(1) California to Hawkins (Max Mayfield/(Fem)You)

-Chapter 15: The Mind Flayer-

Considering we're in Will's house, we easily found a manual with a lot of the DnD characters created. Dustin flips it open to the page he wants and slams it down on the table.

"The Mind Flayer." He starts. "What the hell is that?" Hopper asks after we dragged him into the conversation. "It's a monster from an unknown dimension. It's so ancient that it doesn't even know it's true home." He explains. Receiving a few confused glanes, Dustin speaks again. "Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers." He explains. Hopper, being the only...actual...adult here, doesn't believe it. "Oh my god, none of this is real. This is a kids game." He says. Dustin, getting offended, gets defensive. "No, it's a manual and it's not for kids." He says. "And unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor-" Dustin starts being Lucas cuts him off. "Analogy."

"Analogy. Is English what you care about? Right now?" Max asks, crossing her arms. "Fine. An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is." Dustin says, clearly getting aggravated with his overuse of hand gestures. "Okay, so this mind flamer thing." Nancy tries, leaning forward to look at the manual. "Flayer. Mind Flayer" Dustin corrects. Nancy sighs, clearly not caring about the name. "What does it want?" She asks.

I step forward, taking the manual. "To conquer us, basically." I start, placing it down and pointing at the drawing. "It basically believes that it is superior and is the master race, wanting to beat and control the others." I explain. "Oh, Like the germans?" Steve asks. "Uh...You mean the Nazis?" Max corrects. We all look at Steve. Poor Steve should learn a bit of history. "Uh, uh yeah. The Nazis." He corrects, stepping back. "Well, if we imagine that the Nazis were from another dimention? Yeah." I say. "Uh, it basically sees any other race that isn't its own as...inferior. Lesser than itself." I continue. "It want's to spread, take over other dimensions." Mike adds, nodding at me. "We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it." Lucas, very dramatically, adds.

"That's great. That's great. That's really great. Jesus!" Steve rambles. "Okay, so, if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything, then if we kill it...." Nancy starts, taking the book from me and holding it to read. "We kill everything it controls." Mike finishes for his sister. "We win." Dustin adds. "Theoretically..." Lucas reminds us. Hopper takes the book from Nancy, reading it for himself. "Great. So how do you kill this thing? Shoot it with fireballs or something?" He asks."No. No, no fire- No fireballs." Dustin says, smiling."You, uh, summon an undead army. Because...because zombies, you know, they have no brains. And the mi- The Mind Flayer, it...it likes brains" He says, forgetting that we're talking about real life right now.

Hopper just looks at him like he's insane which clearly reminds Dustin that we're in the real world right now. "It's just a game. It's a game." He adds. "What the hell are we doing here?" Hopper asks, slamming the book back on the table. "I thought we were waiting for your military backup." Dustin says. They all start arguing again. Hopper wanting to wait and use all our firepower on a monster that bullets probably barely harms. The boys want to kill it before it can even fully develop. All arguments, however, come to a halt when we hear a small voice from the direction of Will's room.

"They're right." I turn to look and see Joyce standing in the hallway. "We have to kill it." She says. "I...Want...to kill it." She continues. "Me too, me too, Joyce, okay? But how do we do that?" Hopper asks her. "We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here." He adds. I facepalm, running my hand down my face. Well, the parts that are not bandaged. We're silent for a moment, all in thought...until I realise....

"No....we don't know...." I say, getting everyone's attention. "But he does." I say. I step forward, walking towards Mrs Byers and Will. The woman who I saw as a second mother to myself. "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will." I say. "He is literally connected to it. The brain. The Mind Flayer. He'll know its weaknesses." I say. "I thought we couldn't trust him anymore...." Max says. "That he's a spy for the Mind Flayer." She adds.

I look at her, nodding. "Yeah..." I start before looking back to Will who played peacefully on the couch. "But....he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is." I say.

We immediately hatched a plan. We decided to use the old shed in the backyard as it was easier to convert. Hopper cleared everything out while Steve and Nancy went to cover the room. Make it unrecognisable. Dustin and I went to the trash to look for anything we could use to cover the room.

"Hey" He says. "I'm sorry....about Dart and all." He starts. "I guess I just...thought he was my friend. I was wrong." He continues. "I broke the rule of law." He adds. He looks at me for a beat before continuing. "So...if you want your girlfriend to take over my spot in the party, I understand." He says. My eyes widen as I look at him. "She's not....We're not...." I start, my heart beating hard against my chest. "I saw you two holding hands in the bus." He says. "She..She was just scared." I say. "Maybe. But I could feel it." He says. "The electricity."

"Dustin, I...I'm not..." I try, not wanting to lie, but also not wanting to ruin anything. "Y/N. It's fine." He says. "I don't care if you like boys, or girls, or no one, or everyone." He says. "You're one of my best friends. We've been through shit together. To hell and back. Or maybe, we're not back yet." He says. "I saw you two. We all did." He adds. "The way you two acted inside. She's usually so, fucking, sarcastic and mean to us." He says before chuckling to himself. "She acts like a goddamn angel to you. She cleaned and bandaged your wounds." He continues. "She apologises to you instead of flipping you off." He says.

I laugh, knowing that's what she did to them often. "And you always act like you're in fucking heaven when you're around her. You two...are so comfortable with each other." He says, standing up. "Don't worry. I won't tell." He says, picking up some things. "But I don't think any of them would care either." He finishes before walking away.

I walk back into the house, finding Max sitting on the floor with duct tape in her hands. "Hey." I say, leaning on the wall. She looks up, spotting me and smiling. "Hey." She replies. "You just....sitting alone?" I ask, looking around. "I swear I heard someone else." I say. "Oh, yeah...uh, it was...Mike." She mutters, focusing on taping something. "Oh. What did he say?" I ask. She chuckles, shrugging. "Oh you know...the usual." She starts, putting the duct tape down and using air quotes. " 'Just cause you know doesn't mean you're in the party' and all that stuff." She says. "I swear to god...." I say, standing and turning to find Mike. "No! It's fine." She says. I turn back, looking at the redhead. "You sure?" I ask. "Yeah..." She says shrugging. "I think....I understand how he feels. If I were to join the party, I want it to be because I deserve it. Not because you make him." She clarifies. I nod, smiling. "Okay." I say. "Okay." She mimics, smiling.

After a while, we all head into the shed to start taping the materials to the walls. Covering any little bits we could see. Making it completely unrecognisable.

The plans are forming....and it's going to work....

It has to.

Word Count: 1327