Major Malfunction (Sequel to American Heroes)

I Don't Care

Laughter and shouts filled the Wheeler's basement on Christmas Eve of 1985, Mike narrating his D&D campaign while Will, El, Lucas, and Max listened intently. "Wait, what's that? The ground below your feet starts to vibrate. The whole tunnel rumbles."

"It's gotta be the troglodyte army," Lucas murmured.

"Could be another kobold trap," Max said.

"Clumps of dirt fall onto your heads and shoulders," Mike continued. "Above you, you hear something moving, clawing across the ceiling."

Will, El, Max, and Lucas leaned forward.

"A Giant Spider, nearly ten feet tall, leaps down in front of you!" Mike shouted, smacking his hands on the table. "Its fangs are bared, and its eight eyes fixate on your warm bodies. It lifts its front legs in the air, ready to feast on you. Will! Your action!"

"Oh, uh-"

"Attack with your quarterstaff," Max suggested.

Lucas shook his head. "That's not much damage. Use the magic missiles."

Will glanced at El. "What do you think? Magic missiles or quarterstaff?"

Looking from Max to Lucas and back to Will, El opened her mouth to answer but Lucas's beeping watch interrupted her. Lucas switched the timer off on his watch. "Sorry, guys," he said, getting to his feet, "I've gotta get home for dinner."

"Already?" Mike asked, looking at his own watch.

Giving everyone quick hugs, Lucas said, "Sorry, guys. But tomorrow we'll get together. Dustin, too."

"Definitely," Mike said. "After we open presents and everything, we can meet up and check out what everyone got."

"And ice skate," El added.

"Oh, yeah!" Max smiled. "That should be fun."

"I'll radio you guys after dinner to make plans," Lucas said, opening the door to the yard. "See you guys!"

Everyone called goodbye as he left, and Mike hopped over to the couch to grab his walkie-talkie from under a cushion. "I'm gonna see if Dustin's still busy."

"Ask him to ice skate," El said.

As Mike adjusted the channel on his walkie-talkie, Will got to his feet and headed towards the stairs. "I have to get a glass of water," he called to the others before hurrying upstairs to the kitchen.

Will went over to the cupboard, took out a glass, and turned on the faucet. As his glass filled with water, the sound of footsteps came from upstairs. A few seconds later, Nancy came into the kitchen, smiling at Will when she saw him. She grabbed a mug from the cupboard and went over to the coffee maker.

Will turned off the faucet, taking a sip of water and starting back to the basement.

"Oh, Will," Nancy said. "I wanted to talk to you."

He paused, eyebrows furrowed, and turned to face her. "Talk to me?"

"Yeah, just..." Biting her lip and looking away, Nancy poured coffee into her mug. "How's Mike doing?"

"Oh. He's good. We're in the middle of a really cool campaign he wrote."

"And is he... does he seem happy?"

Will watched her carefully. "I guess so."

She sighed. "I'm only asking because I know you two are best friends, and he's been acting weird lately."

"Yeah, he has been acting a little different."

"I didn't realize him and El broke up over Thanksgiving, but then after I found out and when I thought about it, it did make sense. At first, I thought their break-up was what was making him all depressed, but then I realized... he has feelings for someone else."