One Eighty Stranger Things book Three

Chapter 5: The Flayed

Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Erica made a screaming descent into Starcourt Mall's basement (or sub-sub-sub-sub-basement) via a fast-moving elevator, with the mall sleuths screaming on their way down to parts unknown.

They make a soft landing, but there's not a lot to feel good about when they do figure out where they are. After a long, thirsty morning stuck in the elevator, broken up only by Steve accidentally peeing in the cabin.

They make two terrifying discoveries: (1) The vials of green liquid are filled with some pretty toxic stuff, and (2) there's a vast underground bunker filled with Russian soldiers and scientists working beneath an unwitting Hawkins. This is not good news! Even worse, they discover what the Russians are up to: reopening the portal to the Upside Down.

Apparently the Russians have come all the way to Indiana because of its Upside Down-friendly environment, bribed the odious Mayor Kline, used Starcourt Mall for cover, and are in the process of opening the portal and extracting some kind of toxic substance for an unknown purpose.

Do they know what they're doing, or will they soon realize they're meddling with powers beyond their comprehension? And is there more to the story?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So while Steve and the gang find a secret hiding place beneath the placid surface of Starcourt, Hopper and Joyce's investigations take them all the way to another state. But first they have to battle the Russian super-soldier, and befriend (sort of);

A Russian scientist named Alexei, steal a car, confuse a 7-11 clerk, and reconnect with regional conspiracy-theory expert Murray. All that and they have to find time to squabble a lot along the way.

Hopper and the still-unnamed Russian super-soldier, who has a-Terminator like vibe, resilience, and confidence that he can squash any Americans who get in his way. He also has a tendency to underestimate Hopper.

He assumes, for instance, that Hopper won't pull the trigger when Hopper is perfectly happy to pull the trigger and shoot a bullet into his head. He's just not fast enough for the super-soldier's enhanced reflexes.

In fact, Hopper seems to have nothing but contempt for the law, chugging soda he hasn't yet paid for, and taking off with the slick yellow convertible of an unwitting dupe named Todd.

What he doesn't realize, as he heads to Murray's compound, is that his Russian foe is on his tail. And as they work with a testy Murray to talk to Alexei about what's going on, their time might soon run out.

Strange as it might seem, Joyce and Hopper aren't even in the most trouble by the end of the day. An early-morning phone call from Nancy alerts Jonathan that Will has disappeared.

Fortunately, it's not a 1983-style disappearance. Will's hanging out with Lucas, Mike, Max, Celeste, and El trying to figure out what to do following their confrontation with Billy. "Something's not right. I can't get Hopper off my back all summer, now all of a sudden, he's hiking with Will's mom to Illinois?" Mike says while pacing back and forth.

"And Dustin's MIA, too? I mean, this can't be a coincidence." Mike shook his head.

"What does it matter? The bottom line is, they're not here. It's up to us." Lucas said.

"Up to us to do what exactly?" Mike asked.

Lucas sighed, "Find Billy and stop him."

Mike rolled his eyes, Lucas was stating the obvious. "Okay, yeah, that's a really nice sentiment, but even if El could find him again, and that's a pretty big if, then what?"

"We burn the heck out of him
and make sure he doesn't escape this time." Lucas stated.

Mike sighed, "Okay, then what?"

"Then we win." Lucas replied.

"No, see, that's the problem. We don't. We don't win. We got the Mind Flayer out of Will before and he just came right back." Celeste said, turning to her brother and friends.

"We don't just have to stop Billy,
we have to stop the Mind Flayer."

"How in the world do we do that?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know."

"Maybe El does." Will said, all of them got up and stalked to where the bathroom door was. "What are they still doing in there?" Mike asked, staring confusedly at the door.

"I don't know. Girls just like hanging out in bathrooms." Lucas said, munching on cereal.

"Why? I mean, I don't know. They're conspiring against me." Mike said, crossing his arms.

Celeste facepalmed, "Or they're tending to El's wound, y'know when she was being chocked by Billy?" Celeste came to two conclusions, either the boys were afraid to talk to the girls, or they were just being stupid. Celeste was leaning towards it being both.

"That's what you're concerned about now?" Will asked.

"It's not my main concern. It's just a sub-concern." Mike told his friend.

Will wished he could slap Mike, he really wasn't paying attention was he? "I thought it was already over."

"It's not over, okay? We're just taking a break." Mike said.

"She said she dumped you. That doesn't sound like a break." Celeste was surprised, that was the first time she's ever heard Will swear. She felt somewhat proud. (Yes, I know I didn't put the swear word in. 🤣)

Mike exclaimed, "It wasn't!"

"You guys do realize we can still hear everything you're saying, right?" Celeste heard a muffled Max shout.

"Conspiring. I told you, they're conspiring."

Celeste heard someone knocking on the door, she yelled. "Not now, Mom!"

It wasn't their mom, turns out they heard Nancy's voice, telling them to open the door. They went to the door, opening it to see their older sister and Jonathan. Who joined them, they formed a kind of supergroup and headed to the home of Heather, the possessed lifeguard whose now equally possessed father, Tom is roaming around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After they find out the situation is even worse, and decided to go to Heathers house. El, Celeste, and Max thought she looked awful. So when they got there they found:

A home filled with discarded chemicals and evidence of some supernatural foul play. Putting two and two together, they head back to the hospital in hopes that Mrs. Driscoll might provide some help in defeating their foes. (All Will's idea of course.)

While they work on that, Mike and El have some relationship issues to sort through, as do Nancy and Jonathan. The latter couple smooths things over pretty quickly, but the former couple needs a little space to process their first substantial fight after El signals she's open to a little conversation by using her powers to score a bunch of candy. They start to sort it out with some M&Ms, a well-placed compliment, and a smile.

Will got the signal from Mike and sat down next to Celeste, who was reading a magazine. He handed her a Kit Kat, her favorite candy, she took it with a smile on her face. "Thanks Willow Tree." She said.

Will turned to Celeste, he hadn't heard that nickname in a while, maybe Celeste was finally starting becoming her old self again. "No problem Celsius." He replied back.

And not a moment too soon, either, since all heck is breaking loose elsewhere in the hospital. Nancy and Jonathan encounter the Flayer-controlled Tom and Bruce, who menace them before dissolving into goop and merging into a fully operational Mind Flayer. This does not bode well.

The tension between Nancy and Jonathan is a bit contrived, perhaps that's why they resolve it so easily, but Hopper and Joyce's tension brings a spark to their conflicted feelings, and Mike and El's fumbling attempts to figure out what it means to be boyfriend and girlfriend are charming. Hopefully, in the rush that's already starting to take over, it won't abandon those eerie paths.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End of Chapter 5