026. 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐰𝐧
chapter twenty-six
prettiest pawn
🖤
RUBY KNOWS SHE'S SAID IT before, but she takes it all back. This is well and truly the worst day and the worst week of her entire fucking life.
That used to mean something, but she feels as if everything is just getting worse. The demogorgon tormenting her, following her around when he was only known as 'her monster', used to be the least of her worries — she longs for the days where she'd see the demogorgon in the shadows, not close enough to grab her, but enough for her to know that he'd get her one day. Is this that one day? Or this an entirely new monster, hell-bent on making her life completely and utterly shit?
She knows she's trapped inside her own mind, the Mind Flayer forcing her to live inside an old memory, and she's fucking sick of it. He didn't even let her pick a nice one. Like, given the chance, she'd choose... well, there's slim pickings, none of her memories are one hundred per cent happy, but she'd choose... 1983. When she was popular, when her best friend didn't know she had powers, when things were kinda shit, but her everyday life was normal. When she'd spend her summer days lounging around Steve's pool, and they'd go to meaningless parties, then fall asleep drunk next to each other at one of their houses — it depended on who's guardians were absent.
She'd give anything to be normal. If she could have one wish, she'd wish to be normal. She wants to give these powers up. She's spent her entire life fighting something that wasn't her fight in the first place — her mom died because of this, her dad became an alcoholic for years, she's had the shittiest life because her grandpa couldn't contain the Upside Down. Ruby wishes this could all go away.
But it can't — and she's reminded of this as she sits in an old memory of hers. The Mind Flayer has imprisoned her inside her memory of the lab, when her grandpa was running the joint. She keeps on running into him — and into the hot attending, too — which irritates her. Can they not give her a break? Her grandpa keeps on telling her, "They need your help," which, like, yeah, is that not always the case? She's not going through an experiment in here, though. She'd rather die than go through any of that again.
The hot attending hasn't said anything to her. He just watches her, whenever she's bored and decides to leave the memory of her old room — the one marked SUBJECT X: DO NOT ENTER — to walk around the lab. She forgot how well she knew this place, but she's been meaninglessly wandering the halls for what seems like years, waiting and waiting to go back home.
She managed to break free a while go — she doesn't remember how long ago it was now, every second in here feels like an eternity. All she remembers is that she knew her boyfriend was in danger, and she fought her way free. It made her upset, realising that the danger was her own body, the monster the Mind Flayer's turned it into.
So now, she trudges around the lab hallways, annoyed and upset.
"Ruby..." Her grandpa's voice rings through the hallways, over the speakers. "Ruby, I need to talk to you, they need your help..."
"They always do!" she groans, rolling her eyes.
She starts walking back to her room. At least she can barricade herself in there, far away from whatever experiment her grandpa wants her to be involved in.
Ruby has given up. Not on life, but like, she's done with her powers. She's almost died too many times for this now. Her boyfriend is in constant danger now, because of her. Her sister has always found herself in trouble, same as her dad, but Ruby's done with fixing things that aren't because of her. All she wants is to be normal, and yet, there's this massive weight on her shoulders, demanding her to do the right thing. But she can't put herself first, because if she stops helping, it's all on Eleven. Ruby madly wishes she could give up.
She pushes open the door to her room, and as it closes, she notices her grandpa standing in front of her. Ruby starts to step backwards, refusing to do this, but her grandpa already begins to plead.
"Ruby, please!"
"Give me a break," she snaps.
"I'm not your grandpa!" he — it? — says.
Ruby raises an eyebrow. "So... who are you? Jesus?"
Her grandpa gives her a dirty look, and Ruby recognises it as something she'd dish out. "Well, think for a second. This is your memory, your subconscious... I don't know, maybe I'm a projection of your own mind, dressing up like your grandpa because it fits for this memory?" it suggests to her. "Come on, Rubes."
"Could you, like, not dress up like someone that traumatised me, then?"
Her subconscious, disguised as her grandpa, rolls her eyes. Ruby's reminded this presence is, in fact, herself. "I've got to fit this memory or else he will know something's wrong."
Ruby frowns. "Who's he?"
"I can't say his name, dummy?" her grandpa (her subconscious?) says. "Then he'll know we're talking about him!"
"Oh," says Ruby, eyes narrowing. "You mean... tentacle guy?"
"Yeah," says her subconscious, in Dr. Brenner's voice. "Tentacle guy."
This is so weird.
"Look, Steve's in trouble," says her grandpa. "You need to help him — we need to help him."
Ruby pauses, and looks around for a moment.
"How the fuck do you suggest that?" she argues. "Did you forget something, like the fact that my — our — body has been possessed, and I'm trapped here?"
"No," says Brenner. "God, we need to listen before we react sometimes. I can help you free, Jesus Christ, and then you can save Steve. But tentacle guy is trying to push me out. It's only a matter of time before you're on your own again..."
"OK," says Ruby. "So how—?"
"You've escaped this place before, haven't you?"
Ruby grimaces. "Has it seriously been that easy to leave?"
"Yeah, if you go now, before he realises what you're doing!" says her subconscious. Her grandpa's body puts his hands on his hips, rolling his eyes again. Does she seriously roll her eyes that often? "He's distracted right now, he's using your body and Billy's to fight the kids—"
"El?" says Ruby.
"Yeah," says her subconscious, her bitchy tone of voice weird coming from her grandpa's body. "And if you leave now, you can help! It's the last time we are going to help, fuckin' believe me, but come on! We need to go!"
Ruby glances back at the door, and then back at her grandpa — who's already gone.
OK. OK. Maybe that's her subconscious, maybe it's not. But if that's a possible way to escape, she's going to attempt it.
"I don't care about Tina! Or Uncle Jack's party! Your mom's not gonna be able to find us if we're dead in a Russian elevator!"
Her boyfriend's voice echoes through the room, pure fear in his voice. Ruby feels her hands warming up, running through the lab's floor plan in her head. If that was her subconscious, and if Steve is in danger, Ruby isn't risking waiting.
So she opens the door, and bolts.
Ruby runs through the lab's labyrinth, her shoes skidding around corners as she nears the entrance. Her room was second floors below ground, if she gets up this flight of stairs and then the elevator, she's only got one stretch of corridor left. She can do this. For Steve, she can do this.
Come on.
She wishes she could run quicker, wishes she spent more time doing track. She runs as fast as she can, her boyfriend's voice following her, her subconscious warning her that his body is in as much trouble as hers. Were those Russians minions of the Mind Flayer? Is that why he's in danger? God, why did he go down there without her?
She climbs the set of stairs. There's the elevator now, and then the ground floor. She can do this.
"RUBY! RUBY, PLEASE!"
Her sister's voice rings through the halls, making Ruby even more desperate to get back to her body. She's almost there. Almost there.
She reaches the elevator. She pushes the buttons frantically, the lights around her beginning to flicker.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She turns around, to find the hot attending standing behind her.
Ruby glares at him, knowing it's the Mind Flayer taking the hot attending's form. (Which is like, cruel of him. Could her grandpa not have been evil, and the hot attending her helpful little guardian? That would've been so fun.)
"Give me my fucking body back," she seethes.
"No," he says, his voice deep and booming, like the Mind Flayer's.
He raises his hand, and before Ruby can react, she's thrown to the ground. Ruby crawls to her feet, her stomach aching. She looks up at the hot attending, who has his hand extended still. And, slowly, she feels an imaginary hand wrap around her neck, his powers choking her.
Ruby wheezes, her fingers clawing at her throat, even though it's no use. She looks up at the hot attending, who smirks, watching her slowly die.
"You could've gone easily. You could've given me your body and left me alone. But you've got to make things difficult, don't you? You're just like your mother. An annoying woman. She deserved to die." His grip on her throat tightens. Ruby feels light-headed. "Do you think Brenner had the guts to do that? No, of course not. He'd never touch his precious, perfect daughter. But me? I enjoyed gutting that bitch."
Ruby looks at him, glaring. "You're lying."
An image is forced into her mind: that of her mother, beginning for forgiveness. She's raised into the air by the attending's powers, blood running down from her eyes. She screams out and begs, but the attending continues. Ruby watches her mother, dangling in the air, her limbs snapping. Her neck jolts, and her mother's dead body falls to the floor.
"It was so much fun, killing her."
Ruby looks up at the attending. She doesn't care if that's real, if the Mind Flayer was behind it somehow. How fucking dare it use her mom, over and over, in the attempt to manipulate her. Ruby's smarter than that.
She's getting out of this prison, whether he likes it or not.
She pretends to choke still, her powers slowly returning back to her. She wheezes, coughing and spluttering, feeling gratified in her acting as the attending laughs. Ruby feels her body strengthening, her powers trickling through her veins like warm water. Her body feels warm again, energy filling her from toes to fingertips. She lets in a breath, forcibly spluttering—
—And then she closes her eyes.
The attending frowns, as Ruby disappears from the floor.
Ruby opens her eyes, standing behind him. She raises her hand.
"You fucking loser," she sneers.
She forces him into the air before he can react. He tries to reach for his neck, but she fixes him in place, mimicking the way he claims he killed her mom. This is her mind, her body. He doesn't get to control her.
"Did you seriously think you'd win against me?"
His limbs are frozen solid in the air. He tries to shout, but his jaw is wired shut.
"Who even are you? Some loser from another dimension? Did everyone kick you out of that one, because you were so weak? How pathetic does that make you, bullying children in this world, that you know can't fight back? I can hurt you, sure, but Will, last year? That was uncalled for. Bullies are just big losers — actually, no, they're worse than that. At least a loser would admit it. But you? You think you're strong, you're intelligent, but I know you're not. You're desperate for attention, for power. And let me tell you, dumbass, you're not getting mine."
The attending's limbs crack into two.
"So, I'll say it again. Give me my fucking body back."
"No," the Mind Flayer's voice tells her.
"I wasn't asking," she says.
She looks ahead at the attending. His head snaps from his neck, blood runs from his eyes, his ears, his nose. Ruby uses all of her strength, watching his body crumble.
"GET OUT OF ME!" she screams.
But the Mind Flayer holds on, desperate to keep her body. The lab bursts into flames, hot fire feeling comforting to Ruby's body. She continues to destroy the attending's body, battling for her own body back.
"GET OUT!" she shouts again.
"NO."
Ruby closes her eyes, both of her hands raised. She's in pain, but she continues. Either she wins this, or she's trapped forever. And Steve needs her. He needs her help. She needs to get free. One moment's pain is worth her life back.
So she pushes through.
Flickers of Hawkins run through her eyes. She sees Eleven in front of her, in the sweaty gross gym at the public pool. And then Ruby's back in the lab, the attending dying in front of her. Then Eleven again. Attending. Eleven. Attending. Eleven. Attending.
She catches a glimpse of another place, somewhere that's all red, pieces of an old house floating around her. A monster — more humanlike than the demogorgon, but an Upside Down monster nevertheless — stands in front of her, levitating like the attending. Ruby continues, shouting, "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!"
Everything goes hot, her body stinging at the pain of two minds fighting for its dominance. Eleven. Monster. Eleven. Attending. Monster.
She can feel the Mind Flayer's pain, but she can feel hot water on her skin, warming her up.
Eleven. Attending. Monster.
She feels the clothes on her back, the way her wet hair is sticking to her face.
Monster. Attending.
She can hear the panicked voices of her sister and her friends.
Eleven. Attending. Monster.
She can smell the chlorine of the pool, mixed with the sweat and steam of the gym and sauna combined.
Eleven.
🖤
THE MIND FLAYER HATES MANY, MANY things — and children is one of them.
He recollects a time earlier than him, when children were treated like smaller adults. They'd be shipped off to factories, sent to work, given a purpose in life. But the stupidity of the world has made them arrogant and brave, so self-assured they've made themselves vulnerable. What caused parents to think that their little children should stop being treated that way, and instead, mollycoddled? Oh, no, he knows what. It's narcissism, the ignorant idea that their child was just too good to go up chimneys. Humans are so weak-minded. He misses his body, but he doesn't miss the neanderthalic nature they never quite shook.
And here is now, using his best pawn to save another. These children had the right idea, not going for his favourite pawn first — but they should've thought he'd find out, and of course, he'd bring her in to finish this.
Billy pounds on the sauna door, demanding to be freed. The steam is making his skin crawl, and the Mind Flayer is feeling aggravated. He hates the warmth, they know this. But they think he'll be drawn out this quickly? Don't be so stupid.
"You think this is funny?" Billy shouts through the glass of the sauna door. "You kids think this is some kind of sick prank, huh? You little shits think this is funny? What is this? Open the door. Open the door!"
The Mind Flayer wasn't even paying attention to the boy — not until he felt the heat. Now, though, he's angry. Does Eleven think she can beat him, again? No.
"It's not my fault," he makes Billy whimper, forcing his body to sit on the sauna floor, cradling his legs. Cry, he tells the body, and the sweat on Billy's face is met with tears. "It's not my fault — it's not my fault, Max. I promise you, it's not my fault."
The girl starts walking towards the door. Yes, says the Mind Flayer, salivating over the fresh body to take. Come closer, little girl...
"What's not your fault, Billy?" she asks.
"I've done things, Max. Really... bad things." Billy continues to cry out in pain, but now, he moves to the side, reaching for a broken piece of tile. "I didn't mean to. He made me do it."
"Who made you do it?" the girl asks.
"I don't know, it's like a shadow. Like a giant shadow... Please, Max..."
"What did he make you do?" the girl persists.
"It's not my fault, okay? Max, please. Please, believe me, Max, it's not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did. Please believe me, Max, please believe me."
"Billy, it's gonna be okay."
Billy cries, "Max, please."
"It's gonna be okay. We want to help you," the girl tells him. The Mind Flayer can't stand when humans act like this, so emotional they lose all rationale. Can she not tell this boy is lying? "You just have to talk to us, okay? You have to talk to us. I believe you, Billy. We'll figure it out together, okay?"
The Mind Flayer makes Billy stands up, gripping onto the tile piece.
"Max," says one of the little boys. "Get away from the door."
Billy starts to move.
"Get away from the door!"
Billy's body slams against the sauna door, just as the girl runs backwards. He stabs the glass with the tile, shattering it everywhere, and forcing himself through the hole. His arm slams against the outside of the door, as he roars, "LET ME OUT, YOU BITCH! I'LL FUCKING GUT YOU!"
He looks down, and pulls the pole out from the door. The Mind Flayer sees the chains keeping the door locked, too, and knows this'll be an issue for Billy. He eagerly awaits Ruby's arrival, his favourite soldier. She'll finish them without any effort.
One of the boys shoots a rock into Billy's face, and he stumbles backwards into the sauna. The Mind Flayer is getting angrier now. He releases his energy out into the world, calling all of his other soldiers to arms. There's been enough preparation now, if these children are going to try and stop him, he'll put the whole army into motion, see what they'll do then. The Mind Flayer lusts for the moment he gets to kill Eleven... The others will become soldiers, of course, but he wants Eleven dead.
Billy starts to writhe, the Mind Flayer's full power seeping back into him. He was always there, talking in his ear, but now, he's gained full control, granted this body full power. Not as much as his favourite body, sure, but that beauty was always there...
The Mind Flayer sees his Ruby in her car, driving towards the pool. Any moment now, and they'll be dead, and his plan can resume. He'll have to get one of these to kill that boy Ruby loves so much — she'll revert back to herself if she sees him — but that'll be a task for later. Now, though, his energy is focused on his army waking up, beginning their first and final battle. No one will be left this time. Hawkins will fall, at long last.
Billy's body rises, slamming itself against the door. He throws himself against it, again and again, the chain slowly losing its strength. The Mind Flayer can hear the real Billy crying out in pain, but he forces the body to continue, the boy's cries music to his ears. Does this stupid human think a little whimper will stop him? No. Billy's body is the Mind Flayer's now.
The chain breaks free.
Billy's body tumbles out of the door, and he rises back to his feet, inches away from the children, who all scream in terror. Eleven stands in front, trying to protect her friends. How stupid of her.
Eleven raises her hand, her abilities throwing a weight at Billy, its handle strangling him. He chokes, trying to push it away from his neck, but she forces the bar in, deeper and deeper.
But the Mind Flayer is stronger than her — and he's got the prettiest pawn.
Ruby's body stands in the shadows, cutting off the locker room exit. No one's noticed her presence, all focused on El and her struggle with Billy. But she steps forwards into the light.
Eleven can't see her, but she can see the panic leave Billy's face, exchanged for a smile. The other kids' attention drifts to Ruby — no, not Ruby, the monster in her image.
"SHIT."
"What?" says Eleven. "What's wrong?"
"Hello, El," says Flayed Ruby.
Eleven gasps, and her lapse in focus makes her drop the weight. She turns around, and then turns back to Flayed Billy, stuck between the two of them, not knowing who is best to turn her back to. She can hear Mike shouting, but her focus is on her big sister, the awful, evil smile returning to her lips.
Flayed Ruby bats her hand to the side, throwing Eleven into the wall.
"You're so fucking stupid," says Flayed Ruby, and she picks up Eleven with her mind, dragging her along the linoleum, back towards the middle.
"RUBY! RUBY, PLEASE!"
"You always knew I was better than you, right?"
Flayed Ruby forces Eleven into the air. If the Mind Flayer could drool, he would, salivating over the feeling of one more life sacrificed to him. He always feels more powerful after killing someone, but this special girl? It'll be like Christmas, maybe even enough to bring him back.
"Like, come on. Papa didn't treat me like a rat, did he?"
Eleven's limbs are frozen solid in the air. She tries to scream, but her jaw is wired shut.
"I got to leave. I got to have a life. I wasn't plucked out and sent into that lab for my whole life. How pathetic does that make you, not even fighting to leave? You fucking loser."
The Mind Flayer pauses for a moment. He doesn't know if this nastiness is directed towards Eleven — he gave Ruby's permission to say the most vile things possible, but this seems aimed at someone else... She's trapped in her own mind, she can't see anything about his—
"Give me my fucking body back," he hears Ruby demand.
"No," he tells her.
He pushes Ruby back down, into the abyss of her own subconscious.
With his grasp back on her body, Flayed Ruby spits out, "And then you attach yourself to some bowlcut bitches?"
Yes, that's the Mind Flayer again. Ruby's worst thoughts brought to life. Every nasty thought she had about these children, bubbling to the surface. And lucky for the Mind Flayer, Ruby has always been evil.
"What's wrong with you? Could you not, like, go for someone with an inch of coolness? Do you think I wanna be associated with you, you freak? You don't even deserve to live."
Eleven's arms and legs begin to move, the Mind Flayer about to snap them.
"RUBY!" the ginger girl shouts. "This isn't you!"
"I disagree," says Flayed Ruby, smirking as she looks up at Eleven.
Billy's body stands opposite Ruby's, as the Mind Flayer directs him to go for the ginger girl. Strangle her, he instructs him.
The ginger girl stumbles backwards, terror spread across her face.
"What do we do?" says Will, as Lucas pulls Max behind him.
Billy's body grabs onto Lucas' and throws him to the side. His hand reaches Max's neck.
"RUBY, PLEASE!" Eleven screams. "PLEASE STOP!"
The Mind Flayer hears Ruby's voice, feels her strength returning to her own body.
"CALL STEVE! CALL STEVE!"
And that one name makes the Mind Flayer lose his grip.
The boy isn't even here, and yet, the mention of him gives Ruby enough strength to fight. The Mind Flayer fights against her, tries to push her back down, but Ruby's already out of his reach. She snatches hold of her body, trying to take it back for good. The Mind Flayer fights, though, using all of his force to keep her imprisoned. The lights in the gym flicker, and blazing flames spark, covering the floor around Ruby.
"GET OUT OF ME!"
The Mind Flayer holds on. He's not losing to this teenager. But the fire is agonising him, making his entire being crawl with discomfort. Ruby's body doubles over, the battle of two minds pounding inside of her.
"GET OUT!"
"NO."
"GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!"
The sprinklers start, extinguishing the flames. But Ruby, gaining more control of her body, makes the water steaming hot. She can feel the Mind Flayer's pain, but she can feel the hot water on her skin, warming her up. She feels the clothes on her back, the way her hair is sticking to her face, the water drenching her. She can hear the panicked voices of her sister and her friends, she can smell the chlorine of the pool, mixed with the sweat and steam of the gym and sauna combined.
The Mind Flayer's grasp is thrown off.
Ruby — the real Ruby — drops to her knees, exhausted. Eleven rushes towards her, picking up her sister's head and placing it in her lap.
"Ruby?" she says, crying. "Ruby?"
Ruby breathes out, wincing. It takes her a moment to ground herself — to feel conscious in her body again — and she blinks, trying to focus on everything in this room. She focuses on the smells, the sights, the sounds. She focuses on her little sister, trying to help her through this. Ruby blinks, her heart calming down after the fight of its life, and she sits up, looking around. Billy's gone.
"How did you—?"
"Where's Steve?" says Ruby, losing all interest in the Mind Flayer.
"I don't know...?" Eleven frowns.
"He called us last night," says Max, "He said El was supposed to be looking after you?"
Ruby rubs her eyes, mascara smearing onto her fingers. "Yeah, I know, I lied to him," she says, as dryly as ever, getting to her feet. "But he's in trouble now. So... see ya."
"You're not gonna help us with the Mind Flayer?" says Will.
Ruby rolls her eyes. She's briefly reminded of the image of her subconscious/grandpa doing the same, imitating her. "I'll come back — believe me, I'm coming back," she says. "But first, I need to find my boyfriend and save him from the imminent danger he found himself in the second I wasn't there to keep him safe."
"What... should we do?" says Eleven.
"Get supplies, find Nancy and Jonathan. I'll call Dad," says Ruby. "And then meet me at the mall in... two hours." Is two hours enough time to invade an underground Russian fortress, save her boyfriend, and escape? Ruby considers this again. "Four hours."
She looks down at her outfit. Has she been dressed like a schoolgirl in a porno this entire day, and no one thought it was weird? The Mind Flayer's such a perv.
"The mall?" says Mike.
"Uh, yeah," says Ruby. "That's where the Russians are, so that's where Steve is. And I'm gonna have to use my powers to save him from evil Russians, it won't be long before the Mind Flayer comes back for me."
"What's even going on?" says Lucas.
"Why's he after you?" says Will.
Ruby shrugs. "The world revolves around me, duh."
Mike frowns. "No, like, for real—"
"If you could possess bodies, and you could choose the best line-up for your possessed army, are you seriously going to pass up on the best fighter?" says Ruby, giving them a look. She feels the need to say no offence to El, but she doesn't know why the Mind Flayer avoided her, anyway. "He wants my body, my powers. He'll be back, I know it. I don't know why he's latched onto me and not El, but that's not the important thing. The important thing is this — be at the mall in four hours. We're gutting this bitch."
Ruby turns, a fiery rage burning inside of her. This shithead thinks it can take her body, and she won't fight back? The Mind Flayer has another thing coming.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
ruby's such a scorpio 😌☝️🥰❤️🔥
i hope you guys enjoyed!! also i hope it wasn't confusing or anything lol, i can picture this quite vividly in my head as if it were part of the show, but it is difficult trying to differentiate different realities lol so i hope it wasn't that confusing! also (this is a season 4 spoiler so stop reading this paragraph if you haven't finished it yet) im not sure if they fully confirmed if vecna is behind everything, but for this it makes sense, so yeah lol. if season 5 changes all of this in like 50 years time then whoops.
let me know what u thought!!<3
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