"Hey, you remember what I said last year, right? We're Zombie Boy and Ghost Boy. I'm not ever gonna leave you."
"Promise?"
"One hundred percent."
***
In which Alistair fights the monster that possessed his friend alongside his friends, while trying...
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Chapter Eighty-Three: Master Of Puppets
(The Piggyback, Pt. 3)
***
Almost a minute after he and Eddie came back after their talk and a few minutes since they barricaded the trailer and got the distraction ready, the walkie crackled with static as Robin's voice came through, giving them Max's current fate and the go-ahead.
"She's in. Move on to phase three."
"Copy that. Initiating phase three," Dustin relayed before he turned the walkie off and plugged the power lead into the cord for one of the amps. "Let's hope they hear this."
"Trust me, they're gonna hear it," Alistair assured, before he looked at Eddie and saw the look on his face. An idea came and he turned the walkie back on, just as Eddie took his guitar pick necklace off and said, "Chrissy, this is for you."
With a yell, Eddie ripped the guitar pick across the guitar—and started playing the opening riff for Master Of Puppets.
The now-familiar riff echoed throughout the Upside Down, loud and challenging. If that didn't catch the Demobats' attention, especially with the amps, Alistair didn't know what would, but he didn't particularly care about that as a grin stretched across his face as he turned the walkie off, certain his sister had heard that and knew instantly this was the song Eddie was playing—that she heard the dedication he made before he started playing—watching as Eddie performed Master Of Puppets, the song he'd been practicing for weeks ever since it released earlier this month, fingers flying as the music thumped through Alistair's bones and pounded in his heart, the energy of performing coming over Eddie even in the Upside Down and as part of a plan to save the world.
It was better than what Alistair thought it would be to finally see Eddie perform. And so very metal.
Eddie seemed to become a different person when he performed, all the almost-manic energy he had conveyed to playing his guitar and his movements as he kept performing, banging his head as Alistair and Dustin did the same, grins on their faces as Eddie kept performing, fingers moving so fast across the guitar chords as the epic riffs of Master Of Puppets that Eddie had practiced and mastered roared in the Upside Down. And while Alistair hated this place, he had to admit the Upside Down was perfect for this song, for a metal concert—the dark gloomy skies flashing red lightning behind Eddie as he kept performing, head now tilted back as he let out the three short chords on the drop for Master, made it feel so much more epic and metal.
Dustin turned away, binoculars lifted to catch sight of the bats, but Alistair couldn't look away, his body buzzing with the same energy that Eddie had as he kept playing, kept performing, a wide grin on his face. After years of being promised he'd see an actual performance of Eddie's, he was enjoying every second of it, that it was good and even better than what he thought it would be, and he wondered how much better it would be with all the guys in Corroded Coffin playing this song.
