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LOOKING UP, SEB MET EYES WITH EL. Robin stared at Seb shocked. Rushing down to her brother, El sped as fast as she could towards her brother. She cupped his face, observing it as Seb's eyes darted across her figure. Was she alright? Was she hurt? Is there anything wrong? "What happened?" El asked her brother softly, referring to his eyes and state overall. "Lucas?" Erica spoke, Lucas shocked. Why was his sister here?! Max and Will were equally as shocked, Lucas pointing to her. "What are you doing here?" He asked, Seb looking to them. "Ask them. It's their fault." Erica pointed to Steve, Robin, Dustin and Seb, Lucas glaring at his two friends. "True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault." Steve spoke, Robin pointing at Seb.

"What's wrong with him? What did he do to that car?" Robin asked warily, Dustin pointing to Seb. "He has superpowers. So does El." He spoke as if it were nothing, Robin confused. "I'm sorry?" She asked, Steve shrugging. "They have superpowers. Sebastian threw that car with his mind. She can do it too. Come on, catch up." Steve informed, Erica pointing to El. "That's El?" She asked, Seb confused as he just hugged his sister. "Who's El?" Robin asked, so lost. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Nancy asked, pointing to Robin. "I'm Robin. I work with Steve." She spoke quickly, Steve nodding. "She cracked the top secret code." Dustin added on, Steve nodding to him. "Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians." Steve spoke, Johnathan confused. "Russians? Wait, what Russians?" He asked, Seb letting go of El.

"Them." He spoke softly, pointing to the blood mess he just made. "Those were Russians?" Max asked, Erica nodding. "Some of them." She answered, Lucas moving forward. "What are you talking about?" He asked, Dustin looking to Mike. "Didn't you hear our code red?" He asked, Mike nodding. "Yeah. I couldn't understand half of what you were saying." Mike spoke, Dustin cursing. "Goddamn low battery." He spoke, Steve looking to him. "How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?" Steve scolded like a mother, Dustin looking to him. "Well, everything worked out, didn't it?" Dustin asked, Erica scoffing. "Worked out? We almost died." She reminded, Seb not noticing El move back from him and the group. "We didn't die." Seb reminded, Erica pointing to him. "I thought you did for a couple hours-"

"It was pretty damn close." Steve interrupted, Lucas sighing. "Okay, Russians? As in, they're working for the Russian government?" Lucas asked, Dustin nodding. "What are you not comprehending? Am I not speaking English? We have a full-blown Red Dawn situation." Dustin spoke, Max looking to him. "So this has nothing to do with the gate?" She asked, Dustin scoffing. "It has everything to do with the gate-" "Seven." The boy turned around quickly, seeing El sway. Blood rushed down her nose as her brother rushed towards her. After fainting, everyone rushed to her, El whimpering in pain. "What's wrong with her?" Erica asked, Seb cupping the girl's face. "El, what's wrong?" He asked quickly, Mike moving next to him. "My leg. My leg." Seb quickly looked to her leg, Nancy unwrapping the bandage. Everyone exclaimed in disgust, Seb staring at it.

"How?" He asked, El wailing over his voice as something moved in her leg. "What is that?" Erica asked, Mike looking to Seb. "There's something in there." He informed, the boy nodding. "Keep her talking. Keep her awake." Johnathan spoke before rushing away, El screaming in pain. "Hey, El. Stay awake for me." Seb repeated, giving his sister's shoulders light shakes every couple seconds. "Let's get her on this side." Mike spoke, pushing her gently as Seb stayed by her leg. El leant back towards Mike's chest, sitting up. "You know, it's not actually that bad. There was a... The goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, and this other girl slid into her leg," Robin ranted on, Lucas listening. "and the bone came out of her knee, six inches or something. It was insane-" "Robin." Seb spoke, the girl looking down at him quickly.

"You're not really helping." Seb spoke with a tiny smile, Robin looking down. "I'm sorry." She spoke, Johnathan rushing back. "Okay. All right, El." Seb kept his eyes on Johnathan. "This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?" Johnathan assured, El whimpering as Seb put a hand on Johnathan's shoulder. "What are you doing?-" "Trust me." Johnathan assured, giving El a wooden spoon. "Bite onto this." Johnathan spoke, El nodding with a sob. Seb watched Johnathan put gloves on, grabbing a knife. "Jesus Christ." Dustin let out, Johnathan pointing the knife towards Sebastian. "Heat it up." He asked, everyone looking to Seb. Why would he do that- "Please." Johnathan asked, El looking to him. Seb sighed, enclosing the blade in his hands and making his hands glow. "Oh, my God." Robin let out, stepping backwards as the blade gradually went bright red with heat.

"Do it carefully." Seb warned, letting go of the blade as Johnathan nodded. Everyone gagged once Johnathan cut down El's wound, opening it. The girl screamed in pain, everyone disgusted. Seb watched intently, not disgusted at all as Johnathan reached into El's leg. Too disgusted by it, Johnathan's movements got rougher, El screaming. Seb couldn't watch anymore, grabbing Johnathan's hand and pulling it out. "Stop." He spoke, El crying as everyone looked to Seb. "I'll do it." He volunteered, Johnathan nodding slowly as he leant back in disgust himself. "El, I'm sorry." He muttered, moving forward as he held his hand towards El's leg. Erica leant back in disgust, El starting to scream again as Seb got control of the monster inside of El's leg, moving it to her wound opening.

Seb deafened out El's screaming, her gripping onto anything she could. "One more." He muttered, thrusting his hand up to the ceiling. A small creature was lifted for everyone to see, blood dripping onto Seb's face as he stared up at it. El's ragged breaths were heard as Seb threw the small creature away from them. Robin stared at him again, El leaning back into Mike as Seb watched them both. A screech was heard before it suddenly stopped, the teens looking back to see Hopper, Joyce and Murray.

☆

EL SAT WITH HER BACK ON HOPPER, SEB SAT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MAN WITH HIS HEAD LEANING ON HIS SHOULDER."It's big. Thirty feet at least." Johnathan explained, Seb's eyes starting to close. Murray stared at the boy, his state being quiet alarming. His eye was still bloody and bruised along with dried blood over his face that Joyce tried wiping off. His eyes were still red, Murray staring right into them. Lucas agreed with Johnathan's statement, shrugging. "It sorta destroyed your cabin." He told Hopper, looking to Seb. "Sorry." He let out quietly, Steve gulping. "Okay, so, just to be clear, this... big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic weapon?" Joyce sat on the other side of Seb, trying to wipe his face with a tissue. Nancy nodded, Steve looking to her. "But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made it's weapon... with melted people?" Steve asked, Robin looking to him.

This was crazy. She needed some sleep. "Yeah, exactly." Nancy agreed, Steve stunned. "Yeah, alright, just making sure." He trailed off, Robin looking up quickly. "I need to find my sister." She spoke, Seb looking to her. Scarlett. This monster was on the loose with Scarlett being vulnerable. Nancy looked to Johnathan, him suddenly going quiet. "What?" Robin asked, Johnathan staring at the floor. "We think it already got your sister." Nancy uttered, Robin staring at the girl. Her eyes never blinked, her mouth made no noise. She was frozen. Max looked to Seb, him staring into space. Murray had walked away, trying to comprehend the entire situation. Seb felt a throbbing pain in his head, hearing a ringing-

"We get one of his."

The boy sprung up, Robin sitting down again with the help of Steve. Everyone watched Seb stumble away, Joyce standing up and rushing to him. "Hey, hey." She muttered in his ear soothingly, Seb struggling before his grunts turned into cries. "It's my fault." He cried, El looking to him exhaustedly. Robin was staring at the floor, no emotion coming from her. She was too stunned to do anything. "We get one of his." Seb repeated Billy's words from his head, Max tilting his head as Joyce slowly pulled Seb to sit down. "What?" She asked, Will staring at Seb. "That's what he said. We get one of his." Seb spoke, Joyce running her hands through his hair. Will sat down next to the two, holding Seb's sweaty hand. "That thing is probably not out there anymore, do you even know it's still alive?" Joyce asked, Max looking to her.

"El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it's still alive." Max informed, Seb refraining himself from storming out. "But if we close the gate again-" "We cut the brain off from the body." Max interrupted Will, Lucas nodding. "And kill it. Theoretically." He spoke, Seb staring at the ground. "Yoo-hoo!" A voice yelled, everyone watching as Murray walked back, waving papers.

"Yoo-hoo!"

☆

"OKAY, THIS IS WHAT ALEXEI CALLED 'THE HUB.'" MURRAY INFORMED EVERYONE, SEB WATCHING INTENTLY. He wanted to take every chance he got to kill this monster. It took everything from him.

And he wanted to take everything from it.

"Now, the hub takes us to the vault room." Murray spoke, Hopper humming. "Okay, where's the gate?" He asked, Murray pointing to a random point. "Right here. I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room. Maybe 50 feet or so." Murray informed, ignoring the fact that Seb was leaning over his shoulder. "More like 500." Seb looked back to Erica, the young girl stepping forward. Murray looked to the girl, heavily confused. "What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?" She asked, Murray scoffing with laughter. Hopper just winced, looking away. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Murray asked sarcastically, Erica putting her hands on her hips. "Erica Sinclair. Who are you?" She sassed, Seb watching her intently.

She was interesting. She always had been. "Murray..." Seb looked to the man, him stuttering under pressure. "Bauman." He finally spoke, Erica humming. "Listen, Mr. Bunman, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for 24 hours. And with all due respect," Lucas stared at his sister. "you do what this man tells you. You're all gonna die." Erica spoke, pointing to Seb. "He knows." Hopper looked back to Seb, Murray scoffing once more. "I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?" He let out, not happy with Erica's attitude. Hopper just looked between Erica and Seb shocked. What an unusual friendship. "Uh, I'm ten, you bald bastard!" Erica leant forward, Seb's eyes widening. His veins and eyes had simmered down, the drug slowly wearing off.

"Erica!" Lucas scolded, Erica looking to her brother. "Just the facts!" She sassed, Dustin nodding. "She's right. You're all gonna die, but you don't have to." He stepped forward, Seb nodding. "Sorry, may I?" Dustin asked Murray, him sighing. "Please!" He let out, Seb rolling his eyes. Lightly shoving the man back, Murray stared at the back of the boy's head. How were children taking advantage of him?! "Okay, see this room here? This is a storage facility." Dustin sat down with the papers, pointing to another point as Erica sat next to him. "There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon." Dustin explained, Murray staring at him. "It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way." Dustin nodded, Seb humming.

"You can show us the way?" Hopper asked slowly, Seb looking to Dustin. "And me." He added on, Hopper looking to him, Dustin waving. "Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we will just be your... navigators." Dustin nodded to Seb as Erica agreed. Hopper seemed that a viable plan before Seb shook his head. "No." He spoke, El looking to him. "What?" Hopper asked, Seb looking to him. "I'm going with you." He stated, Hopper shaking his head. "No, no." Hoper started as Dustin and Erica looked to one another. "No, Seb, you'll be with us-" "No." The boy interrupted Dustin, Murray awkwardly sliding in. "There'd be less fighting for us." Murray informed, Hopper staring at the man. "Sorry." He muttered quickly, Seb looking to Hopper. "I need to go back." He spoke, Hopper clapping once.

"No to all of this."

☆

"WELL, THAT SETTLES IT." ERICA SHRUGGED, WALKING TOWARDS DUSTIN AND SEB. The group had all split up again, Hopper getting weapons ready to fight Russians as Dustin sat with Seb, him staring at Hopper. "He's gonna die. They're gonna die." Erica spoke, El sat next to Seb. "Why?" She asked, Seb looking down to her. "I need to." He spoke simply, El sighing as the two stared at Hopper. "Most likely." Dustin agreed with Erica, Lucas shrugging. "You guys survived." He spoke, the two turning to him. "Barely. We could've really used you guys down there." Dustin spoke to his three friends, Mike nodding to Seb. "Could've used you guys up here, too." He spoke, Lucas humming. "Yeah, man. We missed you two, dude." Seb looked to Will, him smiling.

"Yeah. Big-time." He spoke, Seb standing up slowly. Dustin helped, wrapping an arm around Seb's shoulder as all the four boy's hugged. "Big-time." Seb repeated softly, Erica breaking the moment. "Please don't cry, nerds. Minus Mr. Red." She spoke, Seb looking back to her with a small smile. "Erica." Lucas warned, the boys separating. "Keep saying my name, see what happens." She pointed, Hopper interrupting. "Hey, heads up. You can navigate, just from someplace safe." Hopper called, making eye contact with Seb. The boy pleaded with his eyes, Hopper slowly giving in.

"And you can come with us."

El stood up quickly as Seb nodded, Dustin catching supercomms. "It's not that simple." Dustin informed, Erica nodding. "The signal won't reach." Erica spoke, Hopper staring at them both. "Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians' radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has seen both their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins." Seb stared at Dustin, confused. "Oh, wait. That's me." Dustin spoke sarcastically, Hopper huffing. "If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start. And a car." Dustin listed, Erica nodding.

☆

SEB HUGGED DUSTIN AS ERICA, STEVE AND ROBIN STOOD AWKWARDLY. The girl had gradually had time to process about her sister, slowly getting it together as she went wherever Steve went. "Please come back." Dustin spoke, Seb nodding. "I will." He spoke, rubbing his cheek on Dustin's shoulder. "Why are you even going back anyway?" Erica asked, making the hug come to a stop. "Payback." He spoke simply, Erica nodding slowly. Steve just scoffed, wrapping one arm around Seb and hugging the boy. "Just kick some ass, Sebastian." He spoke, Seb hugging the taller boy tightly. "Here they go, getting mopey again." Erica sighed, Robin staring at Seb. Was it really his fault that Scarlett is gone? Was it him? "Sebastian." She uttered, Steve letting go of Seb. The boy faced Robin.

"I'm so sorry." Seb spoke, Robin watching him. "I really didn't mean for Scarlett to get involved. She didn't deserve it. I'll never forgive myself for what I've caused-" Seb grunted once Robin hugged him tightly, Dustin looking down as Steve messed with the car keys he was given. To Todd's car. "Kick some ass." Robin spoke softly, Seb slowly hugging Robin back. "You kick some ass too," He spoke slowly, Robin letting out a small smile through her tears as Seb continued,

"For Scarlett."

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Wow, a huge amount of chapters coming soon!!

[2738 words!]

Hope you enjoyed!!

Byee!