𝘿𝙍𝙄𝙁𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 - Max Mayfield

19. Reunion

Soon enough,they all arrived at the Byers house,which still had the living room covered in Will's drawings.

Nancy had gotten Aiden's shoulder cleaned and bandaged along with endless scolding, Barb and Will were laying down unconscious as both were now spies for the mind flayer, Hopper kept trying to call for backup while Bob and Joyce were in the dining area as Joyce tried to explain things to him.

"How... How was he in two places at once?" Bob looked back at Aiden who was seated on the floor.

"He's a special kid," Joyce said.

"Like Will?"

"No, Bob it's... It's different" the single mom tried explaining. "He can do things the rest of us can't"

"Like, magic and stuff?" Bob asked,still trying to process all he'd seen from the tunnels till now.

"And stuff,yes" Joyce said, looking back at Aiden herself. "the poor baby's been through a lot and tries to keep anyone else from having to go through the same things"

"Whatever he is,he saved my life," Bob said. "I don't know how I'll ever thank him enough for it"

Aiden ran his hands over his head. This already felt like the longest day. His eyes briefly darted over to the corner where he saw Lucas talking with Melanie. Aiden smiled at the sight; he supposed that's another thing his presence had changed - Lucas' relationship. He let himself smile again before looking up to see Max sit next to him.

"Sup?" He smiled.

"How are you so calm?" Max asked him.

"I'm too tired to freak out," Aiden chuckled. "That and freaking out wouldn't even help the situation... I'm always trying to think of ways to fix things"

"Like you fixed your shoulder?" Max scoffed.

"Why do you keep bringing it up?" Aiden groaned.

"Because you're careless, doofus" Max plopped down next to him. "after that display at the junkyard,I wonder how you survived the last time"

"You were praising my bravery barely an hour ago, " Aiden said.

"True,that was brave,but it was also stupid"

Soon enough,the boys started talking and trying to formulate a plan.

"As much as I want to stop this thing, the Chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demodogs on our own"

"Demodogs?" Melanie asked.

"Demogorgon dogs," Aiden explained.

"See? He gets it" Dustin smiled.

The group started to trade explanations back and forth as they tried to make sense of the situation.

"This is the thing that controls everything," Dustin pointed at a drawing of the shadow monster. "It's the brain"

"Like the mind flayer"

"The what?" Hopper asked.

"The Mind Flayer," Aiden said.

"What the hell is that?" Hopper asked.

"A monster from an unknown dimension," Dustin said. "It's so ancient it doesn't even know it's own home. It enslaves the races of other dimensions-"

"By taking over their minds. Hence why it's called the Mind Flayer" Aiden completed.

"Oh my God,none of this is real," Hopper sighed. "This is a kids game"

"That's what I thought about the Naruto universe being 'just an anime ' and now look at me" Aiden gestured to himself.

"Exactly!" Dustin said before looking back down at the book. "This is a manual,and unless you have a better idea then this is the best analogy we have to figuring out what this is"

"So this Mind flamer thing-" Nancy started.

"Flayer" Dustin corrected, earning a sigh from the older girl.

"What does it want?"

"Multidimensional control," Aiden said. "it believes it's supposed to rule over all other races"

"Spot on" Dustin smiled at Aiden,glad someone was paying attention.

"Like the Germans?" Steve asked.

"The Nazis, yeah" Aiden nodded.

"It wants to spread," Mike spoke up. "And take over other dimensions"

"We're talking about the destruction of our world as we know it," Lucas added.

"And that's just if we're lucky" Aiden said. "imagine spending all your life hypnotised by a spider monster"

"I'd rather not" Melanie shuddered, wondering what she'd gotten herself into.

"So if we kill it..." Nancy started.

"We kill everything it controls," Aiden finished.

"We win"

"Theoretically"

"Great" Hopper took the book. "So do you kill this thing with fireballs or something?"

"If it were that easy,I would've killed it on my first try" Aiden chuckled.

Hopper put the book down in frustration before turning to Aiden. "You have any special ninja powers that can help with this?"

"If fire release didn't work on it, what makes you think..." Aiden stopped mid-sentence when something hit him. "Wait a minute"

"What?" Hopper asked.

Aiden quickly placed his hands in the cross sign, spawning another clone much to the shock of a few in the room, Bob and Joyce mostly.

"What the-"

The clone immediately sat cross legged on the floor, placing his fists together and closing his eyes in meditation.

"What's he doing?" Hopper asked.

"Gathering energy.." Aiden explained.

"So he's just gonna sit there?" Steve asked.

"It takes time," Aiden said. "so I suggest we do something about Will and Barb in the meantime since they're spies for the Mind Flayer"

The next few minutes saw the group getting information from both kids, Joyce, Jonathan and Mike trying to reach out to Will and Nancy and Steve trying to reach Barb. The two then seemed to be communicating without actually speaking... Trying to gain little control of their bodies again. Thankfully, Bob understood Morse code so he translated their movements into words.

C-L-O-S-E-G-A-T-E

"Close gate" Bob read out. "Wait,what gate?"

Suddenly the phone rang, startling everyone.

"He heard it..." Mike said. "he knows where we are"

"Shit!" Aiden said as everyone heard screeching from outside. Everyone rushed back into the living room as Hopper loaded the guns he had with him, tossing one to Nancy.

"Hey, Hey get away from the windows!" Hopper warned everyone, before turning to Aiden. "Whatever that copy's doing,he really should hurry it up,kid"

"That's a failsafe for later" Aiden said, standing next to Hopper and Nancy who both had guns. "I can handle these Demodogs in base form"

The screeching got closer and closer and Aiden felt someone grip his hand - no doubt it was Max - as everyone waited with baited breath.

Suddenly,the screeches stopped and one of the Demodogs was thrown through the window, missing Aiden's meditating clone by mere inches.

Aiden smiled.

"She's back..."

"What?" Nancy looked at him.

The door slowly started to unlock itself. Once it opened up,it revealed a girl wearing black clothes who had blood running down her nose. Aiden's smile widened at the sight of her.

"Hey,buddy"

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