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"...PLEASE." SEB CROAKED OUT, RUSSIANS SURROUNDING HIM. They had taken Robin and Steve to a room to be interrogated and had taken Seb to a different room. "How do we open the gate?" The Russian leaned close to Seb's face, him shaking his head. "I don't know." He spoke, screaming when the machine electrocuted him again. This was torture, like the collar but all over his body. "Sebastian!" Steve yelled, before getting punched himself. "How do you know about us?" The Russian asked them, Seb's vision blurry. "Where's Doctor Brenner?" The Russian general asked, Seb's chest rising and falling rapidly. "Dead." Seb spoke quietly, the Russian nodding. "Where's Subject Eleven?" He asked, Seb looking to him. Well, both of him. "I don't know." Seb whispered, multiple beads of sweat running down his forehead as the general took a deep breath. "Again." He muttered to the soldier controlling the machine.

Seb leant his head to the side, shaking his head as strongly as he could. "No, please. Please." Seb whimpered, the soldier ignoring him. Pulling the large lever down again, Seb screamed, volts of electricity shocking his body all at once. Once they stopped, he felt slapping on his face, the general keeping him conscious. "I'll ask again, hm?" He asked, Seb staring at the ceiling as the light bulb above him started to multiply. "Where is Subject Eleven?" The general leant into view, Seb squinting. "Hm..." He slurred, the general leaning forward. "I dunno." A tear fell down from Sev's cheek. He didn't know where El was. He didn't know where his sister was. Was she safe? "I really dunno..." Seb let out, the general staring at him. "You escaped together." The general reminded, Ssb nodding slowly. "Mm." Was all Seb could reply with, the general looking to the soldier.

Nodding, Seb thrashed around lightly, electricity coursing through his body again until it went numb. Everything felt numb. He felt numb. "This should help you tell the truth." The Russian general held up a syringe, Seb too in a daze to stop it. "Give them the same thing." He told two other soldiers, them nodding as they walked out of the room.

––––––☆––––––

"IT CAN'T BE GOOD FOR HER TO BE IN THERE THIS LONG." MIKE SPOKE AS THE GROUP SAT IN HOPPER'S CABIN . El was in her room, using her powers to try and find Billy and Heather. Also, Tom, one of the men Nancy and Johnathan work for. Piling another bloody tissue on her growing pile, El sighed. She couldn't find Seb... again. She had tried multiple times but all she got was some sort of electric crackling. "Mike, you need to relax." Max spoke from her spot next to Lucas on the couch, Mike pacing. "What if she gets brain damage or something?" Mike suggested, Lucas sitting up. "Oh, shit. Is that, like, a real thing?" He asked, Max sighing. "No, it's not. He made it up. Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about." Max spoke, Mike stepping forward. "Oh, and you do?" Mike spat, Max shaking her head slowly.

"Yes, from The Hawkins Post." Nancy spoke on the phone, "I called a couple days ago about the-" A male voice spoke, Will and Johnathan watching her. "Yes, yes, I was just following up to see if anything else had gone missing." Nancy asked, a man saying a name. "Scarlett Buckley?" Robin asked, Mike looking up quickly. That was Seb's friend. "Scarlett Buckley and... okay. Sorry to bother-" Nancy spoke into a hung up phone, Will humming. "Scarlett Buckley. Doesn't she-" "Go to our school and is friend's with Seb? Yes." Mike answered, Lucas nodding slowly. "Well at least when she requests to help, we can say no." Lucas spoke, Max scoffing. "Yeah, Seb's best friend has been involuntary turned into an alien slave. At least we can reject her now." Max spat, Lucas realising how wrong he sounded.

"Oh..." He let out, leaning back as Mike paced more. "Yeah... 'Oh.'" Max mocked, Will sighing as Mike turned to Max. "You seem to know everything, you know." Mike spoke, Max turning to him. "What?" She asked as Nancy and Johnathan went over who to call next... no one. "It doesn't make sense. How can El not find them and why have they just stopped Flaying people-" "Can you guys settle this argument for us?" Max asked, Mike behind her. "Who do you think should decide El's limits?" Max asked, Will confused. "Mike or Eleven?" Max asked, Nancy looking to her brother. "The way that you frame that is such bullshit." Mike spat, Max sighing. "It's not bullshit, Mike. This is your whole problem. And it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass." Max let out, Nancy's face dropping.

"El dumped you?" She asked her brother, Mike pointing to Max. "Yeah, because she is conspiring against me. She's corrupting her. Next thing you know, Seb will hate me." Mike let out, Will looking at his friend. "I think he already does." The boy let out timidly. "What?" Mike asked, Max scoffing. "Yeah, Mike being oblivious, yet again. You controlling El and everything that she does is getting in the way of Seb and his sister." Nancy just cleared her throat awkwardly. "Also, I'm enlightening her. The fact is, she's not yours." Max corrected, Will and Lucas making eye contact. "She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions." Max spat, Mike turning to her as everyone watched silently. "She's risking her life for no reason." Mike spat, Nancy leaning forward. "For no reason? Mike, the Flayed are out there doing God knows what." Nancy spat.

"Killing, flaying." Will answered, Lucas nodding. "Transforming into monsters." He finished, Nancy sighing. "And El's not stupid. She knows her abilities better than any of us. Her and Seb don't need controlling." Nancy spoke, Max pointing to her. "Thank you!" She let out, Mike rolling his eyes. "El is her own person. With her own free will." Mike scoffed at his sister, Max nodding. "Exactly. El has saved the world twice. So has Seb. And Mike still doesn't trust either of them." Max spat, Mike looking to her. "You wanna talk about trust, really? After you made Eleven spy on us?" Mike let out, Lucas' face scrunching up. "Wait, what?" Lucas asked, Mike looking to his friend. "Oh, she didn't tell you?" Mike spoke, Max sighing. "No-" "Your girlfriend used El's powers to spy on us." Mike spoke, Max interrupting.

"No, no, I did not make her. It was her idea. And why are we even talking about this, seriously?" Max spoke, Lucas staring at her. "Yeah, who cares?" Will added, Lucas turning to him. "I care." He let out, Mike nodding to him quickly. "Yeah. I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy." Mike spoke towards Max, her sighing. "We were just joking around." Max defended, Mike shrugging. "Wouldn't it have been funny if I was taking a massive shit or something?" Mike let out, Max shaking her head. "You weren't-" "But what if I was?" Mike interrupted, Max scoffing. "Then gross!" She let out, Nancy sighing. "Seriously, Mike?" She asked, disgusted by his example choice. "I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven's powers. In fact, how careless you all are. You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not."

The group watched silently as Mike finished. "You guys were also treating Seb as a little toy that you could use whenever you got to lazy to do something yourself. Neither of them are machines or life hacks. Now, I don't want El to die looking for the Flayed when they've all obviously vanished off the face of the Earth, and I'm sure Seb would agree with me. So can we please come up with a new plan because I love El and I can't lose her again!" Mike spurted, Nancy staring at her brother in shock. Will and Lucas grinned to one another as Mike realised his words, Max staring shocked at the floor awkwardly. The door opened, El walking out of her room curiously. "What's going on?" She asked, Mike whipping his head to look at her. "Nothing. Nothing." He assured, everyone staring at her. "Just a family discussion." Lucas winked, El nodding slowly.

"Oh. I found him." El announced, Nancy looking to her.

"Found who?"

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"HE CALLS IT THE KEY, AND THIS KEY WMITS A GREAT ENEGRY." MURRAY TRANSLATED ALEXEI'S WORDS AS HE SPOKE, HOPPER AND JOYCE LISTENING INTENTLY. "It requires much strength, power." Alexei continuing. "Those houses, like the one you found, they're located near, uh, transformers. They're stealing from your town's power grid." Everyone held a cigarette as they listened. "Why build this key here? Why are they not doing this in their own backyard?" Hopper asked, Murray translating for Alexei. "Why are they not trying to blow us to smithereens?" Hopper added, as did Murray. "There were many of these, uh, keys before in Russia, but they turned out wrong. They had to come to where the... where the, uh..." Murray trailed off, Hopper looking to him. "Where the what?" He asked, Murray shaking his head. "I don't understand what he's saying." Murray announced, Hopper's eyebrows knotting.

"I thought you were fluent." Joyce asked, Murray shrugging to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are my free translation services not enough for you?" He asked, Joyce shrugging apologetically. Holding up a piece of paper, Murray continued. "Because you an just go ahead and file your complaint right up my ass!" Murray yelled, Alexei holding up a straw and a fry box. "What is Smirnoff doing?" Hopper asked tiredly, Murray nodding to the Russian. "He's showing me." He answered, Alexei muttering Russian as he put one end of the straw on the box. "Uh, he says the straw, they're using it to penetrate a hole in... a box?" Murray asked, Alexei shaking his head as Hopper and Joyce weren't impressed. "Okay, sorry sorry." Once Alexei explained, Murray finally got it. "The straw represents the key, which emits a great energy." He looked back to Alexei.

"Okay, They're using this energy... to break through a barrier, to open..." Hopper looked to Murray quickly. "a doorway. A doorway between worlds?" Murray spoke, Joyce and Hopper looking to each other quickly. The man immediately thought of Seb and El. "But it seems this key was only half the equation. Location was the other half." Murray spoke, Alexei holding up a burger wrapper to Joyce for her to hold. Doing as told, Murray translated. "In Hawkins, this door had been opened once. It was still... healing." Murray shrugged, Alexei stabbing the straw through the wrapper as Hopper turned to the side. "Jesus Christ." He spoke, holding his forehead. "So, this door is open now?" Joyce asked, looking to Murray quickly. "He says it is... opening." Joyce gasped, standing up. "Where are you going?" Hopper asked, Joyce's breathing quickening.

"To call our children."

☆

"CAN I HELP YOU WITH SOMETHING?" MURRAY ASKED HOPPER AS THE COP MESSILY SEARCHED THROUGH HIS CUPBOARDS. "Whiskey. You have whiskey?" Hopper asked, Murray shaking his head. "No, but I do have vodka." Murray rushed to a certain cupboard, Hopper sighing. Filling up two shots, the two men clinked and downed each of their drinks. Immediately, Hopper held out his cup again, Murray pouring another shot. "If there's a way to start this key, there's gotta be a way to stop it, yeah? Turn it off?" Hopper asked Murray, the two downing their second shot. "Right." Hopper started, Murray confused. "Right?" He asked, following Hopper to Alexei. "The key, is there a way to turn it off?" Murray asked in Russian, Hopper looking to Murray. "He says, 'of course he could turn it off. Could Edison not turn off a lamp, could Bell not hang up a phone?" Murray translated, "cocky bastard." He added himself, sighing.

"'But...'" Murray started, Hopper rushing. "But what?" He asked sternly, "But he is now... 'naked'." Murray spoke slowly, Hopper looking to him very confused. "Exposed. Sorry. Compromised." Murray spoke quickly, Hopper holding Alexei's shoulders. "Hey, I will get you there. I will get you to your key." Hopper spoke, nodding when Murray translated. Alexei only started laughing, leaning back as Hoper let go of him. "You wanna ask him what the hell's so funny about that?" Hopper seethed, Murray translating the cop's words. "He says he likes your courage. You remind him of a..." Murray cleared his throat as if debating to repeat Alexei's comparison. "...fat Rambo." Murray muttered, Hopper pinching the bridge of his nose. "But he says that even thin Rambo couldn't get there. This key, it is in an underground fortress designed by the greatest Russian minds, guarded by their greatest warriors."

"Breaking in is... impossible."

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fun...

[2140 words!]

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