a never-ending story

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

Okay, so maybe they weren't out of the hot water yet. As Alina was sliding into the car followed by the rest of her friends, her heart hammering hard, the rev of an engine. Billy's engine. He was still out there, still in the parking lot, waiting for them, trying to prevent them from escaping. But couldn't do anything right now. He was too far away. They could easily speed right out of here and leave the mall behind, right?

Alina began to panic again, especially as Jonathan slid into the front seat, desperately trying to start the engine, but Nancy stayed outside, readying her gun in case Billy came any closer. His brows furrowed as he turned the keys, but it seemed like it was no good, because yet again, the engine sputtered, even with the new ignition cable. Everyone's hearts dropped. Alina warmed up her palms, letting anger flare through her. Billy Hargrove was flayed, but he was still human, which meant that she could hurt him. And because some of her anger was directed at him, she knew that she could.

Jonathan gasped as the engine, yet again, refused to turn on. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," he breathed. "Come on."

"Jonathan!" Alina had been staring at Billy's stationary car when it began to move towards them, tires screeching. It was going slow for now, but it could build up speed and ram itself right into their car. Then all that needed to be done was to pluck an injured Alina out of there and drag her inside, where it really would be the end. Her palms got hotter.

"Come on, come on," Jonathan slapped the steering wheel frantically.

"We gotta go!" Lucas screamed.

Alina heard gunshots outside and knew that they were Nancy's, that she was shooting at the car that continued to roll towards them, perhaps trying to pop a tire or even incapacitate Billy enough so he couldn't hurt them. But no matter how many bullets she rattled towards them, Billy was unfazed, continuing to drive at full speed now towards them. Jonathan continued to try and turn on the engine. It continued to sputter. They were doomed.

Then Billy's car was driving right up to them, and Alina was screaming, but instead of shrinking away she opened the window, flinging her palms out, even though it was fruitless, she was going to either die right now or get flayed, and everything would be over. And Nancy would be hit first, because she didn't budge, even as the car got closer and closer and was just about to hit her and—

There was a terrific crash, and Alina opened her eyes to find that the car she was sitting in was undamaged, and that so was she. Peering out the window with a trembling jaw, she spotted it. At the last minute, another car had tumbled into the parking lot and rammed right into Billy's, wrecking itself but saving their lives.

"Alina," Will gasped. "Was that... was that you?"

He didn't mean the wrecked car. He meant the shimmering translucent red wall that hung in front of it, pockmarked with cracks but still standing. It was glowing softly with the same hue as Alina's energy, and Alina looked down at her hands, which were encased in red. Her eyes widened. Had she just created a shield?

She didn't even have time to contemplate this new ability, because out of the corner of her eye she spotted the heroes that had saved them, which happened to be Steve and Robin. They must've seen the flickering lights of the mall or heard the shrieks of the Mind Flayer and hustled over just in time.

Next time I go to Scoops Ahoy, Alina thought wildly, I'm giving them a hefty tip.

A fire bloomed in Billy's car, and Billy himself slumped over, probably knocked unconscious. Well, Alina hoped he'd been knocked unconscious. Or been killed, which would've made their lives so much easier. But... Alina knew the flayed didn't die easily, even with the abundance of flame licking over the side of the car. He likes it cold.

Well, hopefully it was hot enough for now.

Just then, there was a snarl, and Alina whirled around, looking back to Starcourt Mall. There, on the roof, was the Mind Flayer, crawling atop the bits of ceiling still standing, obviously aggravated. Because they'd knocked Billy out. Because it hadn't managed to kill the teenagers in the car. And there was nothing they could do, at least not until the car started.

Which it did. Jonathan cried out in relief as the engine finally rumbled smoothly, and Nancy immediately slid into the front seat. She barely had time to close the door before he was driving up to Steve and Robin, who were staring at the great beast from their wrecked car. He honked the horn, gathering their attention, and Nancy yelled, "Get in!" through her open window.

Too hurried to care about doors, Steve and Robin hoped over them and sprinted into the trunk of the car, for there was no room anywhere else. As soon as they managed to slide in, Jonathan was driving, carrying them away from the mall.

Alina pressed her nose to the window, and so it was that she watched the Mind Flayer hop its way off the roof, and began to follow them. She could feel its eyes piercing right into her, its mouth salivating for her to rejoin them, and shuddered. Then she let out a feral scream and sent a bolt of energy towards the thing through the open window, making it shriek and stagger back a little. With narrowed eyes, she hit it again, but that was when its tongue snaked out, hurtling towards her.

She shut the window, leaning against Lucas, and that was when the thought sparked to her mind. Sure, they were safe now, and the Mind Flayer was chasing them, but what about the other group? What if Billy woke up? What if they hadn't managed to escape?

Her heart hammered. "El, Max, Mike, Gabe," she said aloud. "They might still be in the mall! We can't leave them!"

Lucas turned, eyeing the Mind Flayer through the open window, which continued to scuttle towards them, its tongues flailing. "I think they'll be fine now that they're not being chased," he said reasonably. "It's us we have to worry about."

"But... Billy," Alina said. "He could wake up any second, and they've got no chance against him. Not without El's powers. We have to go back!"

Before anyone could say anything to this, the walkie-talkie in Steve's lap suddenly crackled. It was an unfamiliar voice. "Dusty-bun, you copy?"

"I copy," said Dustin, "Suzie-poo."

Suzie with a z from science camp, Dustin's hotter than Phoebe Cates girlfriend, was, apparently, real. Not that Alina doubted it (okay, maybe a little) but... wow. But... why the hell was he even talking to her now? He had to know that they were literally all about to die, right? So what was going on?

"It sounds much better now, thanks," Dustin said.

"Suzie," said Steve and Robin aloud. Alina gathered that they'd been told about her, too, and probably hadn't believed him, either. They could join the club of never doubting Dustin again.

"Okay, so, listen," Dustin continued, "do you know Planck's constant?"

"Do you know the Earth orbits the sun?" Suzie teased. Alina stared out the window again. It was completely wild, listening to two people having a completely normal conversation when an actual monster chased behind the car that was going way above the speed limit. But it was clear what Dustin was trying to do. The code for the Russian base was supposed to be Planck's constant (whatever that was) and it seemed that Murray had gotten it wrong. So Dustin had called up his girlfriend in order to ask what it was.

Dustin snickered. Nerd humor. "Okay, so I know it starts with two sixes," he said, "and then a... w-what is it?"

"Okay," Suzie began, "let me just be clear on this, I haven't heard from you in a week, and now you want a mathematical equation that you should know so you can... save the world?"

YES! Alina screamed inside her head, her heart hammering. EXACTLY! PLEASE GIVE US THE CODE!

"Suzie-poo, I promise, I will make it up to you as soon as possible," said Dustin.

"You can make it up to me now," said Suzie, and Alina was banging her head against the window at this point. The Mind Flayer was about to kill them, and Dustin's stupid (not really. Suzie sounded pretty smart) girlfriend wouldn't give them the code to end all of this. They were literally going to die, and the two of them were chatting like it was nothing.

"What?" Dustin asked.

"I want to hear it," snapped Suzie.

"Not right now."

"Yes, now, Dusty-bun," said Suzie, and Alina made a mental note to tease Dustin about these ridiculous pet names until the day she grew old if she survived this. Like... seriously? Dusty-bun? And Suzie-poo?

"Suzie-poo, this is urgent," Dustin pleaded.

"Yes, yes, you're saving the world, I heard you the first time, but Ged is also saving Earthsea and he's about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie, signing off."

No. No, no, no. There went their chance of ridding themselves of the Mind Flayer. Dustin, by not doing whatever Suzie wanted to do, had literally doomed them all.

Dustin, who seemed to realize this, yelped, "Wait, wait, wait! Okay. Okay. Okay." There was a pause, Alina's heart jumped, and then the weirdest thing that could possibly happen in this situation happened, because apparently there were no rules anymore. Dustin Henderson began to sing.

"Turn around... Look at what you see... In her face... a mirror of your dreams..."

Alina thought she might be going insane. Like, this was it! Her life had reverted into some kind of fever dream slash hallucination, and there was no coming back from this.

Suzie joined in, and the couple did a lovely duet together. "Make believe I'm everywhere... Given in the light... Written on the pages is... The answer to a never-ending story... ahh..."

Seriously. Alina's life had seen a lot of weird things. Little tadpoles turning dog-sized and eating cats. A giant, fleshy monster roaming through Starcourt Mall. Skywalker throwing up three birds he had eaten on her bed. But none of them could compare to what she was witnessing (hearing?) right now. This took the cake.

"Reach the stars... Fly a fantasy... Dream a dream... And what you see will be..."

If Alina was in literally any other situation than what she was stuck in right now, she would've admitted that the song was actually quite good. She hadn't known her friend had had it in him to sing like this. But right now was not the time. She could tell by Will and Lucas's faces that they were thinking the same thing. She could only imagine what Erica was thinking.

"Rhymes that keep their secrets will... Unfold behind the clouds... And there upon a rainbow is... The answer to a never-ending story... ahh... Story... ahh..."

"Planck's constant is six-point-six-two-six-zero-seven-zero-zero-four," said Suzie.

"You just saved the world," cried an ecstatic Dustin. God, Alina hoped so.

Suzie giggled. "Gosh, I miss you, Dusty-bun."

"And I miss you more, Suzie-poo."

"I miss you more, multiplied by all the stars in our galaxy."

Alina would mime vomiting—or maybe really throw up—but alas, yet again, this wasn't the time. She still wrinkled her nose, though, and looked to Lucas, extremely grateful that they didn't have any pet-names for each other.

"No, I miss you—"

Dustin's voice was abruptly cut off, and Alina recognized Erica's voice before the line went dead. She breathed a sigh of relief. Sheesh. She was glad that was over. Even though it had provided some sort of bizarre background music for this bizarre chase.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: me listening to the never-ending story song as i edit this chapter : 💃💃

it's a bop you CANNOT lie

n e ways, this chapter was sort of dull, except for the fact that alina discovered a new way to use her energy?? what??? maybe it's unrealistic or something but i just really wanted her to make shields, okay?? i wrote this months ago what do you want from me

next chapter... oh, you guys are gonna HATE me. i can't wait :)

'till next time!