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C H A P T E R E I G H T :

" THE SWORD OF OMENS "

･ ｡ﾟ ⋆✩⋆ ･ ｡ﾟ

･ ｡ﾟ ･ ｡ﾟ

| D E C E M B E R 24th , 1986 |

H a w k i n s , I n d i a n a

"STEVE AND ROBIN ARE HERE. "

Dustin announced to the small group forming in the living room of the Wheeler home.

Still in their Family Video work clothes, Steve spoke up, "You called in a Code Starcourt?"

This simple question sparked into a chaotic discussion between the group—all exchanging different points of views on the topic as well as evidence to support.

"Alright, alright! One at a time."
Steve ordered, his motherly position now being shown.

Dustin took in a deep breath to prepare himself to begin explaining before he opened his mouth to start—only to have Mike fill in his words for him.

"Y/N and Hopper are still alive!"
Mike declared with such confidence and hope stitched into his voice that Steve hadn't seen in him for a long time.

Dustin slapped his palm to his forehead as Mike's forwardness.
  He wanted to work up to that mere thought before he jumped to conclusions.

"Wait, what? Are you serious?"
Steve's own eyes widened with surprise and guilt as he was sure everyone was.

Guilt.

They felt guilty because Hopper and Y/N were alive, and they could have saved them.

"Hold on, we don't actually know for sure though—.."
  Murray tried to interrupt the busy session of minds working together to solve the mystery at hand.

"What the hell do you mean, 'you don't know?'" Robin rebutted as she looked at Murray.
  "You either know, or you don't, this isn't a light topic, kid."
  Robin then sternly told Mike ; she quickly stepped into the fatherly role of the duo between her and Steve. 

Y/N was like a little sister to Robin and Steve, so it really affected them to even think of the possibility that Hopper and Y/N might both still be alive.

"We have credible evidence that she and Hopper both are!"
Mike answered, now standing up from the couch to approach Steve—the note still clenched in his palm.

Steve stood with his hands on his hips as Mike approached him—the classic motherly pose.

Mike smoothed the note out before hesitantly offering it to Steve—not wanting to part with the only thing that may be proof of Y/N's survival.

Steve gave Mike an empathetic look. He knew that Mike was a heart-broken teen who had lost his love before he even had the chance to confess his feelings.

Steve quickly scanned the room to see all the eyes of the party staring intently at him—just waiting for him to read and decode it.

The tension in the room was thick ; the feelings were buzzing.

Steve looked down nervously at the note and was about to read it before a loud knock was heard through the front door.

Steve froze in his stance before he exchanged paranoid looks with Robin with fear flashing before his eyes ; both their eyes widened.
  'The Russians..' Steve mouthed to her before Mike walked right past the two foolish looking teens to answer and open the front door.

"Wait!"
Steve called out in an attempt to stop him from getting kidnapped by lunatic Russians, but it was too late.

The room went still as the group only waited and watched the figure's shadow at the door grab Mike's hand.

But it seemed that Mike wasn't at all worried or in a state of panic. He was actually..smiling.

His hand didn't seem to be in the tight clutches of a crazed Russian.
It seemed that it was engaged in a handshake that turned into a bro-hug.

It was then that Mike opened the door entirely to reveal who was standing there.

"Hargrove's here."
Mike announced, patting Billy's back as he closed the door behind him.

"Hey."
Billy shot a subtle nod towards the party with a small, thin-lipped smile—a genuine smile.

He respected this group of kids, and along with the rest of the group, they were probably the only ones to receive that level that of said respect that he rarely gave out to anyone.

Everyone seemed to greet him with smiles and hellos, which astounded Steve to the greatest extent.

The respect was mutual. Billy risked his life to save the kids, and they respected him for that as he did for them.

"What the hell is he doing here?"
Robin exclaimed, her eye brows furrowed at the confusion at everyone's reactions to the visitor.

"I called him."
Mike stayed simply over all the commotion of everyone trying to catch Billy up on the situation at hand.

"I'm sorry, but when did this happen?"
Steve yelled over the group, gesturing between Bill and Mike as well as the party that practically surrounded Billy with their conversations.

Steve was referring to what seemed to be a bond between Billy and Mike—a similar bond the bond that Steve had with Dustin.

Steve hadn't been around all that often with the party—partly due to his job and how they all seemed to be growing up.
  But Billy formed friendships with the party, particularly Mike who seemed to get along with Billy and his sarcasm.
Billy seemed to be there for Mike, and if he was there for Mike, then he was there for the whole party.

Over the phone, Mike told him about the possibility of Y/N being alive, and that was all he needed to hear before he jumped into his Camaro and sped to the Wheeler House.

Come to think of it, Y/N was very close with all the older teens apart of the babysitter's club, so Billy cared for her like he did for Max.

She and Hopper practically risked their lives to save his, along with everyone else in the party and group.

Mike and Billy chuckled a little bit before Dustin patted Steve on the back—almost as if he were consoling him.

"He's apart of the Babysitters Club too, Steve."
Dustin joked, adding a bit of light comedy to the heavy seriousness of actual topic that needed discussing.

Murray, Joyce, and Jonathan all remained quiet as they watched the scene in front of them—seemingly amused and entertained.

But they were no longer quiet as they began laughing along with the party when they heard Dustin's remark.

"Jesus Christ."
Was all Steve muttered before he calmed down the party's bustling convos and chaotic voices that seemed to start up again.

He wanted to read the note that felt like it was burning in his palm, so he unfolded the paper with Robin's eyes looming over his shoulder to read it as well, only to be interrupted once more by another sound coming from the front door.

Again, Steve and Robin exchanged worried looks in fear that the Russians had found them, only to be dismissed when they saw that the door had unlocked to reveal someone quite familiar to them.

The girl at the door furrowed her eyebrow's confusedly when she saw the gathering that was being held in her living room while she glanced at all the familiar faces around her.

She froze when her eyes locked with a certain set of eyes across the room.

Jonathan slightly nudged his mother to the side to emerge from the group—his eyes wide and doe-eyed as he looked at the girl with a profound love.

"Nancy."
He smiled widely, feeling his body instantly gravitating towards her.

"Jonathan!"
She exclaimed, and before the party knew it, Nancy had pushed Billy ( who had been standing by the door ) out of the way to run into the arms of Jonathan—her lips instantly locking with his.

There they stood in the middle of the room, not seeming to notice the uncomfortable faces of the rest of the people who all exchanged awkward looks with each other.

As for Nancy's little brother, Mike was impatient to begin the search for his lost love, so he cut the reunion short.
"Yes, yes, this is all very touching. But can we please get going with the Code Starcourt? We need everyone to help us decode this message."
Mike interrupted Nancy and Jonathan, and earned a glare from his older sister.

He didn't mind. It was worth it if it meant that he was any closer to finding Y/N.

They needed to act fast, and Mike would be sure that they would.

"Yeah, Mike's right. We need all hands on deck, here."
Will spoke up, feeling a similar need to find
Y/N as he turned to give Mike a reassuring look.

She was practically his sister in many ways, and if what she was going through was at all similar to what Will had gone through just 3 years ago, then he knew they needed to act fast.

"Right, with the brain power of-.."
Dustin announced, but paused to mutter while he took a count of how many people were in the room at that time.

"With the brain power of all thirteen of us combined we can be as strong and powerful as the Sword of Omens!"
Dustin announced, his toothy smile radiating while everyone stared with blinking eyes at his reference to his favorite show—except the party of course.
They knew exactly what show he was referring to.

Max and Eleven exchanged looks with each other before giggling at the mention of the show. They knew just how much the party loved it.

"Come on. The legendary sword? Only at full power when it's fully extended, kind of like how we're all together again and united ?"
  Will tried to get them on the same page as Dustin with his hints, but they didn't seem to be catching on.

"The brand new show! Come on guys, it's ThunderCats!"
Lucas finally revealed the show with an exasperated sigh, and everyone finally understood the reference that the party had made.

"Alright, guys.." Joyce tried to simmer down the group so that they could finally speak and read the note to the teens with the message from Y/N and Hopper on it, only to be spoken over.

"Hey!"
Billy called over all the noise and chattering amongst the large group of people—effectively getting their attention.

Joyce gave a subtle nod as a thank you to Billy, and quickly returned her attention to the group.
  "Alright, guys. We have work to do."

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Authors Note :

WOW, so now the party is ALL together again!

thought it would be cool to make a ThunderCats reference since the show first released in 1985–it's a classic, by the way.

things will start picking up pace next chapter, so be aware.. ;)

it's about to go DOWN.

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what do you think so far ??

any theories so far? any predictions?

thanks for reading.. stay tuned !!

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