"Looks like that Munson boy is up to something again." Max's mother quips, leaning against their trailer door. Max sighs, casting a glance at her hungover mother.

She'd been drinking more and more recently, ever since Billy died and Max's step-dad left her mother had to work two jobs, day and night.

Max steps forward out of the trailer, making her way towards the overwhelming group of police officers. The trailer door sits open as people regularly come in and out.

Stepping closer, Max twists her to head to the left to get a better angle. There, on the floor is a girl; Chrissy? Her leg is bent into different ways, every part of her torso is twisted unnecessarily into the other direction.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be here, please go back inside your home." A small pale, black haired officer says.

It takes Max a moment to register the order and the body inside the trailer, something normal couldn't have done that. Not even a human could have done that unless they were insane.

It has to be something, there's a certain aura, like there was during the Star-Court mall situation. Something sinister is lurking behind the scenes here.

Max runs off towards her trailer, the thoughts weighing heavy on her mind. What can she do?

Ten, where are you?

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"Nervous?" You question El, smiling at her in the seat beside you. The airport is jam packed with people spreading throughout the entire airport, the ac cooling some wearing bright clothes from the California shops or others wearing normal clothes.

It makes you nervous, being around such a large amount of people without your powers. Is that insecurity or caution creeping in. Though, El looks happy enough to even be seeing someone from the old group again, even if it is.. Mike.

"No," She responds, still smiling as she eyes the doors. People begin to shuffle out, making their ways in totally different directions. "I am happy." She adds.

There, in the crowd is a tall, pale, Lanky figure wearing a hat and a short sleeved shirt. Mike, it's hard to even believe seeing him again.

"Mike!" Eleven stands up, as do you and Will. Mike walks over to the three of you quickly and wraps you into a hug. "It's been a while, nice to see you guys again."

"Yeah, same here." Will responds, releasing the hug. You all step back, allowing Jonathan to walk forward and give Mike a handshake. "How's it going?" Jonathan questions, bags of black under his eyes.

"Good, you?" Mike responds, letting go of the handshake.

"Y'know how it is." Jonathan says, Mike nods knowingly.

Argyle stands beside Jonathan awkwardly, waiting to be introduced. "This is Argyle." Jonathan says.

"Nice to me-" Mike begins to say but Argyle wraps him into a deep hug, sniffing his shirt.

You laugh out-loud, as does El. "This is fake, don't worry man. I'll hook you up with some strings." Argyle says, smirking.

"We should get going, first, we're going to get some burritos then we'll go to rink-mania." You say, El smiles as Mike walks beside the three of you.

"With your friends?" Mike questions as you make your way towards the exit. El nods, "Angela and Grace will be there, but we just want to have fun, the four of us."

Mike nods, the six of you exit and make your way toward the parking spot. The surfer boy pizza van sits in the sunshine, the insides of it quickly heated up after the 20 minutes you were inside the airport.

Back at Hawkins,

"Listen, imagine if we could combine. You know how to talk to girls you just don't know who you want. I know who I want, I just can't talk to her." Robin says, leaning against the arcade wall.

"That would be nice.." Steve says, looking at the arcade front door. He looks over at Robin and speaks again. "Just talk to her- that's what I do. There's no charisma or anything."

Robin laughs at him, he returns the look, smirking. "Sure, I guess we'll see though."

♤▪︎♡

The Surfer Boy Pizza van pulls up to the rink-o-mania curb, purring lightly as the four of you slide out the back. You close the back as Jonathan leans his head out of the passenger window, "Hey, we'll be back at six. Don't cause any problems, okay?" He says, eyes pleading. You nod coming around the car, as does El.

"Course'." Will responds, nodding. The van pulls off slowly and the four of you head towards the entrance where blue, yellow, and green lights dance in a blur.

"Today is going to be so fun." El says, smiling. Mike smiles back, pushing the door to the entrance open. "Yeah, tons." Mike adds.

"So.. Do we get our skates?" Will questions, stepping inside. The roller rink smells like pizza, there's almost a greasy smell everywhere you go. You can only hope the smell doesn't stay on your clothes.

"Yes, let's." El answers.

Will and El approach the counter while you and Mike find a cushioned bench to sit on. "How's it been?" Mike questions as you sit down.

You raise an eyebrow cautiously. "School?"

"Yeah, and everything else." He responds, nodding; leaning back in his chair neutrally, as he use to back in the basement, he's really at ease.

You lean back against the wall, shoulders releasing tension. "I got suspended." His eyes widen in surprise, mouth almost dropping in surprise.

His gaze switches between your two eyes. "For what exactly?" He asks, head leaning forward slightly.

You glance at El and he sighs knowingly. "Oh." He says, you nod, laughing lightly at the awkwardness and he leans backwards again, giving you your space once again.

You stare at El for a moment, trying to remember the last time she smiled genuinely at home.

"Hey man," Mike punches you gingerly in the shoulder. "Did you get the letters I sent to you and El?" He says, deciding to change the subject.

You nod, "You're so awkward, even in the letters." You smile, remembering all of the corny jokes he'd say in the letters.

He smiles too, "I meant that stuff I said, you got to show your love to her man or it'll all fall out, I read that in a book once."

"You're probably right, I can't even remember the last time we kissed." You respond, he nods and looks away for a moment, gritting his teeth slightly, you raise an eyebrow and he notices.

"It's nothing, just a toothache, you know how it is." He says, laughing half-heartedly. He must think you've slow eyes to not see that.

El and Will approach finally, their timing perfect El sits in between you and Mike while Will sits on the side of Mike. El Hands you the roller skates while Will hands Mike his.

"Thanks.." You mumble, sliding the gray Adidas shoes off. You slide your pink socks into  the brownish pink roller skates and tie the laces, and stand up uneasily, shaking lightly under the new movement finally being accessed.

The others stand up as well, Will and Mike both knowing how to skate from experience while you and El struggle to even move off the star decorated floor. Will and Mike both take to the rink, leaving you and El stumbling close behind.

The both of you tumble into the rink, barely, looking like a circus act out of the zoo in Illinois.

They slow down once they realize the two spinning tops are you and El, allowing the two of you to catch up. "Fun right?" Mike questions, skating as he does a 360. You and El laugh, holding each other's hands to steady yourself.

"Yeah!—When your not falling." You say loudly, answering before El can.

"Listen, you just move your feet, kinda like walking. And.. don't be afraid." Will adds, skating ahead towards Mike.

"Those two are idiots huh?" You say, smiling at El, her doe eyes looking back.

El laughs nervously, her eyes staring down at the rollerskates. She looks up at you, a twinge of fear appearing in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall." You say, El blushes a deep bright red. That was smooth, nice one Ten.

She doesn't eye the floor anymore, instead, she confidently slides ahead, twirling along with your hand. She stumbles for a moment but reorganizes herself.

This is easy, You skate faster along with El, through the crowd of moving people you catch Will and Mike both exiting and sliding towards the store counter, probably to buy food and drinks.

"This next song is dedicated to Jane and Y/N Hopper. The bitch-duo of Lenora Hills." The announcer says, "Knock-out!" He yells into the mic. El looks at you in surprise, the floor begins to clear, leaving only you and El still skating. Instead, a large circle of teens surrounded you, hiding you from Mike and Will's gaze.

The circle deforms for a moment and Angela skates forward. She rushes into you, pushing you down onto the floor.

El gasps, Angela laughs and skates back towards the circle, standing in front of it, watching gleefully.

You struggle to stand up, hands on the floor and knees on the ground. The beat drops and the teens begin to skate again. This time, they skate quicker and quicker in a circle around the two of you, as you struggle to stand El drops a hand for you to grab. You reach out for it but something heavy rolls over your hand, sending cracks and jolts of pain from your hand to your skull.

"Shit!" You yell, another rolls over it. You look up and watch as kids take turns rolling over your hand, it cracks and snaps with each rollerskate sliding over. Soon enough it's entirely red, the edges turning purple.

You reach out for El's hand, which you can finally grip with your left hand, which is unhurt. She helps you stagger into a standing position. Another kid rushes forward as soon as you stand, this time he holds a cup, inside something hot wafts into the air.

He throws the cup towards El, sending the hot coffee all over her and her shirt. Luckily the shirt is thick enough to protect from injury, still some splash onto her free arms, causing her to yell in pain.

She drops to the floor, into a crouching position, gripping her arms. You crouch down as well, wrapping your arms around her body to protect her from any more harm.

Deciding it's enough, the kids begin to scatter, some leaving while some staying. The song stops, kids begin to skate again normally, acting as though nothing happened. While Angela skates away, laughing loudly.

You release El to try and stand up, as soon as you release her though, she skates away, "El! El!" You yell, trying to skate after her, you fall on your face, landing on your chin. Hands grip your shirt, twisting your head, you see its Will and Mike, they both help you up and towards the seats.

"What the hell happened to your hand, and whys El running?" Mike questions, looking back up to see where El is, she's nowhere to be seen.

You blink hazily and open your mouth to speak, but no words come out. You can only focus on your hand and the intense pain shaking your skull.

"Angela.." You mumble.

Byers Household.

"Bring the forty thousand to Yuri's fish n fries, Nome Alaska." The Russian man named Enzo says over the phone.

"You want me to go to Alaska?!" Joyce questions, exchanging a glance with Murray.

"Yes." Enzo says flatly.

"First, we're going to need to speak with Hopper." Joyce responds, Murray nods and smiles eagerly, egging her on.

"I'm afraid that's impossible, your friend is.. uh, stuck." He says, Joyce searches for the right words to say.

"We need to speak with him!"

"Impossible." Enzo responds, banging echoes from the other side of the phone. A female voice yells in Russian.

"Listen, forty thousand to Yuri's fish N fries, or no American." Enzo says, Joyce opens her mouth to speak but a dial tone rings out, signaling that the call has ended.

♤▪︎♡
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Shrieking echoes from your right, Will releases his right hand from the ice pack pressed against your hand. The two of them rush towards the yelling, you follow close behind, pressing the ice pack against your hand as you run.

You rush around the corner, Will and Mike both stand next to El in a daze. You step closer and look down at her hands, she holds a bloody roller skate, in front of her, Angela lies on the floor. Blood pouring and dripping from the bridge of her nose.

You can't deny, it's a beautiful sight to see, and it pleases you down to your very core.

"Oh shit, no.." Will mumbles.

Mike looks over at the non-moving El, "El! What did you do?!" He questions, glancing back at Angela moping and crying as her friends kneel beside her.

Everyone eyes El as if she was a freak of nature, and by the look of it. She might even agree herself.