The Hawkins lab had turned into a deadly trap, its white linoleum hallways now stained with blood and echoing with the growls of Demodogs. The pack had erupted from the tunnels, smashing doors and massacring the scientists trying to flee. Cassian was running toward the lab, alerted by Helen's urgent message about the team sent to Will's "blind zone," a decoy from the Mind Flayer that had unleashed chaos. Beside him, Hopper, now recovered, carried a shotgun, his face hardened with determination, while Joyce held a sedated Will, whose incoherent murmurs confirmed Mike's theory: Will was a spy for the Mind Flayer, a puppet of the hive mind controlling the monsters of the Upside Down. Bob, with a trembling flashlight, and Mike, gripping a bat, completed the group, all advancing toward the main entrance under a gray sky that seemed to foreshadow the end.
Inside, the air smelled of ozone and decay, the fluorescent lights flickering as if the lab were dying. Helen and Terri, trapped in a control room on the second floor, worked frantically at a terminal. Helen, her fingers flying over the keyboard, hacked the security system to open an escape route, while Terri monitored the cameras, her breath catching as she watched Demodogs tear apart a guard in the lobby. "They're everywhere," Terri whispered, pointing at a monitor. "But the door system… if we unlock it, we could guide them to the security room."
Helen nodded, her eyes fixed on the screen. "Do it. And find something about the Mind Flayer. If it controls those things, we need to know how." Terri scanned a digital report, her hands trembling as she read about a "hive mind" connecting the Demodogs and Will, an interdimensional virus feeding on control. "It's like a brain," she said. "If you damage one part, everything suffers… including Will."
In the lobby, Cassian led the group, his golden eyes glowing intensely in the dim light, a spark of power keeping him alert. A Demodog leapt from a side hallway, its jagged petals open in a roar. Cassian spun, his body moving with lethal precision; instead of dodging, he used the creature's momentum against it, slamming it into a wall with a kick from his reinforced boot. The creature screeched, but another Demodog appeared, forcing Cassian to act. In that moment, he felt a heat in his chest, an energy he hadn't experienced before. The lab, so close to the Upside Down portal, seemed to amplify his lineage, and in a blink, his body vanished and reappeared three meters to the left, just out of reach of a claw swipe. The Demodog crashed to the floor, disoriented, and Cassian finished it with a precise shot from Hopper's borrowed pistol. Panting, he felt dizzy, the teleportation draining his strength. "What was that?" Mike muttered, stunned.
"No time," Cassian growled, helping Joyce support Will, whose face was pale and sweaty. Hopper fired at another Demodog, covering their advance toward the security room. "Move!" he shouted as growls echoed closer. Bob, nervous but determined, pointed to a sign: "Electrical System." "If the power's down, I can reactivate it," he said. "We could open the exit doors."
Joyce looked at him, terrified. "Bob, no…"
"I'll do it fast," he promised, squeezing her hand before running down the hallway. Cassian wanted to stop him, but a new group of Demodogs surrounded them, forcing him to focus. His golden eyes flashed as he spun, using his teleportation again to appear behind a creature, knocking it out with a powerful blow to the skull using the pistol's butt. The effort left him staggering, his vision blurry, but he protected Mike and Joyce, guiding them toward the security room.
In Chicago, Eleven had just left Kali's warehouse. After debating with Kali about revenge versus loyalty, Eleven had chosen to return to Hawkins, her connection to Mike and her friends stronger than her anger. Jill drove at full speed, noticing the determination in Eleven's eyes. "You did the right thing," Jill said, her voice firm. "But if that Kali shows up, I don't trust her." Eleven nodded, her gaze fixed on the road, as if sensing the chaos in Hawkins.
At Murray Bauman's house, Nancy and Jonathan reviewed the tape of Owens' confession, while Murray, with a glass of vodka in hand, suggested diluting the truth so newspapers would accept it. "The public doesn't believe in portals to other dimensions," he said, adjusting his glasses. "Let's say it's a chemical experiment gone wrong." Nancy, nervous but determined, helped send copies of the tape to several national newspapers. Helen contacted them through a secure phone line, her voice tense. "The lab is under attack. Demodogs. If the tape gets out, the lab might shut down before we close the portal. Be careful."
In the lab, Helen and Terri managed to unlock the doors to the security room, but the cameras showed Demodogs converging on them. "We have to get out," Terri said, grabbing a fire extinguisher as an improvised weapon. Helen, carrying a stolen data disk, nodded. "First, we help the others."
Cassian, Hopper, Joyce, Mike, and Will reached the security room, but the power was still out, trapping them. Cassian, still weak from teleportation, felt his body protest, but he stayed strong, helping barricade the door. Will, sedated, murmured about "shadows" and "fire," his connection to the Mind Flayer intact. Hopper, checking his shotgun, growled. "Bob has to restore the power, or we're dead."
In the electrical room, Bob worked frantically, sweating as he reconnected the circuit breakers. The lights flickered, and the doors began to open, but a Demodog found him. Cassian, from the security room, watched on a monitor as Bob ran toward the exit, guided by Owens from another room. Joyce, pressed against the glass, screamed as the Demodogs reached Bob, tearing him apart before her eyes. "No!" she sobbed, collapsing to her knees.
Cassian clenched his fists, rage mixing with his exhaustion. Before they could process the loss, the security room door trembled under a Demodog's attack. Cassian braced himself, but a burst of energy stopped him: Eleven burst in, with Jill by her side. Eleven raised a hand, her eyes fierce, and the Demodog flew against the wall, its body crushed by an invisible force. Cassian, panting, looked at her with respect. "Good timing," he said, his voice hoarse.
Jill, her weapon drawn, covered the entrance. "We arrived just in time. Where's the rest?"
Hopper pointed to Will, still unconscious. "We have to get him out of here. The Mind Flayer is using him."
Eleven approached Will, her expression tense. "I'm sorry," she whispered, as if she understood the shared pain. Cassian helped carry Will, his body trembling from the effort of teleportation. Helen and Terri, joining from the hallway, guided the group toward an emergency exit, while the growls of the Demodogs echoed behind them.
Outside, under a night sky, the group regrouped, Joyce silently crying for Bob, Hopper holding Will, and Eleven staring at the lab with determination. Cassian, leaning against a tree, felt his heart pounding, the teleportation leaving him on the verge of collapse. "This isn't over," he said, his golden eyes dimming. "The Mind Flayer knows we're coming for it."
Helen, holding the stolen disk, nodded. "We have data on the hive mind. If we want to close the portal, we need Eleven and Cassian."
Jill placed a hand on Eleven's shoulder. "You're with us, right?"
Eleven nodded, her voice low but firm. "Always."
The group, marked by loss and fear, prepared for the next step, knowing the lab was only the beginning of the battle against the Mind Flayer.