brutal ━ mike wheeler

nine. the battle at starcourt mall

NINE━━━━
THE BATTLE AT STARCOURT MALL

stranger things;
season 3 ep 7

ADRIAN WALKED BESIDE MIKE as the group quickly and quietly snuck past a group of armed men in suits. It didn't look good, if Adrian was going to be honest, and he couldn't help but stare at the guns they were holding. They shuffled a little bit and started to make their way up the stairs, carefully looking over from the balcony at the top of the stairs. Adrian narrowed his eyes and looked around, gripping the railing so hard that his knuckles were turning white. He caught a glimpse of an edge of a shoe, his heart catching in his throat.

He watched in fear as the four men got closer to the kids behind the counter. El shoved him slightly, barely even moving him. He snapped his head towards her and the girl nodded at a car. He pursed his lips and turned to look at her again, nodding his head. That was enough confirmation for El, and she stuck her hand out, causing all of the alarms in the car to go off at once.

Alarmed, the four armored men looked at the car, muttering something inaudibly before looking up and noticing them. El took in a sharp breath, her hardened gaze not wavering, before she threw her hands forward, hurdling the car at the men, causing them to die on the spot.

The four kids behind the counter slowly peered over when they heard nothing but silence after that. They looked at the men, the car, and then the group of nine that watched over the balcony. Adrian felt relief wash over him when he saw Dustin, Steve, Robin, and. . . Erica? He didn't question it and only rushed down the stairs. Adrian was a bit confused as to why Robin and Erica were there, but he pushed all of those thoughts aside as he raced up toward them. Adrian was never a hugger, but he felt himself reaching for Dustin before he could think, wrapping his arms around him. "Thank god you're alive, I can't handle these dumbasses alone." Dustin laughed and returned the hug, quickly overcoming the shock of the fact that he was being hugged by Adrian.

"You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!" Dustin shouted when he saw Mike and El, moving to hug them after Adrian had pulled away from him. Erica ran forward, looking at her brother. "Lucas?" Lucas had to pause when he saw Erica, confusion written all over his face. "What are you doing here?" Lucas asked in concern for his little sister. "Ask them. It's their fault." Erica said plainly, pointing at the three others behind her, and they all nodded.

"True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault." Steve said, and Adrian couldn't help but notice their bloodshot eyes and furrowed his eyebrows. "Have you two been doing drugs?" Steve looked at him, pursing his lips. "No a Russian doctor — how do you know what being on drugs looks like?" Adrian looked at him, unimpressed. "I've seen movies, Steven." Steve pressed his lips together and nodded, deeming that a plausible answer. "I don't understand what happened to that car," Robin stated, and Adrian realized that Robin was probably completely clueless about everything. "El has superpowers," Dustin told her, pointing at the brunette that was standing next to Adrian.

"I'm sorry?" Robin stammered, utterly confused "Superpowers. She threw it with her mind. C'mon, catch up." Steve told her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That's El?" Erica asked, as if she didn't believe the girl standing next to Adrian was her. "Also Adrian has superpowers now," Will decided to add, and Adrian was a little glad it wasn't himself who had to break the news.  "What?!" Dustin said, throwing his next forward so much that Adrian was afraid he was going to break it. "I'm just as confused as you are," Adrian clarified.