the battle of starcourt

✧

rumbled and shook with every step the monster took.

Rue brought her knees to her chest when she saw goo drip right before her feet, and the girl bit on her fist to stop any sounds coming out of her mouth. However, Max quickly brought her hand down, knowing that she might bite too hard, and she'll end up hurting herself. Max replaced her fist with a piece of cloth she had found lying next to her, it was disgusting, but Rue was not complaining as tears filled her eyes. She could hear the slowly rumbling breaths of the monster, and its shadow was just above them.

The four froze, not daring to move or blink or even breathe. There was a little puddle of goo growing just a few inches before their feet. It kept falling with a quiet — plink, plink, plink. The ground shook again, and the dripping stopped, and the shadow grew smaller.

The kids let out thin pants, not wanting to breathe too loud to attract the monster. As if it could even hear — they weren't taking any chances.

Rue cupped her mouth with her hands, tears running down her cheeks. Her shoulder tensed, and she closed her eyes. Her head was hurting again, a stomach-dropping pain struck at her brain, and Rue bit harder at the cloth in her mouth. She felt like she was being hauled away from her body, her mind getting ripped away and getting pulled into the darkness. What was this? Rue didn't like it — it hurt so much.

Blood rolled down her nose as she tried to fight it, get away from the pain and bring herself back into control. But with every punch and swing - she was getting chained down as corruption spread in her mind like an infection. It appeared from the depths of her mind, growing and growing — wrapping around every part it could find. It was like cuffs suddenly appeared at her wrists, tying her down into a world she didn't know of — a dark and cold world.

"Rue, stop it," A voice said in her ear, "You're going to hurt yourself."

She opened her eyes to find Mike and Max trying to hold her arms down. They had travelled from cupping her mouth to pulling at her hair and scratching on her scalp. It was like she had fallen back into herself, and she had fallen from somewhere high, somewhere unknown. Somewhere dark. Somewhere Rue never wanted to be in again.

She slowly lowered her hands with wide green eyes. They shook violently, hand even from the lack of light, Rue could see the red coating between her nails. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry — I—I don't know what — I'm sorry. . ."

"Shh —" Max whispered to her, using the cloth to clean Rue's hands. "It's okay — just take a deep breath."

Rue's eyes slowly looked up from her fidgeting fingers to Max's eyes — God, they were so blue, so ocean-like. Her chest fell and rose at a slower pace, following Max's quiet instructions to breathe with her.

"It's turned away," Mike said, ducking his head under the stand again after looking up to see if the coast was clear. "If we go up the stairs now, we might make it."

"Might?" Rue whimpered.

"What about the others?" Max asked, "and El's leg?"

"We have to try."

"There's another way. . ." El whispered, grabbing onto Mike's shoulder to turn him around. "To get out," she said, "through the Gap."

Mike frowned, not liking the idea — but it was safer than running up the escalators. He spun around and peered over the stand again. "Fine," he sighed, already locking his hand with El.

Rue's eyes widened when they began to stand, and she reached to pull them back down. She was shaking her head furiously, her hair flying around her face. "No — wait—"

"It's now or never—"

"I choose never."

"Rue—" Max started, her voice gentle and quiet, but Rue had made up her mind.

"No."

"I'm not leaving you here."

She chewed on her lip again. Rue felt out of place, and it felt like a part of her wasn't there anymore — and she knew that El's idea was great, and if they ran fast enough, they could make it to the back rooms and find a way out. But what about the others? Rue couldn't bring herself to leave them there to die, just like she had left her dad. What if something went wrong? She tried to get herself to stand and follow them, but something was holding her down.

"Rue, please," Max squeezed her hand, trying to pull her from the ground. Rue didn't say anything as Mike and El had already begun to run, Max behind them.

Rue was slowing them down, and perhaps she didn't mean to, but she was. Max kept tugging on her arm — they were exposed now, no longer hiding under the stand. And if they didn't hurry, they were going to get caught.

Mike and El made it into the store first. El had limped the whole way there, but once they tried to squeeze through the broken glass and the display, El's bad leg bumped into one of the mannequins, which tipped over and crashed loudly. The two hurried inside faster, and Max's eyes widened, and she tugged on Rue's arm harder, snapping her out of her daze. Rue blinked, realizing what was happening, and she pushed back into the store, trying to get in herself.

Max stumbled inside, but she quickly picked herself up, the sounds of the monsters stomping encouraging her. Rue swiftly jumped over the glass. They ran as fast as they could, tucking themselves behind the shelf next to the one Mike and El hid behind.

Rue tucked her knees to her chest again, and she jumped when she saw one of the tentacles attack a mannequin that had the same outfit as El's. Her mouth went ajar when she saw it land before the four, missing an arm and its head.

She wrapped her arms around her legs, watching with wide eyes as the ground shook, causing things to fall from the roof and all around them — one of the fluorescent lights had collapsed on the floor — nearly hitting Mike's foot. El couldn't do anything to stop it — and she gave Rue a helpless look.

She quickly shook her head no, but with the look Eleven gave her, Rue gave in. It was reckless and very impulsive. She didn't think as she began to stand — how could she when she tried to something would pound at her head again? Her mind had that familiar mush feeling as dark thoughts of the lingering fragments of the Mindflayer in her head echoed in her ears. "You guys go — I'll make a distraction."

"What?" Max took her hand, trying to pull her back down.

"Wasn't she just trying to pull her hair out a few seconds ago?"

"Shut up, Mike!" El replied. She looked up at Rue, giving her a thankful nod.

"You fucking owe me," Was all Rue said before she pulled herself away from Max's reach, stepping out of their hiding spot. Max sat there, her eyes wide in shock — this wasn't Rue. It wasn't anything like her. There was something wrong with Rue. What had actually happened when El brought her to the void? Max didn't know — no one knew. No one but El and Rue themselves, who seemed to have silently agreed to never talk about it again.

Rue's heart was beating in her chest, nearly breaking her rib cage. She didn't have to walk far to spot the monster and all its glory flesh — it was practically already inside the store. Rue's breath got stuck in her throat when she spotted the tentacles expanding from the monster's legs and body. She thought it would have already noticed her — fucks sake, Rue was standing in the middle of the Gap. But its arms moved around her and towards the shelves El, Mike and Max hid behind.

The ground rumbled under her sneakers, and it was hard to focus, knowing that if she didn't hurry, her friends would die at any second. But it seemed that the thought had encouraged her because the familiar glow of blue and gold brightened at her hands. They circled her fingertips, and she hesitated before raising her arms. It felt like chains were holding her back from stopping the monster, but they snapped and broke away instantly.

Rue twirled her fingers, breathing out. She felt like she barely had control of herself, but when Rue looked up at the monster, the gold shone in her green eyes — she raised a hand, and then the other. And maybe she should have waited until the others had gotten to a safer distance because her powers were still unsteady. The monster roared and retracted its arms or tentacles — whatever they were — back to its body.

With her brows furrowed and her lower lip tucked between her teeth, Rue concentrated as much as she could — ignoring her killer headache. She let out another heavy breath, stepping forward as she made a fist with her hands. The monster sounded out as the hues of blue and gold slowly wrapped around it and its massive figure. With every step forward Rue took, the monster got pushed back, roaring in pain.

Rue's arms began to shake in front of her, and her shoes were slipping on the floor, making her lose her balance. It was the heaviest thing Rue has ever moved, just above Will and his bed — which she could lift with ease as she slept.

And with another step, she cried out as if she was trying to lift this creature with her bare hands because throwing something that big would surely add weight to her arms, shoulder, and her brain. El had told her that bigger things were always the hardest, and Rue had told her she wouldn't need to be moving big things other than her bed. But here she was, trying to push a flesh-monster away from Gap so her friends could run away.

Rue slowly began to lose her breath, and as she sucked in as much air as she could fit in her lungs, the glowing only brightened. She kept taking staggered steps forwards until she was standing a few feet outside the Gap, and the monster was back at the middle of Starcourt's food court, barely fighting against her.

It was a dangerous game to play. When the monster from another dimension had ignored her — giving Rue a free pass to run away. But instead, she began to fight it, despite the fact it wasn't going to harm her.

She saw Jonathan lead everyone out from behind the car, they ran towards the front doors, and Nancy was waving the cable at Rue, hinting that they were going to fix the car so they could leave.

Rue dropped her arms when she heard the doors shut over the sounds of the monster's roaring. She stumbled back, blinking away the dizziness from her mind. The beast stomped on the ground angrily, shaking the floor, which made Rue lose her balance and nearly fall. It rocked its head as if it was trying to shake something off it. The glowing didn't fade away from Rue, and power still sparked at her fingertips — though it was enough, the monster had stilled, she shouldn't do more.

But the power, the energy that ran through the veins, it was so exhilarating. . . .

She cleared her mind, not wanting to let the power get into her head. Rue stared at the monster that stalked around the food court, and she quickly realized the silence of the mall. Has it worked? Did they make it out? Rue looked around, and blood slowly rolled down her nose. She was about to walk back into the Gap . . . she had to leave, she had to get out.

But one question wondered at the tip of her tongue. Why wasn't the monster going after her? Rue spun around to look at it — the creature was pacing around, shaking the ground with every step. Why wasn't it attacking her? After everything Rue had done to it — she fucking blew it up! — Did the Mindflayer not see her as a threat?

She brushed it off, thankful that it wasn't herself it was going after. But if only she knew she was on thin ice. Thin ice that was already beginning to crack. It was only waiting — waiting for the right time. . . .

Rue pushed the doors to the back rooms open, running through the halls. The lights flashed above her, blinding the girl for only seconds before she could see where she was going. Rue knew the halls like the back of her hand — all those times the party had forced Steve to let them slip into the movies. She turned the corner and then the other — but with the flickering lights, every hall looked the same.

With one hand sliding over the railing and the other sparking with gold hues, Rue tried to catch her breath, knowing that once she made it to the exit, she would meet with the rest of the group, and they would hop in Nancy's car and hurry towards Illinois.

Rue slowed down, hearing footsteps. They sounded fast and desperate, and they only became louder the further she pushed herself through the halls. Rue could catch her blood pounding in her ears, and as she turned the corner, she got shoved to the ground.

Multiple sneakers squeaked on the floor, and before she could see who she had run into, Rue got pulled from the ground, and she was on her two feet again. "Get up — c'mon!" She was running again — she didn't know who, but she was running. However, instead of heading towards the exit, they were running away from it.

She looked to her left to see Mike panting, pulling El with him, and at her right was Max, who was already holding her hand with a flushed face. Her red hair wasn't neat in her braids anymore, there were flyaways everywhere, and some of it stuck to her face from sweat.

"What — what's going on? The exit is that way—" Rue pointed behind her as Mike pushed a door open, it slammed on the wall behind it loudly, and they hurried down the small hallway to an elevator that led somewhere — Rue had no idea.

Mike held a finger up — motioning her to hold onto her questions, and El pressed on the button as fast as she could. The boy gasped and huffed, trying to catch his breath as he clutched onto his stomach with his other arm. "Billy—" he panted, "And Sky — they're —" another gasp, and he wheezed, coughing into his elbow.

Max rolled her eyes at him, "Come on, Mike, that wasn't even 100 yards."

He glared at her from the corner of his eyes before turning to Rue. "Do you think you can hold them back?" He stressed, his hands gripping onto her shoulders tightly.

Blood rolled from her nose, and it coated her lips. She tilted her head and blinked slowly. "Who?"

"Sky and Billy," He breathed.

"I can try. . ."

Max bounced from where she stood, and she pulled Mike away from Rue, "No, she won't."

"What?" Mike looked down at her, his eyes wide and cheeks red. "Why not?"

El stopped pressing the elevator button and looked between her friends who were on the brink of fighting. "Guys?"

"Look at her, Mike!" Max yelled, thrusting her arms in the air to point at Rue, who stood there dumbfoundedly. "She just fought that monster! She's fucking drained!"

Rue rubbed her nose with her hands, smudging the blood all over her palms and between her fingers. She then wiped it on her denim shorts, trying to act normal. "I feel fine—"

"Don't lie to me," Max snapped, shifting to glance at her with a look Rue's never seen Max give her before. She instantly felt smaller at the frown on Max's lips, and her heart dropped at the thought she had made Max angry.

"I'm not lying," She argued softly.

"Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?" Max scoffed, her eyes not reaching Rue. "You're as pale as a ghost, Rue! You have bags under your eyes and —"

"But I can—"

"No!" She warned, "You can't just go out there as if you're replaceable!"

Eleven frowned, leaning on the wall. "Guys . . ."

Rue nearly laughed. She had no idea where Max was coming from with those assumptions, and honestly, it didn't make her feel any better. "I never said I was."

"Max," Mike started, "she's perfectly capable of making her own decisions," He mocked.

Max jerked around, her braids rising from her shoulders before they fell again. Her eyes were cold and bitter, and hurt. . . . Max was hurt. "Don't get me started with you." she told him through gritted teeth.

"Well, now you know how I feel about El!" Mike fumed.

Max began to stammer, and she narrowed her eyebrows, trying to find the words. "This — this is different!"

"How so?"

"Because! El has been practicing this stuff all her life," she raged, jabbing her finger at Mike's chest. "She knows what she's doing."

Rue scoffed, "And I don't?"

"No! You don't!" Max spun around again, and Rue instantly stepped back. Tears were making their way into Max's eyes as she continued, "You said it yourself, Rue! You don't know how to control your powers! Stop being so fucking bipolar and risking your life when we can find another way—"

"That's hypocritical," Mike kept adding in — he was right, but it was clear Max wasn't in the mood to take his bullshit.

"El knows here limits, Rue doesn't!" She spat, "She could hurt someone or she could hurt herself. . ." Max trailed off, panting as she tried to catch her breath. Her voice became softer as she looked at Rue again, a single tear ran down her freckled face that she immediately wiped away, tucking her flyaway hairs behind her ears. ". . .I don't want that to happen to you."

Rue's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. She got stuck to her spot, and she didn't know what to say. It was like Max's words had slapped her back into reality, pulling her away from whatever was holding her down. "I—I" Rue was about to break, again. But from the sound of a door slamming open and loud footsteps, she had to hold it in a little longer.

El and Mike jumped at the sound, and Max ran out from the little elevator room to see who it was. It was "Billy," She whimpered.

"He doesn't know who he is, Max," Mike whispered, trying to pull her back. They could hear the elevator getting closer, it would only be seconds until it opened, and they could make it. "He's gone."

Max pulled her arm away from Mike grasped, "Billy, your name is Billy — Billy Hargrove. You live on four eight one nine, Cherry Lane. Billy, please. . ."

But Mike was right — Billy was long gone. His eyes weren't light green anymore, but a dark black. His skin looked burned, and his veins were as dark as the Mind Flayer's shadow. It was too late.