Billy, Lucas, Erica, Eleven and Jonathan turned around, walking away toward Billy and Nadia's cars, but stayed back to look behind them toward the others.

Niko took Starchaser from the armored car and placed the sheath of the sword over his form to take it with him to the Upside Down.

Nadia looked at Starchaser, knowing that it was Valkov's sword that Sabina had given to Niko, both of them exchanging a look.

Hailey tried once again to open the Gate of her own free will, looking at Nadia, Steve, Dustin, Will, Nancy, Mike, Eddie, Robin and Calliope behind her nervously, before looking toward the others at the car.

They all nodded reassuringly, knowing that she could do this.

Hailey stood calmly but nervously, holding out either hand to her side, letting the sclera of her eyes turn black, irises glowing red, as her red aura started to appear and glow around her, swirling, as she had to let it be as chaotic as it could be, letting the glowing aura cycle around her like a tornado, letting her dark urges take over as she let her power burst out of her, releasing a feral scream sounding like a mix of a scream and screech, head tilted back and arms down at her sides as her aura of red glowing energy exploded out of her, all around, coming from her hands and her chest, tornadoing all around as it shot out at the air in front of her, lashing out at the air, ripping a hole through time and space to make a portal in the shape of a star to the Upside Down, tearing it open with a violent flash of glowing red light.

Everyone watched in shock and awe but worry.

As Hailey let her powers fade and stumbled slightly, Dustin reached out to steady Hailey by the arm, holding her steady.

Nadia, Steve, Hailey, Dustin, Will, Nancy, Mike, Eddie, Robin and Calliope glanced back at Max, Ruby, Billy, Lucas, Erica, Eleven and Jonathan, everyone nodding to each other.

Hailey took a deep breath before walking through the Gate that she had just opened. Nadia and Niko followed her in.

Hailey turned back to the Gate once they were all through and used her powers to close it with a burst of red glowing aura.

Steve, Dustin, Will, Mike, Nancy, Robin, Calliope, Eddie, Max, Ruby, Billy, Lucas, Erica, Eleven and Jonathan all exchanged a look, stunned but impressed.

Steve, Dustin, Will and Eddie got into Hailey's car.

Mike, Nancy, Robin and Calliope got into the armored car.

Max, Ruby and Billy got into Billy's car.

Erica, Lucas, Eleven and Jonathan got into Nadia's car.

The armored car, Hailey's car, Billy's car, and Nadia's car started to drive away, with the armored car and Hailey's car driving away in a separate direction, as Billy and Nadia's cars drove away to another.

∰

Creel House - Outside

Nadia and Billy's cars pulled up to the Creel house in the middle of nowhere.

Max, Ruby, Billy, Lucas, Erica, Eleven and Jonathan got out of the cars, looking at the house in front of them.

Ruby was especially affected to be back here after what Henry showed her, but as she was better mentally, she could handle it a lot better.

The others looked at Ruby in concern, but Ruby walked ahead of them, leading the way to the Creel family home. Her family home. Determined to end this.

Max, Billy, Lucas, Erica, Eleven and Jonathan exchanged a look before following Ruby.

Ruby looked at the broken rose stained glass window before opening the door, walking inside, followed by the others, closing the door behind them.

Everyone knew that there was a chance that everything could go wrong that night. But they had no idea how wrong it would all turn out.